The Lady and I entered the Plain of Fear twelve days after the
aerial skirmish near Horse. We traveled on horseback, on
second-grade nags, along the old trade trail the denizens of the
Plain respect with free passage most of the time. Clad in castoffs,
for the trail, the Lady was no longer a beauty. No kick-out-of-bed
dog, but no eye-catcher.
We entered the Plain aware that by a pessimistic estimate, we
had about three months before the Great Tragic River opened the
Great Barrow.
The menhirs noted our presence immediately. I sensed them out
there, observing. I had to point it out. For this venture the Lady
had schooled herself to eschew anything but the most direct and raw
sensory input. She would train herself to mortal ways during our
ride so she would make no mistake once we reached the Hole.
The woman has guts.
I guess anyone willing to play heads-up power games with the
Dominator has to have them.
I ignored the lurking menhirs and concentrated on explaining the
ways of the Plain, revealing the thousand little traps that, at the
least, might betray the Lady. It was what a man would do on
bringing a newcomer to the land. It would not seem unusual.
Three days into the Plain we narrowly missed being caught in a
change storm. She was awed. “What was that?” she
asked.
I explained the best I could. Along with all the speculations.
She, of course, had heard it all before. But seeing is believing,
as they say.
Not long after that we came on the first of the coral reefs,
which meant we were in the deep Plain, among the great
strangenesses. “What name will you use?” I asked.
“I better get used to it,”
“I think Ardath.” She grinned.
“You have a cruel sense of humor.”
“Perhaps.”
I do believe she was having fun at pretending to be ordinary.
Like some great lord’s lady slumming. She even took her turns
at the cook fire. To my stomach’s despair.
I wondered what the menhirs made of our relationship. No matter
the pretense, there was a brittleness, a formality, that was hard
to overcome. And the best we could fake was a partnership, which I
am certain they found strange. When did man and woman travel
together thus, without sharing bedroll and such?
The question of pursuing verisimilitude that far never arose.
And just as well. My panic, my terror, at the suggestion would have
been such that nothing else would have arisen.
Ten miles from the Hole we breasted a hill and encountered a
menhir. It stood beside the way, twenty feet of weird stone, doing
nothing. The Lady asked in touristy fashion, “Is that one of
the talking stones?”
“Yep. Hi, rock. I’m home.”
Old rock didn’t have anything to say. We passed on. When I
looked back it was gone.
Little had changed. As we crested the last ridge, though, we saw
a forest of walking trees crowding the creek. A stand of menhirs
both living and dead guarded the crossing. The backwards
camel-centaurs gamboled among them. Old Father Tree stood by
himself, tinkling, though there was not a breath of wind. Up high,
a single buzzardlike avian soared against shattered clouds,
watching. One or another of its kind had followed us for days. Of a
human presence there was no sign. What did Darling do with her
army? She could not pack those men into the Hole.
For a moment I was frightened that I had returned to an
untenanted keep. Then, as we splashed across the creek, Elmo and
Silent stepped out of the coral.
I dove off my animal and gathered them into a monster hug. They
returned it, and in best Black Company tradition did not ask a
single question.
“Goddamn,” I said. “Goddamn, it’s good
to see you. I heard you guys was wiped out out west
somewhere.”
Elmo looked at the Lady with just the slightest hint of
curiosity.
“Oh. Elmo. Silent. This is Ardath.”
She smiled. “So pleased to meet you. Croaker has said so
much about you.”
I had not said a word. But she had read the Annals. She
dismounted and offered her hand. Each took it, baffled, for only
Darling, in their experience, expected treatment as an equal.
“Well, let’s go down,” I said.
“Let’s go down. I’ve got a thousand things to
report.”
“Yeah?” Elmo said. And that said a lot, for he
looked up our backtrail as he said it.
Some people who had gone away with me had not come back.
