He glared. "Do we dress like we belong to the keep? Cultivate meekness. We're seeking our fortunes in Thanis. You have a new-found position as a nursemaid and me as a merchant's armsman."

Wind whispered through the gnarled balsas, tearing needles from the branches. The mist became a steady fall of rain mixed with ice.

Liara huddled into her cloak. Thunder rolled across the sky. Wind-driven water dashed in her face. Drop by drop, the rain changed to pellets of ice that punished when they hit her hands or her face. Dampness seeped through the cloak woven from the fleece of tamed antels.

Brader turned. He shouted something but his words were swallowed by the wind. She urged her pony forward. "What did ye say?"

"The inn. I see smoke from the chimney. We have to take the risk."

She nodded. To continue would be foolhardy and court illness.

Brader rode into the yard of the crude one story stone building. Liara followed. They led the ponies into a long shed where five glossy-coated horned horses stood in stalls.

"We could sleep out here and be away before they wake," she said.

"'Tis too cold. We need a hot meal and a fire to dry our clothes."

Liara rubbed her pony with straw and gave him a measure of grain from the bin near the door. Then she shouldered her pack and followed Brader to the door of the inn.

Heat and laughter hailed their arrival. Liara wished she had checked her kerchief before they left the shed. What if strands of her hair had slipped from their covering?

The rectangular room had a fireplace at either end. The hand of Guards seated at one table stared. Liara kept her head bent as she found a seat at the other table. She dropped her pack on the floor and hung her cloak on a peg.

The way the Guards watched fl.u.s.tered her. Did they suspect her ident.i.ty? Did they know she had Tana's Jewel? Her knees shook as she sat on the bench.

An old woman stood at one of the hearths and dipped food from a kettle. Liara inhaled the spicy aromas. A younger woman arrived with a slab of cheese, slices of bread and flagons of steaming mulled tragon.

She smiled at Brader. "Two bits for food and the night. Ye'll have to bed in here. Hope your wife don't mind."

"My sister," Brader said. He opened a leather pouch and placed five coppers on the table. "One for ye and the cook."

She grinned. "I have a room in back if ye don't mind sharing."

Brader looked from Liara to the Guards. "Next time I come through."

The tavernmaid nodded. "Ye be right, though they be a somber bunch." She carried their bowls to the fireplace and returned with servings of stew thick with vegetables and meat. "'Tis coney tonight."

"Smells good." Brader dipped a spoon and sipped the broth. "Tastes good as well."

As Liara ate, she felt warmth creep into her hands and feet. She touched her face and felt no betraying strands of hair had escaped. When she finished the meal, she spread her blanket near the hearth. Brader lingered at the table with a second flagon of tragon. She wanted to chide him. He had no head for spirits. But she had to remember her role.

* * * Sometime later, Liara woke and heard Brader bragging about his prowess with a sword. His voice was loud and the words slurred. "Been wanting to hire on as a merchant's armsman for years. Do it soon as my...um...sister is settled in her place." "Why waste your time as an armsman? Sign on with us. The Queen has need of men to keep order in the land."

"My mother don't..." Brader hiccoughed. "She's an impor...impor... She don't want me to be a Guard and leave the island."

"And ye are still tied to her strings. Be a man."

Liara rose and headed to the necessary. The Guard who sat with Brader eyed her closely. "I'll take your sister off your hands. Guards pay good for serving women. She's a prime 'un."

"Can't. She's prom...prom..."

Liara returned. She stumbled against the table. "Be ye tired?"

"Get to sleep," Brader snapped. "I'm fine."

She glared at him and he shoved her away. She returned to the fire and lay awake for a long time, waiting for their ruse to be discovered by the Guard.

CHAPTER 7.

From The Armsmen's Guide Before ye go into a battle, make sure ye have a trusted comrade to guard your back.

Brader refilled the flagon and sipped. The way the Guard had stared at Liara troubled him. As if I'd sell her to be a servant to the likes of him, he thought. He leaned forward. Had the man identified him and was he waiting to make a move?

