Mystic and Rider (Twelve Houses) (18 page)

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Authors: Sharon Shinn

BOOK: Mystic and Rider (Twelve Houses)
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Now her smile was irrepressible. “Why, next to my bed in my room back at the inn. It will be quite safe there, I think.”
He started laughing, the sound quiet but comforting in the dark. She thought that she had not heard him laugh before. She imagined he didn’t think that too much in this world was amusing. “I foresee an interesting day,” he remarked, and turned his footsteps back to their hotel.
CHAPTER 10
 
I
N the morning, Senneth was woken by the sound of Kirra’s scream. Half the hallway was roused by the same sound, so the next few minutes were a tumult of knocks on the doors and cries down the corridor and everyone assuring everyone that there was no trouble, everything was fine.
That whole time, the raelynx sat backed into a corner, its teeth bared, its red fur ruffled, its tail twitching, and loosed a low, menacing growl upon the world.
“You could have at least
warned
me!” Kirra exclaimed when she’d recovered her composure and all the neighbors had stopped visiting. “If I’d known you were going to bring that thing back here—though, how could I
not
have known? It is so like you! Protect all the creatures that roam under the Pale Mother’s watchful eyes—”
Senneth smiled. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold it. But once he came close enough last night, I knew I could. I can’t bring myself to kill him.”
“And at night? Even while you’re sleeping? You can control him then?”
Senneth smiled. “Even while you’re sleeping, can you maintain a disguise? Yes.”
“What do we do with it now?” Kirra asked.
“We’ll take him with us some distance and then decide.”
Kirra, who really feared very little, stepped a pace closer to the creature, who yowled a warning. She jumped back. “It’s a he, then?”
“Well, I think so. It was dark, and I was being careful, so I didn’t examine him too closely.”
Kirra turned to look at her, a smile on her beautiful, aristocratic face. “Have you given him a name? For I know you, Senneth! He will become your pet, your familiar. Right now, you’re thinking, well, when I have the time, I’ll cross the mountains and return him to the Lirrens, where he’ll be safe—but in your heart, you’re already growing attached to him. You won’t want to give him up.”
Senneth smiled back. “I will try to do what is best for him when the time allows,” she said. “Right now, we just need to move on. He is not welcome here, understandably so, and we won’t be either once I emerge with the raelynx by my side.”
Kirra looked thoughtful. “Maybe I’d better fetch us breakfast, then, so you can eat it in the room before we go.”
“Good idea. And—if you can—something for him. He didn’t feed last night, and he’s hungry. He might be much more pleasant once he’s fed.”
Kirra grinned. “You might be the only one who’s able to tell the difference. But I’ll see what I can find in the kitchens.” She looked doubtfully at the snarling cat. “But—if he’ll only eat sweetbreads—”
“That was when he could choose his own diet,” Senneth said. “He will be much less particular now.”
 
 
LESS than an hour later, they were on their way—an even stranger cavalcade, Senneth thought, than they had been when they first set out. Predictably, Justin had been dismayed at the new addition to their party, but when he saw that Tayse did not protest, he more or less held his tongue. Donnal was intrigued by the raelynx and narrowed his eyes in appraisal; Senneth guessed it would not be long before he knew the form well enough to assume it for himself. Cammon seemed fascinated by the wild creature and kept twisting in his saddle to keep its russet shape in sight.
They had made quite a stir in the village when Senneth walked out of her chamber, down the hall, and through the taproom with the cat two inches from her side. She had a firm mental grip on him, for he was very edgy to appear abroad in daylight with so many people around. Almost as edgy as the people they encountered.
“May the Pale Mother blink at the Bright Mother’s eye!” she heard someone swear, but most everyone else was silent with stupefaction. She moved unhurriedly, not really glancing at the other people in the hallway and open room, but aware of them all, staring, pointing, starting to heat with anger.
“You—what have you—what are you
doing
?” the innkeeper demanded just as she reached the door. “That creature—that murderer—are you taking him with you
alive
?”
Justin and Donnal appeared beside her at that juncture, Justin with his hand suggestively on his weapon belt. The others were outside with the horses. Senneth let her calm gaze rest briefly on the proprietor’s face.
“I am,” she said. “I have a use for him.”
“But he—but we—he should be
killed
!” someone else exclaimed.
“He is mine now,” Senneth said, “I will do with him what I like.” She put a hand on the door, then turned back to cast one quick glance around at the staring, suspicious faces. “Be glad that he will trouble you no longer.”
“But you—how can you—what power do you have that you can make him obey you like that?” the innkeeper said.
“I am skilled with animals,” she said and pushed the door open.
Donnal preceded her; Justin waited for Senneth and the raelynx to step through the door first. Just before she put her foot outside, she heard someone inside mutter, “Mystic.”
And another voice, a little louder. “Witch.”
“Sorceress.”
She swung aboard her horse and spurred it forward before Justin had even mounted. “I think we’d better leave as quickly as we can,” she said to Tayse, who nodded.
Kirra, of course, was laughing. “I guess you’ll have to forget about your reward,” she said.
Senneth smiled back. “I think I’ve come away with something even more valuable than their gold.”
 
