. been delirious with fever . . . serious wounds in his belly and side . . .'
Another voice interjected, Nacoya's surely. 'Gods. Mar must not see him like this. It will surely break her heart.'
And then a bustle amid the darkness, and someone the sounded like his mistress crying out in an anguish too-sha~
There was to be no singing, then, the old warrior understood in cold sorrow. Accolades would not herald warrior who died in defeat. The Acoma must have bee'
vanquished for Mara, Lujan and Nacoya to be present here in the halls of Turakamu. The Minwanabi army must have gone on from the canyon to attack the estate, and the cho-ja defenders must have fled or been overwhelmed. The end must have come with the enemy in triumph, and the Acoma crushed.
'Mistress,' murmured Keyoke in his delirium. 'Lady.' .
'Listen! He speaks!' someone exclaimed.
'Keyoke?' Mara's voice said again. Cool hands brushed his brow, the fingers lightly trembling.
Then light shone, blindingly bright through half-opened eyelids, and consciousness flooded back, along with full awareness of the pain.
'Keyoke,' Mara said again' Her hands settled on either side of his temples, gently and insistently framing his face.
'We are all well. Ayaki is well. Lujan speaks of a battle bravely fought in a canyon. The Minwanabi brought five hundred men to attack, and we hear your small company battled to the death defending the silk.'
The Force Commander struggled through a haze of fever and managed to focus his eyes. His mistress bent over him, her dark hair still loose from her sleeping mat, and her pretty brow furrowed with concern. He was not in the halls of the Red God but in the courtyard before the doors of the Acoma estate house. The grounds were peaceful. Shapes stirred in the surrounding mists as warriors of Lujan's company dispersed to their barracks. A servant with a cloth hovered nearby, ready to wipe his sweating face. Keyoke drew a difficult breath. Through the fiery pain of his injuries he gathered his wits and spoke. 'Lady Mara. There is danger.
Lord Desio has breached your security.'
Mara stroked his cheek. 'I know, Keyoke. The spy who was tortured escaped and brought us word. That's how Lujan knew to rush his company to the mountains to your aid.'
Keyoke thought back to the sounds of fighting that had broken out at last, in the hills behind the canyon. Lujan, then, had flanked Lord Desio's army and put it to rout up the ravine.
'How many are alive?' Keyoke asked, his voice barely a croak.
Lujan said, 'Six men, Force Commander, counting yourself.
All seriously wounded.'
Keyoke swallowed hard. Of the hundred warriors a fifty servants' only five besides himself survived the.
Minwanabi trap.
'Don't mind that the silk has been lost,' Mara added. 'The cho-ja shall eventually make more.'
Keyoke fumbled a hand free of the blankets that lapped.
Over his chest. He grasped Mara's wrist. 'The silk is not lost,'
he gasped clearly. 'Not all of it.'
This brought an exclamation from Lujan and a whispering stir among the servants. Only then did Keyoke notice the presence of Jican, hovering, bright-eyed, to one side.
He forced out the necessary phrases and told where the '
bolts were left concealed in the rocks leading into the pass.
Mara smiled. The expression lent her face the delicate, glowing beauty that had once been her mother's, Keyoke recalled. He also noticed the tears that glittered brightly at the corners of her eyes, which she bravely blinked to keep back. 'No mistress could have asked so much. You have served honourably, and superbly well. Now rest. Your wounds are very grave.'
Keyoke did not ask how grave; the pain told all he needed]
to know. He loosened his breath in a sigh. 'I can die now,' he added in a whisper. ;
The mistress did not protest but arose and imperiously called out orders for her Force Commander to be given her finest chamber. 'Light candles for him, and call poets, and musicians to sing him tribute. For all must know that he has fought as a hero, and given his life for the Acoma.'
Ruling Lady she might be, Keyoke thought, but her voice shook. From him, w.ho knew her as a daughter, she could not hide her grief. 'Do not weep for me, Lady,' he whispered. 'I am content.'
There was noise and a jostle of motion, and consciousness.
wavered. 'Do not weep for me, Lady,' Keyoke repeated. If she heard, he could not tell, for the darkness lapped over him once more.