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Chapter Text

There was an Ugaro up ahead.

Aras lifted a hand, and the division riding with him came to a stop. Other divisions further behind and to either side received the signal more slowly, since they weren't using horn calls in this hostile territory. But soon the entire talon had halted, waiting.

Lucas suspected why Aras had stopped, and gave him cover by glancing around at the trees and saying, "This does seem a good area for ambushes, doesn't it?"

It wasn't. They had faced enough ambushes already on this assault to know where they were likely to happen; dense trees, steep hillsides overlooking the way they must go, or clusters of deadfall all made good cover for the deadly Ugaro archers. This area had trees spaced more thinly, with occasional clearings perhaps in patches of rockier soil; it was hard to be certain what lay under the compacted bed of snow.

The lead scout came riding back to report what Aras had already noted, but with additional details: one Ugaro, apparently unarmed, at a campsite in the middle of a clearing. Lucas waved to the commanders of two other divisions, and they began to discuss what might lie ahead. One thought this might be some kind trap, but another said any trap should have used a Lau as bait rather than a lone Ugaro. Lucas thought it was more likely a distraction to slow their pursuit of the main Ugaro force, which couldn't be very far ahead. The scout leader was doubtful, nervous in this unfamiliar country, but he sketched out the terrain with quick gestures, sparing a thought for Lord Gaur's sharp instincts when it came to threats lying in wait.

From the Ugaro beyond the trees, Aras could only pick up a jumble of ideas and images that made no sense. The underlying emotion was easier to tease out: more fear than anticipation, which did not seem suited to either trap or ambush. Aras could not understand the words that gave structure to the thoughts of this... boy? He seemed very young, so far as Aras could tell.

Aras interrupted what Lucas was telling to the commanders. "Remember, if there is an opportunity I'd like to take one of these Ugaro alive." Although the current expedition was largely about punishing the Ugaro for their most recent attack and trying to deter other raids in future, their larger goal required understanding what had caused the Ugaro to begin raiding in the first place. It was a shame that only Ugaro women spoke darau, but Aras had a few interpreters who could help him to question a male captive as well. They might need to take a number of prisoners before they could establish any sort of diplomatic channel for communication and negotiations. But the first step in the process must be to learn why the Ugaro were so angry and what they were trying to do. A single captive might be sufficient to answer that question.

Aras glanced toward Lucas, who was thinking again that it would be better for them to press on and catch the remaining Ugaro raiders before nightfall, and then glanced thoughtfully up toward the Sun, which would not stay in the sky as long as in the summer country. The scout leader followed his look, still worried about what threats might surprise them in this strange land. Ugaro could see better in dim lighting than Lau could; it would not be wise at all to begin a fight near sunset. But it wasn't time to plan where to make camp, until they learned what they could from the one person waiting up ahead.

"Carry on, scout leader," said Aras, and the scout turned his horse with signals to the rest of his men to fan out ahead of the vanguard, their light shields lifted in case of arrows. The rest of the division followed, and more behind them. The clamor of emotions and opinions from the entire talon as they moved on was nearly enough to obscure that sharp, unusual mind up ahead.

Aras felt the moment when the first riders came within the boy's sight or hearing, as his fear spiked up suddenly. He was not only afraid but also unwilling, very uncommon for an Ugaro. None of their warriors were conscripted, so most would be eager for battle, sometimes bloodthirsty, always determined. Whatever fear they felt, most warriors would ignore until they confronted the inevitability of death or capture. This boy seemed to be confronting that already.

Then Aras caught images through several pairs of eyes of the boy raising his hands to show they were bound, tethered to a heavy log, and he understood the situation better.

Years ago, an Ugaro warrior had offered himself - through an interpreter - as a tuyo, a sort of sacrifice to appease the anger and bloodthirst of the Lau after a series of back-and-forth escalations. Aras had declined the offer then but took care to learn more about the custom after the matter was all settled.

A tuyo was something like a whipping boy to bear the punishments of a prince too high-ranking for physical punishment, or like the goat some villages would chase off into barren hills or desert to carry away bad luck. The Lau were meant to exact revenge upon this tuyo for everything the raiders had done, leaving the rest of the raiding party alone.

The less-appalling aspect of the custom was that it would initiate a kind of truce. By leaving the tuyo, the Ugaro agreed to make no further raids, and by killing the tuyo, Aras would agree to leave off further pursuit.

If Aras decided not to accept the offer, he could simply leave the boy behind, tethered in the snow, to freeze or starve to death. But he suspected if he rejected their offer of truce, the Ugaro they pursued would become even more intransigent. Aras wasn't certain he wanted to know what all-out resistance would look like, if the ambushes they had encountered so far were what the Ugaro considered to be normal warfare.

One thing he did know was that the land and the weather were likely to turn against them eventually. The longer they remained in the winter country, the more likely it was that they would face a blizzard or deep snow blocking their passage. They would lose men and horses to the bitter cold as well as to Ugaro warriors taking advantage of the situation. This tuyo presented an opportunity to shorten their stay in this hostile land without looking as if they were giving up the chase.

Aras wondered how long he could delay killing a tuyo without breaking the custom entirely. Perhaps they could question him to help with their larger strategy, although at the moment that seemed unlikely. The boy was almost wholly overcome by his fear, and Aras could hardly glean anything else from his thoughts, but he could hardly be deeply informed of the greater concerns, be they political or economic, which were driving this recent change. The last potential tuyo that had been offered to Aras was a grown man and a warleader making a choice to sacrifice himself. Aras didn't think much of someone who would leave an unhappy and ignorant child tied in the snow to await the arrival of angry enemies.

