Chapter Fifty-One

To help with the large cast of characters,
I have put together a spoiler-free Dramatis Personae

Watching the sword glint in the rising sun, So Ga felt a wave of shock so sharp that he thought he might faint. He wrenched against his bonds knowing there was nothing he could do to stop the blade. Min La was terribly still, as if the fight had left him, or worse, So Ga thought suddenly, as if he was giving himself to death.

He knew that he cried out. He felt his throat burn and so he knew he must have used it. The world seemed to have slowed and for several minutes it was as if the blade was frozen in the air, the light frozen where it turned in a white needle across its sharpened edge, the air frozen where it cut through the echo of dawn still pulsing in waves of orange and bright blue cold across the bitter Osa Len foothills. So Ga felt the ropes dig into his wrists, he felt his shoulders strain until spasms of pain flickered through his arms and fingers.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blue. Before he could stop himself, he turned towards it.

A figure slipped between the trees, slipped, too, in and out of So Ga’s sight. The blue of his trailing golt was one with the blue of the shadows. The brilliant amber dawn framed his head in a halo. Pale white hair fell in soft waves around a pale white face, so pale that even the features were not discernible.

So Ga watched as the figure slipped soundlessly closer and closer. He was waiting, So Ga knew. Waiting for the sword to fall. Waiting to take Min La.

So Ga looked away. The world had grown quiet, he realized suddenly. And in that moment the sound returned so abruptly that he felt as if his ears had been struck. The needle light from the sword’s edge struck So Ga in the eye. He gasped and turned, scanning the forest for the figure in blue.

But the sword.

He looked back. The executioner took a breath and prepared to bring the blade down. So Ga felt his legs turn to jelly.

“My lord Tolo Dol,” called a voice from the other side of the creek.

The voice came so suddenly and the words crashed through the silence with such violence that So Ga almost cried out.

The commander lifted his hand, signaling the executioner to stop. Turning to look at the source of the voice, he smiled and said, “What a busy morning this is. First I find trespassers on my land, then one of my men is murdered, and now here, at last, I am visited by none other than the Koda princeling himself.”

The Tolo Dol men standing around them parted and So Ga could look out and see for himself as the Koda heir — accompanied by some dozen of his men — dismounted his horse.

So Ga had heard Tá Nom¹ Koda described. Much had been said of him and his House in his father’s court, especially recently. But seeing him now, he realized that the accounts he had read did not quite do him justice.

Tá Nom’s father had been a martial man, a general in good standing with the court who spent his life defending the border in Gŏhíth. It was said that both of his sons had inherited his imposing physique. Tá Nom, a man of about thirty-five, was tall, with broad shoulders. His men standing around him were lifelong soldiers, strong, healthy, imposing, and yet Tá Nom towered over them. He wore a blue golt — in honor of his father — and the pale green of his House. Reports had related that in deference to the tolibin king, the Koda House had adopted the tolibin ways. Tá Nom’s hair was long, and tied back around his ears with a simple leather cord. His long face was serious and his large eyes calm but attentive. On his hip he wore a sword in a simple black sheath. From the reports So Ga knew that it was his father’s.

He strode to the creek’s edge, several of his men behind him. Then, standing with his hand on the pommel of his father’s sword, he lifted his head and offered the Tolo Dol commander an unreadable smile.

“My lord Tolo Dol,” he said, “I am sure that you aren’t about to execute a man on lands that are under the control of my House.”

The Tolo Dol commander turned. “My lord Koda, you seem to be mistaken. The boundary of your land is that creek before your feet.”

“Ah,” said Tá Nom, “so that is the source of your error.” Turning, he gestured to one of his men, saying something So Ga could not hear.

The man hurried to Tá Nom’s horse where he retrieved a rolled parchment from the saddle bag. This he carried into the encampment after hopping across the creek. With a bow, he handed the roll — which turned out to be a map painted on leather — to the Tolo Dol commander. As he did so, he spent a moment studying So Ga and Min La.

