The War God's Own

the old Vaijon's egotism, for there was not an arrogant bone in his body. His problem wasn't that he valued his judgment above that of others or looked down on those who fell short of his own accomplishments, or birth, or skill at arms. It grew, in fact, out of his sense of humility. He was utterly prepared to submit to Tomanak's will in every way. In fact, he needed to submit to Tomanak's will, and that was the heart of his problem.

When Tomanak failed to give him direct orders, he had to decide for himself what those orders ought to have been, and once he'd decided what his orders were, they had the imprimatur of Tomanak's Own Writ as far as he was concerned. He adhered to them with unflinching, iron determination… and expected all about him to do the same. The possibility that he might be mistaken in what he thought Tomanak wanted of him seldom so much as crossed his mind, for if he were mistaken, then surely Tomanak would tell him so. In fact, Tomanak had told him so in Bahzell's case, and the man was desperate to expiate his 'sins.' Yet Bahzell felt unhappily certain that once Yorhus had shown his contrition and-in his own eyes-squared his account for current errors, he would go back to all his old, ardent intolerance. Oh, he would never repeat the same mistakes, but doing penance for them actually seemed to strengthen the habits of thought which had produced his errors in the first place.

Unfortunately, a taste for blind faith wasn't something Bahzell could knock out of a man in a training bout. It was more a matter of figuring out how to knock a dose of self-skepticism into him, and that was a task for which Bahzell was ill fitted. Never a patient man, he was far better suited to dealing with problems which could be solved by taking things apart-usually with a certain degree of forcefulness-before putting the bits and pieces back together the way they were supposed to fit. Yorhus was a different kind of task, and Bahzell had no idea how to go about building qualities he lacked-and obviously saw no pressing need to acquire- into him.

If Bahzell found Yorhus difficult to deal with, Brandark found him almost impossible. The Bloody Sword could no more survive without needling those about him than he could without air, but the serious, literal-minded knight-commander was utterly incapable of seeing what struck Brandark as humorous in a witticism or a song or a joke. He tried-in fact, his efforts to understand were enough to drive the Bloody Sword to drink-but he simply couldn't do it, and Bahzell considered himself lucky Brandark had decided to be tactful and avoid conversations with Yorhus as much as he possibly could.

But that got Bahzell no closer to solving his own problem. Sir Adiskael was back in Belhadan, where Sir Charrow no doubt had his own ideas about how best to deal with zealotry, but Yorhus was clearly Bahzell's job, and he had no idea how to do it.

'Excuse me, Milord, but I couldn't help noticing that you have something on your mind. Is it anything I can help with?'

Bahzell looked up from his strong, steaming cup of midday tea. They were six days out of Belhadan, no more than another day or two from Axe Hallow, and there'd been a surprising amount of traffic, despite the season, as they neared the royal and imperial capital. Some of those they met had gawked at Bahzell and Brandark when they recognized them as hradani, and one or two had actually shrunk away. Compared to the welcome (or lack thereof) they'd received in other lands, that was the equivalent of a warm and hearty greeting, which probably owed a good deal to the fact that they were accompanied by two dozen armed members of the Order of Tomanak and that Bahzell himself wore the Order's colors. Sir Yorhus, unfortunately, didn't see it that way, and he'd spent most of the morning glaring at those he suspected of harboring disrespectful thoughts where Bahzell was concerned.

'And what makes you think I've something on my mind?' the hradani asked with the air of a man sparring for time, and Vaijon shrugged.

'My father may have raised me to be arrogant, Milord; he didn't raise me to be stupid, however I may have acted in the past. I've come to know you well enough to realize when something is bothering you. Even if I hadn't, Lord Brandark certainly does, and he's been avoiding you most of the morning.'

'He has, has he?' Bahzell grinned wryly. 'Well, then, perhaps I've something to be grateful for after all.'

Vaijon smiled back, but he also shook his head.

