by D. L. Kramer
Paki sighed, knowing Rial was right. Kile should be told about Rena and what she knew.
Standing up, he left the library without another word. Not knowing where to find Kile, Paki reached out for Nicho's mind. The Dwellers' horse answered immediately, sending Paki an image of the woods above Valin.
Paki made his way to the stable to get Ayita. Nicho's mind still felt foreign to him, lacking the closeness of the stallion's. Ayita's mind felt equally strange, though he found he was getting used to hers.
Saddling the mare, he led her from the stable, then swung up into the saddle and let her choose the pace as they turned to the north.
He heard Kile's flute before he saw him and recognized the song he played almost immediately. It was the song he had used to make all the wolves appear the first night they had met. The long, low notes filtered through the trees and every so often, Paki caught a glimpse of a shadowed creature moving through the brush.
He followed the music and found Kile in the middle of a small clearing. He sat on Nicho's back and a pack of ghostly wolves circled around him. Without pausing in his playing, Kile motioned for Paki to come beside him. Ayita responded immediately and stepped between the wolves as if they weren't there.
After several more minutes, the wolves finally wandered into the woods and Kile lowered his flute.
"What were you doing?" Paki asked.
"Arrangin' for a little protection for Valin," Kile replied. "There's six wolf packs 'ere now and they'll keep any church guards from gettin' through the woods and to the Hold."
"You're going to scare them to death," Paki realized.
"I know," Kile's grin was faint, and just a touch malicious. "There's also that," he motioned to the trees.
Paki squinted to try to get a better view and caught a glimpse of a white stallion, very much like Nicho, walking through the trees. The jingling of the ghost horse's barding was unmistakable as it moved through the shadows.
"You're really not very nice," Paki pointed out, smiling despite himself.
Kile shrugged. "As long as the new BishopLord hears Nicho's bein' spotted around, he'll think I'm still 'ere and should think twice about tryin' to attack Valin again."
"It's because of what Rena said that made you do this," Paki realized, reminding himself of why he had come to find Kile in the first place. "Oh, she knows about Nahtan too." If Bear had taught him nothing else, it was that sometimes the direct approach was best.
"She what?" Kile asked, looking at Paki. "How does she know about 'im?"
Paki shrugged. "I was talking with her earlier, and she says she stayed with the BishopLord's widow because she was waiting for the Mo'ani to come back to Valin--or something like that." Paki hoped he was interpreting her comments correctly.
"That girl's goin' to be more trouble than she's worth," Kile muttered something else under his breath. "I suppose she'd lost whoever was watchin' 'er too?" He tucked his flute back into his belt, then took Nicho's reins and turned him toward Valin.
"It looked that way," Paki nudged Ayita and she fell in step beside Nicho. Paki took a deep breath to continue. If Rial was wrong, he decided he was going to have to hurt him. "Since she seems determined not to cooperate with anyone else," he began. "Maybe we should just keep her around us all the time. Bear and I can keep an eye on her, and if our backs are turned, there's always the horses and Tiimu."
Kile frowned as he listened to Paki's idea. "What good's Tiimu goin' to do ye?" he asked. "He's only a fox."
"I can understand him," Paki admitted slowly. He hadn't told anyone he could touch the fox's mind. "That's how he knew to follow us to Herridon when Kiril arrested us."
Kile's eyes widened slightly. "Ye can hear 'im like ye can the horses?" he asked.
"Not exactly," Paki tried to figure out the best way to describe it. "I can suggest things to him and he understands what I want. Whether or not he'll do it is entirely up to him."
"Can Bear?"
"No," Paki shook his head. "And since Tiimu's his pet, I didn't tell him I could. I didn't want to upset him."
Kile studied Paki for a few moments, then just shook his head. "Halona must like ye to give ye a gift like that," he finally said.
"I guess," Paki shrugged. He'd never considered it much of a gift, but he supposed it could be. "What about Rena?"
"I'll have to think about that one," Kile said. "Though it might be safer than havin' 'er wander all over unwatched."
