enemy,' Asayaga replied, repeating the words in his own tongue.
For a moment no one moved on either side, then Kingdom and Tsurani soldiers approached each other and repeated the gesture. Men who had bled side by side embraced and the phrase 'honoured enemy' was spoken many times.
Dennis looked over at Gregory and nodded.
Dismounting, Gregory raised his bandaged hand and pointed to the southeast. 'Asayaga. A quarter of a mile ahead there's a trail that turns to the east. Stay on it and you'll loop around the flank of the dwarf kingdoms. I will convince them that you will honour a truce. As long as you stay on the trail they shouldn't bother you. Three days' march will eventually bring you west, to where their realm borders territory you might be familiar with, ground fought over by Kingdom troops and your own.'
'Once there -' he shook his head, '- well, you're on your own, but given everything you've learned, you should get through. Most of the Kingdom forces will be wintering in LaMut, Yabon and Ylith, so you'll only have to avoid occasional patrols and stay away from stockades. You should reach your own lines a few days later.'
Asayaga nodded, saying nothing. The whole time Gregory was speaking he had continued to look at Dennis as if not quite believing what was taking place.
'Asayaga,' Dennis said, drawing closer. 'I must insist that what you see as you cross through the Kingdom lines you will not reveal. You won't fight unless attacked, you'll cross through as quickly as possible and take no advantage from this truce.'
'Is that an order, Hartraft?'
Dennis hesitated, then shook his head. With a slight smile, he said, 'A suggestion, from an honourable enemy. I only ask the same as if you were an envoy travelling through enemy lines.'
Asayaga laughed softly. 'Agreed.'
'There is a problem though, Asayaga.'
'And that is?'
'What do we tell our superiors?'
Asayaga nodded and looked back at his men. After a moment, he said, 'We were cut off, we fought, we survived. Nothing more. If word leaked out on either side, all would soon know, and by the gods that would wreak havoc, wouldn't it? My master could never be made to understand.'
Dennis laughed and nodded in agreement.
The sight of the two laughing and the way Gregory pointed out the trail was indication enough of what had been decided and the mood of the men around them instantly relaxed. The two groups milled together, chattering, men searching out comrades on the other side, shaking hands, exchanging small trinkets and gifts.
Smiling, Alyssa and Roxanne approached Dennis and Asayaga, 'I'd have killed both of you if you had started to fight,' Roxanne announced. 'I'm sick to death of fighting.'
Dennis looked over at her, wanting to speak, but was unable to do so. She drew closer. She indicated to Asayaga with a nod that he should speak to her sister.
As Asayaga walked a short distance away with Alyssa, Roxanne asked, 'Do you have anything to say to me, Hartraft?'
Dennis turned away and she followed him, the circle of men around them parting to let them through. When they were a little distance from the others, he said, 'Thank you for saving my life back at the bridge.'
'We saved each other in more ways than one.'
He looked at her and nodded.
'You're going to tell me you aren't ready yet, aren't you?' She sighed.
He nodded woodenly and she looked away.
'Gwenynth still haunts me. The anger, the rage – that burned away out there -' He pointed back to the northern woods. 'Watching Tinuva die, knowing what he was sacrificing…' He stopped for a moment, head lowered. 'I saw it. He had his brother at his mercy, and yet he stopped, unable to strike the final blow. His love spared the one who killed him, and yet he would not have wanted it any different. At that moment it all burned away in me. From that, and from the way Asayaga held his nephew and then rose up to try and save Tinuva – I learned from all that.'
'Is that why you did not pursue Corwin?'
Dennis did not reply for a moment. As the battle-fury ended only then had he remembered that Corwin was with the band they had destroyed. But his body was not found, and he seemed to have been one of the few who escaped. Some of the men cried out to press the pursuit; even Asayaga wanted to, but he had refused. The children and women back at the bridge had been left with only four men to guard them, the men who had managed to cross the river. He had turned away from that hunt without a backward glance, which had startled many.
'He is his own poison. I'll cross paths with him some day.'
'Will you seek that path?'
Dennis smiled. 'Not everything changes in a moment. I will seek it, but I won't live for it.'
She smiled and placed a hand on his arm. Then after a moment, she drew herself close to him and kissed him, deeply.
His arms slipped around her, and he returned her kiss, then gently disentangled himself and pushed her away. 'It's true that I am not ready,' he whispered. 'I may never be ready to love again. And you should not have to wait. I'll get you and your people to safety in Yabon City, and I will visit you when I can.'
She stifled a sob and forced a smile, though tears shone in her eyes. 'I knew that is what you would say, Hartraft.'
'Dennis, can't you ever call me that?'
'Of course, Dennis.' She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. Then she drew back, her hand brushing his for a moment before letting go. Then she walked quickly towards the horses where the other women and the children waited.
As Dennis watched her retreating back, the striking poise of her strong, tall body erect with pride and self- assurance, he felt another crack in the hard stone that was within him. For a long moment, he felt deeply alone, and then as he saw her mount a horse and signal to her sister, a faint smile grew on his lips.
Asayaga stood on the crest of the road a hundred paces away from the others. He stiffened as Alyssa laid her hand upon his arm.
'It must be goodbye,' he said.
'Why?' she asked. 'I have no home, no family but Roxanne, and I could go with you.'
Asayaga shook his head. 'It is impossible. To my people you are a barbarian, fit only to be a slave.' He fell quiet for a moment, then added, 'To suggest we wed would bring dishonour to my house in their eyes and my lord would order me to take my own life, if he did not hang me in shame first. They would wonder why I did not keep you as a concubine.'
'Then I will be your concubine, Asayaga.'
He looked long at her as if weighing the offer, then said, 'It cannot be. I have come to know your people, Alyssa, but you know nothing of mine. We can be a hard people, and love is often put aside for honour and duty. Even though we shared a bed each night, during the day you would be kept apart, and…' he swallowed hard '… our children would be slaves.'
She looked at him, her eyes rimmed with tears. 'You've never told me you love me,' she whispered. 'But I see by the way you look at me.'
Softly he said, 'I have not told you because I cannot.' Then he looked into her eyes and his own grew moist. 'But you read my heart and you know how I feel.' Stepping back, he said, 'Let us end this now, for to linger only heightens the pain.'
He turned and shouted a command, and his men broke away from the Kingdom soldiers. Final handshakes were exchanged, many of the Tsurani formally saluting Dennis as he passed them. Tasemu approached, saluted, then extended his hand. 'Goodbye, friend,' he said in the common tongue.
'Goodbye.'
'I hope I not see you again in this war,' the Tsurani Strike Leader said haltingly, and then he stepped back, saluted once more and started to bark out commands.
He reminded Dennis of Jurgen in the way he moved about, showering abuse on some, and then a second later giving an affectionate cuff on the shoulder to another as they formed ranks.
'Just like Jurgen,' Gregory said, coming up to join Dennis.
