'Why not?' He pulled the mask clear.
'Yes,' she said, 'that is ghastly. I am surprised you survived. The fang-marks are almost at your throat.'
'Do you mind if I put this on again? I feel uncomfortable.'
'Not at all. It is said that you were once the most handsome man in the empire.'
'True, lady. In those days I would have swept you from your feet.'
'That's not saying much. I always had trouble saying no… And that was with ugly men. I even slept with Thorn once, though I daresay he wouldn't remember. It was thirty years ago — before I married, I might point out.'
'You must have been very young.'
'How gallant! But yes, I was. We are in the mountains, Darkmask, and there is precious little entertainment. But tell me, do you love Valtaya?'
'It's no business of yours,' he snapped.
'Indeed it is not. But answer me anyway.'
'Yes, I do.'
'This is going to sound hurtful, Ananais. .'
'I wondered what we were leading up to.'
'Well, it is this: if you love her, leave her alone.'
'Did she ask you to come to me?'
'No. But she is confused, uncertain. I don't think she loves you. I think she is grateful and trying to prove it.'
'I take what I can get these days,' he said bitterly.
'I don't think that's true.'
'Leave me alone, Rayvan. Please!'
When she had gone Ananais sat alone for some hours, unable to sleep. His mind relived his triumphs, but strangely there was no longer any satisfaction in his memories. Cheering crowds, pliant women, envious men — he wondered if he had genuinely enjoyed any of it.
Where were the sons he should have bred?
Where was the woman of his heart?
Valtaya?
Be honest with yourself, man. Was it ever Valtaya? If you were still the Golden One, would you give her a second look? Dawn tinted the eastern sky and Ananais chuckled, then laughed aloud.
What the hell? He had lived as hard as a man could.
No use in morbid regret. The past was a dead beast anyway, and the future was a bloody sword in a Skoda valley.
You are nearing fifty years of age, he told himself, and you are still strong. Men follow you. The Drenai people depend on you. Your face may be gone, but you know who you are.
Ananais, the Golden One.
Darkmask, the Ceska Bane.
A bugle sounded. Ananais heaved himself to his feet and walked back to the ramparts.
Renya lay awake for the third night, angry and uncertain. The walls of her small tent crowded in on her and the heat was oppressive. For two days now the Nadir had been preparing for war; gathering provisions, choosing their ponies with care. Tenaka had selected two warlords to accompany him, Ingis and Murapi. Renya had learned this from Subodai, for not one word had passed between Tenaka and herself since the night before the Shamen Quest.
She sat up, hurling the sheepskin blanket across the floor. She was tired, yet tense as a bowstring. She knew why, yet knowledge was useless. She was in limbo, caught between her love of the man and her hatred of his mission. And she was lost, for her mind dwelt on him ceaselessly.
Renya's childhood had been built on rejection, for she was deformed and could not take part in children's games. They mocked her lame leg and twisted back and she withdrew into her room. . and into her mind. Aulin had taken pity on her, giving her the gift of beauty through the machines of terror. But though outwardly she had changed, the inner Renya remained the same — fearful of affection lest it turned on her, afraid of love because it meant opening the heart and removing the defences. Yet love had taken her like an assassin's blade and she felt tricked. Tenaka had been a hero, a man she could trust. And she had welcomed the blade. Now she found it was tipped with poison.
She could not live with him.
She could not live without him.
The drab tent depressed her and she walked out into the night. The camp sprawled over almost half a mile, with Tenaka's tent at the centre. Subodai groaned and rolled over as she passed him. 'Sleep, woman!' he muttered.
'I cannot.'
He cursed and sat up, scratching his head. 'What's wrong with you?'
'None of your business.'
'His wives bother you,' decided Subodai. 'Natural for a Drenai woman. Greedy.'
'It has nothing to do with his wives,' snapped Renya.
'So you say! How come he put you out of his tent, eh?'
'I put myself out.'
'Mm. You're a good-looking woman, I will say that.'
'Is that why you sleep outside my tent? Waiting to be invited in?'
'Shhh, don't even whisper it!' said Subodai, his voice rising. 'A man could lose his head — or worse. I don't want you, woman. You are strange, crazy even. I heard you howl like an animal, watched you leap on those dumb Pack-rats. I wouldn't want you in my bed — I would never sleep for worrying!'
'Then why are you here?'
'The Khan ordered it.'
'So now you are his dog. Sit, stay, sleep outside the tent!'
'Yes, I am his dog. I am proud to be his dog. Better the hound of a king than a king among jackals.'
'Why?' asked Renya.
'What do you mean, why? Is it not obvious? What is life but a betrayal? We start out young, full of hope. The sun is good, the world awaits us. But every passing year shows how small you are, how insignificant against the power of the seasons. Then you age. Your strength fails and the world laughs at you through the jeers of younger men. And you die. Alone. Unfulfilled. But sometimes. . sometimes there will come a man who is not insignificant. He can change the world, rob the seasons of their power. He is the sun.'
'And you think Tenaka is such a man?'
'Think?' said Subodai. 'What do I know of think? A few days ago he was Bladedancer. Alone. Then he took me. A Spear. Then Gitasi. Then Ingis. Then the nation. You understand? There is nothing he cannot do. Nothing!'
'He cannot save his friends.'
'Foolish woman. Still you do not see.'
Renya ignored him and walked away towards the centre of the camp. He followed her discreetly, keeping some ten paces behind. This was no hardship, for it allowed him to gaze at her with undisguised pleasure. His dark eyes lingered on her long legs and the subtle swing of her hips. Gods, what a woman! So young and strong. Such animal grace.
He began to whistle, but the sound died in an instant as he saw the tent of the Khan. There were no guards. He ran forward to Renya, pulling her to stop.
'Don't touch me,' she hissed.
'Something is wrong,' he said.
Her head came up,her nostrils catching the scents of the night. But the stench of the Nadir was all around her and she could detect nothing.
Dark shadows moved towards the tent.
'Assassins!' yelled Subodai, dragging clear his sword and running forward; the dark shapes converged on him. Tenaka Khan opened the flap of his tent, sword in hand, to see Subodai hacking and slashing his way forward. Tenaka watched him stumble and go down under the swinging blades.
He stepped out to meet the killers.
An eerie howl echoed through the camp and the assassins slowed in their advance.
Then the demon was upon them. A back-handed blow sent a man ten feet through the air. A second fell as her taloned hand opened his throat. Her speed was awesome. Tenaka ran forward, parried a thrust from a squat warrior, and slid his own blade between the man's ribs.
Ingis raced in with forty warriors and the assassins lowered their weapons, standing sullen-eyed before the Khan.
Tenaka cleaned his sword and then sheathed it.
'Find out who sent them,' he told Ingis, then strode to where Subodai lay. The man's left arm was gushing blood and there was a deep wound in his side above the hip.
Tenaka bound the arm. 'You'll live!' he said. 'But I am surprised at you, allowing yourself to be overcome by a few night-stalkers.'