Homage and Honour (11 page)

“A friend of
Beth’s?” snorted Hannah in disbelief. “Here in Vadath?”

“I think she
met him when she first arrived here,” vouchsafed Jess, “not that
she talks about anything that happened to her before she met Xei
much.”

“A
boyfriend?”

“Hardly,” was
Jess’s withering answer, “I think he’s with the Vada and Beth did
mention something about him retiring soon.”

Hannah looked
disappointed.

“Never mind all
that,” said Tana the impatient.

“I’ll go get
permission,” offered Jess.

“And I’ll get
the haversacks ready,” agreed Tana, “and you, Hannah,” she
continued with mock severity, “will fill the water bottles then go
to the Holad and get the first aid kit. They won’t let us past the
gates without one.” Turning to Jess, she added, “it’s a pity that
your Uncle James has left. He could have told us the best place to
go.”

“He only waited
until me and Mlei got here and were settled in,” Jess replied,
“he’s not too well these days and wanted to travel west whilst he
still could.”

What neither
mentioned was that Jess’s Uncle James had left for the west a very
ill man indeed and although the medics had said he could manage the
journey to Siya’s rtathlian, he was not expected to survive the
winter.

Knowing this,
Siya had been at her most urgent that she return home. Most vadeln,
whether Lind or human could not live without their life-partner and
Siya wanted to be with her pack when the time came.

This was the
other reason why Tana was proposing the picnic, to take Jess’s mind
off these sombre thoughts.

Once Jess had
left to seek the required permission, Tana explained this to
Hannah.

“Keep your hair
on,” grumbled Hannah, “I never said me and Kolyei weren’t coming,
did I?” She said this with a good-natured grin. Hannah rarely lost
her temper, was placid and easy-going, in direct contrast to the
mercurial Tana, the shy Beth and the serious Jess.

In fact, the
four were, in character, as different as they could possibly be,
which was probably why they were such good friends.

“We’re going
then?” asked a quiet voice from behind Tana.

Tana jumped and
turned round. There stood Beth, an interested Xei looking over her
shoulder. His blue eyes began to sparkle as he realised what was
happening. A visit to the woods! Like many Lind serving with the
Vada, Xei missed the trees of his rtathlians.

“Jess’s gone
for permission,” smiled Tana. No first year cadets were allowed to
leave the Stronghold without permission, a throwback to previous,
less peaceful times. “I’m going to fill the haversacks.” She made a
lunge and picked Hannah’s off its hook. “You help Hannah with the
water then go with her to the Holad. We’ll meet you both outside
the big practice field.”

She was away
before Beth had a chance to draw another breath, sneaking a ‘long
arm’ into Beth’s cubicle and grabbing her haversack as she passed
it by.

Tana ran
towards the cookhouse.
By vuz it is hot
, she was thinking,
a scorcher, as Jess would say.

The cookhouse
was in a ferment. It was not just the Quartet who intended to take
advantage of this first rest day since training had begun.

The first two
tendays of training were by tradition a full twenty uninterrupted,
those in charge calling it ‘an object lesson’, to demonstrate to
the cadets that they were, as their ancestors would have put it,
‘in the army now’.

Tana stood in
the queue waiting her turn for the pre-packed picnic lunches the
cooks had thoughtfully prepared; the last twenty days had been hard
going and everyone wanted a break. She thought that if she, who was
used to military discipline, had found it hard, Jess, Hannah and
more especially Beth must have found it even more so.

In front of her
stood two final year cadets, Tana recognised the four rank stripes
on their tunics. She had only the one white stripe, which denoted
her lowly status as a first year. The tallest of them smiled and
turned to face her, “it’s always the same,” she said, “everyone who
can, gets out, usually on a picnic. The cooks know this and are
ready for the onslaught. They’ll expect us to stay away ‘til past
suppertime too so don’t come back too early. Be back by Eighth Bell
though or next time you want to go out you’ll find your request
refused.”

“Thank you,”
said Tana.

“Where are you
going?” asked the girl. Her companion ignored Tana.

“Picnic in the
woods I think,” Tana answered.

“Go up to the
high mound in the middle,” the girl advised, “where the monuments
stand. There’ll be a breeze and the flies won’t be so much of a
problem.”

