annoyance.
"I'm no village gossip!"
"I didn't suggest it," Meadusea said smoothly.
"We should return to Shaurone," Katalla broke in. "Tamlys is dead. Leave this
quest to Anaria!" She halted, facing off in front of Meadusea.
"Go if you wish, Katalla. I will not."
Chimquar knelt by the stream, bringing up a drink in her cupped hands. Her
insides rolled. They were looking for her.
"Tomyris is as dead as Tamlys!" Katalla sounded exasperated.
Four rough-edged words forced themselves from Chimquar. "Tomyris Danae is
alive."
"I knew it!" Meadusea exclaimed. "I knew it!"
"Where is she?" Katalla demanded dryly, coming to stand above Chimquar.
"She doesn't want to be found." Chimquar stood, walking away.
"At least we could carry some word to her sister," Meadusea suggested.
"I am taking you to Anaria."
"Plainsmon!" Katalla snarled. "I don't like you ? and I don't trust you.
Meadusea's making a bloody fool of herself." Katalla's hand went suggestively to
her sword.
"You'll be the bloody fool," Chimquar warned softly.
"No man is my equal!" Katalla flung back.
Chimquar stared silently at Katalla, struggling to rein in the temper she had
spent years learning to control â it was still like a green broken horse.
"Believe what you will. Time is short. Those men already track us, and Anaria is
three days north." I'm keeping my promise, Tamlys.
"So close â" Meadusea breathed.
Chimquar turned toward the horses. How much more hostile would Katalla be if she
knew Chimquar was Sharani? Chimquar felt her choices slipping out of her hands.
Katalla would count it betrayal. So would most of her people. It might be best
to send some word to Anaria with Meadusea, and then put as many leagues as
possible between herself and her homeland.
"Chimquar." Hazier still walked beside her. "My mount pulled up lame."
"Free it," Chimquar said, obeying Euzadi custom. She halted, looking back at
Meadusea. "You have Tamlys' horse?"
Meadusea nodded.
"I want it."
The three tall, deep-chested destriers lifted their heads at the warriors'
approach. Round shields hung from their light cavalry saddles and twin javelins
hung at the right sides. A wry, satisfied smile came on Chimquar's lips. Even a
fool must see these hybrids are the finest steeds on this continent. She
remembered the lush green of the northern valleys whereher people bred mares to
unicorn stallions. Her memory conjured images of the small crofts and the temple
where she and Anaria had spent many summers, learning the ways of the ha'taren
there. Chimquar's smile deepened. It would be so good to see those valleys once
more. Then abruptly she wrenched herself from those thoughts; she would never
see those valleys again?not now.
Chimquar headed for a sorrel stallion, flaxen-maned, tethered apart from the
others. "That one?"
"Yes," Meadusea answered. "Adoni."
The stallion put his ears back as Chimquar approached. She whispered to him in
Sharani. His ears pricked up and he quivered. Chimquar ran her hand over him,
speaking low to conceal her fluent use of the Sharani tongue. She loosed him and
Adoni let her mount. She exulted at the smooth, easy power of the stallion as
she swung him around. Her hand dropped to Tamlys' shield and she lifted it from
the saddle, slipping her arm through the straps. It still felt right.She sent
the stallion into a canter, then a full gallop, reined in and turned back.
Meadusea and Katalla came alongside. "You may have all of Tamlys' things,"
Meadusea said, "save her sword."
"Payment for his trouble?" Katalla said, sneering.
Meadusea gave the younger woman a severe glance, started to speak and Chimquar
interrupted. "I didn't ask for anything save the horse â which I have need of. I
don't ask for her sword." Chimquar idly rubbed the hilt of her sword. The
gesture drew the Sharanis' eyes.
"A longsword." Meadusea was clearly surprised. "I've not seen a plainsmon with
one."
"I'm not Euzadi born." Chimquar left them.
Hazier discarded his own saddle and shifted his saddlebags to Chimquar's mare.
