The Vildecaz Talents: The complete set of Vildecaz Stories including Nimuar's Loss, The Deceptive Oracle and Agnith's Promise by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Page B

in the game preserve; she had seen their images of men on horseback, and she followed the paths they showed to her away from the huntsmen. But trying to avoid Maeshar’s guests led her deep into the forest, and kept her a fair distance from the three roads through it. Game trails provided her a route – a very indirect one – so that in two hours, she had covered little more than a league-and-a-half toward home. The barlo-cloak covered her, but it was cumbersome and scratchy, and she soon longed for her dolaj and brikes, and something for her feet; the left one had a series of little cuts that were leaving a smear of blood behind with every stride; if someone – or something – should be hunting her, the tracks she left would make the task an easy one. Her muscles ached and she longed to sleep, yet she kept on doggedly, although she was beginning to fear that she would not reach the Castle without some kind of discovery. If only, she thought, the hunters weren’t in the forest, she might summon a horse from the castle and ride home without any trouble. But Maeshar’s guests could be counted upon to capture any loose horse and claim it as their own, or chase it beyond the game preserve where it would not be accessible to her. She kept on her solitary way.
    About mid-morning, she came to a small lake; she recognized it from many other forays in the woods, and a rush of confidence came over her as she stopped to soak her feet in the chill waters, and to commune with a pair of black squirrels that came frisking down to see what manner of creature she was. She opened her mind to them, letting her talent see the world through their eyes. The forest seemed alive and intensely alert.
    Treetops, then branches and a dizzying descent to the rocks that made up the bowl of the lake. Curiosity and a touch of frantic apprehension as one squirrel bounced up to Ninianee; he sat up on his haunches, looking at the woman in the vast cloak with twigs and leaves in her tight, curly hair. Baffled incomprehension and nervous hope combined as the squirrel hopped a little closer.
    “I’m not that strange,” Ninianee whispered. “I do seem to be a mess, however,” she added as she pulled a knot of leaves from her hair.
    Another view of the lake, and a sudden alarm. Fright blossomed within the squirrel, cold and hot at once, sending him off toward the trees. The mate leaped after him, seeking safety.
    Ninianee sat up as the squirrels bounded away, chattering shrilly. Now she, too, heard the sound of approaching hooves, and she pulled her barlo-cloak around her, knowing flight would be foolish and dangerous. Carefully she got to her feet, preparing to begin a protection spell as three riders on splendid horses broke through the trees on the far side of the lake.
    “Halt!” shouted one. “Who’s that?”
    “Some kind of peasant,” said another contemptuously. “Just look at her. She might as well be an animal.”
    Ninianee recognized the voice she had heard the night before, the haughty fellow with the Courtly accent; she decided against a protection spell, knowing men of his kind were usually alert to them. She stood straighter, saying nothing, as they came to the other side of the lake.
    “Fairly nice for a peasant,” said the first.
    “What manner of girl is that?” asked the second, vast, unpleasant implications in his question. “What’s she doing out here, away from her family?”
    “A hoyden, in fact,” said the first, grinning.
    “Meeting her lover, no doubt,” said the third, and chuckled nastily. “How fortuitous. She has found three.”
    “Yes; so she has done,” said the second. “Three for the effort of one.” He swung off his horse, and, dagger in hand, started toward her. “You stay where you are, girl, and I shan’t have to hurt you.”
    This was too much for Ninianee, who shot him a hard look. “I am Duzna Ninianee of Vildecaz, elder daughter of Duz Nimuar. If you do me any harm, it will mean you will