Free Cordimancy by Daniel Hardman

should I? I thank you for your help, but I don’t even know your name.”
    Toril introduced himself and the page. “We are traveling to Bakar,” he added. “We could probably fit you on one of our horses, if you feel up to the ride. But we have to leave quickly.”
    The osipi was wolfing down the food, but he swallowed and paused long enough to purse his lips. “Son of… Hasha, I’m guessing?”
    Toril raised his eyebrows. “How did you get that?”
    “You’re used to authority, and you travel with an escort, on a valuable horse. Your accent says either Kelun or Umora.”
    “What do you know of my father?”
    “I’ve never been to the Crown,” Oji said, using the osipi name for the circular ring of mountains around Kelun holdings. “But his name is familiar. Your clan has been kinder to my people than most.”
    “We have no quarrel with you.”
    “No. But you ride to a war council.”
    Toril blinked. “How did you jump to that conclusion? I’ve said nothing about my business.”
    Oji tore a piece of bread in half, chewed fast, cleared his mouth, and shrugged. “What should I make of a clan chief’s son, riding through the night? You carry little food, and no heavy gear, so Bakar must be your final destination. You hold a staff of authority, which puzzles me. You’ve no trade goods, and you’re not sneaking to a rendezvous with a woman if you’re taking a page.” He sniffed and smiled. “Although I can tell you were near a woman not long ago. I smell the perfume.”
    Toril felt a flash of envy. He’d spent most of the night remembering the sensation of Malena’s lips yielding to his own; how would it be to capture her scent with such ease?
    He eyed Oji. “Somehow I think there’s more to your guess than shrewd observation.”
    There was a long silence, broken by the chatter of birds and the crackle of the fire. When Oji ran out of food, he sighed. “I know something of this council. You will see the rest of my band there. They will be Gorumim’s prisoners.”
    “I thought you said they came at his request.”
    “They did. But Gorumim will claim they were captured. He will invent some mischief to blame on them, and use it to inflame the clan chiefs.”
    “Why would osipi consent to such a thing?” Toril said. “Surely you don’t want war.”
    “ I don’t, but Luim seems willing to act out the charade. I think his pact with Gorumim involves some quick end to whatever conflict arises, but when I demanded details, he got angry. Luim will not tolerate any challenge to his leadership.”
    Luim? The man was a powerful osipi cacique; Toril had heard his name often. If he was among the band in custody, something big was afoot.
    “I came thinking we were going to negotiate about the turmoil to the west. After we entered the pass, Luim announced our true purpose. I could not see how deceit would serve our cause, especially if we allowed ourselves to be blamed for violence we did not commit. I pled with him to reconsider—and when that failed, I appealed to the others. But they were dreams-caught. They want reward and glory, and Luim promised it to them in abundance. He said our people would see a permanent end to hunger and want if we’d just trust him.”
    “If the southern clans go to war, thousands of osipi women and children will feel the sting. They are migrating back to Merukesh now that summer is ending.”
    “I know. It’s madness. But when I said as much, Luim called me a traitor and told the others to shut me up. We fought. That’s how my arm broke. They tree-tied me to starve or freeze to death.”

 
    6
    sisters ~ Malena
    Malena sat up, her half-finished yawn vanishing. Her eyelids, cracked the moment before, now stretched wide. What were these strange shutters streaming dawn?
    Memories of the wedding feast flooded back. She caught sight of the daisy she had laid atop the chest beside her new bed, and sighed. Beyond the shutters, a pigeon cooed. She heard a flutter of wings as it