Page 9 of The Boy Bride

Lill nodded. “It was arranged by Lord Davanu Shawa.”

“Heart of the Blue Heaven,” said Khatu in his native language. “Good thing I missed!”

“Good thing I dodged.”

“Hah, yes! Good thing you hit me with your shoe! Hey? That was something. You hunt at all? Because you could take down a bird or two with that arm.”

“Do I hunt?” Lill asked archly. “Do I look like a nobleman’s son?”

Khatu leaned back to look at him assessingly. “Sure, you do near enough. You’re not though, I guess—lowlander nobles wouldn’t be sending their sons to marry Vanu. Hah. No wonder he was mad at me!”

“Mm.”

“He’s a beast, you know, Vanu is.” Khatu spoke with obvious approval. “A mad guldaggu, yeah. Not that he can’t keep it under control, because he can—I’d’ve had my head taken off my neck a long while ago if he couldn’t keep his anger in check when he wants to. Oh, he was furious with me over shooting at you.” Khatu seemed proud of this.

“That’s nice to hear,” said Lill dryly.

“You’re funny, boy bride—I like you. Hey, did you ever hear about the Tawa Valley raid?”

“I know something about it.”

“Probably not the true story. They probably don’t tell the true story in the lowlands.” Khatu chuckled. “The invader king has this martial school, see, where they train up warriors for him—not warriors, what do you call them? Hearthmen … that’s not the word, though. These elite fellows who serve the invader king, anyway. And he decides to put this school, to stick it in the Tawa Valley.

“My kinsman held that valley, Yano Gukhártu. Not with a stronghold like this, just a hall and a village and good grazing land. Those fuckers razed his village and burned down his hall so they could build their school. My kinsman was killed, with most of his family—the survivors came to Lord Vanu, who wasn’t Lord Vanu or the Lion of the Summer Pass then. He was just a kid, your age, but his own Da and uncles and cousins were all dead at the invader king’s hands, and he’d sworn vengeance. So the survivors from Tawa Valley went to him and asked for his help. And he raised a raiding party and led them down into Tawa. He took on the master of the school, White Snake or something he called himself, and he killed him. He was your age—barely seventeen.”

“I’m eighteen,” said Lill, the only part of that account he felt he could safely correct. His heart burned with scorn at this barbarian for the inaccuracy of the rest of it.

Khatu snorted. “You look young for it, but I guess that’s good if you want to attract a husband. Well, anyway, Vanu’s men carried off the treasures of the invader king’s elite fellows, armour and weapons and whatnot, and Vanu told the invader king’s fellows if they stayed in the valley, he would come back for more. And do you know what they did?”

“They left.” There had been other reasons, everyone knew that, but it was true that they’d abandoned the Tawa Valley.

“With their tails between their legs! That was how Vanu first earned his reputation, see—a wild man, a man who could think to take on the legendary fighters of the lowlands with a raiding party and come back victorious. You’re lucky.” He nudged Lill in the ribs with his elbow. Lill’s ribs were sore, and this hurt, but he kept an impassive expression.

“You’d like to change places with me?”

“Boof, no, not me. I’m not the dish Vanu likes, either. But he’s a great man, and if you’ve got to be somebody’s bride, better it’s somebody worthy, hey?”

“Yes, I … I see your reasoning,” said Lill distractedly. That grotesquely inaccurate account of events fifteen years ago in Tawa had left a bad taste in his mouth. That man was going to be his husband. He had known this and agreed to it, but his mind still recoiled from it.

“So have you had a tour of the village yet?” Khatu asked.

“Er, no—I haven’t been out of bed much. And for now I just feel like sitting.” He did his best to look pitiful. It was shamefully easy.

Khatu looked surprised. “Ma said you were just bruised, nothing broken.”

“I hit my head.” Lill wondered why he had to explain this to the man who had caused it to happen. “The blow left me feeling weak.”

“Ugh.” Khatu made a face, leaning back a little as though afraid it might be catching.

“But if I can’t walk around the village yet, you can at least tell me about it. How many people live here?”

“There’s nine of us,” Khatu said after a moment of counting on his fingers. “Eleven, I guess, with you and the other lowlander. This was my grandfather’s stronghold.”

“Ah, you’re Khashu Gukhártu’s grandson.”

“That’s right. Faru Gukhártu’s my Da. He lives here, and my Ma, my younger brother Barda, and me. Then there’s Tirtu, he’s Vanu’s tiktik—what do you call that, the knife you use for everything, you know. And Vanu and his daughters.”

“His daughters?” Lill had never heard that Urártu’s family had been immured with him. For that matter, he’d never heard that Urártu had a family, although there was no reason he shouldn’t.