Wolf's Bane by Tara K. Harper

Author:Tara K. Harper [Harper, Tara K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-02-18T06:00:00+00:00

XI

To wash myself in your waters,

To cleanse my soul in the sea.

Tehena found Dion in the courtyard. “Asuli bunked down?” Dion asked as the other woman approached.

“Uh-huh.” Almost unwillingly, Tehena added, “She had some stamina to stay in the saddle as long as she did, judging by the way she walked up to the bunkroom.”

“Does she need a riding salve?”

Tehena snorted. “If she does, I’d not be the one to give it to her. Let her feel for herself what she’s gotten into. She’s the one who was so eager to join us. Maybe she’ll leave us alone that much sooner when she finds out what it’s like riding with a wolfwalker.”

“Thanks,” drawled Dion.

“You’ve never ridden an easy trail, Dion.”

“If I could find one to run, I’d take it as fast as the second moon.”

“Hishn wouldn’t let you.”

Dion hesitated. Her voice, when she spoke, was quiet. “I sent Hishn away.”

“Away.” Tehena’s eyes narrowed as she took in Dion’s tone. “You mean away as in farther than a scouting?”

“Back to Ariye. To mate. To have her pups.”

“What were you thinking?” the other woman said sharply. “That with Asuli here, you had enough fangs out for one group of riders?”

“She’s not that bad to ride with.”

“I’d rather teach a worlag manners.”

“You might get your chance,” Dion returned dryly. “There was worlag sign in the forest near where we picked her up.”

“That only makes sense,” Tehena retorted. “That intern is a worlag’s spawn.” The lanky woman gave Dion a cold look. “We don’t need her with us, Dion. You don’t need her at all.”

“I haven’t the option of turning her away. Not yet, at least.”

Light spilled out of the inn as a couple of villagers left, calling their good-byes over their shoulders. Tehena and Dion, cast suddenly into shadow, were nearly invisible. Neither villager noticed them, but Gamon, who followed the others out, caught their still figures with his sharp eyes. He nodded to them unobtrusively, then moved on to the stable to put the dnu out to graze in the inn’s commons.

Tehena watched him go. “Hells. Maybe if Gamon and I put our brains together, we could get rid of her in just a few days. I’ve seen that old man play some mean jokes on his students.”

Dion’s gaze followed the older man. “He’s proud of you, you know.”

The sidelight from the stable threw Tehena’s too-sharp face into strong relief. “He should be,” she retorted. “It’s his own teaching he’s proud of.”

Dion gave her a sharp look. “He respects you more than you do yourself.”

The other woman snorted again.

“He’s your friend, Tehena.”

“He’s your friend, Dion, not mine. To me, he’s just a grizzled, gray-haired pain in a poolah’s rear.”

“Look who’s talking about gray.”

Tehena grinned slowly and fingered her stringy hair. “Yes, but I’ve had this since I turned thirteen. Back then, I was more concerned about keeping my head than with keeping my hair color brown. As for Gamon, he only claims friendship because he has no sense of my age—or lack of it, as you would say.

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