Andreyis frowned for a moment, thinking that over. Proof. No Goerenyai, and no Verenthane, ever thought of proof. The spirits, or the gods, didn't need to be proven, they just were.
'So if Kessligh's just being rational,' Andreyis ventured, 'maybe
… maybe he's right to go to Petrodor. Maybe he's just smarter than us, maybe he can see things we can't.'
'Aye,' said Sasha, nodding. There was a slow-burning fury inside, now that the shock had worn off. And it was building. 'He's being a general. In the Great War he had to make nasty decisions-liberate some towns, leave others to die; keep some men in reserve, send others to die. Nasi-Keth teachings make him good at that. He's a rational commander. He didn't believe he was going to win a battle because the stars were in alignment, or because the priest gave him a holy blessing-he knew that it was up to him, and him alone, and he didn't just leave it to faith. That's why he won all the time.
'He did that with me, too. He wouldn't say nice things when I might want them said. He wouldn't comfort me, or give any real affection. He wanted me to be strong enough to take care of myself. It's all a part of the pattern, Andrey. He's so damn sensible and intelligent it makes me want to throw up.'
'But…' Andreyis's gaze now was worried. 'But if he's thinking like a general, then surely… surely he's going to do the right thing in the end, no matter what we might think of it now…'
'Don't you get it, Andrey?' Sasha snapped at him. 'Don't you understand? All that man ever cared about was the Nasi-Keth and the serrin. He said as much himself. He never renounced those loyalties to my father and, my father was such a soft-headed fool, he never demanded it. He's not interested in saving us, he's only interested in saving them! And now he's been to Halleryn, he's seen what Krayliss is up to, and he's decided we're all a lost cause and he'll go running off to Petrodor to take care of what's truly important to him!'
Sasha got to her feet and snatched up her stanch from the dirt. 'Lenayin made him a hero, it gave him all this status with the Nasi-Keth, and now he's got it, he's finished with us. Well, he may be a great general, and he may be smart and rational, but he's got no heart and no soul! Damned if I'll end up like him. I'd rather stay here and die for something I believe in.'
Sasha was forking hay in the barn behind the stables when there came a new thunder of hooves from outside. At first, she barely noticed-Andreyis had been practising his cavalry moves on the white-socked mare, Rassy, and this sounded like just another pass. Then the hooves came again, only this time she could hear two horses, one lighter than the other.
She looked down from her high bale as a little dussieh rode straight into the barn, ridden by a smallish Goeren-yai man she did not recognise. Andreyis arrived as well and dismounted at the barn's entrance.
'M'Lady Sashandra!' said the man, sighting her above him. 'M'Lady, I come from Cryliss! Lord Kumaryn rides to Baerlyn with the Valhanan Black Wolves and more! He means to apprehend you and Yuan Kessligh on charge of murder!'
Sasha frowned at him.
'Murder?' she said incredulously. 'Whose murder?'
'M'Lady, I'm not certain, but I think it was a man of the Falcon Guard. A lieutenant, I believe.'
Lieutenant Reynan Pelyn. Sasha swore in disbelief. Tyree was Valhanan's close neighbour and the nobility of both provinces were close; there were many marriages and relations between the two. Family Pelyn was an important family in the heirarchy of Tyree nobility and it would be no surprise if there were close relations to Family Tathys, of which Lord Kumaryn Tathys of Valhanan was head.
But Lord Kumaryn thought to pin that death on her? Had someone lied to protect Jaryd? Or had Jaryd betrayed her? Or was Kumaryn simply determined to rid his province of Valhanan's most troublesome twosome? He had some balls, if that were the case. Balls, or rocks in his head.
She stabbed her pitchfork into the hay bale. 'How long until they get here?' she asked.
'They departed at dawn,' said the Cryliss man. 'I left before dawn, my horse is fast over distances. I'd guess they might be here a hand before sundown.' The man's pony was lathered white with sweat and breathing hard. 'I gave word to several villages along the way, some pledged to send help. Four other riders from Cryliss set out in other directions, it remains to be seen if the help they send arrives in time.'
