Timara says: I know it's been forever since I updated, but that's because I'm focusing most of my attention on Silver Shadow just now.

Chuggur says: You should be focusing your attention on -me-!!

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Chapter Eight: Scheming

Part III

I exhaled slowly as I drew the bowstring back to my cheek. The fletching tickled the side of my face. I caught my bottom lip between my teeth, focusing hard on the little target burned into the wooden wall of the cowshed. It was hard to keep the string taut, keep the arrowtip steady, keep the target in sight, and control my breathing all at once. I felt like my mind was on overdrive, trying to keep track of so many things at a time. It was kind of like drowning, I imagined. Then I loosed the shaft.

A sharp twang, a brief fft, and a solid thunk. I'd hit the target, but only barely.

"Well, at least you're not entirely hopeless."

I lowered the bow and turn slowly as Mikhal approached from behind. Lars and Ursyl trailed after him, as they did so often these days. I pulled a face at his jibe. "You're not much better yourself, you know."

Mikhal snorted, but ducked his head in acknowledgment. "True, true. But I've not come to discuss training. Well, I have, in a way."

Ping, who had been coaching Mutch nearby, came over. She graced Mikhal with a small, timid little smile, and his own face split into a huge grin. "Have you decided, then?" Ping asked.

Mikhal nodded solemnly. "Yes. I think you all are right. We've got to make our move soon."

"Move?" I demanded sharply. "What move?"

Mikhal turned toward me, looking very serious. "I think we should strike soon, Kaskin, before the snows are gone."

"Already?" I yelped. "But we hardly know what we're doing! Do you think it wise to rush off half-cocked like this?"

"I do. And I would hardly call it half-cocked. We've been planning for ages now. And we've been training with bows for nearly a month. Besides, I don't think we'll be pitting our skills against the duke's men."

Now I was utterly confused. "But that's what fighting's all about, right? Pitting your skills against another man's?"

"Theoretically. But we're not looking to pick a fight, Kaskin. We're looking to cause enough of a distraction to smuggle some serfs out of a fort."

I considered his words for a long moment before nodding slowly. "I see. And I assume you've got a nice, neat little plan?"

"Of course."

"Then why don't you call a meeting and tell it to everybody at once?"

Mikhal flicked his gaze over to Ping, who quirked a brow. The young man turned his attention back to me. "Because I thought I should tell you first."

"Why? Why tell me before everyone else?"

"Because...You'll be the one leading this little excursion."

That brought me up short. Then I laughed. After a moment, however, I realized that Mikhal did not share my mirth, and the sound died in my throat. "You're not joking?"

He shook his head.

"Then you're serious?"

He nodded.

I gaped.

Ping laughed suddenly, and the sound startled me, making me jump. "What's wrong, Kaskin? Don't you want to be leader?"

I shook my head in firm denial. "No way! I mean, leading people around is one thing, but leading people into battle? I've never done anything like this before! Why don't you lead, Mikhal, or Nem or Orlan? At least you'd have a clue as to what was going on!"

"Perhaps," Mikhal ceded, "but you're forgetting something."

"And what is that?"

"Everyone listens to you, Kaskin."

"Oh, because no one listens to what you say?" I shot back, feeling particularly waspish just then. "Mikhal, anyone would follow you without thought! I'm no warrior; I thought I'd made that quite clear this winter! I don't know the first thing about warfare, I'd be always wondering if I was doing right or leading my friends to an early grave. I wouldn't know what to do, and I wouldn't be able to stand the thought of losing anyone."

"And that's precisely why you have to lead."

Was it just me, or had he stopped making sense? I shook my head in bewilderment.

Mikhal sighed deeply. "I told you this before, Kaskin. I'm a thinker. You're the doer. I can plot and scheme and lay down all sorts of plans, but when it comes to the actual doing of a thing, I just follow along with what I planned out before. Things are going to go wrong here, Kaskin. It's not going to go at all like we plan it, no matter how we plan it. But when things go down, we'll have to think quick and act quicker. We need someone who's got the guts to carry through with what needs to be done, but the sense to know when it's time to back off. We can't afford to lose anyone, and you're the only person among us that I can count on to place everyone's safety above even accomplishing the mission. The simple fact of the matter is that I know, if I were in charge, I'd follow through with the mission no matter the danger, and we simply cannot allow ourselves to do that."

I opened my mouth to voice a heated reply, but no sound came out. I closed it, swallowed, tried again, but still, I could not seem to form the words that spun through my head.

Ping watched me closely for a moment, then shook her head a bit and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Kaskin, you told me once to tell you if I knew anything that I thought could help us. So I'm telling you now that Mikhal is right. Experienced or not, you're the only one who can call the shots when it really comes down to it. You can think under pressure, you're clever and quick of wit. If anything goes wrong, you'll find a way around it and bring us all out of this alive. None of the rest of us could do that."

"What makes you so sure I could?" I finally managed.

Ping smiled slightly and glanced sideways at Mikhal before catching my eye once more. "You can, Kaskin. I just know it."

I could only dream of the level of faith she seemed to have in me. But as I looked from one to the other, neither of them backed down, and I felt a bit like a fox forced into a corner. After a long moment, I sighed in defeat. "All right. What's the plan?"

Ping and Mikhal shared a glowing look of triumph, and I felt as though my heart flipped over in my chest.