“You mean for this man to join us.” Braethen wasn’t asking.
“What if he says no?” Mira said.
“He mustn’t decline,” Vendanj replied. “This place he lives in has no doubt gotten inside him, so it will not be easy. But he must be convinced. He was the first to challenge the Exigents and the Sheason and the Recityv council. I deeply fear what will happen if he refuses us.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The Wages of a Kiss
A thousand tales of caution and distrust and hatred resounded in Tahn’s mind. Inveterae were creatures of the Bourne. Some stories spoke of them as synonymous with Quietgiven. Others related a malevolence and stain so terrible that the gods had deemed them unfit to live among men. The very word—Inveterae—that described these races sent into the Bourne ages ago with the Quiet meant literally unredeemed.
Yet something in the Inveterae’s unperturbed stillness belied all Tahn had heard. As Balatin had always taught him when greeting someone strange in peace and friendship, Tahn put his hand out with his palm up and thumb out. “I am Tahn Junell,” Tahn replied in a whisper. “And I need your help.”
The Lul’Masi did not respond. The two stared at one another in the dim light of the cage. Then the creature spoke, but low so that only Tahn could hear. “No man has ever helped my kind; the Lul’Masi have no friends in the land of men.”
Tahn spared a look at Sutter lying in the straw. Returning his attention to Col’Wrent, he raised his hand higher. “Then let me be the first.”
A strange look passed across the Lul’Masi’s thick features. And with some hesitation, it raised its massive arm and locked hands with Tahn, whose fingers were lost in the massive palm. When they joined hands, the Lul’Masi’s face softened. “Quillescent,” it said. The word disconcerted Tahn a little, but he had no time to ask about it.
Sutter could be dying. He suddenly had a new bargain to strike.
He leaned closer, the sharp smell of the creature strong in his nose. “The tenendra girl threatened you to force your help. I will make you a different promise. Help my friend and I will free you from your cage.”
The Lul’Masi’s grip on Tahn’s hand tightened uncomfortably—reflexively, Tahn thought. The creature closed its eyes for a moment, the way Tahn did when he thought of the sunrise. The Lul’Masi breathed deeply, its belly expanding, the air it drew producing a deep rumble in its chest as it exhaled.
Finally, the Lul’Masi nodded, its face as unreadable as the moment before. But Tahn thought he saw gratitude pass across its eyes. “What is wrong with your friend?”
“He was struck with a spiked ball thrown by a Bar’dyn. He lost his balance, his speech, and now he’s unconscious. I think he’s been poisoned. The healer in town said you may know what to do.”
Panic filled Tahn’s chest again as Col’Wrent did nothing more than stare at him for several long moments. Perhaps there was nothing he could do, and Sutter would die in the straw of the low one’s cage.
“Bring him to me.”
Tahn dragged Sutter to the back of the cage, the straw heaped around him.
Col’Wrent knelt over Sutter like a mass of boulders. “Your friend will not die. The poison in him is meant to slow, not kill. But without a cure, he could sleep for days.” Col’Wrent put a massive finger in its mouth and drew out a thick stream of saliva and mucus. It gently pried Sutter’s mouth open and wiped the viscous fluid on his tongue.
Then together they waited several long minutes in the hiss of the lantern and stink of the tent. Sutter lay unmoving for some time. At length, his eyes opened. He began to writhe in the straw and spit foulness from his lips. “What the Sky did you put in my mouth?”
“You don’t want to know.” Tahn put his hand on Col’Wrent’s shoulder in appreciation, feeling the strong, rough skin of the Lul’Masi.
Suddenly Sutter realized where he was, and looked up into the massive face of his healer. He scrambled back against the side of the cage, trying to free his sword but fumbling with the weapon.
“Easy, Sutter. There’s no need of that.” Tahn pointed at Sutter’s blade. “You were poisoned by the Bourne, and you’ve been healed by the Bourne. Maybe a thank-you is in order.”
Sutter stared, incredulous. “Thank you?”
“Good enough,” Tahn said.
From behind them, Alisandra called, “Looks like you’re finished. I’ll take my second half now.”
