THRONE OF ASHES

Kael was seventeen and he swept the palace before the sun woke. He woke at four in the morning. The bell had not rung. The kitchen fire was low. Twenty mats lay around the fire. Twenty slaves slept. Kael's mat was the thinnest. It was near the door where cold entered. Mama Nari kicked his foot. She was forty and she kept the kitchen. She kept the bread. She kept the slaves. "Footprint boy, up," she said. Kael stood. He folded his mat. He took his broom. The broom was made from dry palm. It was taller than him. The top was smooth where his hands had held it for seven years. His mother Lila had been a washerwoman. She died when he was ten. She washed clothes for the queens. She boiled water for everyone. She told him, "Sweep like water moves. Don't fight the dust." She died of dirty water, they said. Kael never believed it. She never drank dirty water. She boiled water even for dogs. He walked to the Great Hall. The palace of Zaria-Kan was big. It had one hundred rooms. It had seven pillars. Each pillar had a stone. Each stone had a law written in old language. Stone 1 was near the throne. Stone 1 said: THE KING IS FATHER. Stone 7 was at the far end. Stone 7 said: BLOOD BEFORE CROWN. No slave was allowed near Stone 7. The law said if a slave touched Stone 7, his hand would be cut. Kael swept every day from Stone 1 to Stone 7 and back. He had to finish before the King came at six. He started sweeping. The marble floor was white. It showed everything at night. He saw footprints. Last night he had swept clean. He always swept clean. The floor was clean at ten at night when he left. Now there were new prints. Two sets. First set was big. Heavy boot. Left foot dragged a little. The dust was deep on the left side. Kael knew that foot. That was General Kuro. He was forty-five. He was blind in his left eye. He dragged his left foot because of an old war wound. He commanded one thousand men. Second set was small. Bare feet. No shoe. But there was a mark. A small circle on the second toe of the right foot. Silver ring mark. Only one person in the palace wore silver on her toe. Princess Zara. Sixteen. Only daughter of King Harun. She was supposed to be in her room at night. Girls of the palace did not walk in Great Hall at night. The two sets walked together. Side by side. From the main door to Stone 7. Then they stopped. The prints turned. They went behind Stone 7. Kael stopped sweeping. His heart beat. Slaves who follow footprints that are not theirs die quickly in Zaria-Kan. But he followed. He walked soft. He held his broom tight. He went to Stone 7. The stone was black. It was taller than two men. Behind it there was a small wooden door. The door was used for cleaning. It was always locked. Now it was open. A crack. Light came from inside. Yellow light from a lamp. Kael bent and looked through the crack. He saw a small room. Stone room. No window. One lamp on the floor. Two people stood inside. General Kuro. His back was to the door. His armor was off. He wore black cloth. Princess Zara. She wore blue sleeping cloth. Her hair was uncovered. She held a paper. Kuro said, "We must move tonight. Jalen knows." Zara said, "Jalen knows nothing. He only knows gold." "He knows you want throne," Kuro said. "The law says no woman can sit. He will kill you before your father dies. He already paid." Zara looked down. "How much?" "One hundred gold. To the captain of the queen's guard. I heard it." Kael's breath stopped. One hundred gold was a price for a princess's head. Zara folded the paper. "Then we need a new shadow. My old shadow was bought. We need someone no one sees." Kuro said, "Nobody sees a sweeper." At that moment Kael's broom slipped. His hand was sweaty. The broom fell. Tuk. The sound was small but in the empty Great Hall it was loud like a drum. Inside the room, silence. Kuro's hand went to his sword. "Who is there?" Kael did not think. He ran. He left the broom. He ran fast. He ran like his mother told him never to run inside palace. Slaves must walk slow. He ran to the kitchen. He pushed the kitchen door. Mama Nari was already making dough. Her hands were white with flour. She saw his face. She saw no broom. "Where is your broom? Why you run?" she whispered, angry. "I saw