Pulling off the road, they dismounted next to the wall.

"I was beginning to wonder where you were," I said.

"We needed to talk—the three of us," Giln explained.

"We had to figure out what to do," Sheleck added.

"Well, not that, brother … we know what we have to do.  We enlisted to fight the enemy.  That doesn't change."

"True," said Sheleck, glancing at me and then away,  "but we didn't know that the one we figured would be fighting alongside us will, all of a sudden, be telling us when to fight and when not to."

"But, if not him, someone will be telling us."

The brothers fell silent.

"What is is," I said, filling their void.  "Nothing will change that.  The Council decided I was the best person to lead the army and I will do my best to live up to their expectations.  That means I will tell you who to fight and when.  And, where.  And I will tell all the rest of the soldiers who, when and where to fight.  That's the way it is.  Listen … you could have left back there and gone home.  The army is disorganized.  You'd soon be forgotten in the greater effort to defeat Glnot Rhuether.  But, the important thing is you didn't go home.  Your character and the cause you had committed to fight for were greater than the discomfort, or embarrassment, or whatever it is, of having a friend tell you what to do."

"All true," said Giln, "but we still had to hash it out.  We had to agree among ourselves so we'd have a single voice in the matter.  We also needed to take the time to explain to our brother here"—he put a hand on Zurn's shoulder and gave him a little squeeze—"what it means to have to accept someone's authority over him.  He didn't remember his father or mother—did you Zurn?"

Zurn shook his head.

"And, until Sheleck and I took him away from the villagers, he didn't know authority can come with love.  Sometimes we had to tell you what to do when it wasn't what you wanted to do, right brother?"

He nodded.

"But, you knew we did it because we loved you, right?"

Zurn beamed.

"And, I guess we all three need to remember that we'll have to make sacrifices in order to defeat Glnot Rhuether."

"If you don't mind an observation, Giln, when you say the name Glnot Rhuether your blood seems to stir."

"Yes, sir, it does.  I'm sure for my brother as well.  When we went to the upper academy we studied the Northern Province, which had a history of corruption, but nothing as corrupt as when Glnot Rhuether overthrew the ruling power and established his own.  I believe all the students at the Upper Academy were of one mind and heart that until Rhuether was destroyed there would be no peace without a lingering fear.  Now—I'm sure because we are going to battle him—Glnot Rhuether has even invaded me in my sleep."

I froze.  "What do you mean?"

"He came to me in a vision."

Sheleck let out a cry.  "Brother, he came to you?  When?"

"At the Inn, just before we left for Kabeez."

"To me too!  I should have told you.  I was afraid if you heard the contents of my vision you'd think I was weak."

"You both dreamt of Rhuether?"

Sheleck cocked his head.  "He came to me in a vision, sir."

"Will you tell me about the vision?" I asked.  My heart was starting to pound in my chest.

"He was arrogant, sir!  He said we were coming a thousand units only to have our severed heads ground to fertilizer and our bodies fed to the Pomnots!"

"The same, brother!  He said the same to me.  But, he also said that our leader's head—"

"Would be--would be served on a platter for his new bride."

"The same!" said Giln, his voice rising.  "The very same!  Those exact words!"  He shared a glance with Sheleck.  "I just didn't know then ..."

"No, we had no way..."

The brothers stood staring at each other, obviously amazed, but equally discomfited.

The combination of pounding heartbeat and rapid breathing kept me from saying anything at all for a moment.  Waiting for it to abate, I looked from the brothers to Zurn who was stroking Blackie's mane, the corners of Zurn's mouth upturned, his eyes perhaps inward on an internal landscape populated with pink and violet fluffs of clouds over a lush pasture where Blackie romped endlessly and he floated softly on his crossan's back.
   