With his back shielding their exchange, Tahn spoke in low tones. “The girl is quick and wary; she won’t allow you to approach the door. I will go out and get the key from her—”
“No,” Col’Wrent said in a deep whisper. “Her mistrust will guard against your task. Tent folk thrive because they are greedy and assume all others are like themselves. You won’t succeed without feeling her blade.”
“Then how?” Tahn asked.
“What’s going on?” Alisandra asked, impatience edging her tone.
“Yeah, what is going on?” Sutter echoed.
“Not now, Sutter. Be quiet for once.”
Alisandra called again. “Your friend looks fine. Get out here.”
“What bribe bought your entrance to my prison?” Col’Wrent asked with a hint of distaste.
“Three and six,” Tahn replied.
“You were wise enough to hold back full payment?”
“Yes. Half before, half after.”
The Lul’Masi looked over Tahn’s shoulder. Its patient eyes surveyed the cage door, then returned to Tahn. “Tell her how low and stupid I am. Tell her you believe you’ve already trained me to perform simple tricks, like a dog. That you got me to lift my hand, and that you are going to have me hold out the balance of her payment in my servile palm for her to take. The tent folk are wary, but infected with greed and pride beyond their caution. I will play my part, until her hand is close enough to grasp.”
There was no murder in Col’Wrent’s eyes, but Tahn had not yet seen any real emotion in them, either. Caging the Lul’Masi was wrong, but he didn’t want Alisandra slain.
“I can’t help you if you intend to kill her,” Tahn said.
Col’Wrent’s brow tightened. The Lul’Masi hovered over him. Tahn craned his neck back to look up at the towering creature. Slowly, Col’Wrent extended both arms toward the roof of the tent, then lowered them while bringing them slowly together. When its hands touched, they were at Tahn’s chest. The Lul’Masi interlocked its thumbs and pressed its palms against him. Tahn peered up in confusion. Col’Wrent removed its hands, and spoke earnestly. “I vow, from the sky to one, to do as you ask.”
Tahn took out his money pouch and dropped the coins in Col’Wrent’s large hand. He then immediately whirled, fixing a self-congratulatory grin on his face, and strode confidently to the door.
“He is indeed low,” Tahn said to Alisandra as he came close to her. “But hardly the monster you described. He has the mind of a child.”
“But the body of a Slope Nyne,” Alisandra put in.
“I’ve never seen such a thing,” Tahn answered. He leaned casually against the inner bars of the cage. “A dog bites when it is threatened or beaten into a corner,” he explained. “But let the dog smell you, show no fear, and it welcomes you into its home. Will even perform tricks for you.”
“Tricks?” Alisandra said suspiciously.
“Nothing as fancy as the feats in your larger tents, but I have given the beast the rest of your money, and some extra besides, and asked him to bring it to you.”
Alisandra took up a dagger.
“There is no need of that,” Tahn said. “The creature wants to serve. A kind word and second meal bowl will earn you his trust. Think of the money to be made by bringing people to this cage and letting them inside to pet its hoary skin. You could train it to do small tricks; your mastery over it will make you rich.” Tahn leaned in conspiratorially.
Alisandra’s eyes danced with the prospect. She appraised the Lul’Masi, greed written large upon her face. Then her l
ust for lucre gave way to the guarded look she usually wore. “What gain is in it for you? Why tell me such things? Do you intend to petition for partnership in the tenendra?”
Sutter laughed, causing Alisandra to frown. “No partnership,” Tahn said. “A kiss.”
The request startled the girl for a moment, and she drew her head back in obvious suspicion, a grin teasing at one corner of her mouth.
“I don’t care for the beast, and I don’t seek my fortune,” Tahn said confidentially. “My friend is healed, I have what I want … mostly.”
“Mostly?” Alisandra’s beautiful, dangerous smile returned.
“I’ll have a kiss from you without price, and then I’ll carry the memory of winning your favor without lightening my purse. It will warm me when my fires grow cold.”
Sutter laughed from behind him, but this time Alisandra regarded Tahn with appreciation.
