"And their Northern origins," Darby added.
Ra-khir nodded. "And their Northern bloodlines, though those have become diluted since they've lived in Erythane for centuries." He wondered how long it would take before the Renshai simply became a known staple of the West, without the need for clarification. Millennia, maybe? Certainly, not within Darby's lifetime.
"Centuries? Really?"
"Really." Ra-khir appreciated the opportunity to teach. Though he preferred doing so through deeds, right now he cherished the distraction from the cold discomfort of the rain and the knowledge that he currently looked very un-knightlike. His father would have given him a dressing-down if he saw the disheveled face he presented. Luckily, he had no intention of entering any inhabited places until he got his appearance back under control. "Renshai denounced the attacking of innocents for sport at least three hundred years ago, long before the birth of any of those now alive." Except Colbey. Ra-khir did not add the thought aloud. He did not want to get bogged down in a discussion of ancient Renshai history but rather in the more recent facts that no one seemed to know or teach.
As Darby looked interested and curious, Ra-khir continued.
"To my knowledge, they have never broken that vow. Since then, they have served as the bodyguards to all of the Bearnian princes, queens, and princesses. Even the current king has a Renshai bodyguard, in addition to the traditional bard who has always held that position. When wars blossom, the Renshai stand with the West, because it is their homeland as well. Or was."
"Was?"
Ra-khir wound between copses of thistles. "Until recently, when the Renshai lost a challenge to Northmen and were banished from the North and the West."
Darby nodded his understanding, and dislodged rainwater rolled down his forehead. "So that's why they're here. Headed eastward."
"Right." Ra-khir looked ahead, trying to anticipate an easier route through the brambles that would not get them trapped in impassable foliage and deadfalls. He hoped they'd find a manufactured roadway soon. Once the rain stopped, the moisture would draw the blackflies and mosquitoes in droves. "And they have harmed no villages or towns. Their only battle was the one where you and I came upon the results."
"Northmen attacked them." Darby had obviously listened to the Renshai over dinner the previous night, though he had spoken very little.
"Right."
"Why?"
Ra-khir hesitated. He could not get inside the heads of Northmen, but the answer seemed obvious nonetheless. "Their hatred is strong, Darby. When generation after generation has distorted history far beyond truth and made it seem as if aggressors were victims, it can spawn a hatred so intense that it defies any logic. As a group, Northmen have intended to exterminate each and every Renshai for so long it has become a part of their national psyche, their day-to-day obsession. They spew this vitriol to their innocent children, telling them a special place in Valhalla exists for slayers of Renshai, no matter the means. To die killing Renshai is their ultimate honor."
"Because they also believe Renshai are demons?"
Ra-khir shook his head. "I don't think so, Darby. Deep down, they know Renshai are humans. They bleed like humans; they die like humans. But it suits the Northmen to spread the stories because superstitious Westerners believe them. And, the more support they garner for their hatred, the more they justify and spread it. Someday, they hope, the entire world will hate Renshai as much as they do."
Darby nodded ever so slightly, surely contemplating what he had learned about Renshai in his own upbringing. At least, he seemed fully willing to discard the stories on the word of a Knight of Erythane. That boded well for the West and the Renshai.
If Darby is representative, then we knights have a duty we have neglected for far too long.
"So why do the Northmen want the Renshai in the Eastlands?"
Again, Ra-khir had to speculate. "I don't think they necessarily do. First, the Northmen simply drove the Renshai from the North; but that didn't work. The Renshai returned. Next, they confined all the Renshai to one island in the North. That might have worked, except the Northmen reasoned that while they had all the Renshai in one place, it would prove easy enough to annihilate the entire tribe in one enormous battle."
"It didn't work."
"It nearly did. As history tells the story, only two Renshai survived. And they were both males."
Darby stared. "Two males cannot reestablish anything."
"Especially," Ra-khir continued, "when one died young and the other was infertile. But it turned out that a few Renshai had not actually returned to the North. And, though the Renshai who did originally deemed them traitors, it was through them that the current line was established. Less purely, of course, but the sword training mattered as much as the bloodline. However, because the Renshai tried to maintain both, it has taken them centuries to get their numbers back into the hundreds. Because, for a half-blood Renshai to receive any training, his non-Renshai parent has to be deemed worthy at the time of his birth. Renshai standards are near-impossibly high, so that happens only rarely."
A light appeared in Darby's eyes. He had made the connection. "And you were deemed worthy, so your half-blood sons are Renshai."
"Yes," Ra-khir admitted. "Though I'm still not entirely sure how. Renshai do not have the same opinion of knights that the remainder of the Westlands does."
Darby studied Ra-khir with an expression akin to worship.
Suddenly, Ra-khir wished he had not broached the subject. He had not meant to brag. He dropped the tangent to finish his point. "The Renshai's numbers have apparently gotten large enough to bother some Northmen. As near as I can figure it, they intend to get the Renshai banished from every part of the world. That would put every world leader in the position of having to execute any Renshai they found. One by one, the Renshai would get killed or go into hiding, which would make it unlikely they could find one another. The ultimate hope would be that Renshai parents would not train their children for their own safety, and the race would die out entirely."
"That's…" Darby sputtered. "That's… just… evil."
"It is."
"We should help them. We should attack the Northmen and-"
"No." Ra-khir knew lack of experience, not morality or intelligence, sent Darby toward thoughts of war. "Hatred cannot be combated with more hatred, and not every Northman is to blame. While a large majority do hate Renshai only because of lies their parents taught them, there are still some who see no problem with peaceful coexistence or have even managed to overcome their learned prejudice. What good would come of slaughtering the good with the bad?"
"But-"
Ra-khir had not yet finished. "Also, the Northmen have done such a thorough job spreading their lies and prejudice, that most Westerners have lost their objectivity. Even when the Renshai do nothing more than defend themselves, they are seen as the aggressors and condemned. Even when they do nothing whatsoever, it is said that they stole the land they occupy and they should be driven from it."
Darby's mouth remained open, but no words emerged. His expression mingled rage with bewilderment.
"It's a tricky problem, one Renshai and logicians have struggled with for centuries. You and I are not likely to solve it in a fortnight, let alone a single discussion."
Darby closed his mouth. "So what can we do?"
"We do," Ra-khir said calmly, "exactly what I've just done. We change the minds of people slowly, one by one, if necessary. We do it morally and honestly, for a single lie would betray us. And we hope that, eventually, right prevails."
CHAPTER 30
One man cannot be skilled at everything; each has his own special excellence.