Tobo had a mental image of me as a sort of chaste nun. And most of my adult life would not contradict that view. But I am not against interpersonal adventures, I am just not interested myself. Probably because, Swan insists, I have not yet run into the man whose animal presence completely overwhelms my intellectual reluctance. Swan being a leading authority in his own mind.
He keeps volunteering. Who knows? Maybe someday I will become curious enough to experiment, just to find out if I can be touched without running away to my place to hide.
Now the others were wishing me welcome with a sincerity that set another place inside me, a small, warm place, all aglow. My comrades. My brothers. All kinds of rattle and chatter inundated me. Now we were going to do something. Now we were going to get somewhere. Now we were going to kick some ass if we had to. Sleepy was here to figure it all out and tell everybody where and when to stick the knife.
"God knows all the secrets and all the jokes," I said, "and I wish He'd share the secret of the joke that explains why He created such a scruffy bunch of hired killers." I used a little finger to get rid of a tear before anybody realized that it was not raining. "You guys look pretty fat for having been on the road so long."
Somebody said, "Shit, we been here waiting for you for a whole fuckin' month. Some of us. The slowest ones got here last week."
"How's One-Eye doing?" I asked as Sahra wriggled through the throng.
"He's fucked up," a voice volunteered. "How'd you know... ?"
I exchanged hugs with Sahra. She said, "We were starting to worry." A question clung to the edge of her statement.
"Tobo. Your grandmother and Uncle Doj are waiting in the woods back up the road. Run up and tell them to come on down."
"Where're the rest?" somebody demanded.
"Swan is with them. The rest are behind us somewhere. We broke up into three groups after we reached the highlands. There were crows around. We didn't want to give them anything obvious to watch."
"We did the same thing after we left the barges," Sahra told me. "Did you see many crows? We saw only a few. They might not have been the Protector's."
"The white one keeps turning up."
"We saw it, too. Are you hungry?"
"You kidding? I've been eating your mother's cooking since we left Jaicur." I looked around. People were watching who were not Black Company. They might only be refugees, too, but the enthusiasm of my reception was sure to cause talk.
Sahra laughed. It sounded more like the laughter of relief than that of good humor. "How is Mother?"
"I think there's something wrong, Sahra. She's stopped being nasty, bitter old Ky Gota. Most of the time she's lost inside herself. And those times when she is completely aware, she almost has manners."
"In here." Sahra lifted a tent flap. It was the largest tent in the encampment. "And Uncle Doj?"
"A step slower but still Uncle Doj. He wants me to turn Nyueng Bao and be his apprentice. Like I have a lot of free time being Murgen's apprentice. He says it's just because he doesn't have anybody else to pass his responsibilities on to. Whatever they are. He seems to think I should sign on before he tells me what for."
"Did you get the Key?"
"We did. Uncle Doj has it in his pack. But Singh got away. Not unexpectedly. Did he turn up here? We picked up rumors along the way that gave me the idea that he was ahead of us and gaining ground. You do still have the girl?"
Sahra nodded. "But she's a handful. I think bringing her south again put her in closer touch with Kina. Common sense tells me we should break our promise and kill her." She settled on a cushion. "I'm glad you're here. I'm completely worn out. Keeping these people under control when there's so little for them to do... it's a miracle that we haven't had any major incidents... I bought a farm."
"You what?"
"I bought a farm. Not far from the Shadowgate. They tell me the soil is lousy, but it's a place where most of the men can stay out of sight and keep out of trouble and even stay busy building housing or working the ground so we'll eventually be self-supporting. Half the gang is over there now. Most of these guys here would be, too, except that Murgen said you were going to arrive today. You made good time. We didn't expect you for several more hours."
"Does that mean you're all caught up on what's going on in the world outside?"
"I have a particularly talented husband who doesn't always share everything with me. And I don't always share him with the others. And we both probably shouldn't be that way. There're a thousand things we need to talk about, Sleepy. I don't know where to start. So why not just with, how are you?"
60
T he brotherhood had to begin moving.
Goblin burst into the tent uninvited and gasped out the news that Murgen said my feted arrival had caught the eyes of official informants and had aroused the suspicions of the local authorities. Those folks had been disinclined to investigate the refugee camp before only due to a complete lack of ambition. I sent Kendo and a dozen men to secure the southern end of the pass through the Dandha Presh, both to guarantee a favorable welcome for those coming down behind me and to help keep anyone from strolling off northward with news about where we were. I sent several small teams off to capture senior officers and officials before they could become organized. There was no real, fixed, solid governmental structure here because the Protector favored the rule of limited anarchy.
It was obvious that these former Shadowlands, despite their proximity to the glittering plain, were no more than an afterthought to the powers in Taglios. The troubles in the region had been settled with a vengeance. The Great General had won the reputation he had desired. There were few troops and no officials of any renown here now. It looked like a safe, remote province suitable for rusticating human embarrassments deemed not worth exterminating.
Even so, region wide, there were many more of them than there were of us and we were out of battle practice ourselves. Brains, speed and ferocity would have to sustain us till we gathered the whole clan and completed preparations to follow the road up the south side of the valley.
"So, now you've had your power fix and you've got time to talk, how the hell are you, Sleepy?" Goblin asked. He looked exhausted.
"Worn to the bone from traveling but still full of vinegar. It's nice to talk to somebody where I don't have to lean over backwards to look them in the eye."
"Walk in the goddamn door talking that shit. I knew there was a reason I didn't miss you."
"You say the sweetest things. How's One-Eye?"
"Getting better. Having Gota here will hurry it up. But he's never going to be completely right. He's going to be slow and shaky and have spells where he'll have trouble remembering what he's doing. And he'll always have trouble communicating, especially when he's excited."
I nodded, took a deep breath, said, "And it's going to happen again, isn't it?"
"It could. It often does. It doesn't have to, though." He rubbed his forehead. "Headache. I need some sleep. You can drive yourself crazy trying to deal with something like this."
"If you need sleep, you'd better get it now. Things are starting to happen. We'll need you fresh when it gets exciting."
"I knew there was another reason I didn't miss you. You haven't been here long enough to blow your nose and already people and things are flying all over, getting ready to beat each other in the head."