Chapter 19

By the time the Mistress Ellspa was asleep, it was dark. If things were not the way they were, Cheeky would have been afraid to leave the hut in the darkness. But he had to go to the Uchendi village to find the Master Blade and tell him what he knew.

The Wise One had gone into the Uchendi village with Moyla, leaving Ellspa and Cheeky a short distance away, in case she needed them. The feather-monkey and his mistress were staying in a deserted hut in the woods not far from the village, awaiting word from the Wise One.

Cheeky had learned what was afoot from Moyla, who had sent a message to him. (Apparently telepathy worked over long distances, like radio transmission.) What Moyla had said was that tonight, the Mistress Wise One was going to send another Master-Cheeky had the picture of a young man who seemed to be angry all the time-to kill the Master Blade. If Cheeky did not go to the village and give a warning, the Master Blade might die. Cheeky could not let that happen, no matter how dangerous it might be to try to stop it.

Cautiously Cheeky crept out from under the blanket he shared with Ellspa and looked up at the roof, which was full of holes. He could see that the moon was in the sky. Maybe it would not be quite as dark as he had feared. But animals would be walking in the night bigger than he was and hungry enough to eat him. He could not see the mountains that during the day would have guided him to the village of the Uchendi Masters and the Master Blade. He might get lost. Then he would die even if he did not meet a dangerous animal.

The Mistress Ellspa sighed softly and stretched out her arms on either side. One hand nearly touched Cheeky's back. He stayed very still and took small breaths until he was sure the Mistress was still asleep.

Cheeky wondered if he should try to mind-speak the Mistress Ellspa without her knowledge. He might be able to do it. If he could, he might be able to make sure she slept so deeply that she would not wake up until long after he was in the village. That would be better for him, since then she could not warn the Wise One. It might also be better for Ellspa because the Wise One would not be so angry with her if she was put to sleep.

Cheeky did not want anyone angry with Ellspa. She had always been kind to him, not only in what she did but in what she thought. She really liked him, so much that he had sometimes heard her thinking that she wished he was a man. He had wished that she was one of the Feather People.

That could not be. Also, she was not kind to the Master Blade. She was still his enemy, and she would help to kill him if she could. He did not even try to talk to her about this. She would not change her mind, and she would tell the Wise One what he felt. The Mistress Wise One was not kind to anyone except Moyla, and not always kind to her. The Wise One would be sure to have Cheeky killed, or at least keep him from escaping.

He decided that he would not try to speak to Ellspa's mind. He knew more about strong thoughts, both his own and the Masters', than he did about mind-speaking. He was not sure he could enter a Master's mind without the Master knowing and stay there until the Master did something he or she did not want to do. So he would just go out of the hut now and hope that the moon would let him go to the village before Ellspa woke up.

Fortunately the hut was so ruined that there were many ways out. Cheeky used a gap between two logs. It was tight, but he finally got out with rumpled feathers and a few bruises. The ground outside the hole was hard, not soft like the ground outside the door to the hut. He would not leave any footprints on the hard ground. Beyond that was forest where he would also be hard to follow. He would not stay in the forest long, though-he did not want to lose his way.

Cheeky hurried across the ground toward the trees. At every step he expected to hear Ellspa shout, either in his mind or with her mouth. Instead there was silence all the way to the forest, and even after he got inside it.

Inside the trees it was very dark on the ground, but overhead he could sometimes see the moon through the branches. He scrambled up a tree until he was the height of six or seven Masters. Now he could see the moon even better, and there might not be any dangerous animals up here. Birds, yes-he remembered the hawks the Masters of the Crimson River sometimes used. But nothing else would be up this high unless it could climb trees as well as he could.

Cheeky started swinging through the forest, from branch to branch and from tree to tree. He was happy to be able to move like this, in the old way of the Feather People. He was not so happy that he forgot about the Master Blade, the danger to him, and the warning he must bring.

Blade awoke to the sense of something warm close to him. He wasn't surprised to find that it was Eye of Crystal snuggled against him, her bare rump pressed comfortably against his stomach. His hand crept over her shoulder and down to cup one full breast.

«Yeeeeep?» came a soft sound from the darkness around the sleeping furs.

Suddenly Blade wasn't sure that he was awake after all.

That sound was so much like Cheeky, but he was hundreds of miles away with the Rutari. There had to be some other explanation.

(«No, Master. It is me, Cheeky. I have come back. I want to stay with you. «)

In that moment Blade took back a good many of the things he'd said against telepathy. Cheeky's mental voice was absolutely unmistakable, and the darkness of the hut didn't make any difference. No problems with identification, as long as the other telepath wanted to be identified.

That started a train of thought that brought Blade wide awake and up out of the furs in a moment. Crystal murmured and rolled over, but didn't wake up. Blade hoped she would stay asleep until he'd finished talking with Cheeky.

(«How did you get here? Did you escape from the Rutari?»)

(«I left the Mistress Ellspa. She is in an empty hut that is all broken, about half a night's walk for me from here. The Mistress Wise One and Moyla are here in the village. The Mistress Wise One wears Master-skins to make you think she is something she is not. She hides-«)

Blade let out an oath that would have blistered the paint on the hut if there'd been any, and jumped to his feet. This woke Eye of Crystal. She sat up, naked and staring at Blade as if he'd gone crazy.

«I was right about the hiba-gan! It's no Holy Wanderer! It's the Wise One of the Rutari in disguise. She's got River Over Stones as an ally and they're planning to kill me!»

«Blade, what in the name of all Wisdom are you talking about?»

Blade took a deep breath. «I don't have time to explain more than once.» He repeated Cheeky's message, while Crystal stared alternately at him and at Cheeky. She seemed uncertain that the feather-monkey was really there, and kept rubbing her eyes as if this might just possibly make him go away.

When Blade was finished and it was obvious Cheeky was real, Crystal put on her loinguard and tucked her knife into it. She didn't bother with sandals or headband.

«I think you are telling the truth, or at least what you believe to be the truth,» she said. «However this may be, I must go with you. You do not know all the laws and customs, and you may need someone to speak of what we see.»

In other words, a witness. Blade nodded. «That is true. But you do not need to come into danger with me. Your father-«

«It would take time to wake up my father and bring him. If what you say is the truth, we do not have the time. If you have been told a lie, then there will be no need for the Guardian. «She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. «Besides, you swore you would take me to the war with you. Is this not the first battle of the war with the Rutari?»