Warlord

myself that it would be mean-spirited. That it would bring me down to his level.
    That it would feel really good.
    "We spotted some warriors of the Plains when we returned from the hunt." One of the warrior-priests was talking to Keekai. "They kept their distance, followed us for a time, then disappeared over a ridge."
    "They didn't identify themselves?" Keekai asked.
    "No, Elder."
    "Odd," Keekai said.
    Still Waters was beside her. "Not so odd these days. The old ways of the plains, the courtesy of the land and of the tents, is gone."
    Keekai shot him a look. "Or perhaps they thought warrior-priests would not welcome an intrusion. Still, it is unusual."
    A grunt from Still Waters was the only response.
    "A belly-full of meat, and kavage." Keekai sat on her pallet and patted her stomach. "Well worth the stop, eh?"
    I nodded, drinking the last bit of kavage from my cup.
    "And look." Keekai raised her hand into the air, and flexed her fingers for me to see. "The stiffness eases."
    "Good." I smiled, pleased at the relief the salve gave her. Stiff joints and crooked fingers could be a source of terrible pain to the old. "Keekai, how old are you?"
    "Eh?" she asked, tucking herself into the blankets.
    "How many years do you have?"
    "You count years?" Keekai looked at me as if I had grown horns. I clenched my teeth. Honestly, how did these people manage? I thought for a moment. "How long did it take you to have your children?"
    There was an odd look of remembered pain, but her voice was light when she answered. "Popped them out one after the other after my moon times came upon me."
    "Were you late getting your courses?"
    "Moon times?" She shrugged. "They came when they came."
    "How many campaigns have you served in?"
    Keekai's face lit with pleasure. "My first was under Rize of the Hawk. ..." She proceeded to use that memory of hers to detail her military history. I counted out the campaigns, figuring that would come close to a year if the armies were disbanded before each winter.
    "Then I became an Elder, and I have served to select the warlords seven times since then." I blinked, rechecked my figuring, and then looked at her in shock. Keekai wasn't nearly as old as I thought she was.
    She tilted her head to the side. "Your curiosity is satisfied?" She took my silence as such. "Then we must sleep. Still Waters will insist on an early start tomorrow, and I doubt he'll agree to a halt until the sun is down!"
    I stretched out under the blankets, listened to Keekai's breathing, and thought about what I had learned. Life on the Plains was hard. I knew that, or at least, I'd thought I'd known what that meant. But I didn't, not really. I'd had all the comforts of city life, plus the advantages of living in a castle. I didn't have a daily struggle for food and warmth, things I took for granted. But on the Plains, life itself was hard, harder on the body. Which meant that Keir wasn't as old as I'd thought. Perhaps we were closer in age than I'd realized?
    I turned onto my side, and pulled the covers up over my shoulder. The brazier was not putting out as much heat now, and the air felt colder. A slight breeze moved the side of the tent, and if I turned my head and looked up, I could see the stars through the smoke hole. I shifted deeper into the warmth of my bed. Did they live in tents in the snow? How did they find food in the winter? Even with raiding, how could they have enough?
    What did bearing five children do to a woman's body?
    Suddenly, I understood the depths of Keir's desire to bring change to the Plains. And just how valuable he thought my skills were. But even more than that, how pleased he'd been that I'd treat any that came to me. Tend the wound of an enemy. Set the broken leg of another.
    A snort from the other side told me that Keekai was finally asleep. I reached out my hand and pulled my satchel closer. Quietly, so as not to awaken Keekai, I dug in a side pocket and took out the damp piece of something that Iften had spit on my shoe. There was just enough light for me to study it. A mushroom, that I was certain. I smelled it carefully, but it didn't have a strong odor. I rubbed it on my skin and waited, but there was no effect. I shrugged. Only one way to know for sure. I put it in my mouth and bit down.
    An odd sweetish taste filled my mouth, and I swallowed. My heartbeat seemed louder, and the tent began to spin . . .
    I spat it out into my hand. A medicine, akin to lotus leaf, but far more powerful and fast