enormity of the gesture, and then his men responded, cheer following cheer, spears beating against shields in a crescendo of noise while he stood there and let it happen. He’d committed these people to a desperate venture; anything that gave them comfort had his support. The company sergeants stood smiling, taking their cue from him, until the noise died and then reported their readiness to move.
Kamran stood fully erect, taking on the gravitas of the moment. “Companies,” he roared, and then waited until everyone swayed forward in preparation to move. “March!”
One hundred and twenty feet swung forward as one to strike the ground with a crash. Kamran heard the women calling encouragement, but he didn’t look back.
Chapter Four
“They were going to hang you because the economy is too fragmented to support a legal system with its courts and prisons. Justice is summary execution, banishment or a fine. Banishing you would have been pointless, and you didn’t have the where-with-all to pay a fine.” Anneke had called a break mid-afternoon, while Rachael still had the energy for conversation. They sat opposite each other on the banks of a creek, soaking their feet and munching the charcoal burner’s food.
“The High Born…” Rachael began, but Anneke cut her off.
“Squabble constantly over borders and lines of inheritance. They have no internal hierarchy, and it would take an extraordinary individual to impose one because of the network of intrigue and favors binding them to their present state.”
“Then they need the Federation.”
“No one needs the Federation, but the Federation.” Anneke sounded dismissive. “Freedom gives them the right to muddle through to a solution that suits their society, rather than having one imposed on them from another.”
“The Alliance?” Rachael raised an eyebrow.
“Do not interfere,” Anneke paused and grinned, “other than to counter the Federation’s meddling.”
Rachael had the sense they waited for something, for Anneke’s attention strayed occasionally, as if she listened for some illusive sound. If the sky above them hadn’t been so clear, Rachael would have expected a thunderstorm. The atmosphere had the oppressive feel of one about to break.
“We’ll travel by night from now on.” Anneke spoke abruptly, returning from a moment of abstraction. “We’ve reached the settled area. Once we’ve rested, I know a good hide a mile further down this trail. We can rest there till full dark, and then move on all night.”
Her words killed the conversation and they sat in silence until Anneke’s restlessness drove them to their feet. “We might just as well be moving. The sooner we’re there, the sooner we can rest.”
Rachael nodded her assent, unconsciously glancing over her shoulder for an explanation of the tension she felt increasing by the minute. It wasn’t Anneke. She seemed equally affected by the sense of some crisis looming just beyond their perception.
It made them hurry, as if distance might avert its effect. Anneke glanced frequently over her shoulder, not at Rachael, but to the northwest, where a range of hills thrust its way southward toward the sea.
“There’s a pass back there.” Anneke had noticed her attention. “My father called it this land’s Thermopylae. Only the smugglers use it, but it’s the perfect battlefield. He said events would conspire to see it used as one. I’ve a feeling he’s about to be proved right.”
A screen parted briefly in Rachael’s mind she saw the sergeant standing in dappled shadow. He watched a file of men entering an open glade beneath a steep embankment, almost a cliff, with a deep pool at its foot. A crowd had already formed around the pool and the others hurried to join them, shedding weapons and burdens as they went. She heard much laugher and joking. One man had already fallen into the pool and the press of bodies threatened to send others to join him.
She blinked her eyes and it
Kamran stood fully erect, taking on the gravitas of the moment. “Companies,” he roared, and then waited until everyone swayed forward in preparation to move. “March!”
One hundred and twenty feet swung forward as one to strike the ground with a crash. Kamran heard the women calling encouragement, but he didn’t look back.
Chapter Four
“They were going to hang you because the economy is too fragmented to support a legal system with its courts and prisons. Justice is summary execution, banishment or a fine. Banishing you would have been pointless, and you didn’t have the where-with-all to pay a fine.” Anneke had called a break mid-afternoon, while Rachael still had the energy for conversation. They sat opposite each other on the banks of a creek, soaking their feet and munching the charcoal burner’s food.
“The High Born…” Rachael began, but Anneke cut her off.
“Squabble constantly over borders and lines of inheritance. They have no internal hierarchy, and it would take an extraordinary individual to impose one because of the network of intrigue and favors binding them to their present state.”
“Then they need the Federation.”
“No one needs the Federation, but the Federation.” Anneke sounded dismissive. “Freedom gives them the right to muddle through to a solution that suits their society, rather than having one imposed on them from another.”
“The Alliance?” Rachael raised an eyebrow.
“Do not interfere,” Anneke paused and grinned, “other than to counter the Federation’s meddling.”
Rachael had the sense they waited for something, for Anneke’s attention strayed occasionally, as if she listened for some illusive sound. If the sky above them hadn’t been so clear, Rachael would have expected a thunderstorm. The atmosphere had the oppressive feel of one about to break.
“We’ll travel by night from now on.” Anneke spoke abruptly, returning from a moment of abstraction. “We’ve reached the settled area. Once we’ve rested, I know a good hide a mile further down this trail. We can rest there till full dark, and then move on all night.”
Her words killed the conversation and they sat in silence until Anneke’s restlessness drove them to their feet. “We might just as well be moving. The sooner we’re there, the sooner we can rest.”
Rachael nodded her assent, unconsciously glancing over her shoulder for an explanation of the tension she felt increasing by the minute. It wasn’t Anneke. She seemed equally affected by the sense of some crisis looming just beyond their perception.
It made them hurry, as if distance might avert its effect. Anneke glanced frequently over her shoulder, not at Rachael, but to the northwest, where a range of hills thrust its way southward toward the sea.
“There’s a pass back there.” Anneke had noticed her attention. “My father called it this land’s Thermopylae. Only the smugglers use it, but it’s the perfect battlefield. He said events would conspire to see it used as one. I’ve a feeling he’s about to be proved right.”
A screen parted briefly in Rachael’s mind she saw the sergeant standing in dappled shadow. He watched a file of men entering an open glade beneath a steep embankment, almost a cliff, with a deep pool at its foot. A crowd had already formed around the pool and the others hurried to join them, shedding weapons and burdens as they went. She heard much laugher and joking. One man had already fallen into the pool and the press of bodies threatened to send others to join him.
She blinked her eyes and it
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