Legacies by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Page A

nod, Lucenda stepped back into the house, leaving Alucius with Clyara.
    He gestured to the bench. “Do you want to sit down?”
    â€œFor a while.” She sat on one end of the bench.
    Alucius took the other. “Do you have sheep?”
    â€œWe have sheep,” the girl said. “Not like yours. Ours are white. They get dirty.”
    â€œOurs get sandy…when the wind blows the sand. But nightsheep are different.”
    â€œA lot different? You couldn’t put them together, could you?”
    â€œThey’re different enough that it would be hard to put them together. They’re good for different things. The white town sheep are good to eat. Nightsheep aren’t, and eating them can make you very sick. The nightsheep have better fleece, but they’re more willing to fight with other animals. A nightram can kill a sandwolf. That’s why the sandwolves hunt in packs. Nightsheep have tougher wool, and they have much sharper and stronger horns. Their horns are sharper, especially the rams. We have to have more rams. That’s because their wool is more valuable. You have to keep the rams from fighting. In other ways…they’re alike. They like to be in a flock, and they have lambs in the spring.”
    â€œThey say that your rams are dangerous. Only herders can touch them,” the girl said. “Your mother said you could, that you raised a big ram. Are you a herder?”
    â€œI’m still learning,” Alucius answered. “Some days, I go out with my grandsire. I had to work here at the stead today. I’m supposed to learn everything before I become a herder.”
    Once she began to talk, Alucius discovered, Clyara had more than a few questions.
    â€œHave you ever killed a sandwolf?…”
    â€œDo you see soarers all the time?…”
    â€œAre there any dustcats near here?…”
    â€œDo you think there are Forerunner cities on the plateau?…Have you tried to climb it?…”
    â€œHave you ever killed a brigand?”
    At the last question, Alucius smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a brigand. Sanders and sandwolves are the dangers.” He paused. “At least, now they are.”
    The door to the porch opened, and Lucenda stepped out. “Alucius, would you show Clyara the washroom? You two can get washed up now.” With a quick nod, Lucenda disappeared back into the house.
    Alucius stood. “Washroom’s off the kitchen. We can go in by the back side door.” He turned and walked along the porch, past the kitchen window, casually glancing in, but only catching sight of his mother at the serving table. He held the door for Clyara, and then followed her inside. He cycled the hand pump several times, and then stepped out of the washroom.
    After Clyara finished, he washed up himself and tidied the space, just in time for his grandsire.
    Before long everyone was gathered around the kitchen table, set for six, instead of four. Lucenda nodded to Alucius. “If you would…”
    He cleared his throat, conscious of both Clyara and her mother, and spoke. “In the name of the One Who Was, Is, and Will Be, may our food be blessed and our lives as well, and blessed be the lives of both the deserving and the undeserving that both may strive to do good in the world and beyond.”
    Lucenda began to hand platters from the serving table, speaking as she did. “Father, you remember Temra. She used to help me with the carding in the summer.” Lucenda looked at her son. “That was years ago. Her Dysar is the second man in command of the Militia.” She looked to the red-haired woman.
    â€œThey call him a majer,” Temra explained. “Clyon is in charge, and he’s a colonel.”
    Lucenda went on. “Temra was nice enough to bring out some of the hams that we’d bought from Junhal—we’re having one, tonight—and she also brought some of the early