Pilgrim by Sara Douglas

protective circle of his arms. ―I am afraid.‖

―So am I,‖ he said. ―Leagh?‖

―Yes?‖

―I want you to stay within the forest. Who knows what we will encounter—‖

―No.‖

―Leagh—‖

― No! ‖ She raised her face to his. ―Twice no, Zared. First a no because I refuse to let my

husband ride off without me—and you know what will happen if you do that.‖

Zared grimaced, remembering how he‘d left Leagh in charge of Carlon, only to have her

ride off to Caelum‘s camp.

―And a no because, as you taught me, I have a duty to my people. I am not only Leagh. I

am Queen Leagh, and I, as you, have a people to put before my personal desires and wants.‖

Zared grinned down into her face, unable to be cross with her. ―I shall remind you of that

next time you start to whisper your personal desires and wants into my ear late at night.‖

She returned his smile, then leaned in close against him, resting her cheek against his

chest.

―But, for my sake,‖ he whispered into her hair, ―keep safe. Keep safe.‖

―And you,‖ she said. ―And you.‖

They stood and held each other, both silent.

Once the fibrous bark of the goat tree had been stripped, separated and then combed—a

process that took the best part of a week—then every man was given the task of weaving his own

shelter.

Some took to the work better than others. Many among the army were sons of craftsmen,

or were craftsmen themselves, and they quickly sat down to the job, whistling as the fine fibres

spun through their fingers.

Others needed persuasion…and much instruction. The Avar women, now numbering

almost fifty, moved among the army, bending over shoulders, laughing and scolding, and

correcting fumbling fingers. Zared, Herme and Theod sat in a circle, with Leagh hovering on the

outer amused that the highest nobility of Achar could use man-welded weapons to destroy with

ease, and yet could not use the fingers they‘d been born with to create.

―I wish I had a court painter with me now!‖ she said, amongst her laughter, ―so he could

record this scene for posterity.‖

All three men looked up from the knotted and uneven weave in their laps and scowled at

her, but their eyes danced with merriment also.

―One day,‖ Zared said, ―I am going to see how well you wield a sword.‖

―Oh, my dear,‖ she said, and winked at him. ―Not half as well as you do, I am sure.‖

All three men laughed, and Zared shook his head slightly as he looked back to where

he‘d managed to knot his left thumb between four strands of fibre.

Still others, although few in number, bent to the task of weaving their shade with deep

resentment. Of them all, Askam harboured the deepest bitterness. Even if every man within the

camp, commanders and nobles among them, were, like he, bent to the task of weaving, it did not

help Askam‘s sense of self-worth. He‘d effectively lost all he had ever commanded, and the man

who had stolen it from him, now had him sitting cross-legged in a forest assisting to weave a

damned shade-cloth!

―Wait,‖ he murmured so that none about him could hear. ―Wait.‖

19

The SunSoar Curse

During the mid-afternoon of their third day out of the Silent Woman Woods, Zenith and

StarDrifter stopped to exchange news for malfari bread and honeyed malayam fruit with a band

of Avar, then flew until the dusk penetrated the forest canpoy and flight was no longer enjoyable,

let alone safe.

―How far do you think we have come?‖ Zenith asked StarDrifter as they cleared a space

beneath a whalebone tree and sat down.

He glanced about him, wincing as a twig stabbed into his back, and readjusting his

position slightly to accommodate it. Then he pointed to a shrub huddling close to the small

stream that ran eastwards.

―See that kianet shrub? They only grow near the Bogle Marsh. So we have not done

badly for three days‘ journey.‖

Zenith nodded, and handed StarDrifter his share of the honeyed malayam on a thick slice

of malfari. A fair distance indeed, but if they‘d been able to fly direct to the Minaret Peaks they

would only have another day‘s travel, if that. Forced to keep to the sheltering forests, they were

swinging in a great arc to the east. Tomorrow, perhaps, they could swing back west.

―I have a hankering to spend tomorrow night in Arcen,‖ StarDrifter said as he broke away

some of the fruit and ate it.

