David Coe - The Horsemen's Gambit

"Or maybe he asked them to make more cursed baskets," said E'Vylia, the village herbmistress.

"Wait just a moment," R'Shev broke in, his eyes flicking back and forth between U'Selle and S'Doryn. "Are you telling me that the Mettai are responsible in some way for the pestilence that's been striking at septs on the plain?"

The a'laq nodded, her expression grim. "Yes, although we have no reason to believe that all the Mettai were behind this. But at least one woman made baskets for trade that she then cursed and sold. The Y'Qatt were the first to be affected, but the plague eventually spread to our people."

"Blood and bone," the peddler whispered. "Forgive me, A'Laq. Had I known, I wouldn't have set foot in their marketplace."

U'Selle reached over and patted the man's arm, a sad smile on her lips. "It's all right, R'Shev. You've proven your friendship to the Fal'Borna." She glanced around the room at the members of the council. "Our friend here is Nid'Qir," she told them. "Remember that the next time you have in ill word to say about his clan. In any case, we were talking about the Mettai and what the Eandi commander might have been asking of them."

"It could be that they were asking for more baskets," Y'Bej said.

S'Doryn shook his head. "At this point every a'laq in every sept on the plain has been warned against Mettai baskets. Besides, if there's a war coming, we're not going to be welcoming Eandi traders into our villages, at least not for a while. Baskets, blankets, woodwork-no matter how they might disguise the curse, it wouldn't work a second time. Not if we're at war."

"What if they used someone like me to get you the goods?" R'Shev asked.

S'Doryn grinned. "Unless the Nid'Qir have powers I don't know about, any curse that kills me will kill you, too."

The man's face colored. "Of course. I might be handsome, but I'm not very smart. Actually, I think that's why the women like me so much." S'Doryn and a few of the others chuckled.

U'Selle, though, appeared still to be deep in thought. "An alliance then," she finally said.

S'Doryn felt himself grow cold. "What?"

She looked at the peddler. "What was it the eldest said? 'The Mettai have never had any dispute with the clans or the sovereignties, but others in my position might feel differently.'"

R'Shev nodded. "Yes, that's about right."

U'Selle passed a rigid hand through her hair. "They asked him to join their army, and he refused them. That's the explanation that makes the most sense."

"But if he refused-" Y'Bej began.

"The man was right," U'Selle said. "There may well be others who won't refuse, who'll take whatever the Eandi are offering and fight on their behalf."

"The Fal'Borna have fought the Eandi before and won," said another member of the council. "We can defeat them again."

Several of the others nodded.

After a moment U'Selle nodded as well. "That's true. But it's been many centuries since we had to fight both Eandi warriors and the Mettai. Of course we'll prevail," she added a moment later, offering a smile that clearly was forced. "I just don't want any of you thinking this will be easy, because it won't." She stood again. "That's all," she told them. "I intend to begin speaking with other a'laqs tonight. Whatever advantages the Eandi may think they have, surprise won't be one of them." She turned to the peddler. "Thank you for that, R'Shev."

The other members of the council stood as well and began to file out of the a'laq's house, all of them pausing to thank R'Shev. Eventually, only S'Doryn and the peddler were left with the a'laq.

"I have no heart for this fight," U'Selle said, looking at S'Doryn. "I always knew that the Blood Wars would begin again eventually, but I hoped and expected that I'd be long dead when they did."

"K'Pril was right, A'Laq. We've defeated them before."

"The Mettai didn't fight beside the Eandi during the last few hundred years of the wars. But when they did, earlier on, they were… a formidable enemy. We lost many more of those early battles than we did the later ones."

S'Doryn wasn't certain what to say.

She smiled at him, and this time the smile appeared genuine. "Go home, my friend. Your fish will be cold by now, that is if T'Noth left any for you."

"He better have." S'Doryn started toward the door, but then stopped in front of R'Shev and held out a hand, which the peddler took. The man had a strong grip. "Thank you," S'Doryn said. "You may well have saved our village."

R'Shev shrugged. "I'm Qirsi. We may be of different clans, but we both have yellow eyes; we both have white hair."

S'Doryn nodded and smiled.

"S'Doryn," U'Selle said, as he reached for the door handle. "You can tell N'Tevva, of course. And T'Noth as well. Tidings like these…" She shook her head. "Everyone in the village will know by sunrise."

"Yes, A'Laq. Thank you."

S'Doryn had to pass T'Noth's house in order to get back to his own. Walking past his friend's home, he saw a lamp burning in one of the windows. It wasn't surprising really; he'd been gone for a long time, and T'Noth would have needed to put Etan to sleep. After a moment's hesitation, he walked to his friend's door and knocked once.

T'Noth opened the door, a grin on his face. "I was hoping you'd stop by. Come in."

He shook his head. "I can't stay long."

"You'll be glad to know that we saved you some trout. It was very good, by the way."

"Good. Thanks for not eating it all."

T'Noth narrowed his eyes. "Something's troubling you. What's happened?"

"It's a longer story than I can tell you tonight, but the short answer is that the Eandi appear to be marching against us, and they may have at least sonic Mettai on their side."

His friend stared at him, looking as if he had just been punched in the gut. "Damn. You're certain about this?"

"There's no doubt that the Eandi are coming. The part about the Mettai…" He hesitated. The truth was they weren't certain. But S'Doryn had little doubt that U'Selle was right about why the Eandi had gone to Kirayde. "There's not much doubt about that either," he finally said.

"What are we going to do?" T'Noth asked.

"U'Selle will talk to other Weavers tonight. And tomorrow every Fal'Borna in the clan lands will begin preparing for war."

He gripped his friend's shoulder and then walked away, suddenly eager to be home with N'Tevva and his girls.

N'Tevva looked up and smiled when S'Doryn entered the house. As soon as she saw his expression, however, her face fell.

"What is it?" she asked.

He sat beside her and took her hand. And then he related all that had been said in the a'laq's home. After a time, as he continued to speak, he looked down at their hands because he couldn't bear to see the fear in her pale yellow eyes or the color draining from her cheeks.

For a long time after he had finished, she just sat there, shaking her head slowly. "They're mad," she whispered. "They must be. That's the only explanation that makes any sense. How else could they even consider such a thing?"

"They think we're weak," he said. "They think that the Mettai curse has left us vulnerable."

"Are they right?"

S'Doryn shrugged. "I don't know, N'Tevva. Truly I don't."

She laid her head on his shoulder. "I never thought I'd see this day." "U'Selle said much the same thing," he told her. "And I feel the same way. But maybe we've all been foolish to think it couldn't happen. The clans and the sovereignties have spent most of the past thousand years fighting one another. The history of the Blood Wars is the history of the Southlands. This peace we've enjoyed-that's the aberration. Instead of being surprised, we should be grateful it didn't happen sooner."

She looked at him with an expression of both surprise and despair. "Do you really believe that?"