Dragon.”
“Men like Tenaka do not die easily.”
“Then you must be Ananais. The Golden One?”
“I once had that honor.”
“There are legends surrounding you both. The two of you routed twenty Vagrian raiders a hundred miles west of Sousa. And later you surrounded and destroyed a large group of slavers near Purdol in the east.”
“There were not twenty raiders, only seven, and one was sick with fever. And we outnumbered the slavers two to one.”
“And did you not rescue a Lentrian princess from Nadir tribesmen, traveling hundreds of leagues to the north?”
“No, but I often wondered how that story came about. All this happened before you were born. How do you know so much about it?”
“I listen to Scaler; he tells wonderful stories. Why did you save me today?”
“What kind of question is that? Am I not the man who traveled hundreds of leagues to rescue a Lentrian princess?”
“I am not a princess.”
“And I am no hero.”
“You took on a Joining.”
“Yes. But then, from my first blow he was dying. I have poison spikes in my gauntlets.”
“Even so, not many men would have faced it.”
“Tenaka would have killed it without the gauntlets. He’s the second fastest man I’ve ever known.”
“The
second
?”
“You mean you have never heard of Decado?”
Tenaka built up the fire and then knelt beside the sleeping Renya. She was breathing evenly. He touched her face gently with one finger, stroking the skin of her cheek. Then he left her and walked to the top of a nearby rise to stare out over the rolling hills and plains to the south as the dawn sun crested the Skeln mountains.
Forests, rivers, and long meadows swept on into a distant blue haze, as if the sky had melted and linked with the land. To the southwest the defiant Skoda mountains pierced the clouds like dagger points, red as blood and shining proudly.
Tenaka shivered and pulled his cloak about him. Void of human life, the land was beautiful.
His thoughts drifted aimlessly, but always Renya’s face returned to his mind’s eye.
Did he love her? Could love be born with such speed, or was it just the passion of a lonely man for a child of sorrow?
She needed him.
But did he need her?
Especially now, with all that lay before him?
You fool, he told himself as he pictured life with Renya in his Ventrian palace. It is too late for that. You are the man who stepped off the mountain.
He sat down on a flat rock and rubbed his eyes.
What is the sense to this hopeless mission? he asked himself, an edge of bitterness washing over him. He could kill Ceska—of that there was no doubt. But what would be the point? Would the world change with the death of one despot?
Possibly not. But the course was set.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Renya, moving up to sit beside him and curling her arm around his waist. He opened his cloak, lifting it around her shoulders.
“I was just dawn dreaming,” he said. “And admiring the view.”
“It is beautiful here.”
“Yes. And now it is perfect.”
“When will your friend be back?”
“Soon.”
“Are you worried about him?”
“How did you know?”
“The way you told him to stay out of trouble.”
“I always worry about Ananais. He has an instinct for the dramatic and a sublime belief in his physical talents. He would tackle an army, convinced he could win. He probably could, too—a small army, anyway.”
“You like him a great deal, don’t you?”
“I love him.”
“Not many men can say that,” said Renya. “They feel the need to add ‘like a brother.’ It’s nice. Have you known him long?”
“Since I was seventeen. I joined the Dragon as a cadet, and we became friends soon after.”
“Why did he want to fight you?”
“He didn’t really. But life has dealt harshly with him, and he blamed me for it—at least in part. A long time ago he wanted to depose Ceska. He could have done it. Instead I helped stop him.”
“Not an easy thing to
“Men like Tenaka do not die easily.”
“Then you must be Ananais. The Golden One?”
“I once had that honor.”
“There are legends surrounding you both. The two of you routed twenty Vagrian raiders a hundred miles west of Sousa. And later you surrounded and destroyed a large group of slavers near Purdol in the east.”
“There were not twenty raiders, only seven, and one was sick with fever. And we outnumbered the slavers two to one.”
“And did you not rescue a Lentrian princess from Nadir tribesmen, traveling hundreds of leagues to the north?”
“No, but I often wondered how that story came about. All this happened before you were born. How do you know so much about it?”
“I listen to Scaler; he tells wonderful stories. Why did you save me today?”
“What kind of question is that? Am I not the man who traveled hundreds of leagues to rescue a Lentrian princess?”
“I am not a princess.”
“And I am no hero.”
“You took on a Joining.”
“Yes. But then, from my first blow he was dying. I have poison spikes in my gauntlets.”
“Even so, not many men would have faced it.”
“Tenaka would have killed it without the gauntlets. He’s the second fastest man I’ve ever known.”
“The
second
?”
“You mean you have never heard of Decado?”
Tenaka built up the fire and then knelt beside the sleeping Renya. She was breathing evenly. He touched her face gently with one finger, stroking the skin of her cheek. Then he left her and walked to the top of a nearby rise to stare out over the rolling hills and plains to the south as the dawn sun crested the Skeln mountains.
Forests, rivers, and long meadows swept on into a distant blue haze, as if the sky had melted and linked with the land. To the southwest the defiant Skoda mountains pierced the clouds like dagger points, red as blood and shining proudly.
Tenaka shivered and pulled his cloak about him. Void of human life, the land was beautiful.
His thoughts drifted aimlessly, but always Renya’s face returned to his mind’s eye.
Did he love her? Could love be born with such speed, or was it just the passion of a lonely man for a child of sorrow?
She needed him.
But did he need her?
Especially now, with all that lay before him?
You fool, he told himself as he pictured life with Renya in his Ventrian palace. It is too late for that. You are the man who stepped off the mountain.
He sat down on a flat rock and rubbed his eyes.
What is the sense to this hopeless mission? he asked himself, an edge of bitterness washing over him. He could kill Ceska—of that there was no doubt. But what would be the point? Would the world change with the death of one despot?
Possibly not. But the course was set.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Renya, moving up to sit beside him and curling her arm around his waist. He opened his cloak, lifting it around her shoulders.
“I was just dawn dreaming,” he said. “And admiring the view.”
“It is beautiful here.”
“Yes. And now it is perfect.”
“When will your friend be back?”
“Soon.”
“Are you worried about him?”
“How did you know?”
“The way you told him to stay out of trouble.”
“I always worry about Ananais. He has an instinct for the dramatic and a sublime belief in his physical talents. He would tackle an army, convinced he could win. He probably could, too—a small army, anyway.”
“You like him a great deal, don’t you?”
“I love him.”
“Not many men can say that,” said Renya. “They feel the need to add ‘like a brother.’ It’s nice. Have you known him long?”
“Since I was seventeen. I joined the Dragon as a cadet, and we became friends soon after.”
“Why did he want to fight you?”
“He didn’t really. But life has dealt harshly with him, and he blamed me for it—at least in part. A long time ago he wanted to depose Ceska. He could have done it. Instead I helped stop him.”
“Not an easy thing to
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