by D. L. Kramer
Finally, Jensina turned her tear-streaked face to the same stars her sister was ranting at. "Father, please!" she called.
At first there was no answer, then Zakris' form slowly appeared between the two goddesses.
"He will not hurt your servant again," Zakris said, coming to kneel beside Jensina.
"Did you cast him out?" Halona demanded. When he did not answer, she continued. "He is attacking our own servants now, and still you will not rid us of him?!"
"Let me take her," Zakris gently lifted Rena's form from Jensina's lap onto his own. Brushing his fingers past her lips, he traced a line to her heart, then pressed gently against her skin. A white glow started directly beneath his fingertips, then slowly spread until it completely encompassed her. After a moment, Rena's eyes fluttered, then again, then slowly opened.
"Valry--" she managed weakly, her eyes not focusing on the god who held her, but rather something far away.
"She is safe," Zakris assured her. "He cannot endanger her soul anymore."
After a moment, Rena's eyes moved to Zakris'. "No," she said, trying to raise herself from his embrace, but not strong enough. "Do not take away my gift to her," she begged weakly. "It was all I had..."
"Her gift is not gone," Zakris reassured her. "But changed. It was the price to pay to assure my brother would not destroy her. She may hear your whispers now, child, but as she grows older, they will become harder for her to hear. This is the only way to save her soul from Zared."
Rena turned her face into his chest and sobbed.
Seventeen - "Why was Yenene so upset?"
Nahtan had barely caught Valry when her eyes blinked open again. She started to cry, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked her, stroking her hair. For some reason, he was relieved to hear her crying.
"Mama," Valry managed between sobs. "S--Someone tried to hurt her--and me."
Nahtan carefully forced down his temper again.
"Who could hurt her this way?" Amilyn asked, kneeling beside Nahtan.
Nahtan only shook his head, not wanting to even speak Zared's name for fear it would cause the dam building in him to burst.
"Come to your Aunt Amilyn," Amilyn said, holding out her arms to Valry. Valry clung to her father for a moment longer, then reached over and let Amilyn take her onto her lap. Valry sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve, then leaned back against Amilyn's shoulder and blinked at her father.
"Mama said we need to bring the others here," she said quietly. "But when she told me, something happened to her."
Nahtan nodded his head. As much as he wanted to stay and reacquaint himself with his father, sisters and brother, he knew there were other things he needed to take care of. "Bear should be back any minute with Leisl," he said, standing and meeting Michak's eyes. "I need to leave to take care of some things. Can Valry stay here for a little while?"
Michak nodded his head. "Of course," he answered. "My house has held children since I was Garren's age, one more granddaughter won't hurt anything."
Nahtan nodded his head, then looked at his gathered family, his gaze stopping on Shira. "Stay here," he told her. He started to leave, then stopped, a thought occurring to him. "Are there any temples to Jensina around here?" he asked Michak.
"There was one in Edgewind before we left, but that was many years ago," he shook his head. "I don't know if it's still standing or not."
Nahtan nodded his head, then turned to the door. Before he could reach for it, someone outside opened it. Yenene stood in the doorway, out of breath, her eyes filled with fear. "Valry--?" she asked Nahtan.
Nahtan nodded, stepping to the side so she could see into the room. He should have realized she would know something happened.
"She's all right," he assured her. He could hear voices down the road and recognized Bear's. "Are the girls still at the camp?" he asked her.
Yenene nodded, her black eyes going to where Valry had nestled down in Amilyn's lap and arms. Next her eyes moved over the group, stopping on Michak. "May I enter, Sir?" she asked him.
Michak seemed surprised by her formal tone, but nodded. Yenene stepped into the room and came to kneel beside Valry. Something unspoken seemed to pass between them, then Yenene reached over and touched her cheek. After a moment, she untied the girl's dress and pulled down the front to reveal five round, silvery-white spots directly over her heart.
"What is that?" Nahtan asked, coming back over for a closer look. Valry looked down at the spots, her eyes unconcerned.
Yenene shook her head. "I don't know," she answered.
"That's where Zakris touched Mama to save her," Valry supplied.
"I've heard about that," Garren said after a moment. Nahtan realized the boy was still holding Tykira's baby, and seemed perfectly at ease with the bundle.
"Garren," Michak said, his tone shocked.
Garren looked at his father. "Yes, Papa, you failed at keeping me completely sheltered," he said, then looked back at Nahtan and Yenene. "One of the minstrels called it the 'Mark of Zakris' and it meant whoever had it was protected by Zakris himself."
Nahtan and Yenene exchanged looks. It appeared to Nahtan that his brother had received most of his "outside" education from the minstrels and storytellers who wandered past the smithy. He couldn't help but wonder what Meda would think of that.
"He would have been the only one who could save her," Yenene said to Nahtan. She turned back to Valry and relaced and tied her dress.
"What is going on in your life that the gods themselves have to intervene?" Michak asked Nahtan.
Nahtan stood to face his father. "To win the crown of Herridon, I had to defeat Zared in a mortal form," he explained, saying the name quickly and without paying much attention to it. "I don't think he was a very good loser."
