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

Gayata shook his head. “He never forbade it, but my mother did not like to hear it. She took the fault for everything that happened to herself, because she said she should have killed Yaro that first day. But everyone knew the story at first. Only later, young people of the tribe did not remember how that trouble started.”

If I had known that whole tale ... I did not know what I would have done differently. Now that I knew this story, I was not certain what would be best to do.

Tano said, not looking up, “If you prefer to release me from my oath, I will release you from yours. Then you can do anything you wish.”

Everyone stared at him. Then they all looked at me.

Gayata said, “That would be one solution, Ryo.” At the same time, Suyet said urgently, “You can’t do that, Ryo!”

Aras had picked up a stick of firewood and was turning it over in his fingers. He was accustomed to pick up his scepter and trace the gold inlaid along its length. He did it when he was thinking or when he was troubled. He saw me looking at him and set the stick down.

I said firmly to Tano, “That was bravely offered, but I do not release you. I am glad to know this tale now, but my oath and yours still stand.” I paused long enough that everyone would understand they should not try to argue with me regarding the matter. Then I added, “I would like to know how the inTasiyo tell that story. Do they tell it?”

“Not like that,” Tano said softly. “I think the inGara probably tell the tale in much the way it happened.” He glanced up at me and then down again.

“You choose your own honor,” I said sharply. “That is true for everyone, no matter the reputation of his people.” I got to my feet, but I did not walk away at once. I said to Gayata, “I think we must go on tomorrow. We have been glad to rest here and I have been very glad to see you and your family, Gayata. But the days are passing. We should not delay much longer.”

He nodded and stood up as well. “I will give you as much grain as you can carry. That should help you move travel quickly for many days.”

“Yes,” I said. “We thank you for your generosity.” Then I said to Tano, “Come with me now.” As he looked up in surprise and jumped to his feet, I walked away from the wagons, into the wide steppe, until the sounds of people and horses faded behind me and the susurrus of the winds through the tall grasses became the most important sound in the night.

The stars glimmered overhead, filling the vault of the heavens. They were vivid and bright this far north, so close to the lands beyond the mountains where they ruled the skies. I did not look back, but I heard Tano walking behind me and to the side, a little distance away. We waded through grasses that came up to mid-thigh, crushing stems underfoot; here, the way we had walked, the herds had not yet grazed the grasses short. The scent of the grass and of the earth, still warm from the day’s sunlight, rose up around us, overwhelming the more distant odors of the herds behind us.

When we had come that far, I turned to face Tano. He took a sharp step back, caught himself, and stood still. The Moon’s face was round and bright, as her face usually is in the winter lands. We could see each other clearly enough. He held himself warily, ready to move, as a man does when he thinks he may face an enemy. I could think of two reasons he might stand like that. At least two.

I said, “You told me you did not intend to trespass on inGara lands. You told me the inSorako forced you east and east again, until at last you had no choice but to cross the boundary into inGara lands. Was that true?”

He took a breath. I saw his chest move. Then he said, “That was the truth, warrior.”

I waited. The grasses rustled and murmured in the wind. From a distance came the murmur of voices and the slower, deeper lowing of cattle. Tano did not say anything else. I could hear him breathing. He took slow, deep breaths, as one does when one is afraid but is trying to control the fear. I still waited.

Finally, after a finger or so of time had passed, I said, “If I were a son of Yaro inTasiyo, if I were a young man who wanted above everything to win my father’s good regard, if I came east and east again, perhaps I might do that because I hoped to raid the inGara. I might hope to succeed not in a small raid, but in a great one. Perhaps I might hope to kill the lord of the inGara. That would be a great feat for a son of Yaro inTasiyo to bring his father.”

Tano said immediately, “That would be completely stupid. My father would have put me to death for that, or if he did not, that would give the inGara reason to set a charge against the inTasiyo that they could not answer. The inKarano and the inVotaro would join with the inGara to destroy the inTasiyo.”

I did not like how quickly he had answered me. “Perhaps a son of Yaro inTasiyo might not respect the ban,” I suggested. “Perhaps he would expect his father to ignore the king’s ruling. This young man might manage to kill the lord of the inGara in some quiet way so that he could conceal the act and come away and no one would know he had broken the ban. Perhaps a young Ugaro