The Brightest Shadow, page 10
"Thank you for meeting with me, honorable master. I do not ask you for your time or instruction, only to be permitted to study with you."
The master watched her in silence, face impassive. After a time, his gaze shifted to Slaten and he spoke in a language Tani didn't know. Presumably Okeni, because after a moment of surprise, Slaten answered smoothly. They exchanged several questions, then the master turned back to her.
"Your friend tells me that you come from Bundlin. What were you doing there?"
Tani hadn't ever imagined that the master might speak Okeni and there was no way to ask what Slaten had said. Maybe that was the point - if she had planned to lie, that plan was now futile. Though things were not going poorly, her plans had definitely fallen apart.
Seeing no other choice, Tani briefly told the truth. She didn't emphasize Kolanin or the other Deathspawn, but even what she mentioned prompted expressions of anger from the others. Except for the tall man standing at the back, who seemed only amused by the entire thing. Though he hadn't stood out to her too much before, except as a powerful warrior, now Tani found herself strangely distracted and wishing she could get a better look at him.
"Your story rings true," the master said, "but the truth is more difficult than you know. I am Master Faselor, young Tani. You have our hospitality, but we have little to offer you."
Which meant they were rejecting her politely, but Tani still gave the expected response. "I am sure that you have more to offer than I deserve."
"No, I actually spoke truly." Master Faselor shifted his stance, both hands on his staff as he looked down at her. "Sixty days ago, Deathspawn attacked our village and stole all of our original texts. Not only can we not forgive this injury, we truly do not have any simple lessons for you to study."
"How could they have stolen them?" The question was out of her mouth before she realized that it might be seen as an insult. But it was bizarre. Surely their texts would have been in a secret place, guarded by warriors.
The reaction was not anger, but confusion. Several of the warriors began speaking before Master Faselor silenced them with a look. From the fragments she had caught, and the discomfort on many faces, Tani realized that they had the same questions she did. It didn't make sense that their texts could have been stolen like that, and it was clearly a source of much distress for the tribe. No wonder they refused to treat with Deathspawn.
Slaten asked a question in Okeni and the master shook his head slowly. He focused instead on Tani, gaze searching her, and she subconsciously tried to sit up with perfect posture. "Your companion has asked if it would be possible for him to find and return our texts. While this would be a great gift to us, I do not believe an outsider could treat them with the appropriate respect. You, perhaps, could."
"If given the opportunity," Tani said, "I would be honored to recover your texts. Do you have any idea who might currently possess them?"
"If we were certain, we would have already retrieved them. They may indeed be found in the Coran city, though they were stolen in the southwest and so may be possessed by the warlord there. This warlord appears to be a great enemy to all Rhen."
"I can make no promises, but I would be honored if fate allows me to assist you." Tani bit her lip, realizing that she'd used the same "honor" twice in a row. Master Faselor didn't seem to care about the trivial blunder, giving her a peaceful smile... but then his eyes hardened.
"There will be no peace if the Deathspawn stole our texts in order to destroy them. If they stole them in order to learn, or to weaken us, then perhaps we can view their actions as honorable raiding."
Tani swallowed and nodded. "I do not know the truth of this matter. But I swear to you that I will do what I can to discover it."
"That is all we can ask. You may go, young warrior." He extended his palm to her and Tani slid hers underneath it, then she bowed alone.
With that, the master turned on his heel and left the tent. His words were a dismissal, so though she wanted to stay and listen to the new conversations starting among the warriors there, she rose and gestured for Slaten to do the same. They returned her weapons and escorted her to the perimeter.
On her way out, she felt the eyes of the tall warrior on her again. When she looked back, she found him watching her with an amused expression on his face. It changed to a friendly smile when he saw her looking, and Tani returned it, yet inside she shuddered.
What about him put her on edge? She felt that he was dangerous, yet she had no firm reason why. The tent had been filled with warriors who were dangerous, after all. Yet with her master and others, she felt a sense of peace and discipline from them that led her not to fear. With this tall warrior, she sensed only blood and violence.
Tani shook her head as they left, reminding herself that she couldn't trust her intuition that far. Besides, it was not the most important part of the meeting. They were being escorted out of the village quickly, but Tani decided not to wait to explain to Slaten, since he looked uncertain.
"I'm sorry about that," Tani said. "I truly expected that he would ignore you."
"Did it go well?" Slaten looked back over his shoulder, then to her. "It seemed like it could have been worse, but I really don't know what's going on."
"They gave us the hospitality of the tribe, so they won't attack us if we return. But they rejected my offer because of their main problem: apparently a group of Deathspawn stole their teaching texts. I'm not sure if they took all of them, or just those for the young. Either way, that's the reason they're on edge, and why the Yevee warriors refuse to treat with Kolanin."
Slaten considered that seriously as they left the camp and nodded farewell to the warriors. Once they were alone, again facing the grasslands, he spoke quietly. "Do you believe that story?"
"I do." Tani glanced back at him. "But you're right, there's something strange about it. I've never heard of Deathsp - mansthein stealing texts like that. There's something else here that we don't know."
