The older woman sat upright, her back straightening, and she turned, considering Endric with eyes that shone with a great intensity. For some reason, her gaze reminded him of the merahl studying him. She made him feel much the same way. What did she see when she considered him? What were they concerned with?
“We need to find the Elbow Tribe hunters and direct them to the Chisln,” the woman with the bells in her hair said. “Anything else is secondary.”
“Even secondary to the son of the oathbreaker returning to the Antrilii?” Nessa asked.
The women all stared at her, all but the oldest. And then, one by one, they gradually turned their attention to Endric, looking at him with heat in their eyes.
Endric was taken aback by the intensity of it, taken aback by what seemed almost anger in their expressions. More and more, he began to wonder what exactly his father had done to upset the Antrilii as much as he appeared to have. Why would these women—those who Endric was beginning to think were the leaders of the Antrilii tribes—resent his father, and by extent him, so much?
“My father is no oathbreaker,” Endric said.
The woman with the freckles looked at him, her judgmental gaze dismissing him. “You would bring the son of Dendril before the Yahinv?”
The older woman finally pulled her attention away from Endric and sent her gaze across each of the others, weighing them, practically judging them. “The son of Dendril has every right to come before the Yahinv.”
“The oathbreaker—” the woman with the bells in her hair started.
“Enough!” The older woman raised her hand, silencing the others. “You know so little about oaths if you accuse Dendril of breaking his.”
Nessa studied her, watching for a long moment before turning her gaze upon Endric and staring at him. She seemed to consider him, as if seeing something about him that Endric couldn't see. He wondered what it was that she knew.
“The oathbreaker has not returned to Antrilii lands since he abandoned his oaths. What else are we supposed to think of him?”
The other woman stared, meeting Nessa’s gaze. “As I said, you know nothing about the oath you claim has been broken. If you did, you would not accuse Dendril of what you do.”
Endric watched her carefully. Was she from the tribe his father had come from? Was that why she seemed more accepting than the others? Or was there another reason?
“We have more to be concerned about than the oathbreaker. We need to find the Elbow Tribe hunters and see what happened to them. They were lost, and we've heard nothing from them in days.”
“Weeks,” the woman with the bells in her hair said.
“Perhaps they found the Chisln. And the merahl. If we don’t find it soon…”
All eyes turned back to the older woman, and she shook her head.
“There has been nothing to indicate the Chisln nearby, Melinda. The beasts would not risk it so close to our lands.”
Melinda shrugged. “The Elbow tribe disappearing is a sign.”
“Which is why we all have our hunters searching. We will not lose any more hunters the way we lost yours. We need the help of the merahl.”
Melinda frowned. One hand touched the back of her neck, fingering her braid, and Endric noticed how she ran her fingers over the silk within it. “Dentoun served the Antrilii well.”
“Outside of our lands,” Nessa said.
Melinda glared at her. “Are you so confident that Dentoun did not lead the hunt that you would risk disbelieving them?”
The others stared at her.
“We have been over this, Melinda,” the woman with the freckles said. “Even you have agreed that it was unlikely there was any real movement. Certainly, nothing that would require a great hunt. Dentoun went south to answer Dendril's request. And because of it, we lost more hunters. We have lost far too many.”
“Dentoun faced the groeliin in the south,” Endric said. All eyes turned to him, and he went on, hurriedly. “I was there. I saw the attacks.”
“You couldn't see the attacks, not if the groeliin were involved,” the woman with the bells in her hair said.
“He could if he was Dendril’s son,” Melinda said.
Endric nodded. “At the time, I don't think that I could see the groeliin. I knew the Antrilii faced something and knew that they were dealing with some horror that I couldn't understand, but I could only see the groeliin after they were dead. Dentoun kept me from the fighting.”
“And how did you learn to face these beasts?” the freckled-face woman asked.
“How could you learn to face any creature?” Endric asked. “My father taught me how to fight with the sword. I continued my education since then. And I barely survived the groeliin.” He tipped his head toward Nessa. “Nessa can attest to that. I don't know how badly I was hurt, but I barely survived. Were it not for—” Endric didn't know what it had been for. Were it not for his boot knives, would he have survived? Had the howl of the merahl scared off the groeliin attacking him? Was it something else? “All I know is that I nearly died. So if you're attributing some sort of prowess to me, keep that in mind. I nearly died.”
The women all stared at him before turning back and resuming their hushed conversation.
Only Melinda watched him. At length, she rose to take Endric by the arm, leading him to a corner of the room. “You are Dendril’s son?” she asked.
Endric nodded. “I am Dendril's son. The brother of Andril, and en’raen of the Denraen soldiers. I came here to understand my heritage. I wanted to know more about where I came from.”
“Did Dendril not warn you?” Melinda asked.
Endric shook his head. “Dendril understood that I needed to know more about my family. I think he hoped that I would find Nahrsin and that from there I would learn.”
Melinda frowned, tipping her head as she watched Endric. “Didn't he warn you?” she asked again.
“Warn me?”
