The Song of Homana (41 page)

“I will not take his childhood from him.” I shivered in the cold dampness of the chamber. “Osric is already wed. He will get himself sons soon enough; Alaric will lose his value. Since I doubt Osric has any intention of coming so soon against Homana, I lose nothing by letting Alaric go.”

“And when, in manhood, he comes to fight?”

“I will deal with it then.”

Rowan sighed. “And what of Osric? Sixteen is neither child nor man.”

“Had it been Osric, I would have thrown him into chains.” I paused. “To humble that arrogant mouth.”

Rowan smiled. “You may yet be able to, my lord.”

“Perhaps.” I looked at Rowan squarely. “But if he is anything like his father—or even Keough, his grandsire—Osric and I shall meet in battle. And one of us will die.”

“My lord.” It was a servant in the doorway, bowing with politeness. “My lord Mujhar, there is a boy.”

“Breman has taken Alaric,” I said. “He is to be treated with all respect.”

“No, my lord—another boy. This one is Cheysuli.”

I frowned. “Say on.”

“He claims himself kin to you, my lord—he has a wolf and a falcon.”

I laughed then. “Donal! Aye, he is kin to me. But he should have his mother with him in addition to his
lir
.”

“No, my lord.” The man looked worried. “He is alone but for the animals, and he appears to have been treated harshly.”

I went past him at once and to the entry chamber. There I saw a falcon perched upon a candlerack with all the wicks unlighted. The wolf stood close to Donal, shoring up one leg. Donal’s black hair was disheveled and his face was pinched with deprivation. Bruises ringed his throat.

He saw me and stared, his eyes going wide, and I realized what he saw. Not the man he had known. “Donal,” I said, and then he knew me, and came running across the floor.

“They have taken my
jehana
—” His voice shook badly.
He shut his eyes a moment, blocking out the tears, and tried to speak again. “They have taken her…and slain Torrin in the croft!”

I swore, though I kept it to myself. Donal pressed himself against me, hanging onto my doublet, and I wanted nothing more than to lift him into my arms. But I did not. I know something of Cheysuli pride, even in the young.

I set one hand to the back of his head as he tucked it under my chin. I thought, suddenly, of Aislinn, wondering what she would think of him when she was old enough to know. This boy would be my heir.

“Come,” I said, rising, “we will speak of this elsewhere.” I turned to take him from the chamber but he reached up and caught my hand. Instantly I forgot my resolution and bent to pick him up, moving to the nearest bench in a warmer chamber. I sat down and settled him on my lap, wincing against the pain. “You must tell me what happened as clearly as you can. I can do nothing until I know.”

Lorn flopped down at my feet with a grunt, but his brown eyes did not leave Donal’s face. The falcon flew in and found another perch, piping his agitation.

Donal rubbed at his eyes and I saw how glassy they were. He was exhausted and ready to fall, but I had to know what had happened. As Rowan came in I signalled for him to pour Donal a swallow or two of wine.

“My
jehana
and I were coming here,” Donal began. “She said you had sent for us. But there was no urgency to it, and she wanted to stop at the croft.” He stopped as Rowan brought the cup of wine. I held it to his mouth and let him drink, then gave it back to Rowan. Donal wiped his mouth and went on. “While we were there, men came. At first they gave my
jehana
honor. They shared their wine and then watched us, and within moments Torrin and my
jehana
were senseless. They—cut Torrin’s throat. They
slew
him!”

I held him a little more tightly and saw the stark pity in Rowan’s face. Donal had come early to his baptism into adulthood, but Rowan earlier still. “Say on, Donal…say on until you have said it all.”

His voice took on some life. Perhaps the wine had done
it. “I called for Taj and Lorn, but the men said they would slay my
jehana
. So I told my
lir
to go away.” Renewed grief hollowed his face, blackening his eyes. “They put her on a litter and
bound
her…they put a chain around my neck. They said we would go to the Northern Wastes.…”

I glanced at Rowan and saw his consternation. The Northern Wastes lay across the Bluetooth River. There would be no reason to take Donal or Alix there.

“They said they would take us to
Tynstar
—” Donal’s voice was hardly a whisper.

