Sasha

said defensively, 'you are still a man of Tyree. You are subject to our laws and punishments.'

'And as Goeren-yai,' Sasha added, 'he is entitled to redeem a slight upon his honour, no matter how high the rank of the man he challenges.'

'After his trial,' Arastyn said stubbornly.

'Before,' Sasha insisted, shaking her head. Nice try, slippery worm. 'He can't challenge after you've cut his head off.'

'Actually,' said Captain Akryd, conversationally, 'this is the kind of thing a Goeren-yai man's immediate headman or chieftain should decide. Duels must be conducted according to the proper protocol.'

'Pagan madness!' Lord Rydysh snarled, and strode from the cottage with a disgusted wave of his arm. He exited with a slam of the rear door.

'Who would be Master Jaryd's immediate superior?' asked the king, as if Lord Rydysh had never spoken, nor stormed out in rage. 'Given his… circumstance?'

'Your Highness!' Lord Parabys exclaimed. 'You're not seriously considering allowing this… this..

'I'm not a priest, but I don't see how a man can be instructed by others on what he does or does not believe,' said the king, looking at Akryd. 'How about your poor bloody daughter?' Sasha nearly asked, but didn't. 'Captain Akryd, humour my curiosity.'

'Well, Your Highness,' said Akryd, 'I believe since Master Jaryd is not born into a Goeren-yai community, and has no village headman to speak for him, his senior commander in military matters should suffice for a judgment.'

'As the senior military Goeren-yai,' Torvaal observed, 'that would be you.'

'Aye, Highness,' said Akryd, somewhat smugly. 'It seems a quandary, does it not? One law for Verenthanes, another for Goeren-yai.'

'One of the great quandaries of Lenayin,' the king agreed. 'Especially considering the Goeren-yai have no written law, and will not accept one. There is only tradition.'

'One reason, perhaps, why Goeren-yai and Verenthane do not frequently live together,' said Akryd. 'These squabbles can be confusing.'

'And one reason why certain Verenthanes would like nothing better than to see the Goeren-yai destroyed completely,' Sasha said darkly, with a stare at the lords.

'There is no solution,' said Akryd with a shrug. 'Lord Arastyn need not comply with Master Jaryd's demand, yet the opposite is also true. It is the sort of matter on which a king could intervene as judge, Your Highness, but as you have already stated, kings cannot intervene on provincial matters.'

'Hmm,' said Torvaal. Another man, Sasha knew, might have raved at 'pagan madness' just as Lord Rydysh had. But her father was actually considering the problem, no matter how it bothered his Verenthane soul. This was why Kessligh had served the man so unswervingly for nearly twenty years. King Torvaal, cold as stone and about as impassive, was one of the fairest men in Lenayin.

'Your Highness,' Lord Arastyn said stonily, 'Master Jaryd must face Tyree Justice. This is imperative. We have enough great lords present for an appeal to be lodged, should you not allow Tyree's rightful justice.'

'Any more out of you,' Sasha told him, with darkening temper, 'and I'll challenge you myself. I am Verenthane and such is my right, since you've made no finding of law or any other of your pointless horseshit against me. Unless you fancy yourself more than an equal to the departed Farys Varan with a blade, I'd suggest you shut your mouth.'

'You would require fair cause to challenge the Great Lord of Tyree,' Arastyn bit out, with barely restrained frustration and anger. 'Your father would have to decide if your challenge was valid, and there is no fair cause that you could offer that would…'

'Fair cause!' Sasha said loudly, placing both hands flat to the table as if preparing to rise. 'I am the uma of Kessligh Cronenverdt, the daughter of King Torvaal Lenayin, the saviour of the Udalyn people, and you're making me angry!'

Arastyn swallowed. There were great lords who would have accepted her challenge, not because they were fools, but because they were brave, and honourable, and Lenay. Lord Arastyn, Sasha was sourly noting, seemed to have dubious claims to all three.