Earlier, he'd learned Rogir and the hand he traveled with had been sent to the High Sanctuary. They'd found the gates barred and armsmen on the walls. The hand had been sent back to Thanis for the rest of their decan and the pair of mages who had accompanied them from the mainland. What if they already knew what they sought wasn't in the keep?

He felt a bit muzzy-headed. His drinking companion must have a sponge for a stomach. Brader pushed the flagon away. Rogir laughed. "Ye're leaving me? Man shouldn't drink alone." He reached for the flask and poured more spirits. "Drink up, lad. Mayhaps ye and your sister could travel with us. Then after ye deliver her to her position, ye can come with us. 'Tis a good life in the Guards."

Brader raised the flagon. "I do not think I am good enough with the sword."

Rogir raised his drink. "Didn't think ye was. The trainers'll take ye in hand. I could test ye now."

"Don't think our host would like us making a stir tonight."

"Won't matter. We be Queen's Guards and none can tell us what we mayn't do."

"Mush be nice." Brader propped his elbows on the table. "No stirs. Mush go quiet." He hiccoughed.

"Need to sleep." "On the morrow then." Rogir's voice held both a promise and a threat. What have I done? Brader stumbled to Liara's side. Had he betrayed them?

* * * The earth shook. He couldn't find a place to stand that wasn't moving. Brader opened his eyes a slit. Liara knelt beside him. She gestured toward the door. "Hurry," she whispered. What's wrong with her? He staggered to his feet and bit back a groan. Pain stabbed his eyes and made them tear. He grabbed his pack, belted on his sword and headed to the door. A blast of frigid air added another dimension to the ache in his head.

"Why are ye dragging us off so early?"

She entered the shed. "We are discovered." While she talked, she loaded the pack pony. "The Guard ye

drank with last night told his sargan we might be the ones they heard about. The ones who left the HighSanctuary. They mean to question us and afterwards-" Brader fumbled with the saddle straps. 'Twas his fault. Had he babbled all their secrets last night? Liara grabbed the reins of the pack pony and her own and left the shed. "Come on." "Sneaking off?"

Brader bolted outside. Rogir held Liara's arm. Without thought, Brader slammed his fist under the Guard's chin. The man fell backwards.

A dusting of snow covered the inn yard. Brader mounted and waved to Liara. "They'll be on our trail ere long. My fault. Ride ahead. I'll delay them." The surge of energy had cleared his head.

"We'll stay together. Tana wanted that. We'll find a place easy to defend. I've strung my bow."

"Have ye ever thought how it would make ye feel if ye must kill a man?"

"I'll do what I must. I'll aim for the horses."

"Good thinking."

The road narrowed so they had to ride single file. A rocky slope rose on one side and the other dropped to a valley far below. When the road widened and cliffs again rose on either side, Brader called Liara to stop. "Take the ponies around the bend and find a position on the rocks so ye can cover my back. If I fall, go ahead."

"If ye fall, I won't be able to escape."

Moments later, Liara returned. Brader waited until she was in position. Then he drew his sword. The advice of the armsman who'd trained him rang in his thoughts. He felt both elated and afraid. He'd never fought an enemy before. His opponents had been friends and their strokes had never been lethal. What if he turned his sword at the wrong time?

"I see riders. There are but three," Liara said. "May your blade swing true."

"And your arrows find their marks." For an instant, he felt a sense of their old comradeship. Of the times before they'd gone in different directions. And before his mother had spoken of Liara's future.

Brader stationed himself in the road. His heart raced. Was he ready? Could he do what had to be done? He'd never faced three at one time. For a moment, he wished he and Liara had continued their flight. But hill ponies lacked speed. Endurance was their value. He sent a silent plea to Mother Sun for strength and the Sister Moons for calmness and courage.

An arrow whizzed past. One of the horses screamed and fell. The Guard kicked free and landed several yards from Brader. More arrows flew and hit their marks.

