‘There was someone,’ she said. ‘Bauchle Meyne. But I killed him.’
‘Ah,’ Quartz said.
‘You’ve given me another gift,’ Satan said. ‘Now I don’t have to go back and
kill him myself.’
‘Shut up, Satan, she’s never killed anyone before.’
‘Nor have I. But I would have ripped out his throat if just once he’d left the
chains slack enough for me to reach him!’
Wess wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ease the ache in her ribs.
Suddenly Quartz was beside her.
‘You’re hurt – why didn’t you tell me?’
Wess shook her head, unable to answer. And then she fainted.
She woke up at midaftemoon, lying in the shade of a tall tree in a circle of her
friends. The horses grazed nearby, and Aristarchus sat on a stone beside the
stream, combing the tangles from his fur. Wess got up and went to sit beside
him.
‘Did you call my name?’
‘No,’ he said.
‘I thought I heard -‘ She shrugged. ‘Never mind.’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Better.’ Her ribs were bandaged tight. ‘Quartz is a good healer.’
‘No one is following. Aerie looked, a little while ago.’
‘That’s good. May I comb your back for you?’
‘That would be a great kindness.’
In silence, she combed him, but she was paying very little attention. The third
time the comb caught on a knot, Aristarchu” protested quietly.
‘Sister, please, that fur you’re plucking is attached to my skin.’
‘Oh, Aristarchus, I’m sorry…’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I feel -1 want -1…’ She handed him the comb and
stood. ‘I’m going to walk up the trail a little way. I won’t be gone long.’
In the silence of the forest she felt easier, but there was something pulling