Valour and Victory (6 page)

“You have been
thinking of her for days now,” she argued, “go do something about
it, please.”

“She might say
no,” he fretted.

“I do not think
so my Danal.”

Danal stared at
her, half amused, half cross then made up his mind.

“Okay, I will.”
He got out of bed, flinging back the covers and padded on bare feet
towards the door. He looked back at Asya.

“Go on,” she
ordered, settling her head between her paws and closing her eyes.
“I won’t listen, I promise.”

* * * * *

Tala woke.
Someone was knocking on her door.

“Who is it?”
she called out in a sleepy voice.

“It’s me,
Danal. May I come in?”

Tala smiled, a
self-satisfied smile just short of a grin of triumph. At last. He
was here.

“Come in,” her
voice was eager.

The door opened
and Danal stumbled into the room, his borrowed and oversized
nightshirt only just not tripping him up.

“Tala?” he
whispered.

Tala moved over
on the bed, patting the space beside her invitingly.

“I could do
with some company,” she whispered. “Care to join me?”

With a low moan
Danal sped to her side and gathered her into his arms, pressing her
willing body against his own.

In the next
room, Asya, with a sigh of relief, cut the mind connection and fell
into a contented and uninterrupted sleep.

* * * * *

The Susa

Zaoaldavdr,
Susa of the Avuzdel of Larg received the Largan’s order to report
with his pack’s kohort at the staging area south of the Kingdom of
Murdoch.

He ignored
it.

Instead of
leading his warriors west to join the Largan’s army he led the old,
the females and the young as far east as he could possibly manage
into the high mountains of the eastern range. They would be safe
there, or as safe as anylarg could be during the perilous days
ahead.

He and the
other leaders of the pack debated at length about what to do next.
There could be no return to the fold of Largdom. As Zaoaldavdr’s
friend Anavdr said, they had ‘burnt their paws’.

For centuries
the pack had trodden a fine line between loyalty to the Largan and
loyalty to the greater good of the planet under the auspices of the
Avuzdel and the Lai. They were now outlaws. The Largan would never
forget their desertion and the life of everylarg in the pack was
forfeit, young and old.

“There is no
way we can do anything to stop the kohorts,” Zaoaldavdr announced.
“He has called to his side every warrior in Larg. He believes
victory is certain.”

“But we cannot
just hide,” protested Anavdr. There were growls of agreement.

Zaoaldavdr
nodded. “We are Avuzdel, sworn to protect and so we shall. There is
a Kranj of human and Lind who will travel into the desert nadlian
to seek out that what must be found. The Susalai has spoken to me.
Only with this thing can the Dglai be destroyed. Without our help
they have little chance. Are you with me?”

“I am,” barked
Anavdr and the others.

Zaoaldavdr
nodded again as he settled his considerable bulk down on the rocky
floor of the cave where their conference was being held.

He stretched
out his legs and extended the talons on his front paws,
contemplating them as his brain worked out the details of what his
kohort could do to help. His talons retracted with a snap and the
hairy brown heads around him looked up.

“We leave for
the dry nadlians with the sun,” he announced.

* * * * *

Danal and
Tala

The group
Zaoaldavdr was talking about had reached the edges of the
desert.

The initial
part of their journey through the Duchy of Graham had been
uneventful. Philip’s cousin had provided an escort and plentiful
provisions (once he had got over the shock of four Lind arriving
unannounced on his doorstep).

They had
decided it would be best to make for the eastern tip of the Duchy
then travel due south from there. It was a barren area, scrubland,
with few water holes.

Their escort
took them a day’s ride into the desert and to the Duke of Graham’s
hidden supply dump where dry provisions and water were kept. The
northerly dukes were canny rulers and as Philip Ross informed them,
they
did
travel into the desert on occasion.

Inalei had been
in the desert before. The Avuzdel had sent him on a task. He told
them about the scrubby desert bushes whose prickly leaves retained
moisture and which could be sucked if a traveller’s water ran
out.

