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He was Togai-ru, and not Behrenese Brynn had no doubt of that at all from the moment she had entered the tapestried room in the Yatol Temple to stand before Yatol Daek Gin Gin Yan His hair was straight and raven black, and his skin was not the delicate, choco-late brownthe Behrenese, but held a ruddier hue, a touch of yelloithin the rich tones so unique to the To-gai-ru While at first glance, his physique seemed more like that of a Behrenesepeople living in the luxury of cities, Brynn noted the strong underlyinghis bare fore-ar robes tightened about one leg, she noted, too, theof a To-gai-ru
He stared hard at Brynn as she stood there calmly before him, with Dee&039;-dakh, as half a foot taller than she, at her side The Yatol narrowed his eyes several ti to in-Jimidate the wo that this ai-ru made her hate hi the old ways and e that Brynn was not, holding fast to everything she despised - she knew that froe There was little , that needed to be said between them, as far as she was concerned But Yatol Daek wouldn&039;t see things that way, she knew, and so she let hi
"Kayleen Kek," he said, a hint of derision in his soai-ru ?I did not know that any of Kayleen Kek re-mained anywhere to be found Certainly they do not proudly announce their presence"
The insult rolled froht She knew that she was being tested
"I see that you chose to wear your sword," Yatol Daek observed
"It would bring dishonor to you if I had not," Brynn replied ?This is aof station, and my station is that of warrior To co, would be deceptive, would it not?"
She had spoken truthfully concerning To-gai-ru tradition A sheathed sas a sign of honesty, not of threat
At her side, Dee&039;dahk bristled, giving Brynn the distinct impression that the warrior woe as she had pretended at their first
"You fancy yourself a warrior, then," said Yatol Daek
"I am There is no pride There is no ambition There is only truth"
"A fine warrior, I suppose"
"It is not a measure that I seek," Brynn answered ?My skills have kept h my trials, and thus, they have been sufficient" She couldn&039;t help but twinge a bit as she considered that her skills had not been enough to keep Belli&039;mar Juraviel and Cazzira alive Her ansas perfectly in line, again, with To-gai-ru tradition, where such things as battle skill were not matism Rather, skill levels were viewed as round
"There is a true warrior standing beside you, you know," Yatol Daek remarked
"I am well aware of the reputation of the Chezhou-Lei," Brynn callanced to the side as she spoke, noting that Dee&039;dahk had stiffened a bit with pride
"Perhaps I should arrange a contest between you two," Yatol Daek said, speaking more to himself, it seeht be a fine idea"
"To what end?"
Brynn&039;s blunt question elicited a glare her way froai-ru ?Is it your place to question?"
Brynn gave a hint of a shrug, but otherwise did not answer
"Perhaps I will arrange such a contest fortomen do battle for my enjoy theDaek Gin Gin Yan his ga her wondrous blade upon the Yatol, cutting hie
Patience, she reminded herself Patience
"Letto her with one outstretched hand
Brynn drew out the fabulous weapon and presented it vertically before her, but not close enough for the Yatol to grasp it
"Hand it over," he instructed
Rrvnn slowly turned the blade around, allowing hin, but did not move it out toward his hand at all Hor expression was not defiant, nor was it confrontational
"The code of the To-gai-ru warrior preventsmy sword nv but one who has defeatedto the greatest challenge in To-gai-ru society, a test of horsemanship kad&039;du has been outlawed," Yatol Daek said ?You know that, of Brvnn most certainly did not know of that For a moment, she allowed her flash of stunned aone that far already? Had the To-gai-ru been so completely conquered that they had abandoned the most sacred of their rituals, irysh kad&039;du? How had her proud people allowed this to happen without going back to ith the Behrenese?