Paki nodded his head in agreement and they rode the rest of the way back to Valin in silence except for the occasional howl from one of Kile's wolves.
Three - "Guess she has gotten that good"
Regardless of what Kile decided to do about Rena, Paki realized she was going to stay around them whether he liked it or not. His and Bear's training sessions soon had a constant observer, and Paki was surprised when Kile didn't make Rena leave.
When it came time for Rial to tell Lady Gian and Jorrin they could no longer stay, he asked Paki and Bear to go with him. Kile had already decided they should go to Herridon, and was arranging an escort from the remaining Mo'ani.
Since Lady Gian had gotten out little during the winter, they all knew where to find her. As they entered the small shelter, Jorrin stood from his seat at the rough table.
"We haven't done anything," he said haughtily.
Paki and Bear exchanged glances. Hopefully Jorrin's sudden declaration of innocence would alert Rial to a possible problem.
"Annoyed us whenever you stepped outside," Bear responded. "But we can overlook minor insults."
"It's time for you to leave," Rial said before Bear could come up with anything else to say. "I was all for just turning you out into the woods, but Lord Olorun seems to think that might be a problem. He's arranging an escort for you to Herridon, where you will be turned over to the church guards at the city's gates."
"I see," Lady Gian nodded her head slowly. "I thank you for your hospitality and mercy."
"What about Rena?" Jorrin demanded.
Rial looked at Paki, his eyes questioning him.
"She likes it here," Paki shrugged, smiling.
"You bastard!" Jorrin growled, lunging for Paki.
Moving in perfect unison, both Paki and Bear grabbed Jorrin's arms as he lunged. Paki released his at the last second, letting Bear twist the other one behind his back.
"Jorrin, no!" Lady Gian called, too late to stop her son. Bear pushed him into the wall, twistinging his arm further upwards.
Rial held his ground when Jorrin lunged and didn't seem surprised.
"Considering your son's actions and attitude," he said slowly, and Paki almost shuddered when he heard the cold note in Rial's voice. "I'll be keeping your ring. Your son can learn some humility when he has to throw himself on the Archbishop's mercy." He kept his eyes pinned on Lady Gian. "And while you are unfailingly polite, I'm afraid I'll have to keep the maps you've been working on. You can either turn them over to me now, or I can have Paki and Sewati find them on your person and retrieve them for me."
Lady Gian's face paled. "You wouldn't dare," she managed.
"Paki," Bear said. "Hold the jackass here while I volunteer."
"No," Lady Gian held up her hand when Paki reached for Jorrin's arm. "I apologize, M'lord," she said hastily, digging the folded pieces of parchment from her bodice. She opened and closed her mouth several times, obviously not sure what else to say. Rial took them from her hand, pausing to open and check them.
"Let Jorrin go," he said, turning to Bear. "They're no threat to us now." He handed the parchments to Bear as Jorrin rubbed his arm and returned to his mother's side. "Gather your few pitiful things," he suggested. "You're leaving within the hour." Turning on his heel, he left the shelter, Paki and Bear right behind him.
"Thank you," Rial said when the door was tightly closed behind them.
"No problem," Bear shrugged. "I've been wanting to do that to him since they got here."
"How did you know she was making maps?" Pa
ki asked.
Rial shrugged. "Besides the people following her, Lord Olorun had someone else checking their shelter whenever they were out. They found where they were hiding them and kept a tally."
"You really aren't very nice," Paki pointed out to Rial.
Rial stopped to look at him. "I can't afford to be," he said simply. "Maybe when Nahtan's taken the throne, I'll learn how to be nice." He nodded to both of them, then turned and continued walking back to the keep.
"I feel sorry for him," Bear said after Rial disappeared through the heavy door. "I think he's got the hardest part."
"What do you mean?" Paki asked.
"He's fifteen years old and he's got to hold this," Bear motioned to Valin's walls. "From the Archbishop with only thirty Mo'ani."
The friends started walking toward the corrals.
"Adie says the villagers are already showing an interest in learning how to help defend it," Paki said. "And there are other people living back in the woods. Besides, Kile's got his wolf packs out there."
