Kuwurin swung down. “Water and a quick meal. If you’re willing, I’ve two coppers for a rubdown for my Hermes.” He patted the lean neck. “Be quick, though. I’m for Tendan Ridge tonight—” His voice broke off as he caught sight of Nori. He blinked. “Well, hells of the second moon. My first piece of luck tonight.”
“Aye, runner,” she said softly, using his title, not his name.
Kuwurin glanced at the others, then nodded. “Aye, runner.”
Hunter cocked his head at their tone. They knew each other, it seemed. He nodded at the man’s face. “You look like you could use more than a quick meal.” The lanky rider sported raccoon eyes, a massively bruised cheekbone, a scrape on the chin, and what looked like a recently broken nose.
Nori’s lips quirked. She didn’t figure she looked much better. “You are rather . . . pretty in color,” she told him.
The man grinned sourly. “I was set on when I stopped for lunch. There were two of them, waiting in the stables.” He started to rub his stubbled chin, hit the scrape and winced, and shook his head sourly. “They took all but two message tubes, and only left me those because they fell under the saddle and were missed. I’ve messages for you.” He nodded at Nori.
She glanced at the others, then stepped away with the ring-runner, leaving Hunter and the rest to watch curiously.
She kept her voice low. “It’s good to see you, Kuwurin. There were dead ring-runners just off the Ironjaw Trail. At least six over at least two ninans. I couldn’t stay long enough to search for more.” She quickly described what she’d seen.
He took in her own scratches and scrapes. “Then I’m more than glad to see you also, and not just because I expected to have to send your messages across to Willow Road. You’re a hard one to keep track of, Black Wolf.”
“The gossips always know where to find my brother. You can leave messages with him.”
He snorted. “That troublemak—” He broke off as she tried to hide a flicker of anger. He said quickly, “He’s, uh, young for it, I thought.”
She forced herself not to snap. The wolves were jittery, too close in her mind, and she had to work to say, “He’s been doing this duty since he was eighteen.”
“Aye, well.” The man shrugged, winced, glanced over his shoulder toward the fire, then dropped his voice. “Madaka Dione, this duty is for the Lloroi.”
She didn’t blink at the code phrase. “Word or written?”
“Both. The first was a two-page report, sealed, from the Kiebba lab. You’ll have to send back to them to get another copy.”
“Any idea what was in it?”
“A sealed report from an underground lab? Not a clue.” She cocked her head, and he smiled wryly. She was too much her mother’s daughter. She knew full well that a long-term council runner like him would have a fairly accurate guess.
He admitted, “I’d say it had something to do with a new strain of luminescence, one that your mother brought in last year. It’s brighter than they expected, and they’ve already sent samples on to Ricton and Shallow Ridge. Dione wanted to be kept informed.”
“But you wouldn’t have a clue, of course.”
Now he grinned. “I’ve been riding this stretch for six years with my Hermes. I have more than one friend in that lab.”
“And the second message?”
“Short and sweet: The Beo rabbit is riding tall.”
She nodded. It meant that scout Purjik, grandson of a man named Beodan, was taking the ridge routes to Shockton, since he was late like the white rabbit in the oldEarth tale. She wondered why. Purjik was one of the most conscientious scouts she’d ever met. If scouts ever wore watches, Purjik would have worn four just to make it to the meetings. If he was taking the ridge routes—the tall road—then he was willing to risk poolah and bihwadi and worlags as Nori had, to get to the town on time.
But she said only, “My thanks, then, and my duty.”
“Your duty,” he nodded in turn. It would take hours to recall and write out all the other messages he’d been carrying. At least these two had been delivered.
Nori stopped him before he returned to the fire. “One thing, if you’re willing.” She hesitated, then nodded toward the Tamrani. “I’ve not given them my name.”
He was surprised. “They’ve seen you.”
“Aye, but it’s dark, and I’m smudged and dirty.”
He glanced at the far shadows, where he could see the wolves waiting, then gave her a sharp look. It was in her eyes, the wildness of the pack. “So that’s how it is,” he said softly.
