Lujan glanced at the ridgetop. Perspiration glistened on his forehead, which he blotted on his tattered and dirty sleeve. ‘I am listening, Lady.’
Her guards like statues at her back, Mara caught the ruffian’s gaze and held it. ‘First you must put down your weapons.’
The man returned a bitter laugh. ‘I may not be a gifted commander, my Lady, but I am not an idiot. If I am to greet the Red God this day, still I will not surrender myself and my companions to be hung for stealing some cows and grain.’
‘Though you have stolen from the Acoma, and killed a slave boy, I have not gone to this trouble simply to see you hang, Lujan.’
Though Mara’s words rang sincere, the outlaws were reluctant to believe; weapons shifted among their ranks, and eyes darted from the threatening force on the ridge to the smaller band of soldiers who guarded the girl. As tension intensified, Lujan said, ‘Lady, if you have a point to make, I suggest you speak quickly, else we may find a number of us dying, you and I first among them.’
Without orders, and with no deference for rank, Papewaio closed the distance between himself and his mistress. Gently but firmly he moved Mara back and interposed himself between the Ruling Lady and the bandit leader.
Mara allowed the familiarity without comment. ‘I will guarantee you this: surrender to me and listen to my proposal. If you wish to leave when I have done speaking with you and your men, then you will be free to depart. So long as you never again raid Acoma lands, I will not trouble you. On this you have my word.’
Uncomfortably aware that archers even now trained their weapons upon his person, Lujan regarded his men. To the last, miserable rank, they were undernourished, some scrawny to the verge of ill health. Most carried only a single weapon, a badly made sword or knife; few wore adequate clothing, much less armour. It would be a poor contest if it came to a fight against Mara’s impeccably turned-out guard. The bandit leader glanced from face to scruffy face, meeting the eyes of men who had been his companions through difficult times. Most indicated with a nod they would follow his lead.
Lujan turned back to Mara with a slight sigh and reversed his sword. ‘Lady, I have no house to call upon, but what shred of personal honour I call my own is now in your hands.’ He surrendered his blade to Papewaio. Weaponless and entirely dependent upon her goodwill, he bowed with stiff irony and commended his following to accept his example.
The sun beat down on the green lacquered armour of the Acoma and the ragged shoulders of the bandit company. Only birds broke the silence, and the trickle of the spring, as men studied the girl in her fine robes and jewellery. At last one bandit stepped forth and surrendered his knife; he was followed by another with a scarred leg, and another, until in a wave the company gave over their weapons. Blades tumbled from loosened fingers, to fall with a clatter at the feet of the Acoma warriors. Shortly not an outlaw remainder who carried arms.
When the men of her retinue had collected the swords, Mara stepped forward. The bandits parted to let her past, wary of her, and of the bared blade Papewaio still carried at her shoulder. While on duty, the First Strike Leader of the Acoma had a manner even the bravest man would not lightly challenge. The most reckless of the outlaws maintained their distance, even when the warrior turned his back to lift Mara to the tailboard of the nearest wagon.
Looking down on the ragged company, the Lady of the Acoma said, ‘Is this all of your men, Lujan?’
The fact that she had issued no order to relax the stance of her archers caused the bandit leader to reply with honesty. ‘Most are here. Fifty more maintain our camp in the forest or forage nearby. Another dozen keep watch on the various roads.’
Perched atop the thyza sacks, Mara hastily calculated. ‘You command perhaps twelve dozen here. How many of these were soldiers? Let them answer for themselves.’
Of the band clustered around the rear of the wagon, close to sixty raised their hands. Mara smiled encouragement and said, ‘From what houses?’
Proud to be asked of their former heritage, they shouted, ‘Saydano!’ ‘Almach!’ ‘Raimara!’ and other houses known to Mara, most of which had been destroyed in Almecho’s rise to the office of Warlord, just before Ichindar’s succession to the throne of the Empire. As the clamour died down, Lujan added, ‘I was once Strike Leader of the Kotai, Lady.’
Mara arranged her sleeves and sat; her frown grew pensive. ‘What of the rest of you?’
A man stepped forward. Burly despite the evident ravages of hunger, he bowed. ‘Mistress, I was a farmer from the Kotai estates to the west of Migran. When my master died, I fled, and followed this man.’ He pointed respectfully to Lujan. ‘He has cared well for his own over the years, though ours has been a life of wandering and hardship.’
Mara gestured to the fringes of the company. ‘Criminals?’
Lujan answered for the rest. ‘Men without masters, Lady. Some were free farmers who lost their land for taxes. Others were guilty of misdemeanour. Many are grey warriors. But murderers, thieves, and men without principle are given no welcome in my camp.’ He indicated the surrounding woods. ‘Oh, there are murderers around, have no doubt. Your patrols have grown lax over the last few months, and the wilds provide safe haven. But in my band we have only honest outlaws.’ He laughed weakly at his own jest, adding, ‘If there be such.’ He sobered and regarded Mara keenly. ‘Now, will the Lady tell us why she concerns herself with the fate of such unfortunates as we?’
Mara gave him a smile that hinted at irony, and signalled to Keyoke. The Force Commander called for his troops to relax their battle-ready stance. As the archers on the ridge arose from cover, not even the sun’s glare could hide the fact that they were not warriors at all, but boys and old farmhands and slaves, deceptively clad in bits of armour and green-dyed cloth. What had seemed an army was now revealed for what it was: a single company of soldiers who numbered less than half as many as the outlaws, accompanied by workers and children from the Acoma estates.
A mutter of chagrin arose from the outlaws, and Lujan shook his head with a look of surprise and awe. ‘Mistress, what have you wrought?’
‘A possibility, Lujan … for all of us.’
Afternoon cast long shadows across the grass by the spring where the needra grazed, their tails switching insects. Perched atop the wagon, Mara regarded the ragged band of outlaws who sat on the ground at the fringes of the forest eagerly finishing the meat, fruit, and thyza bread her cooks had distributed among them. Although the meal was better than many had seen in months, the Lady of the Acoma observed a pervasive discomfort among the men. To be taken in battle was to become a slave, that was an incontrovertible way of life. The fact that Acoma honour guaranteed their status as free men, and the generous hospitality that had fed them, earned a guarded if tenuous trust. Yet this strange young Ruling Lady had not spoken of why she had contrived this odd meeting, and the outlaws remained suspicious.
Mara studied the men and found them much like the soldiers, workers, and slaves of her estate. Yet one quality seemed absent; had these men stood dressed in nobles’ robes, still she would have known them for outcasts. As the last crumbs of the meal were consumed, she knew the time had come to speak her offer.
With Papewaio and Keyoke stationed by the wagon at her side, the girl drew a resolute breath and raised her voice. ‘You outlaws, I am Mara, Lady of the Acoma. You have stolen from me, and for that are in my debt. To discharge that obligation honourably, I ask that you listen to my words.’
Seated in the front ranks, Lujan set aside his wine cup and answered. ‘The Lady of the Acoma is gracious to concern herself with the honour of outlaws. All in my company are pleased to agree to this.’
Mara searched the face of the bandit chief, seeking any sign of mockery; instead she found interest, curiosity, and sly humour. She found herself liking this man. ‘You here are counted outcasts for many reasons, so I have been told. All are considered marked unkindly by fate.’ The man with the scarred leg called out in agreement, and others