Doroga rumbled, "You just want Kitai to be part of Horse."
Hashat shrugged her shoulders. "Speed, intelligence. Who wouldn't want that?" She lifted her chin and called, "Kitai. We are ready to begin."
Kitai stood up, idly dusted snow off of his smock, and paced toward them, his expression cool. He stopped not a pace away from Tavi, glaring at the Aleran boy.
Tavi felt a sudden fear, as his cut throbbed again, and then set his jaw stubbornly. He had never allowed a bully to frighten him. He'd been beaten often enough, but he'd never surrendered to fear. He took a step closer to Kitai, eyes narrowed, facing the other boy's opalescent gaze with his own. Their eyes were on a level, and the other boy did not seem to be much bigger than Tavi was. Tavi folded his arms and stared at his opponent.
Kitai seemed uncertain how to react to Tavi's stance and glanced at Hashat.
Doroga growled irritably. "You both know the trial. The first to recover the Blessing of Night and return it to my hand will be the victor." He turned to Tavi. "Aleran. The Blessing is shaped as a mushroom. It has a flat head,
slender stalk, and is the color of night. It is located at the base of the great tree, within its trunk."
"Black mushroom," Tavi said. "Great tree. Fine, got it."
"Kitai, you are familiar with the trial."
The other boy nodded. "Yes, sire."
Doroga turned to him and placed his huge hands on the boy's slender shoulders. He turned Kitai to face him, an effortless flexing of Doroga's shoulders. "Then be careful. Your mother would want you to be careful."
Kitai lifted his chin, though his eyes glittered bright. "My mother," he said, "would have fetched the Blessing and been back by now while you talked, sire."
Doroga's teeth showed, suddenly. "Yes," he agreed. One of his hands squeezed Kitai's shoulders, and he released the boy, to turn to Tavi. "We will lower you down and wait until dawn. Once you begin, there are no rules. The results are all that matter. You can choose not to face the trial now, if you wish, valleyboy."
"And go back to your camp and be eaten?"
Doroga nodded. "Yes. Regrettably."
Tavi let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, well. I'll take my chances with the Keepers, I think."
"Then we begin." Doroga turned to one of the lumps in the snow and dug into it with his huge hands, uncovering a great coil of rope of a weave Tavi had never seen before. Beside him, Hashat did the same with a second coil of rope.
Tavi saw Kitai step up beside him out of the corner of his eye. The Marat boy watched the two adults uncovering the rope and testing its length. "It is rope from the Gadrim-ha. From the ones you call the Icemen. Made of the hairs of their females. It will not freeze or break."
Tavi nodded. He asked, "You've done this before?"
Kitai nodded. "Twice. It wasn't for a trial, before. But I have gone in twice and returned with the Blessing. I was the only one who returned."
Tavi swallowed.
"Are you afraid, Aleran?"
"Aren't you?"
"Yes," Kitai said. "Afraid to lose. Everything depends on this night, for me."
"I don't understand."
Kitai sniffed "When I return with the Blessing before you, I will have defended my sire's honor in a trial before The One I will be an adult and may choose where I live "
"And you want to live with Hashat," Tavi said
Kitai blinked and looked at Tavi "Yes "
Tavi studied the other boy "Do you, uh are you sweet on her'"
Kitai frowned, pale brows coming together "No But I wish to be a part of her Clan To be free with her Clan Not to plod around with Doroga and his stupid Sabot" He glanced aside, to be sure no one was close, apparently, and confided m a low voice to Tavi, "They smell"
Tavi lifted his brows, but nodded "Yeah I guess they do "
"Aleran," Kitai said "My sire is right about one thing You have courage It will be an honor to face you in a trial But I will defeat you Do not think that this will end in any other way, despite whatever spirits are yours to call "
Tavi felt a scowl harden his features Kitai's eyes narrowed, and he stepped back a half pace, one hand falling to the knife at his belt
"I don't have any," Tavi said "And back at my steadholt, we have a saying about counting your chickens before they've hatched "
"My people eat eggs before they've hatched," Kitai said, and stepped to ward the coiled ropes “I thought you might make it out alive, Aleran, thanks to your spirits But we will only need to use one rope before dawn "
Tavi started to say something quick and heated back, but Fade's hand gripped his shoulder abruptly Tavi turned to face the slave
Fade frowned at him, his scarred face hideous and concerned Then he said, "Be careful, Tavi" And with that, he took the pack that had been slung over his shoulder and dropped it onto Tavi's
The boy let out a breath at the sudden weight "Fade, uh Maybe it would be better if I didn't take anything with me I'll move faster without it "
"Marat stronger than Tavi," Fade said "Faster "
"Thank you," Tavi said, testily "I needed that kind of encouragement "
Fade's eyes glittered with something like good humor, and he ruffled Tavi's hair with one hand "Tavi smart There Bag of tricks Be smart, Tavi Important'
Tavi tilted his head to one side, peering at the slave "Fade'" he asked
The glitter faded from the man's eyes, and he gave Tavi his witless grin
"Valleyboy," Doroga called "There is no time to waste "
Tavi said to Fade, quickly, "If I don't come back, Fade. I want you to remember to tell Aunt Isana that I love her. Uncle, too."
"Tavi," Fade nodded. "Come back."
The boy blew out a breath. Whatever spark of awareness had been in the man's eyes was gone now. "All right," he said, and walked over to Doroga. He shrugged into the pack, drawing the straps down to their smallest size, so that it would fit closely to his back.
Doroga was handling his rope. Tavi watched as the Marat worked a loop into the end of it with the skill of a sailor and drew it tight. The Marat stood, leaving the loop just touching the ground, and in a moment of understanding, Tavi stepped forward and slipped his foot into the loop, taking up the rope itself to hold it tight.
Doroga nodded his approval. To Tavi's right, Kitai had knotted the rope himself and stood at the edge of the precipice, his expression impatient. Tavi walked awkwardly to the precipice's edge and stared over it to a drop of several hundred feet down a nearly sheer surface. His head spun a bit, and his belly suddenly shook and felt light.
"Are you afraid, Aleran?" Kitai asked, and let out a low little laugh.
Tavi shot the other boy a sharp glance and then turned to Doroga, who had secured the far end of the rope to a stake driven into the earth and looped it about a second such stake, so that he could let the rope out gradually. "Let's go," Tavi said, and with that, took a step back over the precipice and swung himself down into space.
Doroga held the line steady, and after a very short moment of terror, Tavi bumped against the wall and steadied himself, holding on. Doroga began to lower the rope, but Tavi called up, "Faster! Let it out faster!"
There was a brief pause, and then the rope began to play out quickly, lowering Tavi down the face of the cliff at a rather alarming rate.
From above, there was a yelp, and Kitai swung out into space. The boy plummeted down for several yards, and Tavi got the impression that when the rope finally did tighten and catch him that Hashat had only just managed to do so. Kitai shot Tavi a bright-eyed, angry glance and called something up the cliff in another tongue. A moment later, he, too, began to descend the cliff more quickly.