Tarashana by Rachel Neumeier (best novels to read for students .TXT) 📗

not required to put you to death. I punished your offense as I saw fit; your lord is not required to punish you in any other way. I should have made certain you understood this before asking for your oath.”

“I understood that,” he said in a low voice. “I—I thank you for your generosity—”

I waved this away. “So. Is there some other reason you decided you would do it?”

He was silent for a little while. Then he said, “My father would be ... he would be very angry that the son of the inGara lord showed mercy to his son. He would take it as an insult. But there is also another reason. I would ... I would prefer you do not ask me that reason, warrior.”

I did not ask. “Call me by my name,” I told him. “You should know something. All day I thought of what I should do with you. I thought very carefully and clearly of different things. Aras did not say anything to me about you at all. He would not have let me ask you for the oath I chose, or give my oath in return, unless he thought the idea was not a bad one. Do you understand?”

“I understand what you tell me.”

I nodded. That was something that might be hard to understand, far less believe. I said, moving to something easier, “Aras prefers that everyone near him learns to recognize and resist sorcery. Suyet speaks taksu. I will ask Suyet to explain to you some of the ways by which someone may do this. He will not dislike you. He does not dislike anyone. Aras himself will teach you the rest. He speaks excellent taksu. We have many days’ travel still before us. You will learn this.”

“Yes,” he answered.

He was still tense, but not as much. I went on. “You should learn some darau. Any of the Lau will teach you. None of them dislikes Ugaro. They do not care that inTasiyo is an enemy of inGara. It is as though I told you that the lord of the county of Surakaket dislikes Lord Aras, who is lord of a country called Gaur. You would not know or care anything for a quarrel between Surakaket and Gaur.”

“Yes,” he said again, to show that he was listening.

“They know you lied to me. Lau lie much more easily than Ugaro, so they care less for that than you may guess. They think I was very, very severe with you. Extraordinarily severe. If you said to them that you were ashamed because you could not stand properly, none of them would understand you.” I paused, studying him. Then I added, “If you do badly, if you show cowardice or any fault, I will correct you for that. If I say you did well, that is because you did well.”

He could not answer this, so he bowed low.

I waited for him to straighten again. Then I said, “Lau manners are not the same as Ugaro manners. Watch how they speak to each other and to me. Watch how I speak to them. However, the Lau should also learn something about Ugaro manners on this journey. Rakasa and Bara and I will show them how they should behave. You may show them this as well. I am going to strike you. One blow.”

He looked up, surprised, not certain what he had done to offend me, but he did not ask, only set himself to take my blow.

I hit him across the face with the back of my fist, hard, but not too hard. His head moved a little with the force of the blow. He blinked and swallowed and then began to bow, but I said, “Do not apologize. You did nothing wrong. Look at me.”

He looked up, flinching a little and then steadying himself.

I said emphatically, “Lau bones are not as strong as ours. Do not hit a Lau harder than that unless you intend to kill him. Never hit any of these Lau harder than that no matter how offended you may be.” I paused to let him think about the strength I had put into that blow. Then I added, “Do not hit Aras at all, even if he offers to take your blow. It would seriously offend the Lau. It would also offend me. If Aras does or says anything that you take as an insult, he will probably apologize. If he does not, or if there is some trouble that does not solve, bring the matter to me. Tell me you understand.”

He said at once, “I understand. I will not take offense at anything, but if this should happen, I will not hit any Lau harder than that. I will never strike Aras.”

“Good. So.” Setting that topic in the past, I said, “Most Lau do not fight the way Ugaro fight, but they can learn that. Geras and Suyet have practiced the long sword with me sometimes, but not often. They should practice much more while we travel. If you spar with a Lau, take care not to put your full strength into a blow.”

Something in this had made him flinch. Barely perceptibly. But I saw it.

“You are a warrior?” I asked him. Only a warrior should have even considered raiding an enemy tribe. This is not at all something any other young man should ever do. But that reaction puzzled me.

“Yes,” he said, his voice very low. “But ... but perhaps not skilled enough to bring pride to ... to ...”

He very sensibly did not want to say the inTasiyo or my father or my people.

“To your teachers,” I said, providing a less offensive alternative. I thought about what he had said. This might explain some things. I asked, “Do you want to be a warrior? Have you considered that you might prefer to be a poet? Even