Seirei no Moribito - Volume 2 - Chapter 2.3

CHAPTER III THE POISONED SPEAR TIP 

The cloaks of Balsa’s captors flapped noisily in the wind. Dom and Kahm placed her astride a small horse and mounted horses on either side of her. Each held one end of the rope that bound her. Balsa did not look around, although she could feel her aunt’s gaze boring into her back. Narrowing her eyes against the glare and the sand whipped up by the wind, she considered her situation. From Dom and Kahm’s reaction to her challenge, it was clear that Yuguro had told them something about her, and that they had concealed whatever it was from the Yonsa guards, convincing them that she was a thief who had broken clan law. 
No one spoke during the hour-long journey to the border between the two territories. When they reached the forts at the border post, Captain Soosa looked about uneasily. “There are no reinforcements to meet you. Would you like me to lend you two of my riders?” 
Dom laughed and waved off the offer. “No, no. Thanks, but we wouldn’t want people to think Musa warriors need more than two men to escort a mere woman! Really, there’s no need to bother.” 
“Captain Soosa,” Kahm added, “your assistance was very helpful. We won’t forget what you did for us.” 
The captain looked somewhat mollified by his sincerity. “Don’t mention it. Farewell, then.” 
When the Yonsa guards had ridden away, Dom beckoned to the merchant, who was hanging back. Avoiding Balsa’s eyes, the man brought his mount closer, and Dom dropped several jingling silver coins into his hand. “Thanks for your help catching this criminal. You can follow the valley road from here to Sula Lassal. We’re going back by the mountain road.” 
The merchant looked at him beseechingly and whispered, “You don’t think she’ll come looking for me, do you?” 
Dom grinned. “No. I guarantee it.” 
The merchant bowed his head, kicked his horse into a gallop, and sped away as fast as he could. 
“So, shall we be off?” Dom thumped Balsa roughly on the back with his huge hand. If the movement of his arm had not warned her, she would have tumbled off her horse. As it was, she barely managed to cushion the blow by leaning forward just before he struck, and the force of it still knocked the breath out of her. “Good reflexes, I see,” Dom sneered. “Jiguro must have beaten you often.” 
His words hurt far more than the actual blow, but she remained expressionless. She knew instinctively that she must not show any anger. 
Behind her, Kahm gritted his teeth. Even though they were following his uncle’s orders, it seemed unfair to goad their prisoner into fighting just so they could kill her. Dom, however, seemed to be enjoying it. As they rode along the mountain path, through the shade of scattered clumps of trees, he kept up his criticism of Jiguro. He also kept bumping into Balsa’s horse, which was already struggling to navigate the stony track. If he succeeded in unhorsing her, she would be badly injured or, worse, killed when she smashed her head on the rocks. 
By now, Balsa was sure that was exactly what Dom wanted. 
As the sun began to sink in the sky and the shadows of the shrubs lengthened, they came to a clear stream surrounded by grass and a grove of trees. Balsa was drenched in sweat and gasping from the effort of keeping her seat. Her throat burned from the strong, dry wind. 
“Master Kahm, let’s rest here a little. Our prisoner seems a bit tired,” Dom said, dismounting. He pulled Balsa from her horse and tied her to a tree, but bound the rope carelessly, so she could feel how loose it was. Kahm brought over her spear, and Dom placed it beside her at the foot of the tree. Then the two men went over to the stream, washed their faces, and drank thirstily. When he had finished, Kahm dipped a water skin into the stream. Dom looked at him suspiciously. 
“We’re only thirty lon away from the village. What do you need water for?” 
“I thought I’d give her a drink,” Kahm answered. 
Dom snatched the skin from his hands and threw it on the ground. “What do you think you’re doing? That’s no woman over there. She’s nothing but trash come to destroy our dream!” 
The blood rose hotly in Kahm’s face. “She’s not trash! Even if we have to kill her, I can’t stand to do it like this. It’s so dirty, underhanded …” 
Balsa brought her ragged breathing under control, listening carefully to the two men. She no longer felt dizzy and her vision had cleared. She slipped the rope off her hands and rubbed them. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she watched the men argue. Kahm’s profile suddenly reminded her of Jiguro, and she remembered with shock that the young man was his nephew. It seemed ironic that she should end up fighting Jiguro’s own kin, but she certainly couldn’t stand by and let them kill her. 

