'Is that why you did not pursue Corwin?'
Dennis did not reply for a moment. As the battle-fury ended only then had he remembered that Corwin was with the band they had destroyed. But his body was not found, and he seemed to have been one of the few who escaped. Some of the men cried out to press the pursuit; even Asayaga wanted to, but he had refused. The children and women back at the bridge had been left with only four men to guard them, the men who had managed to cross the river. He had turned away from that hunt without a backward glance, which had startled many.
'He is his own poison. I'll cross paths with him some day.'
'Will you seek that path?'
Dennis smiled. 'Not everything changes in a moment. I will seek it, but I won't live for it.'
She smiled and placed a hand on his arm. Then after a moment, she drew herself close to him and kissed him, deeply.
His arms slipped around her, and he returned her kiss, then gently disentangled himself and pushed her away. 'It's true that I am not ready,' he whispered. 'I may never be ready to love again. And you should not have to wait. I'll get you and your people to safety in Yabon City, and I will visit you when I can.'
She stifled a sob and forced a smile, though tears shone in her eyes. 'I knew that is what you would say, Hartraft.'
'Dennis, can't you ever call me that?'
'Of course, Dennis.' She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. Then she drew back, her hand brushing his for a moment before letting go. Then she walked quickly towards the horses where the other women and the children waited.
As Dennis watched her retreating back, the striking poise of her strong, tall body erect with pride and self-assurance, he felt another crack in the hard stone that was within him. For a long moment, he felt deeply alone, and then as he saw her mount a horse and signal to her sister, a faint smile grew on his lips.
Asayaga stood on the crest of the road a hundred paces away from the others. He stiffened as Alyssa laid her hand upon his arm.
'It must be goodbye,' he said.
'Why?' she asked. 'I have no home, no family but Roxanne, and I could go with you.'
Asayaga shook his head. 'It is impossible. To my people you are a barbarian, fit only to be a slave.' He fell quiet for a moment, then added, 'To suggest we wed would bring dishonour to my house in their eyes and my lord would order me to take my own life, if he did not hang me in shame first. They would wonder why I did not keep you as a concubine.'
'Then I will be your concubine, Asayaga.'
He looked long at her as if weighing the offer, then said, 'It cannot be. I have come to know your people, Alyssa, but you know nothing of mine. We can be a hard people, and love is often put aside for honour and duty. Even though we shared a bed each night, during the day you would be kept apart, and" he swallowed hard ' our children would be slaves.'
She looked at him, her eyes rimmed with tears. 'You've never told me you love me,' she whispered. 'But I see by the way you look at me.'
Softly he said, 'I have not told you because I cannot.' Then he looked into her eyes and his own grew moist. 'But you read my heart and you know how I feel.' Stepping back, he said, 'Let us end this now, for to linger only heightens the pain.'
He turned and shouted a command, and his men broke away from the Kingdom soldiers. Final handshakes were exchanged, many of the Tsurani formally saluting Dennis as he passed them. Tasemu approached, saluted, then extended his hand. 'Goodbye, friend,' he said in the common tongue.
'Goodbye.'
'I hope I not see you again in this war,' the Tsurani Strike Leader said haltingly, and then he stepped back, saluted once more and started to bark out commands.
He reminded Dennis of Jurgen in the way he moved about, showering abuse on some, and then a second later giving an affectionate cuff on the shoulder to another as they formed ranks.
'Just like Jurgen,' Gregory said, coming up to join Dennis.
'Yes, that's what I was thinking.'
'Jurgen would approve, you know.'
'Yes, he would.'
'So would your father,' Gregory added.
Asayaga walked across with a purposeful stride, once more as if on a Tsurani parade ground and Tasemu snarled the command for the men to come to attention. There was a quick inspection, Asayaga nodding with approval, and then another flurry of commands.
Six men stepped out from the column, bows in their hands, and sprinted out over the hill.
'Forward scouts,' Gregory said. 'My, how they do learn quickly.'
'I hope Tasemu is right,' Dennis said.
'About what?'
'About our not meeting again.'
Gregory said nothing.
The column started off, the horses carrying the Tsurani wounded falling in at the middle. Many of the women and children from Wolfgar's stockade openly wept at the parting.
Asayaga looked over at Dennis and nodded. Dennis left Gregory's side and fell in with the Tsurani.
'Remember, avoid contact going through the Kingdom lines: you promised that.'
'Remember, avoid contact going through the Kingdom lines: you promised that.'
'Is that an order or a request, Hartraft?'
