Chapter thirty-six
Taia left Kerowyn in charge of selecting the most appropriate fighters to send on this delegation; it was technically her decision, as the head of the Valdemaran army, but since she had been away on various missions for most of the previous few years Kerowyn was in a better place to actually know which of them was the most appropriate. She chose two dozen fighters, a mix of Guard and Heralds, selected as much for their abilities as general fighters as their specialties in specific weaponry. They agreed that they wanted a solid mix of sword, pike and bowmen; if they needed to fight, they wanted to take out as many of the enemy as possible from a distance. Each of the fighters, however, were also capable swordmen; a fighter who could only use a single weapon type in this kind of delegation would be more of a hindrance than a help. Taia, Whitestar, Jeri and Kerowyn themselves would be positioned immediately around Elspeth and Darkwind while the two dozen guardsmen and Heralds formed concentric circles around them.
In Taia and Whitestar's absence, Kerowyn had discovered which shopkeeper had sold the guard uniform to the would-be assassin without proper identification; that shopkeeper was now in a prison gang, for a sentence long enough that he would never make that mistake again. She had also determined, through extensive questioning, that there had not actually been a spy as they had both believed. Apparently, this would-be assassin had infiltrated Valdemar himself, and had spent a moon or two observing the Queen's activities well enough to predict where she and Daren would be in the evenings, and then lay in wait. He had also watched Elspeth, and informed his countryman on the best way to attack her. The small army that had ambushed Kris and Lyra had been following them from a distance for some time; they had figured out their likely path and illusioned themselves along it. They had even been mistaken at least once, it seemed; when Kerowyn imparted that bit of information, the hair on the back of Taia's neck stood up for a full candlemark.
Treyvan and Hydona, despite their advanced age, insisted on going along both as ambassadors of their own people, able fighters as well as their mage ability; it was this last that convinced Taia that it wasn't as bad an idea as it sounded. She and Whitestar would be drained on arrival, magically speaking; Elspeth and Darkwind would need to conserve their magical abilities both for magical attack and defense as well as possibly to assist in taking down the Gate as quickly as possible in the event of retreat. There were additional Herald-Mages in Haven that would be standing by for that possibility as well, but the more there were available, the more quickly the thing could be taken down if necessary.
"When we get back, I'm going to seriously suggest an age limit for these sorts of trips," said Kerowyn. "I'm too old for this."
"I definitely agree," said Taia. "Not with the idea that you're old, but the idea that these trips are for the young. And none of us are."
"Speak for yourselves," joked Whitestar. "I'm still a young thing, spry as ever."
"And just who was it complaining just last night of her creaking joints and graying hair?" joked Taia.
"You know my hair is as white as yours," said Whitestar.
"We are the same age," said Taia. "And both of us younger than our friend here, who is in better shape than I am by far, and listen to us whine."
"I am not THAT much older," said Kerowyn. "And I haven't been on an adventure in awhile, so I should be excited!"
"The only thing I'm ever excited for anymore is my bed," said Taia. "I don't see nearly enough of it."
"That is true," said Kerowyn. "But as the young ones say, we can sleep when we're dead."
"Long past when we're able to enjoy it," said Whitestar.
They had finished packing for the trip and were spending the evening having dinner at their favorite inn. These were the evenings Taia truly cherished; stress-free dinners with her oldest and dearest friends. Tonight it was just the two of them, plus Kerowyn; usually, Eldan would have joined them, but he was teaching a particularly difficult student how to use her reluctant Mindspeech and he was exhausted. Often, Elspeth and Darkwind were with them, but tonight they were making last minute preparations for the trip. This was the family that Taia cherished most; she loved her sisters, and now with the Permanent Gate to the Plains, she could see them more often. But this was the family where she belonged. These were the people who really understood her.
The next morning the delegation loaded up their mounts and got into position. It would take Whitestar a few candlemarks to set up the Permanent Gate, so there was no rush; but they wanted to be ready, nonetheless. It was a tense gathering; they didn't know what was going to happen when they crossed the Gate. Would they be immediately attacked, or would they be able to open some dialogue? No one could say for sure. They had decided that immediately upon crossing, each of the bowmen were instructed to find a target and fire close enough to warn them, but not actually hit anyone. Everyone selected for this delegation was a solid enough shot on a bow to accomplish that quite successfully; it was likely the arrows fired would be close enough to scrape a cheekbone and draw blood, but not actually injure anyone beyond that. It would be effective in scaring the enemy off from an immediate attack; or so they hoped.
