A Posse Of Princesses Part 8

Rhis said hesitantly, "Shera is going to come. I don't think she is telling anyone. She doesn't want trouble at home."

"Leave it to me," Keris said. "I know your mother would be pleased that you're trying to take action to help another. And as you say, you have Princess Sidal's ring. I will get your things together."

Rhis sighed with relief, her face warming at the compliment.

Each turned to her task. Rhis was glad to get out of her wet clothes at last, and into her riding outfit. While Keris was busy packing a satchel, Rhis stuffed a goodly portion of her jewels into a pocket in her tunic. She did not know how the other three would fare for money, but Rhis knew that gems were easily replaced in Nym, and they would have to get food somehow.

Shera reappeared just about the time Rhis was done. Each hefted up a fairly heavy satchel; by the time she reached the end of the hallway, Rhis was sorry that she'd included her tiranthe. What had seemed a scarce selection of essentials while the satchel was lying on the dressing table now seemed like a year's worth.

"Ugh," Shera muttered, s.h.i.+fting hers to her other shoulder. "If we have to carry these the entire way, I'm not going to make it."

"Horses," Rhis said.

"Then the horses get the weighta"including us."

Rhis grimaced. Her insides had tied into knots of apprehension, lest someone see her. Someone like Dandiar. Er, Lios.

But the hallways were empty; either something had been planned to draw the guests, or everyone was still tired from the masquerade.

Whatever the reason, she and Shera made it down to the stables without seeing anyone they knew, and there they found the other two waiting.

Rhis was surprised to see three young womena"one of them a girl, on closer looka"waiting with Taniva, all armed with swords, knives, bows, and spears. These spears they carried in the crooks of their arms, pointing at a slant forward, horsehair decorations below the blades streaming. They each led a couple of riderless horses on long ropes. Satchels and travel gear had been strapped to their backs.

Taniva saw everyone mounted up. Rhis got a s.h.a.ggy horse with yellow hair. Shera's was a roan beast who showed teeth at Rhis's, sidling and rolling its eyes.

Rhis looked around with apprehension, but the few stablehands in sight were busy elsewhere. No one seemed particularly interested in Taniva's prospective riding party.

In silence they rode out into the misting rain. The silence stretched as they cantered easily down the stone-paved road, first south through the gates, and then west, to catch up with the north road. Rhis discovered that riding a horse wasn't all that different than riding a pony, except the animal was much taller.

Rhis pulled her waterproof cloak around her like a tent. This cloak had been a gift from Sidal, the magic spells that kept the water running down it performed by her. Shera also had a magic-protected cloak. Neither of the others did; Taniva's hooded jacket was made of long white yeath-fur, naturally water-repellent, and hideously expensive anywhere but in the highlands, where the yeath shed their coats every spring, scratching the strands off in clumps against bristly shrubs. It then had to be picked off by hand.

Yuzhyu wore a layered cape of wool that seemed to keep her warm, if not as dry as the others. Her yellow hair was damp, but her face, glowing pink from the cool wind, was expressive of good-natured enjoyment.

The sight of Taniva's silent guards, who had put their spears into rests hanging from their saddles, made her mind range back to what Keris had said. Then she considered what Keris had not said.

Rhis knew there were two worlds in any given castle, palace, or home big enough to function as a little kingdom inside itself. There were the servers and the served. If people had lots of money and power, they could be served and do nothing.

Rhis had also learned that there were two kinds of loyalty: there was paid loyalty, and personal loyalty. When young Ama, the upstairs maid, had been so sick, Rhis had done all her room ch.o.r.es herself. Why not? She'd learned how to braid her hair and dress herself when she was small, because her mother had insisted. And she knew how to make a bed and sweep a floor and pa.s.s dirty clothes through the cleaning frame, fold them, and stow them in the chests. So she'd done it, just as her older sister Sidal had done it, but afterward she'd realized that Ama the steward had a different att.i.tude toward her than she did toward Elda, who expected her servants to work every day, just like she did. She often said that if you did your duty, you had no time to be sicka"but then she never seemed to get sick.

When Rhis had talked about it with Sidal, her sister had said, "Paid loyalty stops at the ch.o.r.es the person is hired to do, just as if I were hired to guard a caravan down the mountain. I would do that, and only that, unless I found the leaders to be worth my personal loyalty. Then I might choose to see them safely home past the agreed-on place, or give them some other help that was not in the contract, like watching their little ones during a rest stop. It's my personal choice. Friends.h.i.+p works that way. You don't have paid friendsa"and never forget that, if you do end up living in a court somewhere. There is no such thing as paid friends. Paid companions, whose job it would be to nod and smile and pretend you're the center of their lives, courts are full of those."

