Spirit Gate

39

After Anji and his party returned from town with the bad news, the soldiers accepted it with their usual stoic pragmatism. As twilight turned to evening, they settled down to sleep. Why not? No matter what came, it was best to be well rested.

Anji did not sleep, so Mai sat up by the fire watching him as evening turned into night. He did not pace or curse or appear in any way restless, but for the longest time he did sit on a mat with a fist pressed against his mouth, staring at the flames.

After a while, he gathered his advisors: Chief Tuvi; Scout Tohon for his experience; Mai because it was the custom of Qin commanders to consult their wives; Shai because he could hear the words of ghosts; and-curiously-Priya, whom Anji respected because she could read and write the script used in the holy books sacred to the Merciful One. Sengel and Toughid stood a few paces away, at guard as always, but they were never consulted.

"I am not sure we have been betrayed, because I doubt these Great Houses have much interest in us except that we might bite them at an inconvenient time. We are too few in number to truly frighten them. But I am sure that Reeve Joss has been betrayed in some manner. The question is: What are we to do about it?"

At night it was almost cool, with a lazy breeze teasing the dregs of heat. Mai slapped at the midges swarming her face and shifted to get into the draft of smoke off the fire they sat around. She would stink of smoke, but it was better than being bitten raw. That sweet bath seemed ages in the past. It was hard to believe she had luxuriated in those waters only this past morning.

"If we go back to the empire, we will be killed," said Chief Tuvi.

"If we go back to the Qin, we will be killed," said Tohon. "It would be death without honor, like a starving cur who slinks back to the fire though it knows it will be cut down."

By the light of the fire, Shai was whittling at a scrap of driftwood, shaping it into a spoon whose handle was fashioned as the forelegs and head of a springing antelope. She could see the form come into being under his hands in the same manner she could see thoughts and solutions coming into being and being dismissed as unworkable by the way Anji's expression shifted. But she didn't know what her husband was thinking.

"I have considered every piece of information we know." Anji sat cross-legged on a square mat woven of reeds, just like the one on which she sat. His hands were now folded in his lap. "I have turned it, and turned it, but I have no answers. Some manner of conflict boils among the reeves. Guardsmen resort to banditry to prey on the caravans they are meant to safeguard. Discontent simmers within the Lesser Houses of the council in Olossi because their voices go unheard. Rumors of trouble in the north frighten the merchants, who wonder if outright war or some demon's spawn has poisoned the trade routes between these parts and those farther north. The reeve's bone whistle is worn around the neck of a city guardsman. Where is the reeve, then? Living, or dead? If dead, who killed him? If living, why did he lose his eagle's whistle, and why did the council master claim he knew nothing of the reeve?"

"He didn't say he knew nothing of Reeve Joss," said Mai. "He said there was no reeve here for us to see, which could mean anything, quite the opposite. That woman suggested the reeve was some manner of villain falsely claiming to be a reeve. They know what's happened to him. There was a man dressed in similar fashion, another reeve, surely, who left before the meeting was over."

Anji nodded. "They are not dealing honestly with us."

"No surprise there," said Shai morosely.

Mai nudged him with her foot, bent close, and whispered in his ear. "Say something useful, or keep quiet!"

"Well, then," said Shai defiantly, "what of my brother's ring? I've heard talk of this town called Horn. That's where the story said the ring was found." He held up his own hand to display the family ring: the running wolf biting its own tail, with a black pearl inlaid into silver as its eye.

Her identical ring was hidden by her sleeve, although the quality of her pearl was finer than the one on Shai's ring, because she was Father Mei's eldest daughter rather than only a seventh, and excess, son. Everyone knew that six sons were plenty: two to marry, two to die, one for the priests, and one for spare. That's how it had been in their house: Father Mei and the second son, Terti, had married young and given birth so far to many healthy children. Third son Sendi had gone to the priests, while fourth son Hari, for spare, had been exiled and marched away by the Qin army, leaving fifth son Neni to marry unexpectedly in the wake of Grandmother's grief over Hari. Of course sixth son Girish had died a spectacular and well-deserved death, shame on her even to think so, except it was true because he was a nasty man. Shai, poor Shai, was left over, the unlucky seventh son with the curse of seeing ghosts that he must hide from his own family as well as every living soul in Kartu Town lest he be burned and hanged in the town square, like Widow Lae, although the widow hadn't actually seen ghosts but had done something just as bad when she had betrayed her Qin overlords.

"What was in Widow Lae's letter?" she asked. The men looked at her, Shai with his mouth popping open in a most ridiculous way, Tohon and Tuvi with puzzlement, but Anji with a faint smile.

"Widow Lae?" Chief Tuvi asked. "Who is that?"

"She was burned and hanged in Kartu Town square," said Mai, looking at Anji. "I know you remember that day."

"I saw her ghost," Shai muttered. "She said she was waiting for her reward."

Mai nodded. "What did she do? The order we heard read in the citadel square said she had insulted a Qin officer. But the whisper told us she'd asked a passing merchant to carry a letter to Tars Fort, in the east. When he wouldn't do it she sent a grandson instead. That merchant received a share of the proceeds of the sale of her estate and her kinsfolk, and then he left town by the Golden Road. What was she really executed for? I always wondered."

The fire snapped, its bridge of brittle driftwood collapsing into sparks. Tuvi gestured, and Pil came in from the gloom with an armful of new branches. The soldier arranged them on the coals and blew on the lattice until fire caught and flared high, burning strongly on the dry wood but without enough smoke to smother the horrid midges.

Anji batted a swarm away from his face, scratched his neck, and nodded. "Widow Lae," he said, musing over the name. "I think, Mai, that you have spotted the only blossom on the otherwise barren tree. I had forgotten about Widow Lae."

A bird's whistle startled out of the brush at the shoreline. The men leaped to their feet. Mai rose and clutched Priya's hand. Sengel strode away toward the sound. But Anji kept talking, as if nothing strange had happened.

"You're right that Widow Lae was not executed for insulting a Qin officer, except in the most general way."

She waited as he rubbed his chin. He lifted an arm to point. Every head turned to look toward the shore. Inland a tiny light-torchlight-advanced along what must be the main road, heading for Olossi. They watched in silence, because it was such a strange sight to see that pinprick of brightness aflame against the dark.

At length, Tohon muttered, "A runner, or a rider. Too fast to be walking."