"I'll ask Kolanin if he has any more information. I don't think he would ever offend like that, but there are many mansthein forces and some of them might have different tactics. If we do recover the texts, do you think they'd be open to talking?"
"Possibly. I saw signs they were preparing to defend themselves, but none that they intended an aggressive war. The Yevee are always the first to call for peace at the Confederation."
"Then let's hope they're open to it this time." Slaten walked in silence for a while longer, then looked to her. "This completes your obligation to Kolanin. Are you going to return home?"
She considered the question only for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm not satisfied with doing as little as possible. I want to see this resolved. Peace between Yevee and mansthein if possible, but at the least I want to assist them."
Slaten smiled at that for a moment, but didn't say anything. Tani was glad to let things fall into silence, at least for a time. She hadn't been certain until she spoke, but now that the words were out of her mouth, she didn't see how things could end any other way.
Whatever the obstacles, she would see this to the end. There was no going home before that.
Chapter 6
-
"Now we must turn to the subject of physical descriptions of the Deathspawn, where error and confusion reign. They are not, of course, invincible warriors who fight on to the last breath. Indeed, they will die if they lose enough blood and they can fight only as long as sein remains in their spirit, just as all other mortals. Careful scrutiny of reports suggests that the Deathspawn are actually more likely to break and retreat than humans, and certainly far more than the knights of South Corah."
- excerpt from On the Deathspawn, written by Haneval, First Scholar to the King of South Corah
-
Though Slaten had enjoyed the trip outside Bundlin with Tani, when they returned, life slipped back into the normal routine. He still needed to work at the clinic, even more so than usual to make up for having been gone. Tani was often absent, conversing with Rhen contacts in the city to learn more. It seemed that she had a new goal that evaded her.
Of course, the person they most needed to talk to was Kolanin, but he had been too busy to meet with them since they'd returned. As far as Slaten could tell, the local merchants had been harassing him with petitions. Based on an old comment Kolanin had made, he thought that was a good thing: it meant they were willing to negotiate for the future of the city. But it meant that Kolanin had no time to think about the clinic or Tani's assignment.
Today Tani had asked him to at least try to meet Kolanin and Slaten had been willing to help. He might be a mediocre healer, but he had managed to assist in some small way during their meeting with the Yevee. Perhaps in this he could bring a little peace to the region.
The merchants' meetings were being held on the human side of the river, presumably to make them more comfortable. Slaten waited by the entrance as a large group left, surprised by how many of them there were. Not many Corans, either. He saw Estronese robes as expected, but also a merchant who must have been from further north sweating in furs and several women who looked Nol to him, though he had little experience with southern peoples.
Not that it mattered to what he needed to do. As soon as they had passed, Slaten stood up and slid into the door before anyone else could interrupt.
Inside, he found only one guard... but it was Ghakin, and the Catai's imposing presence was worth more than a normal company. His default glare shifted to a smile when he saw that it was Slaten.
"Well! I hope you're not trying to be a merchant now."
"I just wanted to speak with Kolanin before he was too busy with the merchants again."
Ghakin grimaced. "Damn money counters. You humans think up the strangest things."
"Do... mansthein not have merchants?"
"That's a human thing. Like all those stupid coins you carry around. Took me forever to get used to it after I came over here."
"I see." That didn't match what Slaten knew, but he was rather ignorant of mansthein society. Though he had seen some of life on the other side of the river, he knew a military encampment wasn't representative of normal life. "Then, are there no divisions of wealth in your society? I know you have divisions by power, but surely..."
"That reminds me, what do rich humans actually do with all the money they collect? Can you eat it or something? I tried to eat a bunch of different coins and they all just tasted like metal."
"What? I... you should understand, it's just a way of-"
Ghakin began laughing uproariously and slamming his fist against the wall. "Did you... did you seriously believe...? You think we don't understand money? How do you think literally anything in our society works?"
Slaten scowled. "I was just taking you seriously."
"I told you I ate coins!"
Folding his arms irritably, Slaten tried to swallow his shame and frustration. It didn't feel fair to mock him that way, but those thoughts would do him no good. Better to focus on a real question. "So you have merchants. But I don't think you were faking your distaste for them."
"Oh, sure." Ghakin got his chuckling under control, though he still leaned against the wall. "I just don't trust anyone who will smile at you while cheating you out of everything. I joined the army and got assigned all the way out here because this is the only place you can get away from it. We operate on military rules here, so money isn't a problem."
"I suppose I can understand that."
"I'm not saying they're all bad, but I think most of them just cause problems. For us or for humans, that part doesn't seem much different." He reached over his shoulder and tapped the blade of his axe. "We could solve a lot of problems by cutting off a few heads. Or all the heads. Maybe the next set will be less greedy."
"Not likely," Kolanin said. Slaten had no idea that he had arrived, turning only in time to see him standing in the doorway. "You like to blame merchants for everything, Ghakin, but if there are problems, they exist in the system around them. The new merchants would flow into exactly the same roles."
"I don't think they'd forget the decapitations. They'd figure it out and shape up."
"You'd be trying to change the shape of a cup by pouring new water into it."
