Page 69 of The Summer Pass

Husbands

The other secret passage out of the lord’s chamber of Tagra Degra ended on the outside of the great house with a door that could only be opened from the inside. On the outside, it looked like part of the wall. It was very clever.

“It makes you wonder what sort of things were going on here that they needed to build all that,” Otoni remarked, looking at the place where the door had been.

Gurti, who knew some of things that had gone on at Tagra Degra, made no reply to that. “Let’s get going,” she said instead.

She remembered where the people from Manáshta were staying because she and the rest of her party had gone there at first when they arrived in Tagra Degra. They were crammed into a couple of houses near the fortress gate and camping in the streets outside. It was better than facing the Zashian king’s army, of course, but it was miserable compared to the village they’d left behind. That was why Halza and Auxshna had suggested they go up to the great house in the first place.

“We’re from Lord Vanu’s household—the Boar of Hawakhurta will want to show us honour!” they’d said, and the rest of them had listened. Gurti couldn’t claim that she’d known any better, though it was a small relief now that the idea of going to the great house hadn’t been hers. They’d all been listening to Halza and Auxshna at that point because of the way the two of them had taken charge of evacuating the village. That had changed when they got inside the great house, of course, where the lowlanders were viewed with suspicion, and the rest of them had to come to their defence.

Gurti was determined to do right by Lord Vanu this time. She felt she had repaid him poorly so far for his protection and all the honour he had shown her family. She was going over in her mind what she would say to her kin and the other villagers when she spoke to them.

“What do you think about Lill being back?” Otoni asked suddenly, as they were walking down a street out of sight of the great house.

It was an unwelcome question, but Gurti couldn’t fault her daughter-in-law for asking it.

“I was not looking for him to come back,” she said carefully.

Otoni nodded. “Yes, I remember you saying so. And you were right, in a way—he didn’t exactly come back of his own accord.”

“But,” Gurti went on, meaning to be fair, “I don’t think I reckoned with how much Lord Vanu missed him.”

“Oh, he was doing his best to hide that,” said Otoni easily. “I realize I don’t know Lord Vanu as well as the rest of you—and I hardly know Lill at all—but maybe it’s because I only met them when they were together that it struck me how much Lord Vanu changed after Lill left.”

Gurti frowned. “Changed? Is that how it seemed to you?” She would not have said he had changed at all.

“Oh yes. When I first got to Umtúshta, he seemed much happier. Hm. I’m not sure I could put my finger on what it was, exactly. Though Nomi noticed that he stopped whistling.”

“I never noticed that,” Gurti admitted.

She hadn’t thought about how Vanu had changed, after Lill left. But that was because he had just returned to normal, as far as she could tell. He had been happier while Lill was with them. That was true. It hadn’t been anything showy, but small things had been different. If she’d wanted to put it in a fanciful way, she’d have said he’d seemed more fully alive. Was that how he’d felt?

They arrived at the houses where the villagers from Manáshta were staying. Unluckily, the first person they met was Gurti’s cousin’s second wife, Farumi.

“Oh, come back from the great house, are you, to see how the lowly people are faring?” Farumi said sourly. “I’m sure it’s much nicer up there.”

“Actually, it’s dreadful,” Otoni cut in, speaking as if Farumi were an old friend and had said nothing rude. “You know the Boar of Hawakhurta, as he calls himself? He’s got everyone up there on edge because he’s so wild. You must have heard rumours of it?”

“Yes, of course,” Farumi was quick to agree. “Everyone is talking about that.”

“Well, they’re not exaggerating. He’s been throwing people in the dungeons for no reason—not us, thankfully, but he almost did it to Halza and Auxshna.”

“That nice young couple who helped us clear out the village?” said the blacksmith’s widow, who was sitting outside the house and had been plainly eavesdropping.

“That’s right! We had to pretend they were our hostages, or the Boar would have locked them up as spies. He’s not the man to be leading the defence of Tagra Degra, if you ask me.”

“I’ve been saying so all along,” the blacksmith’s widow agreed. “You know that Vanu Urártu’s banner was seen flying from Crow Crag?”

Otoni nodded earnestly. “The Blue Heaven grant that means he’s planning to come to our aid—don’t you think?”

“Well, as for that,” said Farumi, frowning at the blacksmith’s widow, “I’m sure we would welcome the Lion back—but I don’t know. From what I’ve heard, he’s a prisoner in the Spring Pass.”

“But he’s not!” cried Otoni. “My mother-in-law and I know that well. My husband, Khatu, is Lord Vanu’s hearthman. They were in the Tawa Valley when we left them. They could well be here now!”

“Your son is the Lion’s hearthman?” Farumi looked at Gurti with new eyes, and Gurti thought, not for the first time, what a good daughter-in-law she had.

“My elder son is his hearthman,” she confirmed. “My younger was serving as his scout before we left for Manáshta. My late husband and his father were both loyal to Lord Vanu.”