Magician (66 page)

Kasumi regarded him closely for a time,
then said, “It is by my father’s will you live and by his
whim how you live.” Kasumi stopped for a minute, and Pug became
painfully aware of how large a gulf still stood between the two men,
one the son of a powerful lord and the other the lowest of his
father’s property, a slave. The false veneer of friendship was
ripped away, and Pug again knew what he had learned in the swamp:
here life was cheap, and only this man’s pleasure, or his
father’s, stood between Pug and destruction.

As if reading Pug’s mind, Kasumi
said, “Remember, Pug, the law is strict. A slave may never be
freed. Still, there is the swamp, and there is here. And to us of
Tsuranuanni, you of the Kingdom are very impatient.”

Pug knew Kasumi was trying to tell him
something, something perhaps important. For all his openness at
times, Kasumi could easily revert to a Tsurani manner Pug could only
call cryptic. There was an unvoiced tension behind Kasumi’s
words, and Pug thought it best not to press. Changing the topic of
conversation again, he asked, “How goes the war, Kasumi?”

Kasumi sighed, “Badly for both
sides.” He watched the grey stallion. “We fight along
stable lines, unchanged in the last three years. Our last two
offensives were blunted, but your army also could make no gains. Now
weeks pass without fighting. Then your countrymen raid one of our
enclaves, and we return the compliment. Little is accomplished except
the spilling of blood. It is all very senseless, and there is little
honor to be won.”

Pug was surprised. Everything he had
seen of the Tsurani reinforced Meecham’s observation of years
ago, that the Tsurani were a very warlike race. Everywhere he had
looked when traveling to this estate, he had seen soldiers. Both sons
of the house were soldiers, as had been their father in his youth.
Hokanu was First Strike Leader of his father’s garrison, due to
his being the Lord of the Shinzawai’s second son, but his
dealing with the slave master at the swamp camp showed a ruthless
efficiency in Hokanu, and Pug knew it to be no quirk. He was Tsurani,
and the Tsurani code was taught at a very early age, and fiercely
followed.

Kasumi sensed he was being studied and
said, “I fear I am becoming softened by your outlandish ways,
Pug.” He paused. “Come, tell me more of your people, and
what . . .” Kasumi froze. He seized Pug’s arm and cocked
his head, listening. After a brief instant he said, “No! It
can’t be!” Suddenly he wheeled and shouted, “Raid!
The Thun!”

Pug listened and in the distance could
hear the faint rumbling, as if a herd of horses were galloping over
the plains. He climbed upon the rail of the corral and looked into
the distance. A large meadow stretched away behind the corral ending
at the edge of a lightly wooded area. While the alarm sounded behind
him, he could see forms emerging from the tree line.

Pug watched in terrible fascination as
the creatures called Thün came racing toward the estate house.
They grew in stature as they ran furiously toward where Pug waited.
They were large, centaurlike beings, looking like mounted riders in
the distance. Rather than horselike, the lower body was reminiscent
of a large deer or an elk, but more heavily muscled. The upper body
was completely manlike, but the face resembled nothing so much as an
ape with a long snout. The entire body, except the face, was covered
by a medium-length fur, mottled grey and white. Each creature carried
a club or ax, the head being stone lashed to the wooden haft.

Hokanu and the household guard came
running from the soldiers’ building and took up positions near
the corral. Archers readied their bows, and swordsmen stood in ranks,
ready to accept the charge.

Suddenly Laurie was at Pug’s
side, holding his nearly finished lute “What?”

“Thün raid!”

Laurie stood as fascinated by the sight
as Pug. Suddenly he put his lute aside, then jumped into the corral.
“What do you think you’re doing?” yelled Pug.

The troubadour dodged a protective
feint by the grey stallion and jumped upon the back of another horse,
the dominant mare of the small herd. “Trying to get the animals
safely away.”

Pug nodded and opened the gate Laurie
rode the horse out, but the grey kept the others from following,
herding them back Pug hesitated for a minute, then said, “Algon,
I hope you knew what you taught.” He walked calmly toward the
stallion, silently trying to convey a sense of command. When the
stallion put back his ears and snorted at him, Pug said, “Stand!”

