Noran gave a nod of reassurance and turned towards the doorway. At the edge of the rugs he turned back to look at Ullsaard.
'And get your feet washed, I could smell them as soon as I came in,' he said with a grin.
Ullsaard nodded and smiled, and watched his friend leave the pavilion. He suppressed another sigh. A trip back to the capital was no small diversion, even if there was the promise of a more profitable command at the end of it. His servants would have to pack up everything needed, gather supplies from the storehouses; there were wagons and abada to requisition, handlers needed for the ailurs.
There was also the question of whether or not to take a bodyguard. There was little physical danger travelling to coldwards; the Greenwater was patrolled by the galleys and soldiers of Askhor and prosperity had swept away most of the brigandage that had plagued the empire in earlier generations. On the other side, it was expected that a general of Askhor travelled with a certain amount of style and gravitas. Tradition and appearance were considered by many to be as important as practicality.
On balance, it would be less of a pain to leave the soldiers and travel with servants alone. The presence of legionnaires escalated matters; they needed officers, their own supplies and other considerations that would turn what was already a considerable journey into a major expedition.
'Attend me!' yelled Ullsaard and moments later a dozen servants came scurrying from amongst the wooden screens.
VI
Hills rose up on either side of the rude turnpike, crowned by stunted trees and thorny bushes. The bell-laden harnesses of the abada jingled pleasantly as the beasts of burden plodded along the stony track that led dawnwards towards the Greenwater. Six abada carts rumbled and pitched over the uneven roadway, each pulled by a team of four beasts. Red and white awnings were hooked onto poles over the wagons and amongst the chests and sacks Ullsaard's servants dozed while the drivers flicked long switches across the backs of the abada to keep them plodding on.
Ullsaard, Erlaan and Noran rode ahead of the wagons, their ailurs panting in the heat. The sky above was cloudless and the sun beat down relentlessly as it had done since they had left the camp earlier that morning. Noran noted that Erlaan was quiet, no doubt wrapped up in thoughts concerning his father. Ullsaard was his usual taciturn self, so Noran was talkative enough for the three of them and had entertained Ullsaard with tales for two solid watches.
'So I was on Neerita's balcony, with nought but my scabbard to shield my dignity, when her father returned,' Noran was saying. 'I saw his chariot come through the gates and hid behind the parapet, all the while listening to the shrieking of Neerita's mother from through the open doors.'
'Isn't her father Neerat Aluuns?' said Ullsaard. 'He's Prince Aalun's treasurer!'
'Well, Aalun will need to find someone else to keep his accounts, I'm afraid,' said Noran. 'Neerita confessed all, and my involvement in the affair, and old Neerat called me out on it. The prince tried to persuade him otherwise but he was insistent. I killed him on the bloodfields at dusk the next day.'
'So you've finally settled down,' said Ullsaard. 'Good for you. Did any sisters come with your new bride?'
'An older one, and a sour-mouthed, ill-eyed, poison-tongued bitch at that,' snarled Noran. He shuddered as he remembered his first encounter with the icy Anriit. 'Suffice to say, she shares my roof but not my bed! Still, Neerita is game enough for the bedroom athletics, and may be bearing me a child. We'll know for sure once she has visited the loremother.'
Ullsaard shook his head in disbelief.
'I leave you to your own devices for two years and you end up a husband and probably a father,' said Ullsaard, leaning across to slap Noran on the arm. 'You'd avoided it for so long I thought you were going to join the Brotherhood.'
At this Noran broke into a deep laugh, almost falling from the saddle.
'My father would have loved that, I'm sure,' said Noran. 'The Astaan lands around the city would have made a fine addition to someone else's inheritance. Suffice to say, the Astaan legacy is now safely mine once more. I'll not be ceding my lands to the throne and running off to a Brotherhood precinct, I'm afraid. You'll just have to conquer some more of Mekha if you want new farms.'
'I can't say I ever saw you as fit for the Brotherhood,' said Ullsaard. 'Well, for a start, you'd have all that reading to do first. I'd bet half a third-born's dowry that you haven't picked up a copy of the Book of Askhos since you left your father's house.'
'I didn't even read it before then, I must admit,' said Noran with a guilty smile. 'What's the point of the Brotherhood dedicating their lives to understanding its meanings if we all go out and make it up for ourselves?'
'To find personal enlightenment, perhaps?' said Ullsaard, suddenly serious. 'I never figured you for a heathen.'
'Heathen?' said Noran with a choking cough. 'Have you actually read that book? It's so tiresome.'
'They are sacred words,' warned Ullsaard, directing a glare at the herald. 'They guide us, and give us meaning. The great Askhos laid down some pretty specific instructions for his descendants. You'd know that if you bothered to read the book.'
Noran held up his hands in surrender.
'I did not intend to offend,' he said. 'As you say, I am a man of means and responsibilities now, so perhaps I will pay more attention to the mighty ancestor's teachings.'
The two rode in stiff silence for a while longer. The light was beginning to fade and their shadows lengthened on the dusty cobbles. Eventually, Noran turned back to Ullsaard with a twinkle in his eye.
'I don't suppose you could direct me to the pages where old Askhos had any advice on what to do with axe- faced second wives, could you?'
Their laughter drifted across the hills to join the background chorus of buzzing insects and birdsong.
VII
That night, they made camp under open skies. Not since a hunting expedition n Ersua more than a year before had Ullsaard been away from the company of several thousand other men for more than a watch. He took delight in the peace, and wandered away from the camp as his servants prepared the evening meal.
His stroll took him coldwards and dawnwards from the road, towards Askhor, his adopted home. Cresting a hill a few hundred paces from the wagons, Ullsaard stopped and gazed around him, savouring the cooler night air and basking in the chirrup and chitter of small wildlife. Bats flitted above him, and darted towards the circle of light surrounding the camp to feast upon the many flies and other insects brought out of hiding by the fires.
There must be caves not far away, he considered as he watched the bats. He did not know for sure and the bats could have flown some distance searching for food. The thought brought more depressing one: how much of these lands did he really know? His holdings in Askhor had been mapped by the best cartographers many decades ago, but this new realm hotward of the border was as unknown to him as the Straits of Lerbrieth or the source of the Greenwater.
There were no people here yet, that was the problem. He needed to build the town so that settlers could come and tame his newly acquired dominions. For that to happen, he needed to build that damn bridge and move on with the army; something that was not going to happen while he was away pandering to Aalun's whims.
Angry with himself for bringing up to troubling thoughts, Ullsaard moved down from the hilltop into the dark shallow beyond. His boots slid on the sandy slope and he stumbled over roots and tussocks of thick-bladed grass. Picking his way through these obstacles by the light of the stars, he couldn't help but wonder how much more of the world there was to see? How much further did the lands spread before they reached other seas? Would he live to see them all?
Askhos had proclaimed it the destiny of his line to rule over all the lands between the seas, and for two
