I put a hand to my middle at the strong flash of illness which clawed through my inner flesh, knowing I would not survive another such attempt. The very thought of it froze me where I stood, taking the strength from my knees and threatening to send me senseless to the ground. A war leader of Midanna should know no fear, yet had this war leader learned the true meaning of terror, and surely would such lessons keep her from acting in defense of one whose absence was an ache deep in the chest—and whose presence was constant irritation. To put such a demand to me again was beyond reason. I put a hand to the rough bark of the tree I stood beside, and in Mida’s name did I vow it. Not again!
Fully a hin must easily have passed before I again joined those who traveled with me. Our halting place had become our camping place, and the first thing which came to me was the aroma of roasting toray, the cooking of which had become the chore of Ilvin. Flushed and sweating did she stand above the fire which had been set, and that despite the fact that the wet of her hair spoke of her having been allowed to bathe. The male S’Heernoh also seemed badly in need of cooling and washing, for it was he who labored on in an attempt to skin and gut the balance of the toray. Red to the elbows were his arms in gore, the same smeared here and there upon his body. Much did it seem that he somehow felt put out, and sight of his annoyance brought a smile to my lips. It pleased me that Wedin and Dotil received a full measure of service from the male they had allowed to follow them, service the male may not have expected to give. Midanna warriors are firm with those males who give them allegiance, so that the males will not mistake their place. Full Midanna warriors were the Summa, and this the male S’Heernoh would learn.
Mehrayn sat to one side of the camp with his males, his large body stretched at ease upon a cloth-covered lenga pelt, the other two to either side of him, all three conversing casually in low tones. Somewhat farther about the camp sat Chaldrin and the two Summa, the warriors speaking, the male merely listening. None save Ilvin took note of my reappearance from among the growing shadows, the unfinished pipe I had set myself to carving held in my hands. The Hitta’s eyes met mine above the fire she stood near, a streak of something dark upon her left cheek, a look of bridled fury within the gaze she sent me. The warrior in her chafed at the tasks she had been set to as though she were a city slave-woman, however she had not as yet been touched by any part of the knowledge which would have come to her had she been in true capture. She continued to feel herself justified in following me, a thing shown clearly in the stubborn set of her body which remained even after her head had lowered at my approach.
“Chaldrin has not yet spoken of what pleasure he had when you were earlier made to serve him,” said I very softly as she poked at the cuts of toray with the blackened end of the stick she held. “Were you made to serve well?”
Her body stiffened yet further at my words, and the face which raised to me had darkened with anger.
“It is beyond me why you allow that one to follow you, Jalav,” said she, affronted indignation thick in her voice. “The male is impossible, and much would it please me to put the point of a blade in him! Come the fey I am no longer bound to him, I shall face him no matter the cost!”
“There are some costs, warrior,” said I, “which are beyond a Midanna’s ability to meet. You have given your word to obey this male in all things till I release you from the vow. The male is looked upon by me as a brother, and I would not care to see him harmed. What would be the cost to you, Ilvin, if I were to fail to release you from your vow? Would you see yourself forsworn?”
With the query Ilvin turned pale. No longer were there words in her throat nor fury in her widened eyes, and I stood but a moment longer before turning from her toward the kand, where I would put my unfinished pipe away beside the sack which would soon fill it. The kand had been seen to and were quiet and satisfied some already dozing where they stood, Gandod, in their place, would have been in fighting temper, the manner in which they ever greeted the coming darkness, the time of fey they most preferred to vent their fury upon one another. For that reason were gandod mounts to warriors alone, for males cared little for attempting their taming. Without disturbing the drowsing kand I exchanged pipe for comb, then went to seat myself between Chaldrin and the Summa.
“The followers of you both see well to our needs,” said I to male and warriors, settling myself upon the thick, soft grass before taking up the comb. “I eagerly anticipate the cut of toray which will be mine.”
“Cooked toray,” said Chaldrin with a growl, bringing forth chuckling from Wedin and Dotil. “I had thought the great Midanna warriors preferred uncooked flesh to fill their bellies. For what reason do you now see it cooked?”
“For the reason that we wish it so,” said I, glancing in amusement at the male. “Midanna warriors do as they please, a thing Chaldrin will come to know well.”
“Chaldrin is already aware of that thing,” said the male, his voice filled with annoyance. “Would that he were able to take a switch to another of their number as easily as he did with that yellow-haired wench.”
“You gave punishment to the Hitta?” asked Wedin as I turned a frown upon Chaldrin for his insolence. “For what reason was it necessary that you do so?”
“For the reason that she presumed,” said the male, sending his calm, dark-eyed gaze to the Summa. “When I was done with my mid-fey meal and informed the wench she would then serve me with her body, she in turn informed me that she had ever taken from a male, never having been taken, and would serve me only in that manner. I cut a switch and whipped her till she screamed, then taught her the proper manner of accepting a man. Once taught, she was able to do no other thing than obey me completely. Well may she be Midanna, yet is she first and most thoroughly female.”
The silence of hard-eyed blood insult settled upon the two Summa, clan commitments forgotten in the face of such treatment toward one of their own. Few others save the Silla among the enemy clans would see another Midanna savaged so by a male without feeling rage, yet were the eyes of Chaldrin upon me rather than upon those who were near to giving him challenge. I considered the words he had spoken very briefly, then did I make a sound of derision.
“So my brother seeks to give insult and anger,” said I, allowing my gaze to hold his as I moved the comb slowly through the tangles of my hair. “Perhaps it would be well to inform him that should he be challenged, his sister would be honor-bound to stand beside him in that challenge. Also, should he bear the remains of a wound which might well hamper him during battle, honor would also demand that she stand alone in that challenge. Is this what Chaldrin wishes?”
The calm quickly fled the gaze of the male as his hand went to the white cloth about his middle, consternation and alarm immediately replacing that calm. The thick brows of Chaldrin lowered as he sought to look within me, and then did his eyes move to Wedin.
“She puts the feather to me again, does she not?” he asked, the rumble of his voice fainter than it normally was. “You and she are the same, you ride in service to the same goddess, you laugh and speak together as sisters. She would not face you above blade edges, nor would you face her.”
“Honor demands no other thing,” answered Wedin, her tone stiff and devoid of all friendliness. “Even should the war leader deplore your actions, she is bound to stand beside or for you, just as we are honor-bound to stand in challenge. Think you sisterhood comes before honor? Without honor, sisterhood would be idle.”