by D. L. Kramer
"Judging by your reply, I'll assume it's the former," Nahtan said. Since Calan had presented him with his coat of arms, Nahtan had made it a point to learn his nuances. "I would like to ask you to accompany me on a trip south."
"To Valin?" Calan asked, puzzled as he continued to look from Nahtan to Bear. "Whatever for? There's nothing there I have any desire to exploit."
"A little further than that," Nahtan told him. "I'm heading south to the villages below Valin and would like your particular expertise in finding out the truth of some of the things I've been hearing about."
Calan studied him for a moment. "The traders who come through say the villages there have no value as far as commerce," he said slowly. "And I know you have more than enough swords at your disposal that mine is completely inconsequential."
Nahtan smiled faintly as he and Bear exchanged another look. "I'm sure you can figure out the details of why I want you along," Nahtan said. "I also want you to consider one thing: if the villages are that unimportant, then why do the traders keep going back to them? There are more than enough areas here that they could trap in, and they certainly don't bring back anything from there to trade like the Mowik bring their beads, jewelry and weaving." Nahtan knew he had set Calan's mind to spinning with the thought. He also knew the merchant enjoyed nothing more than finding a new good or service that he could have sole claim to.
"Let me consider it," Calan said, standing. "When did you plan to leave?"
"About three weeks," Nahtan answered. "But I'll need to know before that so I can find someone else if you aren't interested." He knew that would put a halt to any misgivings Calan might have. Losing an opportunity to his competitors was unthinkable for him.
Calan nodded his head as he walked back to the bar, quietly counting something off on his fingers.
"You're getting underhanded," Brijade said, smiling. She finished her drink and pushed the mug to the center of the table. Valry copied her movements, taking a drink of her water, then pushing the mug away.
"I know, I think I've been around you two too long," Nahtan responded, then looked at Bear. "Do I want to ask what you were playing?"
Bear shrugged. "Calan's barmaid just told him she was leaving to work at another tavern for more money," he said. "I figured you'd need some help to convince him to leave without having anyone here who knew how to run things his way."
Nahtan smiled his gratitude and nodded his head. No doubt Chase had told Bear when he arrived.
"All right," he said. "All that's left is for Gahrit to get here, and for Jaron and Tosia to agree to come along instead of heading back to the valley."
Bear raised an eyebrow. "When are you going to learn that it's never as easy as you say it will be?"
Nahtan smiled again. "I keep hoping one of these times it will be."
Nine - "Hath thee a place we can talk?"
Nahtan twisted his sword around and quickly moved to his right. Adie's quarterstaff shifted with deadly speed from connecting with his sword to swinging for his abdomen. Nahtan's dodge was barely in time, saving him from a serious bruise. From the sides of the training yard, there were quiet comments from the Mo'ani warriors who watched the fight.
Adie's hands and arms moved expertly, twisting the staff so it was nothing but a blur and forcing Nahtan to rely on little more than instinct to keep from being seriously hurt. In the two weeks since Adie had brought Valry back from her stay at Mo'ani's Stronghold, this was his third time against her in the training yard. If his body ached any less after this match, he decided he would have to make extra offerings to Jensina and Halona.
Even if he was sore and bruised, he knew the fights were welcomed by his guards at the castle. Not only did it remind them of his skill, but also gave any of them the chance to face off against him. Adie had also done a remarkable job reminding him that he had nearly forgotten how to fight against someone with a quarterstaff when the objective wasn't to kill them. The last time he had regularly faced an opponent with one was when Mo'ani began his training.
"Watch her arms," Mo'ani instructed from the side of the training yard. "If you try to watch her hands, you'll end up two moves behind her."
"Now you remind me," Nahtan said, ducking under a swing and barely jumping over the return. He planted his sword point first in the ground to stop the quarterstaff for a moment while he regained his bearings. No sooner had the staff struck his sword than Adie was reversing the swing, bringing the opposite end up and around for a strike on his shoulder. "Could you slow down a little bit?" he asked her deliberately as he ducked out of the way.
