Rud decided it was too hard to watch his father’s face at this moment, so he swung his gaze down to the distant calf.
‘I told Onrack,’ Udinaas continued. ‘I had to. To just… get it out, before it devoured me. Now, well, I regret doing that.’
‘You need not. Onrack had no greater friend. It was necessary that he know the truth-’
‘No, Rud, that is never necessary. Expedient, sometimes. Useful, other times. The rest of the time, it just wounds.’
‘Father, what will you do?’
‘Do? Why, nothing. Not for Seren, not for Onrack. I’m nothing but an ex-slave.’ A momentary smile, wry. ‘Living with the savages.’
‘You are more than just that,’ Rud said.
‘I am?’
‘Yes, you are my father. And so I ask again, how long will you stay?’
‘Until you toss me out, I suppose.’
Rud came as close to bursting into tears as he had ever been. His throat closed up, so tight that he could say nothing for a long moment, as the tide of feeling rose within him and only slowly subsided. Through blurred eyes, he watched the calf wander in the valley.
Udinaas resumed as if unmindful of the reaction his words had elicited. ‘Not that I can teach you much, Rud. Mending nets, maybe.’
‘No, father, you can teach me the most important thing of all.’
Udinaas eyed him askance, sceptical and suspicious.
Three adult ranag appeared on a crest, lumbered down towards the calf. Seeing them, the young beast cried out again, even louder this time, and raced to meet them.
Rud sighed. ‘Father, you can teach me your greatest skill. How to survive.’
Neither said anything then for some time, and Rud held his eyes on the ranag as they ascended the far side of the valley. In this time, it seemed Udinaas had found something wrong with his eyes, for his hands went to his face again and again. Rud did not turn to observe any of that.
Then, eventually, with the valley empty before them, his father rose. ‘Looks like we go hungry after all.’
‘Never for long,’ Rud replied, also rising.
‘No, that’s true.’
They made their way back to the village.
His hands stained with paint, Onrack tied the rawhide straps about the bundle, then slung it over a shoulder and faced his wife. ‘I must go.’
‘So you say,’ Kilava replied.