Sword-Bound by Roberson Jennifer

Author:Roberson, Jennifer [Roberson, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Speculative Fiction
ISBN: 9780756408527
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2013-01-01T07:00:00+00:00

Come morning I was close to wishing, though not quite, that Rafa had killed me. Hard-fought dances always set up aches within the bones, complaints from overworked muscles, the occasional sharp stab of a cut stretched and broken open. My skills, my talent, had kept me alive, but my age multiplied every ache and pain. I lay very still on the blanket, debating whether I should even attempt to sit up.

Next to me, Del did so. Neesha, too. She made no complaint; he did. He seemed surprised by the protests of his body; he was young, healthy, fit. But he had never tested his body so much, never fought a sword-dancer as good as Eddrith. Being young did not guarantee a pain-free life.

He glanced down at me, noting I was awake. Noting, too, that I showed no signs of moving. Smiling widely, he kicked my left foot. “Up, old man. We are, as you say, burning daylight.”

“Neesha,” Del said sharply. “Have some respect.”

I saw the bafflement in his eyes, the lack of understanding of what his action had provoked. Certainly he had kick-prodded me before, as I had kicked him. As Del had.

Realizing that, Del softened her tone. “You didn’t know. Nor even now, do you?”

“Know what?”

“That was a death-dance, Neesha.”

Disbelief reigned supreme. “Rafa said it was for Umir’s bounty!”

“Rafa lied,” Del said.

“But—that’s not done. Both of you told me so.” He looked down at me, perplexed. “You taught me so.”

I expelled a long breath. “It’s different with me. I’m not one of them anymore. Any sword-dancer can do anything to me. Lie. Attack without warning. Challenge me outside of a circle. Any sword-dancer may make up their own rules and break them a moment later. There is no binding, Neesha. No oaths, no vows, no codes. Not anymore. I thought you knew that.”

And yet knowing is not always the same as understanding.

“None?” he asked. “None at all?”

“None at all.”

Neesha thought about it. He looked at Del, looked at me, then prodded my foot with far less emphasis than before. It wasn’t so much a kick as a push. “Up. I’ll be gentle with you.”

Del sighed. “Truly your son.”

Neesha bent to extend a hand. “Help, old man? Now that we’re not in front of everyone?”

I grunted. “‘Old man’ could take you any day.”

Neesha hooted a laugh. “Not today!”

“No help necessary.” I levered myself up on an elbow. “‘Young man’ can go get the horses.”

Del waited until Neesha was gone. “Do you want help?”

“I’m not getting up without it,” I said.

Grinning, Del bent down, heaved me up as I pushed off from the ground. I blessed her size and strength; a smaller, lighter woman couldn’t have done that. As I caught my balance, she said, “The ride will loosen you.”

“Or kill me,” I said in a strangled tone.

Del’s amusement faded. “Tiger—he’s young. Younger than his years.”

I attempted to move muscles that had no inclination to do so. “I know that.”

“He grew up on a horse farm where likely the only violence he saw or experienced was breaking horses to the saddle.

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