returned his clothes, and removed his shackles. They permitted him light exercise in the courtyard, treated his wound twice daily, and politely knocked before entering his chamber. He had even politely endured the presence of a chanting Valdani priest every day. Although he would have preferred the healing magic of his own kind, he would not ask for a Sister to be brought to the fortress to be terrified and humiliated by uncouth Valdani.
"The Outlookers separated to search for his accomplice in the dark," Koroll told him. "Two remained with Josarian; they were dead when the other two returned."
"And Josarian was gone," Tansen surmised.
Koroll nodded. "He knows those mountains the way a man knows his wife's body. Otherwise we'd have caught him by now."
Sitting once again at the table in Koroll's command chamber, Tansen watched with dry amusement as Koroll blessed a cup of wine and then handed it to him. Ever since Tansen had promised to kill their rebel, the Valdani had extended all manner of ritual courtesy to him. His wound protested as he reached for the cup, but he could tell it was healing. By the time he found Josarian, he'd be in fighting shape again.
"But how did one shallah kill two armed Outlookers?" Tan persisted.
"By the look of the bodies, he used something to bludgeon them with." Koroll's eyes grew hard. "He beat them to death."
A yahr , Tansen realized. Koroll wouldn't know, of course; the whole point of a yahr was that most Valdani didn't know. Upon seizing Sileria from the Kintish Kingdoms over two centuries ago, the Emperor of Valdania had issued a decree: All Silerians were forbidden to carry weapons, and violation of this decree was punishable by death. Most Silerians couldn't speak or understand Valdan in those days, let alone read it, and the idea of going anywhere without a weapon was so unthinkable among Silerians that most of them didn't believe the decree even after it was translated for them. Consequently, there had been a horrific number of executions during those early years of Valdani rule, as well as widespread chaos, countless murders, and more than a dozen bloody massacres as the Valdani disarmed whole villages at once.
Even worse, the disarmed Silerians were in more danger from their still-armed countrymen than the Valdani were. Once the weapons of a family, community, or religious sect had been confiscated, their blood enemies were more likely to attack them than to cause trouble for the Valdani. Recognizing this, the Valdani altered their plans and began disarming Silerians with strategic precision, dispassionately encouraging the internal chaos which destroyed what had been a relatively prosperous, if fragmented, society under Kintish rule. Within five years, the rich fields of Sileria's lowlands lay fallow and barren, dispossessed beggars crowded the streets of Shaljir and Cavasar, and whole shallah villages were wiped out. The people of Sileria, devastated, humiliated, and ruined, became the Emperor's slaves.
In the years following the Disarmament, Silerians began developing weapons out of their daily tools—weapons that couldn't be readily identified and therefore confiscated. Ever resourceful as they carved a new life out of their fierce mountains, the shallaheen developed the yahr , a deadly striking weapon. It was made of two smooth, short, wooden sticks, sometimes metal-tipped, which were joined by a short rope. If the Outlookers noticed a yahr , they saw only a small bundle of sticks, or a distinctive shallah grain flail, the tool which had inspired the weapon.
Tansen had not touched a yahr since the night, nine years ago, he had used one to kill a man. One who trusted you , a voice from the Otherworld reminded him; he silenced it.
But shallaheen used the yahr on their own kind. Tansen had never before heard of an Outlooker being killed with one. It was a good weapon, but even so, Josarian must be a very good fighter to have killed two armed Outlookers with it.
"Was he
"The Outlookers separated to search for his accomplice in the dark," Koroll told him. "Two remained with Josarian; they were dead when the other two returned."
"And Josarian was gone," Tansen surmised.
Koroll nodded. "He knows those mountains the way a man knows his wife's body. Otherwise we'd have caught him by now."
Sitting once again at the table in Koroll's command chamber, Tansen watched with dry amusement as Koroll blessed a cup of wine and then handed it to him. Ever since Tansen had promised to kill their rebel, the Valdani had extended all manner of ritual courtesy to him. His wound protested as he reached for the cup, but he could tell it was healing. By the time he found Josarian, he'd be in fighting shape again.
"But how did one shallah kill two armed Outlookers?" Tan persisted.
"By the look of the bodies, he used something to bludgeon them with." Koroll's eyes grew hard. "He beat them to death."
A yahr , Tansen realized. Koroll wouldn't know, of course; the whole point of a yahr was that most Valdani didn't know. Upon seizing Sileria from the Kintish Kingdoms over two centuries ago, the Emperor of Valdania had issued a decree: All Silerians were forbidden to carry weapons, and violation of this decree was punishable by death. Most Silerians couldn't speak or understand Valdan in those days, let alone read it, and the idea of going anywhere without a weapon was so unthinkable among Silerians that most of them didn't believe the decree even after it was translated for them. Consequently, there had been a horrific number of executions during those early years of Valdani rule, as well as widespread chaos, countless murders, and more than a dozen bloody massacres as the Valdani disarmed whole villages at once.
Even worse, the disarmed Silerians were in more danger from their still-armed countrymen than the Valdani were. Once the weapons of a family, community, or religious sect had been confiscated, their blood enemies were more likely to attack them than to cause trouble for the Valdani. Recognizing this, the Valdani altered their plans and began disarming Silerians with strategic precision, dispassionately encouraging the internal chaos which destroyed what had been a relatively prosperous, if fragmented, society under Kintish rule. Within five years, the rich fields of Sileria's lowlands lay fallow and barren, dispossessed beggars crowded the streets of Shaljir and Cavasar, and whole shallah villages were wiped out. The people of Sileria, devastated, humiliated, and ruined, became the Emperor's slaves.
In the years following the Disarmament, Silerians began developing weapons out of their daily tools—weapons that couldn't be readily identified and therefore confiscated. Ever resourceful as they carved a new life out of their fierce mountains, the shallaheen developed the yahr , a deadly striking weapon. It was made of two smooth, short, wooden sticks, sometimes metal-tipped, which were joined by a short rope. If the Outlookers noticed a yahr , they saw only a small bundle of sticks, or a distinctive shallah grain flail, the tool which had inspired the weapon.
Tansen had not touched a yahr since the night, nine years ago, he had used one to kill a man. One who trusted you , a voice from the Otherworld reminded him; he silenced it.
But shallaheen used the yahr on their own kind. Tansen had never before heard of an Outlooker being killed with one. It was a good weapon, but even so, Josarian must be a very good fighter to have killed two armed Outlookers with it.
"Was he
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