Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [138]
‘I hadn’t noticed,’ An’ Lawrence said. He crossed his arms, staring into the other man’s eyes. ‘Did she speak to you?’
‘Too busy on her escapade, it seems.’ Hotha shook his head. ‘What I would give to have her hunt again with me.’
He said the last bit under his breath and the Sword Master lifted his brows. It wasn’t the words themselves that surprised him, but the frankness, the honesty. He gave the smallest nod of agreement. ‘Join me at the cook fires?’ An’ Lawrence invited him, waving towards the centre of the valley. ‘I’ll fill you in.’
Hotha pulled his eyes back from the sky. ‘I’d appreciate that.’
Making friends, Rowan?
Scylla, lovely. I know you hold a grudge. I do too, when I’m not mindful. But this is Hotha. He’s on our side, and he really did try to stop the others that day.
The operant word being ‘try’. I don’t forgive him, nor any of the demon wolves. Except sweet Teg.
Sweet Teg?
That’s what Drayco calls him. Picked it up from Rosette.
Rosette calls him that? Is every priestess from Treeon to Los Loma smitten with the man?
She yawned. Pretty much. Her bobtail twitched and she bounded away.
Where are you going?
To join them.
Hunting with the Lupin?
Why not? Like you said, he’s the best there is.
Thank you, Scylla. Good to have the reminder. An’ Lawrence led the way to the central tent, focusing on the campaign. It would be good to discuss it with Hotha. It would be better still to fight.
When Kreshkali returned, she and Teg joined them. The hunt had been successful and several deer were already dressed and turning on spits, the aroma drifting over the camp. Kreshkali leaned close to Teg and whispered something. The lad glowed, whispering back. An’ Lawrence clenched his jaw. Was she trying to annoy him? Why didn’t she just use a mind link? He preferred not to witness their every little exchange.
‘Even if Saphon’s idea works, we need to engage the Corsanons before they set foot in Dumarka,’ Kreshkali said aloud.
‘You’re right.’ Hotha turned to her, clinking his mug against her own. ‘Five hundred brute warriors, man and woman alike, charging through the forest would decimate the place.’
‘It’s sacred ground. We have to protect it,’ Teg added.
‘You’ll get no argument from me,’ An’ Lawrence said, holding up his hand. ‘Besides, we need to keep them busy while we get to the bottom of the gorge.’ He’d lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Where’s La Makee? Have you spotted her?’
‘We haven’t,’ Teg and Kali said at the same time.
The Sword Master looked at them both. ‘I thought Nell was tracking her?’
‘She was,’ Kreshkali said. ‘But when Nell took Rosette to Dumarka, Makee slipped away.’
Shaea clucked to the bay mare, leaning forward in the saddle as they climbed another hill. When they reached the top, a meadow spread out before them, a silver-blue sea in the moonlight. She slumped back into the saddle and groaned. ‘How much further, Rall?’
They’d been riding east for several hours and though she loved being on horseback the novelty had quickly worn off. She wasn’t used to it and she certainly wasn’t fit for it. Her legs ached, her hands were cold and her bottom sore.
Rall pointed in the distance. ‘Just over that knoll. We’ll stop there for the night.’
‘Are we camping in the wild?’
‘Hardly.’
‘But all I can see is grass and trees.’
‘There’s plenty more than grass and trees about us, girl. Just ahead. Come on.’ Rall broke into a brisk trot, the warhorse cresting his golden neck, lifting each hoof high off the ground.
The mare took little urging to keep up though Shaea thought she would be churned to butter if they didn’t arrive soon. She imagined being jarred right out of the saddle, falling to the ground and blending into the blue moon lit grass—disappearing forever. She saw it clearly in her mind’s eye, a vision of her jouncing along, the mare stumbling and her falling forward, hitting the ground hard. The tall grass