And then Aras was riding into the clearing, facing down the youth who stood by the ashes of a dying fire. The boy was watching the riders circle around him, while the scouts continued onward. But Lucas had already signaled the rest of the talon to slow and was discussing with the division leaders where they might want to camp.

Yes, this was the right opportunity. Aras could take his prize and leave in good order. Now he just had to find out exactly what he had won.

As he looked down at the boy, Aras wished he had brought Ianan's talon. No one in this talon was particularly fluent in taksu. But Ianan disliked killing Ugaro and knew little of their customs beyond the language itself, so Aras had given in to Lucas' request to come along instead. There were a few soldiers in this talon who knew more than the limited phrases that Aras had been able to pick up the last time he had resolved a dispute in the borderlands. That would have to suffice.

The boy was focused on Aras, recognizing him as important. He thought Aras looked cruel; that thought came through suddenly and clearly. Aras dismounted, and the boy knelt on the packed snow and bowed his head.

Servile, was the general Lau opinion regarding the Ugaro custom of deep and frequent bows from a kneeling position. Also cowardly and ashamed to look us in the eyes. But Aras could feel, as he had in previous encounters with Ugaro, that the bowing was only a matter of politeness. The boy showed that he acknowledged Aras as the leader of the Lau warriors, but he felt no deep awe or reverence, nor was his bow a promise to obey. Interestingly, the motion seemed to clear his mind somewhat from the fog of fear. The boy straightened after his bow and, still kneeling, looked around at the talon. He did not meet anyone's eyes.

Aras could now speak to Lucas without giving away his secret abilities. He said enough to make clear to the men listening that he knew of this custom and meant to make use of it, and also mentioned that the boy must be the son of a lord or other important person. The Lau would take that to mean hostage, but it would suffice to let them know Aras had plans for the boy and didn't want him killed.

And then the boy's fear was replaced by annoyance, and he responded clearly, "I have nineteen winters, so I am not a boy either by your law or ours."

He spoke darau easily and fluently. He knew at least a little about Lau law and customs. Suddenly, a host of new possibilities opened up before Aras. Perhaps it would not take so many steps after all, to establish a line of communication with the Ugaro.

Aras passed Lucas a signal to make camp, and began what promised to be an enlightening conversation.

Chapter Text

The war with the Lau was becoming more bitter. Sinowa, lord of the inGara, knew that many of his warriors considered the Lau to be a cowardly people because they fought so differently from the Ugaro, with no one man standing forth from their formations. But he suspected it was only a different form of courage, to stand in the open and keep pace with men on either side.

The forests and hills of the winter country would break up the Lau formations, but if Ugaro wanted to take grain from the summer country, at least some of the fight must take place south of the river. Each warleader could make his own plans, but many possible strategies had been discussed two winters ago, when Koro inKarano had declared that it was better for Ugaro to fight Lau than to fight among each other. Small raids on obvious, valuable targets would draw out a local lord to respond with over-confidence, and then a larger group of warriors could pick off the soldiers one by one. Firing their towns and large buildings would draw enough of the Lau away to deal with those troubles, while Ugaro warriors took newly-harvested bales or sledges or even cartloads of grain before they could be sent away to any market. It was a good strategy, or it had been for the start of the war, but it would need to change as the raids continued.

Lau lords handed their positions on to a son, usually the oldest son. Ugaro knew that this was not the best way. It was true that a lord of the Ugaro who wished to step down might support one of his own sons to follow him, but sometimes he would support another who was not related. And if the lord's choice was a poor one, the people of the tribe could select someone else to lead them along a new path. This did not happen in the summer country, which meant that many of their lords were stupid or needlessly arrogant. Other Lau lords might be good leaders of their people in peaceful times, but not prepared for war. Some were even skilled at the Lau style of fighting in formations, yet too infexible to adapt to the tactics they would face from Ugaro. All of these things would result in an early advantage for the Ugaro raiders.

But not every lord had such weaknesses, even among the rabbit people of the soft and bountiful lands across the river. Some of the lords were more clever than others, and Sinowa knew that the longer the war carried on, the more likely it became that a strong warleader would be sent from the summer king to help and direct their strategies. When that happened, Ugaro warriors would begin to die in greater numbers.

But the Ugaro herds needed grain to survive the long cold, and that grain would have to come from the summer country. It was better for warriors to face honorable deaths in combat with such an unjust enemy as the Lau, rather than neighboring tribes that had once been allied fighting each other over resources that were too scarce to support either tribe fully. Much better than women and children dying slow and miserable deaths because there was not enough food to support them. Certainly war with the Lau who had tried to cheat them was better. But Sinowa had watched his son Garoyo, the warleader of the Ingara, making plans and alternative plans for his raid upon the Summer Lands, and he had considered how much time had passed since the first raids had begun, and he had wondered if a change was about to come to them soon.

When he saw Garoyo returning with only five other warriors at his back, all of them grim-faced and three of them sporting bandages, he knew that the change had arrived. Garoyo's younger brother was not among the warriors accompanying him, and Sinowa's muscles tightened. He did not look over to see his wife Marag emerging from her tent, or the expressions on the faces of his two youngest children. He waited to hear the truth of what had come to the inGara.

Garoyo dismounted and handed his pony's reins off to another man, and knelt on the packed snow directly before Sinowa, bowing all the way to the ground and then rising only enough for his voice to be heard. "Lord," he said flatly to his hands upon the snow, "a great force of Lau cavalry have come to the borderlands. Twenty and fourteen of the men who fought with me have gone to the land of the shades, and eight more have been wounded badly enough they cannot ride. The rest of the raiding group is following behind me with travois, but I came to give you this news myself and to accept whatever judgment you consider appropriate for my failure." He placed his sword on the ground in front of him.

