The Brightest Shadow, page 6
With that, he hooked his axe on his back again and moved away. Thinking about his words, Tani looked toward the mansthein who had saved her, but found him giving her a gentle smile.
"He is toying with you. I am not interested in causing you pain, I merely want to know what a Rhen warrior is doing here."
"Who are you?" It sounded stupid even to her own ears, but that was all she could get out. Though he had moved with great skill, she knew there must be considerable strength behind what he had done. Did he compare to her master? Or the Four Winds? They were all so far beyond her, she had no way of knowing.
"My name is Kolanin. I am the commander of the mansthein forces in Bundlin."
"Okay. I'm..." Tani pushed herself upright and tried to extend a hand, but her leg gave out. She would have fallen to the ground if Kolanin hadn't moved to catch her.
"You've overdrawn your sein. I think you need to rest before you can answer any questions."
"That is... probably true..."
Tani dropped and only his careful touch let her slump down instead of hitting the street face first. The cobblestones pressed roughly against her face and the ache in her body grew fiercer, but it felt surprisingly comfortable lying there. Her eyes fluttered closed and then there was only the slight scent of mint.
~ ~ ~
The smell of pleasant herbs and the sound of the river carried Tani into wakefulness. For a moment, she was waking up in her family's home and all was well. But as she started to stretch, her body ached, and suddenly raw fear flooded through her. She let out a cry and sat up, striking at what was binding her.
Her head reeled, but Tani managed to balance the two impulses. She was not back at home, but she was also not bound, just tangled in the sheet that had been laid over her. Closing her eyes, Tani took several deep breaths and did her best to restore her calm.
Now that she was sitting up, Tani ached, but the pain reminded her that she should be hurting a lot more. She could feel that she was in her clothes, but with her knives removed. That made her realize that she shouldn't be so relaxed, so she examined her surroundings more carefully.
She was lying on an unusually comfortable bed in a fairly small room. There was an empty bed across from her and a shelf with supplies against one wall. The smell of the herbs was coming from an incense bowl on a high table.
More importantly, there was a woman sitting at the table. It took Tani a moment to realize that she was mansthein, but when the woman turned to look it became obvious. She had pale Coran-styled hair that was tied back in a single tail down her back. Like the man who had saved her, she had small pointed ears. Her skin was a green-blue, but it was an even shade, unlike many of the mottled warriors Tani had seen. She wondered if that variation was natural or not when the woman spoke.
"You're awake. Don't move too quickly."
"I... I understand." Tani gingerly poked at her side and winced. Though she would have expected more pain, it definitely hurt. "Am I healed?"
The mansthein woman arched an eyebrow. "You weren't just magically healed - I healed you. Not easy when you've run yourself that low, believe me. And you'd better believe we're spread thin, trying to keep all these idiots alive."
Her sharp tone surprised Tani, but she was still fixated on simpler matters. "Thank you for healing me. I don't mean to complain, but... it still hurts a lot."
"I don't have sein to spare to numb pain. Be glad Kolanin asked me to do this much for you." The healer poked at the fire beneath the incense bowl with a small metal rod. "If you expected to wake up fully healed, you have the wrong idea. Maybe an Estronese healer could manage that, but I haven't been able to study their techniques. Your body will have to handle the rest on its own."
"Then I thank you deeply for helping me." Tani swung her legs out of the bed so that she could give a bow, though she didn't know if it meant anything to the other woman. The healer just grunted and looked back down to the table, where she was mixing something in another bowl.
"Don't thank me, I was just following orders. You should go talk to Kolanin now - straight down the hall."
Nodding, Tani rose to her feet, thanked the woman again, and left the room. She did look around for her knives, but saw no sign of them. Considering how she was being treated, she didn't want to impose by demanding them. Though she might still be questioned or imprisoned, she was being treated like a guest. That boded well for her future, especially compared to the near death she'd faced the last time she was awake.
Once into the hallway, Tani realized that she hadn't asked the healer's name and regretted it. Perhaps it was less important than meeting Kolanin, but it would have been better to acknowledge the woman. Still, she needed to keep moving forward.
In part because turning around sounded painful. Every time she moved her left side, pain twinged up her entire body. Tani had to lean against the wall with her good side, catching her breath for a while. The ache from the bruises was made worse by the burning she felt all through her body. Instead of a pool of sein within her, she possessed only a parched wasteland.
That wasn't a bad sort of pain, though. Trying to draw so much sein under such desperate conditions had probably torn open channels within her and widened those that already existed. Such injuries could kill, but her master's training had prepared her to survive such experiences and grow from them. Or so she hoped - right now she just wanted the burning to cool down.
Tani did her best to ignore it and kept moving down the hallway, ignoring the side doors in favor of the partially opened one at the end. She took a few moments to breathe deeply when she reached it, then pushed it open and stepped inside.
To her surprise, she looked out over the Nellanni River and half of Bundlin. For a moment she thought it was a large window, but then she realized she was on a roofed balcony. A pleasant breeze teased around her, which was a welcome change, but Tani focused on the table at the center.
