"After you saved the dyheli herd," he pointed out."It seemed appropriatethough I could not imagine why you aided them." He lifted an eyebrow. "I assume you had a reason."
"I was fleeing my own troubles when I saw them." She shrugged, gracefully. "I am what I am," she replied. "A Changechild, and not welcome among the Birdkin. When I saw the dyheli trapped, it came to me that it would be good to free them, and also that your folk value them. If I freed them, perhaps the door might be open for one such as I. And also," she added, looking thoughtful, "I have no love for he who trapped them."
"And who might that be?" Darkwind asked, without inflection. He could see what Treyvan had set up, even without a Mindspoken prompting; since the girl was not afraid of the gryphons, their planned positions would be reversed. they would be friendly, and he would be menacing.
A little harder to pull off, with her lounging on the ground like an adolescent male dream come to languid life, but certainly a good plan.
It seemed that she was perfectly willing to believe that he would be hostile to her, even with her sexual allure turned up to full force.
"My master," she said, pouting a little at his coldness. "Mornelithe Falconsbane."
"Not a frrrriendly name," Hydona said, with a little growl.
"Not a friendly man," replied Nyara, with a toss of her head and a wince. "Not a man at all, anymore, for all that he is male-or at least, very little human. He has worked more changes upon his own flesh than he has upon mine."
"An Adept, then," Treyvan said with cheerful interest. "And one You did not carrre for, I take it? From yourrr hurtss, I would sssay he wasss even lesss kind than he wasss frriendly." Nyara nodded, her supple lips tightened into a bitter line. "oh, yes. was the creature upon which he attempted his changes, and if they Proved to his liking, he used them also. And he made his mistakes upon me, and often did not bother to correct them. Other things he did, too-beatings, and-" Her eyes filled with tears and she averted her head. "I-he hurt me, once too often. That is all I would say."
"So, you ran away from him, is that it?" Darkwind interrupted the attempt to play for sympathy rudely. "How did you get away from someone as powerful as that? I don't imagine he let you simply walk away. And when you saw the dyheli, then what did you do?" She blinked away the tears, and rubbed her cheeks with the back of her hand, without raising her head. "I have stolen little bits of magic-learning from time to time. I have a small power, you see. When Mornelithe was careless, I watched, I learned. I learned enough to bend the spells of lock and ward and slip free of his hold. Then I went north, where I have heard from Mornelithe's servants that there were Birdkin, that he hated." She watched him out of the corner of her eyes. "Do you think less of me, that I thought to use you? You are many, I am one. You have been the cause of some of my hurts, when he was angered with you and could not reach you. I thought-with Birdkin between me and him, he would ignore my flight and harry the Birdkin. He might even think I was with the Birdkin, and turn his anger on them. Then I saw the horned ones, and felt his magic upon them, and thought to buy myself sanctuary, or at least safe passage, with their freedom." Her head came up, and she looked defiantly into his eyes. "You owe me safe passage, at least, Birdkin. Even though I thought to trick Mornelithe and set him on you. You have defeated him many times. I am but a small thing, and could not even defy him, and escaped him only with guile." He looked sideways at Treyvan, who nodded ever so slightly. Everything she'd said was the truth, then. It was probably safe enough to give her what she asked for.
"We do owe you that and a place to rest until you can journey again," he admitted, softening his icy expression a little. He caught the glint of scales out of the corner of his eye, and Mindspoke Nera, watching her closely to see if she detected the thoughts. "Nera, this Changechild seems friendly, and she's going to need your help; shelter for a week or two at least, maybe more. Have you got any tunnels no one is using?" The hertasi forgot whatever it was that had brought him, now that Darkwind had invoked his authority again. "Hmm. Yes. The old one at the waterline that belonged to Rellan and Lo'm, that flooded this spring.
Again. They finally listened to me and moved out. Unless we have three or four weeks of rain, it should stay dry." And it was right on the edge of the bluff, with the swamp on one side, a hillside too steep for someone in her condition to climb above, and all the hertasi between herself and freedom. That should do.
"Perfect," he said.
And Nyara showed no signs of having heard the conversation.
"We will make it ready," Nera told him, full of self-importance, and content now that he was a major part of whatever was going on. "the creature can walk, but slowly-my Healer says that there are half-healed bones and torn muscles. Send her in a few moments and there will be a bed and food waiting."
"We can give you a place to stay for as long as you need it," he told her. "And I will see about getting you safe passage, once you're fit to journey again. I-don't think you can hope for sanctuary. The Elders of this Clan hate Changechildren too much."
"But you do not," she replied, her voice a caress.
"I-don't hate anyone," he said, flushing, and averting his eyes, much to Treyvan's open amusement. "But I don't determine what the Elders will say or do. At any rate, Nera and the others are moving some basic things in now, and as soon as you are ready, one of them will come show you where it is."
"I am grateful, Darkwind," she said, bowing her head a little and looking up at him from under long, thick lashes. "I am very grateful." He felt his blood heating from that half-veiled glance, and wondered if she knew what she was promising him with it. Then he decided that she must know; sex was as much a part of her weaponry as her claws.
"Don't worry about being grateful," he said gruffly, while Treyvan hid his amusement. "Just get yourself healed up, so we can get you out of this
Mornelithe's reach. The sooner you're gone, the safer we'll all be."
They removed themselves to a place farther along the bluff, well out of earshot of the hertasi village, before any of them said anything.
It was a golden afternoon, near enough to nightfall for things to have cooled down, sunlight as thick and sweet as honey pouring over the gold-dusted grass of the bluff, with just enough breeze to keep it from being too warm. The gryphons fanned their wings out to either side of themselves, basking, their eyes half-lidded, and beaks parted slightly. Treyvan's crest was raised as high as it could go, puffed out.
They looked extraordinarily stupid. Darkwind had to fight off gales of laughter every time he looked at them.
and his chest feathers were Vree, on his good behavior now that both Darkwind and Treyvan were ready for his tricks, joined them on the grass. He had just taken a bath, and looked even sillier than the gryphons. Even though he was behaving, he kept eyeing the quills of Treyvan's crest with undisguised longing.
"Will the little ones be all right with you gone so long?" Darkwind asked with concern.
Hydona nodded, slowly and lazily. "The ruinsss are sssafe, temporrrarrrily.