Righteous Anger (Okal Rel Saga #2)

3.5: EagleNest

Arn arrived eight days before the wedding with another member of his fighter hand, named Rad. But it wasn't the wedding they had come for. Something else was afoot, something deeply exciting to every member of Sarn Haven.

Arn spent twenty minutes closeted with Liege Sarn before Zer Hen was sent for, while rumors spread throughout the house that Arn was there to raise a fighter for a raid. Then word came down for Hill and Zrenyl to go up. Horth was not invited and it made him restless.

He was surprised when he ran into Kale at the bottom of the stairs, outside the kitchen. They both froze.

Then Kale said, "Arn is going to take a station called EagleNest in Red Reach, near the SanHome Jump. He has a writ from the zer'stan saying Liege Ky of EagleNest has dropped the shield of honor."

Horth's eyebrows contracted at this grave accusation, which stripped the offender of the right to recourse under Sword Law. "How?" he asked, in his deep voice.

"I don't know," she said impatiently. "I'm a woman. I'm not allowed into a council of war!"

Within the Ava's empire it was Fountain Court that took care of punishing okal'a'ni behavior. Horth had no idea how Nesaks coped, but it was immediately vital to him that he find out. Kale bristled with the same drive to take action.

"They're meeting in the men's retiring room, upstairs," she told Horth, and bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything more.

Horth took the steps in bounds. He went through the door to the retiring room without thinking and was stopped cold by four pairs of eyes. He recognized Arn, Hill, and Zrenyl. The fourth man had to be the relsha named Rad.

Zer Hen was in the room too, but he did not look like he belonged. "Not Horth!" he said at once. "He's too young!"

"His body, perhaps," said Arn. He shouldered past the others to look Horth over in a calculating manner. "But from what I hear, he has a warrior's soul. What do you think," he asked Zrenyl. "Can your brother fly as well as he can use a sword?"

"Horth is not a relsha," said Zrenyl. "He's never flown combat."

Horth could see that Zrenyl was excited. If he felt protective of him, Horth understood. He felt protective towards Zrenyl, too. But the price of turning a blind eye to those who dropped the shield of honor meant the end of Sword Law. Horth was aching to go!

"Will you vouch for his honor?" Arn asked Zrenyl.

Zrenyl bristled. "Of course! He's my brother."

"What do you say, Rad?" Arn asked the fourth man.

The relsha walked around Horth like a dominant farm dog, on Tark, inspecting a new pup.

"All right," he said at last. "But we leave within the hour or we won't be sure of catching the enemy vulnerable." He turned to Zer Hen where the plump priest sat frowning over an official-looking document on his lap.

"Well, Zer?" Rad asked. "Will you bless us or not?"

"I suppose I must," Zer Hen said, fingers mumbling over the piece of five-sided white vellum bearing the seals and devices of three of the zer'stan's five orders. "Strictly speaking, a majority is all that's needed, of course."

"EagleNest is held by a female liege, named Ky," Zrenyl told Horth in a breathless voice. "She takes in Nesak defectors. Especially women like your Kale with a strong dash of Vrellish blood. But this time, it was Arn's son, Cobalt. And she's had his child." He glanced over his shoulder in Arn's direction, but the Nesak hand leader betrayed nothing but a cold resolve.