„I was well-trained,“ Brynn replied. „And am To-gai-ru.“ She managed a smile. „And none have ever found a better mount…“ She stopped, realizing that the proud leader wasn’t even listening to her.
„You will move up seven places in the line, closer to me, I think,“ Ashwarawu said offhandedly.
Brynn knew that she should be thrilled, but something about his tone and demeanor had her quite concerned.
„After you finish the task,“ he said, and he slowly turned his head to regard one of the Behrenese soldiers lying upon the ground, writhing in pain.
Brynn looked at the man, understanding what was expected of her. But this task hit her hard, assaulting her sensibilities. It was one thing to do bat- inst an enemy, one she profoundly hated, but how could she view a /ing helpless upon the ground in such a light as that?
ooked back to Ashwarawu, to see him staring hard at her, not blinking, not flinching.
Brvnn turned to Pagonel for support, for anything, and found him sitting there staring alternately at her and at the leader, as if weighing both.
The seconds slipped past.
„Finish the task,“ Ashwarawu said slowly and deliberately.
Brvnn found it hard to draw breath. She understood the depth of this trial, understood that if she was not strong, her place among the raiders,
none all the To-gai-ru, would be forever diminished. She thought to argue about taking captives again, but knew that Ashwarawu was uncompromising on this point. The raider band did not have the resources to keep prisoners, to feed them or even to watch over them. And since no Behrenese soldiers or caravan drivers would offer any bargaining leverage whatsoever with any of the Yatol leaders, they were worthless to Ashwarawu.
Brynn scanned the leader and the others again, wishing that she had a way out, but understanding that she most certainly did not. She slid down from her pony; she could have done the deed astride, but she didn’t want to include Runtly in the dirty business.
Her bloody sword in hand, Brynn walked up to a wounded Behrenese. She chose the most grievously wounded man first, one who could not plead to her, could not even look her in the eye. He gasped for breath, blood pouring from his mouth with each exhalation, and Brynn knew that even if Ashwarawu had agreed to taking prisoners, there was nothing that she and the others could do to help this one.
JuraviePs warnings about the cruelty of war echoed in the woman’s mind.
She struck fast and cleanly, stabbing the man through the heart, stilling his body and ending his misery.
The next wounded man looked up at her as she stood over him, his eyes pleading for mercy. He even managed a slight shake of his head, begging her not to strike.
Brynn looked up, then closed her eyes. She remembered keenly the moment when her parents had been murdered, purposely replaying that awful scene in her head again.
She struck, imagining that she was stabbing the man who had killed her parents.
And then she walked away. She held her sword out to the side and called rorth its fire, using the flames to burn away the bloodstains.
She heard the cries of encouragement, the cheers, from the To-gai-ru, „tough she did not feel much like a hero at that moment. She saw the approving look of Ashwarawu.
Or was it an approving look? She had to wonder, for somewhere in the leader’s powerful expression, Brynn saw something more, and something far less. He had chosen her to carry out the executions, under the rationalization of glory, that she had performed well and so deserved the task of finishing the battle. But in looking at him then, Brynn understood that Ash-warawu had just tested her, and perhaps, that he had just tried to diminish her, in her own eyes if in no one else’s. Had Ashwarawu just taken a bit more control over Brynn?
The woman looked to Pagonel, who sat astride his horse, holding Runtly’s reins. She saw a sadness there, and a measure of sympathy that she had not expected.
She took the reins and pulled herself up onto Runtly’s strong back, the pony accepting her, as always. She took some comfort in that, for Runtly would not judge her, as she could not help but judge herself.
„They were utterly overrun,“ Wan Atenn reported to Yatol Grysh in the audience chamber of the great temple in Dharyan. „The dead of our people were left on the frozen ground and all but one destroyed wagon was taken.“ The Chezhou-Lei warrior said it all matter-of-factly, as if the loss of a few soldiers and drivers was no big event.
Yatol Grysh s stern look melted away. „And the foodstuffs were prepared as I ordered?“ he asked, grinning.