footprints. At Stone 7. General and Princess. They saw my broom," Kael said. His voice shook. Mama Nari's face changed. She grabbed his ear and pulled him down to the floor. She pulled hard. Her grip was strong. "Listen to me, boy of Lila. You saw nothing. You swept nothing. You are nothing. If they ask, you slept here all night by the fire. You never went to Great Hall. Do you understand me?" Kael nodded. Tears came to his eyes from the pain in his ear. "I understand." "Good," Mama Nari said. She let go. "Now go back and bring your broom. Walk. Do not run." Kael walked back. His legs shook. The Great Hall was empty now. The small door behind Stone 7 was closed and locked. The footprints were gone. Someone had swept them. Or covered them. His broom lay on the floor where it fell. He picked it up. He finished sweeping fast. He made the floor white again. At six, the drums beat. Loud drums. The palace woke. Guards opened the big doors. Servants brought water. Cooks brought food. Queens came. There were three queens. The first queen was dead. These were second, third, fourth. King Harun came last. He was sixty. Big belly. Gold teeth. Gold rings on all fingers. He sat on the throne. The throne was made of wood and gold. Behind throne was Stone 1. Prince Jalen came after King. He was nineteen. Tall. Handsome. Eyes like a hawk. He wore red robe. Red was the color of first prince. He had ten guards with him. Princess Zara came last. She wore blue robe now, not sleeping cloth. Her hair was covered with blue veil. Only her eyes showed. She wore no silver on her toe now. She walked slow. She looked at no one. But when she passed Kael who stood by the pillar with his broom, her eyes stayed on him for one second. One second too long. Kael looked down. King Harun clapped his hands. "Bring ledger." A thin man brought a big book. The tax ledger. It had all the gold that came from villages. Jalen stepped forward. "Father, there is a problem." King frowned. "What problem?" "The gold from the north villages is short. Fifty gold missing." King's face became red. "Who stole?" Jalen smiled. He turned slowly. He looked at the slaves standing by the wall. He pointed his finger. He pointed at Kael. "That one. The sweeper boy. I saw him near treasury last night. He is always near Stone 7. His mat is heavy. I think he hides gold." The hall became silent. Mama Nari stepped forward fast. She knelt. "My King, forgive me. This boy sleeps by my fire. He is with me all night. He is son of Lila, washerwoman. He owns nothing—" Jalen shouted, "Silence, kitchen woman! Guards, check his mat!" Two guards ran to the kitchen. They came back with Kael's thin mat. They held it up. "Cut it," Jalen said. One guard took a knife and cut the mat. The straw opened. Gold fell out. Five pieces of gold. Shining yellow. They fell on the white marble floor. Tuk tuk tuk. Kael stared. He had never owned gold. He had never touched gold. Five gold could buy a house in the village. Five gold could buy twenty goats. He said, "It is not mine. I never—" Jalen laughed. "Thief. You stole from your own King. Law says thief loses hand at Stone 7." Mama Nari cried, "No, my King, please, he is a boy—" King Harun raised his hand. He was tired. He wanted to eat. "Law is law. Stone 1 says I am Father. My son speaks truth. Stone 7 says blood before crown. If he stole, his hand will pay. General Kuro, do it." General Kuro stood near the throne. He had not spoken all morning. His blind eye was white. His good eye looked at Kael. Kuro walked to Kael. He took Kael's arm. His grip was iron. He dragged Kael to Stone 7. The black stone. On Stone 7 there was a chain. At end of chain was a curved blade. The blade was used for cutting hands of thieves. It was old and sharp. The hall followed to watch. This was entertainment. Slaves cutting was morning show. Princess Zara stood. Her hands were tight. Kuro lifted Kael's right hand and placed it on the stone. The stone was cold. Kael closed his eyes. He thought of his mother boiling water. He thought of her hands. She had small hands. She washed his face every morning before she died. Kuro lifted the blade high. He whispered, so only Kael could hear. His voice was low, like wind. "Princess says run after." Kael opened his eyes. Kuro's