"Over the years many people have come to stay with us on this island. Students from . . . well, from many places, some never even imagined by most men." He grinned. "Some I couldn't have imagined, and I've got quite a good imagination."
Pug interrupted, "We can dispense with the history until later, Nakor. Tell him about what faces him."
Nakor lost the grin. He bit down on the orange and chewed for a moment, deep in thought. "As I said, we are the leaders of a group of people. Many have come here to train and serve."
"Serve?" asked Talon.
Nakor grinned. "You know, I've never had to explain to anyone in one sitting what it is we do, Pug."
Pug nodded. "And you will not now. Just give him a general sense of who we are and if he agrees to serve, we shall educate him incrementally along the way."
Robert held up a hand. "If I may?"
Pug nodded.
"Talon, we three belong to the Conclave of Shadows. The Conclave consists of men and women who have banded together for a reason. That reason will become clearer to you as time passes, but for the moment, there are things you are not ready to understand.
"I can tell you this much. We serve a purpose which opposes much of the evil abroad in the world today, including the forces that conspired to destroy your homeland. If your current goal is to avenge your people, your best opportunity to do so rests in serving us."
Talon looked Robert in the eye. "I owe you my life, Master, and will honour my debt, but you ask me to take at face value a very serious claim. I have seen nothing at Kendrick's or here to make me question that claim, and nothing that would make me think you or these other men might be evil. But my grandfather once told me that men who do evil often do so in the name of a great good, and that the Orosini had history with shamans and chieftains who misled the people, claiming they were doing right.
"I saw evil with my own eyes the day my people died. I do not know the reason for the destruction of my nation. I only know that those men who killed the women and children of my clan did evil."
Robert held up his hand. "This much I can attest to: the men who destroyed your home were not acting out of any misplaced sense of a greater good. They were hired mercenaries who kill for gold, aided and abetted by soldiers from the Duchy of Olasko. We will talk in the future about that. For the moment, consider that we have common cause against those whom you seek for revenge."
"Robert, you saved my life when others might have simply left me for the crows and vultures," Talon said. "I have seen nothing in you or your friends that I find to be dishonourable. Caleb and Magnus-" he nodded at Pug "-have taught me much and while I lingered here healing I heard laughter . . ." He thought about Alysandra. "There is much here that brings joy." He took a deep breath and went on, "The gods have placed my feet upon a path, to what purpose and what ends I can only guess. But since the day I awoke in your wagon, Robert, I have been in your care. Tell me what to do."
"I cannot, Talon. You must know this. Any oath made to the Conclave of Shadows must be made freely and without doubt. For once you enter our ranks, you may not turn back. To renounce that oath will bring you death."
Pug added, "And not merely the death of the memory. For once you become one with us, you will begin to learn things that may not be shared with outsiders. Things that you must be willing to die to keep secret."
Nakor grinned. "But there is good in taking that oath, too. We have many marvels to show you, and wonders to behold. You will learn more in a year here than you would in a dozen lifetimes in the mountains you knew as home."
"Already I have learned a great deal," Talon said.
Nakor continued, "When you seek your revenge, you will need resources, and allies. We can provide you with both."
"What must I do?"
Pug got off his stool and went to stand before Talon, while Nakor and Robert moved so that one of them stood on each side of him.
"Do you swear to give first fealty to the Conclave of Shadows, Talon of the Silver Hawk? Do you enter our ranks freely and of your own will? Do you swear to obey those given dominion over you and to protect with your life those given to your care? Do you swear to keep those secrets entrusted to you? Answer to all with affirmation, or be silent. All or nothing, Talon. What do you say?"
Talon was silent for a moment, then he took another deep breath and said, "Yes, I will serve."
"Good. That is good," Nakor said. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and produced another orange. "Want one?"
Talon took it. "Thank you."
Robert said, "Well, then, I suppose I should tell Magnus to close down that little hut of his and join us here. Talon's education is about to begin in earnest."
And with that, he left the room.
"Nakor," said Pug. "Show Talon where he will be staying. Put him in with Rondar and Demetrius."
Nakor nodded. "Come along, boy."
After they had gone, Pug stood alone for a long minute, then he said as if into the air, "What do you think?"
From the shadows in the farthest corner of the room there came a voice: "I think you gave the boy no choice." Miranda stepped out into the light.
"What else could I do?"
"Heal him, and let me take his memories and put him back in Magnus's hut. Magnus could have told him some story about a fall from the bluffs or a wild animal. With the right suggestion, the boy would have accepted it."
Pug nodded. "You're right."
With a wry smile she came and slipped her arm around her husband's waist. "I'm always right."
"Of course, my love," said Pug, returning the smile.
"So, the question remains, why did you give him no choice?"
Pug was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I don't know, A sense of something in him. I think he's going to be important to us."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I only know that lately our enemy has grown subtle. Those death-dancers were unexpected. They remind me of years gone by."
"They fear Magnus's growing power."
"Well they should. He may eventually be the most powerful magic-user to have set foot on this world."
"If we can keep him alive," Miranda said with a mother's worry in her tone.
"Those death-dancers are more in keeping with the days when we were attacked with armies or demons."
"Something's got them annoyed."
Pug laughed. "Magnus destroying that death cult's temple down in southern Kesh might have irritated them enough to try something like this."
"Death-dancers are not trivial magic, my love. If I had the inclination to practise that sort of foul art, and three humans willing to give their souls to create them, it would still take me months to do so." She regarded her husband quizzically. "And I am better at that sort of thing than you."
