tears appeared, clear as dew, on his father's age-coloring cheeks. His mother and his grandmother swept Jai away, leaving Duwan to accept the admiration and the questions of the growing number of warriors. The village square was soon filled, and still they came, from all parts of the valley. Now and then Duwan had a chance to look around, and he had not yet caught sight of the face that he wanted most to see. When the last of the elders from neighboring villages were seated, forming a circle around Duwan and his father, with warriors massed behind the elders, Duwan rose and began his story. He told it quickly and simply, neither emphasizing nor playing down the dangers of the long trek to the south. He presented the Enemy as he had seen him, a potentially dangerous force grown weak with overconfidence and wealth. He spoke of the Enemy's evil, of death and murder and the eating of young, and hardened warriors shuddered and muttered. When he was finished with his story he paused, looked around, caught the eye of Belran the Leader.
'Only a handful of the Enemy, the royal guards, could make a contest of arms with even the youngest of our warriors,' he said. 'The time has come for us to reclaim our land. Under the wise guidance of our Leaders, such as my father and Belran, we can sweep down from the north and invest the northern cities and the settlements, capturing weapons that will then be distributed to the Drinkers, the slaves, of that land. As we use our training methods to teach our southern brothers the art of warfare, we will move southward and when the capital city falls, the land will be ours, and there will be only a matter of mopping up scattered points of resistance in the other Devourer cities.'
A shout of excitement came from the younger warriors. So intent was Duwan on telling his tale that he did not see the shaking heads of some of the elders. During the feasting that followed Duwan was occupied in exchanging greetings with friends and then the visitors began to drift away. Still he had not seen Alning. He was about to sneak away when his mother came to him and took his left arm, feeling it, smiling, and weeping at the same time. 'Now I claim your time,' she said, pulling him toward the house. Inside, she guided him into the sleep room that she shared with his father. Jai and his grandmother were sitting in front of the fireplace, heads close together, the old one's ear close to Jai's mouth.
'While you were in your rightful place with the warriors,' his mother said, 'I have learned much from this female you have brought.'
'There is much to learn about the Land of Many Brothers,' he said. 'It is a sweet and wonderful land, mother. It is our rightful land.' His mother waved one hand. 'Oh, I am interested enough in this land to the south,' she said, 'but I am more interested, at the moment, in the glow that comes into the eyes of this female when she speaks of you.' Duwan felt his face grow hot.
'She has not
'She is a strong, young female,' his mother said. 'I would not object to calling her my own.'
Alarm jerked Duwan's head up so that his eyes met hers.
'You are my son,' she said, 'but you are not the same person who left here almost two cycles of the long light past. You have changed, and now you are warrior, mature, a son to give me pride, and to put the light in your father's eyes. But, Duwan, you are not the only one who has changed.'
'What are you telling me, mother?' He leaned back, forced himself to give the impression of relaxation. 'I think you're speaking indirectly of Alning.'
'I take it that you have not seen her.'
'No.'
The look of feminine condemnation on his mother's face told him, but he chose not to believe.
'I don't doubt that she'd be reluctant to appear before you,' his mother said. 'You will find her in the new house, last on the northern side of the square before the yellow spring.'
He rose. His heart seemed about to burst out of his chest. 'I will see for myself,' he said.
He walked slowly at first, lifting his hands in greeting. A group of small, young males surrounded him, clamored questions at him, and he told them that he'd repeat his story for them later. Then he found himself walking faster and faster until the bulk of the village was behind him and a new house, think vines showing an interesting design, appeared to him amid the mists of the yellow spring. He halted at the entrance and announced himself.
Her face sent a shiver of appreciation through him.
'Alning,' he said.
No smile greeted him. Her face was as if frozen by the cold of the land of tall brothers.
'Not quite two times of the long light have passed,' he said. 'I have returned, and I am whole.' He showed her his left arm.
'They said you would never return,' she whispered.
'You listened to bad counsel.'