The other girls were all silent, obviously lost in their own thoughts. I don't know Keris, Rhis thought. She doesn't really know me. But if she has personal loyalty, it would be to my mother.

That left Shera's maid, who might be reporting on Shera out of personal loyalty to the Queen of Gensam. She didn't have any loyalty to Shera, or she wouldn't be sending reports back. Or did she, and the reports were written to please the queena"to hide worrisome things, and report only the good things?

Rhis didn't feel she could ask Shera those questions. She couldn't even resolve them in her own situation. What worried her most was what Lios might find outa"if he did, and what would happen. Keris had promised that she would *take care of everything.' Rhis did not know what that really meant.

It means I should not worry about it, Rhis thought. Since I can't do anything about that any more. I chose to see this ch.o.r.e through. She sighed. She was tired, despite the night of sleep, and desperately hungry, for she still had not eaten, though the sun was well west.

So she turned her attention to her companions. Yuzhyu had brought no one along, just like Shera (whose head was bowed, and occasional sniffs issued forth from under her hood) and Rhis. Taniva had the three servants with her. Even the girl was armed and very fierce looking.

These three set up camp once Taniva had chosen a good spot beside a stream, where the horses had sweet gra.s.s to crop. They were swift and efficient; in a shorter time than Rhis expected they had two tents set up, and a savory-smelling meal cooking: mostly boiled grain, with spices added in, shallots one found farther down stream, and sprinkled over it a very sharp cheese that they'd brought from home and preserved carefully.

The portions were small but Rhis discovered the grain was filling. The dishes were carved out of wood, very flata"easy to pack, Rhis discovered, watching them clean up.

They ate in silence that first night. They were all far too tired, even Taniva, who sat brooding near the fire, which reflected in her eyes. The sleeping arrangements were crowdeda"Taniva and the servants in with her (one of the women was always on guard duty) and the other three princesses in the tent that had been the servants'. They slept rolled up in their cloaks and capes, with clothes from their packs as pillows. n.o.body had night clothes.

Rhis was determined not to complain. Adventure, she kept telling herself. She avoided the other term in the old saying: she did not want to think about tragedy.

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

Rhis never liked to remember the first part of the ride after that. Not that much remained in memory but a weary blur. A painful weary blur.

She could never count up how many days it lasted. One day, near the end, when the worst of it was almost over, she woke up before dawn at the same time as the High Plains people did, instead of having to be shaken awake. The day's hard ride had gradually ceased to feel unbearable. Perhaps the tough High Plains princess had seen Shera's silent tears and relented about the terrible pace at last.

That night, instead of feeling the urge to drop into exhausted sleep the moment her dinner-ch.o.r.es were done, Rhis looked forward to staying up. She even brought out the tiranthe that had banged against the back of her left leg for days and days until she almost threw it away.

But she didn't throw it away, and was glad she hadn't. The ride hadn't gotten easier, she realized as she tried to limber up her fingers. It was just that she'd found it easier to endure. As for Shera, Rhis hadn't seen the tears for a couple of days. Rhis admired Shera for how grimly she'd stuck to a task she clearly had begun to dislike right from the beginning.

Another thing: she and Shera had learned some of the camping tasks, so camp was easier and faster every day. By now everyone had tasks that they'd taken as their own. Rhis had decided to learn how unappetizing-looking roots and bits of herb and so forth turned into tasty meals. The guards had gladly taught her to cooka"mostly by show, at first, then gradually using more High Plains words as Rhis worked to learn the language. Lessons progressed faster, to the point that Rhis learned to spot certain wild herbs from the trail.

Right now she had a potato stew simmering, full of vegetables, fresh herbs, and some of the h.o.a.rded High Plains spices, as she ventured from warm-up into a few simple songs.

Shera appeared, laying a hand on her wrist. "That sounds pretty, and I beg pardon for interrupting," she whispered. "But I think you need to see this."

Rhis had gotten used to Shera's habit of saying *this' for what could mean any of five to fifty things. It wasn't the word you listened to so much as watching for the gestures she made to tell you what *this' was supposed to be now. Shera's chin tipped toward the river.

Rhis laid aside her tiranthe and noiselessly followed Shera.

Over the days the two of them had removed all the unnecessary decoration from their riding clothes, until they were pretty much indistinguishable from the High Plains people. They had learned to braid their hair simply and tightly for riding. There were no maids for the pleasant morning and evening ritual of brus.h.i.+ng it out and dressing it elaborately.