Adie smiled and reversed the swing yet again. "Watch my arms," she repeated Mo'ani's advice. "Remember, you've got different rules to fight by here."
Nahtan fell silent as he concentrated on her shoulders and arms rather than her hands and quarterstaff. After several seconds, he finally began deflecting her blows before they could hit him. Shortly after, Adie stepped back, signaling an end to the match.
"I suppose I should commend you for not pulling your dagger on me," she said, leaning her staff against her shoulder while she brushed loose strands of hair back from her face and wiped her brow.
Nahtan gave her a deliberate look. "And I should thank you for not using the dagger in your left sleeve, the one down your back, the one under your sash or the one in your right boot." He smiled at her sigh. "Surely you didn't think I wouldn't be watching for those," he finished.
Adie returned his smile with one of her own. "Good," she complimented. "But you missed one."
Nahtan felt over his shoulder for his sheath, then slid his sword into it. "I didn't want to tell everything," he said. "But if you really want me to mention the one in your other sleeve, I will--even though I'm not sure what good it'll do you strapped to your upper arm that way."
Adie turned at Mo'ani's chuckle.
"Did you tell him?" she demanded.
"Not a word," Mo'ani said. "Besides, you know how I feel about your chosen profession." His tone turned serious. "I consider it a small justification that Halona's prophesied king can pick out every weapon someone of your considerable experience can hide on yourself."
"You're the one that taught me in the first place," Nahtan reminded her as they walked toward the training yard's fence.
Adie's look was exasperated. "Next time I'll use better judgment," she said. She climbed up to sit on the top rail of the fence beside where Mo'ani stood. Nahtan leaned against the fence while two warriors walked to the center of the ring, saluted each other, then drew their swords.
"So do you have your men to travel south with you yet?" Mo'ani asked. "I know your army's almost ready at the Stronghold."
"I've got seven or eight," Nahtan answered. "Hopefully there will be more in the next week or so as the patrols are rotated. Liyol volunteered but I turned him down since I want him here when his wife gives birth."
Mo'ani was quiet. "I still don't think a dozen will be enough," he said. "Especially if you're going to insist on taking Valry."
Nahtan studied Mo'ani's eyes for a moment. He had no doubt that Mo'ani was given direction from the gods, but Nahtan also knew he couldn't leave his daughter behind.
"I didn't know her until she was two years old," he stated. "And not knowing how this trip is going to turn out, I can't be gone from her life for that long again." He paused for a moment. "And I don't want her gone from my life for even half that time."
Mo'ani didn't argue, but only sighed and nodded his head. After watching the fight in the yard for a moment, he spoke again, his voice quiet. "I'll go with," he said. "And would you please humor me and not take Valry into any situation that might endanger her?"
Nahtan smiled faintly. "If it's a situation I can foresee," he said. "Then I will personally hand her over to you and Bear to get her out of there."
"Hey, Paki!"
Nahtan turned to look behind him, hearing both the name from his youth and a familiar voice. Seeing Jerai walking towards the yard as he swung his s
hort cloak over his shoulder, Nahtan smiled and let himself out the gate. He had been expecting Jaron and Tosia to bring down the newest herd of Dwellers' horses to trade, not their youthful lord. Within seconds, Jaron and Tosia came around the corner from the stables, following Jerai towards the training yard.
The brother and sister were almost exact contrasts. Jaron was tall with tanned skinned and brown hair while Tosia was significantly shorter with pale skin and very light blonde hair. While both Jaron and Jerai wielded the Dwellers' heavy kora swords with incredible skill, Nahtan couldn't help but pity those who came up against Tosia. Her ability to handle a sword and maneuver any horse within her sight left few enemies standing when she was finished. Nahtan noted the large wooden box Jaron was carrying, wondering what it was as the Dwellers rarely traveled with anything like that. Normally, if it couldn't fit into a saddlebag, it wasn't brought.
"I don't think many people would take a king with that name seriously," Nahtan said to Jerai, clasping his friend's hand when they reached each other.