“I don’t know. We had half the Taken after us. We
got separated. I couldn’t find them again. But I never heard
anything about them being captured. Let’s go down. See
Darling. I’ve got incredible news. And get me something to
eat. We’ve been eating each other’s cooking forever,
and she’s a worse cook than I am.”
“Guck,” Elmo said, and slapped me across the back.
“And you lived?”
“I’m one tough old buzzard, Elmo. You ought to know.
Shit, man, I . . . ” I realized I was
chattering like a whacko. I grinned.
Silent signed, “Welcome home, Croaker. Welcome
home.”
“Come,” I told the Lady as we reached the entrance
to the Hole, and took her hand. “It’ll seem like the
pit till your eyes get used to it. And brace yourself for the
smell.”
Gods, the stench! Gag a maggot.
All kinds of excitement down below. It faded into studied
indifference as we passed, then resumed behind us. Silent led
straight to the conference room. Elmo split off to order us up
something to eat.
As we entered I realized that I still held the Lady’s
hand. She gave me half a smile, in which there was a hell of a lot
of nervousness. Talk about strutting into the dragon’s lair.
Bold old Croaker gave her hand a squeeze.
Darling looked ragged. So did the Lieutenant. A dozen others
were there, few of whom I knew. They must have come aboard after
the imperials evacuated the perimeter of the Plain.
Darling hugged me for a long time. So long I became flustered.
We are not touchy people, she and I. She finally backed off and
gave the Lady a look in which there was a hint of jealousy.
I signed, “This is Ardath. She will help me translate. She
knows the old languages well.”
Darling nodded. She asked no questions. So much was I
trusted.
The food arrived. Elmo dragged in a table and chairs and shooed
out everyone but myself, the Lieutenant, himself, Silent, and the
Lady. He might have sent her away, too, but remained unsure of her
standing with me.
We ate, and as we did I related my tale in snatches, when my
hands and mouth were not full. There were some rough moments,
especially when I told Darling that Raven was alive.
In retrospect I think it was harder on me than on her. I was
afraid she would get all excited and hysterical. She did nothing of
the sort.
First, she flat refused to believe me. And I could understand
that, for till he disappeared Raven had been the cornerstone of her
universe emotionally. She could not see him not including her in
his biggest lie ever just so he could slip away to go poke around
the Barrowland. That made no sense to her. Raven never lied to her
before.
Made no sense to me, either. But then, as I have noted before, I
suspected there was more in the shadows than anyone was admitting.
I sniffed the faintest whiff that maybe Raven was running from
instead of to.
Darling’s denials did not last long. She is not one to
disdain truth indefinitely only because it is unpleasant. She
handled the pain far better than I anticipated, and that suggested
maybe she had had a chance to bleed off some of the worst in the
past.
Still, Raven’s present circumstances did nothing for
Darling’s emotional health, already doing poorly after her
defeat at Horse. That harbinger of grander defeats to come. Already
she suspected she might have to face the imperials without benefit
of the information I had been sent to acquire.
I conjured universal despair when I announced my failure and
added, “I have it on high authority that what we sought
isn’t in those papers anyway. Though I can’t be sure
till Ardath and I finish what we have here.” I did sketch
what I learned from Raven’s documents before losing them.
I did not lie outright. That would not be forgiven later, when
the truth came out. As inevitably it must. I just overlooked a few
details. I even admitted having been captured, questioned, and
imprisoned.
“What the hell are you doing here, then?” Elmo
demanded. “How come you’re even alive?”
“They turned us loose, Ardath and me. After that business
you had near Horse. That was a message. I’m supposed to
deliver another.”
“Such as?”
“Unless you’re blind and stupid, you’ll have
noticed that you’re not under attack. The Lady has ordered
all operations against the Rebellion ceased.”
“Why?”
“You haven’t been paying attention. Because the
Dominator is stirring.”
“Come on, Croaker. We finished that business in
Juniper.”
“I went to the Barrowland. I saw for myself, Lieutenant.
