‘Tenna’s the best partner I’ve ever had,’ Haligon replied sincerely, mopping his face.
‘Well, you had the chance to find out,’ muttered Grolly.
Then Torlo reached through the crowd and tapped Tenna’s shoulder.
‘You’re on the run list,’ Tenna he said, emphasizing the warning with a nod.
‘To the coast?’
‘Aye, as you wished.’ Torlo gave Haligon a severe look.
‘I’ll escort you to the station, then, Tenna?’ Haligon asked.
The harpers had struck up another slow dance. Rosa and Spacia were looking intensely at Tenna but she couldn’t interpret their glances. She also knew her duty as a runner.
‘This is the last dance then.’ And she took Haligon by the arm and led him to the floor.
Haligon tucked her in against him and she let her body relax against his and to his leading. She had never had such a Gather in her life. She could almost be glad that he’d run her off the trace and so started the events that had culminated in this lovely night.
They said nothing, both enjoying the flow of the dance and the sweet music. When it ended, Haligon led her from the floor, holding her right hand in his, and towards the station, its glowbasket shining at the door.
‘So, Runner Tenna, you finish your first Cross. It won’t be your last, will it?’ Haligon asked as they paused just beyond the circle of light. He lifted his hand and lightly brushed back the curls.
‘No, it’s unlikely to. I’m going to run as long as I’m able.’
‘But you’ll be Crossing often, won’t you?’ he asked and she nodded. ‘So, if sometime in the future, when I’ve got my own holding . . . I’m going to breed runners . . . beasts, that is,’ he qualified hastily, and she almost laughed at his urgent correction. ‘I’ve been trying to find the strain I want to breed, you see, and used the traces as sort of the best footing for comparison. I mean, is there any chance you might . . . possibly . . . consider running more often on this side of the world?’
Tenna cocked her head at him, surprised by the intensity and roughness in his pleasant voice.
‘I might.’ She smiled up at him. This Haligon was more of a temptation to her than he knew.
Now he smiled back at her, a challenge sparkling in his eyes. ‘We’ll just have to see, won’t we?’
‘Yes, I guess we will.’
With that answer, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ducked into the station before she could say more than she ought right now after such a limited acquaintance . . . But maybe raising runners, both kinds -four-legged and two – in the west wasn’t a bad idea at all.