If I Pay Thee Not in Gold by Piers Anthony & Mercedes Lackey

Author:Piers Anthony & Mercedes Lackey [Anthony, Piers & Lackey, Mercedes]
Format: epub
Tags: Science fiction, Fantasy, General, Science Fiction - General, Fiction, Fantasy - General, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction - Fantasy, Non-Classifiable, Fantastic fiction, Fantasy fiction, American, Man-woman relationships, Imaginary places
ISBN: 9780671876234
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2010-01-21T15:36:27+00:00

• Chapter 11

The numbers of Pacha never increased to the point beyond Xylina's ability to conjure, but she often went to her rest feeling strained to her limits. She had little time to get to know the men she commanded, and less time to learn anything about Ware. The strategy of feasting and entertaining the barbarian horse-folk never failed to work, however; not once during their crossing of the Pacha lands did the nomads ever seem the least unfriendly. Rather, each new tribe greeted them with the same enthusiasm as the last. It occurred to her that waking up alone and without hangovers after a night of feasting was as convenient for them as it was for the Mazonite party, because they did not have to make any exchange gifts.

Faro still slept near her, and she was glad of that. But she was feeling increasingly alone. She caught herself wondering what it would be like to spend the night with a man. To wake and find him beside her. To be the object of his passion. Even a demon. She knew that if she asked Ware to join her, he would gladly do so.

No! She had sworn to pay him in silver if not in gold, and she intended to hold true to that. This mission was really a third way to pay him, doing a service for the Queen. Once that service was done, Xylina would be free not only of her monetary debt, but of the dread harassment that had ruined her family. She knew her proper course.

Still, she almost wished she could put on paw-mittens and pretend to be from the Animal Kingdom, just for one hour. Just to see what it was like. Just in case she was missing anything. But of course that was impossible.

Ware, however, was possible.

She banished that thought and focused on sleep. Faro was right: she had more important concerns than such foolishness.

A new challenge was waiting for them on the other side of the great red-earth wilderness. Ware confessed that he was not familiar with the peoples beyond Pacha lands, although he thought he would probably know their tongue, since he was a student of languages. The Pacha themselves were no more help than the demon. At first, when asked about those who dwelled on their border, they could only shrug and say, "we do not know these people." Then, as the expedition drew nearer to the border, the tribes would say, "they close themselves behind their thorn-wall, they do not travel, they do not trade, we do not go there. We call them the Hates-All-People."

Not a lot of information, and it was difficult to tell if the Pacha had ever reallytried to make contact with this new nation. Nor was it certain what some of their primitive descriptions of the "Hates-All-People" meant. Xylina had been certain from the moment that she heard those words that the reference to a "thorn-wall" was the barbarians' attempt to describe the kind of fortified border she had expected on the Mazonite side of the Pacha lands.

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.