That thing is going to break loose. One of its creatures is out
already, maybe dogging One-Eye and them. I’m convinced. The
Dominator is a step from breaking out, and not half-assed like in
Juniper.” I turned to the Lady. “Ardath. What was that
I figured? I lost track of how long we’ve been in the Plain.
It was about ninety days when we came in.”
“It took you eight days to get here,” Elmo said.
I lifted an eyebrow.
“The menhirs.”
“Of course. Eight days, then. Away from ninety for a
worst-case scenario. Eighty-two days till the Great Barrow
opens.” I went into more detail about the Great Tragic River
floods.
The Lieutenant was not convinced. Neither was Elmo. And you
cannot blame them. The Lady weaves crafty, intricate plots. And
they were sneaky guys who judged others by themselves. I did not
proselytize. I was not wholeheartedly born-again myself.
It was of little consequence whether or not those two believed,
anyway. Darling makes the decisions.
She signed for everyone to leave but me. I asked Elmo to show
Ardath around and find her a place to bunk. He looked at me oddly.
Like everyone else, he figured I’d brought me home a
girlfriend.
I had trouble keeping a straight face. All those years they have
ridden me because of a few romances written when first we entered
the Lady’s service. And now I’d brought her home.
I figured Darling wanted to talk about Raven. I was not wrong,
but she surprised me by signing, “She has sent you to propose
an alliance, has she not?”
Quick little devil. “Not exactly. Though in practice it
would amount to that.” I went into the details, known and
reasoned, of the situation. Signing is not quick work. But Darling
remained attentive and patient, not at all distracted by whatever
was going on inside her. She took me over the value, or lack
thereof, of my document cache. Not once did she ask about Raven.
Nor about Ardath, though my friend was on her mind, too.
She signed, “She is correct in saying that our feud
becomes inconsequential if the Dominator rises. My question must
be, is the threat genuine or a ploy? We know just how convoluted a
scheme she can manage.”
“I am sure,” I signed in reply. “Because Raven
was sure. He had made up his mind before the Lady’s people
began to suspect. In fact, as far as I can tell, he developed the
evidence that convinced them.”
“Goblin and One-Eye. Are they safe?”
“As far
as I know. I never heard of them being captured.”
“They
should be getting close. Those documents. They are the crux
still.”
“Even if they do not contain the secret of her name, but
only that of her husband?”
“She wants
access?”
“I would assume so. I was released for some reason, though
I cannot say what the reason behind the reason was.”
Darling
nodded. “So I thought.”
“Yet I am convinced that she is honest in this. That we
must consider the Dominator the more dangerous and immediate peril.
It should not be too difficult to anticipate most of the ways she
could become treacherous.”
“And there is Raven.”
Here it comes, I thought. “Yes.”
“I will reflect,
Croaker.”
“There is not much time.”
“There is all the time in the world, in a way. I will
reflect. You and your lady friend translate.”
I felt I had been dismissed before we got to why she wanted to
see me privately. The woman has a face like stone. You can’t
tell much about what is going on inside. I moved toward the door
slowly.
“Croaker,” she signed. “Wait.”
I stopped. This was it.
“What is she, Croaker?”
Damn! Ducked around it again. Chills on my part. Guilt. I did
not want to lie outright. “Just a woman.”
“Not a special woman? A special friend?”
“I guess she is special. In her way.”
“I see. Ask Silent to come in.”
Again I went slowly, nodding. But it was not till I actually
started to open the door that she beckoned me back.
In accordance with instructions, I sat. She did not. She paced.
She signed, “You think I am cold toward great news. You think
ill of me because I am not excited that Raven is alive.”
“No. I thought it would shock you. That it would cause you
great distress.”
“Shock, no. I am not entirely surprised. Distressed, yes.
It opens old wounds and makes them more painful.”
Puzzled, I watched as she continued to prowl.
“Our Raven. He never grew up. Fearless as a stone. Utterly
without the handicap of a conscience. Tough. Smart. Hard. Fierce.
