Silverlight (22 page)

He was right. How would they sustain themselves
with the majority of their population dead?

“Who are you?” the old woman asked.

“I am Kymber Oryx. This is Magnus Tyrix.” I
didn’t expect them to recognize our names, and they didn’t. “Do you know Malina
Blackhorn then?”

The middling-aged woman moaned and wrung her
hands together. “Have you seen my Malina?”

“Are you her mother?” I asked.

“Yes. My name is Laiia.” The woman put an arm
around the elder woman’s shoulders. “And this is Tibbi.” She nodded at the man.
“And Charin. They are my old parents.” The woman drew in a breath. “Malina
lives?”

 “She’s alive. She’s been a huge help with the
girls, but some of them are injured. They’ll need a healer’s attention.”

“Nothing left here,” the old man said again.
“No healer.”

“I see that. She told us there was another
tribe of Yasri goat herders not far from here. Do you know them?”

“I do.” Malina’s mother nodded. “Many great
warriors live there. A few are marriage kin to me. My dead husband’s mother and
brothers are there.”

“Will you allow us to escort you there?” I
waited for an answer, but no one spoke. “I don’t think you can stay here.”

“This is our home,” Tibbi said with a bleakness
that went bone-deep.

I glanced at Magnus and tried to think, finally
deciding the three adults could stay if they wished, but I would not leave the
girls. “Perhaps you can rebuild someday, but it’s not safe now. We killed the
slavers that took your children, but there may be more out there. You weren’t
able to defend your village when it was attacked the first time.” Laiia keened
softly at my words. “It will be nigh on impossible now.”

Tibbi took firm control of the situation,
turning to her daughter and husband. “I say we go. Take what we can carry and
go. This woman is right. There is nothing but death here for us. These people
saved our precious
chipana.
That is enough.”

“The girls are hungry,” I said. “Perhaps we
should gather up the food that isn’t spoiled and take it with us.” I began kicking
through the rubble of the nearest hut.

“And something to carry it,” Laiia said,
lifting an intact but blackened leather satchel from the debris at her feet.
“Knives and cook pots will be useful, if we can find them.”

“There are several goats left alive. I heard
them in the forest,” Charin said, taking up what was left of a shepherd’s
staff. “I’ll get them.”

I narrowed my eyes, not sure of their value.

“Milk, you see.” The old man smiled. There
wasn’t a tooth left in his mouth. “And meat, if need be.”

“You eat goats?” I asked.

“Of course,” Laiia said. “Don’t you?”

“Uhm, yes.” I had never eaten goat, but I would
tonight, if it came right down to it.

Thus did we find enough sustenance for another
night or two. As Tibbi had said – it was enough. For now.

We escorted the surviving adults around the mountain
and retrieved the girls. We put Tibbi and Charin in charge of driving the wagon
and reloaded the injured. Laiia, Malina, and I herded the twelve recovered
goats behind them. Magnus led Lady Gray with Tori upon her back, her arm
tightly locked around little Mia.

We must have been a sorry sight, a long line of
weary survivors heading toward the larger village. Malina said it was called
Dorso.

I hoped we’d be welcome there.

I
tried to watch over the girls and Kymber at
the same time, dropping back occasionally to make sure there were no
stragglers.

Truth be told, I was more worried about Kymber.

Preparing to take the girls to a safe location
had put roses on her cheeks and a fire in her eyes. Now that we were underway,
she seemed to have lost some of her resolve. 

Kymber had taken on a big job, and I was proud
of her, but she’d exhausted herself. I had to make sure she preserved her
strength to retrieve Silverlight. Saving these girls was one of the most
important things we’d ever done, but I thought having her old sword back in her
hands was the key to her future.

My Kymber was a series of long, dark hallways
and locked doors, the key to opening them obscure, sometimes even to her. This
key was as bright as polished gold though: as long as Garai held her sword, she
was still his prisoner.

My cruel trick at Seacrest had caused her to
steal a horse and flee to Adamar. I was sorry I’d hurt her, but she’d
reacquainted herself with a hard truth: life was not fair. If we had to fight
him, Garai certainly wouldn’t deal us a just and impartial hand. She needed to
be prepared for anything, as did I.

Mia began to cry again. I turned to see her
clutching her hand to her chest. There was nothing more I could do for her, but
I brought Fitz to a halt and dismounted. “Would you like to ride with me, Mia?”
I can’t say if I reminded her of her father or not, but she usually settled
into a fitful sleep when I cradled her in my arms.

