Tuyo

by Neumeier, Rachel

That would not be the same at all. Since I am here, I should step across the border for just a moment without any cantrip or other guard against the cold.

  “If you do, breathe shallowly, or you may damage your lungs. I’m not joking, Tasmakat.”

  The jackal-headed woman tilted her head, her ears pricking forward. I will remember. It sounds a most memorable experience.

  “Enough, please,” said his king, lifting a hand. “That will do. Tasmakat, you are not to risk your health. If you insist on the experiment, notify me first. Aras, you have persuaded me. I set the borderlands into your hands. I trust you will not find the task beyond you. I’m certain you will handle the responsibility with your usual attention to both honor and practicality. You may find this helpful.” He picked up the scepter from where it had been resting, on the table behind his chair, and held it out to Aras, who took it with a bow.

  “Try not to misplace that a second time,” ordered the king. “Although the man who found it made good use of it, the paperwork when such a thing happens is so exasperating. Now, regarding the borderlands. Resentment here runs high; I imagine that’s true on both sides of the river. Someone who’s gained the goodwill of the tribes might be well placed to soothe nerves all the way around. If the Ugaro are willing to work with you, that’s extraordinarily useful. If our people here are afraid of you, that is not.” He sighed. “You’ll have to handle it, Aras.”

  “I know. I’ll do my best.”

  “I know you will. No doubt you’ll find it useful that the Ugaro gave you so excellent a young man as a tuyo.” He pronounced the word carefully. “Previously, I was barely aware of the custom, but it seems you’ve made clever use of—”

  “I intended to give Ryo inGara permission to return to his own people today, Soretes.”

  “Perhaps in a little while,” the king said gently. “I think he’s likely to prove very useful to you in the immediate future, Aras.”

  They looked at each other. Neither of them glanced at me. It would have been completely improper for me to suggest in any way that I might have a preference in the matter, so I turned my head and watched the bright cloth of the pavilion shift and shimmer in the breeze, and thought of nothing but that. Tasmakat-an gazed at me. Then she glanced at my mother and tipped her ears back in an expression I could not read.

  “Very well,” Aras said at last. “For a little while, then.” He sat down in a chair, with a slow sigh. “Soretes, I’m sorry I couldn’t manage to handle everything more discreetly.”

  “If discretion wasn’t within my power, why should it have been within yours? You may be a sorcerer, but don’t indulge yourself in hubris. It’s pure arrogance to take the blame for all this. Put the blame where it belongs: on that gods-hated sorcerer who fooled us all.”

  Aras bowed his head. “Very well,” he said again. He hesitated. Then he said quietly, “I’m sorry about Taranis. Do you want me to ... talk to him?”

  “What would that help?” asked his uncle. “He admitted everything. It’s hard for a prince to be passed over for his younger brother, but I did hope for better.”

  “I’m sure Lorellan was using him—”

  “Then it was because he was willing to be used,” the king said, his tone final. “If Lorellan had altered his mind or his memories to any great extent, Tasmakat-an would have noticed.”

  Aras did not bend his head beneath his uncle’s steady regard. “Perhaps, but perhaps not. A Lau should not be judged by a Lakasha; it’s really not appropriate.”

  True, said Tasmakat-an. I said the same.

  Aras nodded slightly, but continued speaking to his uncle. “Let me talk to him, Soretes. If I’m not to leave the borderlands, send him to me here. I won’t tell you anything that should be held private. But I’ll tell you whether he was working with Lorellan of his own will. Either way, I’ll do my best to clear any remaining sorcery out of his mind.”

  The king considered him.

  “Soretes ... don’t indulge yourself in hubris. It’s pure arrogance to take the blame for your son’s failure on yourself, especially without making absolutely certain the blame for that failure doesn’t belong to that gods-hated sorcerer. After all, he did fool us all.”

  The king sighed. “Very well. I’ll send him to you. I expect you to send him back to me, Aras. Whatever you discover, my son is not yours to deal with. Lingering problems from what Lorellan tried to do will give you enough to handle, I’m sure.”

  Aras inclined his head.

  “Very well, then, I leave the borderlands in your hands,” the king told him. “At least for the present. But let me see if I can give you a little help to begin.” He turned decisively to Darra inKarano. “I hope we shall see far less trouble between your people and mine in years to come. Please tell your father I ask him to forgive the misunderstandings that occurred. It may take a little time to sort all those out, but I hope Koro inKarano will be patient and that we’ll see trade resume in a sensible way in the spring. In the meantime, I understand many Ugaro tribes are in want of grain for the coming long winter of your lands. This, the summer country will provide, as an apology for the problems Lord Lorellan caused your people. Other requests will be met with open hands if practicable.” He raised an eyebrow at Aras. “Lord Gaur will see to the details and provide me with an accounting.”

  Darra inclined her head. “All your words, I will take to my father. Your offer of grain, I will take to my aunt and the other inKarano women.”