“Where are you
going?” asked Tana, greatly daring.

“Most of us’ll
go to the river where we can swim. The sun is too hot inland, still
it’ll be cool enough on the mound if you really want to go
there.”

The two seniors
moved forward, were served with efficient haste, then it was Tana’s
turn.

“How many?”
asked the harassed cook’s assistant, eyeing the haversacks hooked
on Tana’s shoulders.

“Four.”

He spied the
single white bar that marked Tana out as a first year.

“Got your water
bottles?”

“Yes.”

“First Aid
Kit?”

“Yes.”

The man was
piling packets of food in front of her as he talked.

“Good enough.
Don’t sort it out now, do it later. Just get them into the sacks.
There’s more to come after you. If you want anything else get it in
the market on the way out. The stallholders know this is the first
rest day, they’ll be waiting. Don’t forget your coin.”

“Thanks,”
smiled Tana, shoving the packets into the haversacks
willy-nilly.

“Off you go
then.”

The now laden
Tana sped off to the practice fields where her three friends were
waiting, their Lind beside them and she spied Tavei approaching
from one of the drinking fountains that were dotted around the
Stronghold.

All were eager
to be off.

“Help me
redistribute all this,” Tana announced, placing the bulging
haversacks on the ground, “I’m not carrying it all!”

The
redistribution of the edibles was easily accomplished, each girl
carrying her own food and water bottles, Hannah good-naturedly
offering to take the First Aid Kit.

“We’ll get some
meat pastries at the market for our friends,” announced Jess,
jingling her purse. She knew how much Mlei loved them. His face
brightened immediately.

“Ginger Juice
for Tana,” he suggested, crinkling his hairy face in a grin.

Tana laughed,
“I’d like that,” as she settled the straps on his shoulders. “Shall
we head off now,
please
?”

The other seven
agreed. The four girls mounted in a hurry and made for the
guardroom where they were signed out by a severe looking
guardswoman.

“Where you
heading? I need to note it down.”

When Jess told
her the Mound was their destination she nodded, “I know the spot.
Like it there myself. Don’t forget now, be back by Eighth
Bell.”

“We won’t,”
answered Hannah as she remounted Kolyei and settled herself on his
back. None of the four Lind were wearing harness, this was rest day
after all and after twenty days hard riding practice even Beth did
not feel the need.

They walked
down the dirt-packed road through the civilian area that
circumvented the Stronghold proper, Mlei and Jess in the lead,
continued past the tilled fields and out towards the woods.

: It will be
nice to be in the lian again :
‘said’ Mlei to Jess.

: We’ll go to
the woods beside the farm our first long leave and we might even
manage to domta Gyneya :

Mlei was
content. He missed the woods of his rtathlian. Family was of great
importance to the Lind.

The woods that
circled the Stronghold were pleasantly cool after the unsheltered
fields. The eight sauntered through the trees, following the stream
that meandered down from the monument mound. As they progressed
along the almost indefinable path, each girl and Lind was wondering
what they would see when they reached the top.

All four Lind
had decided to rest under the trees.

Their hairy
coats began to undulate in the breeze as they climbed.

Hannah, too,
intended to lie down and rest, a decision shared by Beth. These two
were the least used to heavy manual labour and although Hannah
found the more domestic chores of Vada life easy enough, not so the
weapons and riding practices. They were both weary after their
first twenty days training.

As Tana had
said more than once, chores used quite different muscles to
sword-practice.

Jess had come
out of the two tendays in better shape than Hannah and Beth having
worked on the farm. This was not to say that she didn’t get tired
and muscle-achey on occasion but she bounced back overnight. Jess
intended to spend the first bell atop the mound exploring.

Tana, after a
term spent at Settlement had sailed through the arms-practices with
ease. She had, however, taken many a tumble during the riding
classes in which Jess shone. Jess, farm bred, had scored there. She
had been riding horses, ponies, and even Mlei when he came to visit
since the day she was able to sit upright. She sat on Mlei’s back,
relaxed and comfortable, at one with his movements.