Let’s get on with it, then, she thought. She rolled her neck once and then clapped her hands loudly to attract their attention. They started and glanced around as she stood up, laughing. “You certainly like to complicate things. So basically you’re just looking for a good excuse to kill me, right? Like me attacking you. So what if I just stand here and do nothing — if I don’t fight or run? What will you do then?” 
Dom slapped his spear against the palm of his hand. “Well, I suppose the result would be the same now, wouldn’t it? All we’d have to do was say that you had attacked us…. There’re no other witnesses, are there? Believe me, I would’ve got this over with a lot sooner if I didn’t have to consider the feelings of the chieftain’s son here.” 
Kahm looked at him in surprise. “You had to consider my feelings?” 
“Yes. Master Yuguro knows you very well, you see. I know you can’t help it because you’re still young, but if you’ll forgive my lecturing you, Master Kahm, when you have an important job to do, you shouldn’t worry about bloodying your hands.” 
Kahm ground his teeth. “I’m not worried about getting my hands dirty!” he spat. “I’m saying that if we have to kill her, then we should give her back her spear and kill her in a fair fight. We should let her die with honor.” 
Balsa ran her hand through her hair. “Master Kahm,” she said. “You appear to be a much better man than that hulk over there, but I’m afraid you’re still wrong.” She looked at him steadily. “Whether it’s a fair fight or not, honor makes no difference to the one who dies. Honor is nothing but an empty word to comfort the killer. Your uncle Jiguro knew that well.” 
She looked up at Dom. “So, Master Giant, I took your taunts in the hope of meeting Yuguro, but I see no reason to put up with this any longer if you intend to kill me anyway.” 
Dom’s mouth twisted into a scornful smile. “Oh? You intend to fight? How kind of you. Master Kahm, you must rejoice. It seems you’ll get your chance for what you call a ‘fair fight.’ ” 
Balsa laughed. “Who said anything about fighting?” She swept up her spear and disappeared into the forest. 
Dom’s face turned red with rage. “You!” He raced after her, but just when he reached the grove, something whipped through the air and smacked him in the eye. He jumped back with a cry. The end of the rope that had bound Balsa had hit him. 
Kahm saw Balsa leap out from the trees. Dom reacted instantly, swinging his spear toward her, but Balsa was faster by far. Blocking his spear with her own, she swept it aside in a wide arc, then punched the butt end of her spear straight into his nose. It broke audibly, and Dom pitched over backward. 
But strength was his pride and, as he fell, he whipped his spear out sideways. Balsa leapt over it and drove the point of her own spear deep into his shoulder with all her weight behind it. He screamed. Without batting an eyelash, she stepped on his arm and yanked out her spear. 
Kahm watched numbly. He had never seen Dom beaten so soundly before. In fact, he had never seen a real spear fight, so he failed to notice that Balsa refrained from striking the final blow. 
She moved away from Dom where he writhed in agony on the ground and turned toward Kahm. “So how about it? Do you want to fight too?” 
His knees were shaking, but he clenched his teeth and leveled his spear at her. She nodded and moved easily to close the space between them. He focused, drawing energy from deep within to fight. 
At that moment, however, Dom threw his spear, aiming straight for Balsa’s back. 
Even she had not foreseen this move. He was still prostrate on the ground, and was forced to throw it left-handed. Moreover, if she moved aside, it would strike Kahm. By the time she sensed the danger, she barely had time to twist away. The spear point grazed her shoulder, giving Kahm just enough time to knock it to the ground. 
“You’re finished,” Dom jeered. “I coated the tip with togal.” 
Balsa felt the wound in her shoulder grow numb and knew he spoke the truth; the spear had been poisoned. She had run out of time. Turning around, she raced toward Kahm, knocked aside the spear he swung toward her, and hit him in the pit of the stomach with the hilt of her own. He crumpled to the ground in a dead faint. Without pausing to look back, Balsa splashed through the creek and into the trees, heading up the mountain. 
The sun had already set, but the sky still glowed with a lingering blue light. The numbness spread from the wound in her left shoulder to her back and chest. She let it bleed, praying that some of the poison would wash out with it, and continued to climb. 
Finally the last light faded and everything sank into darkness. Nothing moved except the occasional mountain goat bounding away from her in fright, its hooves ringing on the stones. The numbness spread to her legs, and suddenly they slipped out from under her. She fell between two rocks, hitting her side as she went down. Balsa lost consciousness.