Kolanin sat in a chair beside it, looking every bit as calm and collected as he had the previous night. In the light she could see that he was older than she had realized, though the dignified lines of his face made it difficult to know his exact age, similar to most of the Nelee masters she had met. He had several papers set out in front of him, of a quality that she would have associated with sacred texts, yet apparently used for mere documents.
She was more surprised to find Slaten standing at attention a few steps back. Both of them were looking at her, of course, and Tani smiled at them on instinct. None of her emotion was faked, since she was happy to be alive. The fact that she'd survived finally caught up to her, and the rush of happiness did much to soothe the burns on her spirit.
"Good afternoon, Tani." Kolanin turned to her and gave the same gentle smile she remembered from before. "I hope that you have slept well."
"I did. Thank you for the healing."
Kolanin waved a hand as if it was nothing. She noted for the first time that his fingernails were dark gray and unusually sharp, but somehow she didn't find it threatening. "Do not concern yourself with it. However, we must have a serious discussion at this time. Please, take a seat."
Tani gratefully slid into the chair he indicated. It looked like the Coran chairs she had seen on her journey, but there were cushions built into the seat and back. Though that might have seemed strange to her normally, given her current aches she was glad to ease her body into it. Slaten stood awkwardly for a while before Kolanin gave him a glance that convinced him to sit as well.
"It must be said that you did break the law, but the question is how we will respond to that. The punishment for spying is death, but even if you had no malicious intentions, you should not have done that." Kolanin raised a hand to forestall her objections. "Fortunately, Slaten told me what you did when you arrived in Bundlin. This will be taken into account as well."
She shot Slaten a grateful smile before realizing that she might have gone too far and risked being misconstrued. Fortunately, he seemed entirely serious and merely accepted with a quick nod. Maybe the slightest smile in response, but he was a grim one.
"However, there is one thing I can only ask you directly: what were you doing, sneaking into the mansthein side of Bundlin?"
Tani slowly and awkwardly explained herself, her motivations seeming childish now that she had to speak them aloud. It reminded her of the story of the curious cockatrice chick, though that story ended with the naive bird being eaten. Fortunately, Kolanin didn't make her feel uncomfortable and listened quietly.
She was worried that he might not believe her, but when she expressed her motives, he seemed to understand. If he hadn't known about her helping with the conflict when she arrived, she worried that he might have viewed her more skeptically. When she finished, Kolanin nodded thoughtfully and she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that she wouldn't be punished.
"Now," Kolanin said, "if you simply were allowed to go free, that would undermine the rules that we have established. However, given the circumstances, I am inclined to ask you to work off your debt instead of receiving punishment. Does that sound agreeable?"
"It sounds a lot better than an axe to the face," Tani said. Kolanin responded with a quick smile that made the lines around his eyes wrinkle pleasantly, while Slaten simply nodded as if in acknowledgment of her point.
"I understand that you are of the Nelee tribe of Rhen. Forgive me, but your people are rather far west for me to have been briefed on them. Is your tribe on good terms with the Kelfaa or the Yevee?"
"The Yevee, yes. The Kelfaa... uh, very much the opposite."
"That will do, I think." Kolanin turned to glance toward Slaten. "Does that work for you?"
Slaten blinked. "You're asking me?"
"It may not be your job, but consider it your responsibility. I handed you that Coran boy, after all. Besides, it would be foolish to send her alone and the Yevee would probably respond better to you than to the others we have available."
That led him to nod, but Tani wasn't sure if she entirely understood. "You're asking me to work for you as a... messenger to the Yevee? I can try, but I don't know if I will be of any use."
Kolanin gave her another smile. He didn't remind her of her master - not enough sharp edges - but many of the other masters had his manner of warm presence. "Don't worry, I won't demand too much of you. The problem is that many humans are still determined to fight the 'Deathspawn hordes' - that includes some local Rhen groups. There are other mansthein who would prefer to simply subjugate them, but now that we've established peace in Bundlin, I would like to treat with them. For that, we need messengers who won't be attacked on sight."
"I understand." More than understand, Tani had to work to keep a huge smile from plastering itself across her face. Kolanin seemed like he was interested in exactly the same questions that concerned her. If she could make things right with the local laws while trying to see if Rhen and mansthein could find peace... she couldn't imagine a more appropriate challenge for her Farwalk. "I'm not in any condition to travel now, but I'll begin work as soon as I can."
"You don't need to force yourself. If you put the same determination into making peace with the Yevee as you did evading Ghakin, I will be more than satisfied."
Tani stared blankly, but Kolanin's focus seemed to have shifted to the papers in front of him. After an awkward pause, Slaten spoke in a low voice. "Ghakin is the Catai."
"Ah. I, uh, will do my best."
"Very good." Kolanin smiled at them again, but his expression was distant. When he looked away, out over the city, his gaze became unfocused. "I have a great deal to do, but I will speak to you again when more has been arranged. I trust that you will be ready."
"Of course." Tani recognized the dismissal and got to her feet, but hesitated. "If I may ask... where are my knives?"