Brynn fought hard to put all of that out of her thoughts, re her-self that this was not the time for violence She needed to use this place, and this traitorous Yatol, to gain better insights into her ene for the sword, and de-spite her desire to maintain a controlled environment there, she made a quick movement that slid her precious sword back into its scabbard
Fires burned in Yatol Daek&039;s dark eyes
"If the challenge is outlawed, then none shall touch my sword until I am dead," Brynn stated, and Dee&039;dahk at her side bristled again, like a horse straining at the bit
Yatol Daek sat back and continued to stare at Brynn, an amused expres-sion on his pluht that she had stepped over the line, that the ree to her terms and instruct Dee&039;dahk to kill her Still, on this point there could be no other open path; Brynn would certainly not turn over her a elven sword to any potential eneer seee," he decided suddenly, and he waved his hand and looked away
It took Bryrm d moment to catch on, but she realized that she had been dis, turned and started toward the door
without a proper pronouncement of departure?" came Yatol Daek&039;s question behind her
Brynn turned, looking at him with confusion Apparently, she had bro-ken yet another rule
1 will forgive yet another of your transgressions," Yatol Daek rehtily ?But if you intend to stay here - indeed, Brynn Dharielle, if you intend to survive - then you would do well to learn what is expected of you"
Brynn resisted the urge to show hiain, this tiestures at all, though, no sign of confirmation or denial of his last state She knew that Daek Gin Gin Yan was inside conversing with Dee&039;dahk at that veryto discern the best ai-ru, or for siether She knew that she would be watched every step during her stay in Yatol Daek&039;s domain, and she suspected that her refusal to bend to his ould force a confrontation with him, and with Dee&039;dahk, fairly soon
She knew, too, the dangers of that course, for this was a fine opportunity for her to coai
But so be it, she decided
Layered in skins, froy and heavy coat of the brown ox to the silver accents of the wolf, and with a tall and strong physique of corded, rolling muscle, Ashu looked every bit as fierce as the reputation that preceded hi far below the belly of his pinto pony, seeh any maneuver
Which he could
His jaas square and fir it from one side of his face to the other That pronounced brow only added to the mystery and intensity of his dark eyes below it
It was said that many of Ashu&039;s ene for a quick and ai-ru warrior did not doubt those rureat leader&039;s scouts re-ported to hile stone rass, up froai-ru man, Jocyn Tho by naht his gang there purposely He wanted them to see this marker - yet another exa soldiers Many of Ashu&039;s warriors were of that as-saulted clan Many had known Jocyn Tho
It was just one ai-ru, one more reminder that they and the Behrenese were not alike and not allies, and that they, whatever the cost, had to expel the conquerors froht past the stone reat spear once, twice, thrice on the stone ai-ru warrior to deceased that his death would soon be avenged One by one, Ashu&039;s warriors walked past the gravetheir weapons similarly
The leader looked at his clansmen, his warriors, his friends, and he knew that they were ready this day
"The builders understand?" Ashu asked his scout
"They believe that they can sneak in a score, and hide them," the man A sly smile crossed the leader&039;s face The folly of the conquerors to use the conquered in projects as vital as the building of fortifications! It hadn&039;t taken much effort on Ashu&039;s part toslaves, and had taken even less to convince them to render aid in the attack
He barked out a coanize the score of infiltrators, and with precision honed over the , the underco across the steppes with nineteen eager warriors in tow They would hide in the grass outside the town Douan Gal until dusk, and then, as the slaves arranged for distrac-tions, crawl into the town one by one to their appointed hiding places It was all too easy
Ashu led the attack just before the next dawn With a hundred war-riors riding behind hi settle the wall, from the sentries, calls to all the Behre-nese settlers to take up arms and defend their homes Dozens of ai-ru soldiers filtering up beside theh above his head, the song of the warrior god, Joek, on his lips The settlers rained ar-ron on the attackers, but the thundering horde did not slow and did not turn
And unlike the frightened Behrenese, the fierce To-gai-ru did not loose their missiles fro back powerful bows - and no race in all the world could handle a bow from horseback better than the warriors of the steppes
The thunder of the charge held-ffhen, with Ashu and his warriors her than a tallarrow after arrow A Behrenese occasionally rose up to return the fire, but the barrage had hiroup within theTo-gai-ru archers went to work then, tossing grapnels up over the wall top, then turning their powerful ponies about and starting the pull iroan and sway
The Behrenese responded by charging to the spot, ready to loose a fierce barrage, ready to slice through the tugging lines
But then the score of To-gai-ru infiltrators sprang up a any coordinated defense Out-poster after outposter was heaved over the wall, to fall to the dust at the feet of thedown, and battle was joined, and theBehrencse apart with devas-tating precision
For all of its construction, Douan Cal was not prepared for so large an at-tack, and had no chance of beginning to repel even the first assault Many were dead or on the ground screaony within a few ht, those who re forword, ?Ashu"
The captive men were bound and taken away, out to the dry riverbed, where a select feere untied and forced to dig holes in the sand, so that their bound kin could be buried up to their waists In turn, Ashu s oarriors dug the holes for the re captivein the sand, buried to their waists and helplessly bound and blindfolded, Ashu led in the To-gai-ru no to the went on for hours, until the last Behrenese outposter leaned over limply, dead
Most of Ashu&039;sto Douan Cal to have their ith the Behrenese woht
The few children of the outposters were killedthrown atop a large bonfire
Jocyn Tho had been avenged
Her last transgression when leaving Yatol Daek, she learned, was one that offended her profoundly In leaving the presence of Yatol Daek, To-gai-ru were expected to drop to one knee and bow their heads