knew better. He didn’t have the strength to carry her down the mountainside,
and he couldn’t pull her on a travois—any sudden movement could be fatal. No,
he would stay with her until she healed. Hopefully by the full moon she would
be able to stand and he could take her to her people. Then he could go on his
mission. Already he chafed at the delay.
Bowing his head and touching the stones he’d laid on her
chest and stomach, he sang the healing song for the twentieth time that day.
His strength left him, fatigue made his head swim, but he managed to finish the
chant. Resting his head against the side of the bed, he closed his eyes a
minute. The fire warmed the cave, but he had to collect more wood for the
evening. Then he’d better find some food. The woman needed lots of food to keep
her chi strong. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the woman’s
gaze.
“I will soon be able to help you. I have called the earth
spirit to my aid and each hour sees me growing stronger.”
Llewellyn opened his mouth, intending to tell her he’d
chanted himself hoarse and his healing powers, not hers, had helped her. But
prudence held his tongue, for he knew nothing of her beliefs. Instead he said, “I
go to gather food.”
She nodded, and her eyes lit up. “I moved, did you see? I
moved! Praise the earth mother!” Her smile blinded him, then she grew serious
again. “Go, do not worry about me, elf man. But take heed, I am helpless and at
your mercy now, but if you dare take liberties with my person, when I recover I
will kill you,” she said with cold certainty.
He stopped his smile just in time. “You have nothing to fear
from me.”
“I have nothing to fear from anyone. I am Tamara, watcher
for the d’ark t’uath clan. My mothers and sisters will avenge any hurt I suffer
that I cannot avenge myself.”
“I am Llewellyn Fairnight, and I had better go now before
the sun sets.” He picked up his bow and quiver.
“Has it been three days already?” Her face paled and she
darted a glance out the cave entrance, where the sun’s last rays cast red light
upon the rocks. “Three days since I stood guard. My clan must think I too
disappeared, like the others, and now they mourn me.”
“The others?” Llewellyn paused. “What others?”
She looked undecided, then said slowly, “Some of our clan
have vanished, and strange things are afoot. The watch has doubled…” Her voice
trailed off. “Some say there is a new wizard in the mountains, and that he has
spell-cast demons to his side. Our clan remembers the last war, when the Mouse King’s
forces nearly overran our valley. When he was killed we rejoiced, however, it
seems new danger has come but from where or what it is, exactly, we haven’t yet
ascertained.”
“My quest takes me to Frostbone, for demons have entered
Hivernia.”
Her eyes widened. “Frostbone? Hivernia?” Lip curled, she
said, “What happens in Hivernia concerns us not. Brutish men rule that land.”
Llewellyn looked at the horizon, where the sun was no more
than a sliver of scarlet. “I have to go. We will speak of this later.”
“I will speak of it if I wish,” said the woman, closing her
eyes.
He almost told her she’d speak of it whether she wished or
not, but something told him that he’d better be circumspect, or risk losing her
trust. He left the cave and darted into the cover of the trees. Evening fell,
and a fat buck drank at the waterhole he’d found. But the buck would be too big
and he hadn’t the time to smoke meat. He waited patiently as the sky darkened
until a pheasant wandered to the water’s edge. Then, with a prayer of thanks to
Mistral, he shot the bird.
Roasting on the spit, the pheasant made Llewellyn’s mouth
water. But most of all, he wanted to sleep. Tamara slept deeply, but she might
awaken and need him. He had to stay alert. He’d blocked the cave’s entrance
with branches from a thorn tree, and, in the unlikely case another