faces to watch the shining Moon. “Things look different from this point of view, eh?”
The youth’s widening eyes indicate clearly that he thinks Heldo-Bah mad, and his panic makes him take too large a breath, shaking dirt loose from the sod in his mouth. He begins to choke as the dirt catches in his throat: if Heldo-Bah does not help him, he will soon die, and both of them know it. Yet the Bane forager goes on studying him calmly.
“Bad feeling to be treated no better than a useless animal, eh, Tall? I’ve an idea—I’ll save your life, that should finish your Broken pride for good and all!” Heldo-Bah then works the sod out of the Guardsman’s mouth, after which the captive spits, and retches yellow slime. He catches his breath, heaving noisily—and quickly finds one of Heldo-Bah’s knives at his throat. “Now, now—no noise or crying out, Tall. You’ll be dead before anyone hears you.”
The soldier can only gasp: “Are you going to kill me?”
“That—is a distinct possibility.” Heldo-Bah keeps his knife leveled at the soldier’s neck. “How willing are you to educate me?”
“To—
what
?” stammers the Guardsman.
“Educate me!” Heldo-Bah answers plainly. “I am only a Bane forager, Tall, I know nothing about the truly important things in life: your great society, for instance, and the laws that keep it great …” Heldo-Bah lets the knife at the soldier’s throat draw a little blood, then shows the sticky blade to the young man, who can see the precious liquid clearly in the Moonlight. “For instance—why would the priests of Kafra deliberately kill a sickly comrade of yours on our side of the River?”
“What are you talking about?” the captive moans.
The question brings the forager’s knife back to his throat. “I can cut deeper, Tall, if you play at ignorance with me. You’re a member of Lord Baster-kin’s Guard—you know all that has gone on in this part of the frontier.”
“But—” Heldo-Bah’s mounting pressure on the knife is moving the young man to tears of despair. “But this is my first patrol, Bane! I know nothing save what has happened tonight!”
Heldo-Bah’s air of delighted menace collapses. “You’re joking.”
“Joking?
Now?
”
“Then you’re lying. You must be! Your
first
patrol? Not even my luck is that bad!”
The Guardsman shakes his head as emphatically as the Bane’s knife will permit. “I tell you, I know nothing—” And then, a faint light of recognition fills the man’s eyes. “Wait.”
Heldo-Bah looks quickly out at the pasture. Veloc and Keera are stalking the mortally wounded steer, whose death throes make it ever more dangerous. “Oh, I’ll wait, Tall—that much is certain. I’m certainly not joining
those
two …”
“I did hear something—in the mess. Earlier. About an execution.”
“Good! Your chances of surviving the night have improved enormously. Now—
who
was executed? And why in that manner?”
“What manner?”
“In the manner he was killed, damn you! Why force him across the bridge, shoot him down with ritual arrows, then leave the body untouched, with the arrows still in it? You Tall haven’t suddenly lost your taste for religion or wealth, have you? Those arrows were from the Sacristy of your High Temple, we know this, and a lot of gold and silver went into the making of them—what does it all signify?”
“I—I don’t know any more than I’ve told you, I swear it! I heard two soldiers talking about an execution that took place some days ago—one asked the other if he thought it had succeeded.”
“Succeeded?” Heldo-Bah does not hide his skepticism. “With nearly half a dozen arrows in him? Of course it succeeded! What’s your game, Tall?”
Again the knife presses hard, and the Guardsman must strain not to cry out. “I don’t think—that is, it seemed they were speaking of something else! Not if they had succeeded in killing the man, but—something else.”
“Such
The youth’s widening eyes indicate clearly that he thinks Heldo-Bah mad, and his panic makes him take too large a breath, shaking dirt loose from the sod in his mouth. He begins to choke as the dirt catches in his throat: if Heldo-Bah does not help him, he will soon die, and both of them know it. Yet the Bane forager goes on studying him calmly.
“Bad feeling to be treated no better than a useless animal, eh, Tall? I’ve an idea—I’ll save your life, that should finish your Broken pride for good and all!” Heldo-Bah then works the sod out of the Guardsman’s mouth, after which the captive spits, and retches yellow slime. He catches his breath, heaving noisily—and quickly finds one of Heldo-Bah’s knives at his throat. “Now, now—no noise or crying out, Tall. You’ll be dead before anyone hears you.”
The soldier can only gasp: “Are you going to kill me?”
“That—is a distinct possibility.” Heldo-Bah keeps his knife leveled at the soldier’s neck. “How willing are you to educate me?”
“To—
what
?” stammers the Guardsman.
“Educate me!” Heldo-Bah answers plainly. “I am only a Bane forager, Tall, I know nothing about the truly important things in life: your great society, for instance, and the laws that keep it great …” Heldo-Bah lets the knife at the soldier’s throat draw a little blood, then shows the sticky blade to the young man, who can see the precious liquid clearly in the Moonlight. “For instance—why would the priests of Kafra deliberately kill a sickly comrade of yours on our side of the River?”
“What are you talking about?” the captive moans.
The question brings the forager’s knife back to his throat. “I can cut deeper, Tall, if you play at ignorance with me. You’re a member of Lord Baster-kin’s Guard—you know all that has gone on in this part of the frontier.”
“But—” Heldo-Bah’s mounting pressure on the knife is moving the young man to tears of despair. “But this is my first patrol, Bane! I know nothing save what has happened tonight!”
Heldo-Bah’s air of delighted menace collapses. “You’re joking.”
“Joking?
Now?
”
“Then you’re lying. You must be! Your
first
patrol? Not even my luck is that bad!”
The Guardsman shakes his head as emphatically as the Bane’s knife will permit. “I tell you, I know nothing—” And then, a faint light of recognition fills the man’s eyes. “Wait.”
Heldo-Bah looks quickly out at the pasture. Veloc and Keera are stalking the mortally wounded steer, whose death throes make it ever more dangerous. “Oh, I’ll wait, Tall—that much is certain. I’m certainly not joining
those
two …”
“I did hear something—in the mess. Earlier. About an execution.”
“Good! Your chances of surviving the night have improved enormously. Now—
who
was executed? And why in that manner?”
“What manner?”
“In the manner he was killed, damn you! Why force him across the bridge, shoot him down with ritual arrows, then leave the body untouched, with the arrows still in it? You Tall haven’t suddenly lost your taste for religion or wealth, have you? Those arrows were from the Sacristy of your High Temple, we know this, and a lot of gold and silver went into the making of them—what does it all signify?”
“I—I don’t know any more than I’ve told you, I swear it! I heard two soldiers talking about an execution that took place some days ago—one asked the other if he thought it had succeeded.”
“Succeeded?” Heldo-Bah does not hide his skepticism. “With nearly half a dozen arrows in him? Of course it succeeded! What’s your game, Tall?”
Again the knife presses hard, and the Guardsman must strain not to cry out. “I don’t think—that is, it seemed they were speaking of something else! Not if they had succeeded in killing the man, but—something else.”
“Such
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