'We'd best ride back and tell the town!' said Andreyis from the doorway, a little breathlessly. 'There's no way we'll let him take you for something you didn't do! Besides, he's got no rights over Baerlyn; Baerlyn only answers to the king!'
Sasha let out a short breath. 'I'll ride back,' she replied. 'I want you and Lynette to stay here…'
'No!' Andreyis was indignant. 'No way! My town is threatened, you're not going to stop me from defending my people and my family!'
Sasha jumped down to a lower bale, then onto the floor. 'Andrey
… someone has to stay here,' she said, taking up her bandoleer with scabbard attached, and clipping it to her belt. 'If it's not you, it'll have to be someone else-we can't make a defensive line forward of the ranch, we'll have to leave it open to them. Those Cryliss bastards have never liked me or Kessligh, they might just take the opportunity to steal a few horses or damage the house, if there's no one here to see it. You'll be safe enough, they'll never hurt children-'
'I'm not a child!' Andreyis retorted.
'Andrey…' Sasha sighed, positioning the bandoleer comfortably over her shoulder, where the skin was tough beneath its familiar weight, 'the mark of a Lenay man is that he defends what's his. This ranch is yours, Andrey, as much as it is mine or Kessligh's. Don't you want to defend it?'
Andreyis looked uncomfortable. 'Of course I do, but my family…'
'You think you can do a better job of defending the village than the older men? Would it be a sensible allocation of resources to send one of the more experienced warriors here to watch the horses, while you take his place on the line? Would that make Baerlyn safer?' Andreyis looked at the ground. Sasha gathered up the armfuls of hay she'd pitched and began dumping them into the barrow. 'Your time will come, just be patient. Besides, it'll be just you against an army. Sounds like much more fun, wouldn't you say?'
'Me and Lynette,' Andreyis retorted. 'She could scratch them to death.'
But he seemed mollified as Sasha wheeled the barrow to the stables. She explained the situation to a wide- eyed Lynette, who had been taking her turn at stablework, and gathered Peg from his grassy field for the ride into town. Lynette helped the Cryliss rider to water and feed, and rubbed down his horse-the dussieh was clearly tired. Sasha suggested he should leave the little mare to rest and borrow one of her own horses instead.
The Cryliss rider politely refused. 'She'll be good in just a little while,' he insisted, giving the pony's jaw an affectionate rub as she chewed contentedly on some hay. 'She'll run all day on a cup of water and a handful of grass, then do it all again the next. No offence, M'Lady, but I wouldn't trade her for ten of your big brutes, no matter what the lowlanders pay for them.'
Great Lord Kumaryn arrived at Baerlyn as the late afternoon sun hung low over the valley. His host numbered perhaps three hundred, Sasha reckoned, a great, snaking line of thundering hooves and glinting helms. Banners with the stallion on the red-and-gold of Valhanan flew to the forefront, alongside the howling black wolf on blue of the Black Wolves. The column came across the uphill paddocks beyond the upper treeline, threading between boulders that loomed from the green grass and glowed a dull, iron grey in the light from the lowering sun.
Baerlyn's defensive line spread wide across the uphill end of the Baerlyn Valley, concentrated here before the upslope buildings. All the village's men stood, or sat ahorse, weapons unsheathed and gripped with the casual ease that a smithy might grasp his hammer. Some stood across the fences to either side of the main road, in paddocks emptied of livestock, before rickety wooden barns, shacks, and a pigsty, keeping the line straight. Sasha sat behind the main line on Peg, with Kessligh astride Terjellyn at her side.
Further to the left, the exposed fields about the valley's small stream held the majority of gathered horsemen, warding a flanking move. Amongst them were many men from Yule, perhaps five folds distance to the south, who had arrived just a few moments before.
They conceded Kumaryn the high ground above the valley's end; should an attack come, they would fall back into the village, where the buildings and lanes would remove much of the cavalry's advantage, and strategically placed ropes, pikes and spears would avail the local swordsmen of a surprise. As would some of the more assertive Baerlyn women who had taken up Sasha's suggestion some years ago and learned archery. They waited now by the windows of their houses, ready to put arrows into any passing attacker.
Lord Kumaryn did not line his army across the open ground atop the slope into Baerlyn-such a move would