It came clear to me almost instantly. Rowan swore in Homanan even as I said something in the Old Tongue that made Donal’s eyes go wide in astonishment. But I could not afford to alarm him. “Was there anything more?”

His face screwed up with concentration and confusion. “I did not understand. They spoke among themselves and I could make no sense of it. They said Tynstar wanted the seed of the prophecy—me!—and my
jehana
for a woman. A woman to use in place of the one he lost to you.” Donal stared up at me. “But
why
does he want my
jehana
?”

“Gods—” I shut my eyes, seeing Alix in Tynstar’s hands. No doubt he would repay me for sending Electra to the Crystal Isle. No doubt he would use Alix badly. They had opposed each other before.

It was Rowan who drew Donal’s attention away from my angry face. “How did
you
win free?”

For a moment the boy smiled. “They thought I was a child, not a warrior, and therefore helpless. They counted my
lir
as little more than pets. And so Taj and Lorn kept themselves to the shadows and followed across the river. One night, when the men thought I slept, I talked to Taj and Lorn, and told them how important it was that I get away. And so they taught me how to take
lir
-shape, though the thing was too early done.” His face was pinched again. “
Jehan
had said I must wait, but I could not. I had to do it then.”

“You came all the way in
lir
-shape?” I knew how draining it could be, and in a child…I had seen Alix, once, when she had shapechanged too often, and Finn as well, after too long a time spent in wolf-shape. It upset the human balance.

“I flew.” Donal frowned. “And when I could not fly, I went as a wolf. And when it sickened me, I walked as myself. It was hard—harder than I thought…I believed
lir
-shape was easy for a warrior.”

I held him a little more tightly. “Nothing is done so easily when it bears the weight of the gods.” I rose, lifting him to stand. “Come. I will see you are fed and bathed and given rest in a comfortable bed.”

Donal slid down to the floor. “But my
jehan
is here.
Jehana
said he was.”

“Your
jehan
has gone to Hondarth and it is too soon for him to be back. Another week, perhaps. You will have to wait with me.” I tousled the heavy black hair which had already lost some of its childhood curl. “Donal—I promise we will fetch your
jehana
back. I promise all will be well.”

He looked up at me, huge yellow eyes set in a dark Cheysuli face. No Cheysuli trusts easily, but I knew he trusted me. Well, he would have to. I would make him into a king.

Donal braced both elbows against the table top. He rested his chin in his hands. He watched, fascinated as always, as I traced out the battle markings drawn on the map of Caledon. In the past ten days we had spent hours with the maps.

“It was here.” I touched the border between Caledon and the Steppes. “Your
su’fali
and I were riding with the Caledonese, and we went into the Steppes at this point.”

“How long did the battle take?”

“A day and a night. But it was only one of many battles. The plainsmen fight differently than the Homanans—Finn and I had to learn new methods.” Well,
I
had; Finn’s methods were highly adaptable and required no reorganization.

Donal frowned in concentration. He put out a finger much smaller than mine and touched the leather map. “My
su’fali
fought with you—so has my
jehan
…will
I
fight with you when I am made a prince?”

“I hope I may keep the peace between Homana and other realms,” I told him truthfully, “but does it come to war no matter what I do, aye, you will fight with me.
Perhaps against Atvia, does Osric wish to task me…perhaps even Solinde, should the regency fail.”

“Will it?” He fixed me with intent yellow eyes, black brows drawn down.

“It might. I have sent Electra away, and the Solindish do not like it.” I saw no sense in hiding the truth from him. Cheysuli children are more adult than most. Donal was also a clan-leader’s son, and I did not doubt he already knew something of politics.

Donal sighed and his attention turned. He pushed away from the table and got off the stool, sitting down on the floor with Lorn. The wolf stretched and yawned and put a paw on Donal’s thigh as Donal reached to drag him into his lap. Taj, perched upon a chair back, piped excitedly, and then Duncan was in the doorway.

“Jehan!”
Donal scrambled up, dumping Lorn, and ran across the room. I saw Duncan’s smile as he caught his son and the lessening of tension in his face. He scooped up the boy and held him, saying something in the Old Tongue, and I knew he could not know. They had left the telling to me.

“Have you been keeping Carillon from his duties?” Duncan asked as Donal hugged his neck.

