The Peasant Read Free Page B

never won a duel, battle, or war without paying for what I won.
    We assigned one detail to search the bodies for possessions, weapons, shields and armor, a second to count and sort them, and a third detail to bury them. Making a litter, Brazen Bear and I dispatched ten men to follow us and collect wood along the way. We carried Father back to the village of our youth. Placing the bier upon the hovel in which we'd lived, we piled wood inside and set fire to our past. Silently, we watched the flames consume all we'd known. We both wept.
    Later, as we approached Bastion Valley, revelry drifted to us on the psychic flow. Who could blame the natives? Suddenly, they had their dignity back. Celebrating was far from our minds. I sighed and said, “Father always told us that a leader has to do what's better for the group.”
    “He'd have wanted us to celebrate the end of his suffering,” Brazen Bear replied. We entered Bastion Valley. I gestured my brother to follow me up to a promontory, where we held our swords above our heads and faced the throng below. Cheering erupted as the crowd recognized us. Soon the tumult died, and my brother and I lowered our swords.
    “We've won this battle,” I said, projecting my resonant voice over the crowd, “but the war continues. We inflicted losses three to one and left not a single Arrow Warrior alive.” A roar went up. “We'll fight other battles, and some we may lose. We must never lose sight of the reason we fight!” Cheers greeted this statement and slowly dissipated. “Today we suffered an irreplaceable loss. My father, the village elder Crazy Bear, died in battle. He fought all his life for what he believed, and so he died—fighting for his beliefs! Let us celebrate as much for our victory as for him who dedicated his life to the Caven Hills!”
    A resounding cheer rose from the valley. Into the clamor we descended.

Chapter 2
    T o design a courier implant, you must remember how complex every implant is. Your implant must, first, render a courier unconscious when recording and relaying the message to and from the subconscious mind; second, it must check the face and psychic signature of the recipient; third, it must trigger the message to come forth only after the recipient recites the proper code; fourth, it must erase the message after recital; fifth, it must detect when someone probes the courier's mind and, in that event, erase the message. All these steps insure that no one can intercept, decipher or alter the information, not even another psychological Wizard.—
Implants and Their Uses
, an instruction manual.
    * * *
    Guarding Bear sighed and looked at his guest. “Thank you for listening to my story. I appreciate your letting me chew on your ear. Did I mangle it—or bore you to sleep?” The retired General chuckled, sighed again and closed his eyes.
    The guest's expression didn't change.
    “Incurable!” He pounded the desk with his fist.
    The guest didn't flinch at the sudden outburst.
    Guarding Bear scrubbed his face with calloused palms. “You know why I told you that story, don't you? My daughter's sick, and I don't know what to do. Stories bring me calm when nothing else will. Why am I so upset?
    “I'm Guarding Bear!” he protested, as though that meant something.
    “For twenty-nine years, I've been the Peasant Upstart Usurper. The people revere me as the greatest general of all time, and I'm wealthier than the Emperor Flying Arrow.” Sighing, he looked across the desk. “And I don't know what to do.”
    The guest regarded him impassively.
    “You're right. I
do
know what to do. I'm sorry I lied to you, my friend. You're the one person I should never lie to. I'll have to ask Soothing Spirit for help. The most talented medacor in the Eastern Empire won't fail to cure her, but to get the Imperial Medacor's help, I'll have to ask
him
!” Guarding Bear jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
    Beyond the window, a warm afternoon sun lit Emparia Castle, the home of