I heard a blurt of shock even as I pulled aside the cut flaps of the tent wall. Del’s opponent was down, dying on the matting. Rasha would be pleased and I didn’t blame her.
Sword raised and ready, Del spun to face me as I came through the slit. Recognized me and lowered her blade. “Rashida?”
“I sent her to Mahmood’s.” Her face was tense, but she was unharmed. “Any others?” I asked.
“This one,” she said. “One behind the tent, and the one you killed in front.”
“And Zayid’s dead. That’s four.”
“Where’s Eddrith?”
“I don’t know. He cut the horses loose, and then I lost track of him.”
She shook her sword, found and used a cloth to clean her blade. We have to go after them.”
“On foot, then. Your white boy ran off—last I saw Darrion was chasing after him down the middle of the street—and Rashida has the stud.”
“On foot, then,” she said grimly. “We must find them all.”
“What we must do,” I said, “is get Rashida to safety, back with her parents.”
I heard the sound of hooves approaching at a smart trot. “Go out the back,” I told her. “I’ll take the front.”
Del nodded, ducked out. I went through.
The man on horseback rode with his sword unsheathed. Blood ran off bright steel.
“Oh,” I said.
Tautly, Neesha asked, “Where’s my sister? Where’s Rasha?”
“Safe,” I told him. “She’s on the stud, heading to Mahmood’s.”
He looked immensely relieved; tension bled out of body and voice. “I killed one. I recognized him from the caravan attack. And I saw Eddrith drive his sword through another.”
I added that to my mental tally. “Six. To my knowledge, that’s all.” Then, “What are you doing here?”
Del had recognized Neesha’s voice. She came around the tent. “What are you doing here?”
“Your father,” I said abruptly, envisioning death.
“Awake again,” Neesha answered. “In pain, but better than he was. My mother told me to come here. Apparently I was underfoot.”
“You must have ridden hard.”
“The hardest I ever have.” And indeed, his bay showed white lines of sweat, foam along the sides of his neck. Neesha twisted in his saddle to look down the line of wagons. “Is Mahmood where he was?”
I gave him directions, and he rode away. Del sheathed her sword. “We’ve accounted for all of them,” I said.
Del wasn’t so certain. “All of them unless Zayid has a camp elsewhere.”
“Zayid’s dead. If he doesn’t return, and the other five don’t return, either, whoever’s there will sort it out. Once they do, they’ll scatter.”
Del wasn’t happy. “Yes, they’ll scatter—to raid again.”
I shook my head. “We can’t rid the world of them all, bascha. Not even if we had a hundred men. We accomplished what we came for. Now let’s get Rashida home and settled. And then we can go home. I think Neesha, if he stays with them, will understand why we head back so quickly.” I sighed, grabbed the door flap, and ran an edge down my blade, rubbing it free of blood.
“What do we do about Harith’s horses?” she asked.
I looked around, searching. “They’ll be here somewhere. Neesha may have an idea. They should wander back at some point.”
“Bodies,” she said.
Two not far from us. Another behind the tent. Zayid in the middle of the street. And wherever Neesha and Eddrith had killed theirs. “I’m sure Istamir has a graveyard,” I said. And I was fairly certain Istamir also had a burial detail for inconvenient deaths.
“So, are we spending the night?”
I shrugged. “Guess that depends on Neesha. He may want to take Rashida home right away.”
Neesha did not wish to go home right away. It was late in the day, and dusk would arrive just about the time we reached the burned farmhouse. I could think of better places for Rashida to spend the night, and agreed with Neesha’s decision. Besides, while I had the stud and Neesha his bay, Del’s gelding was still missing—probably running farther than he might otherwise have done because Darrion had chased him. Del was seriously annoyed and wanted to borrow the stud to go see if she could track Darrion down, but there was Rashida to look after, female to female.
Tamar, to my surprise, said nothing at all to Del about washing any portion of her body before she entered the inn, nor anything to Rashida. However, Neesha and I did not enjoy the same reception. As Tamar directed Del to take Rashida to her own private room, she turned her customary testiness on us.
“Wash your feet.”
Neesha, who had not had the pleasure of meeting Tamar before now, blinked and stared. “What?”
Tamar narrowed her eyes at him. “You have been in mud. I see it on your sandals. Wash your feet, young man!” She glanced at me. “He’ll tell you.”
I sighed. “We wash our feet if we want to enter the inn.”
“My feet aren’t that dirty! I was on horseback most of the time!”
“But not all of the time,” Tamar insisted.
He scowled at her. “I have never, in my life, had to wash my feet before entering an inn.”
“That’s because no one cared,” Tamar said. “My inn is clean, unlike all the others.”
“Might as well just do it,” I told him. “You can’t win this battle.”
Tamar nodded approval of my comments. “I’ve got supper on the hearth. Clean up, and I’ll serve you.”
Neesha frowned. “Where’s my sister?”
“I’ve sent her to my room with Del.” She glanced at me, then looked at Neesha again. Her tone of voice changed to something approaching sympathy. “She needs time to talk to another woman.”
I understood. Neesha did not. “I’m her brother. She can talk to me.”
Tamar’s momentary kindness evaporated. “No, she may not. My rules, or you can take a room elsewhere.”
Neesha was completely nonplussed, but also growing angry. “I’m not leaving my sister.”
Tamar stared at me. Her message was clear.
I touched Neesha’s arm. “Let’s wash our feet. Rashida’s in good hands with Del.”
“I don’t understand—”
I closed a hand on his upper arm, swung him around. “Trust me.”
Tamar gave me a brusque nod and went back to her hearth.
I pushed Neesha to the bench, then shoved him down hard with a hand on his shoulder. He set his feet preparatory to standing up. I tightened my hand and pushed him down again.
“Think,” I said. “Just—think.”
He didn’t. “I have every right to see my sister. Gods, Tiger, she’s spent the last three days with raiders!”
“And that’s exactly why she needs to be with Del, now.”
“But—”
“Think, Neesha! Your sister with six raiders!”
I saw the dawning of realization in his eyes, followed immediately by horror. “Oh, gods. Oh no. Not Rasha!” He looked as if he might vomit.
“Del will talk with her. Tomorrow, she’ll be with her mother. I’m not saying you should ignore her, nor treat her as if she might break. Just let her come to you.”
Tears stood in his eyes. He pressed his lips together, fighting not to let them fall. “Will she be all right?”
“She’s your sister. That means she’s strong. Very strong.”
Neesha, at a loss, sat in silence with a world in his eyes.
He needed distracting. I picked up a clean washing cloth and dropped it in his lap. “Wash your feet.”