Page 20 of The Summer Pass

She looked at him over the dying flames. He had a look of shock on his face. He’d said that by mistake.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have … ”

“Should you not?”

“No, I … it isn’t right.” He got hastily to his feet. “We ought to put out the fire and go—get—sleep. We ought to sleep.”

Chapter 8

In the Way of Fangs

“Khatu Gurkhartu, as you requested, my lord,” the guard at the door of Vanu’s tent announced.

“Snow in the lowlands,” Khatu crowed as he sauntered in, followed by his dog. “So official to be announced like that! What’s up?”

He looked around for somewhere to sit, but Vanu and the lord of Tawakhura were occupying the only chairs in the tent. Mikhi was leaning against the arm of Vanu’s chair.

“I asked you to send Miro of Dukka to Masseta for news of the king’s army,” Vanu signed. “Did I not?”

“Yeah, you did. Yeah.”

“Why has he not gone? Yano tells me that he was still in camp this morning. Yet I gave you that order three days ago. He should have been well on his way by now.”

“Oh … well. The thing is, I was on my way to give him your instructions, uh, my lord, but … the thing is, I did send somebody, that very day, it just wasn’t Miro, that’s all.” Khatu shrugged.

“I told you to send Miro. He’s a good scout, that’s why I wanted him to go. If you wanted to send someone else, you should have asked me first.”

As Mikhi translated this, Vanu noticed out of the corner of his eye that the lord of Tawakhura crossed his legs and put a hand over his mouth. He looked uncomfortable.

So did Khatu. In fact, he looked dismayed. “I didn’t want to send someone else, my lord. It was … I don’t know her name. It was his wife.” He pointed at the lord of Tawakhura.

He seemed to hope this would be explanation enough, and in a way it was.

“Are you telling me that you ignored my orders because they were countermanded by Yano of Tawakhura’s wife?”

“Uh … ”

“Are you her hearthman?”

“No. It’s just, she wanted me to send her brother, and I didn’t think … It’s rather hard to say no to her.”

The lord of Tawakhura whimpered. Vanu gave him a hard look.

“He’s a hopeless drunk, her brother,” the lord of Tawakhura admitted in a strangled voice. “Of course she thinks well of him, she’s so warm-hearted, and she wants to help him out, but I can’t think of a worse scout.”

Vanu rose from his chair and took hold of a fistful of the front of Khatu’s jacket. Khatu stiffened but made no sound.

“Next time I give you an order,” Vanu breathed, “you carry it out.”

“Yes, my lord.”

He released Khatu’s jacket. “Go send Miro as you should have done in the first place,” he signed.

“Yes, my lord.”

The dog, who had curled up under Vanu’s table, lifted up her head at Khatu’s departure, and then seemed to decide that she wasn’t interested in following him, and settled back with her chin on her paws.

“My lord,” Yano of Tawakhura started. Mikhi gave him a warning look which he may or may not have noticed.