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She brushed and brushed at herself, skimming handfuls of crawling wriggling
blackness, shuddering at the sticky prickly rustle of their legs, the unending
unendurable tickle moving erratically over bare skin.
Stavver pulled on the reins, kicked the brake in, stopping the caravan.
Leyta. You can t Beating at her with a tattered rag, he drove the flies off
for a moment then looked helplessly down at her blotched contorted face.
What s happening to you?
She huddled on the seat, arms locked over her breasts while she stared
blankly at the placid horses. Their tail-twitching, hip-shot lack of progress
struck through the haze around her brain. She jerked her head up. Why are we
stopped? She brushed at the flies. Get going. Maissa. We ve got to catch
her.
Aleytys! He shook her, flushing with anger, then let his hands fall
helplessly, unable to talk past the half-mad glare in her bloodshot eyes. At
least you can be a little more protected, he muttered. He moved around the
end of the driver s bench and stepped over the threshold into the caravan. The
drawer where Sharl had slept still hung open, piles of dust collecting among
the folds of flannel. With a muttered oath, he slammed the drawer shut and
picked up a quilt.
Avoiding the glare in her eyes, he dropped the quilt over her shoulders.
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Wrap this around you. It might help a little.
She nodded dully. Miks
Patience, shrew. He slipped the latch on the friction brake and slapped the
reins down on the horses backs. Moving with clumsy slowness Aleytys huddled
the quilt around her then sat wiping at the nonexistent flies as she stared
with desperate anguish at the road ahead.
Lee! Stavver s demand brought her eyes slowly around to him. I thought you
could control this sort of thing.
She turned away.
Aleytys. He glanced irritably at the plodding horses, then turned back to
her. You want your son back?
She gasped and huddled smaller beneath the quilt.
If you crack up, woman, he went on, his voice edged with cruelty. If you
crack up, you ll never get him back. You think I d waste my time chasing a kid
that s not my own? He tucked the reins under his leg and caught hold of her
chin, forcing her head around. Speaking with exaggerated clarity, he said,
It s up to you, Aleytys. You.
She sighed and seemed to collapse in on herself. I& . Blinking and
shivering, head bowed, she sighed again. Please, Miks, let me alone. I m
hanging& hanging on with my fingernails.
He settled back on the seat, rescuing the reins from under his leg. I never
expected to see my witch as rattled as this.
Was I so arrogant? She made a small unhappy sound in her throat. The wind
blew through her hair and seemed to blow some of the fog out of her head. I
remember bragging about what marvels of endurance I ve accomplished. She
leaned back, able to relax a little as the team moved steadily ahead, stride
on stride putting the kilometers behind them. Did I tell you? I was supposed
to curse Karkys.
That you told me. He grunted disgust.
I told you& no, that Karsk& . She shook her head. Ahai, I m falling apart
like wet paper.
I still don t see why you re making so much out of a stupidity like that.
Why don t you just curse the place. You don t really think that s anything but
superstitious nonsense? He fingered the reins idly, glanced up at the
spectacular sky. Even if it wasn t, these aren t your people.
She wrenched her eyes from the road long enough to scan his cool cynical
face, a needle pain pricking her heart. They re people, Miks. People. I ve
made friends.
Worth this agony?
She heard the harshness in his voice and shivered. It was a side of Stavver
she preferred not to see. Yes, she said quietly. I think it s worth this
bad time. With a shaking hand she rubbed at her face. There don t seem to be
so many flies around.
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Maybe those fucking elementals got bored, he burst out viciously, the
emotion in his voice startling both of them.
She chuckled suddenly, a note of genuine mirth in the sound.
What s so funny?
Your choice of words. I doubt if they have the equipment.
Hunh! He smiled tightly, reluctantly. Good!
Good?
Think about it.
Aleytys laughed but let the sound trail away uncertainly. She looked around
at the desolate stonelands where dust devils wheeled around wind-tortured
stone carved into needle chimneys or chunkier buttes. It took us half a day
to cross this coming in. A hoarse wail floated downwind, followed by another.
She shivered. Rock cat.
Some distance off yet. You think they re coming this way? Stavver wound the
reins around his hands, holding the nervously sidling horses on the rutted
road.
I don t know. Anywhere we can hear them is too close. She shut her eyes and
reached into the skittish horses, calming them so Stavver could straighten
them out and keep them to a steady trot, queuing an urge to send them racing
down trail and out of the stonelands as fast as possible. Killing them in the
process.
One brow flicking up and down again in sardonic appreciation, Stavver relaxed
enough to take his eyes off the team. Back to normal?
No. She closed her eyes, covered them with her hands, pressing the heels of
her palms down until red light flickered across the inside of her eyelids.
The rock cat howled again. Think you could handle a pack of them?
I don t know. She pulled her hands down over her sore swollen face.
Thanks.
For what? The horses were twitching, ears flickering in an uneasy rhythm,
tails jerking, gait uneven, mouths pulling irregularly at the bits. Settle
them down again, will you?
Aleytys nodded. When the team was once more moving easily, she said, For
breaking me out of the mind trap. They set it up and I tumbled right in. She
sighed, brushed a few wandering flies from her face and watched them zip off
into the dust blowing up and around the creaking rumbling caravan. After a
minute she went on. I let them use my fears and physical misery to beat me
flat Miks
His eyes were warily flickering over the convoluted rock which provided
enough possibilities for ambush to keep him uneasily alert. He glanced briefly
at her. What is it?
You wondered if my involvement with these Lamarchans was worth this misery.
What about you? She let the quilt slide down and flattened her hands on her
thighs. If you kicked me off the wagon, you d lose a lot of trouble.
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Don t tempt me. Then he laughed, an odd bitter sound that startled her into
staring at him wide-eyed. If it was that easy& With quick nervous fingers he
picked up the rag and wiped the dirt and sweat off his face, then tucked the
rag back beneath his leg. Aleytys. His voice lingered over her name.
Aleytys. You wouldn t let me go.
Me? She frowned. You ve muttered things like that at me before.
No doubt.
I m so fascinating? Hah! I m not stupid, Miks.
He was silent a while, brooding over the bobbing rumps of the horses,
forgetting his nervous attention to the landscape, until a rock cat wailed
again and whimpering answers came pulsating around the rock chimneys. He
jerked upright. They re getting closer. No question now.
Aleytys pulled at a piece of her hair and stared uneasily around at the
dust-hazed rock. Lakoe-heai, she whispered. She brushed at her face.
Well?
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