Part 31 (2/2)

Nettle's eyebrows rose, and Talen fought to suppress his smile.

”You mean?” said Nettle.

Talen nodded. ”I tell you: I was paralyzed; my brain was cider muzzy. Her with a wicked gleam in her eyes, and me thinking to myself that she's done this before, that these were experienced hands. I am only thankful she exposed herself when armsmen were about. Who knows what she would have forced me to do. As it is, I fear I've been touched.”

”It is said that they make sounds.”

”Sounds?”

”The beast in their natures takes over.”

”There was no sound,” said Talen. ”But she did indeed bite.”

Nettle narrowed his eyes. Talen could see he'd pushed the tale a bit too far.

”You're such a liar,” said Nettle.

Talen pulled his collar down to show Nettle his neck. ”Look for yourself.”

”I don't see anything. Why I ever listen to you I'll never know.”

”Look,” Talen said and pointed.

Nettle leaned in close. ”There's nothing here.”

Talen clopped him on the side of the head. ”Of course, there isn't. No glamour, no petting, no grunts, or l.u.s.tful moans. No wicked babies conceived. I told you. It was like kissing the wall.” Except that wasn't entirely true.

Nettle shook his head dubiously.

”Look,” said Talen. ”If she's there when we get back, you can have a go. Tell her to not forget the tongue.”

”She wasn't that bad looking,” said Nettle, as if considering the idea. ”Better than most.”

”Who cares?” said Talen. ”She's a hatchling.”

”You yourself said nothing happened.”

Nettle was considering it. ”You can't be serious,” said Talen.

”Gotcha,” said Nettle and grinned.

Talen pointed at him. ”You can't fool me. You were actually considering it.”

”If it makes you happy to think that, go right ahead and think it.”

Talen refused to rise to his bait, instead he fetched one of the last of his sweet almond small cakes and plopped it in his mouth.

A moment later they entered the trees on the hill that lay beyond Gallow's Grove. Talen turned in his seat to see if there was any sign of pursuit and his heart fell. About a mile back, well before Gallow's Grove, a group of mounted men followed the road. He watched them disappear behind a small hill. Talen cursed. ”You think they're looking for us?”

”I think we'd better act as if they are,” said Nettle Talen urged Iron Boy on, scanning the woods ahead for a hiding place, knowing there was no way two boys in a wagon could outrun mounted men.

The men behind appeared again at the crest of the hill and began to trot their horses.

23.

Scent HUNGER LOST THE scent of the Koramite and his son. At first, it didn't bother him. He watched the people and animals come and go, but toward late afternoon it occurred to him that the Koramite and his son might not have gone to the city at all. They might have simply ridden on by.

This gave him pause. What if they weren't coming back this way? What if they weren't coming back at all? Argoth might hold lands in that other direction. They might be gone visiting; they might be gone for a week-long hunt for all he knew.

He shouldn't have let them go. No, he'd made a miscalculation. He should have given them chase.

But then he calmed himself. They were either in the city or they were beyond it. The wind was blowing in from the sea. All he needed to do was walk the edge of the forest in a line running toward the city.

If the Koramite and his boy were in the city or going to travel back, he'd pick up their scent. And if they weren't, well, then they had a start on him, but that shouldn't prevent him from catching up.

Hunger would find them. Of that he had no doubt. He'd been a great hunter in his time. At least, one of those he'd eaten had been.

Hunger stood and began making his way down the hill. Below him on the road, three boys in red hats herded a large flock of sheep. Their long-haired, black and white dogs barked to keep the sheep from straying too far from the road.

Hunger stepped out of the brush into the middle of the flock and sent the sheep running. The second boy, walking perhaps only a dozen feet ahead, turned and looked back. His expression of curiosity turned to horror.

Hunger paused. He could smell them, taste them on the wind. He could eat them all.

No, he told himself. He would not. If he did, he wouldn't be able to stop himself the next time.

One of the dogs began barking.

Something drifted to him on the breeze. He opened his mouth and tasted the burning boy. The scent was faint but unmistakable.

This time, Hunger thought, you won't get away. He turned from the shepherd and his sheep and crossed the road. Behind him the dog came to the edge of the brush, barking.

Up on the road, the young man found his voice and yelled a warning. But another three steps and Hunger was well into the wood, the sounds of the shepherds and their dogs receding behind him.

24.

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