Free Warsworn by Elizabeth Vaughan Page B

to me. He was to approach the gates, learn what he could, and report.
    I shifted in my saddle, making the leather creak beneath me, startling my horse. He flicked his ears back, and I patted his neck to reassure him. I'd have to think of a name for him.
    I looked out, and Rafe seemed to have barely advanced. Another fidget on my part drew Epor's attention. He had positioned himself on my right, by my horse's head. He turned his head so that he could see me from the corner of his eye. "Warprize, if an arrow flies, we'll head for the rear, away from the combat. Is that clear?"
    I nodded, which just made the helmet tip forward and block my vision. I pulled it back into place. "I understand."
    "A pity," Isdra's low comment came over my shoulder. "He's never tied a warprize to a tree before."
    The chuckle from the others made me smile too, a bit ruefully. Somehow I didn't think it would take much on my part to get Epor to make good on Keir's threat.
    As Rafe continued to amble down the road, fear clutched at my heart. What if I was wrong?
    What if the villagers were defying the Warlord? If so, they were defying me as well. Queen of Xy, I'd made the decision to bind our peoples together. Or at least to unite with Keir for that reason. They could be resisting my decrees as well as breaking their oaths to Keir.
    If so, this army was poised to teach them the error of their ways. I had no false notions as to the strength of the village's walls, or their weapons. Keir would kill everyone, and burn the village to the ground, as an example as well as a punishment. When word went back to Water's Fall, what effect would that have on my people? My Council?
    Yet I almost prayed for a rebellion. Better that than plague. Goddess above, how could I explain the dangers to a people whose worst illness was a head cold? Plague respected no boundaries, no rank, or worthiness. You couldn't rush the treatment of plague either, forty days being required to assure that the contagion was gone. How could I tell Keir that he'd have to wait that long?
    I shifted the shield on my arm so that it rested in a different place on my thigh. How did they carry these heavy things all the time?
    There was another factor, one that I didn't even want to admit to myself. The last plague to afflict Water's Fall had been the sweat some twenty years past. I'd been a babe at the time, and been told that I'd had a minor case that I'd recovered from quickly.
    Could I deal with this on my own? Never mind that the supplies I had with me might not be enough, that was an entirely separate issue. Could I diagnose and treat an entire village?
    My horse sensed my unease, shifted his weight and stamped his front foot. I patted him again, letting him settle down. Maybe something from the Epic of Xyson would do. I frowned trying to recall what Xyson had named his battlesteed. Blackheart? Stoneheart? Something-heart. I had a copy with me, I'd look and see. Of course, that horse had been a warrior, a true battlesteed. I smiled as I felt my horse shift its weight, and lower its head, clearly about to take a nap.
    I felt my shoulders relax a bit too. I'd learned at the hands of Eln, a true Master of the healing arts. I'd learned the symptoms of the four major plagues, could recall their history back to Xypar, some five generations back. We'd had warning before being exposed, messengers could be sent, help would arrive.
    But like Gils, confronted by a living, breathing, wiggling patient for the first time, I had my doubts.
    " The first rule is to never let them see your doubt .' Eln's voice whispered in the back of my head. ' You try. That is all you can do. All any of us can do .'
    I smiled at the mental image of my master, but the smile faded from my face.
    Rafe had reached the gates.
    He seemed so small, seated on his horse before the walls. He was staying at least a horse length away from the structure. I saw him tilt his head, and call out to the villagers, the faint echo of his voice