Flewelling,_Lynn_ _Nightrunners_04_ _Shadows

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me.
Where to now? he asked.
Well, as much as I hate to disappoint poor Rosie, I think this would be a good time to take our leave.
Unless you d care to spend a night with her?
I think I ll take my chances in the woods.
They made their way back through the crooked streets, meeting no one but a few drunken sailors and
a would-be footpad, who thought better of it when Micum showed his sword.
No one challenged them at the stables when they came for their horses. The tavern windows were
dark now.
Thero drew a sigh of relief when they were finally away from the city and in the cover of the trees
again. So this is what you did, you and Seregil, when you were out on the road for Nysander?
In part.
And the parts that gave you all those scars?
This was an easy night, Thero. You were quick-witted back there, by the way. Not bad, for a
wet-behind-the-ears tower wizard.
Pleased, Thero took that for the compliment it was.
CHAPTER 40
Silver Eyes
JUST BEFORE SUNRISE, Seregil and the others found shelter in the ruins of an abandoned stone
barn. The house it had served had fallen into the foundation hole and there were no signs of life about the
place, just ruined fences and a dry well.
The barn had been struck by lightning and half the roof had burned and fallen in. Rats and bats had
taken over, and seemed none too pleased to entertain unexpected guests. A rodent half the size of
Ruetha leaped from the shadows and snapped at the little bundle of food Alec had brought.
Ilar let out a startled cry and tried to run, but Seregil dragged him into the shadows by the back wall.
Behave yourself, or this can be your permanent resting place. It s your choice.
Ilar went sulky and made a great show of scraping the ground with his foot to clear away the various
droppings before he sat down.
Alec kept the rhekaro with him as he and Seregil made a survey of the place. A brightening sky
showed through the large holes in the roof.
Yhakobin is bound to come looking for us, Alec murmured, peering out through the broken
doorway.
Us, or you and that? Seregil asked, pointing at the rhekaro. Ilar told me it was you that he was after
when we were ambushed. Because you re from the H�zadri�lfaie line.
Alec nodded slowly. He needed my kind of blood to make the rhekaro. He even tried to treat me
well, sometimes, because of it.
Only sometimes?
I didn t like him or the things he did to me.
Like what?
No, nothing like that. It was just-Can we talk about this later? I m so tired.
Of course! Seregil embraced him as best he could and felt Alec go limp against him for a moment,
resting his head on Seregil s shoulder. It was the first proper embrace they d been able to share, and he
didn t want to let him go. After the ambush, for the longest time, I was so afraid you might be dead.
Alec s arms tightened around him. I thought the same, until I saw you on the deck of that ship at Riga.
I knew then that I had to stay alive and find you again.
I m not sure who found who, in the end, but here we are. He kissed Alec and reluctantly released
him.
Turning his attention to the landscape outside, he saw no sign of pursuit but doubted that would last.
Who knew what sort of powers an alchemist had for finding lost slaves? Or the slave takers, for that
matter.
Ilar was waiting sullenly for them, curled up in a ruined stall now and shivering in his stolen cloak.
Alec sat down some distance from him and fed the rhekaro again. Seregil made himself watch, figuring
he might as well get used to it, though it still struck him as obscene.
Doing his best to hide his revulsion, he sat down beside Alec and opened the bundle. Let s see what
you stole for food. My belly thinks my throat s been cut.
The three of them ate sparingly, sharing a bit of bread around and paring hard cheese thin on slices of
apples taken from the orchard the night before. As always, the rhekaro ate nothing and didn t seem
interested in the water, either. According to Alec, the rhekaro had been given only a few drops of Alec s
blood each morning to live on, and nothing more.
Seregil took the first watch, sitting in shadows of the barn door with his back to a beam and a good
view of the western barrens. Alec stretched out beside him with his head on Seregil s thigh. Ilar remained
in his corner, snoring softly.
The rhekaro seemed to have no more need of sleep than it did of food, but it curled up beside Alec, as
if seeking the warmth of another body like a cat would. Or a serpent, Seregil thought, eyeing it warily as
he stroked Alec s hair.
The rhekaro stared back at him. Those unnerving silver eyes weren t blank, but the kind of intelligence
they might hold eluded him.
After a moment it turned away and looked down at Alec s sleeping form. Then it lay down beside him
in a similar position, and closed its eyes.
It s trying to act like a real being, thought Seregil, surprised. He waited a few minutes, then shuffled
his feet a little to make a noise. Those silvery eyes snapped open and it looked around, identifying the
source. Seregil moved his feet again to show it. It stared at him for a moment, and Seregil felt the hair on
the back of his neck prickling, strong as if there was lightning in the air. Apparently deciding that he was
either no threat or very uninteresting, it returned to its semblance of sleep.
The light was stronger now, showing Seregil something he d missed before; there was no mistaking the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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