Anji grunted. "It's an urgent message," he said evenly, "that travels into the night."

"The Sirniakans have night runners," said Priya, and she shuddered, releasing Mai's hand. "Agents of the red hounds."

"Do you think it could be the red hounds?" whispered Mai.

Anji caught her wrist. "Enough. We may never know, and it does no good to spin these thoughts when they have nowhere to go."

"The agents of the red hounds never travel alone," said Tohon.

Anji turned his head to look, in the most general way, toward the southwest, whence they had come. Out there lay the wide, flat delta, dark under the night sky. The river had a slow, deep voice here as it spilled away into a hundred channels and backwaters. Wind found a voice in the rushes and reeds and bushes growing everywhere. A nightjar clicked.

"I had forgotten until now," he mused, and for a moment Mai could not remember what they had been speaking about because she had not yet banished the vision of giant slavering red dogs panting and growling as they closed in for the kill. "She was executed for passing information to an agent of the Sirniakan Empire. To our enemy. To one of the red hounds, perhaps. Certainly a traitor must expect death. But now that I think on it, by the time Widow Lae was passing intelligence to an enemy agent, the var would already have sealed the secret treaty he made with my brother Azadihosh. Emperor Farazadihosh, I should say. Whose position as emperor is so weak that he must seek Qin aid in putting down his rivals. The orders for me to ride east came from my uncle, the var."

"He was sending you into a trap," said Tuvi.

"Just so."

"Did the commander of Kartu Town know of the new treaty?" asked Mai. "Did he send you east innocently, or did he know he was sending you to your death?"

"I don't know," said Anji. "But all the commanders in the eastern part of the Qin territories would have to be told of the treaty because of the major transfer of troops onto the eastern frontier. That means it's likely that the commander of Kartu knew of the treaty, and knew that the emperor was now our ally. If that's true, then I must ask myself, who was the enemy that Widow Lae was found to be passing intelligence to?"

"I never heard a whisper of rebellion in Kartu Town," said Shai.

Anji smiled softly. "Nor did I. The people of Kartu Town possess a pragmatic wisdom that has served them well."

Mai frowned. "You were an officer. Weren't there rumors in the garrison?"

"All we were told was that the widow was passing information to the enemy. Which we all took to mean that she had tried to pass information to the agents of the Sirniakan emperor. But we were wrong, because by that time, they were our allies, not our enemy. I never heard anything more about it after her execution. I never heard if the grandson-if there was a grandson-was ever found."

"There was a grandson," said Shai. "Everyone knew Widow Lae's grandson. A little older than me, a hard drinker, and he knew how to ride a horse."

"Huh," grunted Tuvi, who found this amusing. "Riding a horse is a capital offense, if you're not Qin!"

Shai grinned. Widow Lae's grandson had been one of those young men that you admired but disliked. "He vanished before she was arrested. That's why we all knew she was guilty. He was her favorite."

"What other enemy could there be?" asked Chief Tuvi. "If not the Sirniakan emperor?"

Mai said, "Who else was interested in the transaction? Who else might benefit, or take a loss, from any secret treaty signed between the emperor and the var? Who might wish to know of Qin troops moving into the empire? Or of trading privileges reserved for the Qin that might formerly have been available to others?"

"Exactly," said Anji, without looking at her. "There may be other agents involved that I am not aware of, merchants of some kind. But common sense suggests that the sons of my uncle Ufarihosh have an interest here. So we must ask ourselves, if she had ties to them, how did she come by those ties, and what message did she send, and did it reach them?"

"How can we possibly find out?" Mai asked. "Is there a chance the sons of Ufarihosh might give us asylum? If we can reach them?"

Raising two fingers to his lips to enjoin silence, Anji tilted his head back as if looking at the many-souled sky. He shut his eyes. Now she heard, fainter than a splash, the lap of water. He pointed toward the river's edge, away from the slow-moving channel that separated them from the shore. Chief Tuvi drew his sword. Toughid shifted five steps to the left, to cover more ground. Tohon was already gone. Reeds whispered as dark shapes pushed through them, soldiers converging on the bank, which she could not see from here. In the quiet, a horse snorted, and a bird's lazy koo-loo throated along the air.

A shout of surprise cut the silence, startling Mai so badly that she jumped. Priya clasped her hand.

Sengel and Tohon reappeared a few moments later. In their wake walked a dozen soldiers with two prisoners in tow. One was the handsome young man with the head covering whom Mai remembered well enough from the council meeting. The other was the older merchant who had defended them at the meeting, Master Calon.

"Look what we caught," said Tohon. "They came by boat. They say they bear a message for you, Captain."

Firelight lent glamour to the young man's pleasant features. He resembled ordinary people with his black-brown eyes and dark lashes, but there the resemblance ended. Although not ghostly pale in the manner of poor, dead Cornflower, he had a lighter complexion than Mai was used to seeing. And his eyes had a pull to them, stretched at the corners with a fold at the lid. She was herself known for having grandfather eyes, the sloe eyes seen more commonly in Kartu children long ago, so the grandmothers said, tantalizing for seeming exotic, for hinting of a promise as yet unmet. The legend of Dezara Mountain told of the long-ago time when a rotting plague killed all the men in what was then Kartu Village, followed by a terrible storm that had lashed the houses into splinters and burned the trees off the slopes, after which a ragged band of about fifty foreign hunters had walked down off the mountain saying that the wind had blown them far from their homeland. They were men of a handsome burnt-sugar complexion very different from the lovely red-bronze clay color common in that region, and they had handsomely slanted eyes, troubling and exciting to look upon. It was whispered they were demons wearing human form, but they were pleasant company and hard workers, and they kept their hair clean and combed. In the end, they had married the widows and maidens of Kartu Village and bred so many children that the village had grown to become a town.

Now here was a young man who had something of the look she had always supposed those grandfathers to have. If this one was a demon, he hid it well. Maybe the turban on his head was meant to conceal his horns. He grinned at her most flirtatiously, until Master Calon cuffed him with a genial swat.

"Here, now, cub. Show respect. I promised your father you'd not shame him."

"I am surprised to see you, Master Calon," said Anji before the young man could reply to Master Calon's scolding.

"You should not be." The merchant nodded briskly. "I think by your actions and speech at the council that you're not eager to return to the empire."

"I am not," agreed Anji.