“As you can see,” Tá Nom said from across the creek, “the edge of Koda territory is, in fact, marked by that tree line just behind you.”

The commander set his jaw as he studied the map. When he finished he rolled it up and So Ga saw the light glint off the thick black ink of his royal father’s seal in the map’s corner. His eyes flashing, the commander flung the map back at the Koda man who had delivered it.

He bowed and returned to his master across the creek.

“My lord,” Tá Nom went on. “As much as I appreciate and respect your position as the head of your House, these two prisoners are, nevertheless, on Koda territory. And so you have no right to execute them.”

“This one has confessed to killing my man,” the commander said, stabbing his finger at Min La, who still had not moved, though So Ga saw his back move with heavy breaths.

“And you have my sympathies, but even so, it has occurred on Koda land.”

So Ga understood at once what was occurring. Tá Nom Koda had no interest in saving Min La, not exactly. Like the Tolo Dol commander, Tá Nom believed the two of them to be spies of some kind. So Ga guessed that the constant, delicate power struggle in this part of the Osa Len mountains had made all of the Houses here paranoid. And all of them were eager for an advantage over the others, but none so much as Koda who sought always to outmaneuver Ŏklo. And everyone knew that Tolo Dol served Ŏklo.

Tá Nom Koda had likely heard that spies had been captured by Tolo Dol. No doubt Koda did have spies throughout these mountains. And so he had come himself to see if the reports were true and if anything could be done. He had probably been here for hours, but had only chosen to show himself when he realized that the Tolo Dol commander was about to execute his prisoners. Perhaps it was mere chance that he was able to use as an excuse that the Tolo Dol encampment was on Koda land. Perhaps not.

So Ga had once read of a Housemaster from the early days before Láokoth had been unified. He had been locked in a border dispute with three Houses for almost ten years. They had all finally reached a truce at last, each compelled by signed agreement to be satisfied with the land they possessed. Two honored this agreement, but the third was known for their devious plotting.

The Housemaster had watched from afar as this enemy had established a camp very near the border of his lands. Soon after, the enemy moved his camp even closer, crossing the boundary. The Housemaster had ordered his men to do nothing. He pretended to be oblivious to the treacherous House’s encroachment. After all, they could claim that they had merely accidentally crossed the border. And something as small as that was not enough to break their agreement. This had continued for several weeks until the day came when an altercation between scouts resulted in the death of one of the Housemaster’s captains. He condemned the entirety of the offending House for violating the terms of their agreed-upon borders. Thus he was able to annihilate his enemy without betraying the agreement he had signed. He absorbed his enemy’s lands and quickly became one of the most powerful Houses on the continent. So Ga remembered suddenly that that House had been Lăsoth.

So Ga wondered if Tá Nom Koda had allowed Tolo Dol to keep their encampment within Koda territory just in case he ever needed to use that violation to his advantage. So Ga remembered then that Tá Nom was the son of Gin Ja Koda, the current Housemaster after the death of her husband. Many said that Gin Ja was one of the shrewdest Housemasters on the peninsula.

The Tolo Dol commander walked to his edge of the creek. “And so,” he said with a thin smile. “You would rather take them and execute them yourself?”

“If indeed a murder has occurred on our land, is it not my duty to see to it that punishment is carried out? Just as it would be your duty to do so when a crime is committed on your land. We are, each of us, men bound by duty.”

“But it was my Housemember who was killed.”

“All the same.” Tá Nom Koda smiled and gave a slight bow.

“Then what would you propose, my lord Koda?”

Tá Nom didn’t answer for a moment. He glanced up at the mountain behind him, and then his gaze passed over So Ga and Min La. And then he sighed.

“Well, to begin with, perhaps you should let me speak to your prisoners. Given that we are, as I have explained to you, on Koda land.”

The Tolo Dol commander offered a stiff bow and then motioned to the bridge that crossed the creek. Tá Nom thanked him and went to it. Only one of his men went with him.

