Thread Strands (Golden Threads Trilogy)

by Leeland Artra

  Lebuin thought about it and said, in Elvish, “As strange as it is, I know I can trust her with my life. Would you feel better if you went with her and watched?”

  Grudgingly she nodded her agreement.

  Still in Elvish, he added, “Please don’t provoke her. We need to spend a lot of time going over what just happened. I need to explain some things, and then we need to come up with a new plan for all this. Everything has changed, Ticca. We are on a new path.” He switched back to Imperial. “Illa, please go with Ticca to collect all of your gear and horses, and Ossa-Ulla’s. Ticca is my general, so please obey her commands as if they came from me.”

  Runa-Illa stood without shifting her feet. It was an eerie thing, the way she rose without seeming to move her feet or legs. That is an interesting way to sit, so you can stand without having to shift. I should figure out how she does that. It would be a useful position to know. Illa looked at Ticca and bowed her head slightly.

  Lebuin looked back at Ticca and pointed into the forest. “Ticca, our horses are just over a small ridge that way. I am sure you can find them. I think we need to use all of your skills to leave no trace, other than a grave.”

  She threw the last bit of rope she had been fingering into the fire. “Understood. We’ll be back in about half a mark.” Turning to Runa-Illa, she told her, “I still don’t trust you, so no sudden moves. We’ll collect your gear first, so lead on.”

  Runa-Illa led her down a game trail. As they walked, Ticca thought over what had happened. Looking back, she made sure they were well away from the men. “Runa-Illa, what was all that about? Why did you stop fighting and ask Lebuin for forgiveness?”

  Runa-Illa looked back, still wearing the soft smile. Her voice sounded almost elven. She spoke in a melodic and precise way, allowing Ticca to hear every nuance of her meaning. “I didn’t realize He was a God. When He broke me out of the Nhia-Samri clan, I realized who He was and that I have been waiting for Him my whole life. I felt in my soul the truth that He is my God. I only desire to serve Him now. Would you not ask forgiveness if you struck your God?”

  “Wait a minute. Are you saying Lebuin, the journeyman mage of the Guild of Argos, is a God? More specifically your God? How can that be? He is just a mage, and a junior one, at that.”

  “Only a God could break the bindings of the Nhia-Samri. I didn’t have to accept Him as my God. But my soul felt Him, and I knew I was destined to be His. I offered myself to Him, and He accepted. I cannot explain, but from that moment on, even now, I feel a great joy in His light as His servant. I know what I know—I am His supplicant, and I shall do whatever I can to insure His will is done. Gods need not explain their many guises. I know not why He chooses to be a journey mage, but it matters little. He has goals, and I shall do all I can to help Him succeed.”

  She either believes that or is a fabulous actress. I can hear her praising Lebuin at every mention of him.

  They continued in silence, and Ticca mulled over Runa-Illa’s statement. “How do you know he accepted you? He didn’t say anything.”

  Runa-Illa stopped and turned to face Ticca. “May I draw my odassi to show you, General Ticca?”

  So that is the game. Okay, well, let’s see what her next move will be. Ticca slowly drew her dagger and short sword. “Okay, show me.”

  Runa-Illa shook her head. “You misunderstand.” She drew one odassi and held it so it stood straight up, the copper band facing Ticca. She pointed at the symbol on the band with her other hand. “Look here.”

  Ticca warily stepped closer, expecting to have to defend herself. But Runa-Illa stood still and relaxed, in a slightly off-balance stance, to put Ticca at ease. She looked at the symbol. It was a stylized dragon with a pentagram-shaped pommel dagger held in its right claw, and a ball of fire held in its left.

  Ticca stepped back and Runa-Illa sheathed the odassi. “That is His symbol. Before He broke me from the clan, it was a head of a mountain cat with an open mouth, showing its teeth, surrounded by a blazing sun. He could have simply broken the bands as He did to Ossa-Ulla’s odassi. Instead, He accepted me and bound me to His service. I would have served Him anyway, but this is proof of all I say.”

  “What exactly do these odassi do?”

