Kate Elliott - Jaran

A soft knock on the door woke Tess. She started up. Sun shone in through the window and she knew it was late, midmorning, perhaps. She grabbed for her saber as the door opened, but it was only Vladimir.

"Good morning," she said, suddenly embarrassed to be found sleeping in Ilya's bed.

He did not look at her. "Here's some food and water." He set a tray down on the table and retreated to the door.

"Thank you." His sullen expression did not alter. "Vladimir, where is Bakhtiian?"

His gaze roamed the chamber, coming to rest finally on Ilya's saddlebags, slung casually over the endpost. "He'll be back. I'll wait outside until you're ready to go wash." He left.

She straightened her clothing and put on her boots and then ate and drank a little, and went to the door. It opened before she reached it, and Vladimir gestured her outside.

She hesitated. "But-"

"It's safe. Mother Avdotya has taken the khepellis to the sacred pool, with ten of the jahar for escort. Come on." He sounded peevish as he said it.

Probably, Tess thought, as she followed him to the chamber with the hot springs, he wished that Ishii had managed to kill her. It was impossible to truly enjoy the luxury of the hot springs but equally impossible not to linger a little too long. Vladimir finally tapped impatiently on the door, and she dried off hurriedly and dressed.

Back in the room, Vladimir paused by the door. "Are you really going back to Jheds?" he asked.

"Yes."

He looked so comically relieved that she chuckled. "You may laugh," he said with unexpected fury. "You have family. You have a place given to you. Ilya is all I have. Do you think a girl like Elena wants an orphan for a husband?"

"I'm an orphan, too, Vladimir. My parents died over twelve years ago. But it's true, I do have a brother."

"Oh, the one in Jheds. What do I care about Jheds? I have been riding with the tribe for two years now. I'm still nothing but an orphan to them. Ilya's pet. But you-you were there ten days, and Mother Orzhekov gifted you her own daughter's tent.''

Voices sounded from the hall. Vladimir had been red; now he turned white. The door opened, and Bakhtiian appeared.

"Leave us," he said. Vladimir stared straight into Tess's eyes, his mouth a bitter line. "Vladi," said Ilya.

The young man glanced at Ilya and stalked out of the room, shoulders taut. Ilya raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and walked over to the table to sit on its edge. One booted leg dangled elegantly.

Then his reinforcements arrived. The usual ones, of course: Josef promptly sat down on the floor, Niko sat beside Tess on the bed, and Tasha shut the door behind him and stood blocking it. Tess blushed.

"Well," said Ilya, and she realized that he was a little embarrassed by this situation as well.

Niko rescued them. "One of the khepelli is indeed missing. We can find no trace of him."

"The one missing," said Ilya, taking charge again, "is the one you met last night. The same one you met with in the garden yesterday.''

"Ishii killed him." Tess felt the force of all their gazes on her.

"For betraying his own kind?"

"Yes. No. Yes, for breaking his loyalty to Ishii, but really, he killed him for then betraying me in turn. It was Garii who alerted Ishii that we had gone-" She shrugged.

"To this secret room which I could not find, even last night when I returned there. I see. This gives me rather more respect for Lord Ishii. One betrayal might betoken a real change of heart, but two-" All four men shook their heads. "Mother Avdotya also noticed the missing pilgrim but she will not pursue those who are not bound by the laws of the jaran. There, it seems, the matter ends."

"But what about Tess?" asked Niko. "If Ishii would murder one of his own men, then I must believe that she is truly in danger as well."

"Oh, I don't doubt it." Ilya's tone was slightly mocking. "I think we will have to seek Veselov's aid."

"Veselov!" This from Tasha.

"To separate Soerensen from the pilgrims means we must split the jahar. Obviously, with khaja lands to ride through, and Dmitri Mikhailov still somewhere behind us, that would be idiotic. I propose we leave Tess and a few of the riders here at the shrine, where it is safe, and with the rest ride to Veselov's tribe and ask Veselov to send a portion of his jahar to escort her to the coast. We will ride ahead with the khepellis, see them to their ship, collect our horses, and wait for the others there."

"What if the khepelli decide to kill all of you?" Tess asked.

"Is this relic, and your death, so valuable to them?"

"It might be."

He smiled. "That is why you will write a letter to your brother that explains-briefly-the situation. As soon as it is done, Josef will ride ahead. With three horses, he will make good time."

"Won't that be dangerous?"

Josef grinned. "I've done rasher things in my youth. I speak the khaja tongues well enough to get by. And I think I am a good judge of men's hearts."

"I suppose that is why you joined up with Bakhtiian?"

All four men laughed.

"Did Yuri tell you that he is the only man in my jahar not born or married into our tribe?" Ilya asked. "Well, I cannot answer to that accusation." He tilted his head to one side, smiling, a surprisingly youthful, sweet expression. It made her so uncomfortable that she stood up and gazed out the window. He coughed. The other men shifted. "In any case," he said finally, "if we're all killed, at least your brother will know of it.''

Through the window she saw part of the garden, thick lines of bushes, a white statue half-hidden behind a tree. It was quiet. From somewhere in the distance she heard the sound of singing.

"Who will stay?" asked Niko.

"Yuri and Mikhal," said Ilya immediately. "Two more, I think. Konstans, perhaps."

"Kirill," said Josef. "That is my recommendation."

There was a silence. Tess could not bring herself to turn around.

"Mine, too," said Tasha. "You must leave someone who can take command of whichever part of Veselov's jahar will be sent."

"Then you, Tadheus," said Ilya stiffly.

"Ilya," said Niko, "you must eventually give Kirill the responsibility he deserves."

A longer silence. Outside, a man's voice shouted, a cheerful yell, followed by women's laughter.

"Very well. Kirill, Konstans, Yuri, and Mikhal."

"I'll go prepare, then," said Josef. Tasha made some similar excuse, and Niko left after them.

She turned. Ilya still sat on the table. He was looking at his hands. He glanced up at her.

"You'll need paper." He crossed the room to rummage in his saddlebags, lifting out a tube of soft cloth and the leather-bound Newton.

"Ilya-" she began, but he took them back to the table and set them down. Unwrapping the cloth, he revealed a quill and a tightly sealed pot of ink. Then he slipped his knife out of its sheath and turned the Newton open to the flyleaf. She could not bear to watch. In a moment, he said, "Would you like me to wait outside?"

"No." She came over to the table. He retreated to the bed with the precious book and sat cradling it in his hands while she bent down to compose the letter.

Charles. I am stranded on Rhui but am currently safe. The Chapalii have sent a clandestine expedition to Rhui which I stumbled across and followed: the Tai-en Mushai-yes, that one-once possessed this planet, and he left a palace and computer banks which contain all the information he gathered which led to the downfall of the First Empire. It really happened! I now possess in storage the contents of his files. I am traveling for Jeds now, but the Chapalii are still a threat to me. If something should happen to me, if you should receive this letter and I do not arrive in Jeds from the north by ship within a month or at most two, then look for the people called the jaran, who live on the northern plains, and specifically for a man named Ilyakoria Bakhtiian. They have sheltered me. Here she hesitated, and then simply signed her name.