'A personal insult seems a very fair cause,' Damon offered from the back of the room. He was considering his cup, offhandedly. 'You're trying to kill a friend of hers, Lord Arastyn. And a friend of mine. I think you'd best quit while you've still a head on your shoulders.'

Arastyn gave a bow. 'I must discuss with my fellow Tyree lords,' he said. 'If I can be excused…' He left without waiting for confirmation, following the path that Lord Rydysh had taken out the back door.

Sasha ran her gaze along the remaining lords. 'We're losing them fast this morning,' she remarked. 'I wonder who shall be next?'

'I have one more term to state,' said the king.

'Only one? Name it.'

'You yourself shall be banished from Lenayin for the rest of your life.'

Sasha gazed at him. Her father's expression held no remorse, and no pity. From Koenyg, she saw cold satisfaction, as if there were at least one good thing to have come from these events. She was not surprised. She knew the trouble that her continued presence in Lenayin would cause the lords, and therefore her father. But it hurt all the same.

'Absolutely not!' Captain Akryd exclaimed. 'There can be no question. The men shall not accept.'

'The lords call for your head,' Torvaal said, looking only at Sasha. 'By the king's law, I can pardon the soldiers of a rebellion. But the law demands death for its leader. I offer you mercy.'

'No deal!' said Akryd, angrily. 'You assume too much, Your Highness! We are the victors in this fight, not you!'

'For how long?' Koenyg retorted, standing grim-faced near his father's side, thick arms folded across his mailed chest. 'Every Lenay region or province to rise up against the Cherrovan always won its initial encounters. But once the Cherrovan brought their full weight of force to bear, the uprising was crushed. The throne has not even begun to bring its full weight of force to bear. We had hoped such drastic measures would not prove necessary.'

'Oh aye, your mercy and forbearance are well known throughout Lenayin, Prince Koenyg!' Akryd retorted sarcastically. Sasha held up her hand to silence him.

'It's all right, Akryd,' she said quietly. 'I knew that this would happen. My father has no choice. Maintaining a balance of power in Lenayin is difficult at the best of times. My presence here, having led this rebellion, now threatens that balance.'

'That's the point!' Akryd exclaimed, striding to the side of the table so he could look down on her. 'M'Lady, you rode for the Goeren-yai!'

'I rode for Lenayin,' Sasha corrected solemnly, looking up at him.

The long-haired, plain-faced Taneryn man shook his head in frustration. 'What's the difference? We had to choose a leader, and it was between you and Krayliss! We chose you and now you would abandon us?'

Sasha sighed, tiredly. 'Please, Akryd, just… just think. This isn't about us and them. It's about Lenayin. Far more than I stand for the Goeren-yai, I stand for Lenayin. The nobles view a united Goeren-yai as a threat to everything they've worked for. They will attack us. They will attack me, more precisely. I will need protection. All the Goeren-yai flock to my defence, and the next thing you know, that's a civil war. The king has no power without the support of the lords. He must support them, or there is no king in Lenayin. No king in Lenayin, and we're back to where we were beneath the Cherrovan heel, a bloody rabble, and a united kingdom no longer.'

'You're… you're saying a united Goeren-yai would be bad for Lenayin?' Akryd looked disbelieving. 'What were we riding for, if not for that?'

'The Goeren-yai are not united,' Sasha said firmly. 'Lord Faras is right in that. The west and the south are mostly not with us. They are strangers to us. It's not the right time, Akryd. Now is not the moment to make such a stand.'

'When then?' Akryd showed no sign of retreat. His eyes were angry, and he showed no qualm in displaying such disunity before the watching eyes of the Verenthane lords. One of Lord Krayliss's men, Sasha reminded herself. A passionate man, willing to fight, whatever the cost. Reckon that into any future Lenayin, should he or a man like him become the new Great Lord of Taneryn. 'When would be the right time, if not now?'