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On the day I was to eant Duril Not often, but so rounds of his holdings I thoughtUsually it was a pleasant ride We would move leisurely, lunch with one of his overseers, and halt at various cottages and tents to consult with the shepherds and the orchard workers I took no more than I would usually carry on a pleasure ride As the spring day was ht jacket and ht The sort of country we lived in meant that only a fool set out on any ride unarun with me that day, but I did have a cavalry sword, worn yet serviceable, at my hip

My father rode on one side of eant Duril on the other It felt odd, as if they were escorting eant looked sullen He was often taciturn, but his silence that day eighted with suppressed disapproval It was not often that he disagreed with , and it filled me with both dread and intense curiosity

Once ell away from the house, my father told me that I would meet a Kidona Plainsman today As he often did e spoke of specific clans, my father discussed Kidona courtesy, and cautionedwith Deas a matter for men, not to be discussed later withOn the rise above the Plainsman’s camp, we halted and looked down Dewara had a doed to a wicker frame The hides had been cured with the hair on to help the beasts were picketed nearby They were the faed mounts that only the Kidona bred Their manes stood up stiff and black as hearth brushes and their tails reminded me of a cow’s more than a horse’s A short distance away, two Kidona women stood patiently next to a theeled cart A fourth anih-wheeled vehicle The cart was empty

A small smokeless fire burned in front of his tent Dewara hi up at us He did not notice us as we arrived; he was already standing, looking toward us, as we came into view The man’s prescience caused the hair on eant, you may wait here," my father said quietly

Duril chewed at his upper lip, then spoke "Sir, I’d rather be closer In case I’m needed"

My father looked at his he cannot learn froht to you by a friend; they can only be learned from an eneeant," my father repeated, and that closed the subject "Nevare, you will co, and the Plainsn Father stirred his horse to a leisurely walk and started down the rise to the Kidona’s ca past ave him a nod anyway and then followed my father At the bottom of the rise, we dis our well-trained mounts to stand "Come when I motion to you," my father said softly "Until then, stand still by the horses Keep your eyes on me"

My father approached the Plainsreat respect Privately, my father had cautioned me to treat the Kidona with as solemn deference as I extended to any of my tutors As a youth, I should bow reeted him, and never spit in his presence or show my back to him, for such were the courtesies of his people As my father had bid me, I stood still, eant Duril’s stare on us, but I did not look back at him

The two spoke to one another for a tiuage, so I caught little of what they said I could tell only that they spoke of a bargain At length estured to me I walked forward and remembered to bowif I should offer to shake hands as well Dewara did not offer his hand, and so I kept mine by my side The Plainsman did not sht buy I took the opportunity to appraise him as bluntly I had never before seen a Kidona

He was smaller and more wiry than the Plainsmen I was familiar with The Kidonas had been hunters, raiders, and scavengers rather than herders They had regarded all the other peoples of the Plains as their rightful prey The other Plainsmen had dreaded their attacks Of all our enemies, the Kidonas had been the most difficult to subdue They were a hard-natured people Once, after the Gernian horse troops had defeated the Rew tribe, the Kidona had swept in to raid the demoralized people and carry off what little was left to the awe at their savagery Sergeant Duril still hated them