The other Tolo Dol swords parted for him as he entered the encampment. So Ga perceived a certain fear colored by respect. Even the commander seemed to have a favorable opinion of the Koda heir, despite the fact that his situation made him his enemy.

The commander led Tá Nom to where So Ga was bound and Min La knelt hunched in the mud. He gestured as if to indicate that Tá Nom was free to speak with him.

“My lord,” the Koda heir said with a note of disapproval. “This won’t do at all. They have no coats and the morning is bitterly cold. Let us take them into one of your tents and then I will speak to them while your men prepare them some warm food. How does that sound?”

It was several seconds before the Tolo Dol commander assented. And when he did, it was with flashing eyes. The Koda heir was making a point of displaying his superior power as clearly, but as delicately, as he could. As much as So Ga was relieved to be going back inside the tent and away from the wind, he knew that Tá Nom Koda was not any more their ally than the Tolo Dol commander.

Inside the tent they were bound again, but this time Tá Nom directed the men to tie their hands in front of them.

“So they can eat,” he said.

The bonds were less tight but So Ga’s wrists still smarted and stung. He and Min La were placed side by side, so he could see the way Min La trembled still and sheen of sweat on the paper white skin on his face. Glancing at So Ga, he smiled and gave him a nod. The Tolo Dol commander stood near the opening of the tent, close enough to hear their conversation. This did not seem to worry the Koda heir.

Tá Nom’s man brought him a wooden box from the other side of the tent and he sat facing them both. Taking off his gloves, he draped them over his knee and then clasped his hands together, looking at them. His long face was warm, but otherwise belied no thought or emotion. So Ga was struck by how much more at ease he felt in the Koda heir’s company, and he worried that this sense of comfort would get them in trouble.

“You admit to killing the man?” Tá Nom Koda said to Min La. So Ga felt another surge of panic and stared at him.

Min La nodded. “In an effort to protect myself and my brother.”

“I see.” He said nothing for a time. Then, “And you are?”

“My brother and I are Houseless,” Min La said quickly, staring at the ground. So Ga thought his manner strange. His lie was delivered far less convincingly than when he’d said the same thing to the Tolo Dol swords.

“We,” he went on. “We… we are…” he searched for the words. Then he said quickly: “traveling to see our uncle.”

“Are you, now? Where is your uncle?”

Min La licked his lips. “He is— you see, he is—”

“In Ŭthol Na,” So Ga offered. He had begun to fear that the shock of earlier had had too great an effect on Min La and he could no longer remember their story. The Koda heir would be able to tell they were lying in an instant.

“Yes, that’s right!” Min La agreed, eyes wide. “Ŭthol Na.”

“Is it your paternal uncle or your maternal uncle?”

“Patern— no, I mean it is my maternal uncle. Our maternal uncle.” He laughed nervously. “Of course.”

Tá Nom smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

A Tolo Dol sword came then carrying two bowls of brothy soup. He gave one to each of them, but no spoon. So Ga followed Min La’s example and sipped the broth. He was surprised how comforting it felt to drink something hot. Comfort in this moment almost felt wrong.

The Tolo Dol sword went to his commander, who took him by the arm and led him outside to give him some order he didn’t want Tá Nom to overhear.

Min La immediately put the bowl aside and leaned forward.

“My lord Koda,” he said in a whisper, speaking quickly. “I know who you are and why you are here. My companion and I are not spies, you know this as well as I. We cannot tell you who we are nor where we are going but we cannot remain in this camp.”

Tá Nom Koda seemed a little taken aback by the sudden change in Min La’s demeanor. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “Tell me, my young friend, is your identity of any importance to me?”

“Not directly.” Min La glanced at the doorway again, then he leaned a little closer. “My compan— my brother and I have been traveling for several days. We are in a hurry and we are not safe on the road. Many hunt us. I killed that man to protect myself.”

“And your identity?” Tá Nom offered with a smile.

“Our identity is not important.”

“Is it not?”

