It was too much.
She knelt hunched over, clutching at herself, nearly out of control… too much… too much…
Matja Allina called her servingmaids to her. With the girls’ help, she sat up. “Jili Arluga,” she said. “Take the girls inside, please. Be quiet, Ingva. You and your sister do what you’re told. I don’t want argument from you, daughter.”
She sat silent as the subdued girls trailed out after their tutor, followed by their serving maids, then she passed a hand across her face. “Chapa Kizra, get yourself together and come here.” Her voice snapped with irritation and impatience. “And think about what you’re going to tell me. I don’t want stupid stories about lizards, you hear me?”
“Yes.” Kizra forced the word out as she groped about for the arranga. When she found it, she wrapped her hand in the carrystrap and got shakily to her feet.
She moved from the shadow of the willow withes and stopped at the foot of the lounge chair.
“Well?”
“I don’t know. What I said was true, Matja Allina. A lizard ran up the tree and frightened me. I don’t know why it did, something in my head, I suppose.” Another shudder passed along her body.
“I see.” With her maids’ help, Matja Allina swung her legs off the lounge and struggled to her feet. “I’ll need you to play for dinner this evening. Will you be able to?”
“Yes, of course.” Kizra spoke quickly, but her voice was still shaking and there was an icy knot in her stomach.
“Not of course.” Old disciplines kicking in-Kizra was one of her charges and due a certain level of consideration-Matja Allina suppressed her irritation. “You need rest.” She frowned at Kizra, eyes moving from the beading of sweat on Kizra’s face to the tight clutch of her hands on the arranga. “I think… yes. I will authorize a hot bath for you. Soak a while, rest in your room. I’ll want you with me an hour before dinner so we can lay out the program. You’ll stay in your room until I send for you?”
“Yes. Of course.” Kizra curtsied, stepped aside to let Allina walk heavily past.
There was a coppery taste in her mouth, the taste of groveling.
Gods. Shadow, you’re a worm… Shadow?
She shivered again, slipped the arranga’s carrystrap over her shoulder, and went inside.
Dyslaera 7: Blood Magic
Azram paced from the ventilation grate to the door-grid, turned and went back, back and forth, back and forth, glancing each time at Kinefray sitting on one of the plank beds.
Kinefray’s ears moved restlessly, his eyes blinked, a muscle at the corner of his mouth twitched erratically. Two hours ago he’d walked into the cell, sat down; he hadn’t said a word since.
Azram sighed, stopped in front of his cousin. “Fray.” Kinefray’s eyes glazed over. He stared past Azram with no further reaction.
Azram extruded the claws on his right hand, touched the tips to the side of Kinefray’s face, running in a shallow arc from the corner of his eye to his jaw just below his mouth. “Fray, listen to me.”
Kinefray moved slightly, retreating from the prick of the claws. After a minute, he blinked, hissed a threat.
Azram stepped back, scowled as Kinefray’s face went empty again. “Oh, Fray,” he said, all his grief in those two words. “I don’t know what to do.”
##
Savant 4 (speaking to notepad):
It begins to look like we’ve managed to break the very close kin-bond between this subject 3F (native name: Kinefray) and the control subject 3A (native name: Azram)… unfortunately this seems to require large and frequently repeated doses of CPF24sub2 combined with Levastrayin and trace quantities of the ananile called Dragon’s Blood… the result does not justify the expense for anything but purposes of research… the rapid metabolizing of these drugs by this species complicates the study… in addition, there seems a slow deterioration in the physical well-being that we have so far been unable to check, especially when this is combined with the effluents of rage…, see the reports of subject 3Tj (native name: Tejnor)…
NOTE: Final report on 3Tj submitted at this point to the panel of Savants. 3Tj dead of massive cerebral accident during forcible administration of a new drug series. See Flake DDY-37 for details of incident and autopsy.
Azram rolled up his left sleeve, working with meticulous care, getting the folds smooth and even. He cut a deep scratch in his forearm, watched the blood ooze out. Holding his arm level, he got up, crossed to Kinefray’s side of the cell, and dropped beside him.
Kinefray’s ears twitched as the blood smell reached him, but he didn’t look around, just stared at the dusty gray floor.
Azram watched the dark red liquid round into beads on his fur. When he thought there was enough of it, he wiped his hand across it; in a continuation of the same motion, he smeared the blood across his cousin’s face.
Kinefray screamed, lunged up, and leaped at Azram.
Azram ducked away, circled him, batting at the hands reaching for him, claws out. He kept his claws carefully sheathed; at first he was afraid, but his reaction time was unimpeded by drugging, so he was much faster and stronger than his cousin.
Kinefray snarled, slashed at him-but seemed to realize finally that there was no threat here, seemed to realize finally that this was only Patti-Paw. Confused and uncertain, he retracted his claws.
Azram darted in, caught him about the torso, and muscled him to the cell floor.
In minutes they were play-fighting, wrestling vigorously, even enjoying themselves…
##
Savant 4 (speaking to notepad):
ADDENDUM: By application of several primal forces-blood smell, anger, strenuous physical activity, subject 3A (native name: Azram) has managed to reestablish the kin-bond and to a considerable degree negate the effect of the drugs and the conditioning.
RECOMMENDATION: Considering the expense, the loss of subject material and the ineffectiveness of the drug treatments, this series of experiments should be brought to an end. We should concentrate on more efficient ways of acquiring information. We will also need more subjects for experiment. Though the acquisition of that young female lost with subjects 70s (native name: Ossoran) and 7Fy (native name: Feyvorn) cost us a number of agents and proved useless in the end, I believe we should attempt to acquire more females. It might also be useful to build up a stock of pre-pubescent males. The one thing we must do is locate additional sources of Dyslaera. Spotchals is becoming difficult about our presence there; according to reports from our assets in the records department, this is due to the continuing agitation of one Digby of Excavations Ltd and one Miralys, Toerfeles of family Voallts and Director of Company Voallts Korlatch. The abduction of that female has stirred even the most lethargic of the Spotchallix authorities to action.
NOTE: Our security seems suspect. It is as yet uncertain whether the Toerfeles Miralys knows who took her people; however the suggestion is that Digby has discovered what happened at Koulsnakko’s Hole. How? This is a question that MUST be answered.
Shadith (Kizra) On The Farm 4
1
The skimmer landed in the main Court, pulverizing a number of the paving stones, taking up most of the open space. On the side facing the House, a ramp unfolded. As soon as it was down and stable, the Artwa Arring Angakirs Cagharadad came marching out and stood before the stairs like the earth was his but beneath his notice. Rintirry lounged behind him, looking bored and beautiful.
Perched in the opening behind the oriel window above the Great Doors, Kizra watched Rintirry look around and decided Allina had splendid judgment when it came to men.