"Then there's no sense in waiting through the opening measures before we start the dance. This is how it is."

He paused as might a man who wants to show his goods in the best light, making the buyer lick his lips before he gets a taste. Anji nodded, showing neither excitement or disdain.

"We have the votes, only we don't have the votes," broke in the young man, "because those bastards will always use the old law against us-"

"Hush!" Calon pressed a sandaled foot onto the exposed toes of the young man, who yelped in pain and fell silent.

"The Lesser Houses and the guilds possess only fifteen votes," said Mai, "while the Greater Houses hold sixteen."

"That's right!" said Master Calon with an admiring nod. "You must be a merchant yourself, verea. That's how they can always outvote us, although we are many more than they are, and with allies among more than just the Lesser Houses and the guilds. For instance, this cub is called Eliar sen Haf Gi Ri." He paused as if the news ought to astonish, or light a flame of recognition, and when Anji waited, the master glanced at Mai, at the others, and read what he could from their expressions. "That means nothing to you, then?"

"What does it mean to you?" asked Mai.

He grinned, and she liked him for it. "His people are outlanders, like you, who come to settle here."

Eliar waved a hand. Silver bracelets jangled at his wrists. "Whsst! A hundred years or more ago, my people came here! You can't call me an outlander any more than I can call you an outlander."

"It's true my folk came from the south not so long ago, but you will always be outlanders to Hundred folk until you cast away your strange way of dressing and naming and come to worship proper gods."

"Likely not!" said Eliar with a carefully measured sidelong glance at Mai. "You know that normally my fathers and uncles and kinsmen would never have made this agreement with you. It's a sign of our desperation."

"Thus you prove my point." Master Calon turned back to Anji. "Many among the Lesser Houses and their allies fear the Greater Houses too much to act against them. They will gripe-"

"So they will!" broke in Eliar. "Gripe! And do nothing about it!" Now she saw real passion furrow the young man's handsome face. His admiration of Mai's beauty came frivolously, no more than skin deep.

Calon nodded. "We of the Lesser Houses and the guilds and our other allies in town fear that the Greater Houses see only their own profit, this season's coming harvest, without attending to the storms that will come in the seasons beyond. They are blind to the shadows. We of the Lesser Houses, guilds, and other households in Olossi have a made a pact among ourselves. We cannot stand back any longer. If you are desperate enough, we hope you may consider an agreement with us."

"What manner of agreement?" asked Anji.

"Let me first explain what my allies and I have done to this point. If you will."

Anji stepped back as Tohon stepped out of the shadows, moved up beside him, and whispered in his ear. Master Calon waited as Anji gestured to Chief Tuvi, who ghosted away into the coarse grass that shielded the land-facing shore of the island.

"Some movement of guards has taken place among those set to watch the ford that links this island to the shore," said Anji to Calon. "Have you seen?" He pointed to where that distant torchlight wended its long descent toward Olossi. "Know you anything of what that light might portend?"

"I do not. Nor of any messenger coming into town this late." Calon turned to Eliar. "Think you it's news from Master Nokki and your cousin Shefen?"

Eliar winced. "Shefen is dead. I fear the others lost as well."

"You can't know he's dead. There's been no word. How did he die, then?"

Eliar shook his head. "I can say nothing, and I don't know anyway. This knowing is woman's magic, not the province of men. If they say he's dead, then he's dead. Anyway, it's unlikely they would travel at night."

Calon sighed and turned to Anji. "As you saw yourself, we came by the water, hoping to escape detection, so we've had no view of the road until now. I would ask the ones who guard you, but since most of Olossi's militia dance to the tune played by the fiddlers of the Greater Houses, they would only march us straight to Assizes Tower and lower us into the dungeons besides."

In the distance a splash resounded, but the sound was quickly drowned by the relentless push of the river's current. From their vantage point Mai could see past Anji's head onto the dark reaches of the spreading delta. A light winked on and off, on and off, and her first thought was that this was a firefly bobbing in the curling breeze, but as her gaze adjusted to the distance she realized she was seeing an artificial light turned off and on as though a lantern's protecting veil was being shut and opened.

Someone was signaling, out there on a boat riding the river or hugging the shore of another low-lying island.

"Anji, look," she said, and he turned, but the light vanished as though her voice had warned it. "I saw a light blinking, like a signal. Think you it's related to the messenger?"

"That's only a fisherman," said Master Calon. "There's a good night catch to be had this time of the moon."

"Not just fish are caught this time of night," said Eliar with a laugh. "There's plenty who smuggle goods across the water so that Sapanasu's clerks can't demand their tithe. Not that I'd know of any such criminal behavior, being a law-abiding citizen."

"My attention is caught," said Anji, stepping back to face Calon. Priya set a pair of sticks on the fire, and the flames licked higher as Calon wiped his brow.

"My nose is itching," agreed Calon. "Many whispers have tickled my ears these last few nights. Listen!"

Mai listened, but she heard only the night sounds and the crackle of the freshly burning sticks, and when he went on she saw that this was a storyteller's punctuation, readying his audience for the meat of the tale.

"I cannot spin the whole tale to you now, for we haven't the time. But this is how it is."

"He doesn't even know the lay of the land!" said Eliar impatiently.

"Patience, cub."

"It's true enough," said Anji.

"Very well. It's rich country in the north. The two great cities-Nessumara and the crossroads of Toskala-lie in the north, along the River Istri. The fertile fields of Istria and Haldia grow rich crops. To the northeast lie the richer fields of Arro, where the delvings glean gold and iron from the mountain fastness. And many more places besides, all sung in the tales of the Hundred.

"Once we commanded a steady trade along West Track through the Aua Gap and to Horn, that road which leads to the markets of Nessumara and Toskala and the fields of Haldia and Istria, even to the mines of Arro. All this has wasted away these past few years, sucked dry. Merchants rode north, and never returned. We hear terrifying tales of fighting in the north like to the hundred wars of ancient days, before the Guardians came. No caravan has reached Olossi from Nessumara for over a year. Last year there was talk of Horn being overrun, but we never had any direct news. No one dares send their wagons and goods on that route.

