Rizawa: The Artery of Perdition
Act V
The Thozogh Canal
Into that oblivion of dreamless sleep came three messengers. The first was sensation: a web of interlocking agonies that extended to the furthest limits of skin and sinew. She could feel thousands of gashes rending their way through her skin, penetrating into muscles that felt more like a hastily assembled rig of stretched and bent springs than any kind of functional support system. Her first forays into physical motion were met by the disgusting sensation of flesh bonded to itself with dried blood and restraints binding every joint in her body.
As she opened her eyes, she was met by the second messenger: sight. She was in an opulent bedchamber. Luxurious Vyadalavesan pillows sat atop finely crafted Xumasi divans. In the center of the room sat a dining table that must have originated somewhere in the inner Khavasak, if the Darkwood body and lion-headed sigils on each of the legs were any indication. On the table itself was an assortment of grapes and oranges brought directly from the Nethgorad, if their freshness was any indication. Glancing around the chamber, the only thing that marked it as anything but the office of a high ranking Ukni official was the large collection of Nezhuan porcelain, the screen prints depicting Birds of Renewal along the walls, and the recent, hastily cleaned bloodstains around the desk in the far corner.
“The blood belongs to General Chunlao.” came a familiar voice from somewhere behind her. “He slit his throat when he learned where Yuanqi’s true allegiance lay.”
It was one of the guards on Meixi's payroll, standing behind an iron-barred door whose build and design were so at odds with the rest of the chamber that it was obvious it had been hauled in from a prison on short notice.
“Afterwards, we went through and pulled out everything sharp or pointy, just in case you came around to the same idea.”
But Rizawa hadn't, in the most literal sense. In fact, it took her a few moments to even parse out what the guard was implying. For if pain and visual splendor were the first two messengers of the strange world she'd come to inhabit, then the third was the inescapable, world-consuming stupor that laid siege to her mind with an army of bewildering, disturbed, warped, and misshapen memories:
Their defeat at the Thozogh Canal. The Onguloch and it's powerful magic. The fate of the 22nd. Zojhin and the coven of Nektana. And, of course, above them all, was the fact that the woman she loved just so happened to be said coven's high priestess.
As heart-stopping terror gave way to an illimitable desert of numb despair, Rizawa found her thoughts returning to her surroundings. If this was the room where Chunlao took his life, then, besides proving that the Garrison Commander had been nothing more than a blind puppet this entire time, it also meant that Meixi must have used her connections to bring her here. That meant that the chamber must have been part of a second residence that Meixi kept, presumably near the site of the canal.
How could she have been so stupid? It was one thing to end up accidentally sleeping with an enemy agent. Humans were humans, after all, and this was a line of work that was rife with that sort of thing. But to be so blind as to miss the fact that the woman she'd been sharing her bed with for years was also in command of the very coven of Nektana that were responsible for concealing the progress of the Thozogh Canal? Well, it was the kind of fuck-up that gets a no-name criminal investigator a permanent slot in the history books.
But Rizawa had done her research. She'd looked into her past with great care, and every detail had confirmed her assessment that Meixi was an intelligent if somewhat unambitious Nezhuan courtesan forced into the boring world of frontier province life. She'd been born to a wealthy family in the city of Chang Yin, she was married to then-Major Chunlao at the age of fourteen, at which point she transitioned from the life of an eligible maiden to that of an officer's wife: bouncing from base to base, mastering the art of building small islands of comfort in seas of untamed wilderness and political turmoil. Rizawa had even reached out to some of her old associates in the Nobiwaru after their first night together, but they hadn't turned up so much as a trace of the unusual.
And if Meixi truly had been a Nektanulz this whole time, then why had she let her live as long as she had? Rizawa had been so careless in revealing the details of her investigation that Meixi had every chance in the world to kill her long before she became the uniting force of the pan-Nezhuan resistance. Yet what had she done after it became obvious that her lover was undoing decades of careful intelligence work? She'd pleaded for Rizawa to be careful and then handed her a Zuthruhk artifact that could detect the presence of enemy mages. Nothing would have been easier than for her to use a team of Korvadun agents to drag her from her chamber in the dead of night, and yet she'd sat there silently as Rizawa revealed everything she'd discovered in her investigation.