She flushed. “I just need a few more ninans.”
Before being called to council duty, he guessed. “You have my discretion.”
“Till after the Journey parting?”
He nodded. “As you wish.”
He left Nori at the corral. She looked back at fireside, then leaned on the rails and stared blindly at the dnu. Ring-runners dead on the trails, it happened. But messengers set upon in the stables? She wanted to check the jerkin pocket where she had hidden the code.
She knew instantly when Rishte slipped up beside her. Fire. Men. Too much noise. Danger-scent. Not safe.
“Aye,” she said softly. The yearling was right. Best to leave quickly now. She hadn’t missed the curious looks on the Journey youths’ faces. There had been rumors for years of her parents’ network, and Tamrani had sharp eyes. Between the wolves, Lispeth, and this messenger, she’d probably compromised the last of its subtlety.
XIII
“Confess,” he cried.
“I already did.”
“But you see, I don’t believe you.”
—from Playing with Swords, traditional staging
Hunter met her at the corral. “That looked serious.”
She met his cool gaze with a bland expression. The moment she’d done so, she realized her mistake. The Tamrani’s lips curved in a faint, knowing smile. She turned away quickly, but he continued to watch her. Wolfwalkers rarely had good poker faces, and new wolfwalkers were the worst. She’d probably just given away more than she had with Lispeth.
She picked out a dnu and let Hunter get its tack, while she made her way to the other end of the circle to settle the two pups in a new sling. Grey Vesh snarled as Nori took the pups again, but the wolfwalker took no offense. They all wanted away from this stretch of land with its worlags, raiders, and plague.
The ring-runner rode out a few minutes later, and Nori waved as she made her way back to the corral. She frowned as she saw Hunter saddling another dnu for himself. A moment later, Lispeth’s brother brought two cozar hackamores, not one, and neLivek was behind the boy, carrying his own gear. “I need no escort,” she told them quickly.
He merely continued tightening the cinch. “I wouldn’t let anyone go alone on a cross-trail, let alone a scout who’s already run her legs off.”
Her violet eyes narrowed. For all that he moved well, he was still cityfolk. He had no business riding the black road. “It’s twenty-five kays to Willow Road. Moons only know how far you’d have to ride then to catch up to your caravan.”
“They’re not a fast group,” he said mildly. His gaze barely flickered as it took in Lispeth and her brother. “We’ll make up time out of Maupin.”
“You have Test youths here.”
He shrugged. “With four wagons and ten outriders, there are plenty of bows to keep them all safe.”
She said more strongly, “The cross-trail is rough, and I’ll be moving fast. It’s not a road for citymen or chovas—”
He put his hand on her arm, but she shied away, and neLivek stirred uncomfortably. Hunter stilled. He knew what the chovas was thinking: Touch the wolf if you dare. The man was right. Too much fear still lurked in her dark eyes. He made his voice quiet. “Do you really want to ride that cross-trail alone?”
In the dark. With raiders and worlags hunting.
Nori stared at him. The flush that crept into her cheeks made her want to turn away. He continued to regard
her steadily. Finally, cursing herself under her breath, cursing her parents, cursing the moons for her gutlessness even if it came from the wolves, she found her voice. It was stilted and formal, but she managed, “I welcome you—” She broke off as Hunter’s gaze went over her shoulder and his expression suddenly hardened.
Fentris had approached, and Hunter’s face darkened to see him leading his own well-bred dnu. He stopped the slim man with a sharp gesture and said flatly, “You are not coming with us.”
Nori glanced at Fentris. When she’d first noted the second Tamrani, she’d seen the languid movements that the wealthy of Sidisport sometimes affected. But this man’s movements were not so much studied and practiced as naturally smooth, like a serpent’s. He was surprisingly lean and hard under the fancy clothes, and he gave off an impression of wiry strength—the kind that would surprise a man who believed strength had to show more visibly. In fact, she gave him a thoughtful look. Hunter had slung his bow like most travelers would, out of the way for wilderness riding. Fentris had slung his like a raider, for pulling out at a gallop. She cocked her head, and he caught her speculative glance. He’d said almost nothing to her all night, but she could swear he was challenging her now behind those blue, inscrutable eyes.
