The Bonding (The Song and the Rhythm) (15 page)

Thorne laughed loudly as they moved away, complementing Vaun’s bargaining skills. The seller’s moans of being cheated and concerns over Vaun’s conscience slowly died away in the hustle and bustle of the town. The dwarf clapped Vaun on the back, still shaking with mirth. “’Twas a fine piece of haggling for sure, lad. How’d you do it? You rival even Rush.”

Vaun shrugged. “It’s not that hard, really. I had a wonderful teacher on the subject.” He winked at Thorne, making him laugh again. “All it really takes is a little imagination,” he tapped his head, “which I have in abundance.”

They walked silently about the town for some time after that, until Thorne finally said, “You look as if you have something on your mind, lad. Do you wish to share it?”

“I was daydreaming mostly. But I also have questions I’d like answered.”

The dwarf moaned in mock frustration. “Stones! You never run out of them.” He grinned at Vaun. “But please, feel free to ask any questions you might have. I may no have Merdel’s wealth of knowledge, but I do know a thing or two other than bargaining. I promise to answer all questions as best I can.”

The youth smiled as a show of thanks for the dwarf’s offer and thought carefully. “The most important one I have is why I wasn’t told I look like a Swordsman.”

Thorne’s blue eyes blinked, and he started to ask where his comrade had learned this before Vaun winked. “I do remember a little bit about last night.”

Thorne smirked. “Even after all that ale you drank?”

Vaun winced at the remembered pain.

“No matter. You’d have found out sooner or later, either from us or someone else. If you haven’t noticed yet, people look at you as if you’re made of gold.”

Vaun glanced around quickly and saw that the dwarf was right. Many people eyed him carefully, but not quite suspiciously. Several just stood and stared, and more than one turned to look at him after he passed by. A few even gathered up their children and headed in the other direction.

Thorne nodded at Vaun’s inspection. “See what I mean? Swordsmen are rare enough that even the hint of one stirs up rumors faster than a dead body stirs up flies.”

Vaun made a face and had to swallow hard against the images evoked by Thorne’s statement.

“But to answer your question: ’twasn’t deliberate. We did no try to keep this from you. I just think you startled us into silence when you first put that sword on your back. Traditionally, only Swordsmen wear ’em that way.”

“That’s why all of you stared at me like you did that first day.”

The dwarf nodded. “Aye. None of us really wanted to keep anythin’ from you, Drath most of all. He felt that deception might scare you away and keep you from trustin’ us. So, he told you of the danger we all face, instead of simply tryin’ to convince you to come on some glorious quest for wealth and fame. That was Rush’s idea, but Merdel agreed with Drath and said that such trickery was unnecessary and inappropriate. He felt you were the best one to help us when he first saw you with his magic.

“Speakin’ of the wizard, if you still hold anythin’ against him for usin’ magic on you, I ask that you consider forgivin’ him. I know what he did was wrong, and I’d pound him for it if he gave me the chance. I think he did it ’cause he’s so desperate to stop Elak he’ll try anythin’ to give us an advantage. And, to argue his point, he didn’t compel you to come. He merely emphasized the truth of our words.” Thorne paused as if considering leaving out his next statement. “And besides, forgiveness is the one thing religious types like Merdel get right. While it doesn’t ignore or forget what someone does, forgiveness does preclude you from holdin’ a mistake against someone. The wizard
is
a man you can trust. Just remember he is a wizard, and wizards are relentless in their pursuit of what they want. Even to the point of bein’ stupid.”

Thorne shook his head. “I still can no believe the bearded fool knows Elak. Then again, I’ve had plenty of friends whose paths in life I wouldn’t approve of, either. Still, Merdel ’tis a good man, and a good friend. He always has the best of intentions, even though his actions may be a little shortsighted. I would hate to see you turn him away for makin’ that one mistake, for he has a lot he can teach you.”

Vaun nodded thoughtfully, but didn’t say whether or not he’d consider the dwarf’s request. He did believe, however, that if Thorne recommended he trust Merdel, then the wizard wasn’t all bad.