"After all, here in the south we can always trade throughout the south and over the pass into the empire, so it never seems as urgent as it ought to be. It's also true that the roads into western Olossi, Sund, and Sardia are still open, although they've become more dangerous as well in recent months. There's some trade also into the far south, places like Farro and Ofria, but that trade passes along foot trails overland through the foothills of the Spires, a path expensive in both trouble and time. A merchant must have safe, open roads to make a living. We have sent many messengers to Argent Hall asking for them to investigate this matter, but we've heard no answer of any kind, only silence."

"Argent Hall? What manner of place is this?"

"It's the reeve hall with the obligation to patrol and protect this part of the country."

"You hope they will help you in what manner?"

"Have you no reeves where you come from?" asked Eliar with astonishment.

"They have not," said Calon. "There are no reeves outside the boundaries of the Hundred. The Lady tamed the great eagles and gave them to the reeves, so we might protect ourselves, but beyond our lands they cannot stray, for that is the law of the gods."

"So your priests tell you," said Eliar stubbornly, "but how can you know it to be true?"

"I have never seen anything like the reeves and their eagles in the lands I've traveled, nor heard any tale of them until I came here," said Anji.

"Old Marshal Alyon sat in authority over Argent Hall until a few seasons ago," said Calon. "He sent a representative to every one of our council meetings, as has always been customary. Then no representative came for two passes of the moon. After that, we heard that a new marshal sat in authority over Argent Hall, but we have never learned his name. Worse, it's rare to see reeves patrolling around Olossi any longer, although they fly into the Barrens regularly. Now and again we see one pass overhead on an unknown errand. The villages and farms of western Olossi have no one to preside over their monthly assizes, so they come to us to ask for help. That's why we sent so many emissaries to Argent Hall. But we are given no answer at the gates, not even when we beg for aid to patrol the roads against ospreys such as the ones you killed in the pass. I fear the shadows have crept long, and that we here in Olossi are being covered by their stain without our knowing."

"That's a sobering tale. So tell me, Master Calon, what do you want from us?"

"We, the Lesser Houses and our allies, seek your aid."

"You want us to overturn the Greater Houses and set you in charge of the council."

Calon met his gaze squarely. "We do. Not to harm them, only to force them to share the power they have gathered to themselves. We must be allowed to take our place as our numbers and our judgment warrant. If there's a truly open vote, and all are allowed to vote on council matters who meet the requirement, we will be content. Then if the vote goes against our proposals, we'll accept it."

"You do not expect that outcome, however. That an open vote will go against you, or your proposals."

"I do not. But the agreement I offer you comes in two parts. That is the first. The second is this: That once the council is under our control, you accept a commission to ride to Horn, and back. We sent a small group north recently, and have heard no word of them. We fear they're lost. Dead. What we want is a report on the condition of the roads and way stations, on the market in Horn, and on the prospects for travel north into Istria and Haldia and Arro, and east into Mar."

"Mar, by all means!" said Eliar. "Our supplies of kursi grow ghastly low, and I fear I shall waste away rather than eat bland food."

"It's no joking matter, cub," said Calon. "I am afraid of what we cannot see, and so should you be."

"If the bid to overturn the Greater Houses fails, what then?" asked Anji.

"Oh, to us, any manner of thing," said Calon carelessly. "They will vote to strip the conspirators-for such they will call us-of our right to run a business and sell goods in the marketplaces of Olossi. They may execute the leaders. As for Eliar and his people, they might exile them."

"These are serious risks," said Anji.

"Mostly for young Eliar here, because his people are exiles twice over according to their lore and have nowhere else to go," said Calon. "If I escape execution, I can always uproot my house and begin again in Sund, or Ofria."

Eliar whistled under his breath. "It's said they're poor as dirt in Ofria, all living in mud huts and eating snails."

"Little you would know! Snails are a delicacy! Here, now." Calon untied a purse from his belt and handed it to Anji, who weighed its heft with two hands. "We are serious folk, despite the manners of this cub, but he is a good lad and an honest broker, and I trust his people even if they don't care for my line of honest trade. I'll have you know his people have wagered the most on this gamble."

"We've the most to lose," said Eliar with a crooked smile. "But I'll not mind saying, anyway, that the Greater Houses are fools to avert their eyes at the dark tidings that stare them right in the face. My people can't afford to turn their backs. We did so once, in the old country, and suffered greatly."

Anji set the pouch at Mai's feet. It was too heavy for her to pick up, though she was not frail, so she opened it and picked out a pair of bars and a handful of coins, just the uppermost layer. A hoard rested beneath.

"These are cheyt," she said, "the full gold coins, not the quartered ones. There's no silver that I see. As for the bars…" She bit on the end ofone bar. She knew gold's texture. The eldest daughter bred out of a merchant's family had to expect to handle money when she was married into a worthy household. No one wanted a mere ornament as a wife, however much the poets sang of gorgeous flowers whose pleasing scent drew princes and captains.

"Please count it all," said Calon. "It matters to me that you see we are serious in every possible way."

"To overthrow the Greater Houses is a serious undertaking," said Anji. "And the expedition to Horn, after everything we have heard, more serious still."

"True enough. I believe there are deadlier forces at work than any who bide in the Greater Houses care to admit."

"Unless they are in league with them already," said Eliar. "For that's what I believe."

"In league with whom?" asked Anji.

"No one knows," said Eliar. "But the reeves of Argent Hall turn us away, and the Greater Houses ignore every warning sign. How can I not believe they are in league with the shadows? That they are not themselves conspirators? My friends and I-"

"A wild pack of cubs," interjected Calon softly, "including my once sweet and pliant nephew."

"My friends and I went on a scouting expedition two months back. We saw the reeves flying patrols up into the Barrens. They're looking for something, but we don't know what. Of their work-patrolling the roads, settlings disputes, standing in at the assizes, prosecuting criminals-the work that is their duty according to the law of the land, this work the reeves of Argent Hall have given up. They've forsworn their obligation to the people of Olossi and the territory they're meant to oversee."

"Nothing can be proven," said Calon. "What would the Greater Council serve to gain from such plans, in any case? They already hold power over the council."

"They want more, more even than they have now, more power over the rest of us, and more coin in their coffers. Sometimes greed is answer enough, Master Calon."

"It just doesn't make sense to me," the older man retorted.

Mai knelt on the ground beside the woven mat she usually sat on. On the mat's surface Shai tipped out the contents of the pouch. Their visitors fell into a respectful silence as she stacked and counted coins and bars. It was all gold, a prince's ransom.