"Who says anyone takes you seriously?" Jerai returned, smiling. His brown hair was tied back, but windblown strands fell to his chin. Jerai's horsehide breeches and vest were dusted from the trip down from the Dwellers' valley as were the cuffs and sleeves of his woven tunic. His square jaw and deep voice still made him seem more serious than his eyes normally said he was. Something about them this time, though, told Nahtan he was here for more than a visit.
Nahtan returned Jerai's smile. "Would you like a tour of the dungeon?" he offered. "Or maybe the kitchen? I think our cook could find plenty for you to do."
"I've got enough to worry about," Jerai said seriously, shaking his head as Jaron and Tosia reached them. "Which is why I'm here too."
"What's going on?" Nahtan asked, looking from one Dweller to another.
"Hath thee a place we can talk?" Jaron asked, using the Dwellers' traditional speech. So far as Nahtan knew, Jerai was the first Dweller to refuse to practice it after reaching adulthood.
"I have more studies and libraries than you can imagine," Nahtan told him. "But I think my office should be all right."
"Thou may want Lord Mo'ani there as well," Tosia added, her light blue eyes concerned.
Nahtan looked at her. "If you want Mo'ani there, then there are a couple others I want as well," he said. "Give me a minute to track them down. My office is on the third level at the end of the hall on the south side." As they nodded and turned towards the castle, Nahtan turned to walk back to Mo'ani and Adie. After that, he would need to find Bear and Yenene.
"So what's in the box?" Bear asked, swinging Valry down from his back and into a chair beside Nahtan's desk as Adie closed the office door.
"Thou hath no more patience now than in thy youth," Tosia noted.
"He doesn't pay me to be patient," Bear returned, nodding to Nahtan.
"All in time," Jaron responded, gently setting the box on a corner of Nahtan's desk. Nahtan thought he heard movement from inside it, but couldn't be sure.
As everyone either settled in chairs or chose a place to stand, Nahtan looked to Jerai, Jaron and Tosia. "This is everyone I wanted here," he said. "So whoever wants to start can." He absently handed a blank sheet of parchment to Valry then another to Yenene for the mute boy who had followed her into the office.
Jerai turned to Jaron and nodded. Jaron responded by carefully lifting the top from the box. He reached inside and carefully lifted an extraordinarily large falcon from it. The bird was barely alive, his gold eyes blinking as he looked around the room, too weak to struggle. His beak was held open and he seemed to be panting. Nahtan had seen too many birds in his master's snares to deny the obvious; the bird was dying.
"Something terrible hath happened in the Wardsman's Woods," Jaron said, holding the bird for Nahtan to see. "There hath been well over a thousand dead birds and animals there in the last five or six weeks."
Nahtan carefully took the bird from Jaron, lowering himself into his chair as he set the bird on his lap. His fingers gently probed the bird's wings, body and legs, but could find no wounds. His mind tried telling him he wasn't holding one of the Wardsman's incarnations, but he knew it was useless. On his first trip through the woods, he had learned that the Wardsman was almost always seen as a bird of prey, and always larger than normal. It was such a bird who had brought him to the trapper Alsynder and the truth about who he was.
"What about in the forest itself?" Mo'ani asked, his voice quiet with concern. "Even when in an animal's form, his spirit still saturated the forest."
"No more," Tosia replied. "The Wardsman's Woods are as empty now as any other. The only thing that can be felt there now is death."
Yenene stepped to Nahtan's side, her own hands touching the falcon lightly. "He is old," she said. "Older than any such bird I've ever seen."
Nahtan looked over at Bear, wondering if his friend was piecing together anything he was missing. A shrug from Bear told him he was as confused as Nahtan.
"What about Kutci?" Nahtan asked Yenene.
Yenene apprehensively touched the stone from Kutci's cave that hung around her neck. After several seconds, she shook her head. "She only knows that this 'Wardsman' is not near her," she answered.
"But is Kutci all right?" Bear asked.
Yenene nodded her head. "There is no danger there."
