Hawkmistress! A DARKOVER NOVEL by Marion Zimmer Bradley

“Oh, an’ indeed I do,” said Alaric with a surly scowl, and turned away. Romilly watched with a faint frown of distaste. It seemed she already had an enemy among these men, which she had done nothing to deserve. But perhaps she had been tactless in caring for the chervine’s hoof – perhaps she should simply have warned Alaric that his beast was going lame. But couldn’t he see, or feel the poor thing limping? She supposed that was what it was to be head-blind. He could not communicate with any dumb brute. And with the intolerance of the very young, she thought, if he does not understand animals better than that, he should not try to ride one!

Soon after, they mounted and rode on through the afternoon. The trails were steeper now, and Romilly began to lag behind somewhat – on these paths and roads, a mountain-bred chervine was better than a horse, and there were places on the narrow mountain paths where Romilly, Orain and Dom Carlo had to dismount and lead their horses by the bridle while the men on the sure-footed stag-like riding-beasts stayed in their saddles, secure as ever. She had lived in the hills all her life and was in general not afraid of anything, but some of the steep edges and sheer cliffs over abysses of empty space and clouds made her gasp and catch her breath, biting her lip against showing her fear. Up they went, and upward still, climbing through cold layers of mist and cloud, and her ears began to ache and her breath grew shorter while her heart pounded so loudly in her ears that she could hardly hear the hooves of the horses and stag-ponies on the rocky path. Once she dislodged a stone with her foot and saw it bouncing down the cliffside, rebounding every ten or fifteen feet until it disappeared into the clouds below.

They paused and drew close together in the throat of the pass, and Orain pointed to a cluster of lights against the dusk of the next mountain. His voice was very low, but Romilly lagging with the other horses, heard him.

“There it lies. Nevarsin, The City of Snows, vai dom. Two or at the most, three more days on the road, and you will be safe behind the walls of St.-Valentine-of-the-Snows.”

“And your faithful heart can rest without fear, bredu? But all these men are loyal, and even if they knew-”

“Don’t even whisper it aloud, my lord-Dom Carlo,” Orain said urgently.

Dom Carlo reached out and gave the other man’s thin shoulder an affectionate touch.

“You have sheltered me with your care since we were children – who but you should be at my side then, foster-brother?”

“Ah, you’ll have dozens and hundreds then to care for you, my-” again he paused, “vai dom.”

“But none with your faithfulness,” said Dom Carlo gently. “You’ll have all the rewards I can give.”

“Reward enough to see you where you belong again – Carlo,” said Orain, and turned back to oversee the descent of the others down through the narrow defile which led away toward the bottom of the ravine.

They camped in the open that night, under a crude tent pitched beneath a tree, just a slanting sheet to keep the worst of the rain from them. As befitted a paxman, Orain kept close to Dom Carlo, but as they were spreading their blankets, and Romilly checking the birds and feeding them the last of the carrion – the men grumbled and snarled about the smell, but no one would gainsay Dom Carlo. Orain said briefly, “Rumal, you’d better spread your blankets near to us – you haven’t much in the way of blankets and even wi’ your cloak you’ll freeze, lad.”

Romilly thanked them meekly and crawled in between the two men. She had taken off only her boots – she did not want to be seen in fewer clothes than this – but even with cloak and blanket she felt chilled, and was grateful for shared blankets and warmth. She was vaguely aware, at the edge of sleep, when Preciosa swooped down and roosted within the circle of the fires; and beyond that, something else … a faint awareness, the touch of laran – Dom Carlo’s thoughts, stirring, circling about the camp to make sure that all was well with men, riding-beasts and birds.

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