Melinda nodded. “Yes. Did Dendril not instruct you to search for Nahrsin and the Scroll Tribe?”
It was Endric's turn to frown. “He didn't tell me to find any tribes. He let me travel north, letting me go with Brohmin —”
Melinda sucked in a breath. “The Hunter was with you?”
Endric nodded.
“What happened? Where is the Hunter?” Melinda asked.
“I don't know. When the groeliin attacked, Brohmin saw them and helped me face them.”
“Of course, he did. He is the Hunter.”
Endric wondered what that meant, but also wondered how Melinda knew about Brohmin's Conclave title. “He fell. I defended him as well as I could. There was only so much I could do when the groeliin attacked. They were more than I could withstand.”
“Yet you live.”
Endric nodded. “I live. And I don't know what happened to Brohmin.”
Melinda considered him for a long moment, her eyes seeming to weigh him. Behind her, Endric noted the other women of the Yahinv all speaking softly, their hushed voices occasionally growing louder as they seemed to debate some issue that Endric suspected had to do with him, or with his father.
“Why do they dislike Dendril so much?” Endric asked Melinda. Of the members of the Yahinv, he thought she was the most likely to answer.
Melinda glanced over her shoulder. “Each Antrilii made an oath long ago. It was one given to the gods themselves, a promise made.”
“Promise? Is this about defending the north from the groeliin?”
Melinda turned back to him, nodding once. “This is about defending more than the north. The Antrilii made an oath to the gods that they would protect the land, that they would prevent the groeliin from spreading, from descending upon the rest of the world as they once did. It is an oath that the Antrilii have taken seriously for the entirety of our existence. All men serve as hunters, searching for signs of the groeliin, keeping them from reaching beyond the Ailenii mountains.”
Endric thought he was beginning to understand. If his father ha
d been expected to serve as a hunter, then he would have abandoned his oath by going to the Denraen.
“And Dendril left the Antrilii, which upsets everyone else?” Endric asked.
Melinda shook her head. “Dendril abandoned his rule, passing it on to his brother.”
“My father was to lead the Scroll Tribe?”
Melinda smiled. “Dendril was to lead the hunters of the Scroll tribe. I lead the Scroll Tribe.”
Endric met her gaze. “I am sorry about the loss of Dentoun. His sacrifice allowed many others to survive.”
“I know. Nahrsin shared with me what happened. I have no reason to doubt him, even if these others do. And my son has always been vigilant in his task, and ever faithful to his family.”
Endric's heart quickened. “Your son?”
Melinda nodded. “Dentoun was my son.”
Which meant Dendril was her son as well. Which meant…
“Grandmother?”
Melinda frowned at him and said nothing.
8
Melinda returned to the table with the rest of the Yahinv. She left Endric standing there, his mind racing. For years, all he had known was his father and his brother. He had no other family. His father never spoke of his time before coming to Vasha, and never spoke of his mother, despite Endric’s curiosity about his father’s family.
Was it possible that Melinda knew more about his mother? Was it possible that his mother had been Antrilii as well?
Endric suspected that it was. It would have to be, for Dendril to have passed on the same gifts to him.
He turned his attention back to the women debating.
Why had Nessa brought him here? She had known that he was related to Dendril, but as soon as she had, she had begun referring to him as oathbreaker. Would they allow him to go with Melinda? If they did, he could reach Nahrsin, and he could begin to discover what he needed to know about his people and where he had come from.
But the longer that he was here, the more Endric began to worry that perhaps they wouldn't allow him to leave. Perhaps they would hold him and question him more.
Endric had no additional answers. He didn't understand the politics of the Antrilii, and he wasn't certain exactly what they would want to hear other than that they accused Dendril of breaking his oaths. Endric had the sense that Melinda—Dendril's mother—hadn't completely forgiven him either.
“We have sent the Shin tribe searching for the Elbow hunters. We have found nothing. Either they are absent, or perhaps they found the Chisln.”
“The movement of the beasts might indicate the timing of the Chisln, but they wouldn’t have one so near our lands,” Nessa said. She seemed exasperated by repeating herself. “Why would they risk it here? Our hunters—”
“Will find them, and we will bring great glory to the Antrilii,” the pale-faced woman said.
“Glory? That’s not what any Antrilii seeks,” Melinda chastised.
They fell silent for a moment until Nessa interrupted. “We all want the same, Melinda.”
“Yes, but some are more willing to pursue it than others.”
“You blame my hunters now?”
“The hunters will take no blame,” Melinda said. “They fight the beasts, especially when they move in numbers such as they do now.”
“Is that why I was attacked near Farsea?” Endric asked, approaching the table.
The women ignored him. The woman with the bells in her hair said, “The beasts have been confined to their nests.”
“There are more hordes now than there have been in years.”
“What is a Chisln?” Endric asked.
They glanced his way but dismissed him quickly.
“There has been movement in the Aspen chain,” the woman with freckles said.
“I've been patrolling through the north,” Endric said. “If you tell me what sort of word you would expect, maybe I've heard something.”
Melinda turned to him. She had an expression that appeared to be either irritation or frustration. It was a sour look that reminded Endric of his father.