„They were.“
At Grysh’s side, Carwan Pestle shifted in his seat and put a curious look over the Yatol.
„The food was poisoned,“ Grysh happily explained. „That caravan had to ride back and forth several times before the rebels even took notice of it!“
„You sent them out there to be sacrificed?“ Pestle asked, in surprise and not in judgment.
„Ashwarawu is a fool, but a dangerous one,“ Grysh replied. „Of course, he may well be a dead fool now.“
The Yatol nodded, trying very hard not to glance in the direction of any of the several slaves - To-gai-ru all - who were working in the temple. He had no doubt that word of the treachery would soon spread to the steppes, and to Ashwarawu’s ears, but that was part of the fun of it, was it not? He looked to the stunned Carwan Pestle, and was a bit disappointed that his protege hadn’t caught on to all of this sooner. None of the outposter towns truly needed any supplies, after all, so why had Grysh sent out three separate caravans?
Pestle was too innocent, the Yatol reasoned, to understand the need of such sacrifices. The first two caravans were necessary predecessors to the third batch of poisoned supplies.
Of course, even the third was no more than a ruse. There were no poisons available in any quantities that could kill a large group of men after and days of sitting in foodstuffs that would not be readily detectable even casual observation.
N this too was a ruse, designed to bolster Ashwarawu’s confidence - in own forces, in the incompetence of his enemies, and in the spy network h t was so obviously working for him out of Dharyan. No doubt one of the ‘ rkers in the temple would pass the word of the poisoned food, and anther wretched Ru would rush out in the dark of night to find the rebel Grvsh was glad he didn’t have to try to hide his sly smile, because he doubted that he could at that time.
He was drawing the rebel fool in, and he had eight hundred trained, professional soldiers at his disposal.
„You are surprised that I take so bold and decisive a step against the fool rebels?“ Grysh asked Pestle.
„No, Yatol.“
„Yes, you are,“ Grysh corrected. „Why not wait until the spring, after all, when we could send the might of Jacintha’s army against the rabble and be done with them quickly and easily?“ Grysh paused, studying the man, mocking him with a wry grin. „Yes, you are surprised, and so our next visitor this day should help you to understand.“
With that, he looked to Wan Atenn and nodded, and the Chezhou-Lei relayed the signal to one of his guards by the great double doors. That man turned out to the hall and clapped his hands sharply, twice, and in walked Woh Lien and Dahmed Blie, the Chezhou-Lei leaders of the two visiting twenty-squares.
„Yatol,“ Woh Lien said, snapping into a formal bow.
„Greetings to you, Chezhou-Lei.“
„We have come to inform you that our duties here are done. The supplies have been delivered and distributed. Your requested eight-square has been selected from among the finest of our warriors.“
„And so you plan to leave?“
„That is our command, Yatol.“
To return to Jacintha, where you can chase birds from the fountains?“ Grysh asked incredulously. „You are warriors, my friend, and here is a war for you to fight. You would turn from that to return to a city basking in peace and security?“
Lhezhou-Lei Woh Lien glanced nervously over at his compan
ion, who seemed equally ill-at-ease. „It is not our decision to make, Yatol.“
Yet you are the commanders of your respective forces,“ Grysh countered. „Surely you hold discretion in emergency situations.“
True, Yatol. But there is no such emergency. Not at this time, at least, and the God-Voice has determined that we are to return, at the first break in the weather.“
He continued, but Grysh held up his hand, motioning for him to relent „Go, then,“ he said, looking from Carwan Pestle to Wan Atenn, his expression perfectly conveying a sense of worry - an emotion he certainly did not feel. „And let us pray that the wretch Ashwarawu was the first to taste of the last raid’s spoils!“
The Yatol, feigning anger and frustration, dismissed them all, then walked with a huff from the grand room, back to his private quarters, an honestly confused and concerned Carwan Pestle close behind.
But Yatol Grysh was not concerned. Not at all. He had a measure of this rebel, Ashwarawu, now. He was beginning to recognize the man’s patterns and he knew that he was adding to the self-confidence that would ultimately bring the man down.
