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; pelt of a mountain cat, cut it to shape with his knife, then handed
I the remains to her with instructions to begin a pair of winter
: boots. Aghast, Alix had stared at him and hoped he was teasing.
S, He was not, she found, and now she cursed within her mind as she tried to
work the thick hide and fur into something resem-
bling boots.
f She worked until her fingers were awl^n-icked and sore, trou-
~' bled by her inability to fashion the boots. She was slowly
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learning ha- place within the clan and her responsibilities as a clan-leader's
cheysula, bat her experience was sorely lacking.
The warm gray wolfskin boots she wore had been made by
Duncan for her when the weather turned cold, and she wished he would consent
to making them all.
Bat he has things of more import to concern himself with! she thought souriy,
throwing her half-done black boot aside to stare at the pavilion across the
way. He spends his time hunting or conversing with the Council, speaking ever
of the war with
Solinde!
Instantly she was ashamed, for she knew as well as anyone how seriously
concerned the Cheysuli were about the war. Increas-
ingly alarming messages arrived from Jw-couriers sent from
Cheysuli secreted with Mujhara, seeking to leam of Shame's actions. The
Solindish, buttressed by Tynstar's mlini and troops guided by Keough, Lord of
Atvia, had made inroads upon the
Miyhar's defense of Homana.
And I said fellam could never take this land, she thought hollowly. /, like
alt the others, have been too impressed with past victories.
She sucked idly at a bleeding finger and recalled Duocan's summing up of the
threat to their homeland.
"Homana will fall if Shaine does not commit himself to this war," he had said
one evening, staring gloomily into the flames of me pavilion fire cairn. "He
recalls the victory against Bellaro twenty-six years ago, and trusts to the
might of his armies. But then he had the Cheysuli, and now he does not."
Alix had shifted closer to him, resting one hand upon his thigh. "Surely the
Mujhar understands mis Solindish threat. He has ruled for many years, and won
many battles."
"He concerns himself more with the qu'mahlin man the
Solindish war. I begin to think his fanaticism has made him mad." Duncan's
hand idly caressed her arm. "He sends his brother, Fergus, into the field as
commanding general, keeping himself safe within the walls of Homana-Mujhar."
"He has fought before," she said softly. "Perhaps he realizes
Fergus is a better soldier now."
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Duncan leaned forward and placed more wood upon the fire.
"Perhaps. But perhaps it is also he prefers to avoid the sacrifices a man
makes in war. Shaine is not one who wishes to sacrifice anything."
Alix stared at me brown pelt beneath them and pushed rigid fingers through the
bear fur. "To send your heir into battle is a sacrifice," she said quietly,
trying to hide from Duncan the fear it brought. "He has sent Carillon to
fight."
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" Duncan was not fooled. "If Carillon is to be Mujhar, he must what it is to
lead men. Shaine has trusted to bis own
;il too tong; be has neglected Carillon's education." He iced. "I think the
prince could make a good Mujhar, but he been given little chance to leam the
responsibilities." Dun-
slid Alix a carefully blank glance. "It is no wonder he took speaking soft
words to innocent croft-girls in me valley, to lile away his time."
AUx flushed deeply and withdrew her hand- But when she saw e glint in his eye
she realized he only teased, and laughed at
"But I am no longer so innocent, Duncan. You have seen to at."
He shrugged, purposefully solemn. "Better a clan-leader, I
link. man a mere warrior."
"Warrior . . . what warrior?"
"Finn."
"You beast!" she cried, striking him a glancing blow on me toulder. "Why must
you remind me of him? Even now he calls ie meijha and torments me by
suggesting I be his light woman."
Duncan arched his brows. "He seeks only to irritate you, heysula. Even Finn
knows better than to seek a clan-leader's
Oman, when she is unwilling." His brows lowered. "I think."
"Finn would dare anything," Alix said daridy.
He smiled. "But if he did not, small one. he would be a idious rujholli
indeed."
"I would prefer him tedious."
"You, I mink, would prefer him slain."
She looked at him sharply, startled. "No, Duncan! Never. I
sh death on no man, not even one like Shaine who would have
Cheysuli slain." She recalled the guardsmen killed in her half. "No."
His hand was gentle on her head, caressing her shorn hair. It ad grown, but
sdll barely touched her shoulders. "I know, heysula; I only tease." He signed
heavily as his hand fell away.
"But if we join this war, there may be many deaths."
"But the Mujhar will not have you with his armies. You have lid."
"In time, perhaps, he may have to.'*
Alix. hearing me weariness of reluctant acceptance in his tone, aned her bead
against his bare shoulder and tried to think of ther things.
Now, as she took up the black boot again, she wondered how
'arillon fared.
She had not lost her affection for me prince, even though she
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had spent nearly three months with die clan in Bias. Carillon had been the
first man she had fastened her fancy on; though it bad been an impossible
dream, she dreamed it with great joy.
Duncan had replaced Carillon in her dreams, dominating her thoughts and
desires, but she did not forget (he first one she had loved. That love had
been childish, immature and unfulfilled, but it had been true.
Alix fingered the thick black fur absently, lost within her thoughts. Duncan
had showed her what it was to be a woman;
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what it was to be Cheysuli; what it was to have a tahlmorra.
Already her roots had twined themselves around his own so deeply she knew she
could never be herself again without him.
She wondered if that was what it was to have a Ur.
The adjustment had not been easy. Alix missed Ton-in and the croft; missed me
green valleys she had ever known. At times she awoke in the night sensing an [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]