The horse’s ears cocked at the
command, and it seemed to be deciding. Pug knew timing was critical
and did not break the rhythm of his approach. The horse studied him
as he came alongside, and Pug said, “Stand!” again. Then
before the animal could bolt, he grabbed a handful of mane and was up
on its back.

The battle-trained war-horse, whether
by design or luck, decided Pug was close enough to his former master
to respond. Perhaps it was due to the clamor of battle around, but
for whatever reason, the grey leaped forward in response to Pug’s
leg commands and was out the gate at a run. Pug gripped with his legs
for his life. As the horse cleared the gate, Pug shouted, “Laurie,
get the others!” as the stallion turned to the left. Pug
glanced over his shoulder and saw the other animals following the
herd leader as Laurie brought her past the gate.

Pug saw Kasumi running from the tack
house, a saddle in his hand, and shouted, “Whoa!” setting
as hard a seat as he could manage bareback. The stallion halted and
Pug commanded, “Stand!” The grey pawed the ground in
anticipation of a fight. Kasumi shouted as he approached, “Keep
the horses from fighting. This is a Blood Raid, and the Thün
will not retreat until each has killed at least once.” He
called for Laurie to stop, and when the small herd was milling about,
he quickly saddled a horse and turned it away from the others.

Pug kicked, and the grey and the mare
Laurie rode led the remaining four horses to the side of the estate
house. They kept the animals closely bunched out of sight of the
attacking Thün.

A soldier came running around the
corner of the house, carrying weapons. He reached Pug and Laurie and
shouted, “My master Kasumi commands you defend the horses with
your lives.” He handed the two slaves each a sword and shield,
then turned and dashed back toward the fighting.

Pug regarded the strange sword and
shield, lighter by half than any he had ever trained with. A shrill
cry interrupted his examination as Kasumi came riding around the
house, in a running fight with a Thün warrior. The eldest son of
the Shinzawai rode well, and though he had little training in
fighting from horseback, he was a skilled swordsman His inexperience
was offset by the Thun’s lack of experience with horses, for
while it was not unlike fighting one of his own kind, the horse was
also attacking, biting at the creature’s chest and face.

Catching wind of the Thün, Pug’s
grey reared and nearly threw him. He held fiercely to the mane and
gripped tightly with his lower legs. The other horses neighed, and
Pug fought to keep his from charging. Laurie shouted, “They
don’t like the way those things smell. Look at the way Kasumi’s
horse is acting.”

Another of the creatures came into
sight, and Laurie let out a whoop and rode to intercept. They came
together in a clash of weapons, and Laurie took the Thün club
blow on his shield. His own sword struck the creature across the
chest, and it cried out in a strange, guttural language, staggering
for a moment, then falling.

Pug heard a scream from inside the
house and turned to see one of the thin sliding doors erupt outward
as a body hurled through it. A stunned house slave staggered to his
feet, then collapsed, blood welling up from a wound on his head.
Other figures came scurrying through the door.

Pug saw Katala and Almorella running
from the house with the others, a Thün warrior in pursuit. The
creature bore down upon Katala, club raised high overhead.

Pug shouted her name, and the grey
sensed his rider’s alarm. Without command the huge war-horse
sprang forward, intercepting the Thün as it closed with the
slave girl. The horse was enraged, from the sounds of battle or the
Thün smell. It crashed heavily into the Thün, biting and
lashing out with heavy forelegs, and the Thün’s legs went
out from under it. Pug was thrown by the impact and landed heavily.
He lay dazed for a moment, then he climbed to his feet. He staggered
to where Katala sat huddled and pulled her away from the maddened
stallion.

The grey reared above the still Thün,
and hooves came flashing down. Again and again the war-horse struck
at the Thün, until there was no doubt of there being a breath of
life left in the fallen creature.

Pug shouted for the horse to halt and
stand, and with a contemptuous snort, the animal ceased the attack,
but it kept its ears pinned back, and Pug could see it quiver. Pug
approached it and stroked its neck, until the animal stopped
trembling.

Then it was quiet. Pug looked about and
saw Laurie riding after the scattering horses. He left his own mount
and returned to Katala She sat trembling upon the grass, Almorella at
her side.

Kneeling before her, he said, “Are
you all right?”

