Broken World Book Three - A Land Without Law (6 page)

A man who rode
a tall, dapple-grey stallion dismounted and approached. He scowled
at them, the streaks of paint making his expression fiercer.

"Who are you,
and what are you doing in our valley?"

"Your valley?"
Kieran raised his brows. "There was no one here when we
arrived."

"We winter
here every year."

The man swayed
with fatigue, and lines of strain furrowed his brow and bracketed
his mouth. His bloodshot eyes glittered with suspicion and
uncertainty, but he carried himself with the pride of a leader,
although he did not swagger.

Talsy glanced
past him at the herd. "How did you open the wall?"

He patted his
chest. "With a key."

Kieran traded
a puzzled look with her, then his gaze was jerked back to the man
as he stepped closer and raised a finger to point at her brow.

"You carry the
Stone mark!"

"Stone mark?"
Kieran glanced at her again. "That's a Mujar mark. She's the First
Chosen."

The man
snorted, casting an amused look over his shoulder at his warriors.
Two more dismounted and wandered over, carrying long, lethal
looking spears. The first man smiled as he faced them again. "Mujar
are only legend. That's the mark on our key, the same one that's on
the wall."

"Yes," Kieran
agreed. "A Mujar mark."

The man
shrugged, apparently too tired to argue. "Call it what you will. At
least it shows that you're good people, not horse thieves. If she
carries the mark, she is beloved of horses and therefore our
friend." He held out his hand. "I'm Jesher, Headman of the
Aggapae."

The Prince
shook hands and introduced himself and Talsy, who wondered where
the legend was hiding now. When Chanter chose to show himself, the
Aggapae would know that Mujar were not just a legend. Jesher
introduced his warriors, Taff and Brin, gesturing behind him to a
boy on a black colt.

"My son,
Shan."

The boy looked
ready to drop, and the colt looked little better. "You're welcome
to share what we have," Talsy offered.

Jesher shook
his head. "We have our own, my thanks." He turned to stare back
down the valley. "But you should close the gate if you can, there
are bad people following us."

Noticing that
some of his odd clothes were bandages, and his warriors were
likewise injured, she glanced around with a frown. Where was
Chanter?

"Why are they
after you?" Kieran asked Jesher.

"They're horse
thieves, of course. We're the blessed of the god of horses, they're
scum." Jesher spat on the ground to punctuate his opinion.

The Prince
appeared unconcerned. "Well, make yourselves at home; I'm sure we
won't let them in. As soon as you're settled we'll have a
talk."

Jesher shot
him a puzzled look, but shrugged and turned away to signal to his
people. The tired horses plodded up the valley, stopping almost in
the centre of it, where the women dismounted and started to unload
them.

Kieran turned
to Talsy. "Where is he? Has he closed the gate?"

"How should I
know? He's become very strange lately."

"He always was
strange."

Talsy glared
at him, then was distracted as the boy on the black colt keeled
over and slid from his horse's back to land with a thud on the
ground. Talsy started forward in concern, and Jesher followed, not
looking particularly worried at the sight of his son sprawled on
the grass under the colt's feet.

"He's just
tired," he explained, glancing back at Brin when the warrior
commented, "It's that damned stone he's been carrying."

"He's still
got that?" Jesher demanded, and the warrior nodded.

Talsy knelt
beside the boy, and the colt lowered his head to snuffle her hair.
Shan was out cold, and she looked up at Jesher. "We can take him to
my hut."

The headman
looked peeved by his son's show of weakness in front of strangers.
"No, no, I'll take him to his mother. He'll be fine. Brin, get rid
of that damned piece of rock before this colt collapses too."

The painted
warrior stepped up to the horse and tugged at the ropes that bound
a bundle to the colt's withers. A grey stone thudded to the ground
beside Talsy, and she gasped, staring at it.

"That's a
piece of the staff!"

Kieran bent to
examine it. "How do you know that?"

"It looks the
way Chanter described it. Look at the writing."

"She's right,"
a soft voice said behind them.