"Four bars, whose weight and value must be considerable," she said at last. "And fifty cheyt." Fifty gold coins.

Shai hissed an exclamation under his breath. Chief Tuvi grunted, scratching an ear.

"A handsome offer," Anji said without emotion, "but a dead man has no use for coin. We are only two hundred men. You're asking too much."

Eliar gritted his teeth, gasping like a man in pain.

Master Calon raised a hand. "But-"

"No," said Anji in a tone that invited no response, a tone that meant he was not negotiating. "I will not send my men into a battle that cannot be won. No."

He was done. It was over.

In the silence that followed, Mai rose. "Wait."

Every person there was obviously surprised to hear her voice, even Anji. For courage, she touched her lips to her wolf ring, sigil of the proud Mei clan. Then she met Anji's gaze square on. "I have something to say, and I would prefer to say it between us alone."

Chief Tuvi raised an eyebrow. Master Calon put a hand to his mouth, clearing his throat as if uncomfortable. Eliar looked at his feet. Shai stood and, when Mai nodded at him, he gestured to Priya and walked away, into the shadows.

At last, with a slight gesture, Anji agreed. Chief Tuvi led the two merchants away, leaving Anji with Mai and, of course, one of his silent but ever-present guards.

He said nothing. He was angry.

She took in a deep breath and considered her words, considered her tone, considered her posture and her expression. All these made a difference in whether you made your sale. "I am not experienced in the arts of war, nor have I any training in battle. But I am a merchant's daughter, and I know how to listen and how to observe. Also, it is my right as the wife of a Qin man to speak my mind."

"It is."

This is what I have to say: Where will we go next? There may be a refuge for you with your cousin, in the south of the empire, but surely those cousins will also want to kill you, since you have a better claim to the imperial throne than they do. The lands that the Qin control are closed to us. So, to go south back over the pass leads us only to lands where our lives are already forfeit."

"There are other roads," he said curtly, as if he had already had this argument with himself and did not want to repeat it with her. "Northwest. North. East. We haven't seen everything that's out here. This is a fool's choice, Mai. No smart general commits his troops in a situation weighted so heavily against him. He moves elsewhere until circumstances fall to his advantage. The Qin have always fought in this manner."

"Maybe so, because the Qin do not live in houses, or in towns. The Qin do not till fields and plant vineyards and orchards, which they must then protect. But sometimes you have to fight where you stand." When he shook his head, she went on. "Anji, why did your mother send you back to the Qin, when you had as much right as any man to claim the imperial throne?"

"Because my half brother was named as heir. He and his mother meant to see me dead. I was a rival, brighter than him, I admit. Better suited. Better liked by our father. I was my father's favorite son."

"Yet he chose your brother over you."

"My brother's mother has powerful political connections, ones my father did not wish to anger. Although he was an excellent administrator, his position was not exactly strong."

"Even so, why didn't your mother go to the emperor? Ask for his protection for you? Surely he could have done that much for his favorite son."

"She had already fallen out of favor. He preferred a new wife."

"Did she not try at all?"

He hesitated. For the first time he looked away from her, toward the fire, whose flames consumed the wood with bright splendor. "It is not the Qin way to beg for favor."

"She took the Qin way, Anji. She moved you elsewhere, hoping that circumstances would change. But they did not. And why should we believe they will change now? We have been offered a chance to stand and fight for the thing we need most: a home. It's time to stop running."

"Death is also a home. One we will find ourselves fallen into very quickly, in this situation."

She smiled, covered her mouth with a hand to hide the smile, glanced down at the ground, then bent her gaze up to look at him past lowered lids. His eyes narrowed as his interest quickened. "Surely, Anji, you are capable of finding a way to win this fight."

He laughed. "An appeal to my vanity. Mai, you have cut me. But nevertheless, no."

"What if there is no safer haven? In the south our lives are forfeit. In the west lie barren lands. North there is constant trouble, some kind of war. East lies the ocean. Yet we have to go somewhere. Any place we ride now will be a place we've never been before, so we will be placing ourselves in danger nevertheless. We might as well get paid to do it. We may never get another offer, and why should we? Who will welcome a troop of two hundred experienced soldiers? A ruler who wishes to use them to fight, and die. Ordinary folk will fear us, and rightly so. Anyway, we cannot continue journeying endlessly, in the hope that something more to our liking will appear, a peaceful haven, a secret valley where the flowers are always in bloom and all the ewes give birth to twin lambs. You have said I am foolish to listen to the tales, to believe in them, but isn't this just another tale you are telling yourself, that there is a place waiting for us somewhere, in the distance, just beyond where we are now? What if there isn't?"

Flushed and out of breath, surprised at her own vehemence, she broke off.

Frowning, studying the fire, he scratched under his right ear with his left hand. The fire popped, and sparks sprayed and fell. At length, he looked at her. "That day in the market, in Kartu Town, every other merchant offered me their wares for free. They feared me, as they feared all the Qin and especially the officers. I suppose they thought by giving me for nothing what they normally sold for a price, they would gain my favor, or I would not hurt them. But you charged me double the going price."

"And you paid it!"

"Because it amused me to do so. Because you surprised me. Because you held your duty, to sell your clan's produce, higher than your fear of the Qin."

" 'If you are afraid, don't do it. But if you do it, don't be afraid.' Do you remember saying that?"

He shook his head, shrugging. "It's a common saying among the Qin."

"When we were in the desert, and running out of water. After the sandstorm, when you and Chief Tuvi had to decide whether to ride at night through those ravines. A dangerous, difficult passage. You said it then, to him. I took those words into my heart. I tried to live by them. I always thought that I was being strong, in the Mei clan, by bending before the wind, by going along with everything my family wanted, by never disputing with them or raising my voice or causing trouble. Now I see that I was afraid. But there will always be another storm, Anji. There will always be something. If we don't stop now, then it will be because we're still afraid. That's the thing we can't escape by moving elsewhere. It's still traveling with us. We have to do it, and not be afraid."

He was silent. The night wind murmured in the brush; beneath it, she heard the whispers of men, waiting on this decision.

He stepped up to her, took her hand, laid it on his palm. Without speaking, he twisted the wolf-sigil ring off her hand and slid it onto his little finger.

"There," he said. "To remind me. But if we fail, and if we die, you must not reproach me."

