Much had I hoped that I might somehow find the males so deeply taken with their pleasure that they, too, might be taken, yet was the hope an idle one. All of the captives, the sneering Summa, proud Ilvin, the two Sigurri females, all were soon writhing to the urgings of the salve placed within them, the Sigurri screaming wildly, the Midanna softly moaning. Though Nobain had spoken of leaving Ilvin untouched in her need, he quickly found himself unable to deny the need of his own body amidst the use of the other captives. Ilvin writhed slowly at his feet, eyes closed and body aflame, aware of naught save the agony she fought uselessly against, and the male was able to bear the sight of her no longer. Swiftly did he go to his knees above her, inflamed himself even more greatly with the touch of his hands to her body, and then was he preparing himself to enter her. I looked about, saw that those males not in possession of a captive remained alert to that which occurred about them, and abandoned the hope that I might somehow free my Midanna. Reluctantly yet with great relief, I left my place among the bushes and shadows and returned to where I had left my kan tethered.
A low whicker greeted my arrival, and I went to stroke my kan, at the same time attempting to still the wildly raging thoughts filling my head. My hand ached for the hilt of my sword, the need for spilling blood was a taste in my mouth which thickened my tongue, and calm was impossible. To be forced to leave my warriors as captives to males! To be unable to free them though I, myself, rode free and armed!
I turned from my kan and began stalking about, as helpless to halt the motion as to cease heaping abuse upon my own head. Upon learning that Midanna warriors were held captive to males, I had made the decision that I would see them freed; much good had the decision done them, as much as thought I, too, were bound beside them. Had I had even three or four warriors to stand with me, I would have attacked; to stand alone against such numbers would have meant certain death. Patience was necessary; I must await what came. Perhaps, should Mida desire strongly enough that I continue on with the task she had given me, the assistance of her aid might well be forthcoming. With Mida’s aid my sword alone would suffice, and welcome indeed would be the sight of enemy blood upon its edges.
Although frustrated, I found a hunter’s calm, enough so that I might return to my kan for a cut of the small matrig I had slain and skinned during the fey’s ride. The greatest part of the heat had fled with Mida’s light, leaving behind a pleasant cool breeze. I sat before the tree which stood nearest my kan, took a tasty mouthful of raw matrig, then leaned back to chew. Many of the words of the males had confused me ever since I had first begun traveling among males.
Both the male Nobain and the male Gengan had spoken of their god and yet, had they not called that god by the same name, one might easily have believed they discussed two entities rather than one. Each saw his god as being like unto himself, the one seeing diffidence and halting uncertainty, the other seeing aggression and impatient insistances. How it was possible for each to see so different a thing I knew not, nor even the why of their views differing so greatly from those of Ceralt and his brothers. Those males, too, paid homage to that which was called the Serene Oneness, yet were Ceralt and his brothers unlike those who had once been Sigurri. Was he as Mida and Sigurr, this Serene Oneness, or in some manner entirely unlike them? Again and again was my path entwined with that of those who followed this Serene Oneness, males who brought pain to warriors both from without and within. The lash and slave chains in Bellinard, capture and the lash in Ranistard, shaming and capture with Ceralt among his Belsayah-all more easily withstood than those feelings drawn forth by Ceralt and the memory of his arms. Wise indeed had Mida been to deny all males to her Midanna save those who were taken for use. Best would be to avoid them entirely, yet how was that possible when three Midanna now lay in the clutches of yet another set of them?
No more than a bite was left to the cut of matrig I held, therefore did I swallow down the urge to rid myself of it and swallow down the matrig as well. Little aid would I be to Ilvin and the Summa were I to become light-headed from lack of provender, and though I had been unable to keep them from the agony of unnatural use, there were many feyd of travel yet before the males. I was sure an opportunity would come to free the three Midanna. I rose to my feet and went to drink a bit of the water I carried, thinking only of the opportunity which would come, naught of that which was then being done to three bound warriors.
2
The new task—and the dishonor of cowards
The new fey was bright and golden, shining through the green of the forest, filled with the joy of continuing life for all save those who rode as captives to males—and she who followed. Though I had been loath to witness the continuing shaming of my warriors, I visited the camp of the males again, seeking an opportunity to free my sisters, only to find that the guard males remained alert and the captives lay in a motionless stupor, no more than occasional moans to be heard from those who had been used so harshly. Easily might I have slit the throats of those who stood guard, sending them one by one to Mida’s chains; had Ilvin and the Summa been capable of movement of their own, quickly would I have done so. With my Midanna as they were, however, the slaying of the males would have done no more than alert the others, so I had to return clean-bladed to my own camp, where the sharp movements of my fury would only be heard by the children of the wild.
The new light had brought awakening to the camp, and a great look of pleasure to the males. With much laughter did they speak of their prowess to the darkness, few caring that the town female and Sigurri females wept raggedly, the three Midanna silent yet with blood-fury in their eyes. Gengan sat apart from his males, looking defeated, speaking to none and none speaking to him. The other males in colored body cloth had done much as Gengan had, yet did they cluster one near the other, speaking in low tones, attempting to laugh as freely and fully as they in gray body cloths. Gengan alone seemed taken in some manner; though I knew not what ailed the male, Nobain looked upon him with knowing eyes, and smiled his smile of triumph.
When all in the camp had been fed and the balance of the nilno packed away with the other possessions of the set, the males moved on. Again were the captives ridden before certain of the males, yet were these males of Nobain’s set rather than those of Gengan. The males in colored body cloths disliked the loss of their captives, yet none would speak of the matter to his own self, and Gengan spoke not at all. The male rode alone in the midst of those who were gray-clad, seemingly heedless of all that occurred about him. Ilvin rode with no other than Nobain, the constant, grating presence of his hands upon her bringing an unheard growl to her movements.
The light was not yet at its highest when Nobain chose three of his males to ride from the set. It was not possible to hear what words were spoken to them, yet was I able to see their nods of agreement, and the manner in which each took a different direction. The hunters of the fey previous had not chosen separate paths till after they had left the set, but that seemed unimportant. The balance of the nilno would feed the set at light’s highest, yet would the heat turn any unfed-upon rancid and inedible after that. The set required a fresh kill for the darkness, one I meant to see they did without. With grim pleasure I, too, turned from the path of the set, and sought the trail of those who had ridden elsewhere.