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.Finally he settled for simplicity and brevity.“Josep does not believe my claims, nor will he allow me to bring you to your salvation.He has given me no option but to challenge him, and though I wish for nothing less, we will meet in combat tomorrow at midday.”This statement was met with stunned silence.After a moment more Pehr said only, “If you will excuse me, I must prepare,” and with these words, he began to push his way through the crowd.* * *“This is insane!” Nani cried, for what must have been the thirtieth time.“I’ve offered no argument to that statement any of the many times you’ve made it,” Pehr replied.He was sitting at the very same table at which he had eaten for so many years, and to be here now felt strange indeed.Truff should have been to his right, grumbling about something, and Jace to his left, making a light-hearted quip.Instead there was only Nani, and her boy, and Anna in the kitchen.Josep had chosen to spend his night in the hunters’ hall with his fellows, preparing for the coming fight.“That’s not the same thing as agreeing with me,” Nani said, and Pehr sighed.“Will it help if I tell you that I agree?” he asked.“That I think this entire thing is a foolish, dangerous waste of time? I am bound by laws that I didn’t write and would no longer follow if I had a choice.I would do this thing in peace, but Josep will not allow me to challenge his leadership without a fight.He won’t even accept me as a fellow man.”“But why must you challenge him? Why not wait, like he says? In time you might convince him.In time—”“Nani, it will never be easier than it is right now.In time the awe will fade, and I will become just another hunter.The Lagos will rebuild and stand again between us and the plainsmen.The Everstorm may even fail, sending waves of radiation over the land that will kill us all unless we’ve reached the safety of Havenmont.”Pehr shook his head and continued.“No, I cannot wait.I have made promises to many who I love, many who yet live and one who died in service to this goal.I will not walk away from those promises.I will bring our people to the plains, as many of them as will come with me.”“Then why not just take them and go? Why fight Josep?”“He will order them to stay, and they will listen because he leads this village.How, then, can I go north and find followers if I can’t even gather them from my own village? I must … Nani, to do this thing, I must create a legend.It must begin here.”“Even if it means killing my husband and making bastards of my children,” Nani spat, her voice bitter.Pehr stared up at the ceiling.“I will not kill Josep.”“He won’t give you a choice! Josep will die before he goes into exile if you beat him, and what if you don’t? What if he wins, Pehr? Which would you choose?”He almost told her, then, what it was that he was planning, but at the last moment he thought better of it and shook his head.“Death,” he said.“If Josep wins tomorrow, then my mission dies whether I live or not.None of the villagers would follow an exiled hunter, no matter if the Gods themselves came down and declared him a savior.”“Then one of the two of you dies in that ring tomorrow,” Nani said.“I understand that you can’t support me in this.If you wish, I’ll leave now and trouble you no further.”“Don’t be a damned fool,” Nani growled.“I won’t turn you out into the night.No, you won’t have my support tomorrow, but neither will my pig-headed husband.I refuse to support this horrible tradition that will murder one of the two men that I … that are closest to me.”Pehr closed his eyes, reliving the kiss he’d shared with Nani two years ago, in the pouring rain, just before he had left on the heels of the Lagos horde.So much time had passed, and she still loved him … had she not just nearly said it again? He ached to hear the words and knew that he never would.No matter what happened in this upcoming battle, Nani would always be Josep’s woman.God or Gods had saved Pehr’s life more than once … perhaps her love was their toll for that salvation.“I can give you no comfort,” he said, not opening his eyes.“My heart aches that it must come to this.”He heard Nani stand up and heave a weary, disgusted sigh.“This is insane,” she said again, and Pehr only nodded.There was nothing more to be said, so Nani went to help Anna in the kitchen, bringing her child with her.Pehr sat alone, arms folded on the table, eyes closed, trying to ignore the ache in his heart and prepare for the challenge ahead.* * *The village center had been prepared for the upcoming battle, and by the time Pehr reached it, most of the crowd had already arrived.They stood in a rough circle around a central combat area lined with thick wooden poles.These had been sharpened at their tips and angled inward, set close enough together that a man couldn't easily squeeze between them.There was only one entrance, at the northern end of the circle, and this, too, would be filled with spikes once the combatants were within.Nani had not been in the house when Pehr awoke.Anna told him that her daughter had gone to see Josep, and Pehr suspected that Nani still held hope that she could change one or both of their minds.He spotted her now, standing with her husband near the entrance to the circle.Judging by the miserable and disgusted look on her face, he doubted she had been successful.She was staring only at the ground and standing a full step behind Josep, who watched calmly as Pehr made his way through the crowd.As the two met, Pehr held his hand out and, after a moment, Josep shook it.“Well met,” he grunted, and Pehr nodded.“Josep, please …” Nani began behind him, and the hunter held up his hand to stop her, not turning around.“I will hear no more,” he said
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