Soldier Sworn (The Teralin Sword Book 3)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Nessa’s eyes wrinkled deeper. “That would make you Dendril's son. The oathbreaker.”

  There it was again. It was the same word the Antrilii they had encountered outside the mountains had said. What did it mean for him? What did it mean for his father?

  What would Nessa do?

  Endric nodded, waiting for her reaction, worried what it might be.

  Nessa took a deep breath, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. “Come on then.”

  Nessa started back into Farsea, and Endric hurried after her, wondering what he didn't know about his father, and how that impacted his visit.

  6

  The inside of the building was filled with long rows of tables. It was no more ornately decorated on the inside than it was on the outside. The walls were paneled wood, painted a faint orange, leaving Endric wondering why the Antrilii preferred such bright colors. Everywhere he went, he seemed to see the same bright colors. Was there something about those colors that appealed to them? Was there some meaning to them?

  He took a bite of the flatbread that was on the plate in front of him. It had an interesting texture and a sweet taste to it. On either side of him were two young girls. One was Lynn, the young girl he had encountered on the street and who he had now learned was either Nessa's daughter nor her assistant. He had thought her ten or eleven, and that was mostly because of her height but had learned that she was only eight. The girl was tall, though. Then again, all the Antrilii he had met were tall.

  Inside the dining hall, there seemed to be an order to where people ate. Nessa sat toward the center of the dining hall along a table that ran perpendicular to the three other long tables. The hall was filled with women. Endric was the only man present.

  “You need to eat, to gain your strength,” Lynn said. She watched him with her hands resting on the table, an earnestness to her face that would be amusing if not for the fact that Endric suspected that she spoke on Nessa's behalf.

  “I am eating,” he said. “Are all meals spent like this?” When Nessa had taken them through the village, he had observed nothing more than the rows of buildings. She had brought them back to the healing tent, administering another salve over his skin, this one the minty-smelling one. She had paused when she did, checking the tops of the jars of each, eyeing him strangely, seeming to know that he had inspected them as well. The ointment felt cool on his skin and left him invigorated. It was a strange and yet refreshing sense.

  The Denraen could use a similar healing balm. He could imagine applying something like this when he was injured after a particularly violent battle, or even after a particularly vigorous sparring session. It would allow him to recover more quickly and not suffer the same aches and pains that he had known during his sparring sessions.

  “All meals while the hunters are away,” Lynn said.

  Endric surveyed the inside of the dining hall, looking at each of the women. They were of all different ages. They were dressed in various ways, as well. The younger ones seemed to prefer leathers, much like Lynn did. The older women seem to prefer brightly colored dresses, much like what he saw on Nessa. Others wore a combination, leather breeches beneath their dress.

  Each Antrilii had almost uniformly dark hair. Most of them had dark eyes. Most of the women wore their hair long and braided, though there were a few with short, close-cropped hair. None were plump. All seemed fit, as if they were battle-hardened warriors themselves.

  They also seemed as if they didn't know what to make of him. When Nessa had brought him to the dining hall, the conversation had stopped. They had turned to him, staring, the younger ones watching more openly, though Endric had seen even the older women watching with interest. He wondered what they thought. He had come, openly claiming that he was Antrilii. Had Lynn or Nessa shared with them that he had killed the groeliin? That seemed impressive to them, though he had nearly died in the process.

  “Where are the hunters?” Endric asked. He turned his gaze back to Lynn and saw her chewing on a long stock of a dark green vegetable that Endric wasn't familiar with, but it was set on his plate as well. He took a bite of it, finding the skin chewy, with stringy veins running through it. It was not unpleasant but had little flavor.

  “The hunters are hunting.”

  Next to him, the girl on the other side started laughing. Lynn shot her a look, and the girl cut off, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Groeliin?”

  Lynn nodded. “They seek the Chisln—”

  The other girl shot Lynn a heated glare, and she cut off. Endric glanced between them. What was he missing here? “What’s the Chisln?”

  “It’s nothing,” Lynn said. She took a quite bite, filling her mouth so she didn’t have to say anything more. “What really happened with the groeliin?” she asked between bites.

  Endric shrugged, taking another bite of the long green vegetable. “I'm not exactly certain. I was coming north through the pass. The man coming with me noticed them making their way down the mountainside. There were nearly a dozen.”

  “That's not many,” the girl next to him said.

  “Hush, Jenna.” Lynn shot her another warning glance before looking at Endric once more. “Who is this man you are with? How was he able to see the groeliin?”

  “He has some ability to see them.”

  “He is Antrilii?” Lynn asked.

  Endric shook his head.

  “Then he was gifted from the gods. Like the Antrilii.”

  Endric fell into silence while eating. He finished the green vegetable before moving on to the strangely shaped meat on his plate. He hadn't seen any animals, or livestock, and wondered what they had served him. He started into it hesitantly but found the meat flavorful and juicy. It tasted somewhat like beef, though there was a gamey flavor to it. He ate quickly, taking bites of his bread in between, before wiping the remains of his flatbread across his plate, cleaning up the remaining juices and finishing the bread.