good eye looked at him. No hate. Only order. Kuro shouted loud for everyone to hear, "This boy stole from King! His hand will pay for his crime!" He brought the blade down. But he did not bring it down on Kael's hand. He turned his wrist at last second. The blade hit the rope that held the lamp above Stone 7. The rope cut. The lamp fell. Clay lamp full of oil. It broke on the floor. Oil spread. The flame caught the dry curtain that hung behind Stone 7. The curtain was old. Fire rose fast. People screamed. "Fire! Fire!" Smoke filled the hall. Guards ran. Queens screamed and ran to doors. In the smoke and shouting, a small hand grabbed Kael's arm and pulled him hard. It was Zara. She had run to him in the chaos. She pulled him behind Stone 7, through the small wooden door that Kuro had unlocked again with his other hand. They went inside the small stone room. Kuro was already there. He closed the door. Outside, they could hear Jalen shouting, "Find them! Find the sweeper and the princess! One hundred gold for the boy's head!" Kuro lit a second lamp in the small room. Zara looked at Kael. She was breathing hard. Her veil was off. Her face was young and beautiful and angry. "You are safe for now," she said. Kael held his right hand. It was still there. All five fingers. "Why did you save me?" he asked, voice shaking. Zara said, "Because Jalen put that gold in your mat. I saw his guard do it last night before you came to sweep. He wanted you dead because you saw my feet with General's feet. You saw our meeting. He wants to kill anyone who knows I want throne." Kael said, "I only saw footprints." Zara smiled a little. "Exactly. You read footprints. In this palace everyone lies with mouth. Only feet tell truth. My father King Harun cannot read feet. Jalen cannot. Kuro can a little. But you — you are the best. Mama Nari told me. She said son of Lila sweeps footprints, not floors." Kuro spoke. His voice was deep. "Your mother Lila was not killed by dirty water. She was killed because she saw something too. She saw Queen Second put poison in Princess Zara's mother's food. Queen Second killed Zara's mother to become queen. Lila saw. So they killed Lila." Kael felt cold. His mother killed. Not dirty water. "How you know?" Kael asked Kuro. "Because I was guard that night," Kuro said. "I did nothing. I was coward. For fifteen years I did nothing. Now I will do something." Zara took a dagger from under her robe. The dagger had a blue handle. Silver blade. It was small but sharp. "This was my mother's," Zara said. She gave it to Kael. "My mother was queen first. She was supposed to be only queen. She was poisoned. Like your mother. We both have no mother now." Kael took the dagger. It was heavy. Zara said, "In this palace there are seven laws on seven stones. To become King, you must break all seven. My father broke six to become King. Jalen wants to break seventh — blood before crown — by killing me. I want to break them differently." She looked at Kael. "I need a shadow guard. A person no one sees. A sweeper who can go anywhere. You can go to kitchens, to stables, to throne room, to queen's rooms, because no one looks at a sweeper. Will you be my shadow?" Kael held the dagger tight. His hand stopped shaking. He thought of his mat with gold that was not his. He thought of Jalen pointing at him. He thought of his mother boiling water for dogs while queens drank clean water. He said, "I will be your shadow." Zara nodded. "Good. First we must hide you. Jalen put one hundred gold on your head. Every guard will look for you. You will stay here under Stone 7 for three days. There is a tunnel. It goes from here to outside the palace walls, to the potters' quarter. Kuro will bring you food. I will bring you plan." Kuro opened a stone on the floor. Under it there was a dark hole. A tunnel. Cold air came from it. "Go," Kuro said. Kael looked at the hole. It was black. Outside, Jalen still shouted, "Find him!" Kael held the blue dagger and went down into the hole. Behind him, Zara closed the stone. In the dark tunnel, Kael started to crawl. He could smell earth. He could hear water somewhere far. He was no longer the boy who swept footprints. Now he was the footprint that could not be swept. The tunnel was long.