Moisture rose like mist from her clothes. 'Could you see what the mirror forced me to remember?'
'No. Guardians are veiled each to the other.'
She looked up sharply. 'Tell me the truth, Uncle. Am I still a slave?'
He studied the half-finished carving he held in his right hand, a sinuous otter with laughter carved into its curves. 'Now, there is an interesting question. What is a Guardian, if we were formed by the gods to serve the land?'
'Why should I be forced to serve your land?'
'Why were you chosen? There is a question I cannot guess at, unless you tell me your tale.'
She said, to the fire, 'There are men not so very far from here, building a compound. Did you see them?'
'I saw them. They don't know we are here. In any case it's unlikely they can climb to an altar even if they would be bold enough to break the boundaries of what is forbidden.'
'There are eagles, too. Huge eagles.'
'Yes. I've seen them. The eagles will ignore us, but their reeves might spot us. It would be prudent to move on.'
'Some of the men there are Qin. I recognize them.'
'The Qin are outlanders, pasture-dwellers like the lendings here in the Hundred, only unlike the lendings the Qin look perfectly human to me. What do you know of the Qin?'
'They are my enemies. They call my people demons. But that's not what I mean. I mean, I know those particular Qin. Because I traveled with them.'
'You've surprised me!' He set down the half-carved otter and picked up his staff, resting it on his thighs. The wood was as smooth as silk under his hands from untold years of handling. 'When did you travel with them?'
Addressing the restless flames, she began to talk. 'One never knows the gifts a stranger brings. My cousin Mariya and I were out hunting. She showed me the gift a lad from another tribe — a lover -
had given her, even though he ought not have done so. It was bold of him, not proper. Little nets woven with lapis lazuli, very pretty, to bind the ends of your braids…'
A storm passed, and night fell with sheets of rain as she talked. Later, the clouds parted, and the Embers Moon rose late, a stroke against the sky.
'… Master Girish was dead. They knew I killed him. When a slave kills a master, then the slave must die.'
'So you drank the rest of the poison.'
'I drank the poison.' It was remarkable how calm she sounded, but her hands were wrapped tightly over the mirror, hiding her reflection.
'Is that when you died?'
She blinked. 'I died when I walked into demon land.'
'When did the cloak return to you?'
She lifted the fabric to the wind and watched the air flow silver within the night. 'How do you know it is the same cloak?'
'I knew the Guardian who wore it before you. She walked out of the Hundred because she wanted to die in a place far away from our enemies where they would never find her. Or, if her cloak passed to another Guardian, then she hoped I would have a chance of reaching the newly awakened one first. To that end, she left three things with me. The first was the mirror.'
'What are the other two?'
'An offering bowl, the gift of Hasibal, the Formless One. Also I have for you the gift of Sapanasu, the Lantern. Look.' Beyond the fire's light the darkness crowded them, creeping closer when the flames subsided and slinking back when he placed more sticks on the fire. He raised his right hand, clenched it, opened it. Light shone from his palm, illuminating the rocky curve of the overhang above and the dusty ground with its neat piles of gear below.
'Aui.' It stung. He closed his hand, and the darkness leaped back in.
'I like that! How can I do that?'
He caught a smile before it betrayed him. 'I know a bit about these particular Qin. I heard the tale of how they saved Olossi.'
She opened and closed a hand, then looked at him through narrowed eyes. 'Is the light demon's sorcery?'
Rats were known as good merchants because they weren't afraid to bargain. 'How do the Qin enter your story?'
She remained silent for so long he thought she had decided not to answer. This late in the night, sliding toward dawn, the wind's moan took on a eerier tone, or perhaps the angle of shifting winds just made it rub up against the slope of the rock differently.
'After Girish died, the women of the house took pity on me. The men did not.' Abruptly she was panting, as if running from a beast that meant to rip her apart, and she shut her eyes and fought down memories until she breathed normally. 'The women took pity on me, anyway. They hated Girish because they had no power to stop him. It was their idea to send me away with Master Shai.'
He had questions, but he dared not interrupt.
'When the sandstorm came, the Qin captain saw his chance to be rid of me. He hated demons. He pulled the beads off my hair and threw them to the ground like they were poison. He told me he would not let me destroy his troop, because everyone knows demons bring ill luck. He made me walk naked into the storm.'
'Eiya!'
Her gaze was a thousand mey away. 'I was happy to do it. I could hear their voices.'
'Whose voices?'
'My mother and my father and my older sister, my cousins, Uncle Olig and Feder the Cripple, all the dead ones from my tribe. They called me. They asked me to come home. So I was happy to go to them.'
'Perhaps they were demons,' he said kindly.
She rocked side to side. 'Are there demons? Or is it just a story we tell?'
'Eiya! Certainly there are demons in this world. Some are human, and some are not.'
She jumped to her feet. 'I am a demon! Everyone said so!'
'You are not a demon, lass. You never were. You are a Guardian.'
'What is a Guardian?'
'Heh.' His Rat's mind was pleased at this small victory. 'A difficult question, one that in the end must be answered by what you do,
not by what I tell you. The Guardians were placed in the Hundred by the gods to bring justice to the land. To preside at the assizes, the local courts, so that those who commit crimes are punished properly and those who are innocent are not wrongly charged.'
'I want justice.'
'Of course. We become Guardians because we sought justice — indeed, gave our life in seeking justice on behalf of others. As you did for your brother and the other children.'
She looked away.
'What is your name?' he asked gently.
She turned back. 'I want the offering bowl, and the lantern.'
Her bold demand pleased him. Something of the self-sufficient girl he had glimpsed in her tale sparked in her expression as she regarded him with hand outstretched.
So be it.
'Here, the bowl.' He handed it over. 'There's a loop to fasten it on your belt. I will place a stone in your palm. I can't predict how it will affect you. I fainted for days, but Mist — who came before you — told me she merely felt a sting.'
'I'm not afraid,' she said, by which he suspected she meant: I'm not afraid of that kind of pain, having endured something much worse.
He fished in his sleeve and drew out the black stone, as smooth as a river pebble and smaller than a warbler's egg. 'Which is your strong hand?'
'My right.'
