Honor and Blood

by James Galloway

  "Of course we do," Alix cut in. "The real threat isn't here, it's in Suld. We know that Tarrin has to attack Torrian, and we'll help with that. But as soon as that's done, we're going to Suld. That's where the real battle is going to be."

  "What battle?"

  "Why, the battle, of course!" Alix said in excitement. "They've brought together all the Goblinoids and alot of the Fa-da'kii, and if they take Suld, the entire balance of nature is going to be disrupted. We can't allow that, so we're going to step in to preserve the Balance."

  "The what?" Jak asked.

  "The balance of nature," Alix replied. "The clock around which we all revolve. Without the balance, the world would be chaos."

  "I'll take your word for it," Jak shrugged. "I'm more interested in what I can see."

  "And what can you see?" Alix asked.

  "Dals," he growled, his face turning hard.

  They retrieved four casks of his father's ale and apple wine, then Tarrin hauled one of the wagons out of the big barn for them. It was a bit weathered and creaky, but it was servicable. Tarrin Conjured the harness they needed to hitch two of the horses to the wagon, then they loaded the casks aboard. Sathon decided to ride with Garyth and Jak, who were driving the wagon, climbing into the back and seating himself. "You keep them busy, Tarrin," Sathon said with a grin. "This is your chosen ground. Don't let them order you around."

  "I'm not that bossy, Sathon," Tarrin smiled. "At least not about things that aren't important."

  "Do you know the spells of sending, lad?"

  Tarrin shook his head. "Sarraya never got a chance to teach them to me."

  "What do you know?"

  "Conjuring and Creating, mainly," he replied. "I learned a few little tricks outside of that, but I never really learned anything else. I can use Sorcery for anything I need. Druidic magic is just something of a hobby, truth be told."

  "That's a very poor attitude, lad," Sathon said disdainfully. "You have respectable talent as a Druid. It's a crime for you to ignore your potential like that."

  "I'm sorry, but I always seem to have something more important to do than learn Druidic magic," he apologized. "Given how long it takes."

  "Nonsense," Sathon snorted. "I'll take care of that, lad. I'll teach you some of the things Sarraya didn't bother to show you. You understand the workings of Druidic magic, so teaching you the spells won't take long."

  "I'll be guided by you in that, Sathon," Tarrin shrugged. "If you think I'm capable of using them, then I'll learn them from you."

  "You're easily as strong as I am, lad. Anything I can do, you can do," he said confidently. "This is what happens when you have a Faerie as an instructor, you know."

  Alix sniffed loudly.

  "Truth is truth, Alix," Sathon grinned. "Your kind can't hold a thought long enough to get it across to other races."

  "Well, I don't go around talking about how big and fat and ungainly humans are," Alix said flippantly.

  "Well, it was Sarraya or no one, Sathon. Besides, I'm not that disappointed in how she did. Sarraya was actually a good teacher."

  Alix beamed at Tarrin.

  "She taught you the basics, but she ignored your advanced education," he said insistantly.

  "Blame Triana for that," Tarrin told him. "She told Sarraya not to go beyond the basics. She did anyway, but I think that threat kept her from teaching me much more than she did. Sarraya would have alot to answer for if I got to Suld and could do a great deal of Druidic magic that I wasn't supposed to know."

  "Oh, I see now," Sathon said with a laugh. "Well, Triana never told me not to teach you," he said with a sly smile.

  "It's your neck, Sathon."

  "Triana's an old friend of mine, lad. She'll trust that I won't get you killed."

  "Pardon me, good Druid, but we really need to go," Garyth interrupted politely.

  "Yes, yes, of course," he said with a nod. "Tomorrow then, lad. Sleep well."