"I still can't figure out how he did that," Bear shook his head, a note of jealousy in his voice.
Paki chuckled as he climbed onto the corral gate. Ayita trotted over to him, nudging his arm with her nose.
"It just sounded like he was imitating wolf howls to me," he said, patting Ayita's neck.
"I can do that much," Bear whistled to Chase and the huge horse galloped over to him. "I just can't figure out how he gets them to stay after he quits playing." He pulled Chase's head down and began untangling a knot in his mane. "I mean, for all intents, those wolves are real--they just can't be killed and won't need to hunt to survive. I don't know if they can hurt anyone, but they can certain run after people and scare them."
"Sorry," Paki shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. How you two do anything with those flutes is beyond me."
"It's not that hard," Bear said, finishing with the knot and scratching Chase's nose. "A lot of it is knowing exactly what you want to happen and playing the right tune."
"Maybe," Paki said. "But I bet I've heard Kile play over a hundred different songs. I could never keep them all straight."
"No, you couldn't," Bear smiled at his friend. "But you can't hear the difference between most of the notes anyway."
"That might have something to do with it," Paki agreed. "Your playing and Kile's sound practically the same to me."
"Now that you've just guaranteed I'll never let you touch my flute," Bear patted Chase one last time as he and Paki both jumped off the corral fence.
They passed the rest of their day doing odd jobs around Valin. Lady Gian, Jorrin and their escort left for Herridon shortly after midday. Paki noticed Rena was nowhere to be seen when they left, and neither Lady Gian nor her son asked about her again.
Kile still worked with Paki and Bear as spring came, then summer. With the warmer days and nights, Kile started dividing his time between them and starting the training for new students and apprentices for Valin.
Near the end of summer, Rial named a new lieutenant to oversee the training of the Valin Mo'ani. Shortly after, Kile told Paki and Bear to start getting their things together for the return to Mo'ani's Stronghold. They would be leaving the end of that week, and he wanted to make sure everything was taken care of.
The morning they left, Kile spoke briefly with Rena as the Mo'ani were readying their horses. The next time Paki saw her, she was saddling a horse for herself.
"Do you need anything?" he asked, leading Ayita as he walked over.
"The captain to trust me would be nice," she said, turning to look at Paki. "But I don't think that'll happen for a long time."
"He must trust you some," Paki said. "He's letting you come along."
"I think he just doesn't want me staying here," she shrugged. "Which I wouldn't anyway."
Paki looked at the men and horses around them, not wanting to meet her eyes. He hated the way his tongue refused to work right when he saw her eyes.
"You're welcome to ride with Bear and me," he offered. "Kile would probably like to have you towards the front anyway."
"He's already pointed that out to me," Rena nodded. "But I'd ride with you two regardless." She pulled herself up into the saddle and smiled faintly. Before Paki could respond, she took her horse's reins and walked passed him, heading to where Nicho sat waiting while Kile made final checks with the Mo'ani.
Paki sighed and turned, leading Ayita back where Bear and Chase were waiting.
"Kile's letting her come?" Bear asked, making sure Tiimu was comfortable in his saddlebag before swinging up into the saddle.
"Yeah," Paki stood beside Ayita's head as she nuzzled him. When Adie whistled and motioned to them, he lead Ayita while Bear rode, then pulled himself into the saddle to wait.
Kile arrived within minutes, and with a final farewell to Rial, he took the lead as the Mo'ani left Valin Hold. The first few days in the woods, they often spotted Kile's packs of wolves. The wolves would travel beside them for an hour or so, then disappear back into the trees. A couple of their nights were interrupted by the sounds of frightened yells to the east and Kile would confirm church guards scouting the area. Paki suspected Kile had some sort of bond with the wolves, probably through his flute, but he never asked him.
They were in the woods for just over two weeks when Adie mentioned they were approaching the road leading to Takis Hold. It was obvious she was thinking of heading that way and invited Kile, Paki and Bear to go with. Kile agreed, but on the condition that Rena go with them.
