be called murderous. 'My father, my mother, my younger brother and two sisters, and the woman to whom I was bethrothed, all were in residence at my father's estate the night you Tsurani attacked.' His voice fell to a whisper. 'It was the night of my wedding day. It's been nine years, Tsurani, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. I held my wife in my arms when she died. I don't know if my brother and sisters are even alive.'
Asayaga tensed. The captured Kingdom soldiers had been taken to Kelewan and sold as slaves. They were labouring under the hot Tsurani sun if they still lived, in the fields or down reclaiming the land of the Great Swamp. The women . . . the old ones to the kitchens, the young ones, like Dennis's sisters . . . He thought it best not to mention that to Dennis. Then he remembered a story. 'You're the one who released the prisoner, aren't you?'
Dennis grinned, as evil an expression as Asayaga had seen on a mortal man. Early in the war a raid had taken a forward position, and every man there had been killed, save one. A young Tsurani soldier had been rendered unconscious and when he revived he found himself a prisoner. Rather than being enslaved as he had expected, he had been returned to his own lines, with a message: every man who had attacked Valinar would be hunted down and killed. It had been judged a hollow threat; but nine years later, only a handful of men who had been at Valinar were still alive to remember that fight.
'We are a raiding company, and we operate behind the lines. We serve at the pleasure of the Duke of Yabon, and under the command of the Earl of LaMut and my lord the Baron of Tyr-Sog, but the manner in which we serve is our own. Once behind your lines, I am free to act as I see fit. The Marauders are the thorn in your side, Tsurani.' He looked Asayaga directly in the eyes. 'We are here because we were on our way back from raiding one of your rear positions. So know I am not boasting when I tell you this thing: this is my world, Tsurani, not yours. But I am not ungenerous, and will give you a tiny bit if you'd like; just enough of it for your grave.'
Asayaga took a deep breath. 'We cannot settle this war here, at this moment, Hartraft,' he said quickly, as if these words were hard to say. 'Time is spinning out and you said they will soon attack.'
Dennis continued to smile without any hint of warmth. 'Yes. Maybe we should just sit here and argue till they come and kill you for me.'
Asayaga hesitated, wondering for a second if this man's hatred ran so deep that he would do such a thing. 'You are saying then that you command and we are to follow?' he asked finally.
'Something like that, at least till we are free of the damned moredhel. I need your swords in order for my men to survive, but not as much as you need my knowledge for your men to survive. Dying at the hands of the moredhel serves neither of us or our people. Will you serve?'
'Never. I command my men.' He said the words slowly, forcefully. This Kingdom soldier's ignorance of his foes was astonishing. Had he no sense of the proper order of things, of all that was implied by the acceptance of an order from a sworn enemy?
Dennis looked at him carefully and Asayaga could sense that Hartraft was studying him, trying to figure something out. Finally he grunted and nodded.
'A truce then. Call it whatever the hell you want to call it. We move together until we are certain we are free of the Dark Brothers. Once that is accomplished we form ranks with our own comrades and then we fight.'
'I march the same path as you only because I order my men to do so,' Asayaga replied slowly. 'But you and I shall have an understanding. If you only pass along . . . suggestions, to me, I will consider them and perhaps agree to your suggestions. But order one of my men and you will as likely provoke a fight.'
Dennis looked at him, as if deciding.
Rapidly, Asayaga continued, 'In our world, enemy houses will serve together if ordered by their clans; but one of lower