‘Physically, yes, but it knows its mother’s hunger. This will be… difficult. I know, you do not deserve any of this, Fear-’
‘Perhaps, Rhulad, but I will accept the burden. For Mayen. And for you.’
No-one spoke after that, not for some time. They drank their wine, and it seemed to Trull that something was present, some part of his life he’d thought – not long gone, but non-existent in the first place. They sat, the three of them. Brothers, and nothing more.
Night descended outside. Udinaas served food and still more wine. Some time later, Trull rose, the alcohol softening details, and wandered through the chambers of the tent, his departure barely noticed by
Rhulad and Fear.
In a small room walled in by canvas, he found Udinaas.
The slave was sitting on a small stool, eating his own supper. He looked up in surprise at Trull’s sudden arrival.
‘Please,’ Trull said, ‘resume your meal. You have earned it, Udinaas.’
‘Is there something you wish of me, Trull Sengar?’
‘No. Yes. What have you done?’
The slave cocked his head. ‘What do you mean?’
‘With… him. What have you done, Udinaas?’
‘Not much, Trull Sengar.’
‘No, I need an answer. What are you to him?’
Udinaas set down his plate, drank a mouthful of wine. ‘A subject who’s not afraid of him, I suppose.’
‘That’s… all? Wait, yes, I see. But then I wonder, why? Why are you not afraid of him?’
Udinaas sighed, and Trull realized how exhausted the slave was. ‘You, all the Edur, you see the sword. Or the gold. You see… the power. The terrifying, brutal power.’ He shrugged. ‘I see what it takes from him, what it costs Rhulad. I am Letherii, after all,’ he added with a grimace. ‘I understand the notion of debt.’ He looked up. ‘Trull Sengar, I am his friend. That is all.’
Trull studied the slave for a half-dozen heartbeats. ‘Never betray him, Udinaas. Never.’
The Letherii’s gaze skittered away. He drank more wine.
‘Udinaas-’
‘I heard you,’ the man said in a grating voice.
Trull turned to leave. Then he paused and glanced back. ‘I have no wish to depart on such terms. So, Udinaas, for what you have done, for what you have given him, thank you.’