  The king nodded. “I will support any decision Lord Gaur makes regarding all these matters. Aras, please do consult carefully with relevant authorities, and I will ask you to try not to beggar the summer lands.” Then, turning to my father, he went on, “I fear bitter feelings may linger between our peoples. Too many farms and towns have been burned, and far too many people left to die in their blood. I hope warriors of the tribes will agree we have seen enough of that. If violence continues, I will ask Aras to see to it that my people are effectively protected.”

  My father listened to my mother’s murmured translation. Then he said, “You are wise to set your lands under the protection of Aras Eren Samaura, o king. Naturally inGara cannot honorably strike against any of those lands, as our tribe gave a tuyo to this man to cede the victory and signify a desire to cease hostility. The allies of inGara will also prefer not to strike against Lord Aras ... and we have many allies. If enemy tribes raid across the river, of course that is not properly my concern. But I think you will find the bitterness much less once everyone understands that inKarano and inGara and all our allies consider continuing bitterness unseemly.”

  The king listened carefully to all this. When my father finished speaking, he nodded and said, “Very good. I would be glad of that. I think the gods were uncommonly generous to prompt the inGara to offer a tuyo to my nephew. I leave all this in his hands now. I’m sure he’ll tell me if there’s something else I need to know.” He lifted his hands in a smooth gesture that carried finality. “For as long as you wish to stay, I offer you all the hospitality of the summer country. All the inGara; all of you here. Come and go as you please.”

  It was a generous gesture, and a dismissal.

  -34-

  I followed Aras and my father and the others out into the heavy sunlight.

  The sky was high and clear, the air bright and warm, the cobbles smooth and hard underfoot, the town different from the winter country, but not actually unpleasant to look upon. The Lau soldiers near us turned their eyes respectfully away, while the Lau farther away stared and murmured. They were not staring at all of us. Or they were. But even though I knew the Lau townspeople feared Ugaro warriors, most of their attention now was on Aras, not on me or on anyone else.

  “Yes,” Aras said drily. “I can hardly blame them, but I hope very much they become accustomed to the idea relatively quickly.” He walked away, east, neither toward the river nor away from it. Not many people were in his way; most of the gathering was the other direction, closer to the king’s pavil
ion. But the Lau who had been in his path moved quickly aside. Aras did not seem to notice. His head was bent a little, as though he were distracted by his own thoughts. Perhaps he was. But he was good at pretending not to notice every kind of thing, especially things that troubled or hurt him.

  I thought of going after him, but I stayed by my father.

  “We will return to the winter lands to camp tonight,” my father said, without looking at me. “This country is too warm ... and there are too many sorcerers. One I might accept, but one is enough.” He signaled to the soldiers who held the ponies.

  My mother turned her head to gaze thoughtfully to the north and then to the south. “A remarkable place, the borderlands,” she observed. “I would not mind staying near this town for a few days, even though there are so many sorcerers, as long as I trust one of them is our ally and my son’s friend. That Lakasha woman is not more powerful than he is, I think.”

  “Powerful in different ways,” I said.

  “Perhaps that is a better way of putting it,” my mother agreed placidly.

  Darra inKarano said in a thoughtful tone, not looking at me, “The bridge here makes everything easy. I think the women of my tribe might be pleased to visit these lands more often in days to come than we have lately been accustomed to do. Perhaps after the long cold, in the spring ... when the Lakasha woman is gone.”

  “She will surely go back to her own country soon,” said Rakasa. “You saw how cold she seemed, even here in this warmth.”

  “She was so interesting!” protested Etta. “Although a little frightening. The way she spoke!”

  I did not say what had been plain to me, that she had thought she should ask Aras for permission to do things to my mind. It had not occurred to her to ask me until he had said so. I, too, thought I would be happier when she had left the borderlands.

  The younger Royova said thoughtfully, “Perhaps she should step into the winter country for a heartbeat or two. It might be as well for her to feel in her bones that it is not a country for her kind.”

  That struck me as a very good thought.

  “A good thought for a warleader’s son,” Garoyo told him approvingly. “I think that would be as well. Perhaps my brother’s mother agrees.”

  My mother smiled. “She would enjoy it. She enjoys being surprised, I think. It would probably surprise her very much, if she has so far seen the winter country only through the experience of people who are not her kind. And afterward, yes, she would know much better that it is not her country. I will ask her if she wishes to cross the bridge with me to the far side and then return again to this side. I think she might enjoy that ... and find it a little frightening. Even if she has seen that thought in my mind.”

  Etta said wistfully, “I wonder what it would be like to step across the other border, into her country?”

  “Probably you would have to breathe shallowly so the air would not hurt your lungs,” I suggested, but I was not looking at my sister. I was looking after Aras, who was small in the distance already. He was standing at the river’s edge, his back to us, a solitary figure.

  Etta put her arms around me and leaned against me. Then she let me go and stepped back. “Go on, Ryo,” she told me.

  I touched her cheek, but I did not move.

  My brother sighed and gave me a direct look. “He is waiting for you, Ryo. Go to him. Go.”

  I nodded, but still I stayed where I was.

  Then my father set his hand on my arm. “Go,” he said. “Take whatever oath he requires. Whatever oath your honor demands. I will not be offended.”

  I bowed my head to him. Then I walked away from my people, to join Aras.

