A starl attacked his leg, sinking its thick claws into the cloth of his legging, and on into his flesh. Tusks locked in his calf; he dragged her around, kicking viciously until he threw it off into its circling mate. But as his hands closed around her throat again he suddenly staggered back, losing all his strength. “You bitch!” thick with fear. He put his hands to his head, swaying; toppled and fell, sprawled motionless on the floor.
Moon stood over him, her voice raw. “I’ll teach you some tricks, unbeliever.” She stepped across his unconscious body, ran back to where Gundhalinu was getting to his feet uncertainly. She tried to steady him with tingling, heavy hands, saw the livid bruise swelling on his forehead. “BZ, are you all right?”
He looked at her incredulously. “Am I all right?” He cupped her face in his hands for a long moment, before his arms went around her, holding her close to his heart; she pressed her face against his neck. “Thank the gods… thank the gods, we both are.”
“All right, what do you think you’re — doing?” Blodwed burst in through the gate, stopped short at the sight of Taryd Roh’s body on the floor. The starls circled it like hunters over prey, growling threats. She looked up at Moon and Gundhalinu together across the room; Moon saw the question that came into her eyes, and the answer she got without asking. “Did — you do that to him?” Half-afraid.
“I did.” Moon nodded, surprised at the calmness of the words. “I infected him.”
Blodwed’s mouth fell open. “Is he dead?”
“No. But when he wakes up tomorrow he’ll — he’ll start to go mad. Madder.” Moon swallowed suddenly.
Blodwed looked down into Taryd Roh’s slack face. She glanced up again, her own face filling with a strange mixture of emotions, anger slowly separating and rising. She reached inside her parka, took out her stunner and adjusted the dial. She leaned down and put the muzzle close to his temple. “No he won’t.” She pressed the stud; his body jerked.
Moon flinched, felt Gundhalinu stiffen beside her. But she felt no pity, or remorse.
“Good riddance.” Blodwed stuck the gun away. “I told him he’d be sorry if he tried to hurt you.” She lifted her head, looked back at them with something deeper than possessiveness, and stronger than frustration. “Damn you, now you really did it! When Ma finds out what happened she’ll want you skinned alive; and she gets what she wants around here, I can’t stop it. Everybody thinks she’s holy, but really she’s just crazy.” She wiped her nose. “All right! All right, don’t look at me like that! I’m going to let you go.”
Moon swayed as reaction caught her, and slid down to her knees.
The carnivorous predawn cold gnawed Moon, even through the insulated clothing, the gray-brown woolen mask pulled down over her face. The stars crackled on the black dome of sky, the snow lay silvered under a gibbous moon beyond the gaping cavern mouth. “I never saw such a beautiful night.”
“Nor I. Not on any world.” Gundhalinu shifted beneath the thermal blankets, among the lashed-on supplies at the front of the loaded snow skimmer “And I never will again, if I live until the New Millennium.” He took a deep breath, coughed rac kingly as the frigid air assaulted his healing lungs.
“Shut up, will you?” Blodwed reappeared beside them for a last time. “You want to wake up the whole camp? Here.” She thrust something into Gundhalinu’s lap; Moon recognized three small carrying cages. “Take these back to the star port They’re sick. I can’t keep them here.” Her voice was as tight as a clenched fist. Gundhalinu worked the cages in under the blankets beside him.
Blodwed moved away to the other animal cages she had piled by the cave entrance. She picked up the first one, unfastening the lock. “And I’m dumping all these damn wild ones, they don’t even like you,” defiantly. Gray-winged birds fluttered out, tumbled astonished to the ground. They picked themselves up from the snow and flew away, crying their freedom. She jerked open a second cage; white furred conics leaped out in a mass, tumbling over their snowshoe feet, and bounded into the moonlight making no sound at all.
She opened the last cage, shook it; the elf fox cub rolled out, spitting its indignation. She pushed it with her foot out into the snow. “Go on, damn it!” The cub sat bleating in confusion, its silver-limned fur standing on end; picked itself up again, shuddering, and struggled back toward warmth and shelter. It found Blodwed’s foot in its way, crawled up onto the fur-and-leather of her boot, whimpering.
Blodwed swore, bent down to pick it up. “All right, then…” her voice cracked. “I’m keeping the rest!” She looked back at Moon. “But I know how to keep them better now. They’ll want to stay with me.”
Moon nodded, not trusting her own voice.
“I guess you got everything.” Blodwed stroked the cub’s head selfconsciously. “Even the distance-finder. You better hope you fixed it right, Blue.”
“What are you going to do now?” Gundhalinu said. “When you don’t have anybody to fix these things — or any way to get more? You’ve forgotten how to live like real herders and hunters any more-like anything besides parasites.”
“I haven’t.” Blodwed tossed her head. “I know the old ways too. Ma’s not going to live forever, no matter what she thinks. I can take care of myself — and everybody else, once I’m in charge. I don’t need you, foreigner!” She rubbed her eyes. “Or you.” She threw her arms around Moon suddenly. “So you better get out of here. You better go find him, before it’s too late!”
Moon hugged her, all wrongs forgotten, all forgiven; felt the elf fox squirm between them. “I will!”
Together they pushed the sledge out onto the open snow, and Moon settled behind the controls. She started the power unit, following Gundhalinu’s grudgingly surrendered instructions.
“Hey, Blodwed.” Gundhalinu twisted to look over his shoulder at her. “Here.” He tossed her the battered novel. “I don’t expect I’ll ever want to read that again.” He didn’t smile.
“I can’t read it either, it’s in your language!”
“That’s never stopped you before.”
“Get out of here, damn you.” She waved the book like a threat; but Moon saw her smile.
Moon switched on the headlamp, and they began the final journey northward.
34
Arienrhod sat enthroned in the audience hall, where before another fortnight had passed she would be receiving the Prime Minister of the entire Hegemony on his last official visit. She wondered idly whether he would pity her. But today it was merely the Commander of Police, and it did not require much imagination to guess the reason for her visit. It must be a sign of how well Starbuck had succeeded that PalaThion had come here herself.
PalaThion left her escort among the gossiping nobles at the far side of the hall, presumably so the two men would not be required to kneel. She was no longer willing to kneel herself, now that she had become Commander — a small victory she had won, the only one. Arienrhod smiled to herself as PalaThion removed her helmet and bowed formally before her. “Your Majesty.”
“Commander PalaThion. You look terrible, Commander — you must be working too hard. Your people’s departure from Tiamat isn’t the end of the world, you know. You should take care of yourself, or you’ll be old before your time.”
PalaThion looked up at her with ill-concealed hatred, and barely detectable despair. “There are worse things than growing old, Your Majesty.”
“I can’t imagine one.” She leaned back. “To what do I owe this visit, Commander?”
“Two things which I consider worse, Your Majesty: murder, and the illegal slaughter of mers.” She sounded as though she believed there shouldn’t be any distinction. “I’ve come with a warrant for the arrest of Starbuck, on charges of murder and of killing mers on land belonging to an off worlder named Ngenet. He has forbidden the Hunt on his plantation, as you know.” Her eyes snapped with accusation.