by D. L. Kramer
"Why would he try to take the child's soul?" Jensina asked him, pain in her voice.
Zakris turned to his younger daughter. "Because he would seek to weaken your son," he answered. He looked around the office, his gaze pausing on Rial d'Valin, then turned to Halona. "He knows there is a power within the child. Jensina still has two servants there, did you ever send any?"
"It was Jensina's servants who truly loved her son," she answered. "We felt three were enough to guide him, so none of mine were sent to help him at that time."
Zakris nodded his head. "There are others like Nahtan in this land, but none as mortals. Will they help him?"
"One does," Jensina answered. "I have felt the whisper of her presence in my priestess' mind, but I cannot speak with her."
"The Wardsman is amicable enough," Halona added. "But like Nahtan, we cannot know his mind."
"It was the Wardsman who brought Nahtan to Alsynder," Zakris said slowly. "As it was he who brought Nahtan to you, my daughter," he said to Jensina. He considered the mortals in the room for a moment more. "Perhaps he would aid his friend again."
Five - "Where should he start?"
"You're putting who in charge?" Bear asked, his surprise obvious.
"I told you," Nahtan returned, reading through the sheet of parchment he held. "Gahrit, Mehlis and Bredyn are perfect for this. Gahrit can keep up with anything any merchant wants to throw at him, and Mehlis and Bredyn can step on the necks that won't give in." He tossed the parchment back onto his desk and leaned back in his chair. "And you can tell Calan he's not getting special privileges just because all the castle guards go to his tavern," he motioned to the parchment as Valry pulled it over in front of her. Although she was could only read simple things, she gave the parchment a serious consideration before placing it back on Nahtan's desk and going back to the blank scroll she was drawing in.
Bear chuckled. "You've got to admit, he's persistent."
"He's annoying me," Nahtan returned. "That's the fourth petition from him this month." He sat forward again. "How fast can we have a rider at Corydon?"
"Probably in just under a week," Bear shrugged. "But you know Lord and Lady Corydon won't want Gahrit coming alone."
"Why do you think I'm asking for his sister and brother too?" Nahtan asked him. "Mehlis has earned her sash and will have a cloak within two years if she keeps with the training and Bredyn's already disarmed Corydon's lieutenant."
Bear nodded. "You're probably still going to get one of their parents," he pointed out.
"I'm sure of it," Nahtan agreed. "I'd be very surprised if they both didn't come." He turned when someone knocked on the office door. "Come," he called.
The door opened, letting in Mo'ani and Leisl. Nahtan stood, smiling. Mo'ani had begun aging again shortly after Nahtan's coronation, though Nahtan could still see the same sharpness in his eyes and in the way he carried himself as when he began Nahtan's training. His white hair was trimmed short and his dark eyes made a quick, practiced sweep of the room. Leisl returned Nahtan's smile as she walked over to hug him. Her dress was simple and her dark hair pulled into a single braid.
"I didn't expect you to come too," Nahtan said to Mo'ani as he embraced his sister. "Is the Stronghold getting dull?"
"Nana!" Valry jumped from her chair and held her arms up for Leisl to hold her. Leisl obliged, picking up the girl before sitting down and setting Valry on her lap.
Mo'ani smiled faintly. "I'm still not trading you," he stated, his voice strong. "I served three kings and built the army for the fourth to take back the throne, it's time for me to retire."
Nahtan chuckled as Mo'ani took the other chair. Looking through the sheets of parchment on his desk, Nahtan found the drawings he had gotten from Yenene. He handed them to Leisl.
"Do any of these places look familiar?" he asked her.
Leisl looked at him for a moment, then took the parchments and looked through them. Finally, she stopped on one. "This looks like the village well in Edgewind," she said, placing it on top of the others before handing the parchments back to Nahtan. "But I don't recognize the others."
Nahtan looked at the sketch of the well. Could the boy have been taken through several of the villages? It was certainly possible. It had taken Nahtan's master over seven years to travel from the southern villages to the spot where he died just a few days ride from Mo'ani's Stronghold.
"What's going on?" Mo'ani asked.