“‘Bout the sword, though.” Thorne grunted as he shifted the weight of the bags on his shoulders. “Since Swordsmen are the only ones who wear their swords on their backs, anyone seen with one not on his hip attracts a great deal of attention, as I believe you noticed. Whether true or not, such a man gets people talkin’.

“We decided that for you ’twas a coincidence of sorts. You’ve probably read books about men who wear swords on their backs and thought it a good idea. We did no mention the significance of it to you because we didn’t want you to start daydreamin’ of somethin’ so impossible. You are, after all, not from this world. That, and some few men are beginnin’ to wear their swords on their backs in some places now, which makes it not quite that big a deal.”

Vaun nodded again at the dwarf’s answer. “I think I would’ve done much the same. Like you said, why make me become anxious over something so improbable?”

“That’s the same thing Drath said.” Thorne walked in silence for a minute as they wove through the crowd. “What other questions do you have?”

Vaun shrugged. “They’re not really all that important. I only wanted to know where all this stuff comes from and the basic geography of the area.”

Thorne smiled, apparently on more familiar ground with this question. “I believe I can answer you best of all on that. I’m somethin’ of a traveler, so I can tell you where these things might come from.”

The broad dwarf deftly sidestepped a porter carrying a load far too big for his size. Surely the man couldn’t see where he was going. “Most of the travelin’ equipment is from here and is of the highest quality. The weapons look like they’re from the West. Landsbyans no make many weapons. I think that dagger you bought may be Ipekian, which means you paid much less than what it’s worth.”

That made Vaun smile with pride.

“The silks look like they’re from Mesch, a land far to the east. As best as I can tell, the rugs come from Tapis to the north. The weapons look to be from all over the world, with no seller specializin’ in one particular type. I was surprised to see the silks and rugs, for they are among the best. But the fame of Landsby’s horses brings many wealthy people, and travelers will buy almost anythin’.”

Vaun thought this statement could be applied to the dwarf but kept it to himself.

“The geography’s relatively simple. You’re in a place called the Midlands, which is between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. No one really owns this area; it belongs mostly to the few nomadic tribes that wander it. ’Tis mostly grassland, so ’tis no good for much else besides breedin’ horses. It has become an unofficial boundary between the kingdoms, and prevents wars from occurring a lot more often than they do. The plateau where we entered is called The View. I think you can guess why.”

Vaun thought back to when they had first stepped into this world. He’d come through the portal in the desert onto a high plateau overlooking the entire region. For miles in every direction, rolling green hills had stretched out with occasional clumps of trees here and there, and what had looked like a forest darkened the horizon to the southwest. He remembered feeling as if he was freezing, since he had come from a desert in summer onto a high altitude in fall.

He’d seen a river, which Thorne had named as The Palanti, way off to his left, which was east. It was swiftly flowing and originated in the eastern portion of the Kalt Mountains to the north. The youth had then turned to study those cold, forbidding mountains on the horizon behind him. Even the memory made him shiver. Afterwards, the six of them had descended the plateau and journeyed south to slightly warmer weather.

The faraway look had not quite left Vaun’s eyes. “Aye, I can see why it’s called that.”

Vaun soon discovered that Thorne was something of an historian, as the dwarf continued to name places and tell of their past. He told of how travelers, crossing from beyond the Kalt Mountains, had settled the lands one by one. He said that no one ever crossed back, and the few who tried never returned. Many, particularly the northerners, believed this happened because the gods resided in those mountains. Thorne was quick to add that he and his more enlightened dwarven brethren didn’t fall in with this “Great God nonsense.” He also explained how the lands were further colonized and divided into various kingdoms all the way to the shores of the Endless Ocean, whose farther boundary was probably harder to reach than that of the Kalt Mountains. He then told of the wars that followed the settlements.

He said the First Great Alliance between the North and West had occurred nearly eight hundred years earlier. It was an unusual alliance between the two normally warring regions, but they had joined to take over the rich farmlands and lengthy coast of the South. There had been three such alliances, each one causing great suffering and loss of life. They were all turned back, despite the destruction of two of the South’s greatest cities. The first two Alliance wars had even involved Swordsmen. The first one had fought for the South, and the other for the Alliance forces during the Second Great Alliance.