Shera paused on the high ridge above a river-bank, and pointed below.

They'd stopped at sunset, as always. Silhouetted in the mellow golden slants of the vanis.h.i.+ng sun were four figures on the flat riverbank, moving in cadence. Rhis blocked the last bit of the sun with a hand. Taniva and the guards were twirling and stabbing and lunging and sweeping real weapons round. Anda"farther up the banka"there was Yuzhyu's bright head as she bounded with graceful deliberation, practicing with her knives!

Shera clutched her hands to her front. "What do you think that is about?"

"I don't know, but I am going to ask," Rhis said as they turned away.

When the others returned to the camp, they did not act as if anything was amiss. Taniva sniffed appreciatively at the stew Rhis had made.

Rhis wondered if the others had always gone off like that to do those drills with the swords and knives, and she had failed to notice because she'd been so tired and sore.

Still. After she'd dished the food out, and they all sat in a circle eating with hearty appet.i.tes, she said, "So what is that you do with the weapons? Are you planning to a.s.sa.s.sinate somebody?"

Taniva glanced up in surprise, her spoon halfway to her mouth. "Is drill. We always do. You did not see at Eskanda palace? Yes! I see you there one time."

Rhis said, "All right. So you practice. But I'm asking again, are you planning to attack someone?"

Yuzhyu's abilities with language had improved vastly since they'd left the palace party, where she'd mostly been on the outside of things, looking in. "Not attack," she said. "But defend? If we must."

Rhis considered that, then turned to Taniva. "So you're not thinking about carving up Da"Prince Lios."

"Him? Tchah!" Taniva stirred her stew vigorously. "It is Jarvas whose blade I hope to cross." She added some pungent insults in her own tongue that made her guards grin, then added, "He and his pest princess are nothing but trouble."

Rhis said, "I wondered about that. Why you'd want to rescue the *pest.' I mean, I understand about keeping various kings from leading armies across your kingdom, but there are other ways of doing that, aren't there?"

Taniva chuckled. "My father want me to marry Lios. For much-needed alliance. I do not want to marry him. My father has very bad temper. I knew Lios not want me any more than I want him. But if I go, my father cannot say I do not try. Now, when that black-haired pest is grabbed, and by our enemy, I am thinking first that I prove myself a worthy leader. Get her back. And save Lios much trouble, so maybe he makes alliance with us without any marriage!" She pointed. "You play this wooden thing with strings?"

"I would be happy to," Rhis said, and did.

Taniva listened, a curiously intent expression on her face.

When Rhis finished her song, Taniva insisted she play morea"songs from other landsa"and she listened carefully as she took her turn with the was.h.i.+ng up.

Rhis felt self-conscious. She'd usually played for herself, or for her family. She knew she wasn't a great player.

But Taniva seemed serious. So Rhis played, wincing at fumbles, hating it when she lost her timing, until she noticed that the others all seemed to appreciate the s.h.i.+mmering sounds of the strings, damped to s.h.i.+ft to minor keys by the finger-pedals. At Taniva's gesture the girl guard, Dartha, began a dance to a lively tune, clapping her hands in counterpoint, and stamping her feet. She was an excellent dancer.

The other two got out their vests with the chimes, put away the day they left, and they too joined the dancing, their chimes ringing sweetly in time to the music. Yuzhyu brought out a pair of wooden spoons and tapped out a rhythm on a rock.

When they were done, Taniva said, "You two sing?"

Shera and Rhis exchanged looks. They'd sang harmony on the journey to Eskanda, but not when anyone heard them. But they sang a couple of ballads, watching one another for cues as they harmonized. At the end, when Rhis wrung her fingers and moved to put away the instrument, Yuzhyu, who hadn't spoken to her in days, put the spoons away then said shyly, "Iss good. The music."

Taniva grinned. "Is very good. Heh!" Then she turned away, falling into conversation with Dartha and the older women. Rhis caught a few words. Path. Ride. Horses. Prince.

With an inward jolt, Rhis remembered Dandiar and his guards, somewhere out there, maybe even running parallel to the girls.

To shove him out of her mind, Rhis determinedly talked about ballads, and where they came from. Yuzhyu listened, no longer moving her lips. As the others began packing against morning and their usual fast departure, Rhis stayed where she was. The way Yuzhyu leaned toward her, showing far more interest in the rambling conversation about songs than it warranted, Rhis sensed that the Ndaian princess wanted to talk to her.