"Where should he start?" Bear asked in return.
Mo'ani glanced at Bear before raising an eyebrow at Nahtan.
"The last couple of days haven't been dull," Nahtan started. He began by telling Mo'ani of finding the trader and slave boy in the city and what Yenene had discovered about him and ended with his making Evaine governor of Bavol Hold the night before.
"And here you weren't sure if you wanted to be king or not," Mo'ani said when he finished.
"I'm still not sure," Nahtan returned. He looked from Mo'ani to his sister and back. "I don't know how long ago the boy was taken and sold. At some point, his throat was cut so he lost his voice. He also can't read or write which doesn't make it any easier."
"Perhaps Meda can teach him," Mo'ani suggested.
Nahtan shrugged. "I don't have that much time," he said. "As soon as I can figure out how, I'm taking an army south to clear out the slave trade."
"What do you mean 'as soon as you figure out how'?" Mo'ani asked.
"Rial was nice enough to point out that the church guards and auction masters caught on to who wears the red cloaks," Nahtan explained. "If they see an army of them, we'll never flush them all out."
"And I don't care what the prophecy says he is," Bear added. "There's no way any large number of Mo'ani are going to leave their cloaks behind."
"Can't you just order them to leave them here?" Leisl asked, stroking Valry's hair.
Nahtan looked at her. "I can," he nodded. "But I won't. There's a great deal of honor in wearing one of those cloaks and knowing you earned it." He paused for a moment, his gaze meeting Bear's. "And a lot of us paid for that honor with blood." Bear nodded his head silently. Nahtan would no more make Bear enforce such an order than he would himself.
"But your honor isn't bound to the cloak," Leisl argued.
"No," Nahtan agreed. "But our cloaks represent Jensina's Symbols, and I've felt the power of those symbols to heal. I refuse to send a man or woman into battle without the best protection I can give them--even if it's just a belief that Jensina will be there for their souls if they get cut down. The cloaks represent that to a lot of the Mo'ani." He wasn't angry with Leisl for not understanding. She had spent several years married to one of the Archbishop's sympathizers and had yet to fully grasp the fierce loyalty of the Mo'ani warriors to Nahtan and the course Zakris had set them upon.
"I find it hard to believe Jensina would turn her back on them if they weren't wearing their cloaks," Leisl shook her head.
"Look at your own husband," Bear said to her, walking over to sit on the corner of Nahtan's desk. "He cut his own throat when they ended the siege at Valin Hold. No one can tell you for sure, but I'm willing to bet it's because he was afraid of what would happen if he was captured by an army wearing red cloaks. I'd even go so far as to say he was afraid that army had brought the gods to the field with them."
Leisl turned her dark eyes up to Bear. "My husband was a very good manipulator," she returned, her voice even. "He took a girl of sixteen summers who was an eternity away from her home and gave her a significantly better life than she had known. I believed him when he told me why he carried a church pendant, not realizing all he spoke were lies. Would Jensina have damned me for that?" She shook her head slowly. "The gods know the truth, and the color of a man's cloak won't change what's in their hearts."
Mo'ani straightened up in his chair. "It's more than that," he said to Leisl, his voice calm. "It's difficult for most people to swear their loyalty to something they can't see or touch. That's why there are statues of the gods i
n the temples. That's why the generations of warriors I trained for Nahtan value their cloaks and what they represent. Many of those who wear them gave up their families and everything they own to earn one. To you, it's a length of red wool with a metal clasp. But to them, it's their entire lives."
Leisl sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I still believe the Mo'ani Warriors' fates and loyalties extend beyond their cloaks." She turned her full attention to Nahtan. "You don't wear your cloak every day, but your armies are still loyal to you. Jensina still blesses every step you take."
"I wouldn't go that far," Mo'ani mentioned, leaning back in his chair again.
"Neither would I," Nahtan agreed.
"A bit extreme," Leisl conceded with a nod. "But the point is the same. No matter what army you take south with you, Jensina is going to be there with you."