 
AT first they traveled at a pretty rapid rate, Justin behind them to ensure there was no pursuit. After a while, when it was clear no one had followed, they settled into a more comfortable pace. Senneth stayed primarily focused on the raelynx, so she was only peripherally aware of the other people in her party. Her hands lay lax on the reins, and she trusted her horse to stay with the others while she kept all her concentration on the immature cat.
It roved beside them, a little distance off the road, running with a fluid ease that made her, for a moment, greatly envy Donnal and Kirra and their ability to turn into such fierce, magnificent creatures. Its own energy was boundless; its attention went everywhere, to each new sound and sight that presented itself on their trip. Now and then it dashed away to chase down a rabbit or a bird, but Senneth jerked it sharply back, causing it to hiss in frustration. Later, when she was more sure of her control over it, she would allow it to hunt. For now, she did not want the thrill of adrenaline to flood its muscles and help it break free of her unwanted influence.
When they stopped for lunch, the raelynx stopped with them, sitting about five yards away with its eyes fixed unwaveringly on their small human circle. Justin kept glancing over at it with a certain nervousness, but no one else seemed worried that it would suddenly decide to make one of them its midday meal.
Senneth tossed it a chunk of cooked venison, which the raelynx ignored at first as if it was too proud to eat food provided by someone else’s enterprise. But in a few minutes, it started batting at the slab of meat, playing with it, and then finally condescended to lower its sharp teeth and tear out a few bites.
Senneth grinned. She looked up to find Kirra and Donnal also smiling. Tayse looked thoughtful. He said, “You won’t be able to feed it for long if your eventual plan is to release it back in the wild.”
“I don’t think this one will forget how to hunt for himself any time soon,” Kirra said.
“Just a few days,” Senneth said. “Just until he gets used to me.”
Justin said, “You think that only takes a few days?”
She answered him in a neutral voice. “He has fewer reasons to distrust me.”
Tayse was on his feet. “Back on the road,” he said. “I’d just as soon get as many miles as we can between us and the village.”
Justin was instantly standing. “I don’t think they’re going to send anyone after us.”
“No, but they’ll spread the word. Six travelers, men and women, some of them mystics. And a raelynx. Anyone trying to follow our trail will not find it difficult.”
“I agree with Tayse,” Senneth said. “Let’s ride on.”
The rest of the day was cold but uneventful, though Senneth thought she might not even have noticed if other dangers stalked them, so intent was she on holding the cat close. It was a nocturnal creature, so it grew even more lively as the afternoon faded and night drew near. She felt the tug of its will as an almost tangible cord wound tightly around her entire body and strung with tension for the whole distance between them. She increased her concentration and lost even more interest in her surroundings. The cat lunged and tested, but it did not get free.
By nightfall, she had a terrific headache. She could feel the muscles of her neck bunched with strain; heavy blood, rich with poison, thrummed through the back of her skull. She was almost startled to find the others pulling off the road and circling through the low brushy growth to find a level site for a camp. Somewhat blindly, she followed them and slid to the ground where the rest of them stood. Without being asked, Cammon stepped up and took her horse. The others fell into their customary tasks.
It didn’t take much energy for Senneth to build the fire, so she did that, somewhat absently, and then began assembling food for the evening meal. Around her, she caught voices and motion, but they seemed distant and unimportant. The raelynx had dropped to its belly a few yards away and was watching them all with what attention it could spare from the sight of darting night birds and the sound of rustling wood mice.
She thought this might feel like a longer night than the one before.
Donnal squatted beside her, a container of fresh water in his hands. “Anything in particular a raelynx fears?” he asked her quietly.
She looked at him blankly for a moment before her mind was able to comprehend the question. “Natural enemies, you mean? I’m not sure. It’s faster than a wolf or a bear, though either of those could probably kill an adult raelynx if it was injured. But I’ve had my mind wrapped around its mind all day, and it hasn’t once seemed afraid. I’m not sure fear is part of its makeup.”
A small, serious smile on that dark, serious face. “Maybe it wants a friend, then,” Donnal said. “I’ll try, after dinner. I don’t think I can control it, but I think I can take some of the burden off you.”
She gave him a wan smile. “That would be helpful.”
As usual, the meal was quick and efficient, cleaned up afterward without much fuss. “I’ll do a last check,” Justin said and loped off to prowl the perimeter.
Kirra yawned and stretched. “I suppose we’d better watch tonight again,” she said. “These days, it’s hard to know who might be after us.”
“Not Senneth,” Tayse said. “She only slept half the night last night.”
“And she has a headache,” Cammon added.
She glanced at him but couldn’t say she was surprised. “It’ll be better in the morning,” she said.
Tayse glanced at Kirra, as if expecting her to speak. When she didn’t, he asked, “So why doesn’t Kirra stop your headache with her mystical healing powers?”
“I wish I could,” Kirra said regretfully. “But this is caused by magic and can’t be healed by magic.”
Now Tayse looked back at Senneth. “Is it?”
She nodded—carefully, though, because of the acid-laced blood in her head. “Sustained effort like this—holding to the raelynx—can cause a pain that can be pretty intense.”
He lifted his brows. “Well, if you’re going to be dragging the creature along with us for the next few weeks on the road, are you going to have a headache that whole time? Or a headache that gets worse?”
“I hope not,” she said with a slight smile. “Usually it goes away in a day or two. It’s like—” She shrugged, not thinking clearly enough to explain.

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