  Lynn watched him, a satisfied look on her face.

  “When will the hunters return?” Endric asked.

  Lynn shook her head. “They return when the hunt is over. That's the only time they can return.”

  Endric frowned. “What do you do while they're gone?”

  “We prepare. We protect the village.”

  “Protect the village? From what?”

  Lynn's eyes darkened. “It's not only men who can fight, outlander,” Lynn said. “Men are good for only one thing, while we’re able to do much more.”

  “I didn't —”

  A hand tapped on his shoulder, and he looked back to see Nessa watching him.

  “Come, outlander. It's time to visit with the Yahinv.”

  “The Yahinv?”

  Nessa nodded, and Endric stood, tipping his head toward Lynn and Jenna. Jenna giggled softly, but Lynn only watched him, her eyes with an intensity that an eight-year-old should not possess. As Nessa led him away, Endric shook his head. “That one is precocious, isn't she?”

  Nessa huffed. “Precocious would be fitting for her. She is talented, which gives her confidence.”

  “What kind of talent?”

  Nessa glanced over. “The kind that allows you to live, outlander.”

  Endric looked back at Lynn. “She was the one who healed me?”

  Nessa shook her head. “Not her. But she made the liniments that allowed you to live. She was the one who suggested that we heal you. Were it up to me, you would've been left to see if you could survive without healing.”

  They left the building, and Endric cast another glance back at Lynn, letting it linger on the young girl. He would have to thank her the next time he saw her. He had thought that Nessa had been the one who had saved him, but if it hadn't been her, then he needed to express his gratitude to Lynn. Endric had no doubt that he would not have survived without the ministrations of the Antrilii healers. He could easily recall the pain, the agony, that he had experienced when he had awoken.

  “Where are you taking me?” Endric
asked as they passed beyond the edge of the village. They made their way north, beyond the edge of the city where Endric had been before. From here, the ground sloped away, the hills around Farsea abrupt, concealing much.

  “As I said, it is time that you visit with the Yahinv.”

  Nessa led him away. The sun had begun to set, leaving a colorful sky in its wake. Streaks of color filled the sky, and Endric found himself staring at it, marveling at its simple beauty. It seemed clearer here than it did in the south. The clouds that he had noticed over the last few months were not present here, and the air had a surprising warmth. There was none of the chill he had experienced in the foothills, or even through the first stages of the pass through the mountains. Endric found that the most surprising of all. Why was it so warm here? This far to the north, he expected it to be colder and thought there should be snow or ice on the ground.

  “How long have the Antrilii lived in these lands?” Endric asked, trying to keep pace with Nessa. She moved quickly, and Endric couldn't see where they were heading. They followed a slightly worn path that wasn't quite a road, but the grasses were trampled, making it easy enough to follow.

  “The Antrilii have lived in these lands for over a thousand years.”

  Endric blinked. How could that be possible? “Farsea didn't appear that old,” he said.

  Nessa shook her head. “Farsea is only a few hundred years old. There are others.”

  “Are the other Antrilii villages like it?”

  “Are you always this foolish, outlander?”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Do you not have other cities in your southlands?”

  In the distance, he saw what appeared to be a turret rising above the hill they headed up. Nessa guided them in that direction, slowly veering toward it. Was that the Yahinv?

  “There are other cities in the south. I just didn't know how many cities the Antrilii had.”

  Nessa said, “The Antrilii are several distinct tribes. Each tribe has its own home. But each tribe comes together to face the groeliin threat.”

  “Like when Dentoun led the Antrilii south after the groeliin?”

  Nessa stopped and crossed her arms over her chest as she considered him. “Tell me about that experience, outlander.”

  Endric shrugged. “I don't know much about the groeliin attack. I was… found… by the Antrilii east of Vasha. Dentoun led a band of Antrilii south, chasing groeliin. There were five merahl hunting with him.”

  He wasn't sure whether to tell Nessa about how the Antrilii had faced the Deshmahne, not certain whether that mattered, and not certain whether she would believe him or whether she would question him again. “That is too far south for the groeliin,” Nessa said.

  “That is what Dentoun thought as well. They chased the groeliin on a hunt.”

  “And that is where he perished? He was killed by groeliin?”

  Endric studied her. Now he thought he understood. Had Nahrsin not shared what happened? Had Nahrsin not told the rest of the Antrilii how his father had died? If he hadn't, what did that mean for his tribe?

  Unless Nahrsin came from a different tribe. Which meant that Farsea was not Nahrsin's home.

  “Which tribe does Nahrsin belong to?” Endric asked.

  Nessa huffed again. “You ask that now, outlander? You come north, in search of the Antrilii, claiming to fight the groeliin, and don't know which tribe Nahrsin belongs to?”

  Endric shook his head.

  “He belongs to the oathbreaker tribe.”

  Nessa continued forward, leaving Endric staring after, watching her back.

  What had happened with his father?

  Endric had come north, thinking that he would be welcomed here, thinking that the Antrilii would embrace him. His time with Dentoun and with Nahrsin had given him no other impression, had not made him believe that there would be anything other than a welcome here. But there was much more taking place than he knew.

