“George!” Alanna said gleefully. “Is he all right? Has he been—well, safe?”
“He’s flourishin’, that one,” Coram snapped. “And when are ye going t’give over befriendin’ a rogue like him?”
Alanna grinned impishly. “When you stop drinking.” She laughed as he swore, and returned to read her letters.
George’s missive was short, but its contents made her blush. She knew her old friend loved her, and she loved him in a more-than-friendly way, but Jonathan had always been first. George knew it and understood, but his words told her that he continued to hope.
Myles’s letter was long and chatty, giving her the news of everyone at Court, nobles and servants. More than any other high-born person Alanna knew, Myles made friends with everyone, not just his social equals. He was able to tell her about Cook and Stefan the hostler with as much detail as he gave to the King and Jonathan. Only when she reread his letter did she notice that he said nothing about Thom.
Thom’s own letter more than made up for Myles’s omission:
Dear Alanna,
Coram tells me you’ve been adopted by a bunch of uncivilized desertmen. How odd of you! He tells me now you’re a “man of the tribe,” which is what you’ve always wanted, I suppose. No, don’t scowl at me.
(Alanna was scowling.)
I am enjoying myself here. Everyone is very polite, and the library has some classics of sorcery even my Masters didn’t possess. My education grows by leaps and bounds. I have attached some of the late Duke Roger’s followers, including the lovely Delia of Eldorne. I have no interest in the lady as such, but I believe she may know where some of Roger’s most secret manuscripts are hid. She had hinted as much, and I feel that she doesn’t lie.
I enjoy the luxuries: exotic foods, fine clothing, having servants to wait on me. I will travel at some point, but only when there is nothing more to be learned here.
Try not to be too disgusted with me.
Love,
Thom.
Shortly after Coram’s return, Mari brought Farda, the tribe’s midwife, to make her peace with the new shaman. Within minutes the two were trading secrets of healing. The next day Farda took over instructing the apprentices in herbs: from that moment on, most of the women made their peace with Alanna and her young people. Some would never be won over and would always view the new ways with suspicion, but they were a minority. Knowing to whom she owed the new warmth, Alanna tried to thank Mari Fahrar. The old woman brushed her words aside.
“All things change,” she told Alanna frankly. “It does not hurt men to know women have power, too.”
Alanna had to laugh. Until Mari and Farda entered her life, she never realized that the tribes-women viewed their men not with fear but with loving disrespect. Sometimes she felt that she was the one getting the education, not her pupils.
Kara was just beginning to work on her control of the wind when the men of the village went hunting for night-raiders: hillmen who carried off a herd of sheep and the boy tending them. Alanna and Coram were teaching the boys archery when the lookouts sounded an alarm.
Coram swore. “They lured the men off a-purpose!” He turned to the boys. “Let’s see what yer marksmanship’s like on movin’ targets.”
“What about their shamans?” one woman cried. “They attack first with magic!”
Alanna could feel the unnaturalness of the fierce breeze. “Kara! Kourrem! Ishak!” she yelled, remembering too late they were in Farda’s tent, across the breadth of the village. It would cost precious moments to fetch them—
The three apprentices ran up, panting, chasing Faithful. “The cat said the hillmen are attacking and you want us,” Ishak gasped. “I don’t know how we understood—”
“I didn’t understand anything,” Kourrem pouted. “You and Kara said—”
“Hush!” Alanna ordered. She looked at Coram. “I have to be a shaman—” she began.
The former guardsman was still instructing the boy archers as women and children streamed past them into Alanna’s big tent. “Do what ye must do,” he said tersely. He grabbed a strong young woman by the arm. “Ye! Grab a spear and stand t’the defense!” She stared at him for a moment, then ran to obey. The older men of the village, those who hadn’t been included on the hunt, were already gathering around Coram, accepting his leadership. More women were grabbing spears and axes, leaving their children to the charge of others in the tent.
Alanna led her apprentices to a hill overlooking both the tents and the eastern approaches, from which the now-shrieking winds came. Kara saw the attackers first, hidden behind a wall of dust.