'No, no!' she interrupted, her voice rising, as if she were alarmed.
Then, before he could react, she smiled. 'Your pardon, I did not mean that the way it may have sounded. Treyvan and Hydona are wonderful, and I like them a great deal-as I expected to like anything Mornelithe hated. I learned early that whatever thwarted him he hated-and that what he hated, I should be prepared to find good.'
'He knows about Treyvan and Hydona-'
'No, no, no,' she interrupted again, hastily. 'I am saying things badly today. No, it is only gryphons in general that he hates. As he hates Birdkin, so I was prepared to like you. He never told me why.'
'She shrugged indifferently, and by now Darkwind knew he'd get nothing more out of her on the subject. She had all the ability of a ferret to squirm her way out of anything she didn't want to talk about.
But if she likes them, why wouldn't she want to stay near them?
'It is the little ones,' she sighed, pensively, as if answering his unspoken suspicion. 'I am very sorry, for I am going to say something that will revolt you, Birdkin, but I cannot bear little ones. No matter the species.' She shuddered. 'Giggling in voices to pierce the ears, running about like mad things, shrieking enough to startle the dead-I cannot bear little ones.' She looked him squarely in the eyes. 'I have,' she announced, 'no motherly instinct. I do not want motherly instinct.
I do not want to see little ones for more than a short time, at long intervals.
He laughed at her long face. 'I can see your point,' he replied. 'They are a handful-'
'And soon there will be two more, this time the very little ones, who cry and cry all night, and will not be comforted; who become ill for mysterious reasons and make messes at both ends. No,' she finished, firmly. 'I care much for Treyvan and Hydona, but I will not abide living with the little ones.'
'You've been getting along all right with the hertasi, though?' he asked anxiously. If he had to leave her here for any length of time, it would be a good idea to make sure both parties were willing. Nera had indicated that he had seen no trouble with her, but Darkwind wanted to be sure of that. Sometimes the hertasi were a little too polite.
'As well as one gets along with one's shadow.' She shrugged. 'They are quiet, they bring me food and drink, they are polite when I speak to them, but mostly they are not there-to speak to, that is.' A wry smile touched the corners of her mouth, and the tips of her sharp little canine teeth showed briefly. 'I am well aware that they watch me, but in their place, I would watch me, so all is well. I pretend to ignore the watchers, the watchers pretend they are most busy counting grass stems, we both know it is pretense, and politeness is preserved.' Darkwind laughed; she smiled broadly. Now I know why Nera called her 'a very polite young creature.'
'As long as you're doing all right here--' he glanced at the setting sun. 'I have to get back for that meeting. I expect to have some trouble with it.' Nyara's smile faded to a wistful ghost. 'I wish I could tell you it would be otherwise, but I doubt it will be so. I only hope you do not come to regret being my champion.' He sighed, and got to his feet. 'I hope so, too.
The windows of the ekele shook as his father pounded the table with his fist. 'BY all the gods of our fathers,' Starblade stormed, 'I never thought my own son would be so much of a fool!' Darkwind stared at a patch of the exposed bark of the parent-tree, just past his father's shoulder, and kept his face completely expressionless.
At least it sounded like most of the tirade was over. This was mild compared to the insults Starblade had hurled at him at the beginning of the session.
Then again, it might simply be that Starblade had run out of insults.
Starblade shook his fist in the air, not actually threatening Darkwind but the implication was there. 'If I didn't know better, I'd swear I couldn't be your father! I've never-'
'That's enough, Starblade,' interrupted old Rainlance tiredly. 'That is quite enough.' The quiet words were so unexpected, especially coming from Rainlance, that both Starblade and his son turned to stare in surprise at the oldest of the four Elders. Rainlance never interrupted anyone or raised his voice. Except that he had just done both.
'By now we all know that you think your s-hmm, Darkwind-is the greatest fool ever born. We also know precisely why you think that.' Rainlance leveled a penetrating stare at Starblade that froze him where he sat. 'The fact is, I've known you a great deal longer than Darkwind, and I think there are times when you allow some of your opinions to unbalance your judgment. This is one of them. It just so happens I've never shared your peculiar prejudice against the Changechildren. I won't go into why, right now, but I have several good reasons, strong ones, to disagree with you on that. And I also do not share your view of Darkwind's incompetence.' He coughed, and shook his head. 'In point of fact, I think Elder Darkwind has done a fine job up until now, a very fine job. His peers trust him, he has never let his private opinions interfere with his judgment, and I don't see any reason to make a snap decision about this Other of his. I don't see any reason, in fact, why we shouldn't continue to help her.' Rainlance looked pointedly at the other Elder, Iceshadow, who shrugged, the crystals braided into his hair tinkling like tiny wind chimes.
'She's not a danger where she is,' Iceshadow said. 'She hasn't caused any trouble-'