All those things. Yes? Yes. And a coward.”
“What? How can you? . . . ”
“He runs away. There were machinations around the Limper
which pulled his wife in, years ago. Did he try to discover the
truth and work it out? He killed people and ran away with the Black
Company to kill more people. He abandoned two babies without a word
of good-bye.”
She was hot now. She was opening the doors on secrets and
spilling stuff of which I had seen only the vaguest glimmering
reflections. “Do not defend him. I have had the power to
investigate, and I did,” she signed.
“He fled the Black Company. For my sake? As much excuse to
avoid entanglement as reason. Why did he salvage me in that
village? Because of guilt over children he had abandoned. I was a
safe child. And while a child I remained a safe emotional
investment. But I did not remain a child, Croaker. And I knew no
other man in all those years in hiding.
“I should have known better. I saw how he pushed people
away if they tried to get close in any way that was not completely
one-sided and under his control. But after the horrible things he
did in Juniper I thought I could be the one to redeem him. On the
road south, when we were running from the dark danger of the Lady
and light danger of the Company, I betrayed my true feelings. I
opened the lid on a chest of dreams nurtured from a time before I
was old enough to think about men.
“He became a changed man. A frightened animal caught in a
cage. He was relieved when news came that the Lieutenant had
appeared with some of the Company. It was not but a matter of hours
before he was ‘dead.’
“I suspected then. I think a part of me always knew. And
that is why I am not so devastated now as you want. Yes. I know you
know I cry myself to sleep sometimes. I cry for a little
girl’s dreams. I cry because the dreams will not die, though
I am powerless to make them come true. I cry because the one thing
I truly want I cannot have. Do you understand?”
I thought about Lady, and Lady’s situation, and nodded. I
signed nothing back.
“I am going to cry again. Go out. Please. Tell Silent to
come.”
I did not have to look for him. He was waiting in the conference
room. I watched him go inside, wondering if I was seeing things or
seeing things.
She’d certainly given me something to think about.
The Lady and I entered the Plain of Fear twelve days after the
aerial skirmish near Horse. We traveled on horseback, on
second-grade nags, along the old trade trail the denizens of the
Plain respect with free passage most of the time. Clad in castoffs,
for the trail, the Lady was no longer a beauty. No kick-out-of-bed
dog, but no eye-catcher.
We entered the Plain aware that by a pessimistic estimate, we
had about three months before the Great Tragic River opened the
Great Barrow.
The menhirs noted our presence immediately. I sensed them out
there, observing. I had to point it out. For this venture the Lady
had schooled herself to eschew anything but the most direct and raw
sensory input. She would train herself to mortal ways during our
ride so she would make no mistake once we reached the Hole.
The woman has guts.
I guess anyone willing to play heads-up power games with the
Dominator has to have them.
I ignored the lurking menhirs and concentrated on explaining the
ways of the Plain, revealing the thousand little traps that, at the
least, might betray the Lady. It was what a man would do on
bringing a newcomer to the land. It would not seem unusual.
Three days into the Plain we narrowly missed being caught in a
change storm. She was awed. “What was that?” she
asked.
I explained the best I could. Along with all the speculations.
She, of course, had heard it all before. But seeing is believing,
as they say.
Not long after that we came on the first of the coral reefs,
which meant we were in the deep Plain, among the great
strangenesses. “What name will you use?” I asked.
“I better get used to it,”
“I think Ardath.” She grinned.
“You have a cruel sense of humor.”
“Perhaps.”
I do believe she was having fun at pretending to be ordinary.
Like some great lord’s lady slumming. She even took her turns
at the cook fire. To my stomach’s despair.
I wondered what the menhirs made of our relationship. No matter
the pretense, there was a brittleness, a formality, that was hard
to overcome. And the best we could fake was a partnership, which I
am certain they found strange. When did man and woman travel
together thus, without sharing bedroll and such?
The question of pursuing verisimilitude that far never arose.