He looked up as his mentor joined him. "I'm ready." He said.
"Me, too!" Makajia tossed her head haughtily and swung into the saddle of her
black filly.
Chimquar moved across the plains, hazier and Makajia behind her, the Sharanis
last.
A large herd of long-horned bison and antelope moved away from the riders
passing them down wind. A sleek, black-flecked shape stalked the edges of the
herd, singling out a young antelope that had wandered too far from its fellows.
It sprang suddenly. The antelope fled, bounding and turning. The hunting cat
moved with it, never missing a turn, anticipating its prey's each move.
"There!" Hazier pointed. "Chekaya!"
Katalla saw the swift cat bring down its prey. "I no longer mind the name." Her
voice was soft and without its usual harshness. "There is a sudden, swift beauty
to the beast."
A long, low howl slid across the plains. It was answered from the east and west.
Chekaya abandoned her fresh kill. The herds broke into a panicked run, which
quickly became a stampede. The howling rose again, louder, higher pitched with
an almost human wail rising with it. The very air seemed chilled. The horses
danced nervously as Chimquar and her companions drew rein. Chimquar's eyes raked
the land, knowing that true wolves could not panic Chekaya, knowing the strange
sound she heard. Hazier's lips part in a word of dismay that went unspoken. Then
the sorrel stallion, Adoni, struck the earth with his cloven forehooves,
threatening to rear.
"Nakesht," Chimquar hissed. Then two outriders topped a distant rise. "And
Bakran!" She pressed her knees to the stallion and galloped north. The open,
bereft of a Euzadi wagon-ring was no place to battle the man-wolves of the
Nakesht. The unlikely alliance of Bakran and the Nakesht puzzled Chimquar.
The Sharanis unsheathed their swords, galloping at Chimquar's heels. The
difference between their steeds and the plainsbred horse sowed at once.
Makajia's small size and lightweight compensated for the difference between her
filly and the Sharani's, but her brother fell father and farther behind.
Chimquar looked back at Makajia's shout, and saw a Nakesht wolf plunge out of
the tall grasses. She gestured sharply for the Sharanis to go on, and swung back
with one of the javelins to hand.
Hazier slowed. "No!" Chimquar shouted, and Hazier clapped his heels to his
mare's sides. His mentor charged the wolf. The javelin left her hand in a smooth
throw. The wolf stumbled and fell. Chimquar circled back, watching for more
wolves. She felt the stallion tense to rear. A wolf erupted out of the grass
before her. Adoni lashed out with his forelegs. Then a hard weight slammed into
Chimquar. She struck blindly at the bulk of the snarling wolf carrying her from
the saddle. They hit the earth together. It snapped for her throat, its teeth
closing on the heavy thickness of the lion's man around her neck. Chimquar
wrenche
d its jaws apart, threw herself and the wolf sidewise, twisting its head
as her weight came down on the beast. Bone snapped. She released it. A man lay
dead with a wide, golden slave collar around his neck: with his death the power
of the collar had been broken and his true shape restored.
Wolves harried her stallion. Chimquar's dagger appeared in her hand as she got
to her feet. A tearing pain ripped her left arm. The sudden weight of the wolf
threw her off balance. She slashed at it. Her dagger glanced off the wide
collar, sinking into its shoulder. She twisted the blade, jerking it free.
Yowling, the wolf turned to rend the hand that held the blade. Chimquar's dagger
plunged and ripped. The wolf no longer moved. She shifted the dagger to her left
hand, fighting the pain in that limb. Chimquar drew her sword and stood, facing
the wolves. They circled her warily while others bayed the stallion; she and
Adoni had taken toll of them. One charged. She stepped aside; her Sharani
longsword raked its ribs. A growl made her whirl; she swept her sword in a low
arc. The second wolf dodged. Then the first one, ribs bleeding came about with
its companion. Chimquar impaled one, kicked the other in the head, and free her
sword before a third attacked. A javelin impaled the fourth.
