Gathering of the Chosen

  Chapter Twelve

  Carmaz awoke when he heard a loud knocking at the door to Raya's apartment. It sounded like someone was trying to bash down the door with a battering ram and Carmaz was too tired at first to get up and answer it.

  Go away, Carmaz thought, closing his eyes and hoping that whoever was knocking at the door at this awful hour of the morning would give up and find someone else to bother. I'm sleeping.

  Then he heard a familiar voice on the other side of the door shout, “Hey, Carmaz, it's me! Open up.”

  That was Saia's voice. Of that, there was no doubt. That made Carmaz sit up, brush back his messy, curly hair, yawn, and then stand up. His body ached all over and, despite the warmth of the room, he shivered like he had come down with a cold. His stomach growled and his throat was dry. Carmaz had expected to feel the pain in his body when he awoke this morning, so he didn't complain, especially when he remembered how awful he used to feel upon waking up on the floor of his hut on Ruwa what seemed like a lifetime ago now.

  Still, Carmaz took his time crossing the short gap between the sofa and the door, muttering, “Coming, coming,” as he did so, though he doubted Saia heard him, because his friend was still hammering on the door like his life depended on it.

  Then Carmaz grabbed the doorknob, took a deep breath to ready himself for whatever Saia had come to talk with him about, and then opened the door.

  Saia stood in the doorway, but unlike Carmaz, he looked like he had rested well and was up and raring to go. Carmaz did not see any of the guards that had been placed outside of Raya's apartment to protect him and her, but he was too tired to ask where they might have gone.

  “Hey, brother, what's up?” said Saia, his tone too cheery and loud for this time of the morning. “How'd your night with Raya go?”

  Carmaz shook his head and looked at Saia in confusion. “What?”

  “You know, your night with her,” said Saia. He leaned forward and whispered, probably to make sure that Raya didn't hear this, “It's not every night you get to sleep with the princess of one of the most powerful nations in the Northern Isles, after all.”

  “Sleep with—?” Carmaz repeated. His anger woke him up better than any cup of coffee could. “I slept on the sofa all night. Raya slept on her bed, in her room, with her door closed. We only talked for a few minutes before she went to sleep. Nothing happened between us.”

  “It's okay, Carmaz, I won't judge,” said Saia, putting a hand on Carmaz's shoulder like he always did when he wanted to reassure Carmaz that he could trust him. “Sometimes trauma brings people together and they do things they don't always—”

  Carmaz slammed the door shut and turned away, intending to go back to the sofa and sleep in for the rest of the morning, before Saia's insistent knocking on the door caught his attention again, along with Saia's slightly muffled voice saying, “Hey, man, it was just a joke. Sorry if I offended you. Could you let me in? Please?”

  Carmaz considered telling Saia to go away and never come back, but he had forgiven Saia for far worse offenses than this in the past. So he turned around and opened the door to see Saia—who, he was pleased to see, looked far more sheepish than he had a few seconds ago—standing there.

  “Come in,” said Carmaz with a yawn, stepping aside. “But don't you dare insinuate anything between me and Raya while you are here. Understand?”

  “Perfectly, sir,” said Saia, stepping inside as he said the word sir with sarcasm. “But seriously, if you and Raya got together—”

  “Say one more word, and I'll drop kick you off the top of this building,” said Carmaz as he closed the door and glared at his friend. “Personally.”

  Saia gulped and immediately changed the subject. “So, brother, I just came by to see how you were doing. Haven't heard from you or anyone else since that assassin's attack last night. Any updates?”

  Carmaz yawned again and shuffled toward the sofa, trying to ignore the pain caused by every step. “No. I just woke up. Haven't heard from the gods or anyone else.”

  “Huh,” said Saia. “I don't like that. What I heard is that some of the gods have actually been leading the search for our mysterious assassin personally, though they haven't found any clues yet as to his real identity, obviously.”

  Carmaz did not respond to that. He just sat down on the sofa again, stretched out on it, and pulled his blanket up to his chin before looking at Saia again. “How did you even get here? I thought we were all supposed to stay in our apartments while the assassin was still at large.”

  “Maybe you godlings are, but no one seems to care about me,” said Saia with a shrug. “I just walked out of my apartment, asked around and got directions to yours, and then came here. I think the gods and katabans living here put less value on my life than on yours because I'm not a godling. Why, I could vanish off the face of Martir and I doubt any of them would notice.”