It would be an enjoyable spring in Dharyan.
„You are unnerved,“ Pagonel remarked to Brynn the day after the caravan raid. Brynn was sitting off to the side of the camp cleaning her sword, alone and apparently calm and composed, but the perceptive mystic had seen through the facade. „It is one thing to kill a man in combat - the rush of fear and the need for self-defense allows for conscious justification. But it is quite another to kill a man lying helpless on the ground. Be relieved, my friend, that there were no uninjured Behrenese after the raid, no men who had just been knocked aside and captured.“
„You presume much.“
Pagonel gave a disarming smile. „A soldier invading your homeland deserves death, perhaps.“
„Any Behrenese entering To-gai uninvited deserves death,“ Brynn said with as much conviction as she could muster.
„Do they?“ The question was spoken, again, with perfect calm and the appearance of sincere reasoning. „If you happened upon a settlement and found a young Behrenese mother with her child, would you kill them? Without guilt?“
Brynn stared hard at him.
„You would put them on the road to their own land, perhaps,“ the mystic remarked. „And likely with enough supplies so that their road would not be dangerous.“
Brynn went back to her work on the sword, her expression intense. „You presume much.“
„Presumptions, perhaps, but based upon considerable observation,“ the mystic explained, taking a seat beside the young ranger. „I watched you at your practice this morning.“
The statement froze Brynn in place. She had walked off far from the To-gai-ru encampment early that morning to practice her bi’nelle dasada, the elven sword dance, a ritual that she had been neglecting far too often of late. In the elven valley, Brynn had performed the dance nude, but since it
•winter here on the steppes, with that constantly chill wind cuttings the iced grasses, she had worn a slight shift that morning. Still, el’s proclamation caught her off guard, and made her feel no less violent than if she had been dancing nude. Bi’nelle dasada was an intensely rsonal exercise, a disciplined series of elaborate motions designed to vsically train the muscles in the motions of battle, but even more than to extend the consciousness, to heighten the bond between body and mind.
Slowly, the young woman looked up at Pagonel.
„We of Jhesta Tu have similar routines,“ the mystic explained. „Quite similar, though we rarely fight or practice with weapons. The Chezhou-Lei warriors do, as well. As do certain factions of the Abellican Church to the north. I am curious as to how you came to learn such a dance, for yours, I believe, is quite extraordinary.“
„It is not your business,“ Brynn said, with all the warnings of Dasslerond that bi’nelle dasada was a secret not to be shared echoing in her mind. She went back to her work on the sword again, pointedly.
„One day we will speak of it, I hope. But of course, the choice is yours. As for the events of yesterday, I am glad to see that you are troubled by them.“
Brynn looked back at him again, her expression skeptical, though Pagonel could not be sure if she was trying to deny the premise of his statement, that she was troubled, or if she was merely confused that he should be glad to witness her guilt.
„You trouble yourself needlessly,“ he explained. „Those men were dead anyway - by Ashwarawu’s hand if not by the wounds they had already received. And you struck with mercy and compassion, which is more than most would have done, and is as much as the doomed soldiers could have expected. Our mighty leader would not allow his reputation to be diminished for the sake of Behrenese soldiers.“
„Should he?“ Brynn asked, her tone making it fairly clear that she sided with Pagonel on this issue.
„I know not,“ the mystic admitted. „Ashwarawu’s reputation serves him, and To-gai, well, I believe. Can the cost of conscience be weighed against that?“
‘If you do not believe that the Behrenese must be forced from To-gai, then why are you here?“
I do not know,“ the mystic honestly replied, and he gave a self-deprecating
chuckle. „That is a question that I must answer myself. Still, I beg that you
consider the question I posed to you, because if we happen upon a village
- Behrenese that contains women and children and other noncombatants,
i may well find yourself in need of the answer. Will you kill an innocent cnud at Ashwarawu’s insistence? Or are you so convinced that there are no innocent Behrenese?“
„Are you intent upon sowing dissent within our band?“
Pagonel chuckled again. „I speak with none of the others, unless they ask something of me.“
„Then why do you take such an interest in Brynn Dharielle?“
„I saw you at your practice this morning,“ the mystic replied, and he let it go at that.