  Runa-Illa shrugged. “For the Nhia-Samri, they bind the individuals to the command. A warrior swears to obey and the officer accepts. From that point, the commander’s or superior officer’s commands cannot be disobeyed without loss of honor. One odassi is used to report on actions and can be reviewed by a superior officer. The other odassi uses the Nhia-Samri’s power to provide improved speed and strength.”

  “So you can talk to your commanders through the swords?”

  Runa-Illa pointed down the trail and they continued moving. “No, a Nhia-Samri warrior prays or confesses a report to the odassi and it is stored. All prayers or confessions are stored and can be reviewed by any superior.”

  “Which odassi was Lebuin holding?”

  Runa-Illa looked back for a second. “He heard all my prayers and confessions. He learned all that I had reported my entire career, because He held the odassi of prayer. He forgave me, accepted my service, and made me His own. For this, my soul rejoices.”

  So that is what he is trying to process. He somehow tapped into the Nhia-Samri spells and broke the bindings. He heard all her reports and whatever else happened, she believes he is a God, and that she is in his service. Either that, or she is a really good actress. It doesn’t exactly explain the symbol, but he might have done it for show. Guess I can play along for now. But the moment she realizes she has been tricked, she’ll attack. Best to let this whole thing lie for a bit.

  Another question came to her as they walked on. “Why did Ossa-Ulla smile and speak of regaining his honor when I killed him?”

  Runa-Illa stopped and looked at Ticca. “Nhia-Samri live and die for honor. In defeating Ossa-Ulla time and time again, you caused him the loss of much honor. He was demoted and was only sent here to get him out of the way. He laid the trap for you, and in defeating you, would have regained that which you had taken, and more. But when you joined the fight, it was obvious you were not really trapped, were you?”

  The smirk she returned was justified. “No, I was going to let him capture me, because I figured that would loosen his tongue faster than torturing him. And you were a surprise, so I wanted to assess you. Of course, his stabbing me was also a surprise. I suspected he was going to try to use me as bait to get everyone. I admit, I was more than worried, as I passed out, that he might not be interested in getting all of us.”

  Runa-Illa nodded. “And in so doing, you proved he was even more a fool, taking what little honor he had left by your actions. By Nhia-Samri standards, he was a weak fool because he did not kill you the moment he had a chance, as they are taught to do. However, when you revealed that you were Gods, that changed everything. No mortal can expect to truly defeat a God; it is not an even match. However, it is the highest honor achievable to continue to do your duty against a stronger adversary, even when you know you cannot win. By revealing you were Gods, you showed that Ossa-Ulla really had no chance at success, yet he had continued to try to follow his original orders, despite being defeated. Therefore, he was vindicated and died with the highest honor anyone can hope to achieve in a lifetime of service.”

  They resumed the journey to collect the gear and horses, and Ticca thought that over. So the Nhia-Samri only live for one virtue—honor. Their code of conduct must be difficult to deal with. It would justify many actions through the virtue of following commands. They are not expected to question the motives or correctness of actions. They have only to follow, and when raised in rank, echo the orders of their superiors, which explains a great deal of the oddness of their shift to assassinations and the extermination of the orcs.

  As she walked, she compared what her training was like to what Runa-Illa had revealed of the Nhia-Samri. Daggers are trained to have a strong code of honor. We are also trained to have cour
age and commitment to the moral ideals; we have to have the courage to do what’s right, regardless of orders or laws. Shar-Lumen started the Nhia-Samri to do great things, and succeeded. But then he didn’t have the courage or commitment to hold to his morals when Kliasa was killed by an orc tribe. So now, the Nhia-Samri have been keeping their honor, but doing horrible things at the command of their Grand Warlord. Could we somehow add the Dagger morals into the honor structure of the Nhia-Samri? If not, there will be little choice and the realms might have to face them head-on to destroy them.

  They moved through the forest like a pair of ghosts, leaving no sign of their passage. They didn’t talk again, as each dealt with her own thoughts. It took slightly more than a full mark to bring the gear and horses back to the grove, as the horses were further away than she had thought. Runa-Illa was efficient.

  By the time they got back to the ambush site, a grave had been made for the body of Ossa-Ulla, and Lebuin was placing stones that were picked for matching size and color, from a small pile, and laying them into a pattern on top of the grave. Runa-Illa moved beside him, knelt, and started handing him stones from the pile. When they were done, Ticca recognized the cat head surrounded by a sun symbol, as the one which had been on Ossa-Ulla’s odassi blades.

