Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [136]
Rosette wrapped her arms around Drayco’s neck, burying her face in his thick black pelt. ‘We did it!’
You did it, Maudi! I’m very proud of you. I wonder if Kreshkali will be too.
‘Kreshkali? Nell? I’ll simply remind her that she’s been in two worlds at once since before I was born, if the question ever comes up.’
Would you keep it occult?
‘For now, at least, I think it best.’
They may ask where the child is, however. You realise you aren’t pregnant in this body, don’t you?
‘I do and I can’t say that I miss not being able to touch my toes.’ She whooped, wrapping her arms around herself. ‘Anyway, I’m aware of the other me, at the cottage. I’m pregnant enough there for both of us, I promise.’
Some witches have gone mad with the paradoxes.
‘I’m not some witches.’
Indeed, you are not. And you have me to help keep you straight.
His purr filled the air in the gully and she pressed her ear to his neck, smiling. ‘I love that sound.’
The purring suddenly stopped. Riders, coming from the south. Down!
She crouched low, the ferns concealing all but her eyes as the riders galloped past. They were twenty strong, mostly on warhorses, which surprised her. Scouts would have done better on mountain ponies if they wanted to get through the Dumar Pass ahead of next spring. One lad rode a grey mare, lithe and spirited. Desertwind. Oh, Drayco, they are beautiful animals, aren’t they?
Her thoughts tangled in her mind as she watched the young rider. He was turning her way, as if a magnet pulled him. He eased the mare down to a jog, falling behind the group.
Glamour, Maudi. He’s about to spot us.
She hesitated, a smiled lifting her face as she looked upon the rider. He looks familiar.
Maudi! Now!
She wove an illusion, doubling the thickness of the ferns and blocking any hint of their auras in case he could see them. Most young witches couldn’t, not on command, anyway. It had taken her over a year at Treeon Temple and a stint of disembodiment to develop the skill and this lad was quite young, though that might be a glamour in itself. Whatever he was, he looked past them, urging his mare back into a canter as he followed the troop.
Who was he? She followed their path, risking a peek over the glamour.
We’ve seen him before.
Rosette frowned. I thought so too, but where?
On the road to Corsanon City, from the temple. Remember?
She closed her eyes, recalling the day. You mean just before I got pulled through a stack of dimensions arse first? When Kali wanted a look at Richter’s notes? Before you savaged half the gate guards?
Yes, that day.
I’m hazy on those events, but if you say he’s one and the same, I believe you. I wonder if he was scouting then as well. She smiled, capturing the memory. He was lovely, wasn’t he? A very lovely young man.
I suppose. Drayco yawned, white teeth flashing. Where are we going next?
‘Down to the Corsanon gorge.’
To find the spell?
‘We’re going to make sure Makee doesn’t get to it.’
Before we do?
‘Exactly.’ She took a deep breath and stood, marvelling at the ease she felt in the movement. ‘Goddess of the night, it’s good to have my body back.’ She raised her arms to the sun and leapt over the lip of the gully, transforming into a wolf before she landed on the other side. Eyes wide open, Drayco. Makee could be anywhere.
I’ve got your back, Maudi. Lead the way.
She ran ahead, her stride long, unhampered by the logs and brambles that covered the forest floor. In wolf form she could leap them in single bounds. It was a good day’s run down to the Corsanon gorge and her ears were pricked, ever alert for the High Priestess of Treeon Temple, La Makee. Glamour or no, she intended to find the woman and confront her. If she had indeed killed Jarrod, shoving his body off the quarry steps, Rosette planned to show the other witch exactly what that felt like.
Vengeance, Maudi?
I’m thinking of it more as an initiation…
An’ Lawrence galloped to the head of the line, signalling Teg to keep the Lupins back. Most of the horses were still unused to the shape-shifters in their wolf form