She nodded and thrust one tiny hand out to me.
I transferred her from Lady Gray to Fitz and spoke to Tori, now alone on the
horse. “Would you mind if one of the younger girls rode with you?”

“No, sir,” Tori said. “If you can find Neesa,
she had cuts on her feet from the rocks.”

Kymber darted out from behind the wagon, a
bleating baby goat in her arms. “She’s in the wagon. If you let her ride with
Tori, I can put Kinsey in the wagon in her place.” Her shoulders drooped bit.
“Unless my horse can bear Kinsey as well, in which case I’ll put Marta in the
wagon.”

Too many tired and aching girls, not enough
transportation. I knew we’d eventually regret freeing the slaver’s horses, but
we didn’t have the means to feed them and thirty-four girls too.

Kymber saw my thoughts. “I knew it. We
should’ve kept those horses.”

“We talked about this. We had enough mouths to
feed without dragging more animals along behind us.”

Kymber sighed. “I know. Truly, I do, but they
would’ve helped. Some of the girls can barely keep up, and I’ve blisters
myself.”

I glanced at her bare feet. “What did you do
with your boots?”

“I gave them to Adolia. Malina’s blisters had
broken, so I put her in the wagon. Adolia volunteered to take her place herding
the goats.”

I had nothing to say – I would’ve done the same
regarding the boots – but Kymber was giving small pieces of herself so often
there would soon be nothing left of her.

I pulled Mia down off my horse and held her
against my chest. Talk of blisters and the pale, lethargic little mite in my
arms convinced me we all needed a rest. “We’ll stop and bed down there, in the
shade of those trees. I’ll need a few hours of daylight to hunt. There’s a
stream beyond the tree line there. I can hear it.”

“We have supper right here.” Kymber lowered her
gaze to the goat in her arms.

“No, I don’t want to spend the goats. I need
the scant bit of milk they give for Mia.” I turned my attention to the old
woman driving the cart. “How much farther?”

Tibbi gazed skyward, thinking, then gave me a
smile. “Half a day, if we start early in the morning.”

I turned to Kymber. “A meal tonight, and
they’ll need something to break their fast. How much of the food we found in
the burnt village is left?”

She drew a weary breath. “Enough. We’ll make it
last. We have to.” Her words were certain; the look on her face was not.

 “We’re doing the right thing, but we’ve taken
on a big responsibility.”

Kymber’s arms tightened around the goat. “Say
it,” she hissed. “Say it, and get it off your chest. I bit off more than I
could chew. Tell me I should’ve looked the other way while those men drove
those girls toward the slave markets.”

“Come now, Kymber. You know me better than
that. Neither of us would’ve abandoned the girls on that mountain. We’re doing
what needs to be done, but it’s taking a toll. On them, on you. Your eyes look
like piss holes in the snow.”

Kymber shrugged, her expression dull as a stone.
“I am tired and hungry. Oh, Magnus…”

 I put two fingers to her lips. “Shh! Tibbi
says we’re nearly there. Dig deep and hold tight, love. You’ve been through
worse.” I tried to embrace her across a squirming goat. “I’ll support us both
if I have to.”

“I
have
been through worse,” Kymber
murmured. She allowed her gaze to wander over Mia’s face. “We are doing the
right thing, but I’m so tired.”

I gave her a pat on the back. “Then rest. I’m
going to leave Mia with you while I hunt.”

“No.” She dumped the baby goat into Laiia’s
arms. “I’m coming with you. We’ll need to bring in as much game as we can
tonight.”

She spoke the truth, but… “You have no bow.”

“No, but I have my knife and a strong back. I
can gut and skin and carry the game back to the fire.”

“All right.” I nodded. “Tibbi, will you look
after Mia for me? Until we get back?”

The old woman drew Mia into her arms. “Poor
little
chipana
. Tibbi will take care of you.”

Kymber spoke to Laiia. “You and your old
parents are in charge until we get back. Ask the girls to gather firewood if
they’re able. Others can take the water skins and go to the creek. Give
everyone who isn’t feeling poorly something to do. We need all hands tonight.”

Laiia bowed. “It will be done, mistress.”

“Hopefully, this will be the last time we need
to work this hard to fill our stomachs.” Kymber leaned into the cart and handed
Malina the fire flints. “Tomorrow, we’ll be in Dorso.”