There were over
forty new cadets in this year’s crop and added to this were a few
of mature years. The more deep thinking were wondering if this had
to do with the re-emergence of the Larg; it was as if the Lind knew
that there was fighting ahead, like in the old days. Before mankind
had arrived on Rybak, the Lind had not thought in terms of years
but of seasons, hot and cold. Most hot seasons, the Larg had
attacked the North. The planetary year was made up of ten months of
forty days each, five of summer and five of winter.

But the eight
were not thinking of battles to come as they reached the top of the
mound. As one, the four Lind made for a shady spot under the
big-branched allst trees beside a merrily tinkling stream. They
were followed by Hannah and Beth in short order.

* * * * *

Tana and Jess
walked over to the monument stone dedicated to one of the first
vadeln-pairs, Jim Cranston and his Lind Larya. It was a simple
stone made of a grey-white marble with three words deep-chiselled
on its face –
Jim and Larya
.

Tana looked
disappointed.

“It’s not very,
well … big, is it? I was expecting something different.”

“More
flamboyant?” queried Jess.

“Well, yes. The
statue of them above Settlement is huge! They are so famous. They
led the North to victory, not once, but
twice
.” She was
tracing out the words as she spoke. “Are they buried here?”

“No, in the
rtathlians to the north,” vouchsafed Jess.

“Why was the
stone placed here then?” asked Tana. “It
looks
like a
grave-marker.”

Jess shrugged.
“I don’t know. Uncle James said nothing much, just that I should
visit. He seemed to think it was important that I did.”

Tana peeked
behind the stone, observing that it was set in very close to the
rock that made up the tip of the mound. “Yuck, it’s covered in
slimy moss.” For no reason that she would afterwards fathom, she
leant forward to investigate the back of the stone. The sunlight
had reached the narrow crevice between stone and rock and Tana
frowned as her brain registered what lay revealed. Her excited
voice broke into Jess’s musings.

“There are
letters inscribed under the moss!”

“Letters? Are
you sure?” asked a disbelieving Jess, “Uncle James didn’t say
anything about hidden letters. Talk sense. Who in their right mind
would inscribe letters behind the stone? Stands to reason, no-one
looks at the back.”

“I’m telling
you, there are so,” retorted an indignant Tana.

“You’re not
joshing me?”

“There are,”
affirmed Tana, taking her knife from her belt and squeezing herself
into the crevice with scant attention to what the moss was doing to
her clothes. With the tip of her knife she began to clear away the
furry growth from the first two letters.

“It’s the word
‘IF’,” she exclaimed. “Wonder what’s next?”

“It’s too hot,”
complained Jess, “come and explore the rest of the Mound. There are
other stones.”

“You go,” said
Tana, busy scraping away, “I want to see what’s underneath.”

Jess laughed.
There was only room for one behind the stone and that with a
terrible squash. She was bigger than Tana too and she doubted if
she could fit in anyway. She glanced over at Hannah and Beth. They
had made themselves more than comfortable under the trees and were
talking. She could hear the quiet murmur of their voices.

Leaving Tana to
it, she knew her Tana by now and was convinced her inquisitive
friend would could not leave the mystery unsolved, Jess sauntered
around the Mound looking at the other stones. There were not many
and like Jim and Larya’s the only words inscribed on them were
names. She recognised some from history classes, Francis and Asya,
Tina and Daltei, Wilhelm and Mislya. Francis and Asya she knew had
been the very first Susas of the Vada and Tina and Daltei the
second. Wilhelm, she rather thought he had been the Vada’s first
Weaponsmaster. By and large, the cadets still followed the training
programme that he had devised and to her secret pleasure, Wilhelm
Dahlstrom was a distant ancestor of hers.

Tucked away in
one corner, she found the memorial marker of Peter and Radya,
famous for being one of the first group of children to be
vadeln-paired with the Lind but try as she might she could find no
marker for Tara and Kolyei, arguably the most famous of them all.
She did find however, on a stone larger than the others, an
inscribed list of some of the other vadeln-paired of the original
twelve children who had died fighting during the Battles of the
Alliance and Trumpet Keep but she still could find no sign of Tara
and Kolyei. She resolved to ask one of her academic teachers the
reason why as soon as she could.