  They rounded a curve in the path, and the top of the turret came into view. Endric stared, mouth agape. It was more than a turret. It was a tower made of stone, a replica of the Tower of the Gods in Thealon.

  There were many such replicas found in the south, though all were temples built by the Urmahne priests, designed to celebrate and worship the gods. Endric was surprised to see one here.

  He had known the Antrilii to be devout. All of the Antrilii he had encountered when traveling with Dentoun had believed in their purpose and had believed in the way that they served the gods. In that respect, it should not surprise him that he would find a tower, a reflection of the power of the gods. Yet it surprised him that the Antrilii would create a replica of the tower.

  “Why here?” he asked.

  Nessa pressed her lips together in a frown before answering. “I told you that we came to meet with the Yahinv. They will help me determine what should happen to you.”

  Endric frowned, watching her. “I thought you had already decided.”

  Nessa nodded. “I did. But if you are the son of the oathbreaker, the Yahinv must determine what happens to you.” She turned toward the tower and motioned Endric to follow. “Come. And hope that the Yahinv is forgiving.”

  7

  The inside of the tower was lit with nearly a dozen lanterns. Elaborate tapestries hung next to each lantern, the light shining brightly enough for Endric to make out what was depicted on each tapestry, and he marveled at the reflection of the gods depicted there.

  This was not artwork of a simple people. They were far more developed than he had known. How could no one else have known about the Antrilii?

  There were shelves arranged around the room with hundreds of books. The scholars in Vasha might even be impressed with their collection.

  He turned his attention back to Nessa, a question on his lips that went unasked as she motioned him toward a stair near the back of the room.

  They climbed the stairs, moving swiftly up the curving steps. Endric felt a slight burn in his calves as he went. As much as he felt as if he were recovered from the wounds sustained fighting the groeliin, moments like this made it clear that he had not yet fully recovered. He still didn't know how long ago it had been that he had fought the groeliin or even how long he had been out after being brought to Farsea.

  He didn't recall the travel to the village, and if he passed through the mountains, that meant that it would've taken several days, possibly a week or more. All that time, he had been unaware. Perhaps it was a blessing that he had not been.

  As they made their way along the stairs, Endric noted additional tapestries hung here. They were just as ornate as those in the entryway and depicted what he suspected were scenes of the gods. On one, he saw what appeared to be the gods standing atop a mountain peak, snow swirling around them, and what appeared to be streamers of heaven opening to them. Endric might not be devout, but he recognized the Ascension of the gods.

  On another, Endric saw depicted a vast forest. Within it was a strange, softly glowing light that reminded him of the charged teralin. Another tapestry clearly showed the mountains to the north, and even beyond them, an image of men fighting what appeared to be clouds of black. The men were painted, faces marked with black and red and orange and some with blue and purple, and he realized that this was a depiction of the Antrilii and suspected they were fighting the groeliin.

  At the top of the stair, she paused, bringing him out onto another stone floor. It opened up into a wide space much like the one below. Lanterns were set into sconces along the wall. Unlike below, no tapestries hung along the walls. No shelves were filled with books. Instead, he noted sculptures. Some that had the long, exotic features of the gods, features that were surprisingly consistent across all depictions of them.

  Six women sat around a circular table, each with black hair, some braided while others left theirs hanging loose, all woven with colorful strands of fabric much like Nessa’s hair. All looked up when he entered.

  They were all older, each with w
rinkled eyes and faces that carried the wisdom only years could bring. They walked in, sharing the same distrust Nessa had exhibited.

  Nessa took her seat, occupying the seventh—and final—chair. She left Endric standing, facing the women at the table. The women ignored him, looking at each other, having evidently decided that Endric was not someone of consequence. He felt dismissed in a way that he had not felt before.

  “You are late,” one of the women said to Nessa.

  Nessa tipped her head, the slightest of nods. “There were things that needed to be accounted for before I could make my way here.”

  “Such as bringing an outlander to the Yahinv?” one of the other women asked. She had a sharp voice and full cheeks, with dark freckles upon them. Her hair was different than the others, tinted with a hint of red.

  “Such as understanding why an outlander would be found near seven dead groeliin,” Nessa said.

  “And the hunters who slaughtered the beasts?” one of the other women asked. She turned her head and bells tingled softly, having been woven into her hair.

  Nessa tipped her head toward Endric. “He claims there were no hunters.”

  “Then how were the beasts slaughtered?” the woman with the bells in her hair asked. “Only the Antrilii can—”

  “Not only Antrilii,” one of the others said. She was older than the others, streaks of dark gray mixed into her hair, which was braided into a single braid and hung down to the middle of her back. The bands of silk woven into her hair were only orange, a single color rather than multicolored like many of the other women. Endric wondered whether the color meant rank, or whether it meant something else.

  The others all looked at her and then turned away.

  “And you believe him?” the freckled woman asked.

  Nessa shrugged. “I don't know what to believe. He claims that he can see the groeliin, along with something else, and that is the reason for my delay. “