“Well, boy,” Alisandra said, “you may have your kiss, and that will put paid to all future claims you might make.” She inclined toward him, stopping short. “And you will take this information with you when you leave Squim. Should another come to understand the gentle nature of the beast, I will find you and show you your earth.”
Tahn shook his head and puckered clownishly. Alisandra put her soft lips to his own, and Tahn’s pucker melted beneath the heat of her mouth. She moved her lips across his for several moments, taking, he thought, some pleasure in the kiss. The touch and taste of her lips, the danger and mystery of her, the striking beauty, all of it raced through Tahn. It was part of the ruse, and part of his own fledgling desires—together they made it a kiss he would never forget. Alisandra gave a soft, submissive sound before pulling away. Tahn’s mouth hung open as she called the beast toward her.
The Lul’Masi walked sheepishly, cowering, but advancing at her call.
Tahn could see Alisandra had bought his story; a wild light shone in her eyes like that of a child waiting to be given gifts. Hesitantly, Col’Wrent approached until he was within arm’s reach. He turned his head, looking away as he proffered his palm filled with coins as though he were afraid. His fingers trembled as the girl reached to take the money. In her confidence, she made no haste, gathering the coins with arrogance.
In an instant, the Lul’Masi took Alisandra by the wrist, its grip stopping the flow of blood into her hand. It yanked the girl toward itself and wrapped its mighty arms around her. It squeezed until her face reddened to the hue of summer apples. She lost all her breath before she could utter a cry and moments later she slipped to the floor.
Tahn dove to his knees to check her breathing. She was alive, merely unconscious.
“We should hurry,” Sutter slurred, still woozy. “The town will not be safe once they find out what we’ve done.”
Tahn stood, dwarfed beneath the Lul’Masi. “Thank you.”
“The debt is mine,” Col’Wrent answered. “Now go. Your friend is right. I will free the others.”
Tahn and Sutter raced to the end of the tent. Sutter ducked outside, but Tahn looked back to see the Lul’Masi take the key from Alisandra’s hand and begin to open the other cages. The Inveterae looked up and caught Tahn’s eye. A look of gratitude passed between them, and it made Tahn wonder about the nature of the Inveterae.
Then Sutter pulled Tahn through the tent flap and they ran back past the tenendra toward town.
* * *
They rode most of the night north out of Squim. They didn’t speak, pushing to put leagues between themselves and the tenendra. In the waning hours of night, Tahn turned his attention east and thought about the coming of dawn, about another day of life. He imagined the rays of sunrise striking a more peaceful world, one where Wendra hummed over morning pig steak. The thought of his sister ended his ritual predawn reverie. Skies, he missed her. There seemed a hole inside him. He couldn’t remember a time without her in his life. Not where he couldn’t go to her if he needed to. Or if she needed him.
And again he recalled the moment when he hesitated in releasing his draw on the Bar’dyn hovering over his sister’s birth bed. I’m so sorry, Wendra. Forgive me. Are you okay? Your child … it’s not your fault.
Those maddening words—I draw with the strength of my arms—Tahn’s frustration returned. Long ago, he’d learned to live with the ritual saying. It flashed in his mind so quickly that it posed no encumbrance to his skill with his bow. But the origin of those words, and now the trouble it had caused Wendra, plagued him anew. Would he ever understand what made him say them?
No, there had been no good reason to let his sister’s child be carried into the night by one of the Quiet. He would not forgive or explain that away.
All he could do was let the wind and rhythm of Jole’s hooves lull him toward less troubling thoughts, and hope he would find her in Recityv with the others.
Some time later, full day lit the sky.
Sutter reined in. “We’ve got to get off this road.” His words were no longer slurred, and his friend looked more like himself.
Tahn pulled up beside him and wheeled around. There was no sign that anyone was following them, but he nodded. With Quiet on their trail as well, and tent folk they’d be best off avoiding, getting off the road made sense. Having forgotten his tender foot, he winced as he jumped to the ground.
“Watch those delicate toes,” Sutter jested as he dismounted. “I have it on good authority that they intend to dance a turn with a quick-footed Far. You’d better stay on the mend.”
