Bryahn’s thoughts ended abruptly when the heavy branch struck the back of his head, sending him down to the ground with no more than a muffled grunt. The trail he had been following had occupied his attention and captured his thoughts to too great an extent, keeping him from knowing of those who lurked in the wood until it was far too late.
“I wonder what he would do if I left him,” Lisah muttered, her thoughts dark as she studied what she could see of the prairiecat who still kept her company.
“I was duty-bound to marry him, but am I duty-bound to stay with him? He certainly means to take a second wife at some time, and would probably scarcely notice I was gone.”
The girl’s thoughts darkened even further at that, the tears she had shed quite a distance behind her. The thought of needing to remain with a man who had no true feeling for her was more angering than upsetting, a circumstance she was becoming determined to alter. She had thought at first that the only honorable course was to remain true to the vows she had taken, and then she had remembered that honor was viewed rather oddly when men applied it to women. Bryahn had made it all seem so clear that night they had spoken, but since then things had changed so terribly. . . .
“I refuse to give up my sword,” she growled low, glaring at a prairiecat who looked at her with curiosity. “If he wants my sword he can try to take it, which means I may then end up with his sword. He’ll be sorry then he began this whole thing, most especially if because ’of that Duke Hwill decides to name me heir in Bryahn’s place. I think I would be helpless to keep from laughing aloud.”
She grinned wide at Wind Whisper, and the prairiecat grinned back at the distinctly catlike flavor of the girl’s thoughts. Her brother’s new mate was a good deal like him, and— Suddenly Wind Whisper was on her feet with fangs bared and a growl in her throat, and Lisah knew immediately that something was wrong.
“What is it?” the girl asked, straightening where she sat so that she might reach her sword more easily. “Did you catch the scent of something?”
“I heard—my brother,” the cat’s mindspeak came, distracted as she searched with all senses. “I felt his thoughts as he neared, and then they were suddenly gone. I distrust the taste of so abrupt a change. I will go now to search him out.”
“I’m going with you,” Lisah said as she rose to her feet, a flat finality in the thought. Bryahn might have been only pretending to have deep feelings for her, but he was still her husband. If something had happened to him, it was her place to find it out.
Wind Whisper moved silently and swiftly through the woods, the girl following almost as quickly and quietly. The dimness under the trees hadn’t yet changed to the darkness of night, but even if it had the prairiecat would have had little trouble. Her brother’s scent was strong where he’d fallen to the ground, as strong as the scent of strangers despite there having been a greater number of the strangers. Her lips peeled back from her teeth in a silent snarl; the mixture of scents told her the strangers had taken her brother with them, but the lack of blood scent was what kept her from racing after and slaying them all. With no blood having been spilled her brother might still live, and if so, freeing him of capture was of primary importance. She moved carefully off through the woods, following the mixed scent of those who were not far ahead.
Lisah moved along behind the prairiecat, her sword in her fist, her eyes roving as far through the wood as it was possible to see. When Wind Whisper had stopped the girl had seen the scuffed ground, the prints from a number of sandal-shod feet, the broken branches on nearby bushes that suggested something large had been carried past them. There was no indication of who had taken Bryahn and certainly nothing to say why, but the tracks the girl and cat more or less followed showed in how much of a hurry the kidnappers had been. That had to mean they knew about the camp and how many men were in it, men who could be called on to follow after and take Bryahn back from them. Lisah had considered calling for those men, but had quickly decided against it. To bespeak Duke Hwill, Bryahn’s sire, would have been easily done, but how long would Bryahn have remained alive if his captors found themselves in imminent danger of losing him to rescuers? No, she and Wind Whisper would follow and free him, and then a call could be sent to summon the others.
The chase led the prairiecat and the girl beyond the stream and to the right of the landbridge, deeper into the woods away from their camp. Those carrying the captive continued to hurry, those following kept pace a bit behind, and then Wind Whisper slowed. The ground a short distance ahead rose up to form low caves, and both girl and cat could see five men appear from the trees and rush ahead to enter one of the cave entrances. Four of the men had been carrying the burden of an unmoving body, the fifth scurrying a few steps ahead while looking back, and Lisah had never seen men dressed so strangely. Dirty white dresses were what they appeared to be wearing, and then the five were inside the cave mouth and no longer in sight.
“We must approach that cave very carefully, sister,” Lisah bespoke the prairiecat, who was gliding forward ahead of her.“Are you able to sense the presence of a sentry?”
“There is no sentry,” Wind Whisper replied, disdain clear in the thought. “All of the two-legs have gone within, therefore shall we do the same.”
“But we may not show ourselves till Bryahn is no longer in the midst of them,” Lisah cautioned, having no difficulty feeling the bloodlust coloring the big cat’s thoughts. “Then we are free to take their lives for what was done.”
A sense of reluctant but definite agreement came to the girl from the cat, and then the