Jaran

think-' She halted. On the field, Kirill had turned, and he looked up at them and lifted his good hand to wave.

'Do you think I could?' asked Tess suddenly.

'What, marry him? But women have no choice in marriage, Tess, don't you know that?'

Tess flushed. 'Practice saber a little. I'm much better, really.'

' 'Dressed in those clothes?''

'I'll ask him.' Tess rose. Sonia chuckled and walked down with her. Kirill came to meet them, followed by Kerchaniia Bakhalo.

'Why shouldn't I fight?' Tess asked. 'I've already learned a great deal.'

'You've learned a little, Tess,' said Kirill mildly, though he grinned at Bakhalo. 'But you've been very well taught. Why not? That is, Sonia, if you think Mother Orzhekov will approve.'

'No,' said Tess. 'This is my choice. I'm going to fight. And I promise to stop when I get too tired.'

'I'll walk you back to your tent,' said Sonia.

As they left, Tess turned to her. 'You aren't going to try to talk me out of this, are you?'

'No, ought I to? Tess, however much you are jaran, you aren't jaran and you never will be. Why shouldn't you fight if you wish to? But I'd better tell Mama now because I'm sure malicious tongues will see the news gets to her in other ways.'

So every morning Tess wore her jahar clothes and her saber and went to the practice field. She had to rest frequently, but other than that, Kirill and Bakhalo made no concessions to her at all. Bakhalo was a dry old stick of a man who was unfailingly unkind to all his students, though scrupulously fair, and Kirill possessed the unlikely ability to treat her with the same cheerful ruthlessness as he did the others: they had been lovers, they had loved, but here on the field he could separate those feelings from his teaching even while Tess struggled to separate them from her learning.

As they paused one day, she to rest, he to survey two of Bakhalo's students fencing, she stood beside him casually and watched as well.

'He's very good,' she said of one of the fencers. 'He's one of the orphans.'

'He's better than Vladimir,' said Kirill. 'But I won't put them together yet because while this fellow won't take it personally, Vladi will. You get along very well with all these orphans. Or have you taken them under your wing?'

'Kirill, I haven't any wings.'

'Tess, you are Bakhtiian's wife. That gives you rather more-very well, I won't say anything further.'

'The truth is, that except for Konstans and you and Tadheus, when he comes by, the ones who are orphans are the only ones who don't treat me strangely. The others aren't sure what to make of me, a woman wearing jahar clothes.'

'Fairly earned.'

'You know that, and those in Bakhtiian's jahar know it, but the rest don't. Aleksi there, and the other orphans, don't care because they're set apart, too.'

'Well, it's true most of them treat you stiffly, but for all that, you're doing well. But you mustn't push yourself.'

'Kirill, I want to tell you how much I respect that you've been able to teach me-that-' She hesitated. 'Everything there's been between us-'

'There is between us,' he said quietly.

'There is between us, and you never favor me or bully me.'

'Bully you?' He laughed. 'My heart, if ever Ilya tries to teach you fighting, he will bully you for fear he'd otherwise favor you.'

'Ilya,' said Tess, 'will never teach me saber.' 'What's going on over there? Boys, stop a moment.' Kirill turned. 'By the gods, how did he manage to ride in here with no more disturbance than that?''

Tess turned.

He stared straight at her. Of course. If there was anyone else on the practice field-and there were a good eighty or so young men out there-they might have been invisible for all he knew. From this distance, she could not tell if he was angry or amused. From this distance, she would know him anywhere. He walked out onto the field toward her, and instantly she saw one change: he was no longer limping. It lent a certain implacable purpose to his stride that had been lacking those weeks when he was injured. Niko walked beside him, and Josef and Tasha, and Anton and Sergei Veselov. But in a moment, Niko veered off to greet Bakhalo, towing Sergei Veselov in his wake, and then Kirill started forward, deserting her, to fall in with Josef and Tasha and Anton Veselov.

Ilya halted in front of her. If I faint, Tess thought, then I don't have to say anything. God, he was beautiful. The midday sun shone strong on his face. His black hair curled slightly at the ends but she could tell from its wave and thickness that he had just cut it, and his beard was neat and impeccably trimmed. He wore a second necklace around the curve of his throat, this one of finely polished black stones strung together. Tess glanced to either side. Most of the young men were staring at them. Bakhtiian broke his gaze from her and surveyed the field. Instantly, they retreated, and a moment later Bakhalo called for an assembly down at the other end of the field. Kirill had vanished.

'Walk with me,' ordered Ilya.

Yes, definitely, he was angry. 'I beg your pardon?' she asked.

'Will you walk with me, I beg you,' he repeated in exactly the same tone of voice. She walked. As soon as they were out of earshot, he began. 'Do you suppose I rode all that way only to return to find my wife wearing men's clothes standing out in the middle of the practice field with every unmarried man in camp?'

'You gave me this shirt.'

He took ten steps before he answered. 'It was fairly earned.'

'And some of them are married.'

'Arina Veselov isn't married.'

'Don't you dare.'

'I beg your pardon, Tess. I had no right to say that.'

She stopped, emboldened by the softening of his voice. 'When did you get here? Where is the jahar?'

'Josef and I, and Sergei and Anton, rode forward scout.

The rest will be here late this afternoon.' His face lit suddenly. 'And the horses! One hundred and twenty- four. Tess, they are beautiful.' His expression changed, watching her, and he lifted a hand to touch her cheek. She stopped breathing. Then he glanced back toward camp. They still stood in full view of the field and of a fair portion of the tents of Veselov's camp. He dropped his hand as swiftly as if she had burned him.

Somewhere she found the ability to start breathing again, but her breaths came uneven and a little ragged.

'And the khepellis?' she asked, speaking quickly to cover her agitation. 'Did they get on a ship? There was no problem? And the letter for my brother, and the relic?'

He began to walk again, but she did not move. He halted and came back to her. 'Tess, do you want to stand here where everyone can see us?'

'Yes '

'Very well. Here is the letter.'

She unrolled it. 'But this is from Marco!'

'You know him?'

'Yes, he's part of Charles's-retinue. Ah, he travels a lot. He supervises trade agreements.'

'Is that so?'

She flushed and, instead of looking at him, read the letter. Your dear old Uncle Marco, indeed. He had been at Charles's court in Jeds frequently when she was there as a child but he was not precisely the sort of man who enjoys children. Dr. Hierakis and Suzanne Elia Arevalo had spent more time with her than he ever had. Marco explored, and he had come from Earth to explore Rhui in the oldest way known, on foot, by horse, by sea, for Charles but mostly, she suspected, for the adventure. Make of that what you will. She read back through the letter.

'He sent something for me.'

Ilya hesitated, then slipped a dagger from his belt and handed it to her. Tess held it in her palm. Such a tiny thing to be so important.