The more she thought about it, the stranger the whole situation became. From what she could remember of the attack, Meixi had been in command of the entire coven of Nektana, but even the highest ranking members of Saklugz' priesthood lacked the power to openly defy the Dark God's will. The fact that she had united the Ukni's enemies and forced them to expedite an invasion that had been in the works for decades would have been enough to place her among the most wanted fugitives in all of Aios. A spy with a direct connection to the Heir Empress who both unified the Pan Chui against them and gave vital intelligence to the 22nd about their planned ambush. None of it made a damned bit of sense no matter how long she spent trying to put the pieces together.
Rizawa sat there in silence until the sound of footsteps, agonizingly familiar even with the forceful, hurried character that they'd taken on, let her know that the one person who could give her answers was rapidly approaching.
“Did anyone see you bring her here?” Meixi barked to the guards.
“We followed your instructions perfectly. The Korvadun agents accepted the package at face value, and we were able to take advantage of the disorder at the canal bed to bring her here in secret.”
“Good. Just remember that I won't be the only one up there on the Tekik if any of this gets discovered.”
Rizawa heard the latch snap open as Meixi strode into the chamber. The night-black robes with their red filigree of Ghakat writing around the hem could not have been more of a contrast from her courtly regalia, but there was no denying that she was looking at the same face that had scrunched up in half-feigned terror the first time Rizawa had brought her into Shungnath. It really was her.
“You know, I always said that you looked terrible in black. It bleeds into the color of your hair while concealing the delicate beauty of the browns of your iris.”
Meixi looked down at her, her eyes sodden with tears even as her posture spoke of a confidence that Rizawa had never seen before.
“You were the only one who ever complimented my eyes, Rizawa. My mother always said that they were dull and uninteresting, and before I met you I would have been inclined to agree. But you of all people should know the value of keeping things concealed...” Meixi said, drawing out the torn seal.
“I just can't seem to get rid of those things.” Rizawa replied. “I'd sort of hoped it would be buried under a few thousand tons of water by now.”
Meixi looked at her for a moment and then burst into tears, falling to the ground at Rizawa's side.
“You always have to do this, don't you. Witty fucking quips at the ready whenever one of your plans backfire, walking around the goddamned jungle like you're some kind of grizzled veteran. For fucks sake, you just found out that the woman you love is a Nektanulz working in the service of your most hated enemy. I mean what would it fucking take for you to drop this ridiculous act and just talk to me like a normal fucking person for five minutes?”
“Well what the hell do you think I'd say if I did? That I felt my heart tear loose from my chest the moment I saw you up on the parapets? That I don't have a fucking clue about what I'm doing, or whether any of the decisions I've made have had the slightest bit of difference in this little struggle we find ourselves in. Or maybe you'd like me to talk about the one thing I do feel certain about: the fact that leaving my to die on the canal bed would have been a far more merciful end than dragging me back up here.”
“Dont say that!” Meixi screamed.
“Or what? Do you really think you've done me any favors by doing this? Was it really that fucking important that you had the chance to gloat about your secret double life?”
“Well if you'd just been honest with me for one fucking minute, none of this would have happened. I had a boat packed and ready for Tandariz that was due to depart from Shungnath at first light. But you had to go running off with your old friends from the 22nd, throwing all of my plans into ruin.”
“So I take it Luo was able to warn the rest of the scouts in time? I'd say that's all the more reason to doubt whether the Korvadun would let the most wanted spy in Aios be ferried out of harm's way, don't you think?”
“The Korvadun believe that Rizawa died fighting with the Pan Chui during the Battle of the Thozogh Canal.” Meixi answered.
“How the hell did you pull that off?” Rizawa asked.
“Well, you may be surprised to hear it, but with the sole exception of my dealings with a certain criminal investigator, I'm actually quite good at cleaning up my own messes. While I certainly didn't predict the lengths to which you'd go to disrupt our little operation, I've known that my plans would have to take you into account since that night on the Gaujong River all those years ago. The night I fell in love with you.”
“I remember that evening well. I couldn't believe that someone could live in this jungle for as long as you had without ever stepping foot outside the base.” Rizawa said.
“You took me in your arms and pointed out all the animals, telling me how the Pan Chui would use each of them for different purposes, and I knew that I needed to figure out a way to keep you out of this. Even then I knew that you weren't exactly of a mind to leave well enough alone, so the next morning, I set some of my most loyal agents out to find somebody who was a close enough match to your physical appearance that I could pass them off as the real thing. Yesterday, after you promised to meet up with me in the morning, I put out orders to have that tavern maid killed and dressed in your investigator's uniform. The plan was to leave your body with the remains of the 22nd, but with your little insurrection I obviously had to make some changes.”
