The Plains of Kallanash (66 page)

So they stayed in the blue suite, and although Dethin kept his things in the unused bedroom to deter comment amongst the servants, they all knew that they were the subject of gossip.

Hurst had been living in the moment for so long that he had hardly thought what life would be like after their return. There were no skirmishes, of course, but there was training every day, he had Mia at night, and there were long relaxing evenings playing crowns or reading or just chatting companionably with friends. The everyday routine of the Karninghold soothed his spirits with its mundane activities, and he was glad to see the children again, all of them grown in body and abilities since the summer, and admire the new baby.

To Hurst’s horror, the Karninghold Slave was still there, the same one who had sent Mia to her death, and although Hurst wrote at once to his father to ask him to do something about it, he himself was powerless to insist that he leave. Every morning he sat through the communion, listening to the chanting, holding Mia’s hand, and glaring in his most ferocious manner at the glittering eyes under their hood. Any normal man would have crumbled long since and found a reason to disappear, but this Slave was made of tougher steel, and remained impervious. The only comfort was that he had no influence over Karning affairs now, so Hurst had no cause to meet him at any other time.

Mia, to his surprise, was unconcerned by the Slave. “He can’t hurt us now,” she shrugged. Then, with a gurgle of laughter, “I’d slit his throat if he tried.”

They had been there less than a week when Tella arrived. She had Kestimar, the new Warlord, in tow, and a stream of more junior warriors, and seemed very much herself
– amused by life, charming and as restless as ever. No one had ever settled what would happen if she or Jonnor returned, whether their deaths would simply be revoked, as Mia’s had been, or whether some other role would be found for them. Whenever Hurst had raised the issue with Tanist, he had simply shrugged and said, “Let’s wait and see, shall we? No point worrying about hypotheticals when we have real problems to solve right now.”

Fortunately, Tella had no intention of staying. She came only to scavenge whatever valuables she could. She took several horses, for the stables boasted many fine mounts gifted to her over the years, and spent an afternoon rifling through drawers and boxes in Mia’s room for jewelry. She was vague about her plans, although she thought she might
find a craft town somewhere to set up what she described as ‘a quality establishment for discerning men’.

“A brothel?” Mia squeaked, horrified, but Tella had only laughed.

“A very high class brothel, little sister. Perfectly legal, as long as the appropriate taxes are paid, and I am the very person to manage such a place, am I not?”

“And the Warlord’s role in this enterprise?” Dethin asked her.

“Security,” she answered. “Do you want a job too? The more men I have on hand, the better I like it.”

“I know it,” he said sourly.

She laughed in his face then. “So you do. But you got a fine revenge on me, didn’t you? I had to put up with that fool from South West for a full year. But I led him such a dance that he was glad to be rid of me, and I did rather better after that. Kestimar is – much more amenable, shall we say.” She leaned forward and kissed Dethin on the mouth, then gurgled with laughter. “You did all right after I left, didn’t you? And Mia seems not to mind my rejects.”

“
I
rejected
you
,” he snapped, but she laughed even more at his anger.

Hurst had no idea what to make of Tella. Mia cried over her, and hugged her fiercely. “So brave!” she whispered. “To take your own life like that, so that we wouldn’t have to break.”

Tella burst out laughing. “Is that what they told you? Oh, little sister, such an innocent you are! Do you really think I would choose to die? I may have been tired of my life here, but never as desperate as that. No, they tricked me, promised me a new life somewhere else but instead I found a Servant waiting for me with some kind of poison. Mind you, I didn’t go down easily. I put a few scratches on his face. And really, he did me a favour, in many ways.”

“How can you say that?” Mia cried, shocked. “Condemning you
– both of us – to a life as slaves, and taking away the possibility of children. It was evil.”

“For you, maybe, little sister,” Tella said. “But for me
– I made a better barbarian than Karningholder. And now, we’re all free. We can do what we want, go where we want, be whatever we want to be. No arbitrary rules. No one telling us how we should behave. It’s wonderful!” She flung out her arms, and laughed again. “And no more children – oh, the relief! But I should take a look at the three I produced, I suppose.”