Kolanin shrugged off the detail, but to her surprise Slaten responded with a strangely guilty look. He unrolled a strip of cloth at his side, which contained all her knives carefully placed within. It looked as though they had been cleaned, and by someone who knew blades. She had a feeling that he had done it and wondered just exactly why he called himself a healer.
Slaten returned her knives as they approached the door, and it was obvious that Kolanin's focus had returned to other tasks. Given how important he was, she was grateful that he had given her so much attention. She wanted to thank him again and worried that might be an intrusion, but couldn't help but speak again.
"Commander Kolanin, I... hope that I have not caused any trouble to the city with my disturbance."
He glanced at her long enough to give a reassuring smile, waving away her concern. "The fight you helped stop when you arrived would have been a much bigger problem. Last night we also had thieves crossing the river and three fights between mansthein and humans, not to mention the burglaries on the human side and the murder on our side."
"Oh... it sounds as though you have a very difficult task."
That got another smile from him, this one an uneven grin. "I didn't ask to be assigned here because I wanted things to be easy."
"But you've managed to build actual peace between us here."
"I've kept the peace for another day, at least. I don't think anyone can really build true peace, just maintain it one day at a time." His gaze wandered from his papers over the city, then further upward. "We'll see about tomorrow."
Chapter 4
-
"The Deathspawn empire is unremittingly expansionist, accepting nothing but surrender from their opponents. They use peace treaties only as temporary means to focus their attention on other wars. This is, of course, the current situation in the lands of Nol. Whether their empire requires this constant expansion to survive or whether it is simply in their nature remains unknown."
- excerpt from On the Deathspawn, written by Haneval, First Scholar to the King of South Corah
-
It was only when he woke up propped in one corner of the room that Slaten realized that he had managed to get some sleep. Even after almost a year, he still woke quickly, his hand reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. His mind returned more slowly and he gradually relaxed every muscle in his body one at a time as he prepared to get back to work.
There had been a conflict with another mansthein company out of town, and this one was no misunderstanding or accident. The mansthein were being tight-lipped about who they had fought, but they had taken heavy casualties. Usually Slaten stayed at the clinic, but when things got this bad, even he was called in to help.
Slaten stepped out of the small supply room where he had rested and let the smell of blood and the cries of pain roll over him. The mansthein clinic was normally more than large enough, but with the new company joining them, they overflowed the available beds. It was an ugly scene, but the ugliness had grown more subdued since he fell unconscious. Not many were screaming now, and most who were dying had dark cloths draped over them, left to fate or their own strength.
He spotted Iralin across the room, standing behind a seated warrior. One of those who had been stationed in Bundlin for a long time, not a new arrival, though Slaten wasn't good enough with names to remember his. That was an adequate place to start.
Drawing closer, he saw a gaping wound on the warrior's arm, so deep he could see a hint of bone. Iralin's blood-stained hands hovered just beside it, not visibly different, but he could taste the sein thick in his mouth. Even as he walked over, the torn flesh shuddered and came together. The skin closed over the injury, but then split open again, leaving a shallower cut that flowed with fresh blood.
Iralin wavered on her feet and slowly opened her eyes. After staring at the wound, she looked up, saw Slaten, and nodded grimly. "Took you long enough. Get this bandaged. I'm going to see if I can't save a few of the stronger ones, then I need sleep."
"I'll do what I can. Anything else I need to know?"
"We mostly know who will live and who will die. Now it's just about saving limbs." Iralin ran a hand through her hair and stared at him dully. Normally she was curt with him, since he wasn't up to her standards for apprentice healers, but when things got this bad, they were on the same side. "Bandage what you can and then head back."
He nodded and began searching for the nearest clean supplies. Meanwhile, the warrior seemed much more concerned, speaking to Iralin in rapid Futhik. Slaten caught the word "arm" a few times, but otherwise he was completely lost. It was hard enough to keep up with Iralin's quick speech at the best of times, much less while he was groggy and the topic was healing.
While she shuffled off, Slaten collected bandages and approached the warrior. Fortunately, the mansthein man didn't seem likely to flail at him as some of the injured had. He actually grinned and slapped near the wound with his free hand.
"Iralin said if you do a good job, the arm will be good as new in days!"
"That's up to your body." Slaten squeezed a wet rag to run water over the wound, then applied a simple unguent. No sense trying to be gentle, and his rough movements didn't generate much more than a grunt from the warrior.
"I'll be fine! The man who did this to me won't be getting much use out of his arm." He chuckled to himself, while Slaten split his attention between curiosity and trying to remember the man's name.
"Who were you fighting?"
That made the warrior scratch at his jaw. "Not sure if I should say. All these new men are from another commander. Very strange stuff. Got some kind of spy involved, I think, like one of the human merchants we use is a spy or something. Maybe we shouldn't say."
After that he barked something in Futhik to another warrior. His dialect was rougher than Kolanin or Iralin, so Slaten had some trouble, but it was obviously a question about telling him. In the short conversation that followed, Slaten heard "Gabbak" and felt mostly certain that was the mansthein warrior's name.
"Yeah, I'd better not say." Gabbak ground his teeth together irritably. "I preferred it when they just sent us to exterminate or conquer. Uh, no offense."