“These men want to kill us for murdering their Housemember. But we were only acting in self defense. If it is in your power to let us go, we beg of you—”

“Perhaps I can contact this uncle of yours—”

“No!” Min La put his bound hands against his mouth. “No, that isn’t necessary. We shouldn’t trouble our… uncle.”

“Perhaps not. But should the death of the Tolo Dol Housemember go unanswered?”

Min La bowed and spoke, “My lord, if you believe punishment is just, I will accept it.” He lifted his head and looked sharply into the Koda heir’s eyes. “But if you understand my situation, perhaps you will have a different opinion.”

“Your situation?” Tá Nom leaned back and put his hands on his knees. He remained silent for some time, looking at both of them thoughtfully.

“But how could you understand,” Min La went on, half to himself, “my brother and I are hungry and we are exhausted. We’ve been running from the west—” He stopped and once again looked at Tá Nom, and then quickly looked away. “For several days we have been running.”

“From the west?” Tá Nom asked.

Min La kept his head down and said nothing. At that moment the Tolo Dol commander reappeared in the tent’s doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

Tá Nom studied Min La’s face as he put his gloves on. Standing, he said, “You should eat your soup while it’s hot. I’ll see to it that they continue to feed you and even bring you a small brazier.”

Min La bowed in thanks as Tá Nom left the tent.

The Tolo Dol commander waited for Tá Nom to leave and then he offered his prisoners a passing glance, and followed the Koda heir.

So Ga turned to Min La. “What are you doing?” he said in a whisper. “You’ve all but told him the truth. A child could see through your lies.”

Min La leaned against the tent post behind him and sighed. He used his bound hands to rub his face; his fingers still trembled.

“Yes,” he whispered, nodding. “Tá Nom Koda is smart. What I’ve told him will be enough. He’ll figure out the rest himself.”

“Why would you want to tell him who I am?”

“The Koda House is ambitious and they are shrewd. They’ll understand the value of…” he glanced at So Ga, “of possessing you. Once he confirms the truth, he’ll try to see us transferred to his custody.”

“Confirms?”

“The Koda House is one of the most powerful Houses in Sona Gen. I assure you, they absolutely have someone in the capital. They’ve probably already heard rumors of an attack on the Palace. We provide the pieces and Koda puts it all together, thinking they’ve figured it out themselves.”

“If you wanted Koda to know the truth, why not just tell him directly?”

Min La shook his head. “He would have assumed it to be a lie. But if it seemed like we were hiding the truth and that he had seen through our lies, he would be more inclined to believe it.”

So Ga stared, mouth open. The plan was delicate, risky, and brilliant. But there was one thing it seemed Min La had not considered.

“Won’t we just be exchanging Tolo Dol ropes for Koda ropes?” So Ga lifted his bounds hands to show him.

“It’s alright,” Min La said with a smile. “One problem at a time. If we stay with Tolo Dol we’ll both die. The first problem is escaping execution.”

“And the second problem?”

“We’ll know it when we get to it.”

Standing with the Tolo Dol commander on the western side of the creek, Tá Nom Koda clasped his hands behind his back.

“My Housemaster has stated that she must be consulted regarding any matter as serious as murder on the lands around the mines. I’m sure you understand.”

The Tolo Dol commander said nothing.

“She is at the estate a half-day’s ride from here. I will send her a message and we will hear back by the evening.” He smiled and made his way across the little bridge to his side of the creek. “When this matter is sorted,” he went on. “I would advise you to find a more suitable location for your camp. That way in the future we can avoid these kinds of misunderstandings.”

One of Tá Nom’s men brought him a stool and he sat. They began to erect a small tent behind him while he used a short glass pen and a small pot of ink to write a message on a square of paper. This he folded and stamped with a seal he retrieved from a chain around his neck. Handing it to the man standing nearest him, he uttered an order that the Tolo Dol commander could not quite hear.

Within seconds the man was astride his horse. When Tá Nom motioned to him, he took off at a hard gallop.

“There,” Tá Nom said, taking an apple from his cloak pocket and leaning forward to rinse it in the little creek. “It shouldn’t be long now.”

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