“We have to
cross over the route the Larg will take as fast as we can,” said
Danal as he helped the others cover over the supply dump with waxed
sackcloth and sand. “We must not be spotted, which is why we’ll be
travelling at night and no cook fires. Trail rations only. The Larg
have keen eyesight and they can spot a plume of smoke for miles.
They’d run like the very devil to catch us. Any waste must be
buried, covered with dry sand and the top sprinkled with the
crystals we’ve been supplied with.”

“Why?” asked
Tala.

“The Larg smell
real good,” he answered, “the crystals are odourless in themselves
but they absorb the smell of any organic waste. If the Larg pick up
on our scent they’ll hunt us until they drop.”

The Ross
retainers wished the eight good luck before departing homewards. It
was obvious that they believed the eight more than a little mad,
travelling into the desert in the middle of the southern summer,
especially with a Larg army on the move.

“Point taken,”
said Tala, a knot of nervous apprehension appearing as if by magic
in the pit of her stomach, no it wasn’t apprehension.
Admit it
my girl. You’re just plain terrified.

“Time to be
off,” said Danal. “Mount up everyone.”

Danal and Asya
led the way, Tala and Inalei by their side and were followed by
Philip and Jilsei with Derek and Denei into the dusty desert.

* * * * *

Hilla and
Rilla

Once Rilla and
her Lind Zawlei had arrived at the woods above Settlement with the
other Vada Cadets she decided that she
must
see if she could
find Hilla. They hadn’t seen each other for over a year.

“You seem to be
making a habit of this,” Jilmis contented himself by saying when
she appeared with her request.

“Weaponsmaster?”

“Visiting
sisters,” he replied with a chuckle. “There was another visit on
the way here if I remember rightly.”

“We’re
triplets,” protested Rilla.
Surely he isn’t going to refuse
me?

“So how many
sisters do you have?” he asked beckoning her to follow him to the
office tent where passes for entry into the Settlement area were
kept.

“There are us
triplets, Hilla, me and Zilla.”

“It was Zilla
you visited at Dunetown?”

“Yes, Hilla’s
with the Garda, in officer training and I haven’t seen her for
simply ages, Zala’s married and lives in Stewarton. Lastly there’s
Tala, I don’t know where she is. She visited me at Vada before we
left but wouldn’t tell me what she was doing. Tala’s really clever;
she’ll be doing something terribly important.”

Little do
you know young Rilla
. “So five sisters. Any brothers?”

“Just the one.
His name is Zak and is with the Dunetown Militia. I don’t suppose
Weaponsmaster that you know where
they
are?”

“I’ll try to
find out,” he told her, “and if I do, no promises mind, I’ll try to
see if you can pay him a quick call.”

After he has
signed Rilla’s pass and watched her scud off to find Zawlei, Jilmis
sat down heavily in his camp-chair. The sons and daughters of Talan
the Innkeeper were certainly ‘doing their bit’ for the war effort,
with four out of the six involved. At least two of their daughters
were out of immediate harm’s way. He had got this far in his
ruminations when a head poked itself under the tent-flap. It was
Cadet Charles.

“Weaponsmaster?
There’s a girl out here looking for Rilla and Zawlei. She says she
is Rilla’s sister and has come to offer her services as a
nurse.”

* * * * *

At the
Academie, Rilla located Hilla and the two spent the afternoon in an
orgy of reminiscing, by mutual consent not talking overmuch about
the incipient war.

Hilla and the
other Officer Trainees were embarking for the south that
evening.

“How was Zilla
when you saw her?” asked Hilla.

“Okay I think,”
answered Rilla. “Very quiet, she didn’t say much.”

“Does she
ever?” queried Hilla.

“I know, I
know, but I’m sure there was something, something that she was
hiding from me. Course, we didn’t have long together so she didn’t
have much time to talk but she’s never hidden anything from me
before.”

“A young man?”
hazarded Hilla.

“Could be but
Mother didn’t say anything and I think she would have done if that
had been it.”

“If she
knew.”

“There is
that,” admitted Rilla, “but who?”

Hilla shrugged.
“She’s growing up.”

“We’re all the
same age,” protested Rilla.