  Tarrin waved them goodbye as the wagon rumbled around the bend and out of sight. Tarrin sighed, crossing his arms and watching them go, his expectations rising by the moment. With the Centaurs and the Were-kin, Torrian was as good as taken. If they could move fast, they could reach Suld before the ki'zadun did, and play a major part in the defense of the city as well. It made him feel very good to know that Fae-da'Nar was going to come off the fence, finally, were going to take a stand and commit themselves to the defense of Suld. With the katzh-dashi, the Knights, the Selani, the Arakite Legions, Shiika and the Cambisi, Keritanima's Wikuni, Vendari, and gunpowder, the Ungardt, the Sulasian forces that would be available, the Rangers, and now a large force of Woodkin, Tarrin had a very good feeling about the battle to come. It may not number as highly as the force opposing them, but the numbers they did have were widely varied and universally powerful. Just knowing that the Vendari, the Selani, the Ungardt, the Knights, and now Woodkin would take the field on the same side gave him a very relieved feeling. It would be a force that not even the Demons numbering in the armies of the ki'zadun would care to face.

  All they had to do now was get there in time.

  The realization that Tarrin was a Druid on chosen ground sank in after Sathon left, and he dealt with his Were-cat friends, sisters, and mate afterward.

  They kept asking him what they were supposed to do next. Even Rahnee, which surprised him to no end. It was almost as if Sathon's appearance had reminded them of custom, and now they were deferring to him. He found it to be very irritating. So irritating that he told all of them to start acting like they weren't still tied to their mother's tail and do for themselves. The only one that didn't defer to him was Jesmind, but he knew that that would happen just as soon as someone reached up and pulled down one of the moons. Regardless of the fact that he was a Druid on chosen ground, she wouldn't accede to him unless it suited her. Being his mate exempted her from that custom, or at least so he thought she believed.

  But things did calm down. Rahnee and Singer hunted up an evening meal of deer for them, and it was roasted over the firepit as the Were-cats and Ariana sat in the blooming night and traded stories. Tarrin listened calmly with Jasana taking turns sitting in his lap and Jesmind's as Thean talked about his travels in Tor and the Free Duchies, and he heard about Rahnee's latest scrape with a small pack of Were-wolves. He listened while Singer described the Ogre she had found in the Heartwood; Ogres and Giants were the only Goblinoids that the Were-kin wouldn't kill on sight. Ogres were larger than Trolls, but were actually quite gentle and amiable beings. Giants were very intelligent, showing a range of emotions and attitudes similar to humans. Singer described helping the lost Ogre, who was little more than a child, find his way back to the mountains which were his home range. He listened as Jeri spoke about his first trip into the city of Tor, and he heard the youthful exuberance and wonder that he himself had once felt when he had seen Torrian and Suld for the first time. Ariana described the flight over from the desert, and the Aeradalla's impressions of Suld and the humans, and their flights over the land and the sea to watch for signs of invasion. Kimmie talked about Mist and Eron, using words full of love and compassion, showing Kimmie's feelings for her bond-mother and Mist's child, who she considered all but a brother to her. Tarrin found that more interesting than anything else, for Kimmie's descriptions of Mist were much different than the haunted, paranoid Were-cat female he remembered. The Mist Kimmie described was a vibrant, content woman with a great deal of energy and a mountain's worth of patience for dealing with her very rambunctious cub. From the sound of it, Eron was going to be just like Jasana.

  "I wonder whatever happened to Nikki and Shayle," Thean said, gnawing on a bone absently.

  "Maybe they went to Aldreth instead of coming here," Jeri offered.

  "It's possible," Thean agreed. "All of you but Rahnee went to Aldreth first."

  "So did you," Rahnee pointed out with a smirk.

  "Because I knew they'd go there," he said calmly. "I've been here before, Rahnee. My den isn't far from
here."

  "Mine is too," she pointed out. "I've been here before too. I used to lay in that tree right over there and watch Tarrin and his family," she said, pointing towards the Heartwood. What Tarrin called the Frontier.

  "Mist brought me here once," Kimmie said. "To show me what I used to be."

  "My mother brought me here too," Jeri added. "I watched a man with a limp plow that field right there. His wife was this very tall woman with a blond braid, and she had a baby and a little boy."

  "Tarrin was that little boy," Rahnee told the young male with a grin. "The baby was Tarrin's sister."

  "Jenna," he informed her absently.

  "I didn't know that was you, Tarrin. How did you end up Were?"

  "I thought all of you knew how that happened," Tarrin said in surprise.

  "He's young, Tarrin," Thean said with a smile at Jeri. "The young ones sometimes miss the news. They're too busy running around."

