18 Linvas

"I do not snore."

"Yes, you do."

"Absolutely not."

"Does he snore, Clober?"

"Like Gren's old mountain goat."

Rayvad glared at the two of them. They had set off really early in the morning to make up for the time they'd lost by dealing with the storm the previous night.

Their destination that day was Linvas, a small camp in Forest Kastlam where Slorigans stayed until the age of 14. The camp was run by older Slorigans, who were past their fighting age, and served as mentors and teachers for the younger generation.

After Brightise made some mandatory fun of Rayvad, she started observing more the woods around her. It was obvious that they were getting closer to Linvas by the increasing number of animal traps that they came across. They saw dozens of complicated contraptions made of wood, string and rope as they rode on.

As it turned out though, the best animal trap was the mud left over after a night of rain. Rayvad and Syd had redirected the storm so it hadn't hit the place where they'd camped, but they hadn't protected the whole forest.

As a result, after three hours of journey, Rayvad's horse got stuck in the mud. Lyber tried to move its hooves, but to no avail.

Rayvad had to jump off to lighten the horse's load, but it was still unable to move.

"Come on, boy," Rayvad encouraged it, pulling on its reins hard from the ground.

Brightise sighed and dismounted her own horse. "Let me try," she said.

Rayvad looked at her critically. "Do you have magical strength or something?"

"I don't need magical strength."

Taking the reins from his hand, she gritted her teeth and placed her feet firmly on the muddy ground. Then she gave the reins a hard pull.

Lyber staggered forward clumsily, almost pushing Brightise to the ground.

The horse was free.

Brightise straightened up with a deep breath and handed the reins back to Rayvad.

"Seems like they don't train you hard enough at the Slorigan camp. You could use some hours working on the fields."

For once, Rayvad didn't say anything clever back. He got back on his horse and they all got moving again.

Still, Brightise could feel his eyes on her back, looking at her with a new-found, reluctant respect.

"How much longer to go?" she asked Syd to break the charged silence.

"A couple of hours."

Two hours and twenty minutes later, they entered the camp of Linvas. Brightise had never seen so many men in her life gathered in one place. The population of Linvas was exclusively male, yet still diverse. All the campers were either below the age of 15 or over the age of 50.

"All warriors in their prime live up at the camp near River Draban," Syd explained. "This is sort of a young warrior academy and a retirement home."

"What were you doing around this area then?" Brightise asked.

He and Rayvad looked no older than 25 after all.

"We had patrolling duty. We are not always on war. We have to make ourselves useful."

Brightise kept looking around curiously. She saw teenage boys swinging wooden swords and spears at each other while older men shouted instructions. A big tent in the middle of the camp served as a kitchen. An ancient man was standing before a huge pot of soup outside the tent, stirring it at regular intervals. A group of five-year-old boys was waiting in line patiently to get a serving. It seemed that those boys were not used to seeing girls either. One of them pointed at Clober as they passed and whispered something to the other boys.

Clober noticed them looking at her. "Can I go play with them?" she asked Brightise with a pleading expression.

Brightise was reluctant to let her out of her sight. "How long will we stay here?" she asked Rayvad.

"I have to pick up a custom-made weapon from the forger. We could have a decent meal and sleep in a tent for tonight. It's up to you," he told her neutrally.

It was probably the most civil thing he had ever said to her.

"I can watch Clober," Syd offered. "You should go to the forger with Rayvad and get a tour of the whole camp. You'll never be able to visit again if you become an Amazon," he pointed out.

Brightise hesitated, but in the end she decided to follow Rayvad. She trusted Syd to protect her sister if the need arose, and she was actually curious about this forger. The only weapon she had was that knife she had left Paldagor with, so she wouldn't miss a chance to see how real weapons were made.

Rayvad led her to a barn, where they tied their horses, and then started walking through the camp on foot. Brightise soon had to struggle to keep up with him.

"Hey, slow down!" she yelled at him. "So much for getting a tour of this place!"

Rayvad was caught off guard. "Sorry," he said. He had obviously not realized how fast he had been going. "I've just been waiting months for this weapon to be ready."

Brightise nodded. "Understandable."

As they resumed walking at a more moderate pace, they passed by a small gray tent with a bunch of toys left on the grass right outside it. Brightise heard a loud cry come from the inside.

"Is that a baby?" she asked in confusion.

"Yes."

She raised her eyebrows at Rayvad in silent inquiry.

"There is a treaty about the babies conceived between Slorigans and Amazons or Doyas," he told her. "If they have a girl, they get to keep it, but if they have a boy, they have to hand it over within two weeks. That's how long it takes to travel from their camps to ours even under the worst weather conditions."

"Two weeks?" Brightise asked. "Why so soon?"

"We don't want them to bond with the boys, and neither do they. Remember, we are often at war with each other."

"But then... You could kill your own mother during a war!"

Rayvad shrugged. "We never know them. We don't even know their names. We only know who our father is. A Slorigan scribe keeps track of the matings, but that's only so there is no accidental incest."

Brightise was appalled. This was not how things were done in Selgonfield. Parents were not separated from their children, and children were not separated from their siblings.

"You could have half-sisters!" she told him. "Or half-brothers. That baby could be your half-brother!"

"I only have one brother that I know of," Rayvad said. Then he pushed open the flap of a tent. "We are here!"