Wind Rider's Oath

finally came to a showdown between them and one of his vassals. And at least some of them had to be wondering what could possibly have possessed the daughter of the man who was arguably the most powerful noble of the entire Kingdom to flee to join them. Why would she have given up the wealth, the prestige? The power of a father whose rank would have protected her from the things which had driven them into flight? What had he done to her to make her flee from him? What could have made her hate him that much?

She'd wanted to turn around and scream at them. To tell them they were wrong to worry about her father's reaction and fools to believe for one instant that he'd ever hurt her. To shout that she'd run away from Hill Guard not because she hated her parents, but because she loved them so much. But that would only have made things worse-or convinced them she was insane. And so, like Garlahna, she'd pretended not to notice the way they stared or their whispered speculations.

She doubted that she'd fooled very many of them.

She certainly hadn't fooled Garlahna. Her mentor had never commented directly upon the watching eyes, but she'd taken the opportunity to raise her voice in conversation with Leeana from time to time and 'let slip' a few, pithy observations about small-minded, small-town gossip-mongers and people with nothing better to do with their time than make idiots out of themselves by gawking at other perfectly ordinary people or events. At least some of the watchers had taken Garlahna's none-too-subtle hints and gone off to find other things to do. Most of them hadn't, but Leeana had appreciated the other young woman's efforts.

Their first stop had been Administration, located in the Town Hall, on the opposite side of the building from Mayor Yalith's office. Leeana had been a bit surprised by the quiet, orderly efficiency of the office. She shouldn't have been, she told herself, but it appeared that, despite herself, she'd absorbed more of the traditional prejudice against the war maids on a subconscious level than she'd thought. The sight of the orderly rows of filing cabinets, each drawer neatly tabbed and filled with folders or note cards, had astounded her.

Baron Tellian was one of the most progressive members of the Sothoii nobility, and he had only begun the transition from the old, cumbersome scrolls on which all important documents had 'traditionally' been stored. It was an awkward proposition for him, given how many of his riding's original documents were on those same old- fashioned scrolls, but he was determined to change over as much of his record-keeping and administration as possible. The original idea had come from the Empire of the Axe, like so many administrative reforms, but he'd recognized its manifold advantages as soon as he saw them.

Yet Kalatha must have completed the same process he was only just beginning at least several years ago. Leeana had never expected that. On the other hand, she'd reminded herself, Kalatha had many fewer records and carried far less of an administrative burden than her father's responsibilities entailed. No doubt it had been enormously easier for such a small town, with such a minuscule jurisdiction, to make the transition.

She'd been just a bit shocked at how spitefully she'd told herself that. The strength of her need to 'defend' her father by denigrating anyone who'd accomplished a similar task sooner than he had astonished her. It had also made her feel more than a little bit ashamed of herself , but she'd managed to shake that emotion off by the time Garlahna hauled her in front of Dalthys Hallafressa, the Town Administrator.

'No, not the Mayor,' Dalthys had informed her gruffly. Leeana had blinked, surprised by the Administrator's response to the question she hadn't asked. Dalthys, a heavyset woman in her late thirties or early forties, with graying brown hair, had given her a weary yet somehow conspiratorial smile.

'Mayor Yalith has the honor and dubious pleasure of governing Kalatha,' Dalthys explained. 'I only run it. You might think of it as if she were, oh, a baron, say, and I were her seneschal.' Her brown eyes had glinted with amusement at Leeana's expression. 'Put another way, she has to take all the political headaches, and I get to get on with the everyday business of executing policy. Does that make sense?'

'Uh, yes-yes, Ma'am, it does.'

'No need for 'ma'ams,' my girl,' Dalthys had told her with a slight frown. 'We don't talk to each other that way, and we don't bow and scrape, either. Job titles or given names-or military ranks, for the Guard-work just fine for any war maid,' she'd half-growled.

'Yes, Ma-' Leeana had blushed, but she'd also managed to stop herself in time, and Dalthys had snorted.

