Heralds were human beings, with all the failings and foibles of any other set of humans. Shion's failing was gossip - harmless enough under most circumstances. Except for this one, where her fantasies could and would cause Elspeth some problems....
A gentle tap at the door made her look up in time to see Darkwind slipping inside. He glanced around the darkened room for a moment, then spotted her at the hearth and came to join her.
'I do not know whether to laugh or snarl, bright feather,' he said without preamble. 'And if we had not as many notorious gossips in k'Sheyna as anywhere else, I would probably be very annoyed at this moment.'
'I take it you met Kalinda,' Elspeth said dryly as he took a seat beside the fire.
'Indeed.' His mouth twitched. 'I was discussing some trifle with Firesong when she brought us our dinners, then, bold as you please, offered to - ah - 'join our mating circle.' I confess that I did not know what to say or do.'
Elspeth took one look at his face and broke up in a fit of giggling. That set him off, too, and for the next few moments, they leaned against each other, laughing and gasping for breath. Any glance at the other's face only served to set them off again.
'I - dear gods! - you must have done something. How did you get her out of there?' she choked, finally.
He shook his head, and held his side. 'I did nothing!' he confessed. 'It was Firesong. He just looked at the girl and said, 'the offer is appreciated, but unless you turn male, impossible.' She turned quite scarlet, and stammered something neither of us understood, then left.'
That sent Elspeth into convulsions again because she could very easily see Firesong doing exactly that. The wicked creature!
Her gales of laughter started Darkwind giggling again, and the two of them laughed until they simply had no more breath to laugh with anymore. She lay with her head against Darkwind's shoulder while the fire burned a little lower, and only spoke when he moved to throw another branch into the flames.
'I suppose that will take care of Shion for a while,' she said, wiping moisture from the corner of one eye. 'I wish I'd thought of that as a solution. But you know, now Shion will probably begin telling everyone that you and Firesong are both shay'a'chern. The gods only know what that will bring out of the comers!'
'I do not care, dearheart,' he replied, stroking her hair. 'So long as it saves you grief. And I am certain that Firesong will be positively delighted! I tell you, he is as shameless as a cooperihawk!'
She laughed again, for she had seen the cooperihawks in their rounds of spring matings, which were frequent and undiscriminating.
He chuckled with her and caressed her shoulders, then continued. 'I have other confessions to make to you, and none so amusing. I had no idea of the size of your land, of the numbers of your people. I had naively supposed your Valdemar must be like a very large Vale. And I had no idea what your status truly was among your people. And - I now realize that all of my assumptions were based on those ideas.'
'My status is subject to change, my love,' she replied quickly. 'As I told you, I am not indispensable.'
'But others believe you are.' He held her for a long moment in silence, his warm hands clasped across her waist. 'You have duties and obligations, and they do not include a - long term relationship with some foreign mage.'
She forced herself to remain calm; after all, wasn't this precisely what she had thought, herself, any number of times? She had known since before she left Valdemar that her freedom was severely restricted. Hadn't she rebuffed Skif with that very same argument?
But she no longer accepted that argument, as she had not accepted the 'fated' path that the Companions had tried to force her to take.
And even though his tongue was saying that he must let her go, his body was saying quite a different thing. He held her tightly, fiercely, as if to challenge anyone who might try to part them.
She must choose her words very carefully. He had opened his heart to her; she must answer the pain she heard under his words. But he would not respect someone who violated all the vows she had made to her own land and people by willfully deserting them, either. The next few words might be the most important she would ever speak in her life.
'I have duties, true enough,' she replied, slowly, turning to stare into his eyes. 'I never pretended otherwise. I have to find a way to reconcile those duties with what I want and what you want. I think I can, if you will trust me.'
'You know I do. With my very life, ashke.'
His face looked like a beautiful sculpture by the firelight. Time seemed to slow down. Even Vree was stock- still, watching them both unblinkingly. Darkwind held his breath.