Tahn grinned through his pain. “Perhaps I ought to fix you with the bit and bridle and ride you a distance. I could do with the rest and quiet, and so could the horses.”
Favoring his left foot, he ducked into the dense trees on the east side of the road, and pushed himself and the horses as quickly as he could. Blue shadows clung to the ground in the early light of dawn, the smell of dew thick over fallen leaves and low rocks.
When the road had been left far behind and the trees thinned, Sutter pulled abreast of Tahn. “Explain something to me. How does a melura, who rubs the reproductive scents of animals across his boots and shoulders to attract game while hunting, fetch the smiles of so many women?” Sutter grinned wickedly.
“Those gamey smells have gotten me a few friends, too.” Tahn smiled back.
“I hope you’re not talking about me,” Sutter said. “I’d just like to know why you got to kiss Alisandra.”
“These women you talk of are all deft with a blade. Isn’t that somehow unwise?” Tahn furrowed his brow in mockery of reason.
“You looked plenty wise receiving Alisandra’s lips. And don’t play coy with me about the Far. You may as well have branded your intentions on your forehead.”
“And what about you, root-digger,” Tahn put back. “You’ve declared your intentions for my sister. Do you esteem her less than a tenendra girl?”
“How did we end up talking about me?” Sutter asked. “You’re the one flapping your lips all over the place. And while we’re at it, for one who wanted to live out his life isolated in the Hollows, you’ve taken a keen interest in poking your nose into the private affairs of others.”
“You mean like taking a square stance against a ranking member of the Sedagin?”
“Just defending your sister’s honor,” Sutter said, bowing as he walked.
They laughed together and wound their way through leaf-shadow.
Tahn found a comfortable rhythm. “You know what we forgot?”
“Yeah, directions,” Sutter replied.
“The ravine runs east there,” Tahn pointed, “but turns north before reaching that range.” He indicated a mountain ridge visible through the trees. “I think we should leave the road alone. You can dig—”
Sutter put his hand on Tahn’s arm, his smile fading. He turned to face Tahn. “Thank you.”
“What?”
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s no treat to taste the snot of a brute from the Bourne. Thing gave me the crawls.” He paused. “But you went into that c
age and could have been that thing’s next meal. You didn’t know any better than the girl who sold you admission what it might have done.”
Tahn tried to dismiss it. “It was nothing. You’d have done the same—”
“Yeah, I would have,” Sutter cut in. “But … it’s just that I think often about the people who put something at risk for me. There’s precious few who ever have.”
Tahn understood that Sutter was thinking about the man and woman who raised him as their son, and about his actual birth parents who had given him away before he was old enough to know them. In hindsight, Tahn thought maybe a lot of who his friend had become had to do with trying to reconcile himself with—or maybe leave behind—the decisions those people had made. He thought maybe his friend felt dispensible, and needed to get past that. And suddenly some of the jokes they’d shared all their lives echoed back a touch darker.
“Well,” Tahn said, “my guess is you’ll get to return the favor. So hold on to your good intentions.”
Tahn tried to continue east, but Sutter held him back. “It’s more than that. I don’t know why the Sheason and Far came for you. I don’t think you know, either. But whatever it is, I think it’s a lot more important than we’ve given them credit for. I mean, they didn’t come to the Hollows for a root-digger. You take my meaning?”
Tahn stared. He understood. Maybe Sutter was right. But he looked back with defiance. “I won’t be caught on the wrong side of the choice to help a friend, Sutter. Not ever again. Anything the Sheason means for me to do will have to be in harmony with that. Or else he’s got the wrong melura. Doesn’t that seem right to you?”
Sutter thought, then slowly nodded. “It does. But then, this whole business is backward, Tahn. Seems like you could do what feels right, and be wrong. Just remember that.”
Tahn nodded. “Or perhaps we are decoys in a larger, more complicated plan.” The dark, cloaked figure spinning rain down upon a bull elk flashed in his mind. “But so you know, I’m not at all sure this is about me. For all we know, it could be about you.” He jabbed a playful finger into Sutter’s chest.
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