And just as well. My panic, my terror, at the suggestion would have
been such that nothing else would have arisen.
Ten miles from the Hole we breasted a hill and encountered a
menhir. It stood beside the way, twenty feet of weird stone, doing
nothing. The Lady asked in touristy fashion, “Is that one of
the talking stones?”
“Yep. Hi, rock. I’m home.”
Old rock didn’t have anything to say. We passed on. When I
looked back it was gone.
Little had changed. As we crested the last ridge, though, we saw
a forest of walking trees crowding the creek. A stand of menhirs
both living and dead guarded the crossing. The backwards
camel-centaurs gamboled among them. Old Father Tree stood by
himself, tinkling, though there was not a breath of wind. Up high,
a single buzzardlike avian soared against shattered clouds,
watching. One or another of its kind had followed us for days. Of a
human presence there was no sign. What did Darling do with her
army? She could not pack those men into the Hole.
For a moment I was frightened that I had returned to an
untenanted keep. Then, as we splashed across the creek, Elmo and
Silent stepped out of the coral.
I dove off my animal and gathered them into a monster hug. They
returned it, and in best Black Company tradition did not ask a
single question.
“Goddamn,” I said. “Goddamn, it’s good
to see you. I heard you guys was wiped out out west
somewhere.”
Elmo looked at the Lady with just the slightest hint of
curiosity.
“Oh. Elmo. Silent. This is Ardath.”
She smiled. “So pleased to meet you. Croaker has said so
much about you.”
I had not said a word. But she had read the Annals. She
dismounted and offered her hand. Each took it, baffled, for only
Darling, in their experience, expected treatment as an equal.
“Well, let’s go down,” I said.
“Let’s go down. I’ve got a thousand things to
report.”
“Yeah?” Elmo said. And that said a lot, for he
looked up our backtrail as he said it.
Some people who had gone away with me had not come back.
“I don’t know. We had half the Taken after us. We
got separated. I couldn’t find them again. But I never heard
anything about them being captured. Let’s go down. See
Darling. I’ve got incredible news. And get me something to
eat. We’ve been eating each other’s cooking forever,
and she’s a worse cook than I am.”
“Guck,” Elmo said, and slapped me across the back.
“And you lived?”
“I’m one tough old buzzard, Elmo. You ought to know.
Shit, man, I . . . ” I realized I was
chattering like a whacko. I grinned.
Silent signed, “Welcome home, Croaker. Welcome
home.”
“Come,” I told the Lady as we reached the entrance
to the Hole, and took her hand. “It’ll seem like the
pit till your eyes get used to it. And brace yourself for the
smell.”
Gods, the stench! Gag a maggot.
All kinds of excitement down below. It faded into studied
indifference as we passed, then resumed behind us. Silent led
straight to the conference room. Elmo split off to order us up
something to eat.
As we entered I realized that I still held the Lady’s
hand. She gave me half a smile, in which there was a hell of a lot
of nervousness. Talk about strutting into the dragon’s lair.
Bold old Croaker gave her hand a squeeze.
Darling looked ragged. So did the Lieutenant. A dozen others
were there, few of whom I knew. They must have come aboard after
the imperials evacuated the perimeter of the Plain.
Darling hugged me for a long time. So long I became flustered.
We are not touchy people, she and I. She finally backed off and
gave the Lady a look in which there was a hint of jealousy.
I signed, “This is Ardath. She will help me translate. She
knows the old languages well.”
Darling nodded. She asked no questions. So much was I
trusted.
The food arrived. Elmo dragged in a table and chairs and shooed
out everyone but myself, the Lieutenant, himself, Silent, and the
Lady. He might have sent her away, too, but remained unsure of her
standing with me.
We ate, and as we did I related my tale in snatches, when my
hands and mouth were not full. There were some rough moments,
especially when I told Darling that Raven was alive.
In retrospect I think it was harder on me than on her. I was
afraid she would get all excited and hysterical. She did nothing of
the sort.