The fop turned and gave Hunter a sardonic look. “There’s more traffic on Willow Road than on Deepening,” he said blandly. “I’ll have an easier time getting a guest berth the rest of the way into Shockton.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed. “If I leave, they’ll need you to watch the youths till they catch up with the caravan.”
Fentris grinned without humor. “Come now, Brithanas. They might fear my knife, but they don’t respect my sword. Leave neLivek behind in my place. You’ll be a happier man when we continue on separate roads.”
Hunter glanced at Nori. He lowered his voice. “The wolfwalker might prefer other company, Shae.”
“It’s just scout, not wolfwalker,” she said sharply.
Fentris kept his voice mild. “Why don’t we leave that up to her?” Deliberately, he turned his back on Hunter and asked her the silent question.
Nori looked from one to the other. She wasn’t short in stature, but between the two tall men, she was beginning to feel it. She bit her lip. She didn’t want to accept either of them, but they were forcing her to make the travel oath to both, or judge one man by another’s antipathy. As Hunter started to smile in grim satisfaction, she said finally, “You are welcome with me. You are welcome as my brothers. Ride and eat and fight with me, and your children shall be as my own.”
Fentris raised an elegant eyebrow.
“Uh, look here—” neLivek started.
Hunter broke in. “Shae, you can’t—”
“We join you,” Fentris cut in. “And take your burdens as our own.”
Hunter turned on the other man. “You snake-headed lepa. You have no right—”
“We’re not in the city, Brithan—”
“Do not,” Nori cut in sharply.
Both men broke off. NeLivek raised his eyebrows. Between the Tamrani, ring-runners, worlags, and wolves, this was better than a play.
Nori ignored him. “Not here,” she said flatly to the two Tamrani. “Not here, and not with me.”
All three men stared down at her as if she had sprouted talons.
She gave each one a hard look in turn. She did not consider their age or experience, or that the Tamrani wielded power in the cities. In the forest, except with twenty-year scouts or wolfwalkers like her mother, she had always led.
Fentris raised his other eyebrow at Hunter. He inclined his head graciously to Nori. “As you say.”
Hunter’s jaw tightened. He motioned sharply for the cozar boy to finish saddling Nori’s dnu. Sley had been watching with carefully neutral eyes, but Hunter suspected the rumors would fly as soon as they rode out. He stalked back to the fireside to get his gear. NeLivek, after one amused glance at Nori, followed the tall man more calmly.
Fentris mused, “I don’t think either of us has ever been spoken to like that.”
Nori snorted. “By a mere scout, you mean. If I’ve offended you—”
“No, no,” he reassured her. “It was an . . . intruiging experience.” He hesitated, then said, “I am curious, though. Did you know who I was before you offered the travel oath?”
She cast him an irritated look. “No.”
“Do you know who I am now?”
She repeated, “A snake-headed lepa named Shae?”
He choked, caught his breath, and managed, “And that means nothing to you?”
“Should it?”
“You have no idea who he is, either, I suppose?”
Now she was exasperated. “No, and I don’t care.”
The man’s lips quirked, and he turned away quickly to get his own gear, but Nori heard him laughing.
As Fentris reached the gear area, Hunter put his hand out and stopped the other man. He kept his voice low—this was Tamrani business—and accused the other man flatly, “You forced her to make that offer.”
Fentris kept his voice even as he reached down for his saddlebags. “I, too, am heading for Shockton.”
Hunter jerked the strap tight on his own saddlebags. “Just what do you expect to do if we encounter worlags on the trail?”
The other man hefted his bags over his shoulder. “You knew me for years, Brithanas, and you know how I was trained. Do you really think I didn’t do what I could for Jianan?”
Hunter gave him a sober look. “Just as you did for Joao?”