H
unting was easy on the
plain, especially after we stumbled on a muddy water hole. Tan and white
gazelles ran together, turning to sprint in the opposite direction when they
saw us. I didn’t feel up to chasing them. Wild goats and boar were abundant as
well, and I even saw a few stray cows meandering at water’s edge.

The cows would’ve been an ideal meal for the
number we had to feed, but they were too large for the two of us to drag back
to camp. 

“Well.” Kymber scratched her head. “They’re
used to eating goat meat. I’d almost like to catch a few more live goats, or
maybe even that scrawny brown cow there. The more livestock we can bring along
to Dorso, the less likely we are to be seen as worthless, hungry bellies. I’m a
little nervous about them agreeing to absorb that many extra mouths to feed.”
Kymber put her hand to her forehead and stared out at the horizon. “Though I’m
not sure what we could’ve done differently. By the time we found the girls, the
damage had already been done to their village.”

I eyed the cow to which Kymber was referring.
Fattened up, it might be a good addition to an already existing herd. It was
definitely the largest of the five that wallowed in the mud. “We were put in
that spot at that particular time to help, and we have.”

“All well and good, but what are we going to do
if they don’t take them in? Three adults, not counting Malina, and two of them
are elderly. Most of the girls have an injury or bloody blisters. Some of them
will soon be sun burnt. That would strain the resources of any village. If
Dorso is as poor as the ruined goat herder village appeared to be . . .” Kymber
clenched her fists. “This might end up being a nightmare for us.”

“Could we take them back to Seacrest?” I lifted
my brow. “I own plenty of land along the coast. I could call in builders to
erect temporary shelters. They’d be protected, at least.”

She shook her head. “We’d need better transportation.
Damn it! If only we’d kept those horses.” Dropping to the ground, she tucked
her legs under her. “And I’d be that much farther from Silverlight.”

“What?”

“It’s selfish of me to say it, but I’d be that
much farther away from Silverlight.” She was silent for so long I crouched
beside her. She lifted weary eyes to me. “Maybe I truly don’t need her, Magnus.
After all, I do have Promise.”

I drew circles in the dirt with my fingertip.
“I don’t think it’s a question of ‘needing.’ Yes, you have a perfectly good
sword available to you, but Silverlight was a gift from your father. She
doesn’t belong to Garai.” I took a moment to choose my next words carefully. I
had learned my lesson the hard way. Motivation, yes. Taunts, no. “Look, Kymber,
I’ll understand if you don’t want to go for Silverlight. Your feathers were
ruffled the day you brought me Tariq’s head, but sometimes one regrets things
said in the heat of the moment.”

Oh, that look. The clenched jaw, the narrowed
eyes. “I don’t regret a damned thing I said. I just didn’t count on having to
rescue all those girls. I have to trust that things will work out. I’m not
going to think ‘what if.’ I’m going to think ‘when.’
When
this Yasri
village takes these girls in – because it’s the right thing to do, and they
will
do the right thing – we will continue on our journey. We’ll be too far west to
go over the mountain pass I came through when I escaped from Pentorus, but
we’ll find another. We’ll keep trying until we get there.”

“That’s my girl.” I kissed the top of her head.
“Now let’s go hunting so we can get back to the fire. I’m starving.”

D
orso came into view
near noon the next day, an uneven dark line tracing the horizon. I whistled low
as we drew closer. It was an impressive sprawling town; Laiia had said there
were thousands of inhabitants. They’d built wattle and daub outbuildings for
their livestock, even incorporating wood into many of their structures.

 The Yasri had peaceful nomadic origins, but this
particular tribe had broken away and established Dorso, content to stay put.
Settling in one spot meant defending, and their men were among the best
fighters in Calari. Even I had heard of them. They didn’t go looking for a
fight, but they didn’t run when one presented itself.

I finally put an exhausted Kymber on Fitz,
offering to walk behind the wagon with Mia in my arms. The child lay snuggled
against me, sleeping, her thumb in her mouth. Leaving this little one behind
was going to kill me, but Mia needed a healer. The bones in her hand had
probably already begun to knit together. I hoped it wouldn’t have to be broken
again, but I knew better.

We’d taken several goats and a boar into camp
for supper the previous night, and everyone’s spirits were high. It’s easy to
stay positive when one has a full stomach and fresh water to drink. I even
heard Tori and Vilpia, her saddle-mate on Lady Gray, singing a lively counting
song in another language. I smiled at their mingled voices, my heart lighter
than it had been in a week.