depending on how far he wanted to push himself, and there was no more until he was rested.
That was what brought the Changechild to this pass; depleting herself, on top of her poor physical condition, then taking one whiff too many of the poison mist. She might be a long time in recovering.
But Darkwind could not, in all conscience, leave her where she was. it wasn't safe, and he could not spare anyone to protect her. And even if it was safe, she might not recover without help; he didn't know enough of Healing to tell.
He rested his chin on his knee and thought.
I need someplace and someone willing to watch her and keep her out of mischief. But I can't take her into the Vale; Father would slit her throat just for looking the way she does. I need a neutral safe-haven, temporarily- and then I need a lot of good advice.
He knew where to find the second; it was coming up with the first that was difficult.
Finally with a tentative plan in mind, he hefted her over his shoulder again-with a stern admonition to his body to behave in her proximity, as her sexual attraction redoubled once he was close to her.
His body was not interested in listening.
Finally, in desperation, he shielded-everything. And thought of the least arousing things he could manage- scrubbing the mews, boiling hides, and finally, cleaning his privy. That monthly ordeal of privy-scrubbing was the only thing that ever made him regret his decision to move out of the Vale...The last worked; and with a sigh of relief, he headed off to the nearest source of aid he could think of.
'Vree!' he called.
The bondbird dove out of the branches of a nearby tree; he felt the gyre's interest at his burden, but it was purely curiosity. The Changechildthank the stars-was of the wrong species to affect Vree.
If she'd been tervardi, though-she'd have gotten to both of us. And I don't think Vree's as good at self-control as I am. I would truly have had a situation at that point.
'where?' the bondbird replied, with the inflection that meant 'Where are we going?'
The hertasi, Vree,' he Mindspoke back. 'the ones on the edge of k'sheyna. this-one hurt-sleeps.'
'Good.' Vree's mind-voice was full of satisfaction; the hertasi liked bondbirds and always had tidbits to share with them. He could care less about Darkwind's burden; only that she was a burden, and Darkwind was hindered in his movements. 'I guard.' Which meant that he would stay within warning distance just ahead of Darkwind, alert at all times, instead of giving in to momentary distractions.
Unae his bondmate...Latrines, he thought firmly. Cleaning out latrines. most part, would start out chasing a helpless-looking old Nera looked up at Darkwind-it was hard for the diminutive hertasi to do anything other than 'look up' at a human-his expressive eyes full of questions.
'And what if she wakes?' the Guard Mindspoke. He turned his head slightly, and the scales of the subtle diamond pattern on his forehead shifted from metallic brown to a dark gold like old bronze. Nera was the Elder of the hertasi enclave and an old friend; Darkwind had brought his burden-and problem-straight to Nera's doorstep. Let the mages discount the hertasi if they chose, or ignore them, thinking them no more than children in their understanding and suited only to servants' work.
Darkwind knew better.
'I don't think she will,' Darkwind told him honestly. 'At least not until I'm back. I risked a probe, and she is very deeply exhausted. I expect her to sleep for a day or more.' Nera considered that, his eyes straying to the paddies below, where his people worked their fields of rice. The hertasi settlement itself was in the hillside above a marsh, carefully hollowed out 'holes' shored with timbers; with walls, floors and ceilings finished with water- smoothed stone set into cement, and furnished well, if simply. The swamp was their own domain, one in which their size was not a handicap. They grew rice and bred frogs, hunted and fished there. They knew the swamp better than any of the Tayledras.
That had made it easy for Darkwind to persuade the others to include them within the bounds of the k'sheyna territory. The marsh itself was a formidable defense, and the hertasi seldom required any aid. A border section guarded by a treacherous swamp full of clever hertasi was something even the most stubborn mage would find a practical resource.
Though they knew how to use their half-size bows and arrows perfectly well, and even the youngest were trained with their wicked little sickle-shaped daggers and fish-spears, the hertasi preferred, when given the choice, to let their home do their fighting for them. Enemies, for the
lizard-rn2n, only to find themselves suddenly chest-deep and sinking in quicksand or mire.
The hertasi were fond of referring to these unwelcome intruders as fertilizer. ' Nera was still giving him that inquisitive look. Darkwind groaned, inwardly. There were some definite drawbacks to a friendship dating back to
