"Oh, eh, ah, Horas. My eagle is Tumna. But I'm carrying a message uproad."
"Really? How far?" She glanced at the sky. It was not yet noon.
"Not sure. Two days if you walked it, so by midafternoon today, since they'll be on the road and easy to spot with all those thousands. It just depends on how far they're running behind the strike force."
"I'm actually in a lot of trouble for letting that reeve get past me. It would be such a help to me if I went by Olossi straightaway, before getting back to the temple. I'm not usually so clumsy as to let them get away once they're marked."
"Yes, Yordenas was furious," he said, snickering. "That was a sight to see."
"Aui! He was mad, wasn't he? I was happy to leave his service, I'll tell you. Truly, I wish he'd had as much vigor in his other, um, pursuits."
This was really too much, but the reeve was swallowing it whole. It was true that lust blinded you. That's why Ushara, the goddess of love, death, and desire, was known as the Merciless One.
She pushed her advantage. "But a contract is a contract. I'd like to finish off that reeve and be shed of my obligation."
"Well, uh, then, it wouldn't do any harm to take you along… I'm going back downroad to Argent Hall after I deliver my message."
"Oh, yes, your message to them. If I went along with you, do you think you can drop me just out of sight of Olossi's walls before nightfall? I would be so very very appreciative."
"I… I should do. I mean, I'm to deliver the message, and return with an answer, if there is one. I'm expected back at Argent Hall tonight in any case. Tumna's a strong girl, it's not too far for her to carry us both."
"Not many eagles could manage it."
The reeve preened. "No, I don't think they could."
Kesh strangled a cough. He was sweating with the sun beating down on them and not a cloud in the sky, and that eagle's stare grinding into him as though to wipe him into the dirt. He dared not move, or laugh, or speak.
"I'm not sure what to do about my hired man. I don't want him to run into trouble. He's, well, if you take my meaning, he's good for carrying a heavy load and not much else."
"He hasn't much to say," agreed the reeve, looking Keshad over and dismissing him as no rival to his evident ambitions. "I'm not sure I can help you with him, though. Every member of the army wears a special coin around their neck to mark their allegiance to the Star of Life. That medallion would give you safe passage, although if you ask me, it's a bit simpleminded to think you couldn't just steal or loot one and pretend to be what you weren't. Still, no one has been able to stand against them once they set their sights on a town, so it doesn't matter. Olossi will be defeated without much of a fight, more's the pity. I was looking for some fun."
She sighed extravagantly. "So was I."
With a lift of the shoulders, she sauntered over to Kesh and bent close, ostensibly to unwrap one of the wine bladders from his shoulder.
"Go back and grab one of those medallions from the dead men," she whispered. "Then head for Olossi, but this time stay off the road, you idiot. And stay away from reeves, in case you haven't figured that out. The Argent Hall reeves are not any friends of ours."
She turned toward the reeve and raised her voice. "Will your eagle tolerate my ginnies?"
"They look pretty big. That's a lot of extra weight to add on. Heh. Don't know if she'd fancy them for an appetizer before her supper."
"That settles it!" she said with a laugh.
She transferred the ginnies to Kesh, where they dug in hard enough that he squeaked.
"Hush, now!" she scolded him, or maybe the ginnies. She dropped her voice to a murmur. "Magic. Mischief. You're to stay with Brother until I get back. Don't let him get into any trouble." She kissed their snouts and tickled them under their scaly chins, and they replied with chirps just as if they could understand exactly what she was saying.
To Kesh she said, softly, "I'll expect to meet you in Olossi at, oh, there's a tavern called the Demon's Whip in an alley within the entertainers' district in Merchants' Walk."
"You owed him seventy-eight leya-for what I'm not sure! I remember that place!"
"Yes. And it was worth every copper. Tell Autad that I'll work off your bill, if you don't want to spend any more of your precious coin. It won't be a problem anyway, since I'll likely get to Olossi before you do."
"Bai!" he said, hard, under his breath. He couldn't believe this was happening.
She slapped Kesh, as Master Feden and his wife used to do. "Do what I say!"
"Trouble?" The reeve had moved closer, trying to overhear.
"Not at all." She turned her back on Keshad and strolled over to the reeve. "He's scared of being on his own." She whistled breathily and seemed by the motion of her head to be looking the reeve up and down. The man actually flushed.
"Too bad about those awkward tight trousers," she said as she came up to him and pressed her palm against his leather vest. "I guess you can only get into and out of them while you're standing on earth. I wonder if it would be possible to, you know, do it while you were flying and holding on to each other." She took one step back and rested that hand atop the swell of her breasts under her tight sleeveless jacket.
The reeve swayed as if he had been hit on the head.
"You haven't been to the temple in a good long time, have you?" she said sympathetically.
He gave a little involuntary groan. "Not allowed," he gasped. "The hieros at the temples aren't sworn allies to the Star of Life. So it's forbidden to go. Yordenas is a real bastard about it. That's why it surprised me to find a Devouring girl working at Argent Hall."
"You know what they say, the master eats the meat he refuses to his dog."
Horas sucked in a sharp breath. "Isn't that right!"
"As for the temple, you know we are bound to accept all worshipers within the walls. As for outside jobs, we take whatever hire comes our way, as long as the customer matches our price. Are you ready?"
"Aui!" He wiped his brow, then licked his lips. "Surely I am."
He called the eagle by putting a whistle to trembling lips, but Kesh heard no sound. Bai did not shudder or shrink as that huge creature came up behind him so he could hook in. He even had extra harness to strap her in, tight against him. With a sharp cry, the eagle thrust and lifted. The last Keshad saw, the reeve was working to insinuate a hand inside Bai's jacket as the poor eagle beat hard to get all that weight above the trees, banked low in a wide curve, just skimming over the treetops, and headed Hornward along the West Track.
Kesh stood there like a lack-wit until Magic bit his ear.
"Ouch!"
Were the damned ginnies laughing at him? They had bright, knowing stares. He didn't like them, but they seemed to accept him as, well, as their idiot brother. You had to be loyal to family.
He shuddered. He had no choice but to go along with Bai's crazy plan, whatever it was. He trudged back the way they had come and at length and with sweat pouring freely he got back to the stinking massacre site. The vultures considered him such a paltry threat that they merely lifted their heads to observe his appearance before going back to their feeding.
By now he could ignore the scene by pretending it did not exist, by covering his mouth and nose with cloth to mask the odor, and by keeping his gaze fixed on the stony roadbed. Only those puddling bodies existed, those two men that Bai had killed, and they were just corpses, nothing that could harm him. Ghosts couldn't hurt you. They had no substance; they were only emotion and spirit.