"The Noose," Singh whispered. "It isn't possible."
"What?"
"The constellation is called the Noose. We shouldn't be able to see it." Not from this world. Narayan knew of it only because he had been a prisoner of the Black Company at a time when the constellation had been the subject of intense discussion. It had some connection with the glittering plain. Beneath which Kina lay imprisoned. "Maybe that's our sign." He was ready to grasp any straw. He dragged his weary frame upright, tucked his crutch under his arm. "South it is, then. Where we can travel by day because there'll be no one to spot us."
The girl said, "I don't want to travel anymore, Narayan." But she got up, too. Travel was what they did, day after month after year, because only by remaining in motion could they evade the evils that would prevent them from fulfilling their holy destinies.
An owl called from somewhere far away. Narayan ignored it. He was, for the thousandth time, reflecting on the change of fortune that had befallen them so swiftly, after life had gone so well for several years. His whole life had been that way, one wild swing after another. If he could cling to the tatters of his faith, if he could persevere, soon enough fortune would smile on him again. He was the living saint. His tests and trials had to be measured accordingly.
But he was so tired. And he hurt so much.
He tried not to wonder why there was no sense whatsoever of Kina's presence in the world anymore. He tried to concentrate his whole will upon covering the next painful hundred yards. With that victory in hand he could concentrate on conquering the hundred yards that followed.
17
The Land of Unknown Shadows: The Abode of Ravens
It took Tobo ten days to teach himself everything he needed to become a master shadowgate tinkerer. Those ten days seemed much longer for some of us because the File of Nine, defying the express wishes of the Elders of Khang Phi and the lords of the Court of All Seasons, issued a bull declaring the Black Company to be the enemy of the Children of the Dead. It encouraged all warlords to gather their forces and march against us.
That trouble was slow developing. The warlords who were our neighbors knew too much about us to try anything. Those who were farther away were willing to wait until someone else moved first. Most never bothered to call in their troops. And, characteristic of Hsien's politics, the stream of volunteers, of money and materials helping us become an ever greater threat to the Children of the Dead, never slackened.
Tobo finished work on the Hsien-end shadowgate fourteen days after our return from Khang Phi. Despite the war clouds, Sleepy was in no hurry. Sahra assured her that it would be months before anyone got started our way—if they ever did at all. She claimed the warlords could not possibly agree that quickly and move that fast. No need to hurry. Haste causes mistakes. Mistakes come back to haunt you every time.
"You do a good job, you're guaranteed gonna have to pay for it," I told Suvrin. The young Shadowlander had just been informed of his latest honor: He was going to cross the glittering plain to scout and to repair our home shadowgate. Right after Tobo trained him. Tobo would not go himself because he did not want to be separated from his pets. Filled with low cunning, I asked, "How are your writing skills?"
He stared at me for several seconds, eyes big and brown and round in a big round, brown face. "No. I don't think so. I like it in the Company. But I don't plan to spend my life here. This is a learning experience. This is training. But I won't become a lord of mercenaries."
He surprised me, in several ways. I never heard anyone describe their Company time quite that way, though many do join up fully intending to desert just as soon as they are safely away from the trouble that had them on the run. Nor had I noticed, ever, anyone grasp so quickly what it could mean, in the long run, to be approached about becoming the apprentice Annalist.
A stint as Annalist could be a step toward becoming Captain someday.
I was teasing, mostly, but Sleepy did think a lot of Suvrin. The suggestion might not be a joke to her.
"Have fun on the other side. And be careful. You can't be careful enough where Soulcatcher is involved." I went on and on. His patient blank expression and glazed eyes told me he had heard it all before. I stopped. "And you'll hear it all a hundred times more before you go. The Old Woman'll probably write it all down in a scroll you'll have to take along and read before breakfast every morning."
Suvrin put on a feeble, insincere smile. "The Old Woman?"
"Thought I'd try it out. I have a feeling it isn't going to work."
"I think you can count on that."
I didn't expect to cross paths with Suvrin again this side of the plain. I was wrong. Only minutes after we parted it occurred to me that it might be useful if I sat in on the shadowgate training.
It occurred to me that I ought to ask the Captain's permission. I was able to resist the temptation.
Lady decided it might be good if she extended her own education, too.
18
The Land of Unknown Shadows: Due South
Campfires burned on the far slopes, opposite Outpost. Those pesky rock apes had emigrated. The flocks of crows were expanding. Choosers of the slain, I heard them called somewhere. The File of Nine had pulled a half-ass army together far faster than our bemused foreign minister had believed possible.
"At last," I said to Murgen, as he and I shared a newly discovered jar of skullbuster. "To One-Eye." The stuff just kept turning up. We were doing our best to make sure it did not fall into the hands of the soldiers. In their hands strong drink was likely to cause indiscipline. "Your old lady talked like it'd be next year before they tried anything. If they ever got anything going at all."
The advent of unfriendly forces had been no surprise, of course. Not with Tobo handling intelligence.
"To One-Eye. She has been known to err, Captain." He was starting to slur already. The boy could not hold his liquor. "Upon rare occasions."
"Rare occasions."
Murgen hoisted his cup in a salute. "To One-Eye." Then he shook his head. "I do love that woman, Captain."
"Uhm." Oh-oh. I hoped we did not get maudlin here. But I understood his problem. She got old. We spent fifteen years in stasis, not aging a minute. A little payoff from the gods for doing us so dirty the rest of the time, maybe. But Sahra, who meant more to Murgen than life itself, who was the mother of his son, had not been one of the Captured.
Which had been lucky for us. Because she had dedicated herself to freeing Murgen. And eventually she succeeded. And freed me and my wife and most of the Captured as well. But Sahra had grown and had changed and had aged more than those fifteen years. And their son had grown up. And even now, four years after our resurrection, Murgen still had not adjusted completely.
"You can get by," I told him. "Bless One-Eye. Put it all out of your mind. Exist in the now. Don't worry about the then. That's what I do." In terms of experience my wife had been ancient centuries before I was born. "You did get to be the ghost that rode around with her and shared her life, even if you couldn't touch her." I live with ten thousand ghosts from my wife's past, few of whom ever got discussed. She just did not want to talk about her olden days.
Murgen grunted, mumbled something about One-Eye. He was having trouble understanding me even though I was articulating with especial precision. He asked, "You never were much of a drinker, were you, Captain?"
"No. But I've always been a good soldier. I've always done what's got to be done."
"I gotcha."
We were outside, of course, watching shooting stars and the constellations of fires that marked the enemy encampment. There seemed to be an awful lot of those fires. More than the reported numbers deserved. Some genius of a warlord was playing games.