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meeting.
Cholkwa left the circle of torchlight, returning shortly in the stained yellow
tunic. Now he was one of the false allies, a wheedling plausible man, who had
been -- one sensed -- handsome in his youth and was still in the habit of
behaving seductively.
How did Cholkwa manage this? His own good looks were mostly gone, and he seemed
older. The stained tunic helped, making him look seedy, but it was something
more. The way he held himself? His voice? He didn't command attention like
Perig; and Ahl could still see him inside the character he played, the way one
saw people inside festival dolls, when firelight shone through the stick and
cloth bodies. Nonetheless, he impressed her.
Ahl leaned forward, intent. Around her the pirates and prisoners were silent.
At first Manhata was oblivious. The other man, the ally, praised, made promises,
even flirted, though carefully. Manhata ignored the flirtation and accepted the
praise, expecting nothing less. Gradually Cholkwa's manner changed. Sharpness
crept in. He began to mock the old warrior at the same time that he became more
openly seductive.
A disturbing scene. Around her the pirates shifted and muttered. One stood up,
stumbled into the bushes and threw up.
Understandable, though maybe it was the stew.
It took a long time for Manhata to understand what he was hearing. Finally he
turned on the ally, shouting, "How dare you?"
The ally explained. The trap had closed. Manhata's men, the guard he'd brought
with him, were dead by now. Manhata would join them soon. "You have lived too
long and become a fool, deserving of a shameful death. I promise you, old man,
that is the kind of death you'll get."
What happened next was impossible to understand. Perig barely moved, yet she
could see every idea and feeling in his mind. Disbelief came first, then anger--
a brief hot flash, then fear. How was this possible? Manhata was fearless. As
she watched, Perig grew smaller, collapsing in on himself like a festival doll
at festival end, when the sticks that hold it up are folded. Now she saw
Manhata's age. He was more than eighty at the time of his death. His life had
been one of constant violence. Who knew how many injuries he had endured? Surely
his body must have reached its limit. And he was alone. His sisters, who had
guided him through his long career, were dead. What was left for him, except his
terrifying reputation?
Courage was left. She could see that now, as the old man straightened, meeting
the gaze of his former ally.
"Do what you will," Manhata said. The pirates sighed. As they did, Perig stepped
out of the torchlight. Cholkwa joined him. A moment later the young man returned
wearing his own tunic. Now he was a messenger, bringing news of Eh Manhata's
death. He stood quietly, looking out at the audience, and described what
happened next. It had been a bad death, long and deliberately painful; and
Manhata handled it less than well. The Man Who Broke Lineages was himself
finally broken. Ahl had heard most of this before. It was no more pleasant a
second time. Of all the brutal things done during the Unraveling, this was the
worst. Around her the pirates gasped and groaned. "Why?" cried more than one.
"His former allies wanted us to remember him this way," said Cholkwa. "If he had
died in battle or by some ordinary form of execution, his reputation would not
have been diminished. But this --"
"You should have lied," said Jehan Silverback. "You should have given him the
death he had earned. How can you cooperate in something so contemptible?"
Perig stepped back into the torchlight. The red cloak was gone. He was Manhata
no longer. "Anyone can be broken," he said in his ordinary, quiet, even tone,
"No one escapes shame except through luck. This is something that Manhata may
have forgotten, for a while at least. But he learned it at the end.
"That's one thing to remember. The other is, his enemies are fools."
"Why do you say that?" asked Jehan Silverback.
"In old age, when he no longer had his sisters to advise him, Manhata acted in
ways that must be called foolish. This can't be denied. It's true as well that
his courage failed him at the end.
"But think of the rest of his life! I'm from the plain, as my cousin told you.
For more than fifty years, Manhata rose above the rest of us like a thundercloud
that would not dissipate. Every time we looked up, there he was -- his head in
sunlight and lightning around his shoulders. Can a year or two of folly, a day
or two of pain unmake a life like his?"
"Yes," said Long Jehan.
"No," said Jehan Silverback.
"Time will determine," Perig said in his usual reasonable tone.
That ended the play. The pirates continued drinking. By now they were obviously
intoxicated. Several more threw up, lurching past the prisoners into the forest
shadows. Long Jehan grabbed Cholkwa's arm, pulling him down on the sand beside
him. Perig settled by the other pirate cousin. Ahl couldn't tell if Jehen
Silverback had ordered him to do so or asked him. Maybe Perig was acting on his
own, trying -- like Manhata -to beg a better ending.
"I think it's time for us to leave," said Leweli quietly.
"Mother told me men were disgusting after they'd been drinking for a while," Ahl
said in agreement.
Maybe they could say they needed to urinate, Ahl thought. That would get them to
the forest. But no ruse was necessary. The pirate closest to them slumped over
suddenly, his cup spilling from his hand. The next fellow over had already risen
and was stumbling toward the Taig prisoners. Why, Ahl didn't know or want to
know. She and Leweli rose together, stepping backward into the black forest
shadow. No one called out.
Instead of entering the forest, they went along its edge, keeping in the shadow.
Hah! It was dark! But there were stars above them and lamps on the two anchored
ships. When the beach ended, they clambered over rocks, going out on the
promontory which formed one side of the harbor. Someone by the pirate's fire was
screaming. Ahl didn't think it was from pain or fear.
Finally, when they were a good distance from the beach, Leweli said, "This will
do."
The two women dove into the water and swam toward the Taig ship.
Remember that Sorg is marsh. No one grows up there without learning to swim. Ahl
was excellent and Leweli even better. Side by side, they stroked through the
cold still water, making no sound. On shore the pirates were shouting at one
another. Had they discovered the missing women? Or were they quarreling, as
drunks will do?
When they reached the ship, Ahl grabbed the anchor chain. It made a noise. A
moment later she saw a shape above her, leaning over the ship's side. Metal
gleamed in starlight.
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