Pug smiled. "I know. But that's why I think Talon may prove important."
"Why?"
"Because while wolves fight over the carcass of a deer, a mouse may slip in and grab scraps."
"Wolves eat mice," she reminded him.
"Only if they know they're there. But while our enemies are attempting to destroy our son, they won't see Talon coming."
Miranda snuggled closer to her husband as if suddenly cold. "For the boy's sake, I hope you're right."
"Which boy? Talon or Magnus?"
Miranda sighed. "Both."
Talon followed Nakor down the corridor, his small bundle of belongings clutched to his chest. His body still felt weak, but the stiffness was leaving him. They passed a series of doors, most of which were closed, but through a couple of open ones Talon saw beds set up, four to a room.
As he passed one room, he could see Alysandra sitting on a bed, engaged in a low conversation with a dark-haired girl who was giggling, her hand covering her mouth. Both girls glanced up as Talon went by, and Talon heard both girls start to laugh.
An irritated feeling rose up in him, a feeling Talon couldn't quite place, save that the giggling seemed somehow inappropriate given that he had just made a solemn vow placing his life in the service of an organization whose purpose he hardly understood.
Eventually they reached a door which gave access to a slightly larger room than the others. As in the other rooms, four beds had been placed in it. Nakor waved for Talon to sit on a bed farthest from the door on the left, while he sat on the bed opposite it. "Well, here's where your new life begins."
Talon shrugged. "My new life began when Robert found me, I guess."
Nakor shook his head. "No, your old life ended that day. What you've been living these last two years has been an existence. You were healing and learning, but you had no purpose."
"Now I have a purpose?"
"A far greater purpose than you suppose," said Nakor. "There is much to learn, but you have time. I remember the impatience of youth," he added with a grin. "You appear to me to be more patient than most boys your age, yet I know you still want questions answered, positions made clear, and motives revealed. But all in good time."
"Since coming under Robert's care I have felt as if I were moving in a direction unknown to me," Talon said. "I have grown, I think-"
"Much, according to your teachers."
"Are you now one of my teachers?"
Nakor shrugged and stood up. "We'll see. Now, I hear your new companions returning, so I'll leave you to get to know one another."
As he reached the door, two young men of roughly Talon's age entered the room. Seeing Nakor, they stepped back to let him pass, bowing their heads slightly in respect. "You have a new boy to share your quarters with," Nakor said as he passed.
"Yes, Master Nakor," said one of the two boys, a fair-haired, broad-shouldered boy with green eyes and a dusting of freckles across his nose.
The other young man had dark hair, but was fair-skinned, and Talon couldn't tell if he was attempting to grow a man's beard of if he had just done a poor job of shaving the day before. He had almost black eyes which narrowed slightly at the sight of Talon. He threw himself down on the bed against the same wall as Talon's, while the lighter-haired boy took the bed opposite.
"I'm Demetrius," he said. He pointed to the dark lad and said, "That's Rondar. He doesn't talk much." They spoke the King's Tongue, which seemed to be the preferred language on the island.
Rondar nodded, but kept silent.
"I'm Talon," said Talon.
Demetrius returned the nod. "Heard of you. You managed to avoid being killed by three death-dancers. Impressive."
Talon sat back on the bed, leaning against the wall. "I don't even know what a death-dancer is."
Rondar said, "Bad."
"Very bad," agreed Demetrius. "Conjured beings, using the souls of the damned. One mission, to kill a specific person. Very hard to avoid one, but three . . ."
"Impressive," said Rondar.
Talon said, "Have you been here a long time?"
"Five years," Demetrius replied. "My father used to make potions and poultices in a village down in the south of Kesh, near a city called Anticostinas. Well, it was hardly a city-a big town, really. Some priests of Guis-Wa denounced him as a 'heretic' because he was 'using magic', even though I didn't see much magic involved, just a lot of herbs, plants and common sense. But one night some drunks from the city came out and burned the house to the ground, killing my family. I wandered around for a while until I ran across Nakor, who showed me some tricks.
"Turns out my father wasn't a magician, but maybe I am. So I'm here to learn."
"I lost my family, too," Talon said. He looked at Rondar, who looked at Demetrius and nodded once.
"His father is the chief of a band of Ashunta horsemen down in northern Kesh. Very good horsemen--"
"Best," added Rondar.
"-good hunters-"
"Best," repeated Rondar.
Talon grinned. "We'll see about that!"
"-and otherwise a bunch of opinionated, unwashed barbarians who treat women like cattle and cattle like pets."
Rondar shrugged. "True."
Talon's grin widened. "How does he get along with Miranda?"
Demetrius laughed. "She's educating him as to the proper respect to show to women."
Rondar's expression darkened. With a sigh of resignation, he rested his chin on his arms and said, "Painfully true."
Talon said, "How'd you get here?"
Rondar rolled over. He was quiet for a moment, and then spoke as if talking at all was a trial to him. "My people are horsemen. If you can't ride and hunt, no women. No women, no children." He put his arm across his eyes as if remembering was fatiguing. "Men who can't ride are . . . less. Less than men. They gather firewood, help with the cooking, raise the boys."
Talon glanced at Demetrius. "What do the women do?"
Demetrius grimaced and said, "They're property."
"They make babies. Men raise boys."
Demetrius said, "It's a close thing as to what's worth more to an Ashunta horseman, a good horse or a woman."