  "I happened," Jesmind told Jeri. "Someone used a magical object to control me, and they set me loose on Tarrin. We found out later that it was the katzh-dashi that did it, and only to make Tarrin Were."

  "They did that to you?" Jeri said in shock. "I would have killed them!"

  "I almost did," Tarrin told the young male. "But it turned out that they were just following their own orders. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive them for what they did to me, but at least a part of me understands why it was done."

  "Something like that wouldn't be easy to forgive," Thean said sagely. "Well, it's getting late," he announced. "We all have an early morning, and I can guarantee that Sathon's going to get us almost all the way to Torrian by tomorrow night. So you all had better get some rest."

  "Where are we going to sleep?" Jeri asked.

  "We have that big barn right over there, Jeri," Thean told him with a smile. "It's a good thing we patched it up, isn't it?" Jeri laughed. "I'll Conjure any bedding any of you may want, so don't worry about sleeping on the ground tonight."

  "We have one spare room," Jesmind announced. "Who wants it?"

  "I've seen your house, Jesmind, and I don't think I could fit in there very well," Ariana declined. "The barn over there has a nice large loft, so I'll sleep there tonight."

  "I think I'll invite one of these handsome men here to spend a night with me," Rahnee said with a leer. "I don't think you want all that noise in your house, so I'll pass."

  "Well, if you're asking, I'll take you up on that, Rahnee," Jeri said with a bright smile.

  "I guess Thean should have it," Kimmie said. "He's the elder."

  "That's alright, Kimmie. I know how you dislike sleeping rough, so why don't you take the room?"

  "If you and Singer don't mind," she said demurely.

  "Not at all, Kimmie. What do you say, Thean? Care for some company tonight?" Singer invited.

  "I'd be delighted, Singer," he said graciously.

  "I call that building over there," Rahnee said quickly, pointing at the stillery.

  "This isn't a competition, and that building is rather cramped," Thean told her.

  "That's alright. It'll keep Jeri from getting away from me," Rahnee grinned.

  "I guess we can sleep in that barn over there, so we don't disturb Ariana," Thean said, looking at the old shearing shed.

  "You're not going to disturb me, Thean," she objected.

  "Yes we will," Singer said with a wink. "If we don't, then I must not be trying hard enough."

  "I--oh, nevermind," Ariana said with a blush. "I just need to get some blankets, and maybe a pillow, and I'll be on my way to sleep."

  They put out the fire, said their goodnights, then they separated. Thean Conjured up some blankets for each person as Tarrin carried a sleeping Jasana and led Jesmind and Kimmie into the house. "You can use my old room, Kimmie," Tarrin told her. "It's up the stairs you'll find down that hallway. It may be a little dusty, but it's a comfortable bed."

  "Thanks, both of you," she said with a grateful look. "I still don't feel comfortable sleeping outside, and I really don't want to spend a night listening to Rahnee howl," she said, making a small face.

  "No problem, Kimmie," Jesmind told her. "You're about the only female I'd let into the house anyway. You're like family to me."

  "That's nice to know," Kimmie told her with a bright smile. "Would you like some tea or something before bed?"

  "I'm the hostess here, girl," Jesmind said with a smile and a shooing motion. "Now off to bed with you."

  "Yes, Auntie," Kimmie said with an outrageous little smile. Kimmie was a delightful surprise, sometimes.

  "You," Jesmind said, balling her fist in Kimmie's direction. "We'll see you in the morning."

  "See you tomorrow," Kimmie mirrored, padding down the hall.

  Tarrin and Jesmind carried Jasana into her room, which was Jenna's old room. They laid her down in her bed, dressed her in her nightshirt as she blissfully slept through the entire process, then they tucked her into bed. Tarrin paused to stare down at his little girl, his daughter, the new focus of his life, and he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the powerful love he felt for her. She was such a beautiful child. Beautiful, smart, cunning, sneaky, devious--

  But when she was sleeping like that, he could see no wrong in her, no matter how bad she was when she was awake.

  Such was the programmed parental response to a sleeping child that usually kept children from being murdered in their sleep.