Paki knew Kile was being stubborn about not trusting her. He had seen Nicho nuzzling Rena in plain view of Kile, and knew Nicho had expressed his liking of the young woman many times. Though Paki didn't mind Rena, he couldn't outwardly speak up for her. Kile would have to decide to trust her on his own. Even Paki had moments when he had to remind himself she was raised by a BishopLord.
When they reached the turnoff for Takis Hold, Kile sent a message for Mo'ani ahead with the other warriors, then caught up with Adie, Paki, Bear and Rena.
About a week later, they reached another intersection, this time the road continued east, but also intersected with another north--south road. The road seemed to be well-traveled, though it was empty now.
"Where does this lead?" Paki asked Kile.
Kile paused to glance to the south.
"About a week's travel that way is Garyn Hold," he answered. "But there are a few too many tensions there to visit."
"Why?" Paki rarely heard Garyn mentioned, though Adie seemed to visit it each year on her route to update the Mo'ani's records.
"It's a relatively new ally," Kile explained, exchanging looks with Adie. "About fifteen years ago, Lord Garyn was an ally of the Archbishop's, but 'is oldest son was on our side. Ten years ago, 'is son took the hold and turned 'is father out."
"What happened to his father?" Paki asked.
Kile shrugged. "He disappeared," he answered, his tone telling Paki he didn't really want to go into any details. There was obviously a lot more to that story, but it was just as obvious Kile wasn't going to go into the details now.
Paki nodded, looking once more to the south, then turned his attention back to the east as they made their way toward Takis Hold.
It took them just over another week before the outer walls of Takis Hold appeared ahead of them. Alert Mo'ani walking the outer wall between the battlements and hanging turrets noticed their approach immediately. The gates had barely come into sight when they opened and two men rode out to meet them. Still being a distance away, Kile didn't bother stopping until they met the men.
"Where's 'er Ladyship?" Kile asked, reining in Nicho.
"Where else?" one of the men answered, chuckling. "One of the warriors made fun of her at practice yesterday and she's trying to cut his head off."
Paki, Bear and Rena all looked at each other. Paki knew that wasn't what he'd expected to hear, and from their expressions, neither had Bear or Rena.
"She can't be good enough t
o do that yet," Adie remarked. "Is she?"
"She'll have a sash before her eighteenth year," the other man answered. "But I don't think she's stopping until she gets a cloak."
Kile sighed and shook his head.
"She said to escort you right in," the first man said. "So if you'd come with us, captain, you might be the only one she can't wear down."
Kile shook his head. "Not me," he said. "I'll stick 'er up against the lad here and that damned heavy blade 'e likes so much."
"It's not that heavy," Paki defended.
Kile chuckled as their horses fell in step behind the two Takis Mo'ani.
Inside Takis Hold, everything was built around the stables and the training yard. The keep itself sat only slightly higher than the outer walls, and had no openings except the door and arrow slits in the upper levels. It was obvious the entire Hold was built focused on battle and war.
Leaving their horses with the stablemaster, Kile led them toward the crowd at the training yard.
Within the fence, a young woman about Paki and Bear's age was holding a long, narrow-bladed sword as she fought against a man about Kile's age. She had him backed into a corner and was trying to beat him down, the steady ringing of their swords broken only by the occasional change of position. Several long seconds passed before the young woman changed her tactics. Stepping back ever so slightly, she waited for her opponent to try to move up on her, then with a quick twist with the slight curve of her blade, pulled his sword from his hand and leveled the point of hers at his throat.
Several of the observers laughed while others moaned. Paki and Bear gave each other surprised looks when they saw an exchange of coins between several of the Mo'ani.
"Guess she has gotten that good," Adie commented dryly while Kile tucked his gloves into his belt and applauded.
The young woman lowered her sword and turned at the sound of the clapping. A faint smile appeared and she turned back to her opponent. Offering him a hand up, she picked up his sword and handed it to him before walking over to Kile and the others. She picked up her sheath from where it hung on the fence post and slid her sword into it with barely a glance.
