Read Online Fire in the Mist by Holly Lisle - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Holly Lisle
Tags: Science-Fiction
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She meant that I look bad, I smell bad, and I dress funny, and she does not want anyone to see me with her. Well, too damned bad. Just for that, I will make sure that everyone sees me with her, and I hope she dies of embarrassment.
Faia crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at the petite redhead. "I will go as I am, or not at all."
Jann looked at the other woman in mute appeal. The other woman shrugged, eyes amused.
Jann whispered, "Gods, Medwind, back me up on this. We can't take her to the University looking like she's been wallowing in a pigsty—and you can't even tell she's female. Looking like that, someone is going to think she's goddamned saje and throw her off the campus."
The whisper carried surprisingly well. Faia felt her face burn. Furious, she moved toward Jann. She wanted to rearrange that over-pretty face with her fist, or her walking stick. Medwind gave her a panicked look that stopped her cold, though. Gods—she acts like I am going to turn that redheaded shrew into a pondworm. Maybe she thinks I can. Faia thought about that an instant longer, and her stomach flipped queasily. Maybe she is right.
Medwind, turning back to Jann, shrugged again. "She'll be fine. She has the right to dress as she wants—and I'm sure she'll feel more like washing up when she gets someplace warm and dry."
Medwind turned to Faia. "I know these past few days have been hard for you. It will be up to you, though, to decide whether the next few days will be as hard."
Medwind gave a piercing whistle, and three dappled gray horses broke loose from the man who held their reins, and trotted forward.
At least, they looked like horses to Faia's first glance. At her second glance, though, Faia found herself gawking at the beasts in disbelief. They were far slenderer than regular horses, though as tall, and incredibly dainty, with legs that appeared to have been created of smoke and dreams, they were so fragile. Their muzzles were finely tapered and delicate, with nostrils that flared twice the size of horses' nostrils, on faces only two-thirds the size. The creatures tossed their heads and snorted, and unfurled wings that had been tucked tightly to their lean sides.
Wings— Faia mused. Huge gossamer wings on horses from my dreams. She held her breath and stared, almost afraid that they might disappear into clouds of smoke as the Flatter-men had if she blinked. These are the miracles Papa talked about, then. It was for this he wanted me to see the Flatterlands.
The wings spread wide, and Faia saw downy gray membranes so thin they let through more light than the oilskin windows in Bright. The black wingtips and the red lines of the blood veins over the bones stood out in high relief. The beasts' wingspreads were tremendous. She inched closer, attracted like metal to a lodestone by the exotic creatures.
"What are they—where did you get them?" she asked Medwind.
Medwind smiled and said, "They're called wingmounts. They're one of the varieties of experimental animal that we are developing at Daane University. Perhaps someday you will make wingmounts, too. Gods know, it would thrill the Mottemage to have someone else studying her specialty. At this point, we haven't managed to get them to breed true—so each one we have has been created magically, over a long period of time, from a normal horse foal. There are very few of them, and we are only permitted to use them for urgent transportation."
Faia's eyebrow raised. Urgent transportation? Which makes me something of value to these people.
Medwind read the look. "We were more than politely interested in the force that annihilated Bright. We're less anxious about it now that we know no one was killed when the village was destroyed—but only a little less anxious. We need to make sure you learn control. Quickly."
Medwind's wingmount knelt at her side, and she slipped into the saddle. Jann followed suit.
Faia's mount failed to kneel fast enough to suit her. She shrugged
Faia crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at the petite redhead. "I will go as I am, or not at all."
Jann looked at the other woman in mute appeal. The other woman shrugged, eyes amused.
Jann whispered, "Gods, Medwind, back me up on this. We can't take her to the University looking like she's been wallowing in a pigsty—and you can't even tell she's female. Looking like that, someone is going to think she's goddamned saje and throw her off the campus."
The whisper carried surprisingly well. Faia felt her face burn. Furious, she moved toward Jann. She wanted to rearrange that over-pretty face with her fist, or her walking stick. Medwind gave her a panicked look that stopped her cold, though. Gods—she acts like I am going to turn that redheaded shrew into a pondworm. Maybe she thinks I can. Faia thought about that an instant longer, and her stomach flipped queasily. Maybe she is right.
Medwind, turning back to Jann, shrugged again. "She'll be fine. She has the right to dress as she wants—and I'm sure she'll feel more like washing up when she gets someplace warm and dry."
Medwind turned to Faia. "I know these past few days have been hard for you. It will be up to you, though, to decide whether the next few days will be as hard."
Medwind gave a piercing whistle, and three dappled gray horses broke loose from the man who held their reins, and trotted forward.
At least, they looked like horses to Faia's first glance. At her second glance, though, Faia found herself gawking at the beasts in disbelief. They were far slenderer than regular horses, though as tall, and incredibly dainty, with legs that appeared to have been created of smoke and dreams, they were so fragile. Their muzzles were finely tapered and delicate, with nostrils that flared twice the size of horses' nostrils, on faces only two-thirds the size. The creatures tossed their heads and snorted, and unfurled wings that had been tucked tightly to their lean sides.
Wings— Faia mused. Huge gossamer wings on horses from my dreams. She held her breath and stared, almost afraid that they might disappear into clouds of smoke as the Flatter-men had if she blinked. These are the miracles Papa talked about, then. It was for this he wanted me to see the Flatterlands.
The wings spread wide, and Faia saw downy gray membranes so thin they let through more light than the oilskin windows in Bright. The black wingtips and the red lines of the blood veins over the bones stood out in high relief. The beasts' wingspreads were tremendous. She inched closer, attracted like metal to a lodestone by the exotic creatures.
"What are they—where did you get them?" she asked Medwind.
Medwind smiled and said, "They're called wingmounts. They're one of the varieties of experimental animal that we are developing at Daane University. Perhaps someday you will make wingmounts, too. Gods know, it would thrill the Mottemage to have someone else studying her specialty. At this point, we haven't managed to get them to breed true—so each one we have has been created magically, over a long period of time, from a normal horse foal. There are very few of them, and we are only permitted to use them for urgent transportation."
Faia's eyebrow raised. Urgent transportation? Which makes me something of value to these people.
Medwind read the look. "We were more than politely interested in the force that annihilated Bright. We're less anxious about it now that we know no one was killed when the village was destroyed—but only a little less anxious. We need to make sure you learn control. Quickly."
Medwind's wingmount knelt at her side, and she slipped into the saddle. Jann followed suit.
Faia's mount failed to kneel fast enough to suit her. She shrugged
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