We rented rooms at an inn on the road exiting Kabeez.  Boarding our crossans and giving them the extra attention they deserved, we unloaded our saddlebags to take to our rooms.  I read the uneasiness on the brothers' faces and was quick to let them know that the cost of caring for them until we got to the camp tomorrow was the last material gift that Klasco happily provided.  Their relief was instantaneous and exuberant. 

"Mr. Klasco is a nice man," Zurn announced.

"Klasco is his given name, brother," Sheleck corrected.  "I don't remember his surname, but he is a nice man.  You're right about that."

"Braanz—that's his surname," I said, "but he'd have been just as happy called Mr. Klasco."

"I'd like to see him again after we defeat Rhuether," Giln said.

"I'm sure he'll insist on it," I said.

"You are a nice man, too, Doctor, Sir," Zurn said.

I thanked him and glanced over to see Giln suppressing a smile behind tightened lips.  In spite of their acceptance and resolve, I sensed distance had grown between the three of them and me.

It saddened me and left me a little lonely.
   
After sleeping we gathered our gear, retrieved our crossans and made ready for the last leg of our journey to the Enlistment camp.  Sheleck estimated it was about twenty units from Kabeez, at a slightly greater incline than the part we'd already travelled.

I thought I'd test it again.  "Twenty miles, Sheleck?  We'd better get on the road, then.  An incline will slow our pace."

"You're right," said Giln.

It seemed bizarre to me that both brothers, on some level, heard miles and converted to units.  It was hard to believe I might someday develop the gift of pappering.  I was gaining a faith in their ability to papper.  It was a start.  Before this day I'd never have imagined developing a rapport with Rain Spirit.  Yet here I was, amazing the brothers Profue and even a seasoned stable boy like Klynch.  Klasco said my relationship with Rain Spirit might be the training ground for pappering.  

• Doctrex:  The name Axtilla gave to the man who woke up on the shoure of an alien land without memory or identity.
• Axtilla:  The young lady who discovered the ailing man on the shore, brought him to health and then held him captive, certain he is Pondria.
• Pondria:  According to the Tablets of Kyre, he is the one who comes from the sea, to infiltrate the people of the Encloy, deceiving them with his language, setting them up to be destroyed by the Trining.
• Pomnots:  (Pom = Dark not = Force)  Formerly on the plane below, these ancestors of the people of the Encloy were drawn up to the Kojutake during the Bining's 30 days of darkness.  Fierce, living for their appetites, they are not above killing each other to satisfy their insatiable hunger.
• Glnot Rhuether:  According to Axtilla, the name of the dark entity who is destined to empower the lodging [the Trining] on their plane.
• Klasco Braanz: Husband to Metra and father to Sarisa and Klea.
• Metra Braanz: Wife to Klasco and mother to Sarisa and Klea
• Sarisa Braanz: Klasco's and Metra's youngest daughter.
• Klea Braanz: Klasco's and Metra's eldest daughter
• Giln Profue: One of the three who helped Doctrex & Klasco in the Tavern Brawl.
• Sheleck Profue: One of the three who helped Doctrex & Klasco in the Tavern Brawl & was stabbed.
• Zurn: Intellectually challenged, Giln and Sheleck are watching out for him.
• Klynch: The stable boy at the Tavern
• Kyreans:  According to Kabeezan Myth, a people who lived 5,000 years ago (1,000 D’s) who were ultimately destroyed by Glnot Rhuether and the Dark Force
• Crossans: They are similar to horses, but broader in the chest and sloping down to smaller haunches than horses.
• Trining: 1) According to The Book of Kyre it is “a sudden, easy and complete translation of authority.”  2) A code word used by the enemies in the Far Northern Province marking the beginning of the all-out assault by Glnot Rhuether on the other provinces.
• Kunsin: The magic that Pondria possessed.
• Kojutake: In the provinces it is the afterlife.
• Prevaluate: In the provinces, it is where you go just after you die, where you measure yourself to find out whether you will go to Kojutake
• Papper: In the provinces, the ability of one language being automatically translated into another so there is no reason for one to learn a foreign language.