It seemed at once to take forever and mere seconds for Whitestar to build the Gate; immediately following, Jyus, Syen, Sera, Ryki, and Darkwind's Vree flew through it. Ryki was able to fly short distances and insisted on joining the rest of the group. They had determined that the birds could attain height quickly and would not be immediately threatening, seeing as how they hoped the enemy would not recognize them at first as anything other than regular raptors; this way, they could keep a sharp eye out for immediate threats and remove them before the delegation had had a chance to finish passing through the Gate. The rest of them, including Treyvan and Hydona, rushed through the Gate in formation as quickly as they could, and the arrows were fired. As Taia and Kerowyn had hoped, nearly all of them found a cheekbone to scrape and they succeeded in catching the people completely by surprise. They stood then, in formation, weapons drawn and silent with the birds and the gryphons circling them from above.
There was a moment of shocked silence and then Elspeth began.
"We come to you in peace, from the nation of Valdemar which you recently attacked without provocation," she said loudly and clearly. They were not sure what language these people spoke, but she repeated her statement in as many languages as she spoke, which was quite a few; Hardornen, Karsite, Rethwellan, the language of the Empire – no one thought it likely they would speak any of those, but it was worth a try – then Shin'a'in, Tale'edras and Kale'da'in. Finally, when she reached Kale'da'in, there was a moment of recognition on the face of the apparent leader; they found that interesting.
"Why you come here?" said the leader in language that sounded vaguely like Kale'da'in, but not quite. It was very difficult to understand; Darkwind wished briefly that they had thought to bring the dyheli king stag. The king stag had the unique ability to 'take' a language from one person and implant it into the mind of another; it left a terrible reaction headache, but was incredibly useful in negotiation situations with foreign populations.
"You attacked us," said Elspeth in Kale'da'in. "We want to know why."
"Food," said the leader. "We have no large patches of food. You do. We want."
Elspeth thought for a moment; large patch of food? What could that possibly mean? She looked around, and suddenly it hit her. Farms. This was a village by the sea, surrounded by forests and grassland with impossibly tall grass. There were no farms.
"And you thought the best way to achieve that was to kill our leaders?" asked Elspeth.
"That is how you take large patch of food, no?" said the man.
"No," said Elspeth. "You ask. All you needed to do was ask. We would have given you food."
The man looked shocked.
"I ask?" he said. "You give? That easy?"
"We would have negotiated a trade," said Elspeth.
"Trade?" the man said.
"You have never heard of a trade?" said Elspeth, more than a little annoyed.
"No," said the man. "My people, we want what other tribe has, we take. We kill their chief, chief's children. Take over. No trade."
"Well, my people, we want what other tribe has, we talk," said Elspeth. "Will you talk, or are you going to try to kill me?"
The man didn't answer right away. He looked as if he were thinking; Elspeth appeared to be staring back at him. She was really watching the entire tribe, though, and assessing them. She was surprised by the fact that these people had never learned any kind of nonviolent diplomacy; they didn't look uncivilized. But she took a closer look. It was warm here, almost unbearably; and humid. The people wore skirts, made mostly of grass, but some of the more high-ranking appearing members wore them made of that same lightweight, woven material that their attackers had worn. The housing was mostly bleached and well-packed mud with thatched roofs, thatched with that same impossibly tall grass; the official buildings, however, were stone, very well cut and shaped, and stacked so well together she could hardly see the line between one stone and the next. These people were excellent builders, when they had a mind to put towards it; they made excellent fabric, too, when they put their energy into making it. Why had they not developed enough to farm for food? Clearly the could cut the grass, they used it for thatch. So that land could be cleared.
:Why have these people not progressed to be able to farm for food, but they build so well, and have such wonderful fabric, and they fight well?: she asked Taia.
:The Shin'a'in do not farm.: said Taia. :Neither do Tale'edras. They garden, but they do not farm. Would you call us uncivilized?:
:Certainly not.: said Elspeth. :It just boggles my mind.:
:They do seem to be a bit of a mystery.: said Taia.