  Standing over the grave, they were all silent. Feeling like she should do something, she silently prayed, Lady please take him up to whatever God claims him. He was dangerous, and yet, I think worthy of praise. He was a product of his training, which was incomplete intentionally. Her heart told her she had done right, and looking at her hands, she was pleased to see they were not shaking, as before. Her uncle’s voice came from her memory. ‘Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world, but Daggers don’t have that problem.’

  Lebuin took the reins of his horse, Runa-Illa’s, and Ossa-Ulla’s, and started off into the forest as if he knew where he was going. Ditani took the reins of the remaining horses and followed without a comment. Runa-Illa looked at her, and then together, they started erasing the trail as the men moved ahead.

  Lebuin and Runa-Illa appeared nervous, as if pursuit was a real and dangerous possibility. Ticca and Ditani keyed in on this and they spent a night and day in tense, nonstop travel. No one spoke the entire time, except in quick, hushed conversations. Ticca took the rear of the party on foot and removed every sign of their passage. Runa-Illa walked in front of Lebuin, picking the path which would leave as little mark as possible under Lebuin’s silent hand signals.

  As they travelled, Ticca watched Runa-Illa for any sign of deception, but she never misstepped, and was as efficient and skilled as Ticca at removing all trace of their passage. Lebuin led them over a shallow river and along a rocky path, to a cave that had a defensible entrance, and which was well concealed so as to hide a fire within.

  Lebuin looked around and relaxed. Ticca looked over the area. “How did you know about this?”

  “Illa and Ossa-Ulla found it while exploring in preparation for your arrival.”

  “Why do you keep calling her Illa, and not by her first name, Runa?”

  “Because the Nhia-Samri clans place clan name first, so her clan name is Runa and her name is Illa. Normally, they are very formal. I was never one for formality, so I am hoping she doesn’t mind.”

  Glancing at Illa, Ticca saw that she was glowing with pride. Being on a first-name basis with your God must feel pretty good. She is in for a hell of a crash when she finds out Lebuin isn’t a God.

  “I am sure our trail is untraceable. Are we safe from whatever you have been afraid of for the last couple of days?”

  Lebuin went distant, and he looked around the area. His eyes are gold again! He is using magic. I wonder why this wasn’t mentioned in my training. This is a great way to know if a wizard is doing something magical. His eyes returned to green and refocused on her. “We are as safe as in any other place. I don’t think we can be located by anyone unless they can follow our trail.”

  Ticca shook her head. “Not possible. I wouldn’t even be able to trace where we went, unless I had our scents and a damn good bloodhound. If someone brought some of our clothes from Llino, and dogs, we could be found. Of course, we’d hear them coming.”

  Lebuin and Ditani looked at each other and Ditani dipped his head. Lebuin smiled. “Well, we can stay here for a while and sort some of this stuff out.”

  Her shoulder muscles started to relax. “Okay. We’ll stay on guard, but it’s time to make camp. I’ll gather wood and set some alarm traps. The rest of you can get the fire going. I can really use a cup of arit before you start explaining all this, please. We all need a good rest, too.”

  “Sounds good, Ticca, and you’re right, of course. Ditani and I will ready the camp.” Lebuin looked at Illa and smiled. “Illa, please help set some alarms and show them to Ticca. You can also help her gather some firewood.”

  Why the hell is he forcing me to spend time with her? He’s bouncing back and forth between acting like himself and some authority figure. It is disconcerting. Guess I’m still in that bard’s tale, and somehow, I think it’s going to get worse from here.

  Ticca shrugged and headed back out, not bothering to see if Illa was following. Illa caught up and then took the lead setting a number of excellent alarms as Ticca watched for any mistake. Deciding it was best not to criticize as Illa’s work was already excellent Ticca silently worked with her setting the alarm traps. When they got back to the cave, the men had cleaned it out, built a small fire from the wood already there, and even had the bed rolls out. In all, it was an easy camp to set.