“
Jehan
—oh
jehan
…why did you not come sooner? I was so afraid—”

“What have you to be afraid of?” Duncan was grinning. “Unless you fear for me, which is unnecessary. You see I am well enough.” He glanced at me across the top of his son’s dark head. “Carillon, there is—”

“
Jehan
—” Donal would not let him speak. “
Jehan
—will you go now? Will you go up across the river? Will you fetch her back?”

“Go where? Why? Fetch
who
back?” Duncan grinned and moved across the room to the nearest bench. He sat down with Donal in his lap, though the boy was too big to be held. It seemed odd to see Duncan so tolerant of such things; I knew the Cheysuli did not profess to love, and therefore the words were lacking in their language. And yet it was manifest in Duncan’s movements and voice as he sat down upon the bench. “Have you lost someone, small one?”

“Jehana,”
Donal whispered, and I saw Duncan’s face go still.

He looked to me at once. “Where is Alix?”

“Alix was—taken.” I inhaled a careful breath. “It appears it is Tynstar’s doing.”

“
Tynstar
—” Duncan’s face was ashen.

“You had best let Donal tell you,” I said quietly. “It was he who won free and came to me here, to tell me what had happened.”

Duncan’s arms were slack around the boy. And then suddenly they tightened. “Donal—say what has happened. All of it. Tell me what you saw; tell me what you heard.”

Donal, too, was pale. I doubted he had ever seen his father so shaken. He sat hunched in Duncan’s lap and told the story as he had told it to me, and I saw the struggle in Duncan’s face. It made my own seem a shadow of true feeling.

At last Donal finished, his voice trailing off into silence. He waited for his father to speak even as I did, but Duncan said nothing at all. He merely sat, staring into the distance, as if he had not heard.

“
Jehan—?”
Donal’s voice, plaintive and frightened, as he sat on Duncan’s lap.

Duncan spoke at last. He said something to Donal in the Old Tongue, something infinitely soothing, and I saw the boy relax. “Did they harm her, small one?”

“No,
jehan
. But she could hardly speak.” Donal’s face was pinched with the memory and he was frightened all over again.

Duncan’s hand on his son’s head was gentle in its touch. The tension was everywhere else. “
Shansu, Shansu
…I will get your
jehana
back. But you must promise me to wait here until we come home again.”

“Here?” Donal sat upright in Duncan’s arms. “You will not send me back to the Keep?”

“Not yet. Your
jehana
and I will take you there when we are back.” His eyes, staring over Donal’s head, were fixed on the distances again. Duncan seemed to be living elsewhere, even as he held his son. And then I realized he spoke to Cai. He was somewhere in the link.

When he came out of it I saw his fear, though he tried
to hide it from Donal. For a moment he shut his eyes, barricading his soul, and then he held Donal more tightly. “
Shansu
, Donal—peace. I will get your
jehana
back.”

But I knew, looking at him, he said it for himself and not his son.

“Duncan.” I waited until he looked at me, coming out of his haze of shock. “I have spoken to your second-leader at the Keep…and the Homanans as well. We are prepared to go with you.”

“Go where?” he asked. “Do you know? Do you even know where she is?”

“I assumed the
lir
could find her.”

“The
lir
do not need to find her…I know where Alix is. I know what he means to do.” Duncan set Donal down and told him to take his
lir
and go. The boy protested, clearly frightened as well as offended, but Duncan made him go.

At last I faced him alone. “Where?”

“Valgaard.” He saw the blankness in my face. “Tynstar’s lair. It is a fortress high in the canyons of Solinde—you have only to cross the Bluetooth and go directly north into the mountains. Cross the Molon Pass into Solinde and you have found it. You cannot help but find it.” He rose and paced across the floor, but I saw how his footsteps hesitated. “He would take her there.”

“Then we will have to go there and get her.”

He swung around. One hand was on the hilt of his longknife; I saw how he wanted to shout, to bring down the walls, and yet he kept himself very quiet. It was eerie. It was the intensity I had seen so often in Finn, knowing to keep my distance. But this time, I could not.

“Valgaard houses the Gate,” he said in a clipped, hissing tone. “Do you know what you say you will do?” He shook his head. “No, you do not. You do not know the Gate.”