"The Wardsman is the mage Aiqho'il," Nahtan said, meeting Yenene's gaze. "Kutci will know him by that name." As memories of his past life had come back to him, he had remembered certain names and even some events. Most of the events were troubling, though, and he chose not to examine them too closely. The names of his lost companions brought a certain amount of stability to his memories. It was his memories of himself that bothered him as much as the events associated with them.
Yenene nodded again, then was silent. After a moment, she spoke quietly. "If that is who he is, then he is most assuredly not there," she said slowly, as if repeating it as it was told to her. "She says his presence was greater than even Daghr'il's, and she would not like to feel either again." Nahtan kept his reaction to that name from showing in his expression or tone. It was a name and person he didn't want to remember, either.
"Who's that?" Adie asked Nahtan.
Nahtan gave her a one-shoulder shrug. "A tyrannical warrior," he answered. "Who had more than one difference of opinion with his healer." He hadn't told any of them that he remembered the names of his fellow abandoned souls. The names and their faces were both familiar and foreign to him now, little more than scars on his memory. He knew the Wardsman would not leave his chosen home unless there was very good reason. Perhaps after so long, he had grown tired of the solitude and left to once again seek the company of the others. "Can you do anything for the bird?" Nahtan asked Yenene. He couldn't rid himself of the feeling that this falcon was still connected to the Wardsman in some way, and if it could possibly be saved, he had to try.
"I don't know," she said, kneeling beside his chair and stroking the bird's sharp beak. Her black eyes grew distant for a moment, then cleared as she looked up at him. "Let me take him to Jensina's altar."
Nahtan nodded his head and gently handed her the falcon as she stood. Without another word, Yenene held the bird close to her and left the room.
"I can't do anything," Nahtan said, looking back at Jerai. "If the Wardsman chose to leave the woods, there's no way for me to find him to ask him to return."
Jerai nodded his head slowly. "I thought as much," he said. "But where you two are--kindred spirits--I thought you should know what had happened," he paused for a moment. "I admit I was sort of hoping you might know why it happened, but I'm not surprised you don't."
"The only way I could know is if I was still there with him," Nahtan explained. "And as my daughter and late wife will tell you, I'm apparently as empathic as a garden slug at this point so I probably couldn't help even if I knew where to start."
Valry paused in her drawing to give her father an amused smile, then return
ed to her picture without saying a word. Nahtan couldn't help but wonder again if the girl understood far more than he thought. The mute boy drawing beside her showed no interest in their conversation, but was completely submerged in the fine shadings of the scene growing under his fingers.
"I'm sorry I can't add anything," Mo'ani said with a slight shake of his head. "We didn't even know these spirits existed as they are until Nahtan told us about them. Everyone just assumed the Wardsman and Kutci were created by Zakris."
"As I said, I'm not surprised," Jerai said. "It does mean we'll have to start posting sentries in the woods, though. We've still got fugitive church guards and traders trying to steal horses."
"I thought I sent you a detachment to take care of that," Nahtan said, glancing at Bear. Bear nodded his head, then shrugged.
"You did," Jerai nodded. "They haven't been able to find them yet."
Nahtan looked to Bear again. "Did we send anyone good?" he asked.
"I thought so," Bear shrugged. "Lieutenant Gharald was in charge of them when they left, so there was no danger of bad leadership."
Nahtan shifted his gaze to Mo'ani and raised an eyebrow.
"He's not back at the Stronghold," Mo'ani said. "But we did get a rider in a couple of weeks ago with a message from him that things were progressing slowly."
"Are you sure it was from him?" Nahtan asked.
Mo'ani nodded his head. "Pater Isak confirmed it," he replied.
"We've got to find a faster way to relay messages," Nahtan sighed. The message from Gharald would be almost a month outdated between when he sent it and when it reached the Stronghold. He looked back to Bear. "Send a dozen men to check on them. If Gharald needs help, they can stay and help. If not, then tell them to spend the travel time back figuring out how to speed this up." As Bear nodded, Nahtan looked at Jaron and Tosia. "Which reminds me, how would one or both of you like to accompany me south for an extended period of time?"
