Nori looked the papers over as he shuffled them out for her. She copied two into her old, punctured scout book, then showed Jezeren some of her own recent notes. He compared them to his message log, then looked at the large map that was painted on the wall. “There’s been a lot of movement in that area,” he murmured.
Nori nodded. “Payne thinks something’s up. Raiders, maybe. We have a couple Tamrani riding with us now. They’re not saying anything, but they wouldn’t be heading for the Ariyen council if something big hadn’t disturbed them out of their Sidisport lairs.”
“I’ll pass word to keep a sharp eye.”
She turned to the page with the raider code. “Then there’s this.”
He studied it closely. “I’ve seen this before,” he said slowly.
“When?”
Her question had been sharp, and he glanced at her before answering. “Not this exactly, but the form of it, and not through any tower traffic.” He looked out the window, thinking. “Council meeting,” he recalled. “Closed session, last year, early fall.” He glanced at her. “This doesn’t surprise you.”
“I thought it was the same. I was asked to watch for it on duty.” The tower man started to copy it down in his private book, but she stopped him. “It’s dangerous, Jezeren. I was warned two ninans ago, just before we set out for Shockton. Scouts are going missing when they go after samples like this.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. Then he nodded and turned back to the lines, setting them in memory instead. She knew he’d remember. He might not be able to tell a weed from a tree, but he could recall almost every message he’d ever seen.
She hesitated as she put the scout book away. She’d known him since they were children, but he was a man now. What did she really know of the person he’d become? And was it Rishte who made her more wary now, or the slitted eyes inside her mind that hated humankind? She shook both off and, watching Jezeren carefully, said, “That miscount—the eight messages? I need to send the ninth myself. Coded, falsified origin.”
Jezeren looked over with a frown. Coded messages required a sender’s name in the log. It was one of the ways the county made sure the towers weren’t used by criminals to plan their raids and crimes. Jezeren fingered the large tally book, then tilted his head, closed the book, and stepped away to the window. There he turned his back to her and stared silently out at the forest.
Nori didn’t wait for him to change his mind. She moved swiftly to the northbound mirror, checked the light level, then took the flash handle and began flicking the shutters efficiently. She sent the watch code, waited the scant seconds for the answering ready signal, then began her message. Begin, begin, begin; priority high; message to Dione. And then the coded portion: Check all gear. Watch for worlags. Avar Avan. End, end, end.
She signed it with her Sikinya scout name, one that would tell her parents that the danger could be subtle and deadly. There were only ten or twelve people who knew that name, and all were family. She didn’t use the word plague, even in code; that would be something to speak of in person. She didn’t specify a destination, either, just her mother’s name. The towers always knew where to find the Wolfwalker Dione. They’d send the message fast.
When she finished, Jezeren turned and checked that the mirror was closed, then went to the tally book. “How do you want it logged in?”
“Ell Tai’s train, via a night rider.”
“You’ve taken care of that end?”
She nodded. “Hessa added a tally for me on the caravan board. She’ll say it came in with some unnamed ring-runner.”
“You can go one better than that,” he suggested. She raised an eyebrow, and the man grinned slowly. “Trungon rode tower duty yesterday off young Ell Pero’s train.”
Nori frowned. “Pero should have been up in Bronton by now.”
“They had some delays. One of their elders died in his sleep. Probably never should have been traveling, the old boot. Then some northern trader got drunk with his chovas, fell off his wagon box, and cracked his head. Twelve hours later, he finally died.” Jezeren snorted. “The whole line was held up for two days while the caravan was searched front to back by a council Straker who was looking for a thief. You’d think they’d lost the county crest the way he tore into the wagons.”
“It’s a bad-luck spring,” she said slowly.
“Aye. Pero will be lucky to lead a train again within his lifetime. But Trungon, now, he was riding fine. He’d claim the message for you without blinking an eye.”
Aye, Trungon would. The scout knew Nori’s parents well. He’d carried messages for them before. He also knew Nori and almost always left something with Jezeren when he knew she would be in the area. She rubbed absently at her wrist. “He didn’t happen to have anything interesting of his own to pass along, did he?”
