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"Magicians," Khan whispered. Remembering Ea's words to her, he added, "And tricksters."
"Exactly." Fen's grin turned mischievous. "So if we are going to take the city, we do it like magicians and tricksters."
"What does that even mean? How is that a plan to get your ass on the throne?" Kashmet complained.
"It means we are going to walk right in." Khan's smile began to mirror Fen's. "And we are going to take it."
PartThree
Tricksters and Magicians
Thirty-Seven
The sun reflected off the waters of the Idiqlat River. Fen raised her hand to shield her eyes from so much burning gold. A sailing caravan of three barges and smaller crafts, all heading down to meet the winding Iteru River, was taking them to Ankhara's gates.
It had been a chaotic fortnight since Khan's announcement of going back and taking his throne. Sargon and the council had agreed that action was needed, so they had sent a reply to Hasina saying they would attend her coronation.
They were sending warriors and their aerial mounts, but only enough that it would be seen as a strong guard for Sargon and the three council members coming with them.When Fen had asked him if he was worried that Hasina might try and assassinate him too, Sargon had only laughed. There was no way that Hasina would risk the wrath of Atrahasis by killing off their council members. She wasn't ready for a war, at least not yet, and they would do everything they could to make sure her awful weapons never came into being.
A roar above her had Fen stepping out of the way as Rabbu landed on the deck beside her. They had big enough landing areas for the larger chimera on all the barges. A traveling host of chimeras was just another thing that had Fen awe-struck. The third barge was a traveling rookery that housed them and also carried Hasina's coronation present deep in its hull.
"Look at my handsome boy. Did you have a good flight?" Fen asked, ruffling Rabbu's mane with her hands. "I hope you didn't get in the way of their drills."
She looked up at the sky where the other shedu and chimera circled. They were doing daily flights, scouting the river, and exercising the animals. It would take them a fortnight of sailing to reach Ankhara, and Fen was enjoying being out on the water and seeing the wider lands she found herself in.
She had watched as the thick, verdant green rainforest had shifted to palm trees, tamarisk shrubs, papyrus plants, and other hardier trees. Fen was still learning so much every day, and she loved the challenge even when it left her overstimulated.
A high chimera call screamed in warning before it landed heavily on the barge's landing pad. Khan's hair was wild from the wind, and he had never looked more like an Atrahasi warrior in his flying leathers.
"You are spoiling him," he said, with a fond smile at Rabbu.
"He's a good boy and deserves the pats and kisses."
"I'm a good boy too, and I definitely deserve pats and kisses." Khan pressed a welcoming kiss to her lips, making Fen's heart skip erratically.
She had wondered if any of the Atrahasi would object to seeing one of their own engaged in a relationship with someone from Geb, but none of them seemed to notice or care. There were no comments about her being a barbarian or Amun's half-made like there had been in Ankhara. They just accepted her because Khan and Sargon did.
"You taste like the wind," Fen said against his lips.
"And you taste like the sun. You are becoming more golden every day," Khan replied, wrapping an arm around her waist. He was right; her pale skin was turning golden even though she was careful not to be in the sun long enough to burn. "How were your lessons?"
Fen rested her head against him and groaned. "Great."
"You didn't try and stab your tutor or anything, did you?" he asked, trying to hide his laugh.
"I didn't stab her, but my tongue doesn't want to co-operate with me in the slightest."
Sargon had decided that Fen needed a tutor to teach her how to read and speak Atrahasi. He believed Khan would be a bad teacher because they would be toodistracted. One look at Khan in full riding leathers had made Fen agree that Sargon had a point.
Fen had taken to writing the new characters well enough; the spoken language was another matter. Every time they took her translating necklace away, she wanted to jump overboard. She was making progress, but it was slow, clunky, and awkward. She was starting to turn the necklace off more often just to hear the sounds of the rolling language around her.
"Sargon wants to keep you busy, but don't feel pressured to learn faster than you need to," Khan replied.
"Sargon was also expecting her for tea and has been kept waiting," the man in question said from the other side of the deck.
"I was distracted by Khan looking all—"
Sargon held up a hand. "Please stop. I don't need to know. Khan, you probably stink of sweat and bird. Go and bathe. Fen is needed elsewhere."