“I take it that your operation to deal with the 22nd didn't go as planned?”
Meixi burst into tears.
“Do you really think that after all this time I don't know when you're baiting me for information?”
“You're surprised that I'd like to know about the fate of the operation I risked my life for? That my duties as a Nezhuan spy give me a bit of a vested interest in the outcome of their fight?” Rizawa asked.
“Do you know what, fine? Do you want to hear about how you fucked up years of careful planning in a single afternoon? How, owing to your little intervention with Sergeant Luo, the 22nd were tipped off to our ambush, and a sizable majority of their ranks, including your little war buddy, were able to flee into the jungle to set up a base of resistance? Do you want me to confess that you're better at this kind of espionage than I was or ever will be?”
“I want to know whether my sacrifice meant something.” Rizawa answered.
Meixi paused, her glistening eyes focusing in on her as the muscles in her face relaxed for the first time since she'd entered the chamber.
“Of course it did, sweetie. Luo escaped in the fighting, and he's probably halfway to Tyung by now, while the rest of the 22nd are no doubt busy attacking our logistical train. Not that there are enough of them to stop us, but the sooner the Heir Empress gets word of the approaching fleet, the better her chances of halting it before it reaches any of the major canal systems of the Fezhong Valley. More than anyone else in this forsaken jungle, that victory is yours, Rizawa.”
She wasn't sure whether it was the relief in learning of Luo's escape or the way the morning sunlight flickered across the thick, hastily made-over riverbeds running down her face, but Rizawa suddenly found herself pitying Meixi. Maybe it was just because this was the first time in all their years together that she finally saw the woman for what she was: neither the refined yet naive courtesan who'd won her heart nor the cold-blooded Nektanulz that she hoped her Ukni associates would see her as, but a flawed and desperate human being struggling to appease a vast and terrifying horde of conflicting responsibilities and duties.
“So, how'd you end up in this mess, anyway?” Rizawa asked, gesturing towards the table, where a bag of Shanxin Red Leaf marked General Chunlao's last moments of earthly pleasure.
Meixi grabbed the pipe and packed it, sitting down in Rizawa's lap and loosening the straps that held her in place as she lit the tobacco. Then she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and looked into her eyes as if the past three days had been nothing more than a nasty dream.
“My earliest inkling that things were different for me came from the cloaked figures who used to visit my father's estate in the evenings, after I was in bed. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and listen to my father speaking with them until the early hours of the morning. On one of those nights, I finally worked up the courage to sneak out of my room. I found my father talking to a group of frightening looking men with pale faces and keen, remorseless eyes. They talked about enemies and necessary action, and none of it made any sense to me.
Even now, I'm still not totally sure just what it was that they were discussing, but I was terrified of the whole experience, and the next day I told my friends about what I saw. Later that same afternoon, my father walked into my bedroom with a switch and beat me until my skin turned purple and burst. Afterwards, I learned that he'd almost been discovered when my friends told their parents about his strange midnight visitors. Apparently, the only way he could salvage things was pretend that the Korvadun agents were gentleman callers, and that reputation haunted him until the day he died.”
“You never did have a very good relationship with your father, did you?”
“The first time he showed me the slightest concern was on the eve of my marriage to Chunlao. I'd already been studying Zuthruhk magic for years, but the most I'd ever gotten from him was a terse nod or a vaguely high pitched grunt if I'd done something really impressive. That night, though, he brought me into his office, sat me down in the same chair he'd use during his meetings, and asked me if I'd like to learn the true history of the Shaichuo House.”
“I know we never talked much about your family's history, but I'm assuming that he was referring to the incident with Huenzu?”
“How did you know?” Meixi asked.
“Well besides the fact that Emperor Sho's disastrous campaign into the Khavasak was the source of your family's fall from grace, most Nezhuan historians have come to question the official record of events. There might be a few diehard loyalists to the imperial house who still believe that Emperor Sho was led into that disaster by the horrific advice of his counselors, but the vast majority have long since concluded that the largest share of the blame rests on the emperor himself, with everything that followed being little more than flimsy pretext to save face.”
