'As well as dangerous.'
'Yes. But he puts himself in danger every day. He could die any day, Cara.'
'As could you.'
'As could any of us, despite our vaunted knowledge. We may live longer, but we're not immortal.'
'And may we never be,' breathed Cara devoutly.
'But you're-'
'It's true I'd like to extend our life span, but I'm not seeking the philosopher's stone, Tess. The fountain of youth, perhaps, and yet in the end I don't think this physical human form is capable of sustaining eternal life. That's for the next evolutionary stage. Which I hope I won't be around to see.'
Tess set the empty bowl down on the carpet and drained the last of the milk in her mug. 'You're braver than I am, Cara. I can't bear to see him age so quickly. He already looks older than when we met. Gods, I hate it.'
Cara sighed and laid a hand on Tess's shoulder, squeezing it. 'I'll do what I can, Tess. Which reminds me, can I do tests on Aleksi as well?'
Tess stared for a long moment at the sleeping Aleksi, then lifted her gaze to watch Sonia busy over at her own tent, Kolia in equal parts hindering and helping her. Ivan sat working with severe concentration on embroidery. Katerina and Galina had gone off together to get water. 'I want to save all of them,' she said softly.
'And the burden is harder on you knowing that you cannot.'
'It isn't right.'
'That we leave them in ignorance? But Charles is right in one thing, Tess. If we bring down our gifts en masse, we will obliterate them, their culture, and their lives. Is the trade worth it? For them? For us, even? Perhaps they wouldn't care to live as we live. How can we choose for them?'
'The same argument,' said Tess bitterly, 'run over and over and over again. Either way, we are right. Either way, we are wrong.'
'Do you wish you had never come here, then?'
At that moment, footfalls sounded from inside the tent, followed by a curse. Bakhtiian pushed out from inside, fumbling with the entrance flap, and emerged out under the awning, blinking furiously, bleary-eyed and pale.
'No,' said Tess as she rose to greet him.
'Gods,' he said. 'My head pounds.' He stumbled over Aleksi, waking the other man, apologized, and then saw Cara. 'Doctor.' Even in this condition, he recalled his manners. 'I thank you for your hospitality last night.' He blinked again, against the sunlight. 'I think.'
Cara laughed. 'Drink as much water as you can, Bakhtiian. I promise you'll feel better in a day or two.'
He bowed, then winced at the movement. 'You are gracious, as well as wise.'
She laughed. 'Now, if you'll excuse me.'
'Doctor, we'll be marching at dawn tomorrow.'
'Ah. Thank you for the warning.' She kissed Tess on the cheek and left them.
CHAPTER THIRTY
'Tess,' said Aleksi, reining his horse aside and waiting with her as the line of wagons trundled past, 'are you pregnant?''
Her startled glance betrayed the truth. 'How did you know?'
'You stopped eating glariss milk and cheese, but nothing else.'
'I can't stomach it. It's strange, though. None of the other food bothers me, just that.'
'Does Ilya know?'
'No.'
He nodded, understanding her perfectly. 'You must be early still. Does Sonia know?'
'No one knows.'
'Not even the healer?'
'Yes, she knows.'
Aleksi smiled. 'You meant, no jaran knows. Does your brother know?'
'Of course he-' She broke off. 'How could he know, Aleksi? It's been over twelve hands of days since I've seen him.'
'I thought as much,' said Aleksi with that maddeningly knowing smile that he had.
Tess pulled a face at him and urged her mare forward as the last of the wagons in this segment of the train passed them by. The wagons climbed steadily through the range of hills, heading for the fortress that blocked the pass that led on into the heart of the Habakar kingdom. The main army had passed this way the day before, and Tess could read the signs of their passage still, here in the vanguard of the great train of wagons and horses and herds that made up the jaran camp as it moved. Such signs had not yet been churned away beneath the obliterating tread of uncounted wheels and hooves and feet. Riders from Anatoly Sakhalin's jahar, augmented by the recruits for Bakhtiian's jahar of envoys, rode up and down the line at intervals, watching the hills, watching for breakdowns, urging any recalcitrant oxen along with whips. All in all, the mood of the camp was positive. They traveled incessantly in any case, Tess reflected; it was only the change of scenery that made this journey different. That and the families they had left behind on the plains.
At a broad stretch of track, she and Aleksi cantered up alongside the wagons to the head of the train. They passed the Bharentous Repertory Company, and then the wagons of the Veselov tribe.
'What's Anatoly doing loitering there?' Aleksi asked, pointing toward that young man, who held his horse to a walk abreast of a wagon.
'His wife is driving the wagon,' said Tess. 'Leave him be. They have little enough time to spend with each other.''
'I don't think he was pleased when Bakhtiian assigned him this duty.''
'Perhaps not, since there's not much obvious glory in it. But if he's wise, he'll see the rewards are greater for him in the long run.'
Aleksi shrugged. 'Anatoly is ambitious. Perhaps he'll learn to be patient as well. It was kind of you to insist the Veselov tribe be allowed to travel in the front ranks, Tess. I don't think Bakhtiian will approve.'
'I did it for the baby's sake.' So little, struggling Lavrenti would not have to breathe the dust of thousands of wagons. 'And for Diana.' So she could ride near Anatoly. Then she forced herself to think of the reason she felt safe, letting the Veselov tribe ride here with her-because Vasil and his jahar rode all the way at the back, with the distant rearguard. Surely that must be far enough away. And in any case, Ilya was with the army, a day ahead of them all. She and Aleksi rode on past the Sakhalin wagons and up to the fore, where Bakhtiian's own tribe led the way, together with the string of wagons belonging to Dr. Hierakis.
'Ah,' said Aleksi suddenly, 'so that is why the doctor never lets you get far from her.''
'Yes. What's that up there? Yevgeni?' She called ahead to one of the red-shirted riders, the dark-haired man who had once ridden with Vasil and who had been permitted to join Anatoly's jahar in order to ride with his sister. He rode back to her. 'What's that smoke up ahead? Is it in the hills?'
'Khaja,' said Yevgeni.
'Has anyone been sent to investigate?' Aleksi asked.
'Five riders,' replied the young man.
Aleksi nodded at him. 'Ride back and find Anatoly Sakhalin and send him forward. Take a few riders with you, and tell the children to get in the wagons. Send a rider back to the tribe behind us to alert them.'
'Do you think we might be attacked?' Tess asked. She lifted a hand to wave at Ursula el Kawakami, who pulled her horse in beside them, looking impressively warlike in a lamellar cuirass and bronze helmet. She was armed with a bow quiver strung along one thigh, a short sword belted at her waist, and a lance balanced in her right hand with its butt braced in a holder strung to the harness along her saddle.
'I'd advise you have the women ready their bows,' said Ursula in Rhuian. 'In this kind of country, we'll need their range and versatility if there is trouble.'
Aleksi considered Ursula, considered Tess, and then turned to Yevgeni. 'Have the women ready their bows,'