  Ditani had taken up the chore of cooking. Lebuin sat down by his gear and stripped off his shirt. His shoulder was bound in bloody cloth, which he removed and tried to inspect the shoulder wound. Damn it, we should have dressed that better before we made this trek! Ditani must have bound it while we were getting the horses, and then he changed shirts to hide it. I’m going to have some choice words with him later over this stupidity!

  Illa frowned, too, and stepped over to Lebuin with a look of concern.

  “My Lord, you should have healed that before we travelled.”

  Huh. Smart girl. I’m actually starting to like her. I hope I don’t have to kill her.

  Lebuin smiled up at her. “You may dress it. I think I ducked under the worst of it.”

  She didn’t ask. Why is he letting her do this? Ticca put her hand on her dagger hilt and watched as Illa took some medical supplies from her pouch and cleaned the cut. She frowned as she inspected the wound. “My Lord, it is not bleeding much, but it is through the skin. May I use a tincture on it?”

  “Yes, that would be very handy and stop the infernal itching.”

  Illa pulled a vial out. She looked at Ticca and held it out to her. “Would you care to inspect it first, General Ticca?”

  Runa-Illa’s eyes held no hint of insult or deception; still, Ticca nodded and took it. After sniffing it from a distance, she detected the familiar smell of a temple healing ointment which sped healing to an incredible rate. She opened it and found that it wasn’t an ointment, but a liquid. Still, it smelled familiar, so she handed it back.

  Illa took a cloth and poured a few drops into the wound. She then pinched the wound closed using the cloth. After a moment, she took the cloth away and poured a few more drops on the mostly closed wound. Again, she pinched it closed using the cloth, closed the vial, and put it away. She then used some water from a canteen to wash the blood away from the healed wound. Only a red line remained.

  Runa-Illa’s reaction to the condition of Lebuin’s wound told volumes. Her fingers touched her lips as she gasped. Illa’s cheeks glowed as she smiled, which Lebuin couldn’t see.

  Ticca registered it all. She really does believe everything she has said. To her, Lebuin is a God.

  Runa-Illa resealed the vial. “My Lord, it worked better than it should have. There will be no scar.”

  “Excellent. And thank you. Now, would you pl
ease take that bedding there so Ticca can relax while we try and sort all this out?” Illa stepped over to the bedding, and then folded her legs under her in that unusual sitting position.

  Ditani turned around and handed out some roasted rabbit and a handful of roasted roots. Ticca took her share and then chose the bed between Lebuin and Runa-Illa as, she was sure, Lebuin had meant. Taking her dagger out, she placed it close to her hand, but away from Runa-Illa. Runa-Illa seemed to take no mind of this, and ate the food given to her. She tried to copy Runa-Illa’s leg trick, unsuccessfully. Glancing over, she saw Runa-Illa was not looking at her, but was wearing a smirk. You better not laugh!

  Lebuin stood and dug into the horses’ packs, finding a clean shirt and putting it on. Then he sat down by the fire and enjoyed the warmth while he ate. He looked up. “So now it is time to go over everything. I have more than you might think to explain. Please forgive any rambling. Okay?” He looked at all three of them.

  Ditani nodded. Illa smiled at Lebuin with that look of longing. Ticca’s gut tightened and she felt her pulse quicken. Crud, she is like a school girl in love with her teacher.

  Ticca nodded. “Of course, I might interrupt with a question or ten.”

  Lebuin laughed. “You wouldn’t be you, if you didn’t.”

  Lebuin shifted a little, and with a glance at Runa-Illa, turned his attention to Ticca, his eyes flashing in the firelight. “Since Illa doesn’t know our side, I’ll start from the beginning.” In a short time, Lebuin summed up his twenty years of self-indulgent life in the Guild, followed by their adventures from the time he saw Ticca kill the assassin in the alley, through escaping Llino, being pursued by assassins.

  Lebuin continued, adding more details she hadn’t heard before.

  “I had an enemy of sorts at the Guild called Magus Cune. He ruined many of my projects and plans. Magus Cune must have spent a great deal of time trying to get me to fail in my lessons. I believe this was because I killed his younger brother, or son, or relative, in a childhood accident in which I used a great deal of magic in a fit of childish rage in the Guild playground.”