First, she flat refused to believe me. And I could understand
that, for till he disappeared Raven had been the cornerstone of her
universe emotionally. She could not see him not including her in
his biggest lie ever just so he could slip away to go poke around
the Barrowland. That made no sense to her. Raven never lied to her
before.
Made no sense to me, either. But then, as I have noted before, I
suspected there was more in the shadows than anyone was admitting.
I sniffed the faintest whiff that maybe Raven was running from
instead of to.
Darling’s denials did not last long. She is not one to
disdain truth indefinitely only because it is unpleasant. She
handled the pain far better than I anticipated, and that suggested
maybe she had had a chance to bleed off some of the worst in the
past.
Still, Raven’s present circumstances did nothing for
Darling’s emotional health, already doing poorly after her
defeat at Horse. That harbinger of grander defeats to come. Already
she suspected she might have to face the imperials without benefit
of the information I had been sent to acquire.
I conjured universal despair when I announced my failure and
added, “I have it on high authority that what we sought
isn’t in those papers anyway. Though I can’t be sure
till Ardath and I finish what we have here.” I did sketch
what I learned from Raven’s documents before losing them.
I did not lie outright. That would not be forgiven later, when
the truth came out. As inevitably it must. I just overlooked a few
details. I even admitted having been captured, questioned, and
imprisoned.
“What the hell are you doing here, then?” Elmo
demanded. “How come you’re even alive?”
“They turned us loose, Ardath and me. After that business
you had near Horse. That was a message. I’m supposed to
deliver another.”
“Such as?”
“Unless you’re blind and stupid, you’ll have
noticed that you’re not under attack. The Lady has ordered
all operations against the Rebellion ceased.”
“Why?”
“You haven’t been paying attention. Because the
Dominator is stirring.”
“Come on, Croaker. We finished that business in
Juniper.”
“I went to the Barrowland. I saw for myself, Lieutenant.
That thing is going to break loose. One of its creatures is out
already, maybe dogging One-Eye and them. I’m convinced. The
Dominator is a step from breaking out, and not half-assed like in
Juniper.” I turned to the Lady. “Ardath. What was that
I figured? I lost track of how long we’ve been in the Plain.
It was about ninety days when we came in.”
“It took you eight days to get here,” Elmo said.
I lifted an eyebrow.
“The menhirs.”
“Of course. Eight days, then. Away from ninety for a
worst-case scenario. Eighty-two days till the Great Barrow
opens.” I went into more detail about the Great Tragic River
floods.
The Lieutenant was not convinced. Neither was Elmo. And you
cannot blame them. The Lady weaves crafty, intricate plots. And
they were sneaky guys who judged others by themselves. I did not
proselytize. I was not wholeheartedly born-again myself.
It was of little consequence whether or not those two believed,
anyway. Darling makes the decisions.
She signed for everyone to leave but me. I asked Elmo to show
Ardath around and find her a place to bunk. He looked at me oddly.
Like everyone else, he figured I’d brought me home a
girlfriend.
I had trouble keeping a straight face. All those years they have
ridden me because of a few romances written when first we entered
the Lady’s service. And now I’d brought her home.
I figured Darling wanted to talk about Raven. I was not wrong,
but she surprised me by signing, “She has sent you to propose
an alliance, has she not?”
Quick little devil. “Not exactly. Though in practice it
would amount to that.” I went into the details, known and
reasoned, of the situation. Signing is not quick work. But Darling
remained attentive and patient, not at all distracted by whatever
was going on inside her. She took me over the value, or lack
thereof, of my document cache. Not once did she ask about Raven.
Nor about Ardath, though my friend was on her mind, too.
She signed, “She is correct in saying that our feud
becomes inconsequential if the Dominator rises. My question must
be, is the threat genuine or a ploy? We know just how convoluted a
scheme she can manage.”
