He did not want to call out, for he knew Ananais disliked him. But neither did he want to die! He called Ananais’ name, the door opened and the blond giant stood silhouetted in the doorway.
‘I have been bitten by a viper,’ said Tenaka.
Ananais ducked under the doorway and approached the bed, pushing at the dead snake with his boot. Then he looked at the wound in Tenaka’s leg.
‘How long ago?’ he asked.
‘Two, three minutes.’
Ananais nodded. ‘The cuts aren’t deep enough.’
Tenaka handed him the dagger.
‘No. If they were deep enough you would sever the main muscles.’
Leaning forward, Ananais put his mouth over the wound and sucked the poison clear. Then he applied a tourniquet and left to get the surgeon.
Even with most of the poison flushed out, the young Nadir prince almost died. He sank into a coma that lasted four days and when he awoke Ananais was at his bedside.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Good.’
‘You don’t look it. Still, I am glad you’re alive.’
‘Thank you for saving me,’ said Tenaka, as the giant rose to leave.
‘It was a pleasure. But I still wouldn’t want you marrying my sister,’ he said, grinning as he moved to the door. ‘By the way, three young officers were dismissed from the service yesterday. I think you can sleep soundly from now on.’
‘I shall never do that,’ said Tenaka. ‘For the Nadir, that is the way of death.’
‘No wonder their eyes are slanted.’ said Ananais.
*
Renya helped the old man to his feet, then heaped snow upon the small fire to kill the flames. The temperature plummeted as the storm-clouds bunched above them, grim and threatening. The girl was frightened, for the old man had ceased shivering and now stood by the ruined tree staring vacantly at the ground by his feet.
‘Come, Aulin,’ she said, slipping her arm around his waist. ‘The old barracks are close by.’
‘No!’ he wailed, pulling back. ‘They will find me there. I know they will.’
‘The cold will kill you,’ she hissed. ‘Come on.’
Meekly he allowed her to lead him through the snow. She was a tall girl, and strong, but the going was tiring and she was breathing heavily as they pushed past the last screen of bushes before the Dragon Square.
‘Only a few more minutes,’ she said. “Then you can rest.’
The old man seemed to gain strength from the promise of shelter and he shambled forward with greater speed. Twice he almost fell, but she caught him.
She kicked open the door of the nearest building and helped him inside, removing her white woollen burnoose and running a hand through her sweat-streaked, close-cropped black hair.
Away from the biting wind, she felt her skin burning as her body adjusted to the new conditions. She unbelted her white sheepskin cloak, pushing it back over her broad shoulders. Beneath it she wore a light blue woollen tunic and black leggings, partially hidden by thigh-length boots, sheepskin-lined. At her side was a slender dagger.
The old man leaned against a wall, shaking uncontrollably.
“They will find me. They will!’ he whimpered. Renya ignored him and moved down the hallway.
A man came into sight at the far end and Renya started, her dagger leaping to her hand. The man was tall and dark and dressed in black. By his side was a longsword. He moved forward slowly, yet with a confidence Renya found daunting. As he approached she steadied herself for the attack, watching his eyes.
They were, she noticed, the most beautiful violet colour, and slanted like those of the Nadir tribesmen of the north. Yet his face was square-cut and almost handsome, save for the grim line of his mouth.
She wanted to stop him with words, to tell him that if he came any closer she would kill him. But she could not. There was about him an aura of power – an authority which left her no choice but to respond.
And then he was past her and bending over Aulin.
‘Leave him alone!’ she shouted. Tenaka turned to her.
‘There is a fire in my room. Along there on the right,’ he said calmly. ‘I will take him there.’ Smoothly he lifted the old man and carried him to his quarters, laying him on the narrow bed. He removed the man’s cloak and boots, and began to rub gently at his calves where the skin was blue and mottled. Turning he threw a blanket to the girl. ‘Warm this by the fire,’ he said, returning to his work. After a while he checked the man’s breathing – it was deep and even.