“Well if that same majority had ever had the courage to express those views outside the safety of their precious academies, then maybe this whole mess could have been avoided. According to my father, not only was Huenzu not responsible for the Divine Army's defeat in the Dachai, but he was one of the few voices on the emperor's command staff with the courage to openly express dissent about their chances of successfully invading the Khavasak. As a reward for his loyalty and candor, Huenzu was ostracized from his fellow officers, and when everything fell apart and the emperor needed a scapegoat, it was him who found himself with the unenviable choice of taking responsibility for the entire disaster and retiring to his family estate or else facing trial for treason. That evening, my father produced a trove of documents validating every aspect of Huenzu's story. There were letters he wrote to other generals clearly outlining his issues with the invasion, logs of journeys made on the emperor's behalf that proved he couldn't have been at the capital during the war's planning stages, and even a missive from a friendly general telling him that his best option was just to accept his exile, regardless of the facts of the case. My father told me that those documents had been handed down from generation to generation, and that Huenzu had kept them specifically so that his descendants would know that he had never betrayed or misled the emperor.”
“Thereby priming them as perfect candidates for enrollment as Korvadun assets.” Rizawa said.
“Well I doubt that Huenza was thinking along those lines, but that's certainly the path things took. With the help of Ukni financial backing, my great grandfather was able to begin the arduous process of rebuilding our family's reputation. My grandfather was the first man in my family to enroll in the Divine Army after everything that happened, while my father was the first to gain any traction climbing the ranks of the officer corps, rising to become a general with the help of his connections in the Korvadun.”
“And I take it your marriage to Chunlao was instrumental to this return to power?” Rizawa asked.
“It was the linchpin of a generation-spanning struggle to restore the honor of the Shaichuo house. That night, my father told me everything. How, unbeknownst to my betrothed, his appointment to the Western Pan Rin Garrison had already been decided. That, were I to succeed in making myself into a fifth columnist: hiding behind the guise of a simple noblewoman while I used my command of the Zuthruhk to conceal the progress of the Thozogh Canal from both my husband and the rest of the garrison, then my brother Jaiwe, who was set to be deployed to the Dua Neng Canal on the pretext of a feud between him and Prince Suel, would be able to take command of the forces there and bring the Ukni fleet into Nezhu's heartland without a drop of blood being spilled. Suel, who of course was in league with Jaiwe from the beginning, would then be able to take his place on the throne, supplanting the Heir Empress and making my brother his chief advisor, thereby restoring the honor of my family name.”
“What made you agree to his plan?” Rizawa asked.
“I wish I could even say. I guess it was the way he looked at me when we were in his office. It was the same way he always looked at my brother. As if I was capable of doing something more than being a pretty little piece of decoration. He said that I'd have to power to right all of the wrongs that had been done to us. Funny how that stuff works. I thought I'd be able to restore the entire Shaichuo House to power, but I couldn't even stop a single garrison investigator.”
“You could have. Easily.” Rizawa replied. “You had all the chances you could have asked for to get rid of me, but you didn't...”
“Because I love you! I always have. Before I met you, my world was a smoke-veiled pantomime. Immersed as I was in that miasma of hatred and despair, all I could see of the people around me were the skeletal frames of will, desire, and mechanistic struggle that defined my old man's world. It was that gala, when you caught me staring at you from the officer's table, that I first realized things could be different. We went out into the courtyard and listened to the birds, and I told you that I'd only ever seen the ones that came into my courtyard to eat from the feeders. I still remember that look of sadness in your eyes, and the way you smiled at me and then snuck off into the forest.”
“I certainly remember how long it took me to actually catch that Bird of Renewal. I'd already met with Guanh and Vieng by that point, but I'd apparently convinced myself that spending a few weeks hanging out with the Pan Chui would be enough to turn me into an expert hunter. God I must have spent half the night up in the canopy looking for nests.”
“It was almost morning by the time you finally snuck past the guards and made your way to my bedchamber. I remember how quickly my fear melted away when you pulled out that beautiful blue and silver bird, the way I felt when you told me that each Bird of Renewal had it's own unique coloration, and that some were wild shades of green and purple while others were painted in stately whites and browns. I just couldn't believe that such a hostile, miserable place could produce something so beautiful. I didn't realize it then, but that was the first time that anyone had ever really listened to what I wanted instead of just thinking about how my needs could be exploited for their own ends. After that night, I knew that I had to protect you.”
“So you gave my your own Lagovrun stone to help me hide from both the Ka'in and the Korvadun agents who were on my trail, then made arrangements with some of your personal guard to ambush me when I went to meet with you in the morning?”
“I could have fixed this!” Meixi shouted. “I could have made this right if you hadn't gone and gotten so damned entangled in everything.”