“I am sure,” I signed in reply. “Because Raven
was sure. He had made up his mind before the Lady’s people
began to suspect. In fact, as far as I can tell, he developed the
evidence that convinced them.”
“Goblin and One-Eye. Are they safe?”
“As far
as I know. I never heard of them being captured.”
“They
should be getting close. Those documents. They are the crux
still.”
“Even if they do not contain the secret of her name, but
only that of her husband?”
“She wants
access?”
“I would assume so. I was released for some reason, though
I cannot say what the reason behind the reason was.”
Darling
nodded. “So I thought.”
“Yet I am convinced that she is honest in this. That we
must consider the Dominator the more dangerous and immediate peril.
It should not be too difficult to anticipate most of the ways she
could become treacherous.”
“And there is Raven.”
Here it comes, I thought. “Yes.”
“I will reflect,
Croaker.”
“There is not much time.”
“There is all the time in the world, in a way. I will
reflect. You and your lady friend translate.”
I felt I had been dismissed before we got to why she wanted to
see me privately. The woman has a face like stone. You can’t
tell much about what is going on inside. I moved toward the door
slowly.
“Croaker,” she signed. “Wait.”
I stopped. This was it.
“What is she, Croaker?”
Damn! Ducked around it again. Chills on my part. Guilt. I did
not want to lie outright. “Just a woman.”
“Not a special woman? A special friend?”
“I guess she is special. In her way.”
“I see. Ask Silent to come in.”
Again I went slowly, nodding. But it was not till I actually
started to open the door that she beckoned me back.
In accordance with instructions, I sat. She did not. She paced.
She signed, “You think I am cold toward great news. You think
ill of me because I am not excited that Raven is alive.”
“No. I thought it would shock you. That it would cause you
great distress.”
“Shock, no. I am not entirely surprised. Distressed, yes.
It opens old wounds and makes them more painful.”
Puzzled, I watched as she continued to prowl.
“Our Raven. He never grew up. Fearless as a stone. Utterly
without the handicap of a conscience. Tough. Smart. Hard. Fierce.
All those things. Yes? Yes. And a coward.”
“What? How can you? . . . ”
“He runs away. There were machinations around the Limper
which pulled his wife in, years ago. Did he try to discover the
truth and work it out? He killed people and ran away with the Black
Company to kill more people. He abandoned two babies without a word
of good-bye.”
She was hot now. She was opening the doors on secrets and
spilling stuff of which I had seen only the vaguest glimmering
reflections. “Do not defend him. I have had the power to
investigate, and I did,” she signed.
“He fled the Black Company. For my sake? As much excuse to
avoid entanglement as reason. Why did he salvage me in that
village? Because of guilt over children he had abandoned. I was a
safe child. And while a child I remained a safe emotional
investment. But I did not remain a child, Croaker. And I knew no
other man in all those years in hiding.
“I should have known better. I saw how he pushed people
away if they tried to get close in any way that was not completely
one-sided and under his control. But after the horrible things he
did in Juniper I thought I could be the one to redeem him. On the
road south, when we were running from the dark danger of the Lady
and light danger of the Company, I betrayed my true feelings. I
opened the lid on a chest of dreams nurtured from a time before I
was old enough to think about men.
“He became a changed man. A frightened animal caught in a
cage. He was relieved when news came that the Lieutenant had
appeared with some of the Company. It was not but a matter of hours
before he was ‘dead.’
“I suspected then. I think a part of me always knew. And
that is why I am not so devastated now as you want. Yes. I know you
know I cry myself to sleep sometimes. I cry for a little
girl’s dreams. I cry because the dreams will not die, though
I am powerless to make them come true. I cry because the one thing
I truly want I cannot have. Do you understand?”
I thought about Lady, and Lady’s situation, and nodded. I
signed nothing back.
“I am going to cry again. Go out. Please. Tell Silent to
come.”
I did not have to look for him. He was waiting in the conference
room. I watched him go inside, wondering if I was seeing things or
seeing things.
She’d certainly given me something to think about.