  “But what about the guards who are supposed to stand guard outside the door?” said Carmaz, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of them. “Where are they?”

  “I told 'em that Alira sent me to pick you two up,” said Saia. “I also told them that the hot bread cart down the street was having a special discount for Soldiers of the Gods. They must like hot bread, because they left almost as soon as I told them about it.”

  “Did you think about what they might do when they reach the hot bread cart and find out that there isn't a special discount for Soldiers of the Gods?” asked Carmaz.

  Saia shook his head. “Nope. But I doubt they'll get too angry. I mean, they must know that I'm your friend. Obviously, they will just think that I wanted to see my best friend in the world badly enough to lie to them.”

  Carmaz didn't think so. The Soldiers of the Gods seemed to take their job with the utmost seriousness. He doubted they would be very happy to learn that a human had fooled them, especially a human who technically shouldn't even be on World's End at all. He dreaded having to convince the Soldiers to not kick Saia into the Crystal Sea and force him to swim all the way back to the Northern Isles himself.

  Saia glanced toward the door to Raya's room and opened his mouth, but Carmaz said, “What did I say about talking about my relationship with Raya?”

  Saia held up his hands defensively. “Hey, I wasn't going to ask about that. I just wanted to know how Raya is doing is all.”

  “She's fine, as far as I know,” said Carmaz. “Slept straight through the night and hasn't come out of her room once. She probably isn't even aware that you're here or that it's morning yet.”

  “Okay,” said Saia. He scratched the back of his neck. “That assassin sure was scary, wasn't it? Much scarier than anything the Swamp of Light has. Makes me glad it's gone.”

  “For now,” said Carmaz. “I imagine it will attack again at some point, though when, I don't know.”

  “But maybe it won't,” said Saia hopefully. “Everyone is looking for it now, which means it will be harder for it to attack again. Maybe it will even give up entirely.”

  Carmaz shook his head. “Do you honestly believe that? That thing clearly isn't like you or me, so it will probably strike again soon, though when and who its next victim will be, I don't know.”

  “I sure hope it's not me,” said Saia with a shudder. “I don't think there's anything I could do against something like that if it wanted to kill me.”

  “It probably won't,” said Carmaz, “since you're not a godling, after all. Based on what Braim said, it sounds like it is targeting godlings for some reason. If it kills you, it will only be because you got in its way.”

  “Yeah,” said Saia, “I know, but it still freaks me out. If it kills you, then that will definitely destroy any hopes of resurrecting Ruwa to its former glory.”

  Carmaz frowned and looked away. “Don't talk to me about Ruwa.”

  “But why not?” said Saia. “Sure, you aren't going to become the God of Martir, but surely you can still do some good as the God of Humans, right? I mean, I don't exactly know what a
God of Humans even does, but that is still a ton of power that you as a mortal don't even have.”

  “Maybe, but …” Carmaz tried to put his feelings into words. “I'm just disappointed. I don't see how I can do all of the good that I want to do with such a massive decrease in power and influence. It messes up my plans.”

  “Look on the bright side,” said Saia. “You can probably still do a lot of stuff. All of the gods are obscenely powerful, after all, even if the God of Martir is more powerful than all of them.”

  “Yeah, but what if whoever becomes the God of Martir tells me not to help Ruwa?” said Carmaz. “That is a possibility, you know.”

  “Well, what if the new God of Martir is Braim?” said Saia. “Yeah, I know that neither of us really knows him all that well, but Braim seems like a swell guy to me. I'm sure he'd allow you to help Ruwa as much as you want if he became the God of Martir.”

  “You're assuming that he will,” said Carmaz. “There are nineteen other godlings also competing for that spot. If it went to any of them, and the winner turns out to have different goals from mine, then we might as well give up.”

  “Well, you can't give up anyway,” said Saia. “Remember, Alira said that you only get out of the Tournament if you win or lose or are disqualified because you broke one of the rules.”

  “When did I say I was giving up?” said Carmaz, looking at Saia again. “I'm still going to participate in the Tournament and I am still going to win. I will figure out how to make this sudden turn of events work even if I didn't plan for it.”

