Page 108 of The Summer Pass

“How did he get out of the dungeon?” the headman wanted to know.

“We didn’t find that out,” Gurti admitted. “There wasn’t time to ask.”

Garda shrugged. “Too bad, but it doesn’t matter much. He had some friends—maybe it was to be expected that someone would stay loyal. Where’s Vanu’s wife? She was looking for you earlier.”

“Uh … Lill came to ask us for arrows, but then … he … saw something suspicious and went to look into it.”

Come to think of it, she’d been assuming that had something to do with Darma, but Lill had gone in the opposite direction from where Darma had appeared. Was it something else entirely?

“I think you call them ‘she,’” said Garda. “The boy brides. At least that was my understanding.”

“Lord Vanu doesn’t—and Lill’s never said he wanted us to, so … ”

“Ah. You’d know better than I, Na Gurti. Well. He—will turn up, I suppose.” Garda glanced up at the gate, where someone was waving to get his attention from the top of the wall. “I’d better get back up there. Though it's over now.”

“Is it?” She’d thought so, from the way everything had gone quiet, from the murmurs she’d heard in the streets.

“The Sukiyans have surrendered, and the Zashians are in retreat. The prince’s cavalry are letting them go—he ordered that they weren’t to give chase. Over generous, if you ask me, but then, the king is his brother, so maybe it’s wise. Your son acquitted himself well, by the way.”

“Barda?”

“Yes! Jumped off the rampart onto the Zashian siege tower when it started to lean too close to our wall. A very nice piece of daring! He’ll have met up with Vanu’s army on the ground, I expect.”

She repeated the outline of the battle to Nakhana as they walked back to the great house.

“Glory to the Blue Heaven,” he signed piously, with a stern smile. “I never doubted we’d get out of this mess once Lord Vanu showed up. If it’d been left to Darma, though … ” He shook his head grimly.

“Why did you want Garda to know that Susami killed him?” she asked.

He looked surprised. “I want them all to know it! So she gets her due. It was a fine piece of work—and it needed to be done. Also … so they know not to mess with her. I thought she could use a bit of a reputation. Well earned, obviously.”

Vanu spent most of the rest of the day negotiating with the Sukiyans. It was remarkable how long it took. A good half the time was spent trying to find interpreters, because the Sukiyans had lost the prisoners they’d been using to do the job, and to confuse matters further, somebody had mistakenly got the idea that Vanu spoke only hand language. Firuduna turned up eventually, grey-faced and with a bandaged shoulder, and Vanu told him to go lie down immediately. He was tempted to send to Tagra Degra for Lill, who had said once that he knew a bit of Sukiyan, but that seemed selfish.

Even when someone dredged up an interpreter from somewhere, the discussion dragged on. The Sukiyans had a habit of debating and voting on things before they would commit to any action, and the man Vanu had thought of as their leader was really just the captain of one of their units and did not speak for all of them.

In the end, two thirds of the units voted to take employment with Vanu, subject to some complicated terms about food and payment. The rest were allowed to leave the Summer Pass, on the condition that they would not rejoin Pantaresh’s army, which was now, according to scouts, camped down at the mouth of the valley.

Vanu walked back toward his own men, who were lounging tensely under the walls of Tagra Degra, waiting for his word about what the Sukiyans had decided. The gate of the fortress hadn’t been opened yet, and he thought he wouldn’t give the order until the third of the Sukiyans who were going had packed up and left.

“That was exhausting,” Enu remarked, following Vanu.

“I couldn’t understand half of what that interpreter said,” Tirtu admitted.

“Oh, good!” said Enu. “I thought it was just me.”

“No, he didn’t know their language as well as he thought,” Vanu signed.

“We should have brought Lill,” said Tirtu. “I’m sure he’d have done a better job.”

“Does he speak the Sukiyan too?” said Enu. “Snow in the lowlands—I’ll bet he does. What doesn’t he do? Tirtu, I heard you were the one who set him up with our Lion—you must be proud of yourself, hey?”

Vanu smiled to himself. He could not have imagined how good it would feel to hear his friends talk like this.

Tirtu was muttering something embarrassedly now about how it had all been a happy accident. Vanu slapped him on the back and signed to Enu, “He did—he and Davanu Shawa set the whole thing up. I’m in their debt forever.”

Firuduna was approaching, still looking like grim death, like he hadn’t followed Vanu’s order to rest. He had a Zashian messenger with him—was dragging the boy along by his arm. Vanu held up a hand to his companions for silence.

“What’s he want?” he signed, when Firuduna stopped in front of them.