Wolfwalker - Wolf In Night Part 19

"Won't that change the sound?" he asked curiously.

"Aye, but they'll just think I have dead strings." She tuned up softly, and Payne winced at the slides and wails as the strings were stretched back into place. With her ear close to the guitar, Nori didn't notice.

"It'll stay sticky for days, so I can take it out when I want to carry it with me."

"You might want to start a new book, then, and keep that more visible." He opened the back of the wagon while Nori threw on an old jerkin.

Leanna was making her way down the aisle with two plates carefully balanced, and Nori asked in surprise, "You didn't eat earlier?"

"I did." He gave her a sly look. "With Vina at fireside. But Leanna knows I never turn down a good meal."

Her voice sharpened. "Did you eat from the common pot or from your rations?"

"You're kidding, right? With Vina's stuffed hostina on the fires?" He sobered at her expression. "What are you thinking?"

She lowered her voice. "I was thinking we should toss our jerky, trail rations, extractor roots-anything we've been storing. Anything that's been out of our sight. Get something fresh from stores."

"d.a.m.n," he said softly. "I didn't think of that."

"We'll need to change our water filters, too. And we'll need new arrows, perhaps other gear. Uncle Ki will have extra, but if ours have been switched-"

"His might have been also." Payne nodded. "We can pick up new gear in a couple of days, when we hit Wagontire."

"I'd rather do it now."

"There's that arrow maker in Greylog Laketon, a few kays off Willow Road."

"He's a gossip. Besides, I've never liked him." She hesitated. "Lantor Darklane is in Vallier's train. He'll have at least one or two quivers with the spine to match our bows-or your bow, anyway."

"His arrows cost a fortune."

"We have enough to buy them."

"Sure, if we skip meals for the next two months. We're supposed to be living on our scout wages, remember? Why do you think I was idiot enough to let you pick those seedpods while we were being attacked? Besides," he cut off her retort, "you'd have to appear at fireside during the contract hour when all the elders are there."

She looked away. "If you're willing, you could go for me."

Payne shook his head. "Not when they know it's you who lost your gear. We're both ranked scouts, Nori-girl. They have the right to askben'chovas from either of us if we want a fireside trade." He could see the tension that clamped her shoulders. He sighed. "I won't go for you, but I will go with you. I'll speak for us both, if I have to."

"With my thanks," she said quietly.

"You owe me."

"I always do," she said wryly.

They broke off as Leanna reached them. Payne put an easy smile on his face. "Food from the G.o.ds," he teased as he took his heaping plate. "Served by a moonmaid." He grinned as the girl flushed.

"I thought you might be hungry again," Leanna stammered.

"Aye." He popped a whole rootroll in his mouth. "Nori would have starved me. Ah, Leanna," he sighed as the hot flavor settled in his stomach. "What will I do when you Promise?"

Nori rolled her eyes as Leanna hurried away. "You're going to have to be careful with her," she told him. "She's got it bad for you."

He cut at the bollusk steak with his belt knife. "She's too young to do more than tease."

"She's barely two years from the age of Promising."

"Which means she's a little girl with a crush."

"Not so little anymore. Let her down easy, Payne. First loves can be more than cruel. And," she added softly, "I don't think you can afford to let someone get attached to you right now."

He stared at her with an unreadable expression. It was so like their father's that Nori almost shivered.

Then Payne turned his head and watched the slim girl walk away. "I see." He said nothing more, but his hand fingered the fork as if it were a knife, and Nori knew that he remembered.

It wasn't just Rishte pulling at her now that made her antsy. She was starting to feel trapped by the train.

"Perhaps we should leave the caravan." He frowned, and she added, "We'd travel faster on our own.

Hostages would be no use to them if we were out on the trails, out of reach."

He didn't answer for a moment. Instead, he chewed his lip while his mind raced, seeking the pattern.