  “Great,” said Saia. “For a moment there I really did think you were going to give up, but I should have known better. After all, you never give up on anything, no matter how hard it gets.”

  “Stubborn as a mule, Grandmother always used to say about me,” said Carmaz with a smile. “Wonder what she would say now if she could see me here, with a real chance at becoming a god?”

  “She'd probably just tell you to stop moping and win the Tournament,” said Saia with a chuckle. “She'd probably also tell that assassin not to kill her kids unless it wanted to die an early and painful death at her hands.”

  Carmaz chuckled also. Then he yawned and said, “Okay, now I can't get back to sleep. Might as well get up.”

  He threw the blankets off his body, sat up again, and stood up. Stretching his limbs, Carmaz said, “Saia, could you check the pantry for any—”

  Carmaz was interrupted by the door to Raya's room bursting open and Raya herself staggering out. She looked a lot better than she had last night. Her hair was done in simple but attractive braids, her clothing was dry, and there were no bags under her eyes at all.

  Nonetheless, she stopped and then moaned as if she was in extreme pain, prompting Saia to say, “Raya, what's wrong?”

  “Ooooh …” Raya moaned. She rubbed her arms and shuddered. “So much pain … most pain I've ever felt in my whole life …”

  That did not surprise Carmaz in the slightest. Raya was probably experiencing all of the pain her body taken the night before. It was no shock to him that she was taking it badly. As the prim and proper Princess of Carnag, Carmaz figured that the worst pain Raya had ever felt was getting a paper cut from turning the gilded pages of an expensive and heavy book.

  Then, without warning, Raya staggered forward toward Carmaz. She fell into his arms, forcing him to catch her so she wouldn't fall onto the floor and hurt herself, and moaned again. She looked up at Carmaz with a smile and said, “Oh, thank you for catching me, Carmaz. You are a true gentleman, despite your humble origins from such a backwards island.”

  Carmaz looked at Saia, who shrugged as if to say I'm not a princess, don't look at me.

  Then he looked back at Raya and said, “Er, you're welcome, Raya, but perhaps you should go back to your bed and rest a little while longer. You seem tired.”

  “Perhaps you're right,” Raya sighed. Then she grabbed Carmaz far more tightly than she had last night and said, “And you can give me a massage to help get the pain out of my bones. Your hands are the perfect size for the job. I should know, since my personal massage therapist back on Carnag has similar-sized hands to yours.”

  Carmaz glanced at Saia again. This time, Saia gave him the thumbs up, as if to say, You just struck gold, my friend. Keep up the good work.

  Carmaz decided not to look to his friend for advice in dealing with this situation any longer. Instead, he raised Raya to a standing position and said, “Well, Raya, I don't have any experience massaging anyone, so I doubt I'd do a good job.”

  “That's fine,” said Raya, whose pain seemed to have magically disappeared all of a sudden. “I can teach you where to touch me, you know. It's something I have a lot of experience in. I think it will be fun.”

  Carmaz immediately let go of Raya. Raya—who had been leaning on Carmaz for support—fell on her bottom with a “Hey!” She then glared up at Carmaz, who stepped away from her with what he hoped was an apologetic look on his face.

  “Oh, sorry, silver spoon, looks like I accidentally let go of you,” said Carmaz, his tone apologetic. “It must be because I just got up and am so, so tired. I didn't sleep very well last night, you know, so I'm not as focused as I usually am.”

  Raya stood up and brushed off her clothes. She then glared at Carmaz again, said, “Hmph!” and stomped off back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her as she entered.

  As soon as she was gone, Saia walked over to Carmaz and said, in a low voice, probably so that Raya wouldn't hear him, “What did you do that for, man?”

  “What was—” Carmaz sighed before he lost his temper. “What do you mean? Are you talking about Raya?”

  “No,” said Saia, shaking his head. He poked Carmaz in the chest. “I'm talking about you. She clearly is interested in you, so why'd you blow her off like that?”

  “Because frankly, I don't have time for romancing silly princesses like her,” said Carmaz. “My focus is on my people. I would think that Raya, as the future ruler of her own people, would understand that, but I guess she doesn't.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't have some fun every once in a while,” Saia said, slapping Carmaz on the shoulder. “I mean, not only is she as beautiful as a goddess, she's the princess of an entire nation. If you play your cards right, you could become King Carmaz, King of Carnag, in the future.”