'Not trying to bite your head off, Leeana,' she'd said more gently. 'As a matter of fact, the fact that you-' meaning, Leeana had realized, 'someone from your background,' although Dalthys had been too tactful to put it into so many words '-feel that we incorrigible war maids deserve to be addressed courteously just indicates that you were well brought up. But it's best to get into the proper habits of thought from the outset, don't you think?'

'Yes, Administrator Dalthys.'

'Good! I can always spot the smart ones. They're the ones who agree with me!' Dalthys had chuckled, and Leeana had smiled at her.

'All right, all right,' Dalthys had said then, opening a huge ledger and frowning at the pages. 'We need to find you a room.'

'Excuse me, Dalthys,' Garlahna had said.

'Yes?' Dalthys had looked up, over the top edge of the ledger, to fix Garlahna with her sharp eyes.

'At least for now, Erlis would like Leeana to room near me. I'm her assigned mentor, and since she's here on a probationary basis, well-'

She'd shrugged, and Dalthys had nodded, slowly at first, then more rapidly.

'That makes sense,' she'd agreed, and looked back down at her ledger, flipping pages. Then she'd stopped and studied a column of entries. 'I have one room-it's technically a double, but there's no one else assigned to it right now-three doors down the hall from yours, Garlahna,' she'd said after a moment. 'Is that close enough?'

'That will be fine!' Garlahna had agreed, and Dalthys had looked back at Leeana.

'Most of the people in Kalatha own their own homes, or rent, just like in any other town,' she'd explained, 'but any war maid is entitled under the charter to one full year of free housing and meals when she first joins us. For someone like you, Leeana, who has to serve a probationary period first, that's extended to a year and a half. And we also try to look after our own people if they find themselves unable to pay their own way through no fault of their own, of course.' She'd shrugged. 'At any rate, the town owns several dormitories where that free housing is provided. In addition, we rent rooms in the dormitories at what I like to think are very reasonable rates for war maids who've used up their free months. That's what Garlahna's been doing for several years now.'

Leeana had nodded her thanks for the explanation, and Dalthys had chuckled.

'Don't get to feeling too grateful for your room till you see it,' the administrator advised her. 'It's adequate, but not all that huge. Although, now that I think about it, the fact that we're giving you a double with no roommate will tend to offset that somewhat. But however 'free' it may technically be, I assure you that you'll do more than enough work to compensate us for our generosity.'

'I understand . . . Dalthys,' Leeana had said with a wry smile.

'Well,' Dalthys had said with a slow smile, 'if you don't now, you will after your first night working in the dining hall!'

She'd chuckled again, then found the key to Leeana's new room and shooed both young women out of her office.

The next stop had been Housekeeping.

Ermath Balcarafressa, who held the title of Housekeeper, was like no 'housekeeper' Leeana had ever met. Leeana rather doubted that Ermath had done any manual labor in years, because hers was an administrative title, like Dalthys'. 'Housekeeping' was apparently one of Kalatha's larger municipal divisions, with responsibility for a wide range of maintenance, cleaning, and service duties-including the dining hall.

It had been apparent that Ermath discharged her duties efficiently, but Leeana had been unable to warm to her as she had to Dalthys. Physically, Ermath was the antithesis of the Town Administrator in many ways. She was much older, with hair so white it was probably painful to the eye in direct sunlight, and thin as a rail. She was also sharp featured, and had a tongue to match, with little of Dalthys' lurking humor.

'So, you're the one,' she'd said as soon as Garlahna delivered Leeana to her office.

Leeana had obviously looked more taken aback then she'd meant to, and Ermath had laughed. It sounded more like a cackle than a laugh, especially compared to Dalthys' warm chuckle.

'The one all the fuss is over, girl!' the Housekeeper had told her. 'Lillinara! There hasn't been this much excitement over a new candidate in- Well, in as long as I can remember!' She'd cackled again. 'This' ll hit that bastard Trisu right where he lives. Don't you think for a minute it