Page 68 of Into the West

“We have been watching you since you . . . drew our attention with your Gate that brought you into the remains of that ancient city destroyed by the armies of the tyrant Ma’ar. It was a rather noisy arrival,” the leader added wryly. “And we were concerned. Very. But you engaged in none of the behavior that we feared, and you determined to leave behind you only so many of your folk as the lake and land could comfortably bear. So we were heartened by this, and we set a watch and a few spies on you.”

“The arrows!” exclaimed Ceri, snapping his fingers. “The arrows that killed the snake-dogs—wyrsa, you call them? The ones of unknown origin!”

“Even so,” agreed the leader. “You drove off the maka’ar rather handily, and we did not need to assist. But the Blood Forest . . .” He shook his head. “You were lucky. Very lucky. Lucky that it had gone into winter sleep. Lucky that when you did awaken it, you were mostly through it. There are many, many more things worse than that ahead of you, if you stay on this river.”

Kordas’s heart sank.

“What’s to stop us settling here, then?” said Wymat Rai, not a little belligerently.

One of the strangers’ number drew a folding fan and passed it to the leader, who thumbed it open. By some magic, it unfolded itself to form a paper map, upon which the leader traced and tapped positions. “Nothing. But this plain floods every spring, and it is no gradual rising of the waters. There is a place upstream, here, that forms an impressive ice dam. Spring meltwater from the warmer south builds up behind it. When it inevitably breaks the dam, a wall of water taller than a man comes sweeping through this valley.” The leader tilted his head to one side. “I can show you, if you require.”

“No need,” Sai replied before anyone else could answer. “We’ve seen the marks on the bluffs.”

“And how do we know we can trust any of these people? They’ve enacted espionage upon us already, and revealed themselves in a way clearly meant to impress us with their power,” demanded the lone member of the Duchy’s highborn on the Council, Lord Ashbern. It was a good question, of course. And even though Kordas winced a little at Ashbern’s blunt demand, he was glad someone had asked it.

A Tayledras woman in green and black openly laughed. “That wasn’t a show of power.”

“Why, because you have the Truthseekers among you, bound into cloth-and-wooden forms,” said the leader, gesturing to Rose, who stood patiently at Kordas’s elbow. “What say you, Truthseeker? Is not all I have said thus far nothing but naked truth?”

“It is,” Rose said in her high, clear voice.

Once again, the Councilors whispered urgently together. But Kordas sensed a change in their attitude. After all this time of having the ever-helpful Dolls among them, the people of Valdemar had come to trust them, and rely on their word when they said that something was true.

“And that is the last reason why we have sought you out, and come to speak with you,” the leader continued. “As I said, we have kept a close watch on you, and it is what people do when no one is observing that tells what they really are made of. You are not the ones responsible for their imprisonment. You have made sure they are treated well, and fairly. You have promised their freedom once you learn how to free them. You, Kordas, Baron Valdemar, could have chosen many paths once you arrived at the lake. You did your best to choose the path that did the most good—or at least, the least harm. And so—here we are.”

“Well, pardon me for saying this, but . . . where is that, exactly?” Kordas asked carefully. “We don’t know anything about you, and you certainly seem to know a great deal about us.”

“Then let me rectify that. I am Silvermoon k’Vesla, leader of my clan. These are all of the Elders of k’Vesla. This place you have stopped will be safe enough, if uncomfortable, for the winter. But you are looking for a home, not merely a stopping place. We may be able to supply you with that home.”

Well, that certainly set the ferret loose among the bedsheets.

Silvermoon—and Kordas—waited patiently for the hubbub to die down. Kordas thought he even caught Silvermoon giving him a tiny nod as the Baron said nothing. Meanwhile the Hawkbrothers remained quiet, calm, as serene as their leader. Finally all of Kordas’s people talked themselves out, or hoarse, and settled again.

“There is always a price for everything,” Kordas said into the silence. Of course he knew that. Everyone who had ever been under the Imperial thumb knew that. Favors were contracts in which the expense could be raised later. He caught all of the Six Old Men and eventually the rest of his Councilors nodding.

“And you want to know what the price will be,” said Silvermoon, and it appeared, at least to Kordas, that none of these Hawkbrothers took the least offense at his rather blunt statement. “We know all about prices, we Tayledras. You are wise to ask. It will, I think, not be a price that you will find onerous. But—for now, we ask if you are ready for a leap of faith.”

“A leap of faith?” Kordas asked cautiously.

“And one into the dark—and we know that this is no small thing we ask of you.” He stood up, and all his people stood up with him. He held out his hand. “Come with us, Baron Kordas. Come with us, and bring your chosen experts. If you do not care for what you learn, you are free to continue your journey. At the very least, what we offer you is a more secure place to spend the winter than this valley.”

It was not to his Councilors that Kordas turned now. They knew no more than he did, and he was not altogether certain of their emotional state at the moment. They were looking to him to lead them.

But he needed one specific answer.

Rose and the Dolls trusted me, and I think their trust was not misplaced. Now it’s time for us to trust them.

“Rose,” he said. “Are these people benevolent to our needs?”

“Yes,” she said simply. “In this and other matters. Make an ally of them if you can. Cross them never, and let no one mistreat them.”

Engage by heart, he thought. Trust your judgment.

He stood then, and took the Hawkbrother’s hand.

“Open your Gate again,” he said, his voice as steady as his own feelings were unsteady. “Without the teeth-rattling noises this time? We will come with you.”

As it happened, it was too late for travel, and fatigue leaned on everyone. After just having settled in, and with night approaching, Kordas reckoned that people wanted a real meal, some flatbread (if not real bread), and one night when they could sleep securely. He had Rose relay a brief summary to the expedition, so that people could at least try to get some sleep: the Tayledras, or “Hawkbrothers” as their collective name meant, were experts on the area, and came with an offer for a place for the expedition to settle. The Dolls vouched for them, and Kordas and the Council would have news in a few days.