Brynn started to look back at him, but was interrupted by a figure approaching - a quite intimidating figure, large and chiseled.
„Another glorious victory!“ Ashwarawu proclaimed. „Will the trail of Ashwarawu end before it has run right through Jacintha?“
Brynn smiled at him, but his reference to himself in the third person settled uneasily within her. Mostly because Brynn did not believe that Ashwarawu was speaking of „Ashwarawu“ as anything greater than himself.
„But the caravans will cease, I fear,“ the rebel leader went on. „Fat Yatol Grysh will not dare to send many more against the power of Ashwarawu. We may have to destroy a few outposter settlements to garner our supplies through the winter.“
Brynn’s facade cracked for just a moment as images of herded noncom-batants flashed through her mind.
„Or maybe we go right into Behren, eh?“ Ashwarawu said with a wicked grin.
Brynn shrugged and held her smile.
„And what of you, mystic?“ Ashwarawu asked, turning abruptly to Pagonel. „Have you decided why you have joined with us?“
„Contemplation follows its own hourglass,“ Pagonel replied.
Ashwarawu looked at him incredulously for a moment, then exploded into a great burst of laughter. „Well, take your time, then!“ he said. „You were helpful in controlling the horses, even if you did not fight. Just continue to be helpful. Continue to earn the food I give to you.“
Pagonel decided not to point out the fact that his skilled foraging was bringing in far more food than he was consuming.
„A curious pair, if ever I saw one!“ Ashwarawu said, stepping back and surveying Brynn and Pagonel. „Are you certain that you are not father and daughter?“
Brynn winced. Ashwarawu had spoken the words in jest, obviously, but any reference to her father stung. The woman’s expression quickly reverted, though.
Ashwarawu cleared his throat, obviously seeing the discomfort he had brought to Brynn. „Well, you fought magnificently ye
sterday,“ he said. „I do not relinquish the pleasure of killing the wounded and captured Behre-nese easily!“
Brynn merely smiled, hearing Pagonel’s warnings in her head.
„Come with me, my warrior,“ the imposing leader said, and he held his hand out toward a confused Brynn. el glanced at Pagonel, but his expression offered little advice, and so „ok Ashwarawu’s hand, stood and sheathed her sword, and followed the large young man away.
‘ He walked her right past the encampment - and brynn didn t miss sev-1 rather lewd snickers she heard from men along the perimeter - to a small tent set up in the distance.
Inside were piles of furs, and Ashwarawu bade Brynn to sit down. She jjd so moving to the far side of the small tent, and though she had her back sainst one side, and Ashwarawu had his against the opposite side, their legs were practically entwined.
The leader began taking off some of his layers of furs, but Brynn thought nothing of it. The tent was warm; no doubt, heated stones had been placed under the furs.
„When we chased you about the valley on that first day of your arrival, you proved your skill,“ Ashwarawu said. „In the battles against the Wraps, you have proven your worth. Your strength and your will.“
Stripped to one shirt and simple breeches, the young man came forward suddenly, going to his knees before the woman. „I feared that I would not find a woman suitable for Ashwarawu,“ he said, and he moved right in, wrapping Brynn with his powerful arms and pressing his lips against hers.
A rush of confusion washed through Brynn. On the most basic level, Ashwarawu was undeniably handsome, with his strong features and honed muscles, the epitome of To-gai-ru manhood. Add to that the woman’s feelings of duty, that her role within Ashwarawu’s band at that time was whatever Ashwarawu determined her role to be, and she did not immediately refuse.
Ashwarawu pulled her down to the furs and his hands started roaming about her body, sliding under the furs she wore. He kept kissing her, and started to undress her.
Brynn could not deny some of the tingles his touch excited in her, in ways that the innocent young woman had never known. But neither could she deny her instincts that this was not right. Not for her. Not then and there.
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