The ruined arrows disturbed him more than the attack at the hedge. That had happened before anyone knew Nori found the raider code, which meant someone wanted them out of the way for some other reason. He said slowly, "They'll be watching for us to do exactly that. In fact-" He thought back to Connaught's words. "-they may actually want us to leave the train."

"But here, they know where we are."

"And here, we can see them coming. Plus, there are six dozen cozar to watch our backs, and two of the Wolven Guard."

She was silent for a moment, "We should at least bird Mama and Papa. Tell them to be careful."

"Aye, but quietly, and not by bird or runner."

"Tower then. It's faster."

He nodded. If they were targets, it was probably to get at their parents, not really to get at them. It made more sense than Brithanas being followed from Deepening Road. It also made more sense than someone simply wanting Nori's scout book. Without the raider code, it just wasn't that valuable. That, and the archers on the road couldn't have known about the code she'd stolen unless they had contacts in every caravan. It was an ugly thought, and his jaw tightened. He'd start questioning thechovas tonight.

He noted the tight line of his sister's jaw. "Don't worry so much, Nori-girl," he said easily. "We've already seen seven raiders. There can't be that many left." He plucked half a roll from her meal. "It's your own fault," he told her when she swatted at his hand, too late. "If you'd eat faster, I wouldn't be so tempted by what was on your plate."

"If you'd bother to get your own seconds," she retorted, "I wouldn't have to fight for my firsts."

She rubbed the back of one fist at her temple. Sleep had dulled but not dissipated her headache, and the slitted eyes seemed sharper. She wondered what would happen if she simply asked them to make peace with the wolves.

Payne frowned. "Better get some new herbs for that."

Aye, she'd lost hers to the worlags. She dropped her hand. "After dinner," she returned. "The healer is at fireside now, and it's still too crowded there. Besides, I want to work out tonight."

He rubbed his bruised chin. His voice was dry. "I thought we already did."

She slipped from the gate, paused, and turned back. The grey in the back of her mind was gnawing now at her wariness, till it was beginning to feel like fear. She drew her shirt more tightly around her. Her voice was low. "You have realized that, if someone tampered with our arrows, and if that someone was a woman, the one who was in our wagon, then it's not just those archers to worry about. There's at least one more raider among us."

He stared down the dark line of wagons and nodded silently.

He watched her head for the message master, then dropped off the gate and stalked thoughtfully to the fireside. He paused often to talk with the cozar, kept his eye out for achovas with a scratched cheek, but his attention wasn't on those he greeted. Instead, he watched those who watched his sister as she checked her duty log.

XIX Demons hide in all of us.

-Nadugur proverb Wakje and Ki returned as Nori and Payne were halfway through their workout. They weren't the only ones watching. Three Journey youths sat on the back of a gate across the aisle and looked on. At their feet, two young boys and a girl had sneaked out of their sling beds and were whispering excitedly as they watched. A couple of cozar and a lankychovas had also stopped and now leaned on the gate, occasionally shushing the children.

Nori and Payne ignored them all. Near the Test ninan, everyone watched everyone else, hoping to pick up last-minute pointers. In the open circles, a good workout was entertainment. Next ninan when the Tests themselves started, Shockton would turn into a circus. Youths from at least three counties would converge on the town to be tested for their martial and survival skills, while their families looked on proudly. Rank would be awarded by the martial masters, and Journey a.s.signments negotiated fiercely among the elders. And then the youths would be sent out in the county to look into a problem, sign on with a trade master, scout some obscure area, or, in the case of someone like Kettre, be a.s.signed to one of the underground labs where the sciences were still kept alive. Payne would probably be sent to Bilocctar or Sidisport to keep an ear out for rumors and news. Having lived in their parents' shadows all his life, he was almost desperate for his own Journey and a chance to be known for himself. He'd jump at a duty to slip into Bilocctar and tease the worlag that chewed at Ariye.