:They are a bit of a mystery in the same way that you are a bit of a swordswoman.: said Elspeth.
Taia sent back a sentiment of amusement at that, Elspeth was absolutely right. These people were strange. The fact that their language was so close to Kale'da'in was even stranger.
"We talk," said the man.
"Good," said Elspeth. Then, in Valdemaran, "Kero, Darkwind, you're with me. The rest of you, stay here and keep your eyes open."
Kerowyn and Darkwind followed Elspeth, who followed the man into the biggest building in the village; he also took two guards. What the man didn't know was that Kerowyn was keeping a constant mindlink with Taia, so that Taia could hear everything that was happening in this meeting.
"How does trade work?" asked the man. He seemed genuinely interested.
"You give us products that we want, we give you products that you want," said Elspeth.
"How much product?" asked the man.
"It depends on how much you want, and what we negotiate for," said Elspeth.
"What is negotiate?" asked the man.
Wow. This was paradoxical. Such advanced buildings, fabrics, and fighting ability; even magic. But their basic diplomacy was nonexistent.
"Talk," said Elspeth. "You state how much you want, we state how much of your product we need for the trade to be fair. We keep talking until we come to an agreement."
"You no kill us? Take what you want?" asked the man incredulously.
"No," said Elspeth. "We don't kill anyone who hasn't attacked us first."
"Why you not kill us for attacking your leaders?" asked the man. "We attack first. You should kill us."
"We had never heard of your people," said Elspeth. "We didn't know you existed. We had no idea why you attacked us, and we wanted to find out before we killed you."
This the man seemed to understand. "You kill us now?" he asked.
"No," said Elspeth. "You want to trade, we will trade."
"But we attack you," said the man.
"And for that reason, our first trade will be distinctly in our favor," said Elspeth.
The man nodded. "Very generous," he said. "What you want to trade for?"
Elspeth thought about that. She liked that fabric; they might try that on the guard, or at least have it available for the summer or for visits to Karse. The grass, too, seemed more efficient than straw for thatch; but what she really wanted was those stonecutters.
"You build very good buildings," she said. "And you have very fine fabric. We want builders to come to Valdemar and teach our people. And we want some fabric. And thatch."
"For how much food?" asked the man. "We need vegetables. And fruit. And grain for bread."
"We want those things in payment for your attack," said Elspeth. "We will trade you vegetables and fruit for fish. We will trade you grain for additional builders or fabric."
The man thought for a moment. Then he spoke rapidly to one of his bodyguards in his own language, too rapidly for Elspeth to understand; the bodyguard bowed and ran out of the building. He returned shortly with three men.
"This is Chieth, Shiro and Len," said the leader. "I am Kryos. I am leader here. These men are master builders, and have no women or children to consider. They will return to Valdemar with you and teach your people how to build like we do."
"Good," said Elspeth. "And the rest of the deal?"
"The men are assembling it now," said Kryos.
:?: Elspeth asked Taia.
:The men out here are barking orders and assembling piles of fabric, thatch and fish.: said Taia. :That was easy.:
:Almost too easy.: said Elspeth. :I'm a little suspicious.:
:Good, you should be.: said Taia. :Good instincts, but my Empathy is not picking up on anything and neither is Whitestar's. Ask Gwena.:
Elspeth did, and Gwena reassured her that while it was surprising, there did not seem to be anything underhanded going on. This was too easy; and yet, it was almost laughable. A village that was so highly skilled in textiles and building, not to mention their fighting ability, and yet so primitive in their diplomacy was an entirely unexpected experience for them. But a good one. She had really hoped to avoid any military solution; she was certain that Valdemar could defeat them if it came to it, but not without heavy losses against their fighting abilities, not to mention the completely different style of mage battle. If this new alliance was a success, she would have to find a way to learn that style, and incorporate it into Herald Mage training.
But first things first. They had a shipment of goods and three new builders to take home, and some food to ship back. Gwena had been in contact with Rolan, who had arranged for crates of food to be passed through the Gate at the same time that the delegation brought back their share; when they had finished, Whitestar closed the Gate. It would only work in one direction for the foreseeable future; they didn't trust their new allies that much. Not yet.