All at once, her words vanished. He was so handsome, a prince in truth, an exile, as she was now. She could never reproach him, not for anything. But she could not speak to tell him so; she was too full, choked with the tales she had grown up on, had loved and recited, had sung and played. Had used as an argument against him. She knew herself to be young and naive, stupid, really: she always had believed those tales, even in the ones where everyone ended up dead. She had always wanted to believe them, because they had seemed so much brighter than her own life within the Mei clan's walls. But they had only been a way of hiding from the truth.

"No," he added softly, so sweetly. "I suppose you won't."

He released her hand and stepped back, then whistled sharply. Chief Tuvi returned with the two merchants, and Shai and Priya walked back into view.

"Master Calon," said Anji without preamble. "I am skeptical that you can accomplish your goals in the face of such difficulties. I doubt you can. And I doubt I am willing to risk my men, who rely on me to command them wisely and prudently. But perhaps you can give me a little more information."

"Go on," said Calon, with a glance at Mai that revealed nothing except, perhaps, a shiver of curiosity, of hope.

Eliar turned the silver bracelets that ringed his forearms, restless as he shifted from one foot to the other and back again. He seemed like a child who wants to speak but is trying to hold its tongue.

"Three things. First, what manner and number of soldiers serve the council of Olossi? What resistance will we face in helping you overturn the Greater Houses? Second, if we ride north, and return with the information you ask for, where do you advise us to go afterward? Gold is not enough. We wish to settle in a safe region nearby where my men might also find wives and sufficient pastureland to support herds."

Eliar coughed, bracelets jangling as he shook his arms impatiently.

Calon nodded with a grim smile. "We are both desperate men, and dangerous for being desperate. Olossi has lived in peace for a long time and we have gone fat and lazy. Kotaru's ordinands do most of our border guarding these days. You saw what came of that! By custom, any adult in Olossi is expected to lift a spear in defense of the city, but in truth we can call on no more than five hundred militiamen should it come to that. More could be called out of the countryside-many more…" He paused. All looked inland, as he did. That torch still stuck its stubborn path along the road, heading for the city."… but most of them untrained and inexperienced. We are sheep, ripe for the slaughter. We can't protect ourselves against a real attack, in force, in numbers. And that's what I fear." His voice fell to a whisper, and darkened. "That's what I truly fear. As for the other, were you and your company to ride into the Barrens, and break up into smaller groups, you could find villages that would welcome more hands. It's sparsely settled, especially along the west shore of the Olo'o Sea, in the valley of the River Ireni, and in the West Olo uplands against the mountains of Heaven's Ridge. There's decent pasturing-it's not good for much else-and plenty of land unspoken for in the high reaches. Your men might even find wives there, for I've heard rumors in recent months that young men all around are leaving for the north country to find work and promises of gold, and never come home again. I can't guarantee you'll be welcomed there, but I can guarantee that if you form this alliance with us, the council will give you a legal right to settle in this region. What was the third thing?"

"We met a reeve at the border. He'd heard news of these troubles along West Spur, although he did not tell me how he had come by this information. He asked for our aid in tracking down the bandits, and we helped him. He left us on the road because he wanted to visit Argent Hall. After that, he was supposed to come here to Olossi ahead of us, to speak in our favor and preside over the arrest of the border captain, the one who died untimely. This reeve called himself Joss."

"Heya!" cried Eliar.

"Hush, cub! Let him finish!"

Anji's gaze sharpened; he was not accustomed to being interrupted. He coughed, and went on. "He rode an eagle whose name was Scar. Have you any news of him? Because it seems he has gone missing."

"Argent Hall, eh?" Calon scratched his chin. "Maybe he changed his mind and flew back north. People do that, quit themselves of any claim to duty."

Anji shook his head. "Perhaps, but he would have left word. He would have let us know the change of plans. He is a man of honor. He said he would meet us at Olossi. He did not."

Meanwhile, Eliar was rolling his eyes and waggling his hands like a madman, although both of the other men ignored him.

"You're stubborn on this point," said Calon. "For you spoke of it in council as well."

"It's a point of honor."

"I surely know nothing of this reeve, except for what rumor your comments caused after the council meeting."

"Let him speak," said Mai, almost laughing.

Eliar did not wait for permission. "It's true a reeve did come to Olossi a few days back. Legate Joss was the name he went by."

"How did you hear of this?" demanded Calon. "I never did!"

"That clerk who was recently assigned to work in Fortune Square at the council hall-"

"One of your flirts?" asked Calon with a laugh.

"She's a friend to my sister," he said with an unexpected bite.

"Begging your pardon, cub," said Calon hastily. "No offense to your sister intended."

Eliar fixed his sharp gaze on Anji. "Before I met up with Master Calon to come out here tonight, I related the events of the council to my sister. This clerk is a friend of hers. My sister told me in strictest confidence that her friend had confided to her that this reeve was arrested and taken to Assizes Tower. The clerk who witnessed his arrest is afraid she'll be imprisoned in Assizes Tower herself if she speaks of what she saw. She's that frightened. There were a number of witnesses to the arrest, folk waiting that morning for council desk to open, but even so, she fears to speak of it, because she heard his name."

"How long ago?" asked Anji.

Eliar shut his eyes briefly, as if counting, then opened them. "Five days back. My sister said that her friend said he was a handsome man, I remember that particularly. That she'd been quite taken with him, and thus triply shocked that he'd been hauled away, thinking she'd been fool enough to flirt with a criminal. He was accused of murder."

"That's him," said Mai.

"A murderer?" asked Calon.

She flushed. "No. He's the kind women flirt with on short acquaintance."

"Who was he accused of murdering?" asked Anji.

Eliar shrugged. "A captain, she said. A captain guarding the southern border."

"Captain Beron." Anji nodded. "Five days back, Reeve Joss was arrested, it seems. Three days ago, Captain Beron was still alive. Before the dart stung his eye. So tell me, Mai, how could Reeve Joss have been arrested for a murder that hadn't yet been committed?" He extended a hand, gestured, and Mai tossed him a gold coin, which he caught deftly. "He was arrested for a crime someone else was planning to commit, someone who discovered that Captain Beron's operation was discovered, and that Beron himself had been arrested. Yet no man or woman left our caravan between the border and Olossi, none except Reeve Joss."

"They betrayed him!" cried Eliar.