Nori had been watching him gnaw at his frustration for the last three years. Although she'd taught Test cla.s.ses for years for others, she'd still been surprised when, six months ago, Payne had asked her to start drilling him almost daily. He was good, too. Better than she'd thought. Now, in the night, the two moved fast, quietly, with only soft slaps and scuffs of boot on stone to mark their movements. The moonlight showed everything, like flashing black-and-white drawings. Soft blocks, sweep blocks, clutch blocks, throws. A murmured instruction, she attacked, and he fell back then turned it against her and lunged forward. She slapped him past, whipped around, and caught him in the kidney. He grunted, and they went at it again. Ten more minutes of that, and it was Nori's turn with attack drills while Payne tried to defend.

By the time Wakje and Ki stalked up, her speed had escalated, and Payne was starting to feel pressed.

The ex-raiders watched silently as she attacked with punches, ridgehands, and claws. "Again," she said flatly as he started to tire. Payne was sweating, but he focused sharply when she came in again.

Strike, tear- She forced the wolf back. She could almost see the attacker who had tried to take the elder. She'd struck here, high, high, low, at the side of the neck, back to the ribs, left, left, had driven in-Payne missed a block, and she pulled the blow. He still hissed when she struck his ribs. "Again," she said harshly. Her hands were blindingly fast.

Ki's eyes narrowed. She was still riding the high, the adrenaline and fear from the attack. He could see it in the intensity. She wasn't seeing Payne, but a target. She wasn't seeing her brother. It wasn't just the wolf-bond, either, that added speed to her hands. He felt a chill. He'd wondered how long she could hold it at bay and what it would do when released.

Nori didn't notice. The raider, she'd hit him there, but he'd brushed her off. He'd had a knife, and she'd clawed him eagle-hand, then hit right- Claw, kick- Overhand and a sweep so fast Payne had barely time to jump it. She struck there, and there, faster, harder. Payne missed again.

Ki said flatly, "Enough."

Nori caught her next blow before it landed, hung for a moment in her balance point. Her violet gaze was hard, and she eyed Payne as a wolf does a poolah. Ki's command had made her pause, but it hadn't really registered, and she held, breathing quickly, while the others were still. Then the tension drained, and she seemed to withdraw back into herself.

Payne straightened. He shook his head slightly, and she let out a breath. They saluted each other formally. Payne stepped back and grabbed his towel, wiped his face and arms, and slung the cloth around his neck. "Too d.a.m.n fast, Nori-girl," he said.

"Not fast enough." She didn't smile in return. Her breath was controlled, but her heart was beating hard, and she could still feel the need to strike with something more than her hands.

Wakje glanced at the Journey youths and cozar. The three youths slid quickly from the gate and disappeared among the wagons. The cozar nodded and moved on. The children hung by the wagon for another moment, but Wakje turned his expressionless gaze on them, and they scattered after the others.

Ki set his saddlebags down by the cook post as he studied Nori's expression. "We spoke with the gate guard. You're alright?"

She looked away. "I didn't throw up, if that's what you mean. Can't say much for me other than that."

Payne gave her a sharp look. She had that tone again, as if she was hating herself. Ki's brown eyes narrowed. He swallowed the chill in his gut and stepped in front of her. "Hit me," he said flatly.

She didn't think. Her hand flashed out.

Ki blocked-barely, though she didn't know that-and turned it aside. But he'd slid his knife out at the same time, and the point was at her ribs. Her other hand was already striking his wrist to slap the steel aside, but it was too late, and both of them knew it. Nori went still, and Payne froze. In the lantern light, it looked as if they'd been caught in a portrait of murder.

Ki looked down at her and read her eyes. "How old am I?" he asked softly.

Wakje watched carefully to see how she'd answer. He'd caught the flicker in Ki's expression. The other man had seen something in the girl, and whatever it was, it had made Ki as wary as Wakje. The wolf? Or something worse? He'd never asked Aranur why he'd been so cautious about his child, why Payne had been charged with watching over his sister, why Dione had allowed a pack of ex-raiders to watch over her only daughter. Don't let her go north, that was all they'd said, and watch out for her headaches. But it wasn't pain in her eyes as the girl focused on Ki.

