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away from her knee, scratched absently at its neck.  Besides we need to do
something for supper. Bird, beast or fish?
 Fish, I think. Shadith yawned. She wiped sweat from her face, pulled her
hand down and grimaced at the smears on it.  I d forgot about sweat. She
eased herself on the saddle pad.  Or the aches and pains a body can feel. At
least you fish sitting.
Aleytys raised her brows, turned her gyr toward the river.  I ve sweated
enough on occasion.
 It s not the same. Shadith wriggled once again on the saddle, reached down
to touch the small area of bare flesh between the top of the leggings and the
edge of her loincloth.  Ooh! You re going to have to do some healing, Lee.
You d think this body would be used to riding. Maybe it s just I ve got a
different way of doing it. She reached inside the tunic and scratched
thoughtfully.  Eh Lee, there s a drawback or two having a body of your own.
Aleytys chuckled.  It ll all come back to you, ancient child.
 You re a big help. Hunh!
7
 What you think of this? Shadith twisted the hook from the fish s mouth, held
up the flapping body, her mouth compressed into a disdainful pout. The fish
was long and skinny, gnarled, warty, with many scars and open suppurating
wounds. She held it a moment longer then tossed it back into the river.
 Enough to kill a goat s appetite. She frowned over her shoulder at the fish
piled on a swatch of grass.  You think any of those are fit to eat?
Aleytys yawned, watched her own float bob energetically, decided it was only
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the tug of the current.  I ll take a look at them later. She twitched the
pole, watched the float hop about, looked lazily at the heap of fish.  Think
that s enough for the two of us?
 Urn. Who cleans them?
 Flip you for it.
 Hah. Shadith began looping the fishline into a small neat coil.  I might as
well get busy.
Aleytys grinned.  You saying I d cheat? She started pulling in her line.
Shadith sniffed and settled herself by the heap of fish.  When you can make
things dance like their feet which they don t have are on fire?
 That s supposed to make sense?
 Yes. Shadith picked up a fish that was limber and snakelike with hard and
very sharp fin spines.  Ugly bastard.
 But edible, one hopes. Aleytys fitted the hatchet head onto the handle and
began lopping limbs off a down tree, the dead wood brittle as glass with
orange crystals of solidified resin spiraling through its dull cream. She
gathered the light fragments and brought them back to the hole she d dug into
the bank and lined with water-polished stones from the river. She knelt,
glanced at Shadith as she began arranging the wood in the hole.  No need to
hurry, she said finally, swallowing her urge to protest more vigorously as
Shadith s knife slashed recklessly at the fish, snicking off the dangerous
fins, stabbing at the belly to empty out the entrails.
 Yes, mama. Shadith didn t bother looking up or changing the way she was
working.
 I m talking to myself. Aleytys went back for more wood.
8
 What are you going to do? Aleytys finished the cha in her mug, picked a leaf
off her tongue.
 Do?
 Once we get off this world?
 Haven t thought much about that. Shadith searched among the bones for the
last flakes of delicate white fish, then set the plate on the grass beside
her.  Hook on with Swartheld for a while, I suppose. What about you? After
Vrithian, I mean. Going to stay on Wolff?
Aleytys lifted a hand, let it drop.  I don t know.
Shadith snorted.  Playing games. She got to her feel, brushing her greasy
hands together.  Where s the soap? Never mind, I see it. Setting up paper
targets because you won t face what s really eating at you. Towel over her
shoulder, she half-ran, half-slid down the bank, landed on a chunk of sodden
wood at the edge of the water.  You re not going to leave Grey until you have
to. Unless he kicks you out over Swartheld or something dumb you do. That was
one blazing row you had, the two of you after Swartheld took off. She knelt
and began scrubbing her hands.
 You shouldn t be fouling the water with that soap. The words were flat,
tight, her body felt flat, tight. She was suddenly and furiously angry, so
angry she could barely talk. So angry she frightened herself. She clamped her
teeth on her tongue lest she say things that would drive Shadith irrevocably
away from her, things she knew she would neither feel nor believe in a quieter
state. Like the collapse in the NewCity ruins, there was too much fury, a fury
so far beyond anything called for that it had to be coming from some source
beyond the irritation of the present moment. She pressed the heels of her
hands against her eyes and tried to stop shaking.
Shadith chuckled, willfully unaware of the struggle behind her.  Pollute
this? She splashed water about.  I shudder to think what it s doing to my
skin.
Aleytys ground her teeth together. The fire crackled and hissed, overhead waxy
leaves rattled, an unseen bird chirped a few times and fell silent, night bugs
flitted over the water, between the trees, whirring and chirrupping with
mindless persistence, and under all these varied sounds, the brushing roar of
the river. Aleytys shuddered, sighed, pulled her hands down as Shadith came up
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the bank, her face glowing from its scrubbing, her voice rippling
energetically through what sounded more like vocal exercises than any formal
song, to Aleytys at least.
Aleytys checked the cha-pot, split the last cha between her mug and Shadith s.
She felt deeply tired, lassitude like chains on her body a reaction to the
rage that had burned to ash moments before. She handed Shadith her mug without
speaking to her, then sat sipping at the lukewarm liquid while Shadith settled
with a sigh of contentment and a boneless grace against the trunk of an aged
gnarled tree. Aleytys hesitated, the silence between them was comfortable
enough now, but she spoke anyway, embarrassing herself but unable to help it.
 Grey wants a child.
 I heard. Shadith crooked an arm behind her head, leaned against it, turning
her face toward Aleytys. Her lips curled into a quick smile that quickly
faded.  What about you? The smile again.  You re the one who ll face the
fuss.
 I don t know, Aleytys mumbled into the mug.  Look what happened with my son.
Why bring forth another freak like me?
Shadith stretched, dropped her arm into her lap.  Well, I never regretted
being alive and look what happened to me. You figure out what you really want
then to hell with what might happen. She drew her leg up, tapped her fingers
on the knee.  How far would you say that valley is? We should aim for a couple
hours before dawn, I think. Reaching it, I mean. People generally sleep [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]