The Gates of Night_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [49]
“I don’t care how fast you are, princess. Pierce follows orders, and right now trust is more important than anything else. You were told to protect me, weren’t you? Why don’t you start by doing what you’re told?”
“I saved your life,” she said. Her words flowed together, but Daine didn’t know if the speed of her speech was a sign of shame or anger.
“There were better ways to do it,” he said. “We work together or not at all, is that understood?”
A moment passed, but Xu’sasar finally clicked her tongue. “As you will,” she said.
Daine knelt next to Lei and placed a hand on her cheek. Her skin was cold. He felt a stirring within him, a physical sensation more tangible than his concern or anger. It was the ball of energy at the base of his spine, the presence he’d felt when Lei had first uncovered the mark. At first he’d thought it was all in his mind, but he could feel it, a raw burn just beneath the skin—and this pain grew worse when he touched Lei. Looking back on the last few minutes, he couldn’t help but wonder about the frenzy that had taken hold of him. Was it just frayed nerves and the sight of Lei in danger? Or was it something more?
Kneeling over Lei, Daine watched the serpent coiled on the distant shore, fighting back the fury he felt and struggling to forget every story he’d been taught about aberrant marks.
The only sound was the faint flow of the water. Lei lay still, her chest barely rising and falling. For all that her stillness struck a chord of terror in Daine’s heart, she had never seemed so perfect, so beautiful as she did in the moonlight of Thelanis.
“Do you wish the watchers to be killed or taken alive?”
These were the first words Xu’sasar had spoken since Daine had rebuked her, and the sound pulled him from his reverie. Even as he tried to make sense of this statement, there was a flurry of motion in the branches of a nearby tree. It seemed that Daine wasn’t the only one listening, and the interloper wasn’t waiting for an answer. Daine caught a glimpse of dark feathers as a bird took to the air, but the creature wasn’t fast enough. Xu’sasar’s bone wheel whirred through the air, and—THACK! A dark shape fell to the ground. The throwing wheel didn’t fall with it. The weapon retraced its path through the air, returning to Xu’sasar’s hand.
Daine sprinted over to examine the fallen creature. It was a crow, about the size of Daine’s head. It seemed that Xu’sasar had opted against killing, as Daine saw no blood … but the impact of the blow might have broken bones, and the crow was staying on the ground.
“What makes you so sure it’s a spy?” Daine said.
“It’s a fair catch, I’ll give you that.” Though masculine, the voice was high-pitched, not unlike some male gnomes Daine had met. It was cracked and wheezy, forced through pain. It was the voice of the crow. The bird stayed on its side, tilting its head to stare up at Daine. “Your girl’s got a good eye. She could almost be an owl, that one.”
Xu’sasar said nothing. She held the bone wheel in her hand, with a reversed grip; a strike from the weapon would drive one of the three curved spikes through the crow’s flesh.
“First scorpions,” Daine said, “then snakes. And now you. Did all of the snakes on the other side of the river talk, or just the big one?”
“The snakes?” The crow gave a faint chuckle, a little blood bubbling from its beak. “Don’t be stupid. They’re cold-blooded, you know. Bastards don’t like anyone outside their little clan. Me? I’m a bird who likes to talk. Don’t have to go breaking my wing to get my attention.”
“You were spying on us, and you tried to flee when Xu spotted you.”
“Oh, that. Well. Yes. She didn’t exactly offer a good option for me there, did she? ‘Catch or kill?’ Not, ‘Have a nice bit of talk.’ Someone says, ‘Shall we beat the man or kill him?’ What are you going to do?”
“Perhaps I’d avoid the situation by not spying to begin with,” Daine said. He drew his dagger and knelt next to the crow. “And I still haven’t answered her question.”
“Threatening the bird with the broken wing. Very nice.