Spectra Magazine - Issue 3 by Paul Andrews

Author:Paul Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, fiction
ISBN: 9781849892254
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
Published: 2010-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

“Can we trust him?” he asked Mari after dinner. They sat together on their favorite stump, watching the three half moons form a wavering line. “What if he takes you away forever? In my trance I saw you struggling together. I did not see who lived or died.”

“You can trust me.”

She stared at the well-trodden ground and her grandma’s flowers in their neat, small pots. “I promise that I will return.”

***

The next day everybody in Nest turned out to watch Fox take his leave. They loaded his boat with fruit and dried fish, and he pulled it upstream on a rope leash, Mary walking beside him.

For hours, as they made their way, they barely exchanged a word. Her snake lay still and smooth around her neck like a delicate necklace of jade.

Mari steered the man clear of lurking wild snakes and dangerous insects. Now and then he brushed against her, and each time her heart raced. Striding along with the sun on his cheeks, his eyes like fragments of the sky, sometimes he caught her glancing at him and smiled his crooked smile.

Towards nightfall they made camp in a grassy hollow scented with ripe fruits. “A beautiful evening,” she said softly. “Tomorrow we’ll reach the fork that leads you back to the Valley of the Ladders. Then I must return to my village.”

“Mari, don’t leave me.” He stroked her rich, dark hair, and her snake didn’t stir. She snuggled against Fox, who embraced her, kissing her hard on the lips. In a moment he was fumbling with the ties of her tunic.

She unhooked the snake from her neck, and he slithered away into the grass. Then she and Fox sank into it and she opened to his need...

Later, as he slept in her arms, parti-colored hair entwined with her long black locks, she traced the contours of his face with her finger as if seeking the path of her life. Follow this stranger? Up over the rim? She’d follow Fox Cortez anywhere... Was this burning, yearning feeling inside her love?

What about her promise to Gleeson then? And what about joining his chanters? Her snake had curled back around her neck. She tapped him, but he did not respond.

Fox was her chance to see over the rims. Surely her dear, wise grandfather already knew.

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