"Aroana!" Meadusea came. She and her bucking mount fought in fierce unison,
centaur-like. Her bright blade slew and none of the wolves breached her guard.
She drew them from the stallion and Adoni broke for his new master. Chimquar
caught the saddle and swung up. Meadusea saw her and turned, racing after their
fleeing companions. The wolves regrouped to pursue when a high, eerie wail rose
behind them. They melted into the grass, returning to their master.
Katalla rode rear guard to the youth and his sister ? a sign to Chimquar that
her prejudices did not usurp her ha'taren honor.
Chimquar fumbled with the saddlebags to free them, then dragged them across her
lap, feeling inside for cloth to bind her arm. Her hand closed upon a horn, then
the cloth.
"You're hurt." Meadusea dropped back to ride beside her.
"I've taken worse," Chimquar replied brusquely, working one-handed.
"Rein in. I'll help."
"No." Chimquar shrugged off her concern and finished. She reached into the
saddlebag, bringing out Tamlys' horn. The Sharanis should have mounted guards on
the outer perimeters of their encampment. She fingered the horn. Its call would
carry a good distance on the open plains.
"They will be back?" Katalla asked as Meadusea and Chimquar reached her.
"Yes." Chimquar gazed at the northern horizon, her eyes hard and distant. "Their
master with them ? and Bakran." A Euzadi curse rolled off her tongue. Hazier
glanced back. Makajia's color deepened. Neither offered to interpret for the
Sharanis.
"Bakran?" A curious expression crossed Meadusea's broad strong-boned face.
Chimquar started to answer when Katalla interrupted savagely. "You know them?"
"I know them." Chimquar's words emerged taut. Her knees pressed the stallion's
sides. She moved past Katalla and Hazier. "Let the horses breathe."
"You know them?" Katalla came alongside Chimquar.
"Bakran is my enemy," she answered harshly. "That is a tale I do not wish to
tell." Bakran had burned too many villages ? slain too many peopleâ A
fair-skinned face came to mind. Chimquar fought remembering, her face twisting.
"That isn't enough."
"Don't push me!" Dark, violent power blazed in Chimquar's eyes.
Katalla dropped her eyes, unable to meet that power, but she had recognized its
nature. "You're part Sharani! A half-breed?"
"I said, I am not Euzadi born." Chimquar's voice softened strangely. "Now drop
back beside Makajia."
Katalla frowned, but obeyed.
Chimquar felt tense and uneasy. If Katalla thought further she would realize
there were no Sharani or half-Sharani males Chimquar's age. Only a flourishing
slave trade had kept large numbers of males in Shaurone during the time when the
Waejontori curse prevented the birth of sons to Sharani women. The numerous
males in the household of Chimquar's ma'arams had not been Sharani. Chimquar
hoped Katalla would not recall all aspects of the curse, which had ended several
years before her birth.
Chimquar counted on the hours it would take the Nakesht to recover his precious
collars. Night would come, bringing the full moon, Tala Who Loves Earth: the
full light of She Who Holds Back Darkness would deter the Nakesht from battle as
the distant, disinterested sun did not.
She kept her companions moving all night, alternating the pace to spare the
horses. Chimquar held herself apart, avoiding Katalla's questions and
provocations. They diminished the distance to Anaria's camp enough to halt at
dawn.
"Makajia," Chimquar called, dismounting. She led her stallion farther from her
companions.
The girl came, leading her black filly. She held her head high, but her dark
eyes were dull with weariness.
Chimquar caressed Makajia's head. "You've not ridden so long and hard before."
