Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses) (86 page)

BOOK: Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses)

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“I met this Tayse and this Senneth you spoke of,” Torrin said.

Justin nodded. “That’s right. In Coravann. Senneth told me.”

“She is kin. If he is married to her, that makes him kin as well. They are excellent fighters. They will bring honor to the Lirrenfolk.”

Justin had to grin at that, but he answered solemnly. “I think you can be proud to call them family.”

“She mentioned that war could be coming to Gillengaria.”

Justin nodded. “Some of the noble Houses see an old king on the throne and think they could rule better than his daughter when he dies. We think there are armies being raised in secret and rebels making alliances against the crown.”

“The men of the Lirrens have no argument with any of your Houses,” Torrin said. “Heffel of Coravann says he will stay neutral if the rest of you fall into a war.”

“I wish him luck in that,” Justin said a little bitterly. “Sometimes it is harder to stay out of an argument than a man might think.”

“Will you be fighting?”

Justin nodded again. “All the Riders will take the king’s side. Or his daughter’s side, if war only comes once her father is dead.”

“When you marry my sister, you will be kin. You will have the right to call on your brothers and cousins to join you in combat. Tayse, too. You could both call on the
sebahta-ris
.”

Justin caught his breath. Senneth had not seemed to think it would be so easy. Senneth had also seemed to have grave reservations about embroiling the young men of the Lirrens in a war that could prove desperately bloody. “The King’s Riders would be grateful to have their Lirren brothers fighting beside them,” he said carefully. “But this isn’t your war, and I don’t want to be the one to ride back across the mountains to tell your women that you’re dead. Anyone who freely chose to fight would be welcome. But I don’t want to invoke the bonds of family. Not when so much family could be lost.”

“Speaking for myself, I like to fight,” Torrin said, and grinned.

Justin laughed silently. “Somehow, I had guessed that.”

Torrin’s eyes were gleaming with mischief, even by moonlight. “Senneth told me I would not be able to defeat you, if I decided to duel you for my sister’s honor.”

“Well,
she’s
never defeated me,” Justin said, drawling the words. “You might have better luck.”

“Of course, you were recently injured,” Torrin said, as if offering an excuse. “You wouldn’t want to duel so soon. Tonight, for instance. If you lost, you might say your wounds made you drop the sword, or wield it in a clumsy manner.”

Now Justin had to laugh outright. “I think I’m recovered enough to make a pretty good showing. Who do you think might want to challenge me?”

“Well,” Torrin said, grinning broadly, “I would.”

“Tell me where my weapon is,” Justin said, “and I’ll be happy to match swords with you.”

Torrin dropped his hands to his waist and began undoing his buckle. Justin realized that he was wearing two belts, two scabbards, two swords. “I brought it with me,” Torrin said. “In case you were interested in a duel.”

Wordlessly, Justin accepted his belt from Torrin’s hands and fastened it around his body, happy to feel the familiar weight at his hips, against his thigh. He drew the blade and held it up for an examination by the watery light of the moon. It didn’t seem to have sustained any damage while under Torrin’s care.

“Just so I’m clear,” Justin said, “this is a friendly fight? No one dies?”

Torrin laughed. He seemed bright with excitement, pleased at the notion of a quick clash by starlight, of measuring himself against someone he was unlikely to defeat. Justin was pretty sure he was better than the Lirren man, but he wasn’t going to be stupid; for so many reasons, it was important to win this particular battle. Still, he liked this young man—liked his eagerness and his arrogance and stubbornness.
What a Rider he’d make
, he thought.
We’ll have to bring him to Ghosenhall
.

“No one dies,” Torrin confirmed. “No one is wounded, either, except maybe for a scratch or two. Insignificant.”

Justin nodded. “Then you’re on. Raise your weapon.”

They swept their hands up at precisely the same moment, and then paused with their swords upright, eying each other past the slim, glittering blades. Justin took a deep breath of the cold air and calmed his mind, steadied his nerves. They were alone out here between the barns and the storage buildings, and yet he could not shake the thought that they had acquired an audience. The night pressed against his back as if someone had laid a cool hand upon his shoulder. The moon peered down through her single round eye. At least two of the goddesses were watching, curious to see how this contest turned out, pleased rather than not to find Lirrenfolk making alliances with Gillengaria men. At least two of the goddesses had tracked Justin farther than he had ever roamed, despite the fact that he had never given any of them a moment’s thought, the slightest pledge of honor. One had betrayed him and one had succored him and both of them were jealous for the attention of the women he loved, and so he would have to learn to understand them, to fit them somewhere within the contours of his life.

Where is the god of war?
he wondered.
Shouldn’t he be here, too, taking an interest in me? Or is he already watching—has he been watching my whole life, caring for me when I did not even realize he was nearby? Maybe all my luck was really some god’s intervention. Maybe, like the mystics, I have always drawn my strength from some invisible source
.

“Are you ready?” Torrin asked.

“I’m ready,” Justin said. He tightened his hand on his hilt, and he waited.