David Coe - The Dark-Eyes War

"You were calling me weak, and implying that I was foolish to have tried to save that man."

"That's not-"

"I'm a warrior in the army of Qalsyn, and for three years running I've fought Enly in the final match of our Harvest Tournament. Yes, he's beaten me, but no one else has. I took an arrow in the chest just over a turn ago, and still I've led my company this far. Before long I'll lead them into battle. You look at me and assume that I must be weak, that I must need the protection of a man. I don't. If I'd gotten hold of that soldier, I wouldn't have let go and I wouldn't have been swept downstream with him. Believe me; don't believe me. I couldn't care less."

She quickened her pace, intending to leave him there.

"I do believe you," he called to her. "I'm sorry for what I said."

Tirnya slowed again, then stopped. She didn't look at him, not even when he halted just beside her.

"I didn't mean to offend you."

She said nothing. She wasn't ready to forgive him just yet.

"You were wounded?"

Tirnya nodded. "Road brigands. We were on patrol and we tracked them to a small clearing in the wood south of Qalsyn. Part of my company got there before I did. I rode into the middle of a skirmish and was hit almost immediately."

"Sounds like you're lucky to be alive."

"I am. Two of my men died," she said. She looked up at him. His face was bathed in the warm light of fires and torches. "I'm a captain in the army of Stelpana, just as you are. I deserve to be spoken to in a manner that befits that rank."

"You're right. I won't do it again."

She nodded once and led him the rest of the way to the Qalsyn camp in silence.

By the time they reached Jenoe's makeshift quarters, a great fire burned before it and the two deer killed for them by Stri and his men had been mounted on large spits. The air around them was redolent with the scent of roasting venison.

In Tirnya's absence Enly had returned, and he eyed both her and Gries with suspicion and manifest jealousy. Tirnya tried to ignore him.

"Captain Ballidyne," Jenoe said when he saw them. "I'm delighted you could join us."

"Thank you, Marshal. I'm honored by your invitation."

It had grown colder since sunset, and Tirnya was still chilled from crossing the river. While Jenoe and Gries chatted, she slipped into her father's tent and threw his riding cloak over her shoulders. She emerged again just as Stri, Marshal Crish, and another captain from the Waterstone army were arriving. Her father noticed her with his cloak and grinned.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," he said, indicating with an open hand a few large, weather-worn logs that were arrayed in a half circle before the blaze. "I had a few men bring these up from the riverbank. I daresay they'll be more comfortable than the ground would be."

Marshal Crish nodded approvingly. "I'll say. Well done, Jenoe."

Tirnya sat between her father and Stri at one end of the semicircle; Enly sat at the other end, as far from her as possible, and Gries took a spot just on the other side of Jenoe. Two of Stri's soldiers stood near the fire, tending to the cooking meat.

"I want to thank you again, Captain Ballidyne," Waterstone's marshal said. "That was quite a feat you pulled off today. You saved the life of a man I value and trust."

Gries looked down and grinned, the way someone might if he were embarrassed by such praise. But it didn't seem to Tirnya that he looked embarrassed.

"You're too kind, Marshal. I'm sure that any man here-" He glanced quickly at Tirnya. "Any person here… would have done the same."

"Forgive me for not asking earlier, Captain," Jenoe said, "but how is His Lordship your father?"

Gries smiled, though it appeared forced, even pained. Tirnya thought that he looked much the way Enly did when Qalsyn's lord heir spoke of his father.

"He's well," Gries said. "Thank you for asking. He wishes you success in this endeavor, and he prays that the gods will watch over all the men under your command."

"What does he think of this… endeavor, as you call it?"

All of them turned to look at Enly.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean, my lord," Gries said.

"Of course you do. For better or worse, we're marching to war against the Fal'Borna. Surely he expressed some opinion on the matter."

Gries's expression hardened. "He sent twelve hundred men to fight this war, Captain. He sent officers. He sent me. I believe that's opinion enough."

"Perhaps it is. My father sent me, but I'm not sure that says anything at all." He grinned, as if to show that he was joking. No one laughed.

"Do you have an opinion you'd like to share with us, Lord Tolm?" Hendrid asked.

Enly's eyes flicked toward Tirnya. She gave a slight shake of her head.

"I asked to be here," he said, looking at the marshal again. "As Gries said, that's opinion enough."

Gries turned to Jenoe. "I would like to know more about these Mettai who are with us. Was it your idea to approach them, Marshal?"

"No," Jenoe said. "It was Tirnya's. But I think that their magic will give us a great advantage in our battles with the Fal'Borna."

Gries nodded. "I don't doubt that. But I'm surprised that they agreed to this alliance. Living in the north, I have some knowledge of the Mettai. I've never known them to want anything to do with us or with the white-hairs."

Again Tirnya found herself sharing a look with Enly. But it was Jenoe who answered.

"These Mettai are strange," he said. "I'll admit that. And the lands they inhabited were blighted. I believe they're desperate to find somewhere new to live."

Gries narrowed his eyes. "You say their lands were bad?"

"They seemed so. And even the woodlands around their village were unusually quiet. Our men tried to hunt for their suppers that night, and found little. Most of them resorted to eating their rations instead."

"What was the name of this town?"

Jenoe glanced at Tirnya, a frown on his face. "I can't remember."

"Lifarsa," Enly said.

"Yes, of course," Jenoe said. "Thank you, Captain." He turned to Gries again. "Do you know it?"

Fairlea's lord heir shook his head. "No. But it's strange that any Mettai would live on blighted lands. In addition to being sorcerers, they're farmers, trappers. Their entire way of life is rooted in the land."

Jenoe didn't appear to be bothered. "Well, as I say, this is probably why they were so eager to join us."

"No doubt," Gries said.

"Capt'n Balkett," called one of the men by the fire. "Th' meat's ready."

"Excellent," Stri said, standing.

The others stood as well, and soon all of them were eating the roasted venison, which was as good as anything Tirnya had tasted in years. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she took the first bite. It seemed everyone else had been as starved as she, because for a long time no one said a word.

Eventually Enly made his way to her side. He didn't say anything, but she sensed that he wanted to ask her questions, probably about what she and Gries had talked about.

Before he could, she asked him, "Where did you go off to before?"

"Missed me, did you?" he said, his mouth full.

"Not at all. But I was curious."

He shrugged, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. "I went to speak with Fayonne."

"Fayonne?" she repeated. It took her a moment. "The Mettai woman?" Enly nodded.

He took another bite.

"What were you talking to her about, Enly?"

He finally looked her in the eye. "I asked her the same questions I put to her that night in Lifarsa, the same questions your friend Gries was just asking. What are they doing here? Why were they so eager to leave their homes?"

She wanted to walk away, to make it clear to him that she didn't share his suspicions or care what the woman had told him. But in truth she did want to know. When at last she said, "And what did she tell you?" it felt like a surrender.