The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [98]
‘Leave them here?’
‘For the return. No sense lugging them up to the plateau and then back down again. They’ll be safe enough. I’ll saddle up.’
Rosette dished out two portions of the stew into the felines’ plates and added ice to take out the heat and give them more liquid. They didn’t waste any time lapping it up. She left the remainder beside the fire and followed An’ Lawrence to the horses. His back was to her as he saddled them.
‘That’s it?’ she asked, tapping his shoulder. ‘That’s all you have to say…we have to be quick? No comments about, let me see, anything else?’
He clamped his hand over hers to stop the tapping. He tried to hold it, but she pulled back. ‘Rosette, we have a task to perform and it must be successful. There is no time to talk about last night’s revelation.’
‘You tell me I’m your daughter and that my whole upbringing was a lie, that Nell and you were lovers and she’s my mother, then it’s, “Oh, sorry, there’s no time to talk about it. Break camp—important meeting—chop chop”?’
‘It’s a shock to me too, I assure you. I have more than a few questions for Nellion myself, when we next meet. But we can’t dwell on it right now.’ He caught her wrist and squeezed it tight. ‘Do you understand me? We have to stay focused. Things are going to get dangerous.’
‘Because, so far, it’s been a summer picnic?’
He growled. ‘Focus, Rosette. Do you understand?’
‘Perfectly,’ she replied.
No time for this! Drayco said. You two will have to sort out your bonding later.
Rosette huffed. I’ve no desire to bond with him. All I want is some clarity.
The meal disappeared in silence, An’ Lawrence eating in the back of the cave and Rosette by the fire. She could hear him speaking to the horses as he finished tacking up, but she didn’t look his way. She busied herself, rolling up the packets of food and tucking the crockery into the saddlebags that were to be left behind. She slipped on her sheepskin coat, ready to go. An’ Lawrence stood silently at the cave entrance, testing the wind.
‘Gale’s dropped completely,’ he said, staring out over the horizon.
‘Thank the goddess,’ Rosette said.
‘We’d best get to the top of this last ridge while we can.’
‘Again, why?’
‘We’re to meet a…a messenger.’
‘What kind of messenger?’
‘It could look like almost anything.’
‘Thing?’
‘Creature.’ He turned and stared her in the eyes. ‘There will be no time to debate. We will have to respond immediately and judiciously.’
‘Judiciously?’
‘It may seem evil to you, frightening, but it is older than that. From another world. Uncanny. It is not our place to judge or form an opinion. We must simply respond to instructions.’
‘Sounds to me like you have met such a thing before.’
‘I have.’
She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. ‘Anything else you’d like to tell me about this creature, before we go? Any hint you might want to give your only daughter before she faces the unknown, completely baffled from lack of information?’ She looked at him questioningly. ‘Am I your only daughter, or are there sisters and brothers somewhere that I have yet to meet?’
‘Not that I’ve been told of, Rosette,’ a warning in his voice.
She ignored it. ‘So there could be?’ Her eyes went wide.
‘Stop thinking about the past, Rosette. It doesn’t exist.’
‘I can see that it doesn’t exist for you.’
The look he threw her made her mouth snap shut. ‘Last warning, Rosette. Let it go. All our lives are at stake. Stay focused on the messengers.’
‘Messengers? Now there’s more than one?’ She turned to Drayco. ‘It seems there’s more than one, a whole party of them, perhaps?’
‘There could be more than one, yes.’
Rosette studied the gravity in his eyes. ‘I’m listening,’ she said, schooling her features.
‘These messengers require special treatment. You must not be dazzled by them. You must not be impressed, neither must you startle. Most importantly, do not behave frivolously. They have no sense of humour, I promise you, and they will not tolerate your sharp tongue.’
He led his horse out of the cave. Rosette and the familiars followed.
‘Do you understand?’