  They slipped out of her room quietly and closed the door, as the ceiling above creaked a bit as Kimmie moved about Tarrin's old room. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of bedsheets being smacked to clear them of dust, and he knew that Kimmie had to be getting ready to go to sleep. Tarrin yawned. It had been a very busy day, and he fully intended to follow suit.

  He and Jesmind retired to their room, undressed, then crawled into bed. Jesmind cuddled up against him, nuzzling his shoulder with her chin as Tarrin relaxed, letting the day's worries flow out of him. "If Fae-da'Nar helps, will that make it easy for us to win?" she asked quietly.

  "It'll make taking Torrian all but guaranteed," Tarrin answered her. "I don't know how much it's going to help at Suld, but there's no doubt that they'll help a great deal. I need to contact Kerri tomorrow and tell her about this, so she can include it in her plans."

  "That can wait, my mate," she said absently, squeezing him just a bit. "You know, I'm very proud of you."

  "How?"

  "You didn't even growl at Rahnee once today."

  "She was behaving," Jesmind said with a grin, looking up at him. "Besides, we're in my home range. When we leave tomorrow, we'll see how well she behaves."

  "Just don't kill her," Tarrin cautioned.

  "It won't be the first time I've smacked Rahnee on the nose for getting fresh with my mates," she told him bluntly.

  "Really? And who was this male you fought over before?"

  "Someone you'll never meet, my mate. He died about fifty years ago."

  "I'm sorry to hear that."

  "He was a very nice male," Jesmind sighed.

  "What happened?"

  "He was killed in a fire," she replied. "We still don't know what happened outside of that."

  Tarrin was silent, pondering that. But that ended when Jesmind threw her arm over his chest and settled in against him. "I don't want to go," she admitted quietly.

  "Me either," he sighed. "But it won't be forever."

  "It'll feel like it."

  "We'll know when it's over, Jesmind."

  "I'd rather not find out."

  "I can't help that. Blame Jasana."

  Jesmind chuckled, leaning her forehead against his cheek. "Let's go to sleep," she said hazily.

  "I never thought you'd ask," he told her, pulling her a little closer and letting her closeness overwhelm his senses and lull him off into sleep.

  No matter how peaceful he felt, the enormity of the coming day was too much to keep Tarrin asleep all night.

  He awoke about midnight, and found that
he couldn't go back to sleep. He laid in bed and tried, half to get rest and half to keep from disturbing Jesmind, but it became too much, and he had to get up and move around. Putting on his breeches, he wandered out into the common room and poked the fire back to life, staring into its heart and considering the day to come.

  He wondered how the villagers took the Centaurs and the Were-kin. The people of Aldreth were rather steady, but that may be too much for even them. He was sure that there was some nervousness, but he also felt that as soon as Garyth and Sathon made the rounds and calmed everyone down, they would have relaxed. Aldrethers had always been careful to be nice to their Frontier neighbors, and he didn't doubt that Garyth would have urged them to be so now, when it was so obvious who it was that was camped outside the village. The fact that they couldn't enter the village would probably make them even more relaxed. Aldreth's position as the human-Woodkin trading post would make the Woodkin calm, and it gave the humans prior experience for dealing with their exotic guests.

  They would be going to war tomorrow. That was a sobering thought. He'd been avoiding thinking about it, understanding the grim reality of that simple statement. Men were going to march out of here, and there was a very good chance that some of them weren't going to come back. Men with lives and families, men with friends and position in the village. They were leaving their homes and families to defend them from another Dal occupation, and they were willing to sacrifice their lives to make sure that their wives and children would be safe. It was too much to ask from them, since they'd already suffered the Dal occupation, suffered watching Dal soldiers kill almost the entire Longbranch family and the herbalist. But then again, that was the very reason they were going. Because of what happened to the Longbranch family and the herbalist. They didn't want that to happen to their families.

  There was a shuffling sound, and it made Tarrin look up from the fire. Kimmie was standing in the hallway, yawning. Tarrin had always rather liked Kimmie. She was turned, like him, and as Were-cats went, she was rather unusual. She had blue eyes instead of the pattern green, and she wore dresses and acted a great deal more like a human than a Were-cat. But she was a Were-cat, and the fact that she had come out without any clothes on, carrying one of Tarrin's old robes in her paw, made that abundantly clear.