Brader faced Rogir and two others. The men slowly approached and tried to circle. Brader turned and met Rogir's thrust.

"Ye fight better than ye said, but ye are no match for a Guard-trained man."

Brader danced away and immediately regretted the move. He'd given one of the Guards a chance to slide behind him. A cry of pain sounded but he didn't turn to look. Instead, he matched swords with Rogir.

As they thrust and parried, he noticed a pattern to the man's style. When he nicked Rogir's thigh, Rogir gave way to the other Guard.

The second Guard's sword slashed toward Brader's sword arm. He felt the blade bite into his flesh. Quickly, he switched his weapon to his left hand, with thanks to his trainer who had forced him to learn to fight equally with either. The switch took his opponent by surprise. Brader's sword gashed a line down the man's chest and pierced his gut. The Guard fell to the ground.

Rogir advanced; his sword cut into Brader's right arm just below the first slash. Blood trickled into his hand. He stepped back and stumbled over the body of the fallen Guard. Brader looked up and saw Rogir poised to plunge his weapon downward. Brader tried to roll away but the body beneath him impeded his escape.

"No!" Liara's shout startled Brader and Rogir. The Guard bellowed and stumbled backwards. An arrow protruded from his fighting arm.

Brader scrambled to his feet and tapped Rogir's head with the hilt of his sword. He turned and signaled Liara. "To the ponies. Now."

She climbed from her rocky perch. "Are they...?"

Brader dragged her along. "Dead... One maybe. Go." He wiped his blade on the fallen man's cloak. As he mounted his pony, he felt the flow of blood from his wounds, but this was not the time to stop and tend then. He kicked his pony's sides. "We must ride."

"And pray we encounter no more Guards."

He nodded. "Liara, this was my fault."

"Ye made a mistake. I have no anger toward ye."

"I should have told ye about Mother. 'Twas wrong of me to hide her pa.s.sing."

"Ye were grieving. She loved ye."

"And ye." He grinned. "I've had second thoughts about joining the Guards."

"'Tis good."

They rode until the ponies flagged and then made camp in a stand of willah and oka trees. When Brader dropped his cloak, Liara gasped.

"Why did ye not tell me ye were wounded?"

"There wasn't time."

"We must have a fire so I can cleanse and treat ye."

"I'll allow a small one, but we must take no chances," he said.

After the water heated, Brader sat with his back against one of the trees and let Liara cleanse the wound. "We have no medicinals and I fear the wounds will fester," she said.

He frowned. "I never thought to ask ye what we would need. For that I am sorry."

"I would not have been much help. Tana's news so shocked me, I think it was until last night before I truly realized what she meant. How can I be worthy to hold the fabled Jewel?"

He took her hand. "Don't worry about that until our quest is finished. We may never find what we seek."

"Ye are right." She bound the wounds with strips of cloth torn from one of her clean shifts. "Ye are lucky, for the wounds are only in the muscle and did not reach the bone." "And we're fortunate they thought so little of us to only send three." He reached for a mug of kaf. "If I ever drink tragon again, bean me."

She laughed. "What, ye would ask your meek sister to do such a thing?"

His laughter joined hers. "I feel we are friends again."

"We always have been. We just lost our way." She dished bowls of ryn porridge with briarberries and dried banta. "Let's eat. I'm starved."

He took the bowl. "We'll rest until both moons have risen. Then we'll ride straight through to Thanis."

"And pray there's a ship for Quato waiting."

* * * By mid-morning, they reached the outskirts of Thanis. The scents of salt and seaweed drew them on the beach road to the harbor. As they skirted the edge of the sea, Brader watched a pair of lorns circle and then shoot into the sea for fish. Three ships stood at the docks. Brader spotted a seaman at the foot of one of the vessels. "Where do ye go and when do ye leave?"

"Be new come to port. Captain's seeking a cargo. Where ye bound?"

"Quato."

"Try the Stormy Lady. Last ship on the line. Sets sail for Quato on the morning tide."