'You know.'
Asayaga smiled and nodded. 'A request then from me, Dennis.'
'What?'
'The war between our nations might last for years yet. We serve on the same front. If a day should come when we see each other again, in the woods, or across that open field' His voice trailed off.
'That we back away,' Dennis suggested.
'Yes,' Asayaga said after a hesitation. 'Yes, my honoured friend.'
Dennis nodded and extended his hand.
Asayaga grasped it firmly, then let go. Alyssa came to Dennis's side and Roxanne joined her sister, who put her arm around Dennis's waist, and he put his arm around her shoulder. He was surprised at himself for doing it, but whatever comfort he gave her was returned.
He glanced back and saw Roxanne watching Asayaga and her sister with a slight smile on her lips, though tears ran openly down her cheeks as the Tsurani marched off.
Silhouetted by the evening sun, the column moved over the crest of the hill and disappeared. The world seemed strangely empty.
Dennis waited, giving them time to go down the road and then turn into the woods. Then, finally, he nodded.
'Standard march,' he announced, 'Sergeant Jurgen'
He fell silent, looking at his men who were gathered around. He glanced at Gregory. 'He's gone, isn't he?'
Sadly, Gregory said, 'Yes, Dennis, Jurgen is gone.'
Acting Corporal Jenkins stood at the head of the column, waiting for an order to lead the men out.
Dennis looked at him, and at the men, women and children waiting behind, all of whom depended upon him to get them to safety.
Finally, Jenkins said, 'Sir, shall I lead the trail-breakers?'
Dennis was silent for a moment, then he smiled. 'No,' he whispered, 'I'll lead. Now let's go home.'
EPILOGUE. REUNION
The day was warm.
Captain Dennis Hartraft of Highcastle, Squire of Wolfgar's Hold, shaded his eyes to look at the evening sun setting beyond the mountains which rimmed the valley.
Bow over his shoulder, he slowly walked back from the woods. He carried no game, though he had seen more than one stag. But the larder was full, the valley was rich, and he felt no desire to draw his bow on this warm spring evening. Hunting had been an excuse for some quiet time alone, to think. His conversation with Alyssa this morning over breakfast had put him in a reflective mood, making him ponder the strange twists of fate that had led him back to this valley after the war. And the children were running riot through the keep.
At times he wondered why he found their noise far more stressful than the din of battle. He smiled at the thought of his eldest, Jurgen, trying to lift his father's shield, though he was only four years of age.
He paused at the crest of the small rise in the road overlooking the keep. It was a ritual which had become habit nodding to the burial mound which held the ashes of Wolfgar, Richard, Alwin, and the others; even Sugama. He sat down for a moment. Looking at the small marker he had erected to mark their grave, he said, 'Well, Wolfgar, you old bastard, you're going to be a grandfather again. Alyssa's with child once more.' He looked down into the valley.
Where the old stockade had stood, now a sturdy keep rose. He laughed silently at the irony of life.
What had once been his land had been granted to the Tsurani with the ending of the war. Lord Kasumi, now Earl of LaMut, had been granted that office by King Lyam after the end of the war, when Earl Vandros had gained the office of Duke of Yabon, upon old Brucal's retirement. Dennis had no problem with the King taking Kasumi and the other Tsurani stranded on Midkemia into service.
Better than any solider in the King's army, Dennis knew the quality of those men. For every Sugama there were a hundred Asayagas, men who would guard your back with their own lives and give everything in the name of honour and duty. No, he welcomed them as allies on the northern borders, keeping the moredhel at bay.
What he objected to was them giving his family's land to a Tsurani vassal of Earl Kasumi.
The news had been a bitter blow, for he had fought loyally for ten long years and to have his ancestral home bartered away was difficult to accept. He sighed as he remembered how angry he had been at the time.
There had been, he knew, a cloud over his name. For someone had indeed talked. He could not have expected different. Soldiers were soldiers and in the days after their return to the Kingdom lines rumours had been flying about the miraculous return of what was called 'the lost patrol' and clearly someone had finally spilled the tale of what had really happened.
Then had come the night when old Duke Brucal had called him to his pavilion and pressed the charges that he had consorted with the enemy, and knowingly let an elite Tsurani unit escape.
It was ironic coming from Brucal, who was known to be one of the most pragmatic soldiers in the field. Yet, duty was duty, and if the rumours were true, Dennis could stand accused of treason.
Fortunately, none of his men would implicate him before the tribunal of Dukes Brucal and Borric, and Earl Vandros of LaMut.