David Gemmell - Quest for Lost Heroes

He stood and entered the cabin where the fire was low, the room warm and cosy. Kiall and Beltzer were asleep before the hearth, Maggrig deep in dreams in the bed by the far wall. Lantern light was streaming from the back room and Chareos walked quietly across the cabin floor and looked in. Finn was sitting with his feet on the workbench, idly cutting flights for new arrows.

'I couldn't sleep,' said Chareos, moving in to sit opposite the black-bearded hunter.

Finn swung his legs to the floor and rubbed his eyes. 'Nor me. What happened to us, eh?'

Chareos shrugged. In the lantern light Finn looked older, his face seemingly carved from teak. Deep shadows showed at his eyes and neck, and silver hairs glistened within his matted beard. 'You seem to have found peace, my friend,' said Chareos. 'Up here in the mountains you have freedom and more land than some kings.'

'Not much of a life for the boy — though he doesn't complain.'

'The boy must be thirty-six years old. If he doesn't like the life he is old enough — and man enough — to say so.'

'Maybe,' said Finn, unconvinced. 'And then again, maybe it is time to move on.'

'You'll find nowhere more beautiful, Finn.'

'I know that,' snapped the hunter, 'but there's more to it. I'm no youngster, Chareos, I feel old. My bones ache in winter, and my eyes are not what they were. One day I'll die. I don't want to leave the. . Maggrig… up here alone. I don't like people much — nasty minds, foul manners, always looking to steal, or lie or slander. But maybe that's just me. Maggrig, he gets on with folks, likes company. It's time he learned how to live with people again.'

'Think about it some more, Finn,' advised Chareos. 'You are happy here.'

'I was. But nothing lasts forever, Blademaster. Not life, not love, not dreams. I reckon I've had more than my share of all three. I'm pretty much content.'

'What will you do?'

Finn looked up and met Chareos' gaze. 'I never had many friends. Never needed them, I reckon. But you — and that fat pig — are the closest I got to family. So we'll come with you — if you want us, that is.'

'You don't need to ask, Finn.'

'Good,' said Finn, rising. 'That's a burden off my heart. Maybe we'll even find the girl. Who knows?'

Tsudai watched the auction with little interest. He had no taste for these pale-skinned Gothir women with their cold blue eyes and their huge cow-like breasts. He swung away from the window and looked at the dark-haired woman seated on the satin-covered divan. Now here was a real Nadir beauty.

The first time he had seen her was when Tenaka Khan brought her to Ulrickham. She had been fourteen years old, her skin golden, her eyes proud. Tsudai had always believed proud women were the devil's curse and he had longed to take a whip to her, to see her kneeling at his feet. Even now the memory brought a surge of arousal.

He moved to sit beside her. As she smiled thinly and edged back from him, his face reddened, but he forced himself to remain calm.

'Your brother, Jungir, sends greetings. He hopes that you are in good health,' said Tsudai. 'I will tell him that you are, for I have never seen you look more beautiful, Tanaki.'

'Why should I not be in good health?' she asked him. 'Did Jungir not send me to this desolate land in order that I might enjoy the freshness of the air?'

'It was for your own safety, Princess. There were rumours of plots and fears for your life.'

She laughed then, the musical sound doing little to ease Tsudai's physical discomfort. Her eyes met his, and for the first time it seemed to him that she smiled with genuine warmth.

'Why do we play such foolish games, Tsudai? There is no one else here, and we both know why my brother sent me here. He killed his own brothers and, possibly, his own father. Why should he baulk at slaying his sister? I'll tell you why. Because I am the only hope the Nadir have for providing a male heir. For all his skill with horses and weapons, Jungir is sterile.'

Tsudai blanched. 'You must not say that! If I was to repeat that to the Khan. .'

'Not even you would dare to voice that, even at second hand. Now why are you really here, Tsudai?'

He swallowed his anger, feeling uncomfortable sitting here dressed in the full armour of his rank. He reached for the buckle of his black and silver breastplate.

'Do not undress,' she chided him. That would not be seemly.'

'Seemly? What would you know of seemly? You take a succession of barbarian lovers, discarding them daily. That is no way for a person of your blood-line to behave.'

Tanaki stood and stretched her arms over her head. Her figure was slim and lithe and the short, silken tunic rode up to show smooth golden thighs.

'You do this to fire my blood,' snapped Tsudai, rising to his feet aware of arousal coursing through him.

'A volcano could not fire you,' she said. 'Now, for the last time, tell me why you are here.'

He looked hard into her violet eyes and suppressed the desire to strike her, to hammer her to her knees before him.

'Your brother merely wishes to know of your well-being,' Tsudai said. 'Is that so hard to understand?'

She laughed, the sound rippling across his emotions like bee-stings. 'My well-being? How sweet of him! I saw your aide looking over the new slaves. The great warrior, Tsudai, now reduced to finding concubines. Have you seen any that please you, Tsudai?'

'I do not find any of them attractive, though there are one or two that may suit. But you wrong me, Tanaki. I came here in order that I might speak with you. You know how perilous is your position. You know that at any time your death could become expedient. Four years ago you had the opportunity to become my wife. Now I offer that gift to you once more. Agree and you will be safe.'

She moved closer, her perfume washing over him. Lifting her hands, she rested them on his shoulders and looked deeply into his dark, slanted eyes.

'Safe? With you? I remember when you sought my hand. I considered it with due seriousness. I sent spies into your palace, Tsudai. Not one of your women lacks scars from the whip. I know what you want,' she whispered huskily, 'and you will never have it!' Then she laughed again and stepped back. His hand lashed out. She swayed out of his reach, then stepped inside. Tsudai froze as the dagger-point touched his neck. 'I could kill you now,' she told him.

It was his turn to laugh as he pushed her hand away. 'You still want to live, though, do you not? And an attack on me would bring you down. I offered you my hand, Tanaki. But now I will wait. And when the day comes for you to suffer, it will be Tsudai who rides to you. It will be Tsudai to whom you will beg. And I tell you now that no pleas will be heard. When next we meet, you will not be so haughty.'

The warrior spun on his heel and stalked from the room. Tanaki returned the small dagger to its sheath and poured herself a goblet of wine.

It had been foolish to anger Tsudai. As Jungir Khan's most trusted adviser, his was a friendship it would have been wise to court. But there was something about the man, a coldness within the soul, a meanness of spirit that she could not tolerate. Her father, Tenaka, had distrusted him. 'I have nothing against a man who disciplines his household,' Tenaka told his daughter, 'but any man who needs a whip to deal with a woman has no place in my service.'

Tanaki swallowed hard as she pictured her father, his violet eyes full of warmth, his smile like the dawn light — welcoming, reassuring. Her stomach knotted and tears welled in her eyes. How could he be dead? How could the greatest man in the world be dead?

Blinking away her tears, she wandered to the window and watched the auction, wondering which of the women Tsudai would purchase. Rarely did she feel sorry for any of the slaves. But today. .