presence in the valley. The hunting, both of game for the wolves, and of edible plants, had been good. They had eaten well and preserved much. And she knew much would be needed to fill her packs for the trek to retrieve the Amulet.
She sat cross-legged in the mouth of the cave, basking in the warmth of mid-day, the wolves scattered around her in the coolness the cave provided while she watched Raptor with a critical eye. Below on thick grasses, he moved through some sort of exercise routine with powerful grace. When had it happened? At what point during his amazingly brief convalescence had he become sleek and supple, swift as a cat? At what point had he left the crippling stiffness behind?
Tanith could not put her finger on his changes, but the time was now right for her to begin her pursuit of The Amulet of The Suonetar. The seasons were beginning to turn. Very soon she would leave Raptor Simic, and this place.
The Amulet, gift of the Sun-Goddess, powerful and alive unto itself, had always been the symbol, and more, of leadership in Antaris. It had become a ritual object to The People of Nashira after most of those who had managed to transport it as far as this land had wound up dead since The People were not ones to acquire such a powerful object by trade. Such a venerated piece required possession by conquest—and by the amulet’s acquiescence.
The Amulet was much more than an ornament smoothly joined to golden torque. Its power was unmistakable. Treated with respect it could bestow immense power, offer protection. Treated with less, so the legend told, it could react violently.
Tanith had been able to ascertain it was now in the keeping of a great Shaman of another band of The People. It would be taken to the yearly gathering when the nomadic tribes came together to trade, socialize, and seek wives for their deserving males. There, she would retrieve it. And she would do it unaccompanied by a bounty hunter.
As for Raptor, she would leave his fate to the Gods of the Fourteenth Moon. She doubted the Goddess would want very much to do with him. Still, her thoughts unguarded, she gazed upon the flow of muscle and sinew across broad shoulders and flat belly with a woman’s eyes. He had begun to exercise; to push his healing body even before it was ready. She had observed when he first began the movements he now flowed through; winced when he had moved with uneven jerks and seized up with pain. He bathed daily in the icy waters of the flowing creek just inside the trees. She began to believe it, too, had curative powers much as the herbs of Nashira contained such. He was clean and vigorous, thoughtful and possessed with a wry sense of humor—nothing like she would expect a bounty hunter to be.
Tanith’s stray thought evoked immediate reaction from the wolves sprawled about her in various states of repose.
Littlefoot rolled from her side to her elbows to stare over the greensward where Raptor moved with every appearance of ease.
It is as I have observed, you would do well to accept him as an ally.
One Eye snorted, rolling in his bed of sand . You were better off when you did not trust him.
“I don’t trust him now,” Tanith returned.
One Eye snorted again.
Strongheart glowered at One Eye, preventing another comment from the powerful male. Perhaps you should suggest a partnership. I have said he is not enemy. He may be a great asset.
“He does what he does for money, for gain of some kind.”
You gain nothing if you succeed?
Tanith hesitated, thinking of satisfaction, of the service she so prided herself on giving, of the promotion she would receive among the Janissaries. “It is not the same. My motivation is not the same.”
Strongheart climbed to his feet and moved to lick Littlefoot’s muzzle in invitation. Is it not? Does motivation mean so much when the result is so important? Would it be so bad for him to collect a reward for his services when he risks so much? He glanced over his heavily
She sat cross-legged in the mouth of the cave, basking in the warmth of mid-day, the wolves scattered around her in the coolness the cave provided while she watched Raptor with a critical eye. Below on thick grasses, he moved through some sort of exercise routine with powerful grace. When had it happened? At what point during his amazingly brief convalescence had he become sleek and supple, swift as a cat? At what point had he left the crippling stiffness behind?
Tanith could not put her finger on his changes, but the time was now right for her to begin her pursuit of The Amulet of The Suonetar. The seasons were beginning to turn. Very soon she would leave Raptor Simic, and this place.
The Amulet, gift of the Sun-Goddess, powerful and alive unto itself, had always been the symbol, and more, of leadership in Antaris. It had become a ritual object to The People of Nashira after most of those who had managed to transport it as far as this land had wound up dead since The People were not ones to acquire such a powerful object by trade. Such a venerated piece required possession by conquest—and by the amulet’s acquiescence.
The Amulet was much more than an ornament smoothly joined to golden torque. Its power was unmistakable. Treated with respect it could bestow immense power, offer protection. Treated with less, so the legend told, it could react violently.
Tanith had been able to ascertain it was now in the keeping of a great Shaman of another band of The People. It would be taken to the yearly gathering when the nomadic tribes came together to trade, socialize, and seek wives for their deserving males. There, she would retrieve it. And she would do it unaccompanied by a bounty hunter.
As for Raptor, she would leave his fate to the Gods of the Fourteenth Moon. She doubted the Goddess would want very much to do with him. Still, her thoughts unguarded, she gazed upon the flow of muscle and sinew across broad shoulders and flat belly with a woman’s eyes. He had begun to exercise; to push his healing body even before it was ready. She had observed when he first began the movements he now flowed through; winced when he had moved with uneven jerks and seized up with pain. He bathed daily in the icy waters of the flowing creek just inside the trees. She began to believe it, too, had curative powers much as the herbs of Nashira contained such. He was clean and vigorous, thoughtful and possessed with a wry sense of humor—nothing like she would expect a bounty hunter to be.
Tanith’s stray thought evoked immediate reaction from the wolves sprawled about her in various states of repose.
Littlefoot rolled from her side to her elbows to stare over the greensward where Raptor moved with every appearance of ease.
It is as I have observed, you would do well to accept him as an ally.
One Eye snorted, rolling in his bed of sand . You were better off when you did not trust him.
“I don’t trust him now,” Tanith returned.
One Eye snorted again.
Strongheart glowered at One Eye, preventing another comment from the powerful male. Perhaps you should suggest a partnership. I have said he is not enemy. He may be a great asset.
“He does what he does for money, for gain of some kind.”
You gain nothing if you succeed?
Tanith hesitated, thinking of satisfaction, of the service she so prided herself on giving, of the promotion she would receive among the Janissaries. “It is not the same. My motivation is not the same.”
Strongheart climbed to his feet and moved to lick Littlefoot’s muzzle in invitation. Is it not? Does motivation mean so much when the result is so important? Would it be so bad for him to collect a reward for his services when he risks so much? He glanced over his heavily
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