Keekai returned within moments, and set about laying out her weapons within reach and preparing her pallet for sleep. Safe under my bedding and fur, I listened as her breathing slowed. It was only then that I could really think about what had happened this day; the anger of the warriors at the attempt to honor Marcus; the look on Iften's face when I asked for him as Guardian; the feel of Keir's arms around me, and the look in his eyes as I'd slid from his grasp.
Something crackled in the brazier and I shifted under the bedding and sighed. Keir would be about his business and come after me as fast as he could.
But oh, how I missed him. I missed his being there, his soft breathing, his warmth. Somehow Keekai's soft snores just weren't the same. And not just his physical presence in my bed. There were a hundred things I wanted to tell him or talk over with him. To laugh with him over Iften's reaction. To debate my choice of Guardian.
I yawned, thankful for the tiredness that washed over me. My bedding had been packed by Marcus, and I snuggled down, trying to convince myself that Keir's scent was still in the blankets, and the fur that lay on top of me. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift off to sleep.Goddess, keep watch over Keirand keep him safe, wherever he is.
The next few days were filled with much the same routine. We'd break camp at the earliest that the horses could travel, and then journey until Keekai called a break at the nooning. Then we rode again until she called to make camp. With the riding that I'd done before with Keir, it was no trouble to stay in the saddle for so long. Iften stayed by my side, and Keekai never let me out of her sight. There was a definite lack of conversation, but I spent my time wondering at the land around us. It seemed to spread out before us forever, with nothing but the flat grasslands and the never ending sky. The grass was still afire, extending out in a thick carpet of reds, oranges, and golds. The sheer immensity of it took my breath away, and I found myself looking down into the grass below me just to keep my sense of balance.
As we rode, Keekai would sometimes move close and we would talk. But we were very conscious of our listeners, and so our topics were of Xy, and how we lived. Keekai was fascinated by stone tents, and city life.
But at night, each of us on our pallet, the brazier burning between us, she'd focus those bright blue eyes on me and ask deeper questions. "All I know of you is what is whispered on the winds," she said, her eyes bright. "What makes a city-dweller leave her lands to venture onto the Plains?" So I told her, about the war and the tents of healing and Simus's wound and Keir. She listened intently, occasionally asking a question or two, but mostly listening, her eyes sparkling with her interest. She didn't criticize, or condemn, just listened. I talked about Anna the cook, and the kitchens under her control, of my Master Eln, and how he'd taught me everything I know. I even described the old cheesemaker and her cart in the market back in Water's Fall.
"Which reminds me." I dug around in my satchel. "I have a jar of joint cream here. It might help your hands."
"Eh?" Keekai leaned forward and reached across for the jar, settling back into her blankets as she looked at it carefully. "Some of your magic?"
I shook my head. "I don't have any magic, Keekai. Just herbs and knowledge of their uses." Keekai sniffed at the contents, then looked at me with half-closed eyes. "So, you claim no magic?"
"None," I said firmly.
She grunted, dipped into the jar, and started to work the salve into her hands. We sat in silence for a mo ment, the flames in the brazier crackling. I looked up where there was a smoke hole cut in the tent, and saw the stars above us. It was late.
"I thank you." Keekai made as if to return the jar, but I gestured for her to keep it.
"I hope that it will help." I looked at her for a moment, then bit my lip. She snorted, softly. "Do you wish for my token?"
"I might need it," I responded. "Keekai, why does Keir hate the warrior-priests so much?" Keekai sighed. "That is a long tale, and not easily told." She yawned. "Still Waters will have us up at dawn yet again. But this time I will stop us at the nooning and tell him that a hunt is needed." She cackled.
"They will hunt, and you and I will talk." She rose to give me privacy. I shook my head at her. "What kind of name is that? And how can you tell them apart?" She wrinkled her nose. "When they become warrior-priests, they take on a new name, not the one that the elements gave them, but a name to signal that they are warrior-priests." She snorted again, reminding me of Marcus. "They take them from the plants and animals or the elements. Still Waters, Gentle Breeze, pah. Why not Dead Deer, or Rutting Ehat?"
I laughed out loud at that, and she grinned back at me. "As to telling them apart, look at the tattoos around their left eyes. There the pattern always differs." She raised the flap of the tent. "Get into your bedding and close those eyes, Lara. The sun will be up before we wish it." Still Waters had us up even before the sun rose.
I stood, holding Greatheart's reins, sipping kavage as the camp was broken. Keekai was talking to one of the warrior-priests, announcing her craving for fresh red meat.
I ignored it, and watched the sun rise. Truly rise, on a horizon as wide as my eyes could see, seeming almost to leap up into the sky. No wonder these people worshiped the elements, and swore by the skies. It was such an enormous part of their lives, affecting everything that they did, every moment of the day. Living in a castle, in a city, I was not attuned to it the way they were. I watched in awe, and wondered. What would a storm be like?
What would winter be like?
My stomach tightened. It was all so new and frightening. I gazed out at the horizon, and wished for some nice, safe mountains to cut the openness. I felt so exposed....
"As frightening as a land where one is constantly surrounded by huge mountains of stone thatrestrict your sight and block the sun."Keir's words came back to me, and I smiled. Was he watching the sunrise? Or hassling his warriors to work faster so that he could follow us?
I had to chuckle, since both Keir and Marcus were probably driving everyone around them to work as fast as possible. Goddess knew, Marcus would drive them hard.
I turned a bit, letting Greatheart shield me from the others, and tried the hidden blade. I'd used the privacy of Keekai's tent to strap it on. I jumped when it popped out and tried to clasp it tight in my hand. It would take practice to get it to work right. I pressed it back in as I heard someone come up behind me.
"Mount." It was Iften, leading his horse, his usual morning scowl on his face. I rolled my eyes, and then turned, but he must have seen my face. His lip curled, and he spit at my feet. A small piece of something brown hit my shoe.
I opened my mouth to protest, but he'd turned away, and my warrior-priest guards were moving into position. In the confusion, I reached down, scooped whatever it was, and tucked it into my satchel. We'd see what the warrior-priests' 'magic' consisted of. We'd just see ...
Chapter 7
"Blind hatred is a weakness."
I said nothing, just watched as Keekai reached from her pallet to add fuel to the brazier. The flames rose and made the light flicker and dance over the walls of her tent.
She'd called a halt before the nooning and ordered a hunt for fresh meat. The camp was guarded, and Iften was roaming the perimeter, keeping watch over me from a distance. Keekai had us warm in her tent, bells in the flap, and a pot of kavage between us. Her warriors were without, with instructions to make sure that no one came near. We were as private as we could be on the Plains. It was just as well she'd ordered that we make camp early. We'd ridden into a fine mist of rain, and the damp and the cold had seeped into my bones. I could imagine what it did to Keekai's body.