Nori didn't notice. The steel against her gut was an icy fang, not quite cutting her shirt. "Sixty-one," she answered Ki.

The man's voice flattened. "How old am I?" he repeated.

The point of the steel p.r.i.c.ked skin. The flat of the blade chilled her fingers. It had gone in so fast, like a thought before it was formed. "Three hundred," she breathed.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Could you take me?"

She could feel the point against the pulse of the small veins in her skin. "Not this time."

He smiled without humor. She was better than she thought. Six months ago, she wouldn't have been able to touch that blade before the point had hit her gut. "What about the raider?"

She shook her head.

Ki let her feel the cold steel against her skin for three more eternal seconds. Then he stepped back and sheathed the blade. "He had years on you, as I do. Twenty, maybe thirty years of violence that you will never match unless you live as he does." He jerked a nod at Payne. "He outweighed your brother by twenty kilos, and you by more than fifty."

"He was built like an iron dnu," muttered Payne.

Ki's voice was dry. "Most men will be, compared to you, at least for the next twenty years. That's a density that only comes with age. It's the body's compensation for the loss of reflex and speed."

Payne glanced at the slit in Nori's-or rather, his-shirt. He said sourly, "You're both older than us by forty years, and there's nothing wrong with your reflexes."

Wakje smiled faintly, but the expression didn't reach his flat, black eyes. He'd lived in his own body long enough that every move was concise and direct and had his full power behind it. Most raiders achieved that, those who survived their first year. He'd lasted more than twenty before following Payne's father, Ki had fought for fifteen, and neither man was as fast as he had been. It was timing, not speed, that now kept them ahead of others. Even Ki, who had some of the fastest reflexes he'd ever seen, had slowed down with decades of age.

Nori's voice was low. "I know I should be grateful, but Uncle Ki, I hit him with everything I had, and I barely made him pause. I've trained with you all my life, and I still can't take one raider?"

Ki looked down with his pale brown eyes. She hated herself for failing, and more than that, she blamed herself for taking Payne into that danger. As a raider, he'd learned to recognize those emotions and use them to manipulate his prey. Here, it made him pause. She might be bonding with the wolf, but she had not yet fully turned away from him if she was asking questions like that. It gave him a strange feeling he didn't recognize, as if there were something wrong with his chest. He had the same feeling sometimes when he looked at his children.

He said slowly, "The jack had a knife, which didn't cut you. He outweighed you and hit you, but didn't break you. And you managed to take his prize from him and still get off with your lives. Was there something more you wanted?"

Payne murmured, "It's a d.a.m.n sight more than I expected when I saw you tackle the man."

"You at least threw him into a bush," she retorted.

"And you got off scot-free," Ki said sharply.

She looked down. "My apologies, Uncle Ki."

Ki studied her. She was still tense, still reliving the moment, and he said, "If this had happened eight years ago, what would have happened to you?"

She met his cool gaze. Eight years ago she hadn't been put through the intensity of training daily with half a dozen ex-raiders. They had handled her in monthly shifts, sending her off to the next Wolven Guard as she went through each town with her parents. She had trained before that, but she'd been a child then, and most of the lessons had been in the martial rings. The ex-raiders' lessons were different. Where the ring-trainers taught her form and finesse, the ex-raiders taught survival. "Eight years ago, I'd be dead."

"And four years ago?"

Four years ago, she'd been nearly nineteen. She'd been fast then, but not confident. She'd been afraid of the demon inside her, of letting it out through her hands. A knife looked too much like a claw. "I'd probably be cut," she admitted. "Perhaps dead." She forced her hands to relax. "I understand," she told them flatly. "I'm smaller, less experienced, and I'll never have your fists-"