Part 34 (1/2)

Brean glanced from Nori to Payne. The brother and sister had changed on this trip, he realized. Black Wolf had stood up to him twice, and The Brother was looking more serious than he had ever seen. He said slowly, ”The Brother has always been welcome to offer his opinion.”

Payne's jaw tightened for an instant, but he said, ”Keep Mian on Trial Silence. Say nothing about the cage. Let it come out at fireside. Let us bring it up.”

The Hafell glanced at the approaching train. ”You're talking about a child at Trial, neBentar. There's a burden of compa.s.sion, not just truth here.”

”Aye.”

But Payne didn't turn a hair, and Hunter suddenly realized that there was one thing the songsters never seemed to mention: Payne had been raised by raiders.

The Hafell studied the brother and sister. ”There could be Trial for you as well.”

Payne nodded. ”If Mian wishes it.”

Brean said flatly, ”You've played too much with girls, neBentar. You know she'll be so grateful at the verdict that she won't blame you for putting her through that. Black Wolf, what do you say?”

He was deferring to her like an elder, and she hesitated. ”There is more going on-” She broke off as both Hunter and Payne flashed her warning glances. She shook her head at them both. The Hafell didn't miss it.

His voice was cold. ”Black Wolf?”

Nori met his gaze without flinching. ”Whoever did this has been among us for some time. There have been more . . . incidents than you know of. We believe we can flush out some of the doers at Trial when they hear what we have to say.”

”And for this, you want Mian to suffer.”

She glanced at Payne, but said softly, ”Aye.” She hesitated. ”Hafell,” she began. ”I respe-”

”No, Black Wolf.” He cut her off with a sharp gesture. ”This Choice is mine. I just want to know why I should make it at all.”

She felt her stomach untense with relief. One Choice had been enough for her. She glanced at Payne one more time, but he didn't stop her as she answered, ”Weapons have been sabotaged, Hafell. Gear has been ruined in ways that might not be noticed before it was used. I found two ring-runners dead on the trail to Bell Rocks, where raiders were camping out. Last night, well, Condari didn't fall into the shrub line. He was shot, and possibly by Harumen, not raiders. The wolves . . .” She took a breath. ”The wolves themselves are uneasy, and I cannot tell you why.” Would not, she added silently.

Brean regarded her thoughtfully. ”Three questions, Black Wolf. Three answers.” Payne took a half step forward, but the Hafell held up his hand to stop the younger man. ”If you leave the caravan, does this trouble leave with you?”

Nori hesitated again. She didn't look at Hunter. ”This trouble is countywide, Hafell Brean. It will not stop with us.”

He leaned across the saddle horn and asked harshly, ”Black Wolf, are you bonding?”

It was unexpected, and she stared at him. Rishte growled in her mind. She couldn't seem to move her lips, but her bared teeth and her silence were their own answer.

”If I hold Trial at fireside, you believe that, through the wolves, like your mother, you can feel out the raiders?”

Again, she couldn't answer. Finally, she jerked a nod.

”So be it.” He straightened. ”Be ready at first flame, Wolfwalker.”

He started to rein around, but she stopped him. ”Hafell, if you're willing, don't call me that. Not here, not yet.”

He studied her, then Payne. She had always been reserved, distant even from the cozar, and he had wondered sometimes if she was even half connected to the humanity she so avoided. Now he saw something in her violet eyes that made him think she was too connected. Emotions churned there like a plunging river. With the wolf, she could no longer hide it. He glanced at Payne and saw the set of the younger man's jaw, and the way his hand rested on his knife. So. The Brother was still protecting her, though why the t.i.tle she deserved should make her fear come out . . . He shook his head to himself, but nodded curtly. ”Black Wolf,” he acknowledged. Then he reined around sharply and cantered back to the wagons.

Hunter murmured down at her, ”He must respect you two a great deal to take that.”

Payne frowned. ”Take what?”

”You telling him what to do so flatly when it goes against the grain.”

The younger man scowled. ”We didn't tell him what to do. We made a request.”

Hunter's voice was dry. ”It must be the cozar way, to be that direct when asking. If atondi servant made a request like that, he'd be looking for other work.” He rubbed at his neck, looked at the blood on his fingers, then back down at Nori. ”I didn't say thank you yet for saving my life.”

She shrugged. ”I'm a vet and a caller. It was mine to do.”

”No, it wasn't. Not when they loosed a tano at us.”

”That can't have been aimed at us. No one could predict whom the tano would attack once it got loose.

And it's pure luck I was close enough to help.”

”You weren't that close at first, and it was more predictable than you think.” He nodded at her frown.

”As you say, you're an animal healer. According to fireside gossip, you've taken the duty position, even if it's unacknowledged. And you spend a lot of time with that girl, teaching her to care for her pets. All a Haruman would have to do is wait till you're in with the girl, then startle the animals.” Payne gave him a sharp look, but he kept his eyes on Nori. ”The tano would break out. You'd try to catch it. It would have bitten you like a mudsucker, and there's the end of Black Wolf.”

”It might not have bitten me,” she said sharply. ”And don't call me that.”

”The cozar do.”

”They've done it all my life. I don't notice it from them.”

”But you do from me?” He smiled slowly. ”How very interesting.” He leaned close and kissed her, quick and hard. He let go almost before she jerked back. He grinned down at her. ”Interesting indeed. I look forward to fireside.” Then he mounted his dnu and trotted down the road.

Nori scowled darkly after him, but he didn't look back.

Down the road, Wakje gave the Tamrani a hard look as he trotted past, but the Tamrani merely raised an eyebrow and went on by. Wakje looked back at Nori. It was the first time he'd seen her take a kiss.

She could have dodged the Tamrani before he grasped her chin. She could have taken Brithanas down completely before the man had actually kissed her. But she'd stood there like a four-legged deer with three of its legs in a rast hole. And that wasn't all. She'd taken a Choice. He'd never heard her do that.

She was changing, he realized. Changing to be like her mother. He followed her gaze toward the forest and knew she was reaching for the wolf to steady herself. Soon, she would no longer need him.

Nori couldn't meet Wakje's eyes, or Payne's. Instead, she pretended to listen for Rishte as the wolf loped back from the road. It was an excuse that couldn't last, and she finally turned and took her own reins from a brother who was carefully trying not to grin. She was swinging up into the saddle when he teased in a whisper, ”Big, bad Black Wolf. Can't hit a Tamrani when he's right in your face.”

”Leave it alone, Payne.” But she could feel her face burning. She nudged her dnu into a fast-paced trot, and left Payne chuckling behind her.

XXIX.

Lady Sinial looks at the mess of tangled dnu and wagons. ”Who did this?”

Grasp looks guiltily down.

”Was it you?” she demands.

He shakes his head.