Tarashana by Rachel Neumeier (little red riding hood ebook TXT) 📕

to the other Ugaro, “Lau do not always respect their women as they should. I am explaining that all this food belongs to Lalani. They are surprised to hear it.”

Rakasa grinned. “If they do not respect women, they will be surprised by many things among Ugaro.”

“Fortunately we have many days to explain everything,” I said.

Lalani finally knelt on the grass beside me. She said in taksu, “Many days will not be enough for the surprise to wear away, but I will be pleased to hear all about Ugaro manners.” Rakasa and Suyet both laughed, and then looked at each other, smiling, ready to be friends.

Geras said, his tone resigned, “I see I’ve got no choice but to learn taksu as quick as I can. I suppose I’ll pick it up with all you youngsters to badger me about it.”

“Ryo’s too polite to teach you the rude words,” Suyet told him cheerfully. “But I’ve picked up one or two, so that’s all right, Troop Leader.”

“No troops here. Call me by my name, even in public.”

In public meant in the presence of their lord; no one else here mattered to them in that way. Suyet, ordinarily easy in his manner, nevertheless paused and looked at Geras, and then at Lord Aras.

“That does seem sensible,” Aras said in the same mild way. “In fact—”

“No,” Geras said.

Aras raised his eyebrows.

“Absolutely not, my lord,” Geras said, very firmly. “It’s one thing for Ryo, my lord, or for your talon commanders and people like that, but there’s no way. You can call us by name, that’s fine, but it’s not going the other way.”

A corner of Aras’ mouth tucked in. “Very well, Geras. I wouldn’t want to compel you to compromise your principles. Not that I think I could.”

“I’ll put—”

“Unnecessary. Also impractical, under the circumstances. If I consider a reprimand appropriate, unlikely as that may be, I’ll deliver one.”

Geras touched his hand to his heart in the Lau salute. Suyet, whose eyes had gone wide, relaxed and sat back, smiling again.

I said in taksu, “The soldiers would prefer that everyone remember that Aras Eren Samaura is lord of the county of Gaur. Aras prefers that everyone take a less formal manner, but one might wish to understand that the lord of a county is somewhat more important among the Lau than the lord of a tribe among Ugaro.”

“Yes,” Rakasa said promptly, speaking for both himself and Bara, as a warleader’s son should. He added to Aras, “I hope we have not given offense, lord, but please correct us if we should make any kind of mistake.”

Aras smiled at him, starting to answer. But then his mouth tightened and he looked up, across the meadow.

It was a big meadow, perhaps two bowshots across. Aras was looking north, past the gradual slope to the far side where the forest began again. I could not see or hear anything, but the horses began to pick up their heads. I stood up—everyone was standing up, reaching to touch the hilt of a sword or a knife. Rakasa strung his bow. Bara had strung his already. They moved to set their backs to one another.

“What is it?” I began to ask Aras, but before I had spoken the last word, an Ugaro warrior burst out of the forest on the far side of the meadow. He was running hard, his head down and his arms close to his body. A young man; he did not have the heft of a man in his prime.

“Could a tiger be after him?” Suyet asked me. Without waiting for an answer, he drew breath to call out to the young man.

I nudged his shoulder with mine to stop him. “Be quiet,” I told all the Lau. To Rakasa, I said, “What tribe, do you think?”

Shrugging, Rakasa strung his bow. “Perhaps inKesaya,” he suggested. “That is a young man who is completely certain he does not want to speak to any inGara warrior.”

That could be so. The inKesaya were enemies, so a man of that tribe would not expect to be handled gently if he were caught trespassing. Still ... “Too far away,” I disagreed. “There are too many other tribes between the inKesaya and the inGara. Why would he have come so far?”

“Some young men are too ambitious to be wise, as we have perhaps made adequate comment upon recently, Bara, you do not need to say so again! Ryo, a successful raid against inGara would impress a young man’s friends.”

So. That did seem possible.

Aras said, in darau, “I think there are other men chasing him.”

I did not glance at him. I was watching the young man, judging his path and his pace. I said absently, “Of course there are. He is a young man from an enemy tribe, and inGara hunters have caught him trespassing on inGara land. They are close, but he still hopes to get away. There is no other reason he would be running so hard he has come halfway across this meadow without looking up and seeing us here.”

“Careless,” Bara commented. There was no sly humor in his voice now. He set an arrow to the string and looked at me. “I am the better bowman, Ryo.”

“He is,” Rakasa confirmed.

“Wait! Ryo—” began Lalani.

“In front of his feet,” I said.

Bara lifted the bow and released the arrow without seeming to pause to aim. The arrow snapped across the distance in less than a heartbeat and cut into the soil a hand’s width in front of the young man’s feet. He shied sideways, throwing his head up like a startled deer. Unlike a deer, he knew a warning when an arrow cut the grass by his foot. After that one startled leap, he stopped where he was, staggering as one will when one has been running hard for a