“No, you couldn't.” Rizawa answered. “But that's okay. There are some things in this world that just can't be made to fit together. Even if you didn't know that I was working for the Heir Empress, you must have realized that I'd prefer death to a life of idle, amoral luxury in the heartland of my hated enemy. I have no idea what schemes you cooked up in your head to keep me pliant or confused or frightened enough to stay put, but you must know that they wouldn't have worked forever. Sooner or later I would have figured things out, and once I did there'd be nothing you could do to stop me.”
“Maybe you're right.” Meixi said, the boiling sea of rage and despair that had moved through her veins a moment before cooling into a coagulated sludge of despair and exhaustion. “Maybe there was nothing I could have done all along.”
They sat there for a while, in each others arms, in silence. For there was nothing more that could be said between them. It was as if the they had retreated to a place where facts and realities could not penetrate: a world of simple sensation, of hands moving down shoulders and mournful glances. After a time, Rizawa turned to her and asked:
“So what happens now?”
“The escape of the 22nd has forced Krosatir Sethim's hand. As we speak, agents from the Korvadun are conducting a purge of anyone in the Western Garrison who still poses a threat. They intend to use friendly assets reveal the canal's progress to the rest of the soldiers, and then execute the loyalists within the Divine Army under the pretense that they were the true saboteurs. However, as you yourself already figured out, Krosatir Sethim is not one to let sound strategic practices get in the way of a quick payday. Thus, he has already begun the process of collecting the wives and children of his enemies and getting them onto the same slaving vessels that will take the Pan Chui to Tandariz. The Ukni have always had a taste for Nezhuan women, so if we dress you up as a minor noble, and you have the good sense to keep your Nobiwaru training a secret, you'll almost certainly find yourself in the harem of some wealthy merchant. If you play the part of the timid, demure concubine well enough, they won't have any reason to suspect anything until they day you make your escape. I wish that I could do more for you, but even my power has it's limits.” Meixi replied.
“And what about after? I mean, if I do manage to escape. You must know that, no matter how much I love you, I can't just turn my head and pretend that none of this ever happened.”
“Of course I do, darling. I never would have loved someone who could. You've been sticking your nose where it doesn't belong for as long as I've known you, and I see no reason why that would change. I have but one request should our paths ever cross again. Think of it as nothing more than a favor for an old lover.”
“What?” Rizawa asked.
“That, when the day you drive your dagger through my heart finally comes, you'll do it face to face. Even if they're filled with nothing but hate, I just can't bear the thought of never seeing those eyes again.”
Meixi ran her hands down her shoulder, thrusting her against the wall as she took Rizawa into her embrace, kissing her as if it were the first and final time. For an instant, Rizawa was immersed in the sensation of Meixi's tongue against her own, the gentle tingling running up and down her back. Then Meixi was standing on her feet, straightening her robes and walking out the door. By the time she was halfway down the hall she was already back in character: a fierce Nektanulz barking orders about timetables and security protocols.
Rizawa strained against her bonds, and, finding that they'd loosened just enough for her to get up onto her feet, she propped herself up and looked out the chamber's only window. She must have been at the crown of one of the bastion towers that lined the canal locks, for she could see miles around in every direction. To say that the Thozogh Canal dominated the view was a bit like saying that getting food was the main preoccupation of an emaciated beggar. The poets were fond of comparing rivers to gigantic serpents winding their way across the earth, but to look upon the Ukni canal was to see something more akin to an artery: a blood vessel running half the length of the continent, pumping out blackened waters and unspeakable suffering from the very heart of perdition. She would soon find herself traversing that artery, bound and chained for one of the wealthy cities at the center of the Dark God's empire.
Without Meixi to distract her, the entire weight of her predicament came crashing down. The uncertainty. The heartbreak. The stinging guilt over whether there was something more she could have done. For the first time since she could remember, Rizawa began to cry. She cried for the friends and comrades she'd lost, and the obliteration of an entire people. She cried for a frightened little girl who'd been shoved into the death-mask of a tyrant by the uncaring hand of fate and for the countless legions of innocent Nezhuans who would bear the true brunt of what had transpired here. She sat there, sobbing in silence, until there were no more tears left to shed. Then she collected herself, wiped down her cheeks, and set to work figuring out how she was going to dig herself out of this one.
"Rizawa: The Artery of Perdition" has been published freely online in order to introduce readers to the world of the "Under the Burning Tower" series. Because of this, hiring an editor for this project simply isn't feasible. If you happen across any typographical or grammatical errors while reading, especially if you see something that looks like a missing paragraph, please feel free to reach out and let me know.
