Sword Strike nodded. “Tiger Eyes does not have the strength to hold against you. There would be a division between her Hands.”
Why had Sword Strike ever thought he would offer to Jewel Tear in the first place? Had Jewel Tear finally broken her silence? “Why do you ask?”
“Now that you are seventy, you can change your household or clan to one that better suits you. You could even train with one of your grandparents.”
Was the male asking him to choose his own punishment? Pig-Sticker was a provincial nobody but Little Horse was the grandson of two of the most famous and powerful sekasha still alive beyond Sword Strike himself. Was the male worried about political backlash?
“I have not given it much thought.” Little Horse carefully chose his words. “I know that I can choose to change households at seventy but until I reach my majority, I am not a true sekasha.”
“You want to offer to a domana?”
“Yes.” After this morning, he was sure his answer came from his soul. “It will be another three decades before I win my sword and can offer, but yes, that is what I want.”
Little Horse couldn’t tell if Sword Strike was satisfied with this answer or not; the Wyvern merely nodded. Little Horse was still mystified as to the reason for the conversation. They were far from Longwind’s compound; they’d reached the Wind Clan airfield at the edge of the city. There were only open pastures beyond the gossamer’s moorings.
Since each clan had their own airfield, he was surprised that the area was filling up with Fire Clan troops. Nor were they common laedin-caste royal marines; it was a dozen Hands of Wyverns.
“Forgiveness, but what is going on?” Little Horse asked.
“Pure Radiance says that Wolf Who Rules will arrive this afternoon,” Sword Strike said.
“He’s scheduled to return this week.” The Westernlands were over three thousand miles away; the ocean took days to traverse. Marauding monsters. Bad weather. Anything could have delayed Brother Wolf, but if Pure Radiance said he’d arrive today, most likely he would.
The Wyverns would only greet the domana of another clan if they intended to arrest him. Brother Wolf, though, could use the Fire esva. He was a favorite of his cousin, Queen Soulful Ember. He’d been totally out of contact for months. Nor was Wolf Who Rules one to be taken by force, not with his training and abilities. There was no logical reason for armed confrontation.
Pure Radiance did not follow logic.
“What has Pure Radiance accused Wolf Who Rules of?” Little Horse asked.
“Nothing. We’re here because of what she needs him to do.” Sword Strike pointed at a small young gossamer with the gondola of Wind Clan blue. “There he is. Go meet him. Tell him that he’ll be returning to the Westernlands as soon as he’s talked with the queen. She’ll be here shortly.”
The Wyverns had not come empty-handed. They brought weapon crates, a mountain of dried keva beans in cloth sacks, mysterious chests and boxes, and a herd of baby kuesi. Little Horse eyed the shaggy beasts currently the size of draft horses. It would take years for the animals to be large enough to do real work. What did Pure Radiance see in store for his blade brother?
Wolf’s gossamer drifted to a stop over the moorings. Its tethers dropped to waiting ground crew, the rolls of heavy rope unraveling as they fell.
Brother Wolf was first off the elevator in a show of trust to his cousins. Wolf must have left most his sekasha behind to guard the settlement; only Discord followed him. Despite the worry on Wolf’s face, he smiled and opened his arms wide to Little Horse. “You’ve gotten taller again.” His blade brother hugged him tightly, as if he had all the time in the world for Little Horse. “Why are you here alone with all these Wyverns?”
Why am I?
Sword Strike could have left him with Clove or sent him home. Why did the Wyvern First bring Little Horse here? What was the male doing in the Stone Quarters? It was a wide detour from the Fire Quarters to the Wind Quarters. Was it just luck that Sword Strike was the Wyvern that stopped his fight with Pig-Sticker? Or had Sword Strike been looking for Little Horse? Certainly Sword Strike knew who he was without having to ask his name.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted.
His mother had taught him that his name meant nothing; the only measure of his worth was what he did and said. He was aware, though, that most people expected great things from him because of his name. No one had ever indicated what those great things were going to be.
Was this the eve of his future? Had Pure Radiance sent Sword Strike to find Little Horse?
It was not Sword Strike that escorted Queen Soulful Ember across the airfield but the members of her Second Hand. It meant that her First was overseeing the Wyverns but also was a subtle indication that Wolf Who Rules was a trusted family member. Little Horse steeled himself against disappointment; he would not get any confirmation that he was meant to be there. He told himself that Discord was most likely more disappointed; she’d not seen her father since she won her sword. He could not imagine going so long without seeing his parents. He backed up to take guard position beside Discord as he struggled to keep his face neutral.
“Our dear cousin,” the queen greeted Brother Wolf. She wore clothes as informal as her greeting: doeskin pants and a white silk blouse under red-scaled chest armor. She carried nothing to indicate her rank, not that she needed it. The Wyverns at her back were all she needed to claim her right.
“Cousin,” Wolf echoed the greeting. “What do you need of me?”
“To be my voice,” the queen said. “You are to be my Viceroy in the Westernlands.” She waved toward a procession of Wyverns carrying the mystery chests toward the gossamer’s lift. “The position comes with a distant voice and five hundred bars of gold bullion.”
“Forgiveness?” Wolf glanced at the chests with confusion. They represented nearly as much seed money as Wolf started with. “Viceroy? There is nothing there but my own holdings.”
“That will change,” she stated. “I need you to have the authority to speak as my representative.”
“Who—who will I be speaking to? Has one of the other clans decided to use the land they were deeded?”
She did not explain whom. “There is a place that you know of. You considered it as a site for your settlement. You stayed long enough to clear an airfield. In the end, you did not choose it.”
Wolf shook his head as he thought. “There are several such places.”
“Two rivers come together to form a great and mighty third river. A tall ridge overlooks that confluence from the south.”
He nodded slowly to indicate that he knew what area she meant. “I don’t understand. There is nothing there but wilderness. We explored it, mapped several fiutana but decided against it.”
“You must return to that place. Something is about to happen there. Something beyond Pure Radiance’s ability to understand. One thing she has seen clearly: we must not ignore it. It has to be sought out, understood, and controlled, or it will destroy us.”
“And the gold bullion?”
“It is important that you can do business as equals with whomever you meet. Gold has always been universal.”
His eyes widened. “You think the humans are going to find a way to Elfhome.”
“We can only pray for creatures so benign. But yes, your fascination with them will make you invaluable in this. You speak many of their languages. You have studied their history; you know what they’re capable of. You must stand strong; do not allow them to think that we are weak. We are not primitives that can be bought with glass beads or bullied with firearms or overwhelmed by smallpox or measles. You are the strongest domana ever born; make them respect you.”