That could be where Ryo was, Sinowa thought, with the wounded men who must travel more slowly. His shoulders began to ease just a little. Perhaps Ryo was not hurt himself but helping to guard the vulnerable ones. Perhaps all his children were still well today.

But then Garoyo said, "At first our raid seemed to go well, but then the cavalry appeared and nearly trapped us inside their city. Even when we crossed the river, many-many Lau on fast horses followed us. I counted twenty twenties in their force, and there were more coming when I had to turn away." He paused, breathing carefully to steady himself. "After two days of continued pursuit, with the Lau overwhelming our rear scouts and catching up to the rest of our party, I... I decided that it was best to leave a tuyo to appease the Lau commander, so that the rest of us would have a chance to escape."

Sinowa's breath tightened. There had been only one member of the raiding party aside from Garoyo himself who was valuable enough to be considered as a tuyo. He should bring Garoyo into his tent to ask for all the details privately. Marag could join them there; her pain would be sharp, but at least it would not be long drawn out. But despite his intention, one question escaped: "And was this sacrifice accepted by the Lau commander?"

"It was, lord. The commander took my brother Ryo with him back to the Summer Lands to deal with him there. I asked some of the inGeiro to keep watch upon the Lau city in hopes they might see what fate comes to Ryo. Then I commanded all inGara warriors to retreat from the borderlands, until we hear your will."

They would have to draw back to the deep forests, and the northern mountains. Not to the steppe; that was a harsh place to be in the worst of the long cold. Sinowa would give that order. But for now, he was preoccupied with the knowledge that his second-youngest son was lost to him. Ryo, whose promise had burned so bright, who had hungered to learn stories and songs as well as combat, who had begun to look for the larger implications of any choice at a much younger age than most warriors... Ryo was gone.

Sinowa knew that Ryo had thought he would become warleader someday, when it was time for Sinowa to step down and Garoyo might become lord of their tribe. But Sinowa had sometimes considered, if the gods were so kind to let him live long enough, that perhaps Ryo would be ready to be lord after him. Ryo would be a good lord; he would listen to the poets and care well for the craftsmen and the herdsmen and heed the words of the women, more naturally than Garoyo whose ear was attuned to the opinions of warriors.

But Ryo would do none of those things now. His spirit would not even be able to watch over the inGara people, because his skull would lie in a cave somewhere in the summer country - no, not even that. Lau buried their bones underground. Ryo's spirit would not be able to look upon the land of the living at all, but would wander untethered through the land of the shades.

Sinowa realized he was standing motionless, staring at Garoyo before him, and had not spoken for many breaths.

"Come into my tent," he said. "Tell me all the story. Keep your sword," he added belatedly. "For now."

Marag came to Sinowa's tent as well, but the tisane she offered was bitter upon the tongue. Or perhaps that was the taste of the news that Garoyo brought, the great numbers of Lau mounted on swift horses with a clever and relentless commander to lead them. The way they had seemed to anticipate every choice that Garoyo had made, until the last most terrible choice when it was clear his party could not evade their pursuers. When the tale was done, Marag left without speaking to Sinowa. Through the hide walls he could hear the cries of his youngest daughter when the story was passed along to her.

He told Garoyo that perhaps the choice to leave his brother as tuyo had been the best one for all the tribe. Perhaps there had been another choice that Garoyo could not yet see, but if that was true, Sinowa also could not see that choice. He told Garoyo that he would not accept the offer to return the warleader's sword. The inGara needed an experienced warleader at this time more than any other.

Sinowa did not say out loud that he was certain Garoyo's choice had not been the best one for Ryo. Both of them already knew this was so.

In the morning, the inGara began to strike their camp in order to move further north and offer no further opposition to the Lau commander, as they had promised by offering Ryo. Sinowa directed messengers to ride to other inGara camps throughout the borderlands and make certain that all of them respected the tuyo agreement. Ryo had given his life so that they could have this chance, to retreat in safety; Sinowa would not waste it.

As he turned from speaking to one of the messengers, Sinowa saw Garoyo kneeling upon the snow, facing the sunrise, lifting a knife to his hair. Many of the black strands were already blowing into the forest.

Sinowa turned away.

Chapter Text

Ianan's talon was tense, waiting for the return of Lord Gaur with Commander Samaura's talon from across the river. They had the fleeing Ugaro outnumbered, out-mounted and out-maneuvered, but fighting Ugaro raiders in their own country was even more dangerous than tracking down bandits in the hills. In the harsh winter lands there might be more than just traps or ambushes laid in advance; the land itself could have all kinds of surprises none of the Lau would see coming.

Fifth division was posted down by the river as the afternoon lengthened. Lord Gaur's men probably wouldn't be returning yet, depending how far into the woods they had needed to go, but even so everyone was on edge. No messengers had arrived in two days, which probably meant the messengers that had been sent were intercepted. Probably fatally.

Some of Lord Kasurat's guards had told hair-raising stories of being stalked through the snowy forests by shadowy forms that shifted from wolf to man and back again. Sometimes a party of Lau would go across the river and never return. Perhaps their heads would be found hanging from trees, later, or perhaps there would only be a patch of bloodstained snow. But occasionally the men and any horses they had brought with them would be found frozen solid to the ground, fingers and faces blackened, frost covering every inch. Standing here in the full sunlight and watching the shadows deepen across the river, more than one man was thinking of those stories.

Most of Esau's file were too sensible and experienced to wear themselves down with that sort of fretting, but young Suyet's occasional little shivers were enough to tell Esau that such thoughts were wearing on him. Esau shifted a little to the side and nudged Suyet with his elbow. "Lord Gaur's too smart, and that talon is too big, to fall into the sort of traps that would be set for a small party. Any Ugaro tries to take them on, they'll tear right through 'em."