The following day, to everyone’s bemusement, she disappeared again abruptly. She took with her Kestimar and his men, her youngest child, Jinnia, and two of the nursery servants.

“Why?” Mia wailed. “Why take Jinnia? And to a brothel, too. She’s never taken any interest in the children before. I don’t understand.”

Hurst shrugged. “Who knows why Tella does anything? But she’s taken the two servants who looked after Jinnia, so she’ll be well cared for. I expect Tella will take a house, or something, and live very comfortably on the proceeds of her brothel. And when she gets bored she’ll move on somewhere else. She was never settled, and now she’s as free as kishorn. Better that than have her underfoot here. I’m not sorry she’s gone.”

~~~

The first week or two back were odd, and Hurst felt somehow disconnected. Training took his mind off it, and the nights, when he, Mia and Dethin shut their door on the world, were wonderful, but every day there was some jarring moment that reminded him how much had happened since the summer. The Skirmishers laughed openly at the warriors’ lack of training, the servants were subtly disrespectful, a constant stream of edicts arrived from the Council, and he worried what would happen if Jonnor turned up to disrupt everything. He hoped to feel more settled as time passed, but it didn’t happen.

It was Dethin who brought things into the open.

“This isn’t working, is it?” he said one stillness, as they rested in their apartment.

Mia sighed, and although Hurst began to protest, he knew it was so.

“I don’t fit in here,” Dethin went on. “And not just me, it’s all of us who came back with you. Killin, Cristamond, Ainsley
– there’s no place for any of us here.
They
respect me as a Warlord, but no one else does. I’ve forgotten all my Skirmisher training, and although I’m called Captain, I’m not competent to lead them. Killin can’t even read, let alone know the proper moves. Then there’s Mannigor – he should have his own Hundred, instead of trailing you. Trimon’s a dragon-tamer with thousands of Silent Guards worshipping him as a god, how is he supposed to be just a Companion again? Bernast – I know the tower’s healed his injuries, body and mind, but you don’t forget an experience like that. Even Tenya – she’s a Companion, but she’s treated like a servant here.”

“Maybe she should have gone with Tella,” Hurst said uneasily.

Mia choked. “To a brothel? Hardly!”

“And then there’s us,” Dethin said. “It really doesn’t work having two Karningholders living outside the high tower. You should be with Bernast and Henissa, eating meat with them at least.”

“We’re not going to abandon you,” Hurst said.

Dethin smiled lopsidedly. “Then there’s Jonnor. What’s going to happen when he turns up?”

“He may not,” Mia said. “Quite a lot have chosen to stay beyond the border.”

“But if he does…” He left the words unsaid, but Hurst shivered. Jonnor returning would not be good news.

“What do you propose?”

“Well, I could leave…”

Mia cried out in dismay, and Hurst objected too. “No, we stay together brother.”

Another half
-smile. “Then you two should move back into the high tower.” He waved a hand to still their protests. “No, think about it. With things as they are, your authority is reduced and Henissa gets to make all the decisions. Have you noticed that the servants take her orders over yours? You’re the lead, Hurst, you need to take control. You both need to. I can still be with Mia sometimes – more discreetly.”

“Aren’t you happy, Dethin?” Mia said.

“You know I am. I love being with you. I’m very grateful to be here at all. There was nothing for me beyond the border, or at the Ring. But I’m no Skirmisher, I’ve been a warrior for too long, and I don’t know what else I can do here.”

“There are the guards,” Hurst said. “Or some other job within the Karninghold.”

“That’s just it, what? It’s not a matter of finding work, I don’t fit in here.”

“None of us do, not anymore,” Mia said slowly. “So much has happened, we’ve all changed. All I ever wanted was to be a Karningholder, and I loved it all, but now
– I don’t belong here, any more than you do.”

“Does it distress you, seeing the children, knowing what you’ve lost?” Hurst said.

