I gave him no choice. Nighteyes was being very jocular about Burrich’s silence.
I put my hand on Sooty’s neck, took comfort in the warmth and life there. I waited. Burrich still said nothing. “I know you will never approve,” I said quietly. “But it is not something I can choose. It is what I am.”
It is what we all are. Nighteyes smirked. Come, Heart of the Pack, speak to me. Will not we hunt well together?
Heart of the Pack? I wondered.
He knows it is his name. It is what they called him, all those dogs that worshiped him, when they all gave tongue in the chase. It was what they taunted one another with. “Heart of the Pack, here, here, the game is here, and I have found it for you, for you!” So they all yelped and tried to be first to yelp it to him. But now they are all gone, taken far away. They did not like to leave him. They knew he heard, even if he would not reply. Had you never heard them?
I suppose I tried not to.
A waste. Why choose to be deaf? Or mute?
“Must you do this in my presence?” Burrich’s voice was stiff:
“Beg pardon,” I said, gravely aware that he was truly offended. Nighteyes snickered again. I ignored him. Burrich would not look at me. After a bit he nudged Ruddy and cantered forward to overtake Kettricken’s guard. I hesitated, then kept pace with him. He formally reported to Kettricken of all he had done before leaving Buckkeep, and she nodded gravely as if accustomed to taking such reports. At a signal from her, we were honored to fall back and ride to her left, while her captain of the guard, one Foxglove, rode to her right. Before dawn found us, the rest of the mounted soldiers from Buckkeep had caught up with us. When they joined us, Foxglove slowed the pace for a time, to allow their winded horses to breathe. But after we had come to a stream and let all the beasts water, we pushed on determinedly. Burrich did not speak to me.