She took a deep breath, then gave him a
frightened smile. “Yes, but I was sure I was going to be
trampled for a minute.”

Pug looked at the slave girl who had
come to mean so much to him and said, “I thought so, too.”
Suddenly they were both smiling at each other. Almorella stood and
made some comment about seeing to the others. “I was so afraid
you’d been hurt,” Pug said “I thought I would lose
my mind when I saw you running from that creature.”

Katala put her hand upon Pug’s
cheek, and he realized they were wet with tears, “I was so
frightened for you,” he said.

“And I for you. I thought you’d
be killed the way you came crashing into the Thün.” Then
she was weeping. She came slowly into his arms. “I don’t
know what I would do if you were killed.” Pug gripped her with
all his strength. They sat that way for a few minutes, until Katala
regained her composure. Gently pulling away from Pug, she said, “The
estate is a shambles. Septiem will have a thousand things for us to
do.” She began to stand, and Pug gripped her hand.

Rising before her he said, “I
didn’t know, before I mean. I love you, Katala.”

She smiled at him, touching his cheek.
“And I you, Pug.”

Their moment of discovery was
interrupted by the appearance of the Lord of the Shinzawai and his
younger son. Looking around, he surveyed the damage to his house as
Kasumi rode around the corner, splattered in blood.

Kasumi saluted his father and said,
“They have fled, I have ordered men dispatched to the northern
watch forts. They must have overwhelmed one of the garrisons to have
broken through.”

The Lord of the Shinzawai nodded he
understood and turned to enter his house, calling for his First
Adviser and his other senior servants to report the damage to him.

Katala whispered to Pug, “We’ll
talk later,” and answered the hoarse shouts of the hadonra,
Septiem. Pug joined Laurie, who had ridden up to Kasumi’s side.

The minstrel looked at the dead
creatures on the ground and said, “What are they?”

Kasumi said, “Thün. They’re
nomadic creatures of the northern tundra. We have forts along the
foothills of the mountains separating our estates from their lands,
at every pass. Once they roamed these ranges until we drove them
north. Occasionally they seek to return to the warmer lands of the
south.” He pointed to a talisman tied in the fur of one of the
creatures. “This was a Blood Raid. They are all young males,
unproved in their bands, without mates. They failed in the summer
rites of combat and were banished from the herd by the stronger
males. They had to come south, killing at least one Tsurani before
they would be allowed to return to their band. Each would have to
return with a Tsurani head, or not come back. It is their custom.
Those who escaped will be hunted down, for they will not cross back
to their home range.”

Laurie shook his head. “Does this
happen often?”

“Every year,” said Hokanu
with a wry smile. “Usually the watch forts turn them back, but
it must have been a large herd this year. Many must have already
returned to the north with heads taken from our men at the forts.”

Kasumi said, “They must have
killed two patrols, as well.” He shook his head. “We’ve
lost between sixty and a hundred men.”

Hokanu seemed to reflect his older
brother’s unhappiness at the setback. “I will personally
lead a patrol to see to the damage.”

Kasumi gave him permission, and he left
Kasumi turned toward Laurie. “The horses?” Laurie pointed
to where the stallion Pug had ridden stood watch over a small herd.

Suddenly Pug spoke up. “Kasumi, I
do wish to ask your father permission to marry Katala.”

Kasumi’s eyes narrowed. “Listen
well, Pug. I tried to instruct you, but you did not seem to catch my
meaning. You are not of a subtle people. Now I will put it plainly.
You may ask, but it will be refused.”

Pug began to object, but Kasumi cut him
off. “I have said, you are impatient people. There are reasons.
More I cannot say, but there are reasons, Pug.”

Anger flared in Pug’s eyes, and
Kasumi said, in the King’s Tongue, “Say a word in anger
within earshot of any soldier of this house, especially my brother,
and you are a dead slave.”

Stiffly Pug said, “Your will,
master.”

Witnessing the bitterness of Pug’s
expression, Kasumi softly repeated, “There are reasons, Pug.”
For a moment he was trying to be other than a Tsurani master, a
friend trying to ease pain. He locked gaze with Pug, then a veil
dropped over Kasumi’s eyes, and once more they were slave and
master.