The women turned their attention back to him, glancing at him one by one. Finally, it was Nessa who spoke. “What is the plan for the oathbreaker’s son?” she asked.
“There must be punishment for him. If his father will not serve the penance, the son of the oathbreaker must.”
Melinda shook her head. “As I said, you don't understand what you are doing. You don't understand the task Dendril has put upon himself.”
Nessa shot her a hard glare, surprising Endric with the intensity of it. “It's not surprising that you would defend the oathbreaker, but you must remain silent in this, Melinda.”
“It is agreed, then?” the woman with the bells in her hair asked. “That he will be subjected to the punishment that was meant to be for Dendril?”
The others each nodded.
“What punishment? Endric asked.
“It is only fitting that he should face the consequences. We can send word to Dendril, and if he feels that he would rather take the place of his son, we would welcome the oathbreaker back to face the consequences of his actions.”
Melinda shook her head. “This is a mistake. You are risking what you do not understand.”
“No,” one of the other women said. “Tradition must be followed. Oathbreakers must be punished. If they are not, then others who choose not to hunt, others who think they need not serve the way the Antrilii have served for countless generations may begin to choose the same path.”
Melinda shot the woman a withering glare. “Do you really believe that others would choose to serve and subsequently lead the Denraen? Do you not understand how Dendril serves? Do you not understand how he helps protect our people in his position? There is value in having my son in Vasha watching the Magi, observing them, preventing interference with what we must do.”
“Serving in Vasha is an easier life. Even you must recognize that,” Nessa said.
“I recognize that the Antrilii made a vow to the gods, one that we have honored for a thousand years. I recognize that we serve as protectors of the north, defending the rest of the world from a threat they do not even know exists.”
“My father serves more than the Antrilii. He serves a council you cannot understand. Ask—”
Nessa frowned at him. “You would claim that Dendril serves some other council?”
“I would claim more than just that. He is not the only one. The—” Endric started but was cut off by Melinda.
“This is a mistake. Send him back to his father. He does not deserve even the chance at penance. At least there, he can still serve the gods.”
“If you believe that, then you are a fool,” the woman with the bells in her hair stated. “There are the groeliin, and there are the Antrilii who oppose them.”
“And there once were others,” Melinda said.
“Until they abandoned their vows,” the woman with the freckles said, more venom in her voice than Endric thought necessary.
What did they mean that others had abandoned their vows? Who else had once faced the groeliin?
“They had a different responsibility thrust upon them,” Melinda said softly. “They became the force for peace. Surely you cannot deny that they serve in that way, Isabel,” Melinda said, casting a condemning look at the woman with the bells in her hair. “Or you, Shannah.” She eyed the woman with the freckles. “Bethal? Jasphen? Rebecca?” She eyed each of them in turn, and the women all stared back at her defiantly. “You call him an oathbreaker, and you have demanded punishment of him, and now you would take it from his son, a man who does not know the ways of the Antrilii, who does not know what you would subject him to, and a man who—”
“Who came to us willingly,” Shannah said. “Let him choose.”
The women turned to Endric, who didn’t know what to say or do. What did they expect of him? He had come wanting to know of his family and to understand where he came from, but with their feelings about his father, that
would prove difficult—unless he made a sacrifice. Was he willing to make a sacrifice to know?
Melinda watched him and seemed to know the difficulty he had because she shook her head in a warning.
All eyes turned to Endric. He had an unsettled feeling, one that made him think that perhaps he hadn't thought things through well enough. These women, members of this council of Antrilii, looked upon him as if he were some sort of dangerous animal. They stared at him almost like he were one of the groeliin. He almost shivered but feared that doing so would be seen as a marker of weakness.
Instead, he looked back at them, trying to find a hint of both defiance and reassurance, needing to work with them so that he could understand what it meant that he was descended of the Antrilii. It might be that there was nothing he could say and nothing that he could do to reassure them, especially considering what he knew of their feelings toward his father.
“Do you accept the punishment of the oathbreaker?” Nessa asked.
Melinda shook her head. “No. You will not put that upon him. He does not deserve that punishment.”
Shannah glanced at Melinda. “It is not for you to decide this, Melinda.”
“If he claims my tribe, it would be for me to decide.”
Nessa shook her head, this time with more vigor. “No. This one belongs to no tribe, which means that you cannot claim him. He is not of the Antrilii, as the oathbreaker abandoned our people. He abandoned his vows. Do not think that you can claim him. Do not think that you can redeem him.”
Melinda stood. She crossed her arms over her chest and anger flashed across her eyes. “None of this is according to custom. None of this serves the gods the way we have been instructed to do. So do not think to use your weak arguments on me that your choices are made on behalf of our people. The choices you make are out of ignorance and out of fear.”
“If out of ignorance, as you say, then tell us what we need to know. Tell us what it is that you think your wisdom has given you over the years.” This time, it was Nessa who stared defiantly, turning her gaze upon Melinda.
Soldier Sworn (The Teralin Sword Book 3) Page 6