And she knew what about. She also knew that she was still angry with the false Dandiar the Scribe, though defining why wasn't as easy as it had been. So she gave one last strum in the lowest minor chord and set aside her tiranthe. If she was right, she only had to say, "So tell me his reasons."

Yuzhyu did not ask *who?' or *what reasons'. She said, "You not want to lissen."

"I'm listening now."

"I think very long how to say." Yuzhyu flashed her lovely smile, not seen for days. Then she leaned forward, and in smoother language than Rhis had ever heard from her, she explained how Lios's mother, Queen Briath, had married the Ndaian queen's brother. He was also Yuzhyu's uncle. Queen Briath and the Ndaian prince made a treaty alliance with their marriage. But Queen Briath had sent her consort home for good before Lios was even born.

"She hate my oncle. My oncle not like she. Her. When my cuzzin came for to staya"the treaty said he musta"my oncle was so unkind to him. Said he be like his mozzer. So Lios and my home-cuzzins all play togesser. Then life not so bad for him. When he go home, his mother not like memories of Ndai, or how he remind her of my oncle. She leave my cuzzin live at Eskanda."

"So Queen Briath doesn't really know Lios?" Rhis asked.

Yuzhyu shrugged her shoulders up and down, a sharp movement. "Not much pipple do. Me. My brosser. Some cuzzins. We all good friends. We make his stay in Ndai good. And when I come, he promise to make my visit good." She smiled wryly. "He tried."

Rhis had to agree with that.

Yuzhyu continued, "This is why he makes a party to meet girls and no treaty . . . how you say? No treaty mask. Not like his mozzer, and my oncle, who pretend friends.h.i.+p for treaty when they are courting. But they do not know each other, and when they do?" She made a terrible face. "They not like the other."

Rhis watched the way Yuzhyu rubbed her knuckles over her knees as she crouched. It was clear how much she liked her cousin. But.

"He said it was a joke," Rhis muttered.

Yuzhyu looked up in the fading light. It was difficult to see her expression. Rhis had seen a wide range of her moods, but the Ndaian had never been sarcastic. So her sardonic tone was a surprise now as she said, "You do not think Iardith chasing Andos a joke?"

Rhis picked up the tiranthe, ducked through the tent flap, and slid the instrument into her saddle-bag. Yuzhyu hunkered down nearby, watching. Rhis thought back, then said, "I do. But it makes me feel mean. Because of what I heard about the King of Arpalon, who told his daughter she cannot come home without a queen's future crown."

Shera, lying in her cloak, said, "What are you two talking about?"

"Lios. The real one."

"Urf. I don't want to talk about boys." Shera turned the other way.

Rhis said to Yuzhyu, "I feel a little sorry for Iardith. But only a little. When I remember the way she pushed other girls out of her way, as though she was the only one who mattered, well, yes, then I see the joke."

Yuzhyu grunted, rolled up in her coat, and that was the end of the conversation.

The next day, they reached the border of Damatras, which was a long chasm cut by a river through some jumbled mountains.

The regular road ran along the ridge above the chasm. Taniva pointed out how it meandered among the slopes, gradually rising and falling. "Easier for armies to march. But much slower than old trail," she said as they rode slowly along the edge of the road.

They finally found what she was looking fora"and even then almost missed it, a turnoff that looked like a footpath. When they edged up to the roadside above the chasm, they saw that there was not a sheer drop, but a slope leading down to a little bridge that connected to an outcropping, well shaded with ancient trees, on the adjacent hill.

Without explanation one of the older women took off down this little path, raced over the little bridge, and vanished into the shaded old forest growth. Taniva and the other woman followed more slowly, and Rhis, Shera, and Yuzhyu followed them.

The path into the old forest appeared to be an animal trail, but Rhis discovered after a time that this was a very old footpath. The horses had to walk in single file for most of that day.

Then it was time to go upward again. Mossy marker stones, the carvings in them obscured by time and thick, rambling thorn-bushes, rested beside twists and side paths, matching signs on the map.

Huge dark green trees with thick cl.u.s.ters of hanging leaves obscured the travelers as they continued the long climb up the mountain paths. Slowly, Rhis noted, the lovely leafy trees of the lowlands were giving way to firs, though some were different types than those she'd grown up with in Nym. Once a band of clouds moved across the sky, and Rhis listened to the rustling patter of rain in the leaves overhead while only occasionally feeling a drop or two.

They halted just above a wide river full of stones and white water. Beyond a wide bend Rhis could make out part of a vast bridge.