A Chime for these Hallowed Bones (Chapter 4)
Yadleen had been fourteen the first time Master Baig took her to the Well.
She’d communed with unbound bhūtas – those spirits not embodied within a wight – before then. However, she’d only done so within the ossuary’s summoning chamber. It was specifically designed to isolate and incapacitate a bhūta for risk-free interrogation.
“We cannot get too comfortable with such luxury,” Master Baig had told her. “The bhūtas are not of humanity. They are what remains of a far older and far more dangerous race. If we underestimate them, we open ourselves to destruction.”
Yadleen had thought the lecture would be the extent of the lesson. Instead, Master Baig had allowed her to make a mistake, as if she were a child learning for the first time that stoves were hot. She still had nightmares about the burns she’d suffered that day.
For Master Baig’s sake, she’d risk more nightmares tonight.
Yadleen lingered at the ossuary after the apprentices stumbled back to the haveli and the other journeymen returned to their own homes. She changed out of her ossuary uniform and into the clothes she’d worn for the walk over that morning: a knee-length kurta of black cotton and a matching pair of shalwar trousers. The bells from her plait went into a pouch, and then she twisted her brown hair into a bun and covered it with a shawl.
With her attire amended, Yadleen collected a necromancer’s staff from the equipment storage room. She verified that the ring-shaped steel chimes on the staff were in good condition before unscrewing the staff’s segments and tucking them into a carpet bag. For more delicate work, she selected a calfskin tambourine with a double row of copper jingles and slipped it into the bag atop the staff.
She was ready. Yadleen locked up the ossuary. As she headed for the back door, she heard distinctive snoring: high and nasal, like a cat choking up a hairball. She whipped open the door to find Akal sleeping on the rear step.
Yadleen dug her toe into his back and hissed, “What are you doing here?”
Akal’s snores choked off. Yawning widely, he blinked at her. “About time. I was starting to worry you’d snuck out the front.”
“You’ve been waiting for me?”
“Songs of tribulation, no. I’m keeping an eye on him.” Akal waved a hand vaguely at a smithy on the opposite side of the alleyway.
A figure rose from beside the black mound formed by the smithy’s garbage and crossed the alleyway in three steps. The starlight was just bright enough for Yadleen to recognize Rajeev before the alchemist demanded, “What’s in the bag?”
She nearly told him it was none of his business, but the accusation in his tone rankled. She heaved the bag at him. Rajeev felt inside.
Not finding his grandmother’s bones, the alchemist shifted to another hostile question. “Where are you sneaking off to?”
“To get proof that you’re wrong and that those bones are unusable,” Yadleen said coldly. “I’m going down to the Well.”
“The Naga’s Well?” Apprehension seeped into Rajeev’s voice.
Yadleen felt a flash of satisfaction. Of course, an alchemist would fixate on the Naga. The Kimian Empire might have no respect for their fellow human beings, but they were utterly terrified of dragons, something to do with a blood feud they themselves had started.
Akal ruined the moment by reassuring Rajeev. “It’s perfectly safe now.” After yawning again, he added, “I mean, all the unbound bhūtas are plenty dangerous, but the Naga herself is long dead.”
“I’m well aware,” Rajeev huffed. “Why go down there? Surely you can just summon a bhūta here for a private conversation. Or what about those ‘thinking machines’ I’ve heard so much about? The bone augurs?”
Yadleen shook her head. “There’s no such thing as a private conversation with a bhūta. And while they may not be good at telling humans apart, they do remember where they hear things. I’m not going to ask dangerous questions in any place associated with Master Baig.”
“I see.” Rajeev averted his gaze, stroking his chin thoughtfully. After a long pause, he declared, “I’ll join you.”
Yadleen bristled. “Absolutely not!”
“Why?” Rajeev raised his chin. Yadleen had a flash of Master Baig’s face, lifted in the same way as he delivered a skeptical frown. “Are you planning on lying about what you learn?”
“Of course not! But you aren’t a trained necromancer. You’ll be a liability around the bhūtas. Besides, unbound bhūtas only speak the Naga’s Tongue. You won’t understand anything they say.”
Rajeev snorted. Then, to her horror, he answered her in the Naga’s Tongue. “Do you really think some old dragon had a monopoly on that knowledge? The Archon taught it to us, too.” Reverting to the Ātapararan language, he said, “I think I can keep up.”
“You’re still a liability,” she spluttered. “We can’t have you panicking around a horde of unbound bhūtas.”
“I spent six months on the Tamseszén Front. I think I can stomach some ghosts.”
Akal chuckled. “I have no idea where that is, but I admire your confidence.”
Yadleen didn’t either, but she grasped Rajeev’s meaning. He might not be a spy for the alchemists, but he was, or had been, a soldier. No number of warnings from her would persuade him to back down. Restraining him was also out of the question. Maybe if she summoned a warrior-wight from inside the ossuary, it could be done, but Master Baig might find out about the altercation when morning came. He wouldn’t approve of what Yadleen was trying to do.
If Rajeev wants to meddle so badly, fine. Let the bhūtas wipe the arrogance out of him.
“We’re wasting time. If you want to come so badly, you can, but only if you swear to do something for me,” Yadleen decreed.
“And that is?” Rajeev asked.
“When you hear from the bhūtas directly that we can’t use your grandmother’s bones, you leave without a fuss. Apologize to Master Baig for disturbing him, take those tainted bones, and vanish.”
Rajeev took a step closer. Starlight caught in his eyes as his gaze drilled into her. “And if the bhūtas say otherwise?”
“They won’t,” Yadleen said.
Rajeev stared her down for a few seconds before sighing. “I swear. Leaving, apologizing – all of that.”
“Glad that’s settled!” Akal stood up and stretched. “I’ll join you both. Someone needs to be your staff-bearer, Yadleen, and I can keep our guest out of harm’s way.”
Yadleen didn’t take her eyes off Rajeev. “Good. I want him sane enough to make that apology.”
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