Kieran turned
to find the Mujar standing there, gazing down at the grey stone.
Jesher eyed the unman askance, clearly struck by his odd
appearance, but the horses' reaction brought gasps of amazement
from the Aggapae. Nort shouldered his way to the Mujar and pressed
his head to the Chanter's chest in a gesture of complete trust,
whickering a low greeting. The other horses gathered round, jostled
and gave little nickers of welcome, stretching out their soft
muzzles to the Mujar. Chanter stroked the stallion, then flicked
his fingers. The horses retreated, and Jesher paled beneath his
paint, his eyes measuring Chanter with deep misgiving.

"Who are you,
who can speak to all horses?"

Chanter
smiled. "You don't know?"

"If I did, I
wouldn't ask."

"That's
good."

Kieran glanced
down the valley. "Is the gate closed?"

"Yes."

Talsy tried to
pick up the piece of staff and failed, grunting with annoyance. She
turned to Jesher. "Why did the boy bring the stone?"

Brin answered,
"The horses said that it was important."

"The horses?"
She raised her brows. "You can speak to them?"

Jesher nodded.
"Of course, ever since the god of horses blessed us and gave us the
Stone."

"The stone you
used for a key?" Kieran enquired.

"That's
right."

"The one with
the Mujar mark on it."

Jesher looked
a little impatient. "There are no more Mujar. They are only legend
now, if they ever existed."

Kieran shook
his head, glancing at the Mujar who stood beside him, as large as
life and apparently uninterested in the discussion. "I beg to
differ. Chanter is Mujar."

The headman
studied Chanter again, his eyes lingering on his truncated right
arm, and a frown wrinkled the dried paint on his brow. "Mujar are
extinct. If you claim to be one, then prove it."

"No." Chanter
glanced at the Prince. "I didn't claim it, he did."

Talsy stood up
with a sigh. "He won't. That's one of the things about Mujar. You
can't make them do anything they don't want to. We're very glad
your son brought the stone. The horses are right, it's important to
all of us."

Jesher
continued to stare at the Mujar as if unable to tear his eyes away,
but not with fascination or respect. His gaze was disbelieving and
slightly hostile, apparently angered by Kieran's unproven claim
that Chanter was a member of the legendary, extinct race of
Mujar.

Kieran
gestured to the village. "Come and have refreshment. We can talk in
comfort."

Shan groaned
and opened his eyes, looking dazed. Brin helped him to his feet,
and Jesher shot his son a frown of annoyance. "Take him to his
mother."

Taff led the
boy away, followed by the horses. Kieran picked up the stone,
surprised by its weight, and cradled it in his arms as he headed
towards the village. The two Aggapae followed, and Talsy grabbed
Chanter as he tried to wander off, tugging him after them.

Kieran's hut
seemed to grow smaller when the three men filled it. The Aggapae
sat on the only chairs, and Kieran poured mead for them. Talsy
leant against the wall and Chanter stood beside her, looking
uncomfortable under Jesher's relentless stare. Kieran found a box
to sit on and pulled it up to the table. The remnant of the Staff
of Law lay in a corner where he had placed it.

"What is that
thing?" Jesher gestured to the grey stone, his eyes never leaving
Chanter.

Talsy
answered, "It's a piece of the Staff of Law, which was broken
almost seven moons ago."

Jesher shook
his head. "What's that?"

Talsy
explained, keeping it as brief as possible, and by the end Jesher's
eyes had left the Mujar and settled upon her face.

"The world is
dying?"

She
nodded.

"I've seen no
sign of it."

"Nothing
unusual has happened?"

He
contemplated his mug of mead. "Well, there's that damned magician
wielding fire. That's strange."

Talsy glanced
at Chanter, whose eyes had narrowed. "A Trueman?"

Jesher snorted
at her disbelief. "What else? I saw him myself. He looked a lot
like your friend, whom you claim to be Mujar."

Talsy shot
Chanter a surprised look, but the Mujar shook his head, warning her
not to pursue the conversation, and she bit her lip in
vexation.

Kieran looked
at Chanter. "I suppose, since these people carry a Mujar talisman,
that they're chosen?"

The Mujar
shrugged. "Probably."

"May I see
it?" The Prince turned to Jesher, who tore his gaze from Chanter
with an effort. The headman hesitated, glancing at Brin. Obviously
he was reluctant to display this sacred relic to strangers, but,
since Chanter was unarmed and Talsy just a girl, the only possible
threat was Kieran, whose sword was sheathed. He pulled a pouch from
inside his tunic and took out a dull brown pebble.

