Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [82]
"I am sorry," Zhara said. "I did not know. But I cannot let you kill my Akabar.
He is no less innocent than this animal."
"How do you know? You weren't even there when Kyre was killed"
"Akabar is my husband. I know him very well. And Dragonbait says he knows Grypht well, and Grypht is not a monster."
"Kyre wouldn't lie," Breck insisted. "Kyre was my teacher. I knew her well, too."
"Was she your lover?" Zhara asked, with the detachment of a southern scholar.
The ranger flushed. "What kind of question is that?" he said angrily. "That's none of your business."
"Yes, it is," Zhara said. "You loved Kyre. That much is obvious. Lady Shaerl says Kyre was not ugly, but very beautiful. If she would not have you as a lover, perhaps you killed her out of anger or jealousy."
"You're crazy," Breck growled.
"Maybe she was afraid of your temper," Zhara suggested.
"She was not! She thought I was too young!" Breck shouted.
"Oh," Zhara said softly. "How old are you?" she asked the ranger.
"Twenty winters. Tymora! I can't believe I just told you that!" Breck exclaimed.
"That you're twenty years old? Why?" Zhara asked. "Is it some kind of a secret?"
"It's not that," Breck said, rubbing his temples. "Just forget it."
"Twenty is not so young," Zhara said.
Breck sighed with exasperation. "When I was eighteen, I made a fool of myself and pestered her too much about… how I felt about her. She thought we should stop working together for a while. She went away-disappeared for over a year.
When I heard she'd asked the Harpers to assign me to the same tribunal with her, I thought maybe she finally considered me old enough."
"But she didn't?" Zhara asked.
Breck shrugged. "I don't know. Since she arrived in Shadowdale two days ago, I haven't managed to get more than a few moments alone with her, and she…"
Breck hesitated.
"She what?" Zhara prompted gently.
"She was different… sort of unapproachable." Breck shook himself and looked down at the ground, feeling disloyal to the half-elf's memory. "No," he said,
"that's not quite true. I was afraid to approach her… afraid of what she'd say. Now it doesn't matter anymore. I just wish she was still alive."
Without another word, Breck began to lead Alias's horse back to the clearing where they'd left Alias and Dragonbait. Zhara followed, lost in thought.
They found Dragonbait starting a cooking fire in the center of the clearing.
Alias was grooming Breck's horse at the edge of the clearing with her back to the saurial. She kept her face a tight mask of concentration, trying to hide her turbulent mood.
Breck led Alias's horse over to a tree near Alias and wrapped its lead rope around a branch. His horse's saddle and saddlebags were spread out over a fallen tree.
"I went in your saddlebags for your brushes," Alias said.
"That's fine," Breck replied. "Hand me my scraper, and I'll start on your horse," he offered, unsaddling Alias's mount. He laid the saddle on the fallen tree beside his own and tossed the sweaty horse blanket on top.
Alias handed a sweat scraper to the ranger.
As Breck began cleaning off Alias's horse he said, "I'm sorry I accused you of helping Zhara escape."
Alias shrugged. "You didn't know how I felt about her."
"You didn't like her even before you knew she was your- um-one of your look-alikes, did you?" Breck asked.
"No, I didn't," Alias said.
"You know, she doesn't seem all that bad. Uh… she's loyal to her husband at least," Breck said.
"Hmph!" Alias snorted. "She's just a good actress," the swordswoman replied spitefully.
"Dragonbait seems to like her."
"Dragonbait is a fool," Alias snarled.
Startled by the swordswoman's vehemence, Breck didn't reply. Alias finished grooming Breck's horse in silence. Then she pulled her saddlebags off her saddle and walked away to another tree at the edge of the clearing. She sat down beneath the tree and began to remove her armor.
When Breck finished grooming Alias's horse, he strolled over to the cooking fire. Dragonbait and Zhara had made up a delicious-looking