  “Why would I want to become the king of a foreign nation?” Carmaz asked. “Carnag isn't much of an ally to Ruwa, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know, but don't you think that being the ruler of one of the most powerful nations in the Northern Isles could still benefit you?” said Saia. Then he put his hands on his hips and sighed. “But now you blew it. I bet she probably hates you now. She'll probably start to spread nasty rumors behind your back about you. Seems like the kind of girl who'd do such a thing if she got rejected by a guy she liked.”

  “If that's the kind of woman she is, then that makes me want even less to do with her,” said Carmaz. “Anyway, who even has time for that kind of romance when the Tournament is going to start today? I bet there are rules against godlings romancing each other during the Tournament anyway.”

  “I don't see why there would be,” said Saia. “You two aren't even in the same bracket, so how could having a little fun possibly interfere with your competitiveness?”

  “I don't know,” said Carmaz. “And I don't care. I will think about getting a wife and kids later, assuming I don't win the Tournament, in which case I won't marry at all.”

  “But don't you see?” said Saia. “If you romance Raya, then you will win no matter what. If you win the Tournament, you can become the God of Humans and use your powers to help Ruwa. If you lose, but get married to Raya, you can use Carnag's vast resources and wealth to send aid to Ruwa. And if you do both, then you can become the first ever god-king of Carnag, who can use his powers along with Carnag's wealth to make Ruwa into a great nation, maybe even the greatest nation on Martir. Doesn't that sound fanta
stic?”

  “I'd rather spend a week with a boulder tied to my head than marry her,” said Carmaz.

  Saia sighed. “Very well, then. I see that you are clearly not going to listen to anything I say. I suppose it is up to me, then, to romance Raya and marry her at some point. For the good of Ruwa, of course.”

  Carmaz looked at Saia skeptically. “She hasn't even shown any interest in you. How, then, do you expect to romance her?”

  “By using my obvious charms as a seducer,” said Saia. “Remember Homal and how I successfully seduced her?”

  “You mean that girl who ended up in our village and then stole a week's worth of food from everyone, which no one even realized until she had skipped town and caught a ride with a pirate ship heading who knows where?” said Carmaz. “And, correct me if I am wrong, but she also manipulated you into helping her by promising to marry you if you'd only give her the keys to the food supplies, yes?”

  “The point is,” Saia said, not hiding the annoyance in his voice, “you and I are both working toward the greater good, just in different ways. That's all.”

  “Different ways,” Carmaz repeated. “Sure.”

  “Anyway, we need to get ready to leave,” said Saia, looking out the window at the city, which was growing brighter and brighter due to the sun rising in the east. “The Tournament is going to start soon, so Raya needs to head on over there to get ready for the first challenge.”

  “I'll go check on her to make sure she's ready,” said Carmaz.

  He walked over to the door to Raya's room and knocked on it several times. “Raya? Are you ready to go? The Tournament is about to start and I just wanted to remind you in case you forgot.”

  “I am getting ready!” came Raya's shrill, offended voice on the other side. “Just leave me alone. You don't need to baby me, you know.”

  Carmaz looked over his shoulder at Saia, who shrugged as if to say Don't look at me. It's your fault for offending her.

  Carmaz rolled his eyes, then said to Raya, “All right. Just wanted to make sure.”

  “Do you want to help me dress?” came Raya's voice again, this time sounding more seductive than offended. “Because I'm used to my servants back home dressing me and I think that—”

  “No,” said Carmaz. “You yourself said you didn't want me to baby you, after all, and I can't think of anything more babying than dressing someone for them. You'll do a fine job of it, I'm sure.”

  An offended “Hmph!” came from the other side, but Carmaz didn't care. He just turned and headed over to the kitchen area to get something to eat for breakfast, while Saia was scratching his chin and looking at the door to Raya's room as if he was thinking about how he could convince her to let him dress her.

  What am I going to do with these two? Carmaz thought, shaking his head as he opened the pantries of the kitchen for anything edible. Anyway, time to eat. I'll think more about this later, after I've had a good breakfast of whatever I can find in here. I have a feeling I'm going to need extra energy today, even though I'm not going to be participating in this challenge.

  ***