"So it seems, and another man besides," said Anji. "Captain Beron was alive yesterday morning, and was dead by the time we reached the gate. Who killed him, and why?"

Master Calon shook his head, like a weary ox trying to shake away a pestering swarm of flies. "This grows deeper and darker," he muttered.

"Truly," agreed Anji, "since this man called Captain Waras was wearing, around his neck, the very bone whistle which we had previously seen in the possession of Reeve Joss. Without it, I think, the reeve has no way to call his eagle. How can a man be freed from Assizes Tower?"

Calon shook his head. "Assizes Tower was once the responsibility of the Guardians. After they were lost, the reeves came to sit in authority over the courts. Now even that measure of justice is lost. The Greater Council rules at its whim."

"This reeve is not the only prisoner in Assizes Tower," said Eliar with a frown. "All the criminals are taken there. Yet I know-as do you-of a well-respected man who vanished after he claimed that the Greater Houses were involved in a conspiracy, that they'd allied with unnamed villains out of the north. He's not been seen since. He was murdered."

"Hush, now, cub. That's gossip, nothing proven. He was known to be of an envious, restless nature, an Air-touched Rat, and worse besides, if you take my meaning."

"You suspect he was murdered, too," retorted Eliar. "Who can measure his true crimes now that he has vanished with no chance to speak on his own behalf?"

Talk of prisoners made Mai uncomfortable. The Qin had been able to drag criminals and, indeed, any person at all off to their prison block in Kartu Town, where they held their own manner of court, and the law court of Kartu Town had no authority to stop them or even oversee the hapless prisoners. She began to replace the coins and bars in the bag. It gave her something to do with her hands.

"How can a man be freed from Assizes Tower?" Anji repeated.

"Impossible," said Calon.

"Necessary," said Anji. "First, I have an obligation to him, and my honor to uphold. Second, he knows things we don't. We are grasping in the dark, and he holds a light insofar as he knows which people he talked to, and if he traveled to Argent Hall, and what he saw there."

"I'll see it's done," said Eliar.

Calon groaned, clapping a hand to his head in a gesture so very like Ti that Mai expected him to declaim in threes. "Fool!" he growled. "You can't get into Assizes Tower."

"My sister can. My sister was there today. She said there was one man in the deepest pit, untended and filthy. It could have been this reeve."

"Your sister goes to the Assizes Tower?" Calon asked. "Whatever for?"

"She brings food to indigent prisoners."

Calon laughed as though it hurt. "The hells, yes, you Silvers do go on about your 'god rules' in a way that does get to annoying people. Begging your pardon, Eliar."

The youth gave something like a wink with his right eye. Mai saw at once that he was angered by this comment but didn't want to show it. "We will be judged at the gate according to the measure of how we walked in the world and showed justice and mercy to poor and rich, innocent and guilty, those with power and those who are helpless, according to the law."

Calon coughed. "That was the law in the land you came from. That's why folk will keep calling you outlanders."

"No, it is the law in all lands, not just the land we came from."

"Let's not have this argument, cub."

Eliar turned his back and took several steps away, shoulders heaving, hands in fists up by his mouth.

Anji watched.

Mai said, "Master Eliar, even if you could get into Assizes Tower, how would you know Reeve Joss if you saw him, and why would he trust you, even if you could speak to him?"

From Eliar came silence.

Master Calon rubbed at his chin with a knuckle, looking thoughtful, and turned to Mai. "Perhaps you could go with that sister of his, verea."

"How could I do that?"

"Because the Silver women only appear in public with veils covering their faces. No one need know it was you."

Maybe this could work after all. Heart pounding, Mai turned to Anji. "I can't fight. At best I can defend myself at close quarters with my knife, but any competent soldier would overwhelm me. This is something I could do."

"No," said Anji. "What do you trade in, Master Calon?"

"Flesh. In slaves."

"So. This entire complicated scheme might be nothing more than a plot to rid yourself of my company, which seems dangerous to you, and steal my wife without any risk to yourself. You and I both know she would be worth a great deal of coin on the slave market."

"I could sell her for twenty cheyt, at the least," agreed Master Calon with a genial smile.

"I won't have this talk!" cried Eliar, lurching back to the circle. "Never tell a man of my people that he has stirred his hand in the pot of slavery! Do you mean to insult me?"

"Cub, hold your tongue!" Calon grabbed hold of his arm, but Eliar shook him off.

"Enough." Anji stepped between the two men, and they both backed off. "Answer me a few questions, if you will, Eliar sen Haf Gi Ri." He grabbed a stick out of the fire and held it up. Flames licked down the wood. "On what fuel does the flame sup?"

"The wood," said Eliar, looking irritated. "What is the point of this?"

"And on what food did this wood grow?"

"On water and earth and sun. As any fool knows!"

"And water and earth and sun, where are they grown? What is their origin? Is it not the case that 'all things blossom out of the heart of the Hidden One'?"

"I beg you, accept my apologies," said Eliar in a stricken tone.

Anji tossed the stick on the fire. "No need. I studied the archives as part of my education at the palace school. Now I know who you are. Your people lived in the empire."

"Not my clan, but distant cousins out of other clans, yes. After our people crossed the ocean, some of the clans fetched up on the shores of the Sirni Empire. They were driven out because they would not make sacrifices at the temple of the false god."

"That's not quite how it is written in the histories of the palace."

Eliar had the grace to blush. "I suppose it would not be. I intend no offense."

"You can be sure I take none, as I am not a believer. But you're right. It was a long time ago, four generations. As it happens, the priests of Beltak had a lot to say about your people, as they have a lot to say in all their writings. But I never thought I would meet one of you. They called your people 'the servants of the Hidden One, an avatar of the Lord of Lords, King of Kings.' They claimed you lived half in light and half in shadow, and in the end the priests insisted that any of you who refused to perform the sacrifice at the temple depart from the empire or be put to death. It is written there were no executions, so I am minded to believe that the priests were merciful in your case."

Eliar nodded. "It is said in our lore that some among the clans betrayed our people and sacrificed to the false god in order to stay in the empire. But the rest came north into the Hundred to join their kinsmen. A few sailed farther north even than that, to the lands beyond."

"Many things were written," added Anji, "but I recall in particular that the priests of Beltak were outraged that among these 'servants of the Hidden One,' slavery was entirely outlawed in all ways and shapes, and in every manner. In the empire, clans and houses are required to provide slaves for service in the temples. This your people refused to do."