Ghakin turned toward Slaten with a grin, not apparently bothered by what sounded like an old argument. "See, that's why things are better out here. At home, the man above me would be some spineless bastard. Kolanin may push papers, but he's tough. Doesn't lose sight of what matters even when the merchants are all over him."
"As they soon will be again." Kolanin turned to glance at Slaten and smiled. "You had something you wanted to speak about? I have some time, follow me."
Nodding farewell to Ghakin, Slaten followed Kolanin into the other room. It was nicely furnished, with two large couches in the Coran style and multiple hangings on the walls, but it was dominated by the desk in the center. Papers threatened to wash off the sides, brittle rolls of notes as well as better paper stock. A heavy book of records lay open in front of the chair.
Kolanin dropped into it and for a moment his body sagged. For the first time, Slaten noticed how weary Kolanin looked. His robes were somewhat rumpled, there were hints of bags under his eyes, and he slumped as if he had nothing left. But a moment later he seemed to remember Slaten's presence, ran a hand through his hair, then gave a warm smile like he had energy to spare.
"What is it? I heard that you and the Rhen girl were only partially successful."
"We were able to meet with the Yevee, but it didn't go as expected..." Slaten explained what had happened as quickly as possible. Kolanin closed his eyes while listening, almost looking asleep, but when it was done he nodded thoughtfully.
"I can tell you that we don't have possession of any texts here. I would never have authorized an assault on the Yevee, and stealing techniques is a certain way to create an enemy."
"They seemed certain that they had been stolen by mansthein, though."
"Most likely they are correct about that." Kolanin leaned forward and searched through his papers, finding the one he wanted surprisingly quickly despite the clutter. "I have a suspicion as to who might have done this, though I don't entirely understand why. You need to understand, Slaten, that I am unpopular among many mansthein as well as humans. Others would prefer a more aggressive military strategy, and they can often enact it."
As Kolanin spoke, his eyes became tense again for a moment. Slaten waited for him to say more, then eventually prodded. "You said you know who might have the texts. Are they someone we can negotiate with?"
"Possibly." Kolanin pushed a hand through his hair again, which seemed to be falling into his face more than usual. After a moment he gave up and just tapped on the piece of paper he'd found. "Koreinan Aryabaus is the commander of the army stationed to the southwest of Bundlin. His official assignment is to conquer East Corah, but he has significant latitude in how he accomplishes that goal. When we spoke, he seemed contemptuous of humans and disliked the idea of having enemies at his back."
"So he might have done it. Would he have destroyed the texts?"
"More likely just instructed his soldiers to take what they could to weaken the enemy. But while Aryabaus is a bit stubborn, he'll listen to reason. I'm actually surprised he did this, but he has pressure on him as well. Point being, I do think we can negotiate with him."
Kolanin searched for another paper, smiled as he found it, then handed it to Slaten. It was written in Futhik, so it did him no good, but his gaze naturally moved toward the Coran letters near the bottom. A location in Bundlin, he thought somewhere near the harbor.
"I think we can help each other, Slaten. We are going to receive a ship all the way from Teralanth that contains something that Aryabaus wants. Technology of some kind, and the report indicates that they sent someone along with it. Given the state of Teralanth, I thought it might be better for humans to greet them. Plus, it would be very helpful to me if you could assist with the transfer. I assume you get the picture?"
Slaten had heard of Teralanth, but knew nothing about it other than that it was a powerful nation on another continent. "You want me to help with the guest from Teralanth. In return, I can go with the shipment to Aryabaus and ask about the texts."
"Oh, I wouldn't just send you alone. If you can assist me with this, I'd send a letter to Aryabaus. Whatever the shipment is, he went to great lengths to acquire it. I think in return for bringing it to him, he would be willing to concede the Yevee texts."
"That sounds worth trying, then."
"Excellent." Kolanin gave him a weary smile before his eyes wandered over the papers on his desk. "This makes my work much easier - and if you succeed in negotiating terms with the Yevee, that will be a major accomplishment. I'll send you information about the arrival once I know more and trust you to handle the rest."
Slaten nodded. Since Kolanin was already turning back to his work, Slaten left the room quietly. But while closing the door, he glanced back again and saw that Kolanin's body had slumped back in his chair again.
The mansthein leader had a dozen problems to deal with on his end of the Chorhan Expanse, not to mention Teralanth and East Corah and whatever other problems Slaten didn't know about. He couldn't have handled it, and felt glad that Kolanin chose to. Slaten had a difficult time sorting through his feelings about everything, much less envisioning a path to peace.
But it seemed like he knew the next step. He could take that one.
~ ~ ~
Though it wasn't strictly necessary for her to come along, Tani was eager to see their visitor. It had taken her long enough to cross the Chorhan Expanse, and she knew it would take even longer to reach the nations to the far north or south. The idea of entirely different continents across oceans... she didn't know what to expect, which was what made it so exciting.
She wished that she had a stronger sense for the geography, however. Her understanding was that the regions east of the Nellanni River soon became Estronn lands, which extended for some distance before the ocean. This nation of Teralanth was allegedly far to the northeast, so she wasn't sure how a ship would be sailed to Bundlin. The rivers must connect differently than she expected from the Sotunn Mountains.