The First Great Alliance failed the fastest, lasting only six years. Armies from the five Northern Kingdoms and four Western Kingdoms had swept down into the southern lands of Ramen, Bordell, and Tarquon to the east. A war of two fronts, the forces spread themselves so far apart they met an easy defeat. The invaders did, however, manage to burn the wealthy city of Tarquon before they retreated. The flames, according to legend, reached so high that the warriors in Ramen could see them, and gave rise to one of the most common of oaths, “By the Fires of Tarquon.”

The Second Great Alliance, two hundred years later, was the most devastating. Having learned not to fight on two fronts, the northern and western armies invaded both Ramen and Bordell again, the strongest of the six Southern Kingdoms, and concentrated their efforts on the Fortress of Ramen. Rameners are renowned for toughness, and their swordsmen have no equal. Their city is built more like a fortress, hence its name, and had stood for over a thousand years.

Supposedly, it took over one hundred thousand warriors ten years to breach the walls, and they sacked and looted the city once inside. According to the stories, it was a Swordsman, the last one this world remembered, who was the first to enter the city. The town would not burn well, though, because most of it is stone.

Thinking they’d won, the Alliance forces moved further south, but a faction of fierce pikemen from Celene met them on the Ramen Plains and turned them back, though not before the enemy had destroyed many small towns and villages along the way.

Darim warships had sailed into the Great Western Ocean and landed on the coast of the western capital, Mahal. Marching almost without rest, the southern forces crossed to the city of Mahal in only a week and besieged it. To save their fabulous city, the westerners recalled their armies, and the northern forces were not willing to continue the invasion alone, so after twelve years the Second Great Alliance ended.

Vaun realized during the telling of this story that it had been the subject of the bard’s tale the night before, with a special emphasis on the “mighty Swordsman” who had conquered “invincible Ramen.” Pleased that he could identify the story now, and that he even remembered it, he listened intently as Thorne continued.

The Third Great Alliance united the Southern Kingdoms and started just over fifty years ago. Apparently, the northerners and westerners had needed a long time to recover the losses they’d sustained during the last Alliance. This time, the northern and western armies sailed along the coast and landed at Celene, Darim, and Veldan. The Darim warships sank many of their vessels before they landed but were overwhelmed by sheer numbers, something the Alliance forces always managed to have.

Once they landed, ground forces entered Ramen and Bordell, and a small distracting force moved into Tarquon. They seemed to have learned how to fight a multiple-front war, because five years into it the southerners thought they were finally defeated. That was when Dobry, young then and not yet crowned king, suggested a full alliance between the Southern Kingdoms, and together they pushed the invaders out three years later. However, the total death toll for all kingdoms involved, with most from the southern armies, reached just under a million. That seemed a large sum, but the second Alliance had claimed over four times that many lives, although most of those had been northern and western.

The southern armies had always fought together, but they tended to guard their own lands first. None of them had ever followed the same leader, as Dobry suggested, or been willing to fight extensively for a kingdom other than their own. This alliance, though highly controversial, changed the ideals of the southern kings, and consequently they named Dobry their Overlord. Dobry’s father had been lost two weeks earlier in the great Battle of the Kings, which involved almost every king alive at the time, and it was he who initially taught them that together they could defeat anyone. Like a good son, Dobry followed in his father’s footsteps and proposed the alliance that freed the south from invasion.

Thorne then went on to describe the lands he had mentioned in his stories of the wars. Celene, he said, was known for its merchants. It was said a Celenian merchant could haggle a king out of his crown and trade him his entire realm for two old mules, and still make the king think he’d gotten the better deal. He then talked of the mysterious lands that lay all the way across the Sea of Marin, named for the man who first navigated its waters. No one was really sure who or what lived in those lands across the sea.

The dwarf spoke briefly about his home in the Kalt Mountains, and respectfully mentioned the elven forests in the south. He talked while they moved through the city, pausing only to haggle over some new item, the latest being a water-tight box of expensive medical supplies, then would resume his narration. The dwarf sparked Vaun’s imagination with the tales of these places, and the young traveler had an intense desire to see all of these lands, vowing silently that he would if given the chance.