Zenith glanced at him sharply. ―Why? We can overfly it and continue straight on. There‘s

no point—‖

―Zenith, what difference will a half-day make?‖ StarDrifter said around his mouthful.

―That‘s all we‘d lose, and I confess myself tired of these beds of pine needles and sharp-elbowed

twigs.‖

Zenith grinned and tore herself off a slice of malfari. Aha! StarDrifter was missing his

comforts! It seemed an age since they‘d been on the Island of Mist and Memory. StarDrifter had

gone with Axis to the Ancient Barrows to try and strengthen the Star Gate—a useless exercise,

as it turned out—and Zenith had travelled north with Faraday in the blue cart drawn by the

donkeys.

―It has been a rare long time since I‘ve had you to myself,‖ StarDrifter said, and Zenith

smiled softly again, and replied without looking at him.

―Have you recovered your Enchanter powers then, StarDrifter, to read my mind so?‖

StarDrifter did not reply immediately. He stared down at his fruit and bread, turning a

crust over and over in one hand.

―And I find,‖ he said, very hesitatingly, but encouraged by her response, ―that I do so

very much enjoy this time spent alone with you.‖

He looked up. Now Zenith was staring at the food in her hands. Again StarDrifter

hesitated, but he was not a man for leaving unsaid that which needed to be shared.

―I also find,‖ he finally said, ―that I resent every moment that I must share you with

someone else. Dear gods, Zenith, I adore Faraday, but she trailed so happily—and so damnably

consistently!—about after us on the Isle of Mist and Memory that I could have thrown her over

the cliff face!‖

StarDrifter stopped, wondering if he had said too much. But, curse it, it needed to be said!

And so, having come this far, StarDrifter leapt over the cliff himself.

―It is the SunSoar curse that our blood calls out so boldly for each other,‖ he said. ―But I

find it no burden, and no curse, to love you as I do.‖

There, it was said.

―StarDrifter—‖

―Let me say one more thing,‖ he said, in gentler tones. ―I know WolfStar hurt you, and

that the introduction to love you suffered at his hands has likely scarred you for life. But—‖

―Now is not the time to be talking of this,‖ Zenith said. Her voice was very brittle.

StarDrifter raised an eyebrow. ―Now, in this gentle companionship under the trees, is not

the time to be speaking of ‗this‘?‖

She looked at him steadily. ―The TimeKeeper Demons are tearing this land apart. Surely

there are more important things we should be—‖

―Don‘t evade me, Zenith.‖

Zenith‘s eyes filled with sudden tears, and she jerked her gaze away from StarDrifter‘s

face.

―Zenith…‖ StarDrifter reached over, took the now damp and useless food from Zenith‘s

hands, put it to one side, and clasped her hands very gently in his own. ―Please, talk to me.‖

She took a deep breath. StarDrifter had been courageous enough to speak of the bond that

both knew had been developing between them, and she knew she should be as well.

―RiverStar…RiverStar always chided me for not taking a lover. She said it was not the SunSoar

way.‖

StarDrifter grinned mischievously, his eyes twinkling with undemanding humour. ―She

was right.‖

Zenith allowed herself to be reassured by his grin, and half-smiled herself. ―I always told

her I wanted to wait for the right man, she always said it was mother‘s Acharite primness

showing through.‖

Maybe RiverStar was right, StarDrifter thought. And maybe it was just that Azhure, like

Zenith, had preferred to wait until she found the man she loved.

―I wish,‖ Zenith‘s smile faded, ―I wish that I had succumbed to the blandishments of

some Icarii Strike Leader, or Enchanter, during those wild Beltide nights that I spent watching

from beneath the safety of the trees. I wish that I had, because then I would not have been left with WolfStar as my only memory of love!‖

―Shush,‖ StarDrifter said, disturbed by the emotion in Zenith‘s voice.

Zenith took another deep breath, calming herself. ―But…but I waited, because I felt that

somewhere was the one man that I could love more than any other.‖

StarDrifter‘s heart was racing. Why would she have said that, unless…unless…―And

have you found him yet?‖

Zenith stared at StarDrifter, wishing he had not forced this conversation, and yet relieved