“Oh no, it’s not that. It’s—” She stopped, rubbing her face with one hand. “The only time I feel normal, when everything is right, is when I’m with you two. The rest of it – it’s all meaningless.”

“So what do we do?” Hurst said, leaning back on his chair and folding his arms. “We’re agreed we want to stay together, no matter what, but it’s not working out here. So what options do we have?”

“A couple of possibilities,” Dethin said. “We could ask for another Karning, maybe try to get me into the marriage. I’m a Higher, it’s not impossible, now that the Slaves don’t have to give permission.”

“We’d have to have another wife as well,” Mia said, frowning. “I’m not sure… If it were just the three of us…”

“And I’d make a terrible Karningholder,” Dethin said, his eyes crinkled with sudden amusement. “Not much of a Skirmisher, paperwork would be a real struggle, I haven’t a clue about the law and, to be honest, I’m not sure I want to start learning. Not at my age.”

“Oh, you old man, you. What else, then?”

“There are all sorts of groups being set up just now, to keep the Karnings clean. The Council Guard, did you see that notice? Some of the Skirmishers were talking about joining.”

“Or there’s the Border Guard,” Hurst added. “The real barbarians will show up any day soon, and then there’ll be some proper action.”

Dethin’s face closed up. “No. I’ve killed enough people, I don’t want to do any more of that if I can help it. But we could set up our own group, hire ourselves out.”

“Oh, like Kestimar? Brothel security, you mean?”

He laughed. “Maybe not brothels, but trade caravans. There are plenty of merchants trading with the coast, taking goods back and forth across the plains. They all have guards.”

“The coast?” Mia said, eyes gleaming. “I’ve always wanted to see the ocean.”

“Well, now’s your chance. We’d have enough men, with your Companions, my Captains, maybe Mannigor and his Mentors. Perhaps a few of the Skirmishers would want to join. Camping under the stars, living on moundrat and tender young kishorn, whatever we can catch. A week or two at the coast, then back again. Winters in a Karning, or a town by the sea.”

“It’s a man’s job, though, isn’t it?” Mia said. “There’d be no place for me.”

“Lots of women go along, whole families sometimes. You could learn to use a bow, or a short sword, and there’s plenty of other work if you don’t want to be a warrior girl – putting up tents, tending the beasts, cooking. What do you think?”

“It sounds wonderful. Tenya would like it too, I think. Morsha and Marna
– I don’t know.”

“Most such groups have a home base
– a house in the trading town, with someone there permanently to organise the next trip. Morsha would be perfect for that, don’t you think? And the children could stay there.”

“Children?”

“Tenya’s and Marna’s children. If they leave here, they can take their children, that was one of the new laws. Hurst? What do you think?”

“I think
– it would be perfect,” he said slowly, and then laughter bubbled up. “Yes! It would be good to leave all of this behind, all this rigid formality, the Slaves, the laws. We’ve changed too much to pick it up again after all that’s happened. But guarding caravans – yes, I’d like that. We’d be together, and no one would think us odd.”

“Hurst, our arrangement will always seem odd,” Mia said. “But it wouldn’t attract so much attention this way.”

“That’s settled, then,” Hurst said in satisfaction. “The only decision left is – which ocean? North or south?”

“North!” Dethin and Mia said in unison, then burst out laughing.

“North? Isn’t it crawling with Trannatta? I don’t want to tangle with them again.”

“There are plenty of other people up there,” Mia said. “Whole regions without a Trannatta in sight. And the north will be warm.”

“Of course. All that exotic fruit. The trading season will be longer, so we can make more money from it. We should be able to work almost up to the winter quiet.”

“You, maybe, but not me,” Mia said. “Through the summer, but then I shall have to stop.”

“Stop, why?”

Dethin made a little choking sound, but Hurst was still puzzled and Mia had to explain it.