That was a stupid question. I knew why he had tried to kill Aras. There was only one reason anyone would try to kill Aras. He had tried to do it because Aras Eren Samaura, Lord Gaur, was a powerful sorcerer. He had tried to do it because sorcerers were evil.
I was not as angry now. I told him, “Be still and I will not hurt you.” Then I went to collect my knife and his. The mare was gone. She had been too frightened to stop quickly. I looked along the ridge, back toward the cliff. I could see Lau against the sky, still distant, but coming this way. I could not tell whether they had seen any part of my struggle with the young assassin. I could see some of the men were following the wrong ridge. I thought they had not yet realized where I was.
The young man was trying to twist himself free of his bonds, but he stopped when I came back and looked at him. He was breathing more easily now. I had his knife in my belt and mine in my hand. He looked at that, not at my face. I thought he was afraid, so I sheathed it.
He said, “Please, kill me.”
I was so surprised that at first I thought I had imagined his words. But he said it again, his voice trembling, “Please, please kill me. Don’t take me back to him. Please.”
Now I understood. I said, “Perhaps Lord Aras will put you to death for what you tried to do. But he is not a cruel man. Whatever else he does, he will not do terrible things to you with sorcery.”
He breathed for a little while. In and out. Slow breaths. Finally he said, “It’s not your fault. It's what he's done to you. You can't understand. I know that.” He hesitated. Then he said in a different tone, hard and crisp, “I tried to kill him. I'll try again the second I get a chance. You protect him. That’s what you do. You should kill me. I’m a danger to him as long as I’m alive. He’d be safe if you killed me.”
I turned these words over in my mind. Then I said, “You think he has made me his thrall, that he makes me protect him that way, by putting his will on me. You are wrong. My judgment and my choices are my own. He does not use sorcery in the way you are imagining. I know you will not believe me, but my words are true.”
I glanced over my shoulder. The Lau who had followed me were closer now, but I thought they still had not seen me. I took off my shirt and waved it in the air. That caught their attention. Satisfied, I began to put my shirt back on, but I was too uncomfortable from the heat and dropped it instead.
“Ugaro savage,” sneered the young man, looking me scornfully up and down. “Wolf-loving barbarian. Tell me, does your sister have a man of her own, or does she crouch like a bitch for a dog wolf? I’ve heard that’s how Ugaro women get with pup.”
If he had tried that first, I might have killed him, unless I cut out his tongue instead. As it was, his words were so extraordinarily offensive that it was impossible not to understand what he was trying to do. I did not even hit him. I asked instead, “Does your arm still hurt?” I knew it did. A blow like that will hurt for a long time. I said, “If you say such a thing again, I will hurt you much worse than that. But I will still take you alive to Aras, so you will have suffered for no purpose. Do you wish to say anything of the same kind now that I have explained this?”
He leaned his head back against the tree and shut his eyes. After a moment, he said, “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.” This time his manner was neither sharp nor scornful. He only sounded exhausted.
“I understood why you said it. Your words were so offensive I will not forget them, but I accept your apology.”
He nodded. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me again. He said in the same exhausted tone, “Please, will you just kill me? You’re an Ugaro. You’ve probably killed a lot of people. Just kill me. Please. Do you know what the penalty is for assassinating a scepter-holder?”
I did not, and I did not intend to let him tell me. I did not want to kill him. His desperation had taken away almost all my anger. I said, “If you did not want to die whatever kind of death awaits you, then you should not have tried to kill Lord Aras.”
He only shook his head. “Please. You can hurt me if you want to—I don’t care what you do to me as long as you kill me. Please don’t take me to him.”
“I do not want to hurt you,” I told him. By this time, that was true. “I will not kill you. Stop asking.”
By now the Lau who had followed me were so close I could see Esau was among them. I knew some of the others too, though not well. There were many men, more than twenty. They were walking fast, but not running. They could see by now that I was on my feet and that I had made the