"But they say the land itself can turn on people. People from this side of the river, anyway," Suyet muttered back with a frown. "How can Lord Gaur fight against that?"

"By getting out of there soon," said Laraut from Suyet's other side. "That's why we're on watch for them to come back."

"Oh! And there they are!" Suyet exclaimed, as they saw dark horses come stepping out from the treeline, walking slowly with their heads lowered.

The Lau sometimes went across the river to clear trees - by timber-gathering agreements with nearby Ugaro tribes during peaceful times and less-cold seasons, or in order to deny Ugaro archers places to shoot and spy from during times of conflict. Right now, the trees and shrubs were thinned out a good half mile back from the riverbank, and fifth division could see talon commander Samaura's cavalry approaching from a good ways off.

Esau's special senses didn't reach that far, and his eyes weren't the best in the army. But he could see that the first scouts were riding alertly, but not fearfully. The division commanders were in the first wave behind the scouts, and they didn't seem terribly worried. There were few empty saddles and almost no wounded men riding double. The riders had their shields ready but not raised, just as Esau's own shield waited at his feet. More than two-thirds of the talon had already emerged from the trees, and more were still coming.

"There's Lord Gaur," said Suyet in relief.

Esau could just pick out the blood bay gelding by its smooth gait and fine trappings. Of course Lord Gaur would be toward the rear, and talon commander Samaura rode nearby, both of them making sure nothing hindered the... not a retreat, it seemed, but a return in good order. Things must have gone well. But Lord Gaur did seem to be sitting rather stiffly in the saddle, could that be from an injury?

"Who's that riding next to him?" Laraut said, peering into the shadows. The sun was nearly gone from that side of the river, but still stood high in the sky here.

Next to Lord Gaur was a shorter figure on a dark bay mare, wearing strange clothes. The men of the talon all had matching uniforms, of course, but the uniform coats were too light for spending several nights in the winter country, so the men had been given permission to wear additional overcoats or cloaks if they had them. The result was that the talon might match perfectly in their movements, but not quite so well in their appearance.

The person riding next to Lord Gaur was on a proper horse, but otherwise didn't match at all. Too short, and too broad, with long straight hair, and it looked as if his clothes might be made from untanned hides. "That's an Ugaro," Laraut said, before Esau could.

"A prisoner?" Suyet gasped. "A hostage?"

There couldn't be much point in taking a single prisoner. A hostage would have to be someone extremely valuable, and if that was the case there should be a guard drawn close around them.

"He's not tied to the horse," Esau noted. "Not tied at all."

In the next moment they could all see the Ugaro wasn't tied, because he pulled his mare up abruptly, disturbing all others around him. He was looking up at the sky, and then a moment later he reached across and grabbed the reins of Lord Gaur's horse. Everyone nearby reacted, with several spears coming down at the ready. Even a few people on this side of the river cried out. But Lord Gaur held up a hand, and the Ugaro didn't even seem to notice he was being threatened, as he spoke urgently to Lord Gaur.

Esau couldn't sense anything from Lord Gaur. Even at close range he never could, and he knew what that meant. He hadn't told anyone else about it, but there were others who knew. If talon commander Ianan hadn't already known, Esau might have told him. He wouldn't trust just any officer, but Ianan was decent. And Ianan already knew, Esau was certain of that, so there was no need to tell him anyway. It was obvious Lord Gaur wasn't driven mad by the curse, at least not yet. If that happened some day, it might be bad. But right now was the time to keep your mouth shut and your eyes open, and so far Esau hadn't seen anything from Lord Gaur to worry him.

Esau could feel talon commander Samaura as well as the other people around Lord Gaur, some disbelieving but most growing increasingly alarmed as the Ugaro spoke. Then Lord Gaur signaled to the bugler riding near, who sounded Retreat and then Gallop and Break Formation then Retreat again. The whole talon began to run. Some of the soldiers were closer to panic than others, and their horses picked up the urgency.

A troop leader down the line barked his own orders, and the men standing on this side of the river lifted their shields.

"Is it archers?" Suyet whispered, standing in perfect order.

Esau couldn't see what was frightening the men, but he didn't think it was archers. He watched the woods behind the last line of riders, not sure what to look for. One of the great white tigers? An enormous pack of wolves? But either of those would have called for bows and shields and a careful, orderly retreat, not this mad gallop on exhausted mounts.

"Something about the land or the weather," he guessed. "Something they can't fight." Something their shields on this side of the river wouldn't be proof against, either.

The hills sloping down toward the river didn't seem steep enough for an avalanche, but Esau had only heard of those so he wasn't sure what was possible. Wouldn't the trees on those hills stop sliding snow? Or what would that mysterious deadly cold look like, if it was coming down at the talon now? Some of the men looked up fearfully as they rode, but there was not a cloud to be seen. There was no sudden burst of snow falling impossibly fast. Just five hundred men and horses at full gallop.

The first were already fording the river, since the bridge had been destroyed a few years ago. There was a ripple of shocks along the line as men felt the chill bite of the water, but the horses kept moving. Some had to swim, since there wasn't enough time for everyone to bunch up at the shallowest crossing. Men who had been unhorsed tried to swim, and some weakened from the chill and sank, but others managed to grab on to a passing stirrup or offered hand to pull them across. As they reached the near bank, the order came for fifth division to drop their shields and assist the retreat. But no one was crossing near their file's position yet.

Talon commander Samaura's horse jumped far out from the north bank and created a great splash, but swam strongly across the current. Lord Gaur, of course, was keeping to the rear, making sure that everyone else made it before he came to the river himself. The men near Lord Gaur were terrified, Esau could pick that up clearly. But one sharp, strange mind near Lord Gaur was intent, focused, frightened but not panicking. Esau gave that Ugaro a long look as he was checking along the line.

Lord Gaur tried to pause his horse on the riverbank, but the Ugaro tackled him and they both went into the water together. For just a moment they surfaced, then everyone could see the Ugaro pushing Lord Gaur down into the water again. Men on this side cried out angrily, some wading into the river to try to help.

Suyet started forward, but Esau caught his arm. "Look!"

The last stragglers still hesitating on the far bank had dropped where they stood. Lord Gaur's gelding had toppled over where it reared. The mare the Ugaro had been riding was trying to swim, but ice was spreading too quickly and she was trapped. Then the cold reached her blood and she stopped thrashing, head drooping onto the ice. Men and horses that were already most of the way across the river barely managed to outpace the spreading ice; others further back were trapped in it. A feathery crust was spreading toward the southern bank, and on the far side it was already thick enough to walk on... if there had been anyone over there still capable of walking.

There was no sign of Lord Gaur, or the Ugaro who had taken him down.

Esau had been watching leaves, sticks, and muskrats float by all day. He could guess how quickly that current ought to pull Lord Gaur along, unless the ice slowed it down. He couldn't think how anyone would be able to get to Lord Gaur's position and subdue the Ugaro and pull Lord Gaur free of the ice before it was too late. Except he didn't think the Ugaro needed to be subdued; as far as he could tell, that strange mind seemed to be focused on surviving, not on revenge or murder.

Esau didn't feel the cold so much as some others in the division; he'd bet on himself to win a race if it was just fording the river. But he wasn't much of a swimmer, and anyway Lord Gaur was already downstream of their position. He followed Suyet down the muddy bank anyway, and helped pull out one of the men who had almost, but not quite, been caught by the spreading ice.

Then, just a short distance away, the ice suddenly erupted as it was pushed up from below. A black head pushed through the ice - the Ugaro's head. But he wasn't alone; he was holding Lord Gaur tight against his chest. A great shout went up from nearly everyone waiting along the bank.

The water came higher on the Ugaro's chest than it would on a Lau, but he kept pushing through the ice, breaking it apart before it could trap him in place. He held Lord Gaur up while he gasped and coughed, and now Esau could feel clearly the Ugaro's determination to get Lord Gaur safely across. The Ugaro - Esau could see now that he was quite a young man, not far into adulthood - had warned Lord Gaur and all the Lau about the coming cold, or else every member of the talon might have been caught while fifth division looked on unable to help.

For some reason, this young man was trying to help Lord Gaur.

The Ugaro waded close enough to the bank for some of the Lau to reach him and pull Lord Gaur from his hands. No one helped the young man climb the bank, but they hemmed him around. He was breathing hard, and went to his knees once he reached the top of the bank.

Esau could feel the young Ugaro's exhaustion, and also the mixed anger/confusion/admiration/excitement of the men surrounding him. He tensed himself to push forward if anyone decided this young man was an appropriate target for revenge, but talon commander Samaura arrived before it got to that point.

"Some kind of prisoner or tribute," Samaura was saying. "It's an Ugaro custom. That's why we left off pursuing the raiders and turned back. But Aras gave him guest right, and he saved at least half the talon, so mind you treat him with respect."

The men around Esau braced up.

"You, you, and you - keep an eye on him until the physician gets here."

Esau had faded behind the others without thinking, but his file-mate Suyet had caught Samaura's eye, so Esau stayed nearby to watch for any trouble.

There wasn't much to do, as the young man sat still and didn't seem to hear anyone who spoke to him. He was looking blankly into space, feeling... stunned, Esau supposed. He didn't seem to be especially cold despite being soaked to the skin - not even as cold as Esau felt with only his lower legs wet - but he let them bundle a blanket around his shoulders while he kept staring into the moonlit country across the river. Could he be feeling homesick when his home was right there in full view? If he thought he would never be allowed to cross back, Esau supposed he might.

Two physicians and a gaggle of assistants had already carried Lord Gaur off to where he could be warmed and treated properly. Another pair of physicians were checking on the men brought across the river; some had strange injuries from the cold or the ice in the river, some were barely able to move for the cold, and a few were half-drowned. Once the worst cases were stabilized and sent along to the town, one of the physicians came to check on the Ugaro.

"This is Lord Gaur's prisoner?" he asked.

"Guest," Suyet said firmly. "That's what talon commander Samaura said."

"I see." The physician looked down at the young man doubtfully, and didn't try to speak to him. "Give him this." He handed Esau a bowl of poppy wine.

"How much?"

"All of it."

Esau hesitated, but he knew better than to argue with a physician well above his own rank. He stepped in front of the Ugaro, blocking his view across the river, and said slowly, "Drink this." He felt the words register with the young man, so apparently he did know some Lau at least.

A few minutes later Esau was tapped for litter-carrying as well, but he could have seen that coming. This Ugaro might be short, and not as muscle-bound as a mature warrior of his people, but he was still half again as heavy as a Lau soldier. Esau gave a sharp look to the man who tried to complain about that, and pointed out that it could be a lot worse.

"Right," Suyet panted. "There could be two Ugaro for us to carry!" That made the others laugh.

They carried the young man to the town hall where a large room had been set up as a hospital, but Esau had a guess he wouldn't stay there very long. Not just because the surgeons were nervous of him, but this was Lord Gaur's personal guest, who had saved the scepter-holder's life. Lord Gaur repaid actions like that with generosity, so Esau wouldn't be surprised if the young man was moved into fancier quarters before long.

Still, one Ugaro would attract all kinds of attention in a camp full of soldiers who had seen towns burned and lost comrades to some of the recent raids. He would be a magnet for trouble even if he never set a foot wrong.

So when the word came that Ianan was looking for volunteers to guard the Ugaro, Esau asked sharply, "Guard him like a prisoner?"

"No, no!" the runner said quickly. "To protect Lord Gaur's guest from harm."

Guard and guide, more like, Esau thought. "Mind you make that clear while you're passing the word," he said, and returned to eating dinner.

He thought about a young man who had maybe never been this side of the river - or if he had, before the trouble started, he was probably just a boy back then. Even if he knew some Lau, even if he had some reason to be cooperative, a young man like that was sure to make mistakes.

Esau thought about opportunities, too. If that young man was friendly and cooperative, but men felt a need to challenge him somehow... well, wrestling was one way to turn a challenge into a friendly competition. People would underestimate the boy because of his short stature and smooth beardless face, but Esau thought of the broad shoulders and the arms that had lifted Lord Gaur up above the water even while pushing a path through inch-thick ice.

Esau wouldn't mind trying his muscles against that Ugaro strength. He wouldn't mind teaching the young man how to wrestle, and then standing back to lay a few quiet bets while he wrestled other people. That could be amusing.

When he finished his bread bowl, Esau stood up. "Reckon I'll head over and see if they still need more of those volunteers."

"I'll go with you!" Suyet said cheerfully. "Not that they're going to want me on the detail," he added as they threaded their way through the camp.

Esau gave the newest - and youngest - member of his file a closer look. "You never know. Might want someone near his age, someone he could make friends with."

"I'd like that! I'm sure an Ugaro will be very interesting. Will they need someone to teach him Lau?"

Esau shrugged. "He knows some already, but I'm not sure how much." That was rare, he thought. Not many people on either side of the river knew the language of the other side. Probably less since the trouble had started up.

"He's not really my age, is he? He looks so young."

"You'd be surprised. I'll show you what to look for."

There were nearly twenty volunteers out of Ianan's talon, and the commander winnowed that down to ten troopers and two troop leaders.

Ianan nodded to the reduced group. "Lord Gaur will want to talk to each of you and make the final pick for a three-man detail, but he's resting now. Report to the manor house in the morning for further orders."

Esau didn't usually volunteer for extra duty - only when something interesting came up. This detail promised to be very interesting indeed. Maybe, when morning came and Lord Gaur looked them all over with his penetrating gaze that Esau knew was a lot more than just looking, maybe he'd step forward and not try to fade out of sight.

Chapter Text

Geras was not the only troop leader among the volunteers who reported at dawn to guard the Ugaro. Eleven men gathered in the courtyard of Lord Kasurat's mansion just as the sunlight stretched across the fields that waited ready for harvest.

All the volunteers came from Ianan's talon, and most of them were from Fifth Division which had been down by the river when Lord Gaur came across. Geras knew the other troop leader, Halan Parunes, and had nothing bad to say about him. But Parunes did tend to take a somewhat heavier hand with the men under his command. Not to the point of riding them or handing out excessive punishments, of course - cruel and petty men didn't last long in Lord Gaur's army. But Geras had seen Parunes jump quickly on a shiny new soldier who stepped out of line, to make a strong impression from the start. For himself, Geras preferred a stern talking-to for first offenses, moving on to punishment only when he was certain the problem was willful and not just a mistake.

And thinking of willful troublemakers, Esau Karuma was also among the volunteers. Geras gave him a pretty close look, wondering why Ianan hadn't dropped him from this detail on the first pass. True, Karuma was more of a trouble-finder than a maker, better known for wading into fights - and finishing them - more often than starting them. He had been promoted to troop leader more than once, and then busted down again when he found trouble. Geras had been the one on discipline duty for the most recent of those demotions, which had made for a very unpleasant morning - for Karuma moreso than himself, but he didn't savor the memory.

Karuma was smart and experienced, and might be one of the few men in the talon or even the entire army who could hold his own against an Ugaro warrior without weapons. Did Ianan think that might be needed? But by the same token, Karuma could also hold off a crowd of soldiers angry at an enemy in their midst, if it came to that - and he was quite an expert at seeing trouble on the way, as well. If that was the kind of guarding that was needed, Geras supposed Karuma might be a good choice. Or maybe commander Ianan just hoped that extra work might keep Karuma out of trouble.

This guard detail might end up looking very different depending on the people who were chosen for it, Geras figured.

The sun rose high enough to start chasing some of the chill from the courtyard, and the volunteers waited still. Geras thought about running through some practice drills to warm up, or getting the whole group practicing together. But half these men weren't strictly under Geras' authority, and he didn't want to ruffle Parunes' feathers. So he stood at ease, listening to the women working in the kitchens. He could only hear part of their cheerful gossip, but it did seem to circle around the Ugaro.

The younger men chatted easily with each other, and four of them started up a game. Inevitably, it was dice, since no one was carrying a sestaket board and pegs in their pockets. Geras kept an eye on Esau Karuma who was pretending not to watch the game but actually paying careful attention. Not that any amount of get or pull would help a man alter dice rolls; in cards he might be able to tell what another player was holding, or nudge someone to be careless in concealment, but dice games involved too much chance for those tricks to work. Karuma had been involved in enough friendly games that turned into brawls that he was restricted to wrestling and sparring competitions. Likely he also managed to take bets on games played by other people, which was treading the fine edge of the restriction. But Geras could see no sign that he was passing signals to any of the dice players, so he said nothing.

The sun was well up when talon commander Harana appeared at the door of the house. Geras drew breath to call the troopers to attention, but Karuma had already released a sharp whistle. One man scooped up the dice while others were pulling on their discarded coats. Quick, orderly, no complaints about the half-finished game. Geras saw nothing to object to, but he noted Parunes giving a sharp look to the trooper who was last to step into line, one of the younger volunteers. He wasn't in one of the files under Parunes' wing so it was unlikely the man would put him up for discipline, but Geras prepared to have a word with the other troop leader if needed.

Harana frowned at the group. "I thought there were supposed to be twelve of you?"

"Balat's whole file is down, sir," Karuma reported casually. "Might have been some bad meat in their last dinner. He asked to be taken off the roster."

Geras had heard it was strong alcohol that had flattened that file, but it was good to know how far a man was willing to go to keep his fellows out of trouble. He noted that Karuma hadn't lied outright, there, and planned to pay special attention in future to what words he chose.

Talon commander Harana only grunted at the news, looking no more or less annoyed than he usually did, and led them all into the house. "I suppose you all know what you've volunteered for?"

"To guard the Ugaro prisoner," Parunes said, as Geras opened his mouth.

Most of the other men nodded in agreement, but a few frowned uncertainly.

"Don't call him a prisoner if you want the duty," Harana corrected. "And he's not exactly a hostage, either. It's some sort of barbaric Ugaro custom where we're supposed to chop off the boy's head in exchange for letting all his friends go free, I gather."

Geras blinked at that, and he saw the youngest of the volunteers miss a step.

"But Lord Gaur isn't going to do that, of course. He's taken this Ugaro boy as his personal guest, and he wants him guarded from insult, if you can believe that! So he is going to choose a detail to keep his guest safe and avoid any misunderstandings, and you - whichever of you is chosen - will absolutely obey that directive. I certainly don't have the authority to countermand a scepter-holder's orders, and I'm not trying to! But I'll just say, while you're keeping that fellow safe, you can also be making certain he doesn't run back to his people with detailed information of all our troop movements. That should be right in line with Lord Gaur's orders."

"Is it true he speaks darau?" asked one of the volunteers behind Geras.

"True. Quite well, from what I hear, but I haven't spoken to him yet myself. But apparently he's already given Lord Gaur some information that might help to clean up this entire border mess sooner rather than later. And that's fine if it works out, but knowing the language isn't the same as understanding all the customs. I hear there was a misunderstanding along those lines already, and the boy hit Lord Gaur hard enough to crack his ribs, before anyone else could get them apart."

Everyone gasped at that, and Harana nodded. "But of course that doesn't carry the same penalty for a foreigner who happens to be Lord Gaur's guest as it would for a subject of the summer king."

"More's the pity," muttered someone over on the other side of the group.

"So we're not to hold that against him. But just keep in mind that knowing our language also means he'll understand when someone whose filemate died last week yells that all Ugaro are murderers, or whatever might happen. So keep your eyes peeled in both directions, is all I'm saying."

"Understood, talon commander," Geras said, and the rest of the troopers echoed him.

Here in the cool borderlands, the house was built of thicker stone with many fireplaces, and the nicer rooms were on higher floors where heat would gather. Talon commander Harana tapped at an ornate door at the top of the first flight of stairs and stuck his head inside, then stepped back out with a grimace. "Lord Gaur's been using this parlor for an office, taking meetings and meals with his officers here. It seems he's still upstairs - that physician must have more to say than he expected. But he told me to bring all of you directly to him, so up we go."

The next flight up had doors to many bedrooms, and Harana headed again for the one with the finest carvings. "The Ugaro's been given a room up one more floor, on the other side." A jerk of his chin indicated what had probably been the women's side of the house before things got too hot here on the border. Harana tilted his head at a voice from beyond the door and told the volunteers following him, "Here we are, step lively now." Again he tapped and opened the door without waiting, leading the men inside. Geras took up the rear, still keeping an eye on Karuma.

Lord Gaur was sitting in a comfortable chair with a physician right next to him, but it seemed the examination or treatment was over and the physician was only giving instructions. Or possibly repeating them; there was a tightness around Lord Gaur's eyes that seemed like barely-restrained impatience, and he looked relieved to dismiss the dedicate with a gracious but brief expression of thanks. He did remain sitting, perhaps in response to the physician's orders, while he looked over the volunteers.

Geras had served Lord Gaur for most of his adult life, but not closely for most of it. After a stint of traveling with the old lord - the current lord's father - he had settled with the city guard in Sigaranra to raise his children. It was only in the last few years that Geras had joined Samarua's talon and brought Aedani along with him, then later transferred to Ianan's talon to re-balance the numbers. They got to deal with some bandits in the mountains and a suspected sorcerer out on the savannah, until they were sent here to the borderlands where even the air was different. Aedani enjoyed the travel - for her the cities and landscapes were endlessly different instead of blurring into a confused jumble - and Geras liked being in Lord Gaur's train. There seemed to be fewer senseless orders and much less puffing up the lord's pride compared to what he had seen in other garrisons. But although he had spoken to Lord Gaur several times, it had never been at any great length, and he wouldn't claim to know the man well.

He knew enough that it didn't surprise him when Lord Gaur's description of the job turned out to be different from Harana's. He wondered briefly if that had been set up, for Harana to give the hard line and Lord Gaur to soften it. It seemed about right - complex, layered, not exactly dishonest. But he still figured the best indication of what was really wanted from this guard detail would come when he saw who was chosen for it.

"I'm looking for three men who will guard and guide my personal guest," was how Lord Gaur put it. "Ryo inGara is the son of an important Ugaro lord who commands the territory directly across the river. He is a polite and courageous young man who holds honor in the highest importance. Because I accepted Ryo as my tuyo, there is now something like a truce between that tribe and us - particularly myself and all the men under my command, but also between inGara and the Lau generally, which will buy us some time to understand the situation better. In addition, Ryo speaks excellent darau, and his explanations have already helped me learn more about how this conflict began. He's told me things that I was not told by any of the lords of these border counties."

That was surprising - firstly, that the boy's speech was so fluent, and secondly that Lord Gaur seemed to trust what this foreigner was telling him as much as or perhaps more than the local lords. Did he think they were slanting their stories to cover up some misdeeds of their own?

Geras shifted his weight experimentally, and Lord Gaur looked directly at him. He saluted. "Pardon, sir, but if I understood, part of the peace deal involved you killing this Ugaro? If you didn't do that, will the truce hold?"

"A good question. Ryo indicates that he has never heard of anyone treating a tuyo as a guest before, but he does not think my doing so breaks the fundamental agreement."

Geras supposed a young man might have very strong motivation to say that no one would be angry if he wasn't killed, and wondered if anyone else knew more about this tuyo custom that Lord Gaur could rely on.

"He certainly expected me to kill him, and suggested quite a few horrible ways I might choose to do it," Lord Gaur went on, his eyes sweeping over the group. "He thought that his honor, and the safety of his people, required a stoic acceptance of this terrible fate. I told him that I wished to take some time deciding what manner of death I would put him to, and even then it took him a while to understand that perhaps I would not kill him at all. I am not certain he believes that is true even now."

Geras blinked, remembering that scene down by the river. If the boy really had thought he might be tortured to death, it was even more remarkable that he'd chosen to save Lord Gaur in particular, never mind the rest of the talon.

"So you see, despite Ryo's strong command of our language, there are a number of cultural differences which may provide fertile ground for problems to spring up. That's something that I hope a dedicated group of guards may help to prevent. For example, you should know that the Ugaro not only shun every form of sorcery, but also the kinds of small magics that our people consider a part of everyday life. They have no spells or cantrips for warming or cooling or lighting fires. When Ryo first saw such magic performed in front of him, he thought it was sorcery and that not only his life but his very soul were in imminent danger. He was so alarmed he could not even hear my explanation for several minutes."

Geras wondered if that had been when Lord Gaur acquired those cracked ribs talon commander Harana had mentioned. That was probably what was making him shift very cautiously in the chair.

"As another example," Lord Gaur continued, "Ugaro are accustomed to greeting any person of higher rank, or any respected person, by kneeling and bowing their heads. Even a simple apology would also be accompanied by bowing. To our eyes this appears like groveling. But to Ugaro, such a bow indicates only respect and common politeness, not any form of promise to obey or admission of guilt. On the other hand, where we consider it to be polite to look a man in the face when he is speaking to us, the Ugaro consider that to be very rude or insubordinate. Ryo has started to learn our customs but he finds it difficult. You should know that when he lowers his gaze and looks away, it comes from a desire to be polite rather than any form of shame or fear."

That sounded very odd. Geras had never really thought about anything like that. He was accustomed to judging a man's confidence and trustworthiness by how he held his head and body when speaking, and it was strange now to think that his lifetime of instincts might be wrong, only because these foreign people had different notions of politeness.

"The men who take this guard detail must remember for themselves, and be prepared to remind anyone who forgets, that the Ugaro language of manners is as different from ours as darau is from taksu. And that fluency in words is not the same as ease of behavior.

"Now that I've made that clear, let me see..." Lord Gaur looked at a list of names, and read off several of them beginning with troop leader Parunes.

Three hard-liners. Geras supposed that made the mission clear, although he was disappointed that it didn't match up with the high-minded words Lord Gaur had spoken to them.

Then Lord Gaur read a fourth name, and a fifth. "You may all return to the talon with my thanks. I hope you will find some other worthy task that needs your skills."

Geras blinked around at the other five men still waiting along with him. Karuma was one of them, watching Lord Gaur intently.

"As for the rest of you..." Lord Gaur tapped the list thoughtfully. "Have any of you worked together before?"

"Esau and I are in the same file," said the youngest man, gesturing to Karuma. "Oh! That is, I'm Suyet Tasia Irekos and he's Esau Karuma."

Lord Gaur nodded.

"And we used to be in the same troop, but we got moved," said another man, nodding to his neighbor and giving both their names. They were from a different division and Geras didn't know them.

"Good, good. Ugaro don't use so many names as we do, you understand. When they fight, usually all the men in a group are from the same tribe. It may be easier for Ryo, at least to begin with, if you keep to personal names."

"Yes, lord," they said a little raggedly.

"How about you, troop leader, ah, Geras?" Lord Gaur asked, suiting action to words. "Have you worked with any of these men before?"

"I'm acquainted with the three in my division, but none of them closely, lord," Geras admitted. "I don't know any of them well."

The young man, Irekos - or Suyet, if they were to think of each other by personal names - seemed friendly and might be close in age to the Ugaro boy, which could be an advantage. And he seemed comfortable enough with Ka- with Esau, so the older man must have taken a young filemate under his wing rather than pushing him down. That probably said more about Esau than all the rumors Geras had heard.

If Lord Gaur knew enough to dismiss the hardliners right at the start, given only a list of names and whatever he had seen in their faces while he was talking, then chances were he could tell best if a man like Esau would suit his plans. Geras would be glad to leave that decision to him.

But he wasn't completely surprised when, after just a few more minutes of questions, Lord Gaur chose Geras to work with both Esau and Suyet on this protection detail. He saluted this order with a will, figuring he understood what roles each of them were supposed to play.