“Ah, yes.” Fentris stared at him out of those unreadable eyes. “I let my brother die. Let him or did him myself,” he corrected dryly, “depending on the story.”
“I’m not looking for a confession.”
“Damn you, if I’d give you one.”
Hunter laughed without humor. “You’ve kept that, at least, your stubborn streak. I hope it serves you well.”
“I’ve needed it,” Fentris retorted. He nodded after Nori. “You’d do well to develop one yourself if you think to catch that one for a scouting partner.”
“So you recognize her.”
“Hard not to, with those looks and the wolves. What’s amusing is that she doesn’t have a clue who you are.”
“Titles aren’t as important out here. Reputations count for more.”
“I wonder what she’d say if she knew you were heading for council with some very interesting notes. With her parents, the Wolven Guard, and that reputation of hers, she might know more than you think about the patterns we’ve been seeing.”
Hunter didn’t seem to move, but he was suddenly closer. His voice was soft. “Say anything of that to her, and we’ll have a serious problem, Shae.”
The other man stood his ground, and his voice was uncharacteristically hard. “I’m not a boy anymore, Brithanas. I don’t scare the way I used to.”
Surprise flickered in Hunter’s cool gaze. “I never thought you scared easy.”
Fentris snorted.
As the slender man started to turn away, Hunter found himself asking, “Just how much do you know about the wolfwa—about our scout?”
Fentris halted, hesitated, then finally turned back. Like most merchants, his family had several spies on the duty lists. They watched the other houses, intercepted messages, sometimes even killed. Out in the county, they reported regularly on the councils and prominent families. With Brithanas gone so long from the area, it didn’t surprise him the other man was asking.
His voice was flat. “I know that Black Wolf—and her brother—report to the scout masters every month. She never speaks in front of the councils, but she’s been in closed meetings with the Lloroi, a man who conveniently enough, is one of her uncles—a blood relative, not one of the Wolven Guard. And she’s far too wary and nervous for simply wanting to return to her brother.”
“There are the wolves.”
“That’s not what I saw in her eyes, nor what you saw there, either.”
&
nbsp; Hunter gave him a sharp look. “You always did read people well.”
“Actually, I learned that from you.”
Hunter hid his surprise.
Fentris nodded toward the corral. “If I were hiding something, I’d be wondering how much she really does know, how much she’s guessed by seeing us together. I’d be wondering how much more she’ll realize on a long, slow ride in the dark.”
Hunter gave him a hard look. “I’m wondering the same about you, right now.”
Fentris met his gaze steadily. “If you’re worried about prying eyes, you should think about switching caravans.”
Hunter straightened slowly. He’d already arranged with the cozar to watch the youths the rest of the way into Shockton. Then he’d quietly packed his essentials. After skimming through Jianan’s notes, he’d understood instantly why she’d become a target. His own sense of being watched might not be imagination, either. It disturbed him what Fentris might have already guessed: Hunter was taking this chance with Black Wolf to change caravans. “If I was worried about prying eyes, should I be worried about yours, too?”
“You mean, especially since some of the trade-route property that’s changing hands is titled to your family and to you?”
Hunter stepped close. He lowered his voice further. “Exactly what do you know, Shae?”
The other man regarded Hunter with those dark blue, clever eyes. “Where do they keep their dry meals around here?”
“You mean rations. Trail rations,” Hunter corrected sharply. “Back of the wagon, grub box. Shae—” He caught the other man’s arm. “What have you seen?”
The other man waited a heartbeat, as if to see how far he could push the taller Tamrani. Finally, he said, “As much as you. Maybe more. You’ve been west too long, Brithanas.”
“While you’ve stayed at home in the city.” Hunter could have sworn he saw pain flicker deep in the other man’s gaze before it was shuttered again.
“As you say,” Fentris agreed. He turned and began rummaging through the grub box for what the cozar apparently called trail food.
Hunter glanced over at Nori. Her dnu was saddled, and she was lashing on her pack. He said slowly, “Perhaps we could exchange information.”
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