other.’
‘What’s happened to Kinsel is the work of men, not gods.’
‘I think the goddess knew what was going to happen to him. She gave me this child as compensation, a way of balancing things.’
‘If it helps you to think of it that way, go ahead. But don’t lose sight of the possibility that you may still have both; Kinsel and the child.’
‘You have more optimism than I do at the moment.’
‘Yes, at the moment. You’ve had a tremendous shock. Things will look different soon.’
‘I hope you’re right. But…don’t tell anybody. About the
baby. Not just yet. I don’t think I could take much more sympathy right now.’
When Caldason got back, Tanalvah was slumbering on the fireside couch.
‘You look tired yourself,’ he told Serrah.
‘It’s been a long day.’
‘Get some sleep. I’ll look out for Tanalvah.’
‘Sure?’
‘Go ahead. If you’re needed, I’ll call.’
She left to rest in another room.
He quietly hefted a chair to the hearth. Placing his swords on the floor beside it, he sat.
All was silent for a while.
‘Reeth?’
‘I thought you were asleep.’
Tanalvah shifted on the couch. ‘The way I feel at the moment I might never sleep again.’
‘I feel that way myself sometimes.’
‘You have demons waiting for you in sleep. I know what that’s like now.’
He said nothing.
‘Tell me, Reeth: what gives you your strength?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The capacity to go on. Your will to survive.’
‘I have no choice.’
‘Because of this…immortality thing?’
‘I could end my life if I chose. There have been times when I’ve tried.’
‘But not too hard, it seems.’
Again he didn’t answer.
‘So it’s simply revenge that gives you the resolve to carry on?’ she ventured.
‘Don’t underestimate it. Revenge can be a worthy sentiment.’
‘There was a time when I would have argued with that.’
‘But not now.’
‘After what’s happened to Kinsel, I’ve thought of nothing but vengeance.’
‘Then you understand.’
‘We’re not the same. Don’t try to make out we are.’
‘It’s just a matter of degree. You want retribution for your personal hurt. I seek vengeance for my tribe, and our entire race.’
‘How very noble of you.’ It was an intentional barb.
‘You’re of the Qaloch. I would have thought you’d look favourably on what I’m doing.’
‘Just being born of Qalochians doesn’t make me one. Not really.’
‘You’re wrong. Blood will out.’
‘I’ve had no experience of being a member of the race we share, except its negative effects.’
‘That’s hardly the fault of the race. Unless you believe in blaming the victims.’
‘The Qalochians are history’s victims. Can you fight history?’
‘History’s made by people. I can fight
them
. Or at least the ones who wronged us, and go on wronging us.’
‘So you’re fighting the world, then. You’re ambitious in your enemies, I’ll give you that.’
‘You don’t know much about our past, do you? Or our culture?’
‘Beyond the fact that we’re a warrior race, what else is there?’
‘So much, Tanalvah. And it’s fading with every year that passes. Can you speak the Qaloch tongue?’
Tanalvah shook her head.
‘Language was one of the first things they took away from us, because they understand the power of words. There was a time when many places in this land bore Qalochian names. But no longer. And where they can’t abolish language, they
twist it. So invasion becomes liberation, and they call slavery freedom. These things go unnoticed when we lose touch with our customs and beliefs.’
‘I have beliefs,’ she came back indignantly. ‘I worship Iparrater, defender of-’
‘The downtrodden. I know. She’s a Rintarahian deity.’
‘So you’re a believer in the old Qaloch gods, are you?’
‘I follow no gods.’
‘You would do well to.’
‘Who would you suggest? Mapoy, patron of bathhouses, perhaps? Ven, the god of rag pickers? How about Isabelle, goddess of shoemakers?’
‘You’re mocking me.’
‘No. I just wonder why you honour petty foreign deities rather than Qaloch gods.’
‘What would be the point? The gods of the Qaloch have forsaken us.’
‘And your new goddess hasn’t?’
‘What do you care, Reeth? You’ve left no room for faith in your withered heart.’
‘The gods have done nothing for me. If there are gods. I walk my own path, as well as any man can.’
‘You’re asking for ruin when you scorn the powers that gave you life, Reeth.’
‘Life? Life’s just the difference between what we hope for and what we get.’
She stared at him coldly. ‘If you really believe that, I’m sorry for you.’
There wasn’t a lot more to be said. Tanalvah turned away, and eventually she slept, or pretended to.
Caldason kept watch until first light, when Serrah relieved him.
Then he drifted into sleep himself.
He was on the edge of a field, the golden corn as high as his chest.
It was hot. The sun beat down like a hammer and heat contorted the air. There was hardly a breath of wind. The drone of bees and faint birdsong were all that broke the silence.
A flurry of movement caught his eye, far off, near the other end of the cornfield. Something moved through the crop, heading in his direction. He couldn’t see what it was, just the corn rustling as the commotion progressed. When it got to about a third of the way across, he noticed something else.
A party of horsemen, five strong, appeared at the field’s farthest edge. They plunged in, living ships breasting an ocean of gold. He could hear shouting, and saw the riders whipping their mounts unmercifully.
Their unseen quarry ploughed on, cutting a path that came nearer and nearer to where he was standing. The pursuing horsemen, crashing heedless through the stand, were closing the gap.
Suddenly, a figure burst into the open, scattering stalks, leaves and corn pollen. Reeth recognised the old man he had seen so often before. Then he realised that the man carried a child, perhaps three or four years old. The youngster, too, was familiar, though he had no idea why.
Child hugging his chest, the elderly protector, running with surprising speed and agility, dashed past him. Then he knew that he had been cast once more as a powerless observer, invisible to the actors in this particular drama.
He turned to follow the old man’s progress. Now he had the cornfield at his back, and was looking towards grassland with rolling hills in the middle distance. The old man was sprinting to meet another, larger group of
