A new bout was just starting when she heard
Clearwing, one of her female attendants, whisper to the
other, “Perhaps it’s true what they say of this Riverwind.”
Goldmoon’s eyes remained on the games, but her
attention was drawn to her servants’ conversation.
“What?” Starflower, her other attendant, whispered
back.
“They say he was raised by leopards,” Clearwing
replied.
“What nonsense!” Starflower sniffed. “There are no
leopards on the plains.”
Clearwing shrugged. “My grandmother says he was
raised by leopards and that Wanderer brought him back
with him from one of his wanderings.”
Goldmoon turned her attention back to the wrestling.
Riverwind’s bout was just starting. Undeniably powerful
and graceful, there WAS something feline in his movements.
“You have to admit he has the grace of a cat,”
Clearwing added, echoing her mistress’s thoughts.
“So true!” Starflower said with a sigh.
Not wishing to listen to any more praises of Riverwind,
Goldmoon sent both girls off with some coin to purchase
stickycakes to keep their mouths closed. The smell of the
sweetened bread set her stomach rumbling, but she bore it
stoically. The royal family ate in public only on ceremonial
occasions so as not to remind their subjects of their
mortality.
The wrestling matches, a footrace, and an archery
contest culled the contestants down to eight. The ancestors
had yet to bring Riverwind to his knees, and Goldmoon
wondered if he attributed his victory to whatever gods he
did worship. As he came forward with the others to collect
his sparring pole, the priestess watched him deliberately,
but he gave no sign at all that he detected the switch she had
made. He did, however, look up at her and smile.
The grim hunter’s expression disappeared from his eyes.
His smile was that of a young man, warm and friendly, and
Goldmoon saw there the loyalty her father had not
questioned.
The final event was longsticks, a contest fought in a large
circle, in which the fighters had to stay armed and within
the circle. At the judge’s signal, the men engaged each other
with dangerous thrusts and parries, and the crack of wood
shattered the air.
Two men quickly managed to knock each other out of
the ring and roll clumsily into the crowd, instantly
disqualifying themselves. Goldmoon saw that Hawker and
Hollow-sky were being very aggressive, smashing at their
opponents’ weapons time and again. Riverwind, with a
series of unrelenting, well-timed jabs and blows, wore down
his opponent, Treewhistle, until Treewhistle lost his grip on
his pole. The weapon clattered to the ground and rolled out
of the circle before its owner could retrieve it.
There was a sudden snap of wood, and then another, as
Loreman’s sons both broke the weapons of those they
fought. Goldmoon frowned. This could not be coincidence.
The full extent of Hollow-sky’s activities in the weapons
tent was now clear. This was sacrilege! She would let him
know of her displeasure.
Simultaneously, the brothers turned on Riverwind. It
seemed a foregone conclusion that they would double-team
him and win the contest together, but Riverwind had had a
moment to breathe and analyze their movements. He held
his pole high, almost inviting them to smash it. Only one of
them could strike without getting in the other’s way, so
Hawker declined in his brother’s favor.
Hollow-sky swung, but Riverwind was a blur of color
as he dodged, weapon and all, beneath Hollow-sky’s arms.
The unblessed warrior slammed his pole at the unsuspecting
and relaxed Hawker. Hawker’s weapon soared from his
hands over the heads of the crowd and landed on the
viewing stand at Goldmoon’s feet.
Hollow-sky, witnessing his brother’s defeat, seemed about
to smash his weapon down on Riverwind’s head, but the
judge rushed forward between the two, proclaiming them
the winners. Riverwind and Hollow-sky would be
Goldmoon’s escorts to the Hall of the Sleeping Spirits.
The crowd cheered, but the priestess eyed both
critically as they approached her. Hollow-sky gave
Riverwind a vicious glare, then stepped forward as
Goldmoon extended her hand to touch his forehead in
blessing. But Hollow-sky grasped her fingers and pressed a
lingering kiss on them.
Though this was hardly customary, the crowd cheered
again, laughing. There was, after all, that other aspect to