"Zared the fallen god?" Tykira asked, her eyes wide.
Nahtan nodded. "Since he can't do anything to me now, he's probably trying to hurt Valry and Rena," he explained, then looked at Shira again. Throughout the entire episode with Valry, she hadn't moved from her seat on the bench, her eyes still far away. "But if what Valry says is true--and she's never lied about these things before--then I can take a little bit more of a step towards defeating Thorvald and his group, too."
He turned toward the door again as Bear opened it and led Leisl in. Tykira's response to seeing her oldest sister was exactly the same as when she had seen Nahtan. Leisl, however, did remember her sisters and was soon crying as she embraced them and their father. As Tykira and Breigh gathered around her, Nahtan nodded to his father, then led Bear out into the night.
"Valry says the two girls we have with us are my sister's daughters," he explained as they started walking towards the edge of the village and the camp.
"Why was Yenene so upset?" Bear asked. "She about ran us off the road."
Nahtan debated telling his friend what had happened. He knew how seriously he took his position as Valry's protector. Would Bear understand that this was something he could not protect her from? "I think Zared tried to hurt either Valry or Rena," he explained carefully. "But Valry's okay, and Yenene thinks Zakris has protected her from Zared once and for all." He decided that Yenene's opinion would carry more weight with Bear than Garren's.
They reached the camp and roused the two girls from their tent. Both were sleepy and quiet as Nahtan and Bear brought them back to the village square and Michak's smithy. Leisl, Breigh and Tykira had all come to stand outside to talk, their voices excited as they traded events of the last twenty years. When Tykira and Breigh saw the two girls, Valry's claims were confirmed.
Both girls were greeted with great enthusiasm, and for the first time, Nahtan saw part of the shell they had erected around themselves break apart. When they were taken back in and reunited with their mother, Shira's withdrawal crumbled along with the girls' as they cried and embraced each other.
With the small room getting too crowded to move around
in easily, Michak motioned for Nahtan and Bear to follow him outside. Garren handed the baby he was holding back to Tykira and followed behind them, staying just far enough behind that he wouldn't be obvious.
"How did you find them?" Michak asked. "My daughters' husbands had been tracking and hunting them since the night they were taken."
"Let me guess," Nahtan sighed. "They got as far as when and where the girls were sold, then the trail went cold, right?"
Michak nodded his head, his eyes intent on Nahtan.
"They were bought by a young noble in my kingdom," Nahtan continued. "Lord Valin thought presenting me with them would--move me to action faster than just his words alone that the slave trade was still going on."
"I think I would like to meet this Lord Valin," Michak said, his tone all too obvious to Nahtan.
"I think this could get very messy," Bear mentioned.
"I have dealt with Lord Valin and pointed out his mistake," Nahtan said slowly. "He assured me the girls were in the best of care while he brought them to Herridon, however I know him very well, and no doubt his demeanor alone scared them into their withdrawal."
"What sort of monsters do you allow at your court?" Michak asked.
Nahtan couldn't help but smile. Now that was a word he hadn't thought about applying to Rial. He found it oddly fitting.
"Lord Valin is a special case," Bear explained. "He won't do anything to upset His Royal Majesty here too much, because Nahtan saved his wretched life once."
"Why would you save such a one?"
"It was before we knew what he'd turn out like," Nahtan answered. "I've wondered several times if I could go back if I should save him or not."
"And whether we like it or not," Bear continued. "He has his uses." He paused for a moment. "Although there is quite a line building of people who get to kill him if he ever outlives his usefulness."
"Add me to that line," Michak said, his face serious.
Nahtan stayed at Michak's smithy until late that night before heading back to the camp. Michak seemed to think that with Garren's help, he could have their horses re-shoed by the afternoon. Nahtan was anxious to get on the road to Edgewind as he walked back to the camp in the dark. He shifted Valry as she slept with her head on his shoulder. Bear and Yenene had returned to the camp a couple of hours before, leaving Nahtan alone to get to know his father, sisters and brother.
Reuniting with his family had proven to be exhausting not just for him, but for Valry as well. She had seemed to recover quickly from whatever had threatened her and within an hour was running and playing with her cousins. Amilyn had pulled him aside at one point to welcome him back privately, and Nahtan realized she had buried her grief at the loss so that she could carry her sisters through the years. Even though Shira was a year older, Amilyn had been the strongest of the five girls left. Now that he had returned to them, she was able to let her tears loose.
Nahtan had nearly forgotten Valry's comment about his other sister, but Amilyn reminded him when she explained it. Linah had been Breigh's twin, and while walking home one night several years before, had disappeared. Since adults were never taken by the slavers, they all assumed she had been killed and her body hidden. Nahtan promised her he'd keep his ears open for any news of her whereabouts or what had happened, and knowing she looked identical to Breigh would make it easier for him to spot her.
Michak had also offered him a private welcome. With tears that seemed out of place on his weathered face, he had told Nahtan how greatly he had been missed. Garren's birth had salved some of the loss, but could never replace his firstborn son. Having lost one son, Michak confessed to being overly protective of Garren, even letting his daughters dress him like a girl when he was a baby, hoping it would discourage the church guards in Edgewind from taking his son again. It was now that Michak told Nahtan that the church guard who had taken him and Leisl was Thorvald himself. Nahtan felt more pressure added to the dam inside him when he found out, but forced the anger back again.
