Heartwood by Barbara Campbell

Author:Barbara Campbell [Campbell, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781101165799
Publisher: Daw Books; Penguin Group
Published: 2005-05-03T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

IT WAS STILL DARK when Griane left the cave. Darak had been so exhausted from tracking the wolf that he never stirred. When he did, he would be furious, although strictly speaking, she had not lied. When Darak had returned last night, he had told her he didn’t want her leaving the cave for any reason and asked if she understood. And she’d said “Aye, Darak” with just the right degree of resentment to sound convincing. She couldn’t help it if he chose to interpret that as a promise.

After all, she had a perfectly sound reason for disobeying. Darak had his hands full with the wolf. It was up to her to contact the Trickster. Even if Darak could have gone, she was a far more suitable emissary. Fellgair liked her. He had called her “delightful” and “witty” and had praised her appearance. Her hair, anyway. And when she kissed him, he had most definitely kissed her back. The experience had proved mildly disappointing; she had assumed that kissing a god would make her senses reel and her pulse flutter and her body flush with … something. Mostly, she had noticed that his long whiskers tickled. Even Darak’s brief, hard kiss at the gorge had been more stimulating, although it had left her lips a bit bruised.

Belatedly realizing that she was stroking her mouth with her forefinger, she frowned and broke into a trot. When she returned with the Trickster’s promise to open a portal, Darak would forgive her. He would shout and threaten to wallop her, but he would understand why she’d had to go; he was willing to risk anything to get Tinnean back, too.

Although the chinks of sky had lightened to a dull gray, it was too dark among the trees to move fast. She had to guide herself with her hands, letting her feet tell her when she ventured off the narrow trail. Despite her care, she ran headlong into a low-hanging branch. She picked herself up, swiping impatiently at her forehead. Just a scrape, hardly bleeding at all. She’d just have to move more slowly. But Darak would be awake by now and he would guess her intention. She had to find the Trickster before Darak found her. Bent almost double, she hurried on.

Two ghostly forms loomed ahead of her. She straightened so quickly she slipped on the slick leaves and landed on her arse. Shaking her braid back, she looked up and recognized the twin birches where the trail veered.

Disgusted, she rose, wiping her hands on her breeches. Tinnean’s breeches. The feel of the soft leather comforted her. It was easy to remember his face—it was before her every day—but sometimes, she found herself struggling to recollect his mannerisms: the sound of his laugh or the exact way he’d gnaw his fingernails. It was silly, but just touching his breeches brought him closer.

But standing here rubbing them won’t bring him back.

The waterskin bumped against her hip. The stones she had packed inside it comforted her almost as much as Tinnean’s breeches.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.