“Good day, Adoni and Leili,” Amon said, turning to the older man and woman. They stood stiff and expressionless, their staffs angled across their bodies.
After an uncomfortable pause, Dimitri bent and laid his staff on the ground next to Amon’s. He straightened and took a step back.
Amon settled back on his heels, looking relieved.
The older man and woman followed Dimitri’s example, though neither looked happy about it. They flanked Dimitri, standing to either side and a little behind him.
“Shall we speak Common so that we all can understand?” Amon said, extending a hand toward Raisa.
Dimitri looked at his companions, and they shrugged.
“Will you share my fire?” Amon asked, gesturing toward Raisa’s small blaze.
The Waterwalkers scowled, as if reluctant to share even this small token of hospitality from them.
Bones, Raisa thought, shivering. They’re going to kill us for sure.
Finally, Dimitri ripped free his cloak, threw it down on the ground, and sat on it. The others did the same, arranging themselves cross- legged around the fire.
Amon sat down also, and Raisa sat next to him.
“This is Rebecca Morley,” Amon said, touching Raisa’s shoulder.
“Are you two espoused?” Leili asked bluntly. Ironically, Common always sounded more formal than the other languages used in the Seven Realms.
“No.” Amon shook his head, color staining his cheeks. “She’s a cadet. A first year.”
“Another soldier, then,” Dimitri said.
“Not a soldier,” Amon said. “A student only.”
“Still a soldier,” Dimitri said, looking at Adoni and Leili, who nodded. Raisa’s prickling unease intensified. They are his counselors, she thought. He looks to them for guidance. And they hate us.
“You are lord now?” Amon asked Dimitri.
“I am,” Dimitri said, self- consciously fingering the intricately embroidered hems of his sleeves.
“What about your father?” Amon asked in his direct fashion. “Where is he?”
“My father died at Rivertown,” Dimitri said.
“I’m sorry to hear about Lord Cadri,” Amon said. “How did it happen?”
“Why have you come here with soldiers?” Dimitri burst out.
“We’re traveling through,” Amon said, “on our way to the academy at Oden’s Ford. I stopped at Rivertown to ask a traveler’s blessing, and found it gone.”
“Yes,” Dimitri said. “Rivertown is gone. Destroyed by Fellsian soldiers at midsummer.”
Sweet Hanalea! Raisa opened her mouth, then closed it again without speaking.
“They told me at the West Wall that there’s been trouble along the border,” Amon said. “What is going on?”
The older man spoke in the marsh language, his hands slicing the air. Dimitri glanced at Raisa, then translated quickly. “The Queen of the Fells sends us a Dyrnnewater full of poisons. It grows worse by the day. Fish cannot live in it. It kills the plants we gather for food. Our children sicken and die. Yet when we complain, she does nothing. It’s been a problem for a long time, but now it’s worse than it’s ever been.”
Amon nodded. “I know. Refugees from the Ardenine Wars have crowded into Fellsmarch. They camp along the banks and empty their slop jars into the river. It’s made a bad situation worse.”
The river had been bad as long as Raisa could remember. The sewer systems in Fellsmarch had been built hundreds of years ago, during some prosperous and public- spirited season in the past. Now, with the cost of maintaining a mercenary army and dwindling taxes due to the wartime drop- off in trade, there never seemed to be enough money to pay for repairs.
The clans complained that they sent a clean river out of the high eastern Spirits only to have the Vale dwellers use it as a repository for filth.
“If we can no longer feed our families,” Dimitri went on, “we have no choice but to take from others, especially those who caused this problem. So we’ve sent raiders across the border, and taken foodstuffs from Tamron and the Fells.”
“And the guard destroyed Rivertown in retaliation,” Amon said.
Dimitri nodded. “Yes. I was away at the time. They came down from the fortress at the top of the escarpment, using the road that you and I built. They burned or knocked down all the houses, pierced our boats, destroyed the docks, took all of our nets, our tools, the dried fish and grain we had stored for the winter. They killed everyone who didn’t run away, from the oldest crone to the youngest baby. They bound the children hand and foot, and threw them living into the river to drown.”
Raisa recalled what Barlow had said. The Waterwalkers been raiding over the border, stealing livestock and food. We put a stop to it.
“Blood and bones,” she whispered. “I am so sorry.”
Dimitri glanced at Raisa, frowned in disapproval, then turned back to Amon. “My mother is dead, and my sisters. Most of the men of the village were killed, my father and his father, my brothers, all of my uncles except Adoni. Those who escaped are all crowded into Hallowmere, by the sea.”
Dimitri gestured helplessly. “Those that remain alive will likely starve this winter. We take some fish from the sea, but our boats are not built for the winter storms on Leewater. And our food stores for the winter have been destroyed.”
“Dimitri, Adoni, Leili, this cannot stand,” Amon said, his gray eyes dark with anger. “I will not let it stand. Do you know who commanded those that attacked you?”
“What does it matter?” Leili said with quiet bitterness. “Soldiers are all the same.” She extended her empty arms. “My babies are dead.”
“I am lord now, replacing my father,” Dimitri said. “Uncle Adoni and cousin Leili are my counselors. We’ve continued to cross the border and take what we can from the uplanders. We’ve destroyed the new road, which will make it difficult to move men, horses, and weapons in. But eventually the up -landers will slide down the escarpment and attack Hallowmere, and we expect to be pushed into the sea. We are in a fight to the death. So you understand why we do not welcome soldiers here.”
“We’re not here for fighting. You know that,” Amon said.
“Do we?” Adoni replied, his face hard and impassive.
“Where are the other cadets?” Amon asked, meeting Dimitri’s eyes. “Are they still alive?”
“They are still alive,” Dimitri said. Raisa’s heart rose, until he said, “But not for long.”
“You know me, and you know my father,” Amon said. He sat very straight, his hands on his knees. “My father saved your father’s life. We’ve never lied to you. All we want is to go on to Tamron, and leave you in peace.”
“There is no peace,” Dimitri said. “Not anymore.”
Adoni leaned toward Dimitri and said something in the marsh language.
“My uncle says my debt has been paid with the lives of my father and uncles. The Fells owes us gylden for hundreds of lives. Your deaths will help repay that debt.”
“My father had nothing to do with the destruction of Rivertown,” Amon replied. “He would never drown a child. He probably doesn’t even know about it.”
“He is the captain of the Queen’s Guard,” Leili said in Common. “He is responsible, along with the queen and