Bear cleared his throat. "Might I suggest we save this for those boring winter nights when no one can sleep?" he suggested. "Theological debates are usually good for warming things up. Besides, the fact remains that none of these armies are going to leave their cloaks behind at this time."
"And how do you know that, Sewati?" Leisl asked him.
Bear smiled. "Because I'm not leaving mine here and since I'm the captain everyone's going to follow my example."
Leisl shook her head and stroked Valry's hair. "I know when I'm outnumbered at the very least," she gave in, looking back at Nahtan. "Which doesn't help your position any better."
"It basically puts me right back where I started," Nahtan nodded.
"What about the reserve units?" Mo'ani asked. "They don't have cloaks."
"They also don't have the experience I want," Nahtan returned. "They might do for the bulk of the army, but I need officers I can rely on."
"There's Lady Adiella," Bear shrugged. "And Jaron and Tosia should be down within a couple of weeks with another herd."
Nahtan nodded, considering his friend's suggestions. He had no doubt Adie would be going with them, and Jaron and Tosia were a formidable force on their own, let alone with an army riding their Dweller's horses.
"I wish Evaine could go," Nahtan added. "But I sort of ruined that last night."
Valry looked from her drawing to her father. "Am I going?" she asked, her brilliant blue eyes meeting his.
Nahtan stopped. He hadn't thought of what to do with Valry. Bear was her sworn protector but Nahtan would need his calm--but devious--friend by his side. "I guess so," he said after a moment. "The only other place I'd let you stay is at the Stronghold." He didn't really want to leave his daughter behind for so long, but wanted her to be safe.
"You'd be welcome there," Mo'ani said to the little girl.
Valry shook her head. "I want to go with you, papa," she said.
Nahtan nodded his head again. "All right," he agreed. He paused when an idea started forming. He just might be able to get an army south after all--if he could just work out the details and find out if Mo'ani and Lord Bavol agreed it could work. He pushed the thoughts aside for the moment and stood up. "I'll have rooms readied for you," he said as Mo'ani and Leisl also stood. "I want you to go to Edgewind with us," he said to his sister. "I'll need your help to find our family." He turned to Mo'ani. "And I hope you brought your sword," he smiled faintly. He knew Janec would start fighting dirty if he pulled him out to the training yard again.
Mo'ani sighed and nodded his head slightly. "But only because I can't find one here as well balanced," he said.
"Can I go with Nana right now?" Valry asked.
Nahtan nodded as Leisl smiled and held out her hand to the girl. After Valry took her hand, Nahtan saw them all to the door, pausing to tell the guard outside to see to it Mo'ani and Leisl had rooms readied for them. Closing the door after them, he leaned against it and looked at Bear.
"Thank you for not stuffing your cloak down her throat," he said, pushing himself away from the door and walking back to his desk.
Bear shrugged. "I didn't want Mo'ani to yell at me," he said. "Besides, she is your sister--misguided though she may be." The last was said with a faint smile.
"I can see her point," Nahtan shrugged. "She just can't see ours."
"So any idea what you're going to do?" Bear asked.
"Actually, I think I do," Nahtan replied. He reached forward and picked up the petition on his desk. Calan would be an ideal addition to what he wanted to do. "Would you mind bumping into Calan sometime today and telling him I'm considering his request?"
"Are you?" Bear asked. He brushed his fine black hair back behind his shoulders only to have it fall forward again.
"Not anymore than I was half an hour ago," Nahtan shrugged. "But it'll get him to come here wanting to talk to me."
"Why not just send for him?" Bear asked.
"Because I want it to look like it's his idea," Nahtan explained. "You know how he gets when someone wants him to do something he didn't think up."
"Good point," Bear admitted with a shrug. "So what do you want him to do?"
Nahtan smiled faintly. "I want him to represent the merchants of Herridon when he accompanies the king on an exhibition trip to the southern villages."
Bear visibly paused and folded his arms. "You're what?" he asked.
Nahtan's smile grew. "Rial is right, our red cloaks attract a lot of attention. I figure with you, me and a dozen or so others, every slave trader in the south will be watching us--"
"--And not the army who happens to be traveling overland at the same time," Bear finished.