Talsy smiled,
thinking how typical that was. No ancient, mysterious objects or
precious jewels served as magical talismans on this world. Truemen
were condemned to treasuring the most ordinary stones as priceless,
while those that they valued were powerless. Jesher held the stone
in his palm for Kieran to study, but when the Prince reached for
it, he pulled it away.

Kieran smiled.
"I'm not going to eat it."

Jesher opened
his mouth to reply when Chanter stepped forward and made a graceful
gesture. The stone leapt from the headman's palm and shot through
the air to the Mujar, who caught it and held it up to inspect.
Jesher leapt up with an indignant yell, followed by the
spear-toting Brin, and the Aggapae closed on the Mujar. Chanter
stepped back, bumping into the wall, and Talsy sprang to his
defence.

"Leave him!
He's not going to steal it."

Jesher growled
and drew a wicked looking knife from his belt, but Chanter held out
the stone. The headman took it from his palm, glaring at the Mujar
before examining the pebble. Satisfied that he had not been
hoodwinked, he sheathed his knife and everyone relaxed. Kieran took
his hand off the hilt of his sword with a sigh.

"Well, is it
real?"

Chanter
nodded, and Talsy turned to him. "But why would a Mujar give that
to Lowmen? Mujar don't help Lowmen."

"He wasn't
helping the Lowmen, he was helping the horses."

The Aggapae
settled back into their chairs, the headman tucking away his
precious stone. He scowled at Chanter as he picked up his mug and
drained it. Kieran refilled it, and the tension leaked from the air
as the men sipped their mead. After a short silence, the
conversation resumed, the Aggapae asking questions and answering
them in turn. Talsy found their relationship with the horses
fascinating, and questioned them about it. The headman answered her
with pride, recounting the tale of the god of horses and his gift
to them. She knew that the black stallion he spoke of had been
Mujar, and shot Chanter a smile.

The talks went
on through the afternoon, leading to a discussion on sharing the
valley, which the Aggapae were happy to allow in return for the
wall's protection. Jesher's gaze lingered often on Chanter's
crippled arm, and Talsy got the impression that it was the lack of
a hand that convinced him that Chanter was not Mujar. Sheera
brought bowls of rich meaty stew, and the conversation stopped
while it was consumed.

As the late
afternoon sun sent fingers of golden light questing through the
gaps in the stone walls to dapple the interior with flecks of
brightness, a tall, well-built woman with long chestnut hair and a
strong face thrust open the door. Her brown eyes scanned the room,
lingered on Chanter and came to rest on Jesher.

"Husband, the
herd awaits."

One strong
tanned hand rested on the slender shoulder of the dark-haired youth
beside her, whom Talsy recognised as Shan. The boy looked rested
and refreshed, his long brown hair tied back and his grey eyes
searching for the stone that lay in the corner.

Jesher stood
up, followed by Brin. "My wife," he introduced the woman,
"Shella."

Outside,
horses' hooves grated on rock. The boy freed himself from his
mother's hold and went over to the piece of staff, running his
hands over it. He looked up at his father.

"It is
important, isn't it?"

Jesher smiled.
"It seems so, boy. Your effort in carrying it here was not wasted,
for these are the people who want it." He glanced around. "But for
what purpose I don't know."

"We're going
to find the rest of it and restore it, with Chanter's help." Talsy
looked at the Mujar, who seemed uninterested. "Then we can bring
back the law of the land."

"Is that what
it's for?" Shan asked.

She nodded.
"It's a piece of the Staff of Law, which kept all things in
order."

Jesher glanced
at his wife, who looked impatient. "I'll tell you all about it
tonight, Shan. Right now, we must return to the herd."

Shan followed
his mother outside, and, when Talsy emerged behind Brin, she found
four horses waiting for their riders. Shan climbed onto the back of
the black colt, Brin and Shella went to their respective steeds,
and Jesher turned to thank Kieran for his hospitality.

A loud bang
came from far down the valley, the sound rolling through it like a
thunderclap. Everyone turned to stare in the direction of the wall,
barely visible in the distance. Jesher scowled and shook his
head.