Read Online In Legend Born by Laura Resnick - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Laura Resnick
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portion of Sileria that was neither shore nor port city. The Guardians lived even higher up than the shallaheen , the Sisters adhered to a vow of poverty, and the zanareen almost never left the rim of Darshon's volcano.
Waterlords and Society assassins liked to appear on horseback, of course, as a mark of their superiority. However, despite the power they still wielded in Sileria, the Emperor of Valdania had sworn to destroy them and had been pursuing this goal since before Tansen's birth. Consequently, many of them were obliged to live in hiding and practice a little discretion these days. And horses weren't all that easy to hide in The Horseless Land. This last consideration, even more than speed, was what motivated Tansen to get rid of his.
The traders would be taking the broad, paved Valdani road all the way to Adalian, so Tansen's horse would serve them well. Just to make sure they really needed it, he slipped out of the inn in the middle of the night, crept into the stables, and used the wavy-bladed shir he carried to disable one of the traders' horses. Just touching the flat of the blade to the vulnerable frog on the bottom of the animal's hoof was all that was needed. There was no serious damage, but the horse would be lame for several days. Seeing no visible wound or swelling, the traders were bewildered; sorcery certainly had its uses. Tansen, however, hated the shir so much that, until the day Koroll unwrapped it, he hadn't even looked at it in longer than he could remember. Nonetheless, he wouldn't have left Cavasar without it, not even if it meant dying by slow torture in the main square. He was relieved when Koroll had returned it to his possession, apparently assuming he might need it to do his job. The required nine years had passed, but he knew there would be no ease for him until he took the shir back to its source. Not after what he had done.
Dazzled by the first shatai they had ever met, the traders accepted Tansen's advice with relief when he told them he'd learned quite a bit about horses while sojourning in the Moorlands.
"I've seen this sort of thing before. It's more common than you suppose," he lied blithely while pretending to examine the horse's leg that morning. Shallaheen , after all, were taught from their cradles how to lie. "Merely a bruise. He'll be better in a few days."
"A few days?" One of the traders repeated with obvious distress. "We haven't got a few days! And what if this happens again?" He turned to one of his companions with an accusing glare. "I told you we should have brought spare mounts."
"No, you didn't! You said—"
"My friends," Tan interrupted, "I think I can help."
He sold them his horse at a reasonable price, rode with them as far as the Orban Pass, and waved them off, saying he'd walk from here. Eyes wide with awe at the young, exotically dressed swordmaster who had condescended to befriend them, the chubby, aging traders rode away. After leaving Adalian, Tansen knew, they would follow the trade route going east, and Koroll's horse would effectively disappear.
Alone now, he examined the site of Josarian's latest attack on the Valdani. The bloodstains had already dried to shrunken brown blotches in the dry climate. Seeing where the men had fallen, Tansen studied the surrounding cliffs, looking for the best vantage point for an ambush, then searched for a way to get there. It took him some time to reach the spot. He was winded when he got there, and one hand was scraped from a spill he'd taken when loose rocks had slid out from beneath his feet. While able to outfight, outrun, and outlast most men, he realized ruefully that he'd lost the conditioning that made a shallah able to climb up and down these punishing mountains from sunrise to sunset, sure-footed as a goat and breathing no harder than a Kintish courtesan at work.
Cavasar lay in the extreme west of Sileria, its view of Mount Darshon blocked by the foothills of the Amalidar Mountains until after a person
Waterlords and Society assassins liked to appear on horseback, of course, as a mark of their superiority. However, despite the power they still wielded in Sileria, the Emperor of Valdania had sworn to destroy them and had been pursuing this goal since before Tansen's birth. Consequently, many of them were obliged to live in hiding and practice a little discretion these days. And horses weren't all that easy to hide in The Horseless Land. This last consideration, even more than speed, was what motivated Tansen to get rid of his.
The traders would be taking the broad, paved Valdani road all the way to Adalian, so Tansen's horse would serve them well. Just to make sure they really needed it, he slipped out of the inn in the middle of the night, crept into the stables, and used the wavy-bladed shir he carried to disable one of the traders' horses. Just touching the flat of the blade to the vulnerable frog on the bottom of the animal's hoof was all that was needed. There was no serious damage, but the horse would be lame for several days. Seeing no visible wound or swelling, the traders were bewildered; sorcery certainly had its uses. Tansen, however, hated the shir so much that, until the day Koroll unwrapped it, he hadn't even looked at it in longer than he could remember. Nonetheless, he wouldn't have left Cavasar without it, not even if it meant dying by slow torture in the main square. He was relieved when Koroll had returned it to his possession, apparently assuming he might need it to do his job. The required nine years had passed, but he knew there would be no ease for him until he took the shir back to its source. Not after what he had done.
Dazzled by the first shatai they had ever met, the traders accepted Tansen's advice with relief when he told them he'd learned quite a bit about horses while sojourning in the Moorlands.
"I've seen this sort of thing before. It's more common than you suppose," he lied blithely while pretending to examine the horse's leg that morning. Shallaheen , after all, were taught from their cradles how to lie. "Merely a bruise. He'll be better in a few days."
"A few days?" One of the traders repeated with obvious distress. "We haven't got a few days! And what if this happens again?" He turned to one of his companions with an accusing glare. "I told you we should have brought spare mounts."
"No, you didn't! You said—"
"My friends," Tan interrupted, "I think I can help."
He sold them his horse at a reasonable price, rode with them as far as the Orban Pass, and waved them off, saying he'd walk from here. Eyes wide with awe at the young, exotically dressed swordmaster who had condescended to befriend them, the chubby, aging traders rode away. After leaving Adalian, Tansen knew, they would follow the trade route going east, and Koroll's horse would effectively disappear.
Alone now, he examined the site of Josarian's latest attack on the Valdani. The bloodstains had already dried to shrunken brown blotches in the dry climate. Seeing where the men had fallen, Tansen studied the surrounding cliffs, looking for the best vantage point for an ambush, then searched for a way to get there. It took him some time to reach the spot. He was winded when he got there, and one hand was scraped from a spill he'd taken when loose rocks had slid out from beneath his feet. While able to outfight, outrun, and outlast most men, he realized ruefully that he'd lost the conditioning that made a shallah able to climb up and down these punishing mountains from sunrise to sunset, sure-footed as a goat and breathing no harder than a Kintish courtesan at work.
Cavasar lay in the extreme west of Sileria, its view of Mount Darshon blocked by the foothills of the Amalidar Mountains until after a person
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