Lynette managed to look annoyed, though it was clear she was actually pleased by his statement. “Then we’ll just have to make sure it goes smoothly, then. But for now, you were right; I should go and get some rest before we have to head off. Come and wake me if you need anything, or when Mitch and Alti have the stretcher ready to try it out. And you should get some rest as well. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day, and you haven’t really had a break since you arrived here. Once we get back, you and the others should have a full two or three days to just sit back, drink some whisky and take in the view. You’ve more than earned it.”
She strode away into the rapidly fading twilight, while Koradan watched her go, his skin still tingling from where she’d hugged him.
Lynette like.
He looked at Ashd in surprise. For the first time in years, he’d almost forgotten the vreki was there. “You like her? Well, I suppose that’s a good thing, if she’s going to be riding you.” He received a flash of irritation in reply. He’d misunderstood Ashd’s meaning entirely. “What, then?”
Lynette like Koradan,Ashd said, with deliberate slowness.Lynette want mate Koradan.
“What? No! No, that’s not what’s going on here. She’s just grateful for our help. And she’s probably overcompensating because she’s terrified of flying. You won’t do anything to scare her, will you? She’s putting a lot of faith in you.”
Ashd snorted.Don’t change topic.The disjointed idea that flashed through Koradan’s mind next was to the effect that Ashd had been connected with Lynette’s mind, while Koradan had not, and so Ashd knew far more about what she wanted than Koradan did.
“You don’t understand mating partnerships,” Koradan reminded him, keeping his voice low lest anyone else overhear their conversation. “Vreki don’t have long-term partners.”
Lynette like,Ashd said, stubbornness combined with a touch of dry amusement.
“You’re imagining things,” Koradan said. “Now go and get some rest. I’ll be back in a couple of hours so we can work out how to fit the stretcher.”
With a huff, Ashd turned towards the barn and meandered away, his head held high and his tail swishing in a typical vreki display of arrogance. He may as well have painted a twelve-foot-high sign that said ‘You know I’m right.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“How do you feel?” Mitch asked Markon, some six hours later. It was nearing two o’clock in the morning, and a small gathering of people had converged at the field to the east of the village, ready to see the expedition off.
“As good as can be expected,” Markon said. He was lying on a stretcher which had been reinforced with leather straps. His chest, waist and his one good leg had been strapped down securely, while the stretcher itself had been lashed to the back of Ashd’s saddle and secured around Ashd’s middle with more straps.
Need better design, Ashd informed Koradan, wriggling uncomfortably.Fine now. Future more injured person, more journey, make better.
“So you’re on board with Paul’s idea for a flying carriage service?” Koradan said, stroking the fronds on Ashd’s head to distract him from the ongoing fiddling with the stretcher.
Good idea. Many person fly, many person like vreki. Ashd fly good. Gentle, calm. Human like.
“I hope so. It would make a big impression on this world if we can do it.”
“Koradan?” Koradan turned as he heard his name being called, and he saw Lynette coming up behind him, a bundle of cloth in her hands. “I brought this for you,” she said, handing it to him. “It’s a shirt. It belongs to Ben, but he said you can have it. He’s one of the biggest men in the village, so we thought it would probably fit you. I mean, it will after you…” She waved her hand vaguely at the gem around his neck. Right now, he was still in salas form, but fairly soon, he would have to activate the spell in the gem. “It would be odd for a human to show up without a shirt on, so I thought I should find something suitable.”
“Thank you,” Koradan said, holding it up. The shirt was fairly plain, and the style wasn’t similar to anything he’d seen in Chalandros, but he trusted Lynette’s judgement. If she thought he should wear this, then he would.
With that in mind, he activated the spell, fidgeting a bit as he got used to his human form. The absence of the weight of his horns on his head was particularly jarring. He tugged the shirt over his head, relieved to see that it fit fairly well.
“Once we’re in Minia, we can see about getting some more clothes for you and the other salases,” Lynette suggested. “And anything else you need, if you think of something.” Her gaze travelled down his body, though she tried to be subtle about her perusal, and Koradan remembered Morgan’s comments about how good he looked as a human.
“You all set to ride Bel?” Sigmore asked, interrupting the moment as he sauntered over. Hazel was right beside him, the pair of them rapidly becoming inseparable. People had certainly noticed how much time they were spending together, but so far, none of the villagers had made any disapproving comments about the pairing – a detail that Koradan found both strange and encouraging.
“You’ve explained all the details to her?” Koradan asked, glancing over at Sigmore’s vreki. Bel was saddled and waiting patiently a short distance away, staying out of the way of all the fuss about Ashd and the stretcher.
“She’s all on board with it,” Sigmore assured him with a smile. “If she gets a little stressed, just remind her that she’s going to see me again as soon as she gets back to Varismont.”
“I’m sure Melowin will be here, reminding you of the exact same thing,” Koradan said with a sympathetic wince. A rider being separated from their vreki for any length of time was not a pleasant experience.
“So, uh… Bel said she’d like to try the mind merge with you. Just to make sure everything’s working properly.”
Koradan understood Sigmore’s hesitation. Mind merging with a vreki was a very personal thing, and as a general rule, riders did not ‘share’ their mounts.
“I’ll take good care of her,” he assured Sigmore.
“Yeah. I know,” Sigmore said roughly. There was no point in taking offence to the doubt in his voice. Koradan would have reacted the same way if anyone had suggested he be separated from Ashd for a full day.