"You know," Brijade said, falling in step beside him as he neared the camp. "You won't let your Mo'ani drink while they're traveling, and then you stay in town all night?" She shook her head. "Doesn't look very good."
"And why aren't you in camp?" he asked.
"Because Sewati wouldn't let me kill the swamprat so I had to leave before I did something I regretted."
"Why did you want to kill Rial this time?" Nahtan asked her.
Brijade shrugged. "I figured we were here, we knew where we were heading, so he wasn't needed anymore."
"You've been nursing that for three months?" Nahtan asked her, amazed at her stubbornness.
"You did give me permission to kill him," Brijade reminded him.
"If he threatened Valry," Nahtan reminded her. "And that order still stands. But you can't kill him for no reason."
"I should have known you'd turn back into the same old Nahtan," Brijade sighed, shaking her head. "It was so much more fun when you told me I could kill him."
Nahtan rolled his eyes, too tired to argue with her anymore. He knew Brijade wouldn't do anything against his wishes or Bear's order, but she could certainly make life difficult for Rial in the mean time.
Nahtan walked into town with Brijade the next morning, each of them leading a horse as they made their way back to Michak's smithy. Essian fairly pranced behind Brijade, lifting his hooves several inches higher off the ground than usual, while Ayita gave the other Dweller's horse a cool stare then nuzzled Nahtan's shoulder and neck. Nahtan had changed into a clean tunic and breeches while Brijade still wore her usual black vest, breeches and wrist guards. Her hair was loose this morning, and hung as haphazardly down as it looked pinned on top of her head. While Nahtan had left his sword at the camp, Brijade still wore her narrow curved sword on her hip and the stiletto at her waist.
As they approached the smithy, Nahtan could hear Michak's hammer as he formed one of the several horseshoes he would need. They stopped outside the doorway and Nahtan banged on the side of the open door to get his attention.
Michak paused to look up, then motioned them in. Letting the two horses go, Nahtan led Brijade into the smithy. The room was dark except for the faint light from the windows covered with oiled parchment and the light from the forge. Michak didn't seem to have any trouble seeing what he was doing, and Garren sat on a stool behind him, slowly feeding the fire in the forge.
"We've got the first two," Nahtan said, leaning against the door. Brijade turned to study several small daggers on a nearby table. Picking one up, she examined it.
"It'll just be another minute on this shoe," Michak said, continuing to form the shoe with sure strikes of his hammer. When it was to his satisfaction, he plunged it into the barrel of water, leaving it in as it snapped and hissed.
Brijade set the small dagger down. "You'd have to be close enough to be sure to hit someone someplace vital for it to do you any good." She looked at Michak. "The blade's too short."
"The blade is intended for children," he commented, taking the shoe from the water and examining it closely. "Some parents buy them from passing vendors who come to their farms, then the children sharpen them and pretend to fight with each other." He turned the shoe and felt along the inner curve with his thumb. "When I catch them, I take them away. If the parents don't claim them in a week's time, I melt them down."
"Good way to get your steel for free," Nahtan mentioned.
"If it were good steel," Michak shook his head. "They aren't worth half what the parents pay for them."
"So what do you do with it?" Brijade asked.
"I add enough other metals to it to make it good steel," Michak answered. "Then use it for more practical things." He paused for a moment, as if just realizing he was talking to a woman about the quality of his metal. "I didn't catch your name," he said pointedly.
Brijade smiled faintly. "Probably because I didn't offer it and your son here doesn't always have very good manners," she returned.
"And you do
?" Nahtan asked her. "You had to leave camp last night so you wouldn't kill Lord Valin."
Michak stopped as he examined the outer curve of the shoe, his eyes moving from Nahtan to Brijade.
"I would have been polite when I killed him," Brijade shrugged. "I'd have even thanked him for holding still while I ran him through."
Nahtan sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah, except you would have knocked him unconscious first so he couldn't move."
Brijade shrugged again. "I never said I wouldn't."
Nahtan turned to Michak. "This is Brijade, the Lady of Takis Hold." He paused for a moment, remembering Brijade's reputation among the ranks of her Mo'ani. "Although the term 'Lady' is applied traditionally in her case and not based on any action or gentle temperament she has exhibited."
Brijade turned a questioning look to him, one eyebrow raised. "I'll remember that the next time your arse is about to get cut down in battle," she returned, her voice even. "Maybe when I'm the only one who can get through the field to you again, I'll decide to be a 'lady'."
Michak and Nahtan exchanged looks, and behind his father, Nahtan could see Garren's eyes riveted on Brijade. No doubt he had never seen anyone like her before.
"You don't get along well with women, do you?" Michak asked Nahtan.
"I warned you she wasn't any ordinary woman," Nahtan reminded him with a sigh. He then turned to Brijade. "My most humble royal apologies, Lady of Takis Hold if I have in any way endangered your reputation beyond the extensive damage you have already done to it yourself."