Nahtan nodded. "It would put us in more danger," he continued. "But I think it's a risk we need to take."
"Could we please have Yenene traveling with us then?" Bear asked. "Since it would be advantageous if Jensina wanted to warn us of anything."
"I'd also like your father here," Nahtan added, ignoring Bear's obvious statement. "But I can't wait the six months it would take for a rider to get to him and for him to get back here."
"He's just a fisherman anyway," Bear said with a shrug, not bothering to hide his smile.
"Right," Nahtan said. "I believe that as much now as I did after I met him."
"So when do you want to leave?" Bear asked.
Nahtan leaned back in his chair, counting days off in his mind. "We probably won't be able to leave for at least three weeks," he finally said. "By the time Gahrit, Mehlis and Bredyn can get here and situated, and I can have an army ready to head out from the Stronghold..." He shook his head as he realized three weeks might not be long enough.
"Are you going to use the reserves?" Bear asked. "They'll still attract attention, but not nearly as much as full Mo'ani."
"I'd rather have some people with battle experience," Nahtan replied. "I may not have a choice though." He turned toward the door when someone knocked. Before he could answer, it opened and Yenene came in, her hands behind her back. Seeing the boy wasn't with her, he stood. "Is everything all right?" he asked her.
"With the boy, yes," Yenene answered, nodding her head a single time. "But it seems there is another matter you will need to attend to."
Nahtan exchanged a glance with Bear. For some reason, he didn't like it when Yenene said things like that. "I don't suppose you could pretend you couldn't find me?" he asked hopefully.
Yenene gave him an amused smile. "Actually," she said. "I think you might find some perverse pleasure in this."
"Oh, please," Bear said. "Him?" He motioned to Nahtan with his head. "He doesn't get perverse about anything."
Yenene spared Bear a glance before looking back to Nahtan. "The trader you took the boy from is here to lodge a complaint against the man who he claims assaulted him and stole his property." Her smile grew. "It seems you neglected to mention it was you who made it illegal to own slaves in Herridon." She looked to Bear. "He has asked to speak with the Captain of the Guard if the King is unavailable."
Bear began chuckling as Nahtan sat back down again. "It's your own fault for keeping an open door for anyone who wants to speak
with you," Bear pointed out. "Even Mo'ani cautioned you against that."
"I know," Nahtan said. He looked back at Yenene and held out his hand, knowing she would have come prepared. Yenene pulled her hands out from behind her back, offering him the simple circlet of gold that was his informal crown. Nahtan disliked such a display of the obvious, but was willing to go along with a few of the traditions the past kings had kept. He took the circlet from her and put it on, pulling the top layer of his hair out to nearly cover it. "All right," he said. "Have him brought in." As Yenene turned to leave, he looked at Bear. "Adie hasn't found anything yet on where he might have picked up the boy. Apparently he's been out gathering skins for the past six months."
"So unless he can lie better than I can," Bear said. "I think he's going to get a tour of the dungeons."
"If he tells us where the boy came from and when," Nahtan continued, giving his friend a deliberate look. "He can save his neck."
"You're just no fun since they crowned you king," Bear shook his head. "Must be the weight of the formal crown," he paused to smile. "Or all the dust from the robes--"
Nahtan sighed, letting Bear go on with his teasing. He didn't want to admit that he was all for cutting the trader's head off the second he walked into the room. He had to keep telling himself that wasn't the way of mercy and fairness. That had been his way once, and it had led to the death of a world.
Several minutes passed before the door opened again. Yenene led one of the Mo'ani and the trader in, then closed the door behind them. The trader still reeked of ale and bits of straw clung to his unkempt hair and worn clothing. His eyes were for the most part clear though, and Nahtan doubted he'd had more than two drinks so far that day. He recognized the same cruel appearance as his own master in the trader's tight fists and angry sneer.
"I understand you want to lodge a complaint," Nahtan said. He stood to greet the trader, meeting his gaze as he did so while his own hands clenched and unclenched. He wanted to see this man broken now more than anything, and had to force his anger down.