“She was always
the youngest.”

“By under a
bell.”

“No,” said
Hilla, surprising Rilla with her understanding. “The youngest
mentally. You and I left home and had to grow up, learn to live
without each other. She always let us make decisions for her.”

“You rather
than me.”

“But when I
left you took over, didn’t you?”

“Not that I was
aware of,” said Rilla, bristling.

“Unintentionally then, but true,” Hilla insisted. “With us gone she
has had to learn to think for herself. I’ve noticed it in her
letters. To begin with, when you were still at home they were
filled with Rilla this and Rilla that. Her own personality never
showed. When you and Zawlei left for Vada glimmers of her started,
what she thought, what she did. More and more lately. I wondered if
there is a young man involved. Did she seem happy?”

“Not
really.”

“That’s it
then. She’ll tell us when she’s ready. We’re triplets, stands to
reason that she will eventually and you, any young man?”

Rilla shook her
head. “Zawlei’s enough for me. It’s different for us who are bonded
with Lind. It was explained in classes and there’s Zawlei to
consider. One of the Fourth Stripe Cadets, Charles is his name, he
and I had a fling.”

“Is he
nice?”

“Very nice, but
Zawlei doesn’t much like his Lind Wlya so we both knew that
anything more would be out of the question.”

“Sounds rather
unfair on you and Charles.”

“No it isn’t
like that,” insisted Rilla. “Zawlei is the most important ‘person’
in my life and if he is unhappy then so am I. Don’t worry about me
Hilla, I wouldn’t change the way my life has turned out for all the
kala in the north. But you, have you heard from Robain?”

“A letter, it
came a few days ago,” Hilla answered. “Origination seal Vada of all
places.”

“Yes I saw him
there but we had time only for a quick hello goodbye. Tala was
there. She wouldn’t say much but I’m sure she’s got herself mixed
up in all this somehow. When we kissed goodbye I got the funny
feeling that it wasn’t goodbye but
goodbye
. Do you think
Robain is mixed up in it too?”

“He only wrote
that his detachment from the Garda was being extended and that I
was to take care. He said that he loved me and that he would find
me when this was all over.”

“Then he will,”
said Rilla with confidence. “Any fool can see how much you mean to
him. His eyes go all misty when he talks about you.”

“Yes,” said
Hilla with an effort.

“So when do you
embark?” asked Rilla in an effort to change the subject.

“At Eleventh
Bell. I’d better be getting back to the barracks. I’ve got some
last things to pack.” She stood up. “I’ll see you in the south
little sister. Tell Zawlei that if anything happens to you I’ll
have his toenails for garters.”

“We’ll look
after each other.” Neither triplet voiced the thought that one or
the other might not be coming back.

“Least Zilla’s
safe back at the inn,” Rilla added as she hugged Hilla tight. “A
battle is no place for our Zilla.”

“Never thought
it was the ideal place for you either,” said Hilla with a grin.

“Destiny is a
strange thing,” whispered Rilla as the two separated.

With a last
backward smile Hilla began to walk away. At the door she gave a
jaunty wave and disappeared.

That image
stayed with Rilla as she left the Academie grounds and ‘called’
Zawlei to her. She and Zawlei hurried back to the Vada encampment,
Rilla hoping she was not in any trouble as she had stretched the
time allocated to her on the pass to its absolute limit.

Great was her
surprise to be met by her friend Shona who was bursting with
news.

“Rilla, you’ll
never believe it. Your sister Zilla is here!”

* * * * *

Zilla and
Rilla

“What are you
doing here?” Rilla’s voice was one big exclamation mark. “What will
Mother say?”

Zilla regarded
her sister’s dismayed face and winced.

“I wanted to do
something to help,” she answered. “Everyone else is. You’re here,
Hilla’s here somewhere, even Zak and Matt. Please don’t be
angry.”

“Zala’s not,”
said Rilla.

“Zala is in
Stewarton with the children. Father got a letter from her. She
wrote that Tala had left for Vada, least she thought she had. I
have to play my part too. Don’t you see?”