Makajia smiled shyly. Chimquar still wondered how the girl could be so bold and
wild one moment, and so shy and quiet the next. Chimquar bent to look her in the
eye. She had tried not to make the girl an outsider among the Euzadi as she had
Hazier. Chimquar knew she had caused Hazier's life to be more difficult than it
should have been. He was her pride, but Makajia was her jewel. The warrior
straightened, swinging Makajia up. She giggled, threw her arms around Chimquar's
neck, and pressed a kiss on her cheek. Chimquar held her briefly, fiercely as
though to press all of the love of many years into the embrace, then set her
down and stood back. She took the horn from the saddlebag and slipped the strap
over Makajia's head. "I have something for you to do, little one."
"I can do anything!" Makajia asserted proudly.
Chimquar pulled off the saddle and pack from the stallion. "It's half a day's
ride to the ruins, Makajia. We can hold off the Nakesht and Bakran there."
Chimquar took her crest ring from her pouch, pressing it into the girl's hands.
"You know where I have said Anaria's camp is?" Makajia nodded. "Give that to
her. Blow Sharani calls all the way, Makajia. They will come to you." Chimquar
lifted the girl onto the stallion's bare back. Every ounce of extra weight gone,
Adoni could probably outrun the wind spirits. She put the reins in Makajia's
hands. "Adoni! Davan, Adoni! Volasyar!" Chimquar cried in Sharani. The stallion
leaped away, running like dark flame before a gale. One person whom Chimquar
loved would survive her â at least. Chimquar smiled slowly. She picked up the
saddlebags and threw them across Makajia's filly.
"What have you done?" Katalla demanded, rage coloring her voice. "Are you mad?"
"She will reach Anaria." Chimquar was grim.
"She bears no arms!"
"She's no warrior!" Chimquar growled back, looking up from the saddle. "But
nothing can catch her."
"They'll tear her to pieces! You know the ways! Why didn't you teach her the
ways!"
"What goes here?" Meadusea joined them, watc
hing the fading figure of Makajia.
It was already too late to overtake the girl.
"The half-breed has sent the girl to Anaria â weaponless! Those creatures will
tear her apart!" Katalla's face was adarkmask of rage.
"Half-breed?" Meadusea pulled that out, staring curiously at Chimquar. "You mean
Sharani, Katalla?"
"Yes!" the woman snapped.
Chimquar stood still under Meadusea's scrutiny. "Sharani sword, words, and some
ways. There are no Sharani males your age."
"None?" Katalla gasped, eyes wide, then loathing twisted her features. "God
damned, skin-changing wolf-bitch!"
A tremor of rage ran through Chimquar. The back of her fist bloodied Katalla's
mouth the same instant her left foot snapped into the young Sharani's stomach.
Katalla landed in the dirt, sobbing for breath. She rolled on her side,drawing
her dagger. Meadusea placed her foot firmly on Katalla's arm. A glance passed
between them and Katalla sheathed the blade. Chimquar left, leading the filly
apart.
"What is your name?" Meadusea asked gently, following her.
Chimquar glanced up sharply. "That's none of your concern."
"It is hard in these lands."
"You think it is hard now?" Chimquar murmured, her voice rough. "I was first in
these lands. First!"
"The way you reared the girlâ"
"Is none of your concern!" Chimquar snarled. "On that stallion she is safe. She
can out ride the wind-lords."
Meadusea shook her head. "I want to understand you. But the way you have reared
the girl to be soâ"
"Don't say it!" Chimquar's voice rose in warning. "Should I have made her an
outcast in her own land? None knows better than I what it means to be outcast.
You don't want to understand â you want to excuse!" Chimquar mounted and moved
away. Hazier joined her, but kept his questions to himself.
Mid-morning the wolves returned, pacing them, their cries keeping the horses and
riders tense. The Sharanis held a javelin ready, shields rested on their arms.
Chimquar searched the grasses with her eyes, her ears anticipating the cries of
the Nakesht master and Bakran's men. Chimquar mused grimly, It is odd Bakran has
not attacked. Some aspect of his deal with the Nakesht must be holding him back.
He must want my head badly.
The roofless hull of a stone house rose in the distance, the south wall gone
Frank, Janrae - Wolves Of Nakesht Page 2