'Give you another hour or two and you'll miss him enough to go deliberately offer him an opening, Milord, and he knows it.' Bahzell eyed the young knight sharply, surprised by the acuity of that remark. 'And he isn't avoiding you because he thinks you'll bite his head off. He's staying away to give you time to chew on whatever you've been thinking about so hard all morning.'

'Ah?' Bahzell cocked his ears inquiringly, and Vaijon shrugged again.

'In case you hadn't noticed, Milord,' he said with just a hint of asperity, 'everyone's avoiding you. That's why I decided to bring this whole thing-whatever it is we're talking about-up. I wanted to be certain sheer disuse of your tongue didn't cause you to forget how to speak.'

'I'm thinking as how you've been spending entirely too much time with Brandark, my lad,' Bahzell said with a slow grin, and Vaijon chuckled. His blue eyes sparkled with pleasure, and the hradani shook his head, trying to imagine anything less like the Vaijon he'd first met than this personable youngster. But then his grin faded as the changes in Vaijon underlined his inability to encourage any similar change in Yorhus, and he sighed.

'Something is bothering you, isn't it, Milord?' Vaijon asked in a softer, more serious voice, and Bahzell nodded.

'Aye, lad.' The hradani paused for another moment, trying to decide how best to explain, then twitched his ears. 'It's Yorhus,' he sighed. 'Mind you, I'd not say a word against his honesty or courage. Indeed, I'm thinking as that's the heart of the problem. He's one as goes forward full tilt when he's sure he's right… or spares no pains to admit his errors when his nose is rubbed deep enough in them. But that's the problem, d'you see? Wrong or right, he's always after being sure, with never a bit of give in him until someone rubs his nose in it, and questions never bother his head at all, at all.'

Bahzell paused, cocking one eyebrow and both ears at Vaijon, and the younger man nodded slowly.

'I know,' he said, and his eyes fell briefly. 'It never bothered me before you were so kind as to break my arms rather than my head, but he's not very… flexible, is he?'

'A bit of the pot and the kettle in that, I'm thinking,' Bahzell observed with a smile, and Vaijon chuckled in wry acknowledgment. Then he sobered.

'But not for the same reasons, Milord. I was too full of myself to listen, but Yorhus isn't like that. In most ways, he's one of the humblest knights I know. It's just that… that-'

'It's just that too much humility is after being the worst kind of arrogance,' Bahzell said quietly, and saw understanding flicker in the blue eyes which rose suddenly to meet his once more. 'You're right. I'm thinking he's a good enough man underneath it all, but I'm wishing he could've met Tothas.' Vaijon looked a question at him, and he shrugged. 'A Spearman I know, Lady Zarantha's personal armsman. He follows Tomanak , and a better man-or a more understanding one-I've never met. He offered me some advice one night that was better than even he guessed, and it's in my mind that if anyone would be having the patience or wit to straighten Yorhus out, Tothas would.'

'Then send Yorhus to him,' Vaijon suggested. Bahzell looked at him sharply, for the younger man's voice was completely serious, as if he'd just made the most reasonable suggestion in the world.

'I don't think I was after hearing that correctly,' the hradani said after a moment. 'Would you be so very kind as to repeat it?'

'I only suggested you send Yorhus to this Tothas.' Vaijon sounded perplexed, as if Bahzell's apparent confusion puzzled him. 'If you think he could get through to Yorhus in a way you can't, then why not send Yorhus to him, Milord?'

'Why not?' Bahzell sat back, cradling the warmth of his mug between his chilled hands, and cocked his ears sardonically. 'Why, aside from the tiny fact that Tothas is after being a good thousand leagues from here, all of them covered in snow, and a Spearman in the middle of an entire empire of Spearmen who aren't over fond of Axemen that I've noticed, and that Yorhus is after being assigned to a chapter house in Belhadan and under Sir Charrow's orders, not mine- Why, aside from all that, there's not a reason in the world that I can see why I shouldn't be sending him off to the ends of the earth in hopes a man as doesn't even know he's coming can sort him out if ever he gets there.'

'With all due respect, Milord, none of that matters,' Vaijon said, and smiled crookedly as Bahzell's ears