Quibble, 82. Qah (ii)
When Lurah and Luht duel, revelations reshape the past and bring to light the Aht-nah's machinations — and her true accomplice in murder.
82. Qah (ii) @Quibble
“Jeh-qahlif-sah-luht, how did you come to wander here alone?”
At Lurah’s perplexing question – I was more perplexed by the name she gave her adversary than by her allusion to the story of the proud Qahlif-sah – Luht stiffened. He looked up at Lurah, at me, at Alnasl, each in turn, as if amazed to see us. But he didn’t answer Lurah’s question. With an agility I hadn’t expected in such a large, hulking man, he snatched up his sword and sprang to his feet.
“Twice denied a fair fight!” he said, spitting the words. “This time, you will not deny me, Lurah!”
“Twice?” I said, confused, in Far.
“For your own good, Ayzhed, stay out of this,” Luht warned me with the briefest glance. “If you and your Djer would go in peace, then go.”
I wanted to protest that Lurah was my friend, that any fight with her was a fight with me, but now I was more baffled than ever by the game afoot. I decided silence was best. Lurah had chosen to confront Luht. She had a reason.
“A fair fight,” she repeated, shaking her head. “You have always sought the fight with others, Luht, but it is not with them you contend. It is with the cruel and cowardly man who made you uhn-say.”
“He is dead.”
“No. He lives within you still. Your fight is with yourself, only yourself, but he is your foe. When will you realize that?”
“Enough!” Luht snapped. “If I wanted wise words, I would go to a ri.”
Alnasl snorted. “Take it from a ri, you do want wisdom.”
“Enough! I will have your qah, Lurah, or I will follow you forever. Im-hel-qah!”
Lurah released a loud sigh and tapped her crop lightly on Qeht-qahlif’s shoulder. The camel sank, rocking forward to his front knees, then backward, folding his rear legs and tucking them close to his belly. Lurah hopped off him.
“Do you need a qahli?” Alnasl offered.
“We fight to the death, so in this, Luht and I are each other’s qahli,” Lurah said as she unfastened her sword’s sheath from her belt. “Do not take him at his word. He will not let you go in peace. If he kills me, flee as quickly as you can.”
Luht squinted at her. “You insult my hel, woman,” he said.
“Have you any hel left?” said Lurah.
She drew her sword, flinging away the sheath, and then she was sprinting over the sand at Luht. He drew back, swung at her midsection. She tossed her sword high into the air, ducked below his blade, somersaulted beneath him, and came up on her feet behind him, reaching skyward. As soon as she grasped the hilt of her falling sword, Lurah spun completely around, arcing her blade in a whir of speed. She aimed at Luht’s neck, but now he spun, too. Their swords clashed. Luht bore forward on Lurah with his greater weight, forced her back. In a moment gone before I could register just what he’d done, Luht knocked Lurah’s sword out of her hands. It flew away from her. She took a single step towards it, reaching earthward, but already he’d brought his blade up again, checking her. His sword hovered at her throat, the steel barely touching her skin.
“Qah,” said Luht.
Disbelief wrote itself on Lurah’s face as she stared at him. “Qah,” she breathed.
Yet, victorious, Luht did not move. He did not spill Lurah’s qah. He stood stone-still, hesitating, as if indecisive.
“Qah,” Lurah repeated. “You came for qah. Now you have it. Take it.”
“I did not come to take qah but give it!” Lurah exploded, angrier than ever. “Do not call me so cheap, Lurah! I came for them, and for justice.”
“For whom? Justice for what?” I cried. “For Sen-aht-nah-lapi? A cruel nah, a war, your precious honor and spoils—”
“For you, Ayzhed, you and your Djer!” Luht told me, though his eyes remained fixed on Lurah. “And for Wahn-aht-jah-nefri. For her qah, which Lurah took.”
At this accusation, Lurah’s eyes widened. “Did you not kill her?” she said.
Luht looked affronted. “I?! You wormed your way into the Wahn’s trust—”
