Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [63]
The young pup who called himself Fynn was asleep, draped over the saddlebags, tied there like a sausage link. He hadn’t protested when Rosette took him on board. He had refused to be left behind, and it had broken her heart to watch him struggle to keep up. When he’d fallen back she’d sent Drayco to retrieve him. He’d hoisted the pup by the nape of his neck and Rosette had made room for him across the saddlebags. She felt a soft spot growing for the little guy, though she didn’t know what in the many-worlds she would do with him.
‘Still no pursuit?’ Shane asked, searching the horizon.
She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘I can’t sense them at all.’
‘Not much of a guard team, really.’
Rosette frowned as she undid the ties securing Fynn. ‘I agree, and that bothers me.’
‘Maybe so, but it was lucky for us.’
She lifted the pup and nested him in the grass that carpeted the mountain ledge. He let out a huge sigh but didn’t wake up.
‘Lucky, though they didn’t have a chance in any case. These horses left them in the dust.’ She ran up the stirrup and unbuckled the girth before hauling the saddle off. ‘I would have loved to have met their High Priest, just to learn what the big “women-with-swords” taboo was all about.’
Shane leaned against his horse, letting it rub its sweat-crusted forehead on his shoulder. He’d improved his horsemanship skills considerably in the last few days, and he was proud of it, if somewhat saddle sore. ‘Probably it’s what all taboos are about,’ he said.
Rosette looked at him.
‘Generating fear to stay in control.’ He answered the unspoken question.
‘I don’t know how it could happen at Treeon, but your theory sounds right.’ She began vigorously rubbing down the mare with a thick cloth.
‘Do you know what would sound better?’
‘Show me.’ She knew what was coming next and it made her smile. He reached into his pack and pulled out a low whistle. The tune he played was rich and sorrowful; it was like the sound of a lone raven searching for its mate—sad, yearning yet hopeful. When he finished, Rosette wiped tears from her cheeks. ‘That’s beautiful.’
‘Ta.’
‘Did you write it?’
‘Aye.’
She looked at his face and noticed a hollowness there she hadn’t spotted before.
‘Selene?’
He looked away. She took Shane’s hand and gave it a squeeze. It felt cold to the touch.
‘When’s her birthday?’
‘What?’
‘I’m a star-witch, remember.’
He nodded. ‘We call it Caprimarius, half-serpent, half-goat. You know it?’
Rosette nodded. ‘The Sea-goat? Of course.’
‘So tell me, does that mean anything to you?’
‘It says something about her ambition and maybe a leaning towards self-sufficiency.’
‘That’s playing it soft.’ He broke off a grass stem and chewed one end. His horse took it out of his mouth and finished the job. Rosette pushed the animal over a few paces to unsaddle it, rubbing down one side while Shane did the other.
‘Does that mean she’ll never want a partner?’ Shane asked, straightening his back.
‘Everyone wants a partner, Shane. Just different kinds and for different reasons.’
‘And her reasons?’
‘If I had to guess?’
‘Please do.’
‘To build an empire.’
He snapped off another tassel of oat grass. ‘That explains it.’
‘How so?’
‘I’ve no interest in empires—building up, or taking down.’
‘There are other ways to connect.’
He wrinkled his nose. ‘Would she think sex was one of them?’
‘Of course.’ Rosette laughed. ‘The Sea-goat is as sensual as she is ambitious.’
‘Not seeing much of that side.’
‘Don’t worry, Shane. We’ll get you home and you’ll sort it out.’
‘Is that a prediction?’
‘It’s an intention—one you might want to take up yourself.’
He nodded.
‘Meanwhile, she’s safe. She’s with Jarrod, after all.’ Rosette grinned widely, picking up the horse’s hooves and checking for stones.
Shane raised his eyes to the surrounding mountain peaks, staring at them for some