  He turned to face me as I came up to him. “I’m sorry, Ryo. I meant to send you home.”

  “You are not under the remotest obligation to do so,” I told him. “We have all agreed you may properly draw out the tuyo’s death as long as you wish.”

  “I know that. But you wanted so badly to go home . . .” He looked at me closely. “You aren’t as upset as I expected.”

  “The winter country is still there. My family will be there. They are all well. They know I am well. Sometimes some of them may come to the borderlands to trade; I am very sure our people will trade more often and more freely now.” I paused. I could see how it would happen, and that made me happy. I said, “I would be glad to see Darra inKarano sometimes. She will be an important singer. My family would approve of her. I hope her family would approve of me. Singers seldom marry as early as other women. She will not need to marry for another winter or two, perhaps longer. She might not become too impatient.”

  Aras was smiling now. “I think that’s possible.”

  I nodded. “So you see. I would have been glad to go with my family today, but I would have been sorry to leave you. Your king was right: I will be useful to you. I will help our people understand one another. Besides, everyone here will be afraid of you until they become accustomed. I am not afraid of you at all. You will need me just for that.”

  “Lucas—”

  “Your nephew will help you, but you will need more people who are not afraid of you. I am content to remain, for a little while.”

  “‘A little while’ is going to mean whatever my uncle wants it to mean, Ryo. It will mean as long as you are useful to me. It will undoubtedly mean years.”

  “I am content,” I repeated. “You know this is true. Do not reproach yourself or your king. Besides, what you do with me is important. You must not make a small thing of the tuyo custom: it would belittle the sacrifice. I assure you, my father will not return Arayo inKera to his father for some time, if at all. He and Hokino inKera must show that the new custom is a strong one, worthy of taking the place of the old custom—at least some of the time—at least when the enmity is not too bitter. That is why Hokino and Soro inKera arranged with our king to do it in front of everyone instead of privately.”

  “Did they? Ah.” He looked thoughtful.

  “You did not realize? Yes. Why else do it then, and that way? No one cared about that quarrel. Everyone was there to see you. But they saw this new custom as well. Now the inGara and the inKera must demonstrate how it should work when everyone behaves properly. It is important for you to show that as well.” I paused, looking away to show the topic was closed. Then I turned back to him and said, “You released me from my oath. My father gives me leave to renew it now. Do you require it?”

  He sighed. “I need something. Not as much as you gave me before: we know each other better now. Swear that while you are in the summer lands, you will obey me as a man obeys his warleader. Nothing will reassure some of my people, but that kind of oath should reassure most of the ones with whom I need to work.”

  “Before the gods, I swear it.”

  “Thank you. If I should find myself visiting the winter country again ... preferably during what your people laughably call the warm season ... I will set myself under your authority, Ryo.”

  “You need not. It is not required in any way. My father would not expect anything of the kind.”

  “Perhaps not. But it’s only fair, Ryo. And it will please your father, whether he expects it of me or not.” He glanced past me, toward my people. “I’m very glad to have met him. He’s not—” he stopped.

  “He is not as cruel a man as you imagined? No.”

  “I should have kept more firmly in mind that you’re his son. Then I would have known better.”

  “He approves of you as well, or he would not have given me permission to renew so strong an oath to you.” I paused and added, “My lord.”

  He looked at me for a long time. Then he said gently, “Call me by my name, Ryo. Go bid your family farewell and good journey. Go with them across the bridge. Stay with them until they leave for the north; go with them as far as you think appropriate. Then return. I will be waiting. But I will not be impatient.”

  “Aras,” I said, smiling. “Yes.” And I left him there alone. But not for long.

&nb
sp; Endnotes

  I hope you have enjoyed reading TUYO as much as I enjoyed writing it! This world offers a good deal of scope for further stories, so I hope to go on with this series in the not-too-distant future. By the time you read this, or very nearly, a short prequel novel will be out: NIKOLES.

  If you enjoyed this or any of my books, I hope you will take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads (or both!). No need to take more than a minute to dash off a sentence or two that lets other potential readers know what you think.

  To leave an Amazon Review, just click here: TUYO on AMAZON

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  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks to Mary Beth Decker, for kindly reading two complete versions of this story in quick succession and critiquing both when I couldn’t decide which I preferred.

  I’m also indebted to Kim Aippersbach, Hanneke Nieuwenhuijzen, and Linda and Mike Schiffer, who kindly read through the final manuscript in one last attempt to catch all remaining typos. I’m not longer surprised when every proofreader catches a unique set of mistakes, and so it proved once again. Thank you all!

  Other Work

  Urban Fantasy: The Black Dog Series

  BLACK DOG

  BLACK DOG SHORT STORIES I

  PURE MAGIC

  BLACK DOG SHORT STORIES II

  BLACK DOG SHORT STORIES I & II (collection)

  SHADOW TWIN

  BLACK DOG SHORT STORIES III

  COPPER MOUNTAIN (coming soon)

  Young Adult Fantasy

  THE CITY IN THE LAKE

  THE FLOATING ISLANDS

  THE KEEPER OF THE MIST