Eliar nodded. "It is against the will of the Hidden One that any should hold another's life in bondage, or aid in such a transaction."

"But what of their labor?" asked Calon. "Labor is separate from life, as it is written in the law of the Hundred. Still." He smiled as Eliar puffed up, ready to burst into a tirade. "This is a dispute for another time."

"Everyone keeps slaves," said Mai. "That's just how it is. How can anyone change that?" She looked at Priya, but Priya remained silent.

Anji looked at Eliar, and then at Mai. "These are desperate times. But tell me, Master Calon, how are we to manage this overthrow, since it will take longer than one night to plan and execute? If we don't depart in the morning, they'll guess something is amiss."

Calon took in a deep breath, and seemed to have breathed in a midge, because he set to coughing until Chief Tuvi slapped him on the back and dislodged the irritant from his throat.

"Eh. Gah. I thank you." He wiped his brow. He was sweating, although it wasn't hot any longer. "Misdirection. In the morning, ride west along West Spur, as if you mean to obey the council's order. After a day or two cut south into the Lending."

"The Lending?"

"The grasslands. The high plains land south of the Olo'o Sea. With good horses, and if you can hunt, you'll manage. It's a difficult time of year to find water, but the rains will come soon. We're almost to the turn of the new year. Out there, the Greater Houses won't be able to follow you, for despite the power they hold here in Olossi, they don't possess more than the town militia. I guarantee you that the militia won't march out into the Lending in pursuit. They've had trouble out there in the past, but if you're hospitable to the tribes and raise no sword against them, you'll be given free passage. Then you can await word, until we're ready to strike."

"A great risk, for uncertain gain," said Anji.

Priya's soft voice startled Mai, although the Qin did not seem surprised to hear her speak. "The Merciful One teaches that where a river cannot breach hard rock, it will find a softer path to go around."

"True enough," agreed Anji. "This may be the softer path." He gazed into the darkness toward the distant watch lights burning along the city wall, barely visible from their campfire. "But a dangerous one, despite that." He looked at each face illuminated in the circle of light thrown off by the fire before settling on Mai. "I cannot bring myself to allow you to ride out on such a perilous expedition."

Calon made a noise, a soft grunt of surprise and pleased assent.

Anji nodded at Calon. " Should we agree to your offer, that is. Such a plan would not only put my wife at risk, but her presence on military maneuvers put the rest of us at additional risk because we will need to take additional measures to protect her. Therefore, Master Eliar, I ask you, would you on your honor as a servant of the Hidden One give shelter to my wife? I will pay for her lodging at fair market value-"

"Impossible!" cried Eliar.

Mai stepped back, startled by his vehemence.

Even Anji looked surprised.

"Cub, what are you saying?" demanded Master Calon.

"I mean only-I pray you-" He was flustered. "She would bide with my family as our guest. We cannot take payment. It goes against the law of hospitality."

"Then you will have my undying gratitude," said Anji as smoothly as if these were the very words he had expected to hear. He turned to Mai. "Sending you with them is a risk we must take if we mean this venture to succeed. For one, you will seek to free Reeve Joss. Also, the coin will go with you. If something happens to me, you will have the resources to set up a business for yourself."

Eliar nodded. "My people will shelter her as one of our own. And do what is necessary to aid her, no matter what comes. I do make my oath on the heart of the Hidden One that she will suffer no harm nor will she be sold into bondage while in the shelter of our house, and that she will leave that shelter only upon your return, or of her own choice if she is widowed."

"So taken," said Anji.

"So taken," said Mai, but the words came roughly, and her eyes filled with tears. She had talked him into this, and now he would run the campaign according to his understanding of war even if it meant she was to be separated from him in this foreign land and sent to live with strangers. Yet it must be done. If you do it, don't be afraid.

Priya took her hand in her own.

"A shrewd bargain," said Master Calon. "So, Captain. Verea. Do we have a deal?"

Anji indicated Mai. It went against everything she had learned and lived in the marketplace to agree to any deal without negotiating for a better offer.

"Double the price. The balance to be paid if we succeed."

Eliar whistled.

Calon took the bait. "Impossible. We've already given you everything we have with us."

"Impossible, indeed, to ask our company to risk so much. Life cannot be bought by gold. Death cannot be bribed by gold. Double the price."

"A third again as much."

She glanced at Anji. He had his head tipped slightly and appeared to be looking not at her but at Toughid's boots, with his mouth pulled tight as if he were trying not to smile. He flicked a finger against his chin as he sometimes did, to her chin, when they were alone, and she sucked in a breath to give her a volley of courage.

"Two-thirds again as much."

"You'd do better to ride back to the place you came."

"Master Calon, surely you do not expect me to believe you offered us everything you and your consortium possess in your warehouses and stock? No merchant of your undoubted prosperity offers his best price first. Something must always be held in reserve. Yet we are as you see us. We have no reserves, except what this payment will bring us. We are at the mercy of fate. Two-thirds again as much."

"Half again as much."

She nodded. "Agreed."

Eliar laughed. "She has bested you, Calon. Take that!"

The merchant shook his head, giving a slow smile. "I am impressed. And I am also desperate, although it appears to me that while your desperation is equal to my own, you are not undone by it, as I am. I agree, as spokesmen for this consortium, as you term it. The rest of the payment to be delivered upon completion of the tasks."

Anji stepped forward to shake hands with Master Calon in the traders' manner, each man's right hand grasping the elbow of the other as a seal to their agreement. After a hesitation, Mai stepped forward as well. In Kartu, only widows without husband or son to act for them dealt in public legal contracts. Master Calon grasped her elbow, squeezed, and let go without any surprise or answering hesitation; it seemed he considered her presence perfectly natural in a transaction of this kind.

"Let Sapanasu, the Lantern of the Gods, give Her blessing," he said in the cadence of a ritual utterance, "and Her curse to any who turn their back on what they have sworn in Her name. Let it be marked and sealed."

"Let it be sealed," repeated Anji.

"Let it be sealed," said Mai.

Lights scattered and flared along the outer wall as a swarm of torches moved out from the gates to engulf the singleton and escort it toward the walls.

"An irrevocable step for all of us," said Master Calon. He blew out his breath. "I need a drink!" He gestured toward the darkened city and the distant torchlight. "I wonder what that is all about."