The tower man grinned again. “He said you’d ask that.” He went to the tower door, opened it and listened to the murmuring from below, then closed it softly. Then he went back to his chair, reached down, and popped a spoke out of the legs. He drew a small scrap of paper from the hollowed tube. “He left this.” There were no words on the scrap, just letters and numbers in two clumps of neat little lines.
Nori’s violet eyes gleamed. “That’s not what I think it is, is it?”
“Aye, and it’s for the inner council only.” She reached out, but he held it out of reach and grinned as she almost snapped at him. “It’s council duty, so Trungon said there’s no trade required,” Jezeren added slyly, “but he also said you’d be willing to give him some token in return for making sure you and you alone get this.”
She nodded impatiently. Her hands itched to take it. “I think I know something he wants.”
“He said you’d say that, too.” The tower man handed over the scrap and pointed to the top set of symbols. “It’s in the same form as what you found at Bell Rocks. The timing implies they’re connected. This first message went south around two in the morning after crossing over from the Deepening line two nights ago. The second set came back north from Sidisport just over an hour later. Someone wanted a fast reply, and someone else was willing to get up in the middle of the night to make it.”
Nori felt a spike of excitement. Two nights ago, she’d been on Deepening Road. She’d just stolen the code from the raiders. That had been around midnight, and she hadn’t seen the raiders in the hour afterward that she’d been on the trail. If they had survived the worlags, even if they’d ridden pell-mell for the second hell, they couldn’t make the Tendan Ridge tower in time to send that message. But they didn’t have to go to the hub tower itself. There were relay towers closer, if one was willing to ride trail in the middle of the night. In two hours, they could have made it to the Deeping or Elen Ridge relay. There had been that other rider, too, that Sidisport youth who had joined up with Hunter’s nephew. He could have been set among the Tamrani to watch for news of trade. Watching Hunter meet with Nori would have been worth his while. Either way, if the answering message came out of Sidisport, she and Payne were right. There was more going on than a few raider bands harassing the Journey trains.
Jezeren pointed. “This is the to–from part.”
She nodded. “It’s almost the same in all of the samples. From what I remember, it’s similar to what the council has, too.”
“Aye. And these to–from sequences are a perfect swap. And here, the same T-sequences show up in both.”
Nori fingered the scrap. T-sequences like those and another repeated pattern had appeared in each of the samples she’d seen. “I’ll log the activity of that night and pass it along with these messages. The Lloroi’s code masters should have enough by now to start pulling this code apart. Until then—”
“Be careful,” he finished. “You also, Black Wolf.”
She carefully copied both sets of lines into her book. Then she lashed the book closed, took the scrap to the waste bin, and burned it carefully. Jezeren almost protested as she destroyed the code, but she merely look
ed at him over her shoulder when he started to reach in to take it out of the flame.
He stepped back quickly. Her eyes had been cold, and her lips half curled back as if she would snarl. He waited till she had stirred the ashes before clearing his throat and prompting, “The token?”
She glanced at the map. “Tell Trungon that what he wants is near the junction of Triple Trail and Cata cross-trail, over on the east side of Teptich Cliff. I’ve placed a piece of shale, foot-sized, an hour down the cross-trail, around the fifth or sixth kay, near the base of a double-trunked pintree. The right corner points to a marker in some root moss two trees to the east. What he wants is growing in a patch thirty-two degrees, about seventy meters from that marker. Tell him to wear gloves. I trashed mine getting in there.”
“Triple Trail, Cata. One hour down the cross-trail. Slate marker, moss marker. Gloves.” Jezeren set the instructions in his head. “I’ll pass it along when he comes back south tomorrow, and I’ll warn him to up his message tally.”
“How about you?” She was impatient to get this note back to Payne, but she glanced around dutifully. “Have you needs?”
“No, supply came through four days ago, and the calibration teams were here last ninan.”
“Then I suppose it’s time to rescue Kettre.”
Jezeren grinned sourly. “I’d rather you rescued me.”
“Your duty,” she returned blithely.
XXII
Poolah lurk right at the ground,
When defending, crack their crowns;
Bihwadi circle, like the night,
Stand your ground or climb for height;
Badgerbears can flow like water,
Flee or you will be the slaughter;
Worlags pack and run you down,
Head for water or high ground.
—first verse, What to Do if You Run Into,
an Ariyen teaching poem
Nori and Kettre left the tower as they’d entered it, in a burst of speed. The badgerbear was still lurking, but Jezeren opened a window on the back side of the gate and waved a slice of roast pelan. By the time the beast realized its prey was fleeing from the other side of the compound, Nori and Kettre were flying down the trail.
Since the caravan had stopped for lunch, they caught up an hour after they hit the road at a canter. Nori had time only to pass her scout book to Payne before she was swallowed back up by the cozar. She worked the meal wagon almost impatiently, checked in with the caravan healer, and got her scout book back from her brother just in time to receive more messages for her parents.
The first was delivered by the standard ring-runner, one of the dozens of messengers who passed during the day. The second was handed over by an older Randonnen scout who was taking two of her own students to Test. They exchanged gossip before the woman rode on, and the scout wished Nori luck. The wolfwalker wondered if it was for dodging the elders or for managing a Journey with Payne. She could barely wait to tell Payne about the code, but they had no time alone. She was scheduled for three more duty tasks for causing the cozar a search.
For an hour, she helped Mian with some of the exotics the girl was trying to raise. The vari birds didn’t want to be sedated, and some noise outside spooked them into escaping their cages. The wagon was a shambles of feathers, fresh droppings, and clawed fabric before the three birds were recaged. Nori was still sneezing from wispy down as she left Mian to clean up while she went back to her own wagon to wash.
Elder Mato caught her there. “MaDione,” he began as she stepped out on the wagon seat. “I understand you’re on general duty today. I’ve been needing a scout and would pay dearly for two liters of fresh cassar root for an important dye present. I’d like to hire you to find a good growth stand before we reach Shockton.”
Nori answered with careful courtesy. “My thanks for the offer of work, Elder Mato, but I have other duties to attend to.”
“You don’t seem to be doing any right now,” the older man observed. “And I understand that you can climb well enough to reach the upper growths.”
Climb on a damaged rope? She kept her face expressionless. “I’m scheduled for the teaching wagon an hour from now.”
“After that, then.”
“I also have extensive family duties. You should ask one of the other outriders. B’Kosan, perhaps, or maSera.”
“I am asking you, maDione.” A note of irritation crept into his voice.
One wagon up, Kettre looked back and caught the narrowing of Nori’s eyes. She dropped back closer to Nori.
Mato didn’t even greet the woman as he held his temper with difficulty. “Well, when will I have your answer?”
“I believe I have answered already, Elder Mato.”
“The answer isn’t acceptable.”
The wolfwalker shrugged. She never stood up in council, but for some reason, perhaps because of the wolf in her now, it was almost satisfying to stand up to this man.
“I was told you’ll be doing council duty in two months anyway, regardless of what else your parents have arranged.”
“That’s still two months away, Elder Mato.”
“It’s two months of laz—”
Kettre broke in. “My apologies, Elder. Nori, the Hafell has a question for you.”
“Black Wolf—” Mato started.
Nori smiled grimly. “Please excuse me, Elder Mato. I’m still working off my andyen. I believe I know what the Hafell is waiting for.” She nodded to the driver, stood up, and stepped neatly into Kettre’s stirrup. She settled in behind the other woman as they turned and cantered away.
“My thanks,” she murmured against Kettre’s back.
The woman’s voice was dry. “We’ve had enough mishaps in the caravan. I didn’t want you biting his throat out.”
“Then you have good timing.” Nori’s lips tightened. “Someone told him I could climb to the upper cassar root stands.”
Kettre looked back sharply. “That requires a rope, and yours was sabotaged.”
“Aye,” she said softly. “I’d like to know who prompted him to ask. He’s pushing me after everyone else has backed off, so someone is pushing him.”
“I’m outriding only a few more hours today. I could look into that.”
“With my thanks.” She glanced down the line. “I take it Brean really doesn’t have a question for me?”
“No, but we can make one up. The Hafell seems like a good sort.”
Nori grimaced. “Good enough to have assigned me seven different duties.”
Kettre chuckled. “ ‘You runs the trail, you pays the Ell.’ ”
They checked in with the older man, snagged a quick bite from the cookwagon, and headed back up the line.
“Oops,” said Kettre. “Didn’t take long enough.” Mato’s dnu was still up ahead. The elder had moved back to Rezuku’s wagon and was now perched on the seat beside the merchant, complaining volubly.
“I’d curse,” Nori muttered, “but it’s just not worth the effort.”
Kettre grinned over her shoulder. “You’re boring when you curse, anyway. You really should take lessons from Payne.”
From his outrider post, B’Kosan greeted them as they came abreast, but Mato’s voice floated back clearly before he said anything else. “—can’t get her to do a godsdamned thing. She’s either working for the council or against it, dammit. And if she’s helping at all, she damn well ought to do her duty when any elder asks. She has no right to withhold her skills.” Rezuku’s response was too quiet to hear, but Mato’s sharp words weren’t. “You heard those chovas yourself last night. She has to say yes eventually or shame her family. Arrogant little witch.” He seemed to spit. “She’s acting as if she can pass judgment on what I need and decide herself if it’s important.”
Kettre scowled, and B’Kosan raised an eyebrow at Nori. She shrugged. She’d heard plenty like that before.
Rezuku’s voice was a soothing murmur, but Mato wasn’t having any of it. “Cozar crap,” he snapped loud
ly. “She’s tight with those two Tamrani, but you try getting her to do the simplest task and see what I mean. I might as well try to talk to a stickbeast or pick a bouquet of redstick as deal with that . . . that . . .” Whatever he said was lost in a rattle of the wagon.
Nori’s lips twitched. Stickbeasts were quiet, but they did speak, and redstick could be picked easily if one oiled one’s hands and curled the leaves over the stingers.
“. . . approach another scout?” suggested Rezuku over the wagon’s noise.
“Because I want Black Wolf,” Mato snapped back.
Kettre muttered bitingly, “What he wants is the status of the Wolfwalker’s Daughter.”
B’Kosan chuckled. “He’s not the only one. I hear the Tamrani’s interested, too. He was looking for you while you were doing your tower duty.”
Nori frowned, but Mato’s sharp voice cut through clearly. “—shortsighted, small-minded mountain rat like her mother whose only real value to the county would be in plunging to her death before she can breed more of the same.”
For a moment, there was dead silence among the three riders. Then B’Kosan smiled at Nori. It was a strangely feral expression.
Deep in her mind, she felt the growl.
“Nori,” Kettre began.
B’Kosan didn’t seem to notice. “I’ll challenge him for you, Black Wolf. It would be my pleasure.”
At that moment, he reminded her of her uncles. “I thank you,” she returned with difficulty. “But his sort has always used threats to get what he wants. I take no offense at his trying to manipulate your merchant.”
B’Kosan’s gaze flickered, but Nori didn’t notice. Instead, she spurred Kettre’s dnu to pass the elder quickly. The speed hardly helped. She felt the elder’s eyes burning into her back.
Kettre spat to the side. “Whoever told him to push you for duty doesn’t know the first thing about you. You’ll have to watch him the rest of the ninan.”
“I’m more likely to just leave and take some other route to Shockton.” She paused. That was exactly what Wakje said someone might want. And Payne had been pushed, too, in his own way, toward a challenge from some of the chovas. If raiders wanted them out of the caravan, they were going about it the right way. “If you’re willing, tell Payne to meet me after the hour,” she told Kettre as the other woman dropped her off at the teaching wagon for the sixth of her andyen chores.
Wolf in Night Page 26
