because you can’t go in the sun?”
He looked as if he’d briefly forgotten a harsh reality and she’d just reminded him. “No, of
course not,” he said quietly. “I just wanted—”
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com )
“You’re crowding me. Didn’t anybody ever tell you that females don’t like to be
crowded? One of women’s big three turnoffs. Not very sexy.”
For some reason, that made him frown, and immediately back off. His voice was gruff
when he asked, “What are the other two?”
“You’re wearing out number one. How about working on that first?” She turned from him
to get to the altar, and surprisingly, he didn’t follow.
She passed Scribe, who’d begun cleaning the temple—though not so much as to effect
order. He plucked a camouflaging tree limb off the damaged column. When he saw the
claw marks, he scowled at nearby creatures, who studied their hooves.
She strode past him with a kindly greeting, addressing him as “Sacred Scribe,” which
always put him in raptures, and he stumbled on the limb, nervously stuttering a reply.
At the altar, Riora was speaking with two elves, saying something about the “real-time
coverage of the competition online” and ordering them to “drive visitors to the site.”
Still feeling the vampire’s eyes on her, Kaderin hopped up, the only one in the Lore who
would dare such a thing. She plucked a scroll from a pile of them and unrolled it. Every
competitor would get the same list of tasks—and each list included the talismans or
sought objects, the coordinates for finding them, and a brief description. As usual, there
were about ten choices of tasks in any given round.
Once Riora was finished with her spate of PR, she said, “And how are your parents,
Kaderin the Cold?”
Kaderin knew Riora was inquiring about two of her three parents. Kaderin’s birth mother
had been mortal. “They sleep still, Goddess,” she said absently, reading. Gods derived
power from how many prayers and offerings they received with each passing of the sun,
hence Riora’s Internet attempt to garner more. But there were so few who worshipped
Freya and Wóden that the two slept to conserve their energy. “Interesting talismans this
Hie,” Kaderin observed.
In the past, Kaderin had always gone after the closest talismans first. Now, with more than
one real contender, she would devise new strategies, shake them all up. She would go for
the far-flung points and the more difficult tasks at the outset.
“I thought so,” Riora said. “Pity I’ll only get about half on that list. You know, because of
all the accidental deaths.”
Kaderin nodded in sympathy. Then her gaze landed on the option for the highest points
offered in this interval: twelve points to retrieve one of three mirror amulets. The most
she’d ever gone for was a prize worth fifteen points. This task wouldn’t be so much about
life-threatening peril but more about logistics. Whoever could arrange to get there first—
won.
Though the destination fell outside the Accord’s network, Kaderin had other resources,
and for the first time in a Hie, she was going to ask her coven for help. Just please don’t
let Regin answer when I call...
Kaderin heard helicopters outside, engines humming louder as their bows dipped to surge
forward. Strike hard, strike fast. Yes, that one. She rolled the parchment up and dropped
down.
Before she could leave, Riora asked, “You disapprove of my vampire knight?”
Kaderin faced her. “I’m well aware that you couldn’t care less about my approval. Or my
extreme and absolute lack thereof.” Why was Riora studying her so closely? Kaderin
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) flushed under her scrutiny. Riora had always seemed to take an unaccountable interest in
Kaderin, but this was intense.
“You seem
He looked as if he’d briefly forgotten a harsh reality and she’d just reminded him. “No, of
course not,” he said quietly. “I just wanted—”
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com )
“You’re crowding me. Didn’t anybody ever tell you that females don’t like to be
crowded? One of women’s big three turnoffs. Not very sexy.”
For some reason, that made him frown, and immediately back off. His voice was gruff
when he asked, “What are the other two?”
“You’re wearing out number one. How about working on that first?” She turned from him
to get to the altar, and surprisingly, he didn’t follow.
She passed Scribe, who’d begun cleaning the temple—though not so much as to effect
order. He plucked a camouflaging tree limb off the damaged column. When he saw the
claw marks, he scowled at nearby creatures, who studied their hooves.
She strode past him with a kindly greeting, addressing him as “Sacred Scribe,” which
always put him in raptures, and he stumbled on the limb, nervously stuttering a reply.
At the altar, Riora was speaking with two elves, saying something about the “real-time
coverage of the competition online” and ordering them to “drive visitors to the site.”
Still feeling the vampire’s eyes on her, Kaderin hopped up, the only one in the Lore who
would dare such a thing. She plucked a scroll from a pile of them and unrolled it. Every
competitor would get the same list of tasks—and each list included the talismans or
sought objects, the coordinates for finding them, and a brief description. As usual, there
were about ten choices of tasks in any given round.
Once Riora was finished with her spate of PR, she said, “And how are your parents,
Kaderin the Cold?”
Kaderin knew Riora was inquiring about two of her three parents. Kaderin’s birth mother
had been mortal. “They sleep still, Goddess,” she said absently, reading. Gods derived
power from how many prayers and offerings they received with each passing of the sun,
hence Riora’s Internet attempt to garner more. But there were so few who worshipped
Freya and Wóden that the two slept to conserve their energy. “Interesting talismans this
Hie,” Kaderin observed.
In the past, Kaderin had always gone after the closest talismans first. Now, with more than
one real contender, she would devise new strategies, shake them all up. She would go for
the far-flung points and the more difficult tasks at the outset.
“I thought so,” Riora said. “Pity I’ll only get about half on that list. You know, because of
all the accidental deaths.”
Kaderin nodded in sympathy. Then her gaze landed on the option for the highest points
offered in this interval: twelve points to retrieve one of three mirror amulets. The most
she’d ever gone for was a prize worth fifteen points. This task wouldn’t be so much about
life-threatening peril but more about logistics. Whoever could arrange to get there first—
won.
Though the destination fell outside the Accord’s network, Kaderin had other resources,
and for the first time in a Hie, she was going to ask her coven for help. Just please don’t
let Regin answer when I call...
Kaderin heard helicopters outside, engines humming louder as their bows dipped to surge
forward. Strike hard, strike fast. Yes, that one. She rolled the parchment up and dropped
down.
Before she could leave, Riora asked, “You disapprove of my vampire knight?”
Kaderin faced her. “I’m well aware that you couldn’t care less about my approval. Or my
extreme and absolute lack thereof.” Why was Riora studying her so closely? Kaderin
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) flushed under her scrutiny. Riora had always seemed to take an unaccountable interest in
Kaderin, but this was intense.
“You seem
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