Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [81]
Alias rolled off Akabar's wife, moaning and clutching her ear and temple with both hands. Zhara stood and backed away from the swordswoman. Dragonbait bent over Alias, who was struggling to her knees.
"Have you finished your little catfight?" Breck asked.
"Catfight?" Zhara repeated, looking puzzled. "What does that mean?"
"When two women fight," Breck explained, "it's called a catfight."
"Why?" Zhara asked.
"Well, because women fight differently from men-more like cats. You know, with your claws," Breck said, grinning.
Zhara's eyes narrowed angrily, and she twirled the end of her flail menacingly.
"Come here, ranger, and I will show you how women fight," she growled.
Dragonbait abandoned Alias's side to step between Zhara and Breck. He grabbed the Turmishwoman's weapon arm and shook his head furiously.
"Let me go, Dragonbait!" Zhara demanded. "This arrogant northern barbarian is in need of a lesson," she said, tossing her head in Breck's direction.
Dragonbait threw his hands up in the air. This was like a nightmare, he thought.
The only worse thing he could think of would be a fight between himself and Alias.
"Give me back my armor, you thief," Alias said, retrieving her sword and stumbling to her feet. A large bump and a dark bruise were forming on the side of her temple.
"I will return it to you," Zhara snapped. "I never wanted to wear it in the first place. Only a barbarian like yourself would do so without shame."
"You never wanted.. " Alias looked from Zhara to Dragonbait. "You gave her my armor, didn't you?" the swordswoman demanded of the paladin. "And that cloak, and those boots. They're mine, too, aren't they?"
Dragonbait nodded guiltily, signing that he was sorry. He moved toward Alias, reaching out to tend the wound on her bead.
Alias drew back sharply from the saurial. "Don't touch me!" she growled.
I'm sorry, Dragonbait signed again. Forgive me.
Alias turned her back on the saurial. "Never! Stay away from me. Don't talk to me," she said. "I've nothing to say to you." The swordswoman stalked away from the saurial. At the edge of the clearing, she stopped and leaned against a tree.
Dragonbait could see Alias's shoulder shaking, and he knew she was weeping. He felt sick to his stomach. He sat down on the grass and put his head on his knees.
Suddenly embarrassed, Breck looked for something constructive to do. Bending down to pick up his horse's lead rope, he asked Zhara, "What did you do with Alias's horse?"
"I let it go free," Zhara said.
"You what?" Breck snapped.
"I let it go free so that you could not use it to hunt down my Akabar," Zhara explained. "I tried to get this one to run away, too, but it would not."
"Of course it wouldn't. It's my horse, and it's too well trained to do anything stupid like that. Where did you leave Alias's saddle?" Breck asked.
"It's on her horse," Zhara said.
Breck snorted. "Southerners," he muttered. "Don't you know anything about horses?" he asked.
"No," Zhara said simply, not in the least ashamed of her ignorance. "I am a priestess of Tymora, not a stablehand."
"Which way did it go?" Breck asked with annoyance.
"Why should I tell you?" Zhara said with a sniff.
"Because if you don't, the horse you 'let go free' is going to end up with saddle sores and bug bites and infections and probably die because you didn't bother to take off its saddle."
Zhara looked chagrined. "It went that way," she said pointing in the direction of Shadowdale.
"Come on, then," Breck said, pulling Zhara's arm. "You're going to help me find that horse."
Zhara pulled a light stone from her pocket and held it high so the ranger could search the ground for tracks. Fortunately the beast was tired and hungry, and they found it grazing on grass not too far off. Breck called out to it, and it came right up to him. "Silly creature," the ranger chided it as he grabbed its halter and scratched its forehead. "How could you leave us?" He pulled the horse's bedraggled lead rope up from the ground. "She could have caught this in something," Breck said, waving the end of the rope in Zhara's