thought you must have been sent away somewhere to school and had it beaten into you. The way you fight too—your Duncan must have been a very good teacher. Well, some of the best armigers among us came straight from the country. That does make sense of you not knowing.
Well, the priests of the White God teach reverence for all life. Many of us in the alae worship him. Thansethan is one of his greatest strongholds in Tir Tanagiri. Urdo was raised there, as you may know."
"Is that why they let him have the horses?"
"They couldn't very well say no after he'd used their horses to save the place from Goldpate and a group of Jarnish outlaws. Even the Jarnsmen usually have some respect for a place of worship, but not those wolfheads. Most of them were people who were bloodcursed already for kinslaying or other crimes. That was the first ever proper charge, Urdo leading a load of monks and pilgrims and loose horses downhill onto a group of the most bloodthirsty pirates who ever deserved to get trampled to pulp. My father told me there was nothing left of Goldpate but one of her yellow plaits." Marchel laughed.
"Did he see it?"
"He was there in the guard of King Custennin. Thurrig was the first to speak up for the plan when Urdo suggested it, and he rode beside the kings in the charge." She sounded rightly proud.
"I wish I'd been there myself. I would have been except that I was still nursing my youngest."
She grinned. "If you're finished here, do you want to come with me to the baths? It'll be a couple of hours before dinner, and it would be good to get clean. My mother will probably be there with the children, she usually is at this time. You need to meet her anyway."
"You have hot water enough for everyone?" I asked. At home we had a hot pool as part of the heating, but it could only hold four people at a time.
"It's one of the best things about being in a town. You'll see. Say what you like about lazy and decadent Vincans I have to grant that they got it absolutely right about plumbing."
We walked together out of the stables. Many of the ala seemed to be going in the same direction, along a cobbled path that led away from the stables towards the main buildings of the town. It was fully night now and I could see it only as strange dark shapes. The place stank worse than anywhere I had ever been.
"I don't suppose you would anyway," Marchel said, as we walked along, "but I'll mention it while we're alone. It's better to be careful what you say about the White God.
A lot of people won't like it otherwise."
"I hope I have done nothing to suggest that I am ever impolite to the gods," I said, uncertainly.
"I only said I didn't know about him. There are many gods in the world, I meant no discourtesy. How can anyone know them all?" Marchel bit back a laugh. I saw her shoulders shake.
"We followers of the White God know that there are no other gods, that he alone is the salvation of all mankind," she said with conviction. This was the first time I had heard anything like this.
At first it seemed simple nonsense, and then I thought that she, as a barbarian, had misunderstood. The gods are all around us. Even there in the middle of the city I could feel their influences—the Grey-Eyed Lady of Wisdom cast her cloak of protection around us and the cunning hand of the Lord Maker was evident in every stone.
Page 24
I did not even have to think or reach out for the threads that bound the world to know that it was so. Giving one's allegiance to a god above all others was something many people did, but to do that was not to turn one's back on the others.
"How can they say that the gods are not?" I asked. "I mean to give no offense, but they are everywhere."
"They are not true gods. They are sometimes demons who have deluded the folk into worshiping them, but usually they are spirits of Earth, who can be brought to see the White God's mercy and worship him. It is written that when the White God walked among us as a man he
Well, the priests of the White God teach reverence for all life. Many of us in the alae worship him. Thansethan is one of his greatest strongholds in Tir Tanagiri. Urdo was raised there, as you may know."
"Is that why they let him have the horses?"
"They couldn't very well say no after he'd used their horses to save the place from Goldpate and a group of Jarnish outlaws. Even the Jarnsmen usually have some respect for a place of worship, but not those wolfheads. Most of them were people who were bloodcursed already for kinslaying or other crimes. That was the first ever proper charge, Urdo leading a load of monks and pilgrims and loose horses downhill onto a group of the most bloodthirsty pirates who ever deserved to get trampled to pulp. My father told me there was nothing left of Goldpate but one of her yellow plaits." Marchel laughed.
"Did he see it?"
"He was there in the guard of King Custennin. Thurrig was the first to speak up for the plan when Urdo suggested it, and he rode beside the kings in the charge." She sounded rightly proud.
"I wish I'd been there myself. I would have been except that I was still nursing my youngest."
She grinned. "If you're finished here, do you want to come with me to the baths? It'll be a couple of hours before dinner, and it would be good to get clean. My mother will probably be there with the children, she usually is at this time. You need to meet her anyway."
"You have hot water enough for everyone?" I asked. At home we had a hot pool as part of the heating, but it could only hold four people at a time.
"It's one of the best things about being in a town. You'll see. Say what you like about lazy and decadent Vincans I have to grant that they got it absolutely right about plumbing."
We walked together out of the stables. Many of the ala seemed to be going in the same direction, along a cobbled path that led away from the stables towards the main buildings of the town. It was fully night now and I could see it only as strange dark shapes. The place stank worse than anywhere I had ever been.
"I don't suppose you would anyway," Marchel said, as we walked along, "but I'll mention it while we're alone. It's better to be careful what you say about the White God.
A lot of people won't like it otherwise."
"I hope I have done nothing to suggest that I am ever impolite to the gods," I said, uncertainly.
"I only said I didn't know about him. There are many gods in the world, I meant no discourtesy. How can anyone know them all?" Marchel bit back a laugh. I saw her shoulders shake.
"We followers of the White God know that there are no other gods, that he alone is the salvation of all mankind," she said with conviction. This was the first time I had heard anything like this.
At first it seemed simple nonsense, and then I thought that she, as a barbarian, had misunderstood. The gods are all around us. Even there in the middle of the city I could feel their influences—the Grey-Eyed Lady of Wisdom cast her cloak of protection around us and the cunning hand of the Lord Maker was evident in every stone.
Page 24
I did not even have to think or reach out for the threads that bound the world to know that it was so. Giving one's allegiance to a god above all others was something many people did, but to do that was not to turn one's back on the others.
"How can they say that the gods are not?" I asked. "I mean to give no offense, but they are everywhere."
"They are not true gods. They are sometimes demons who have deluded the folk into worshiping them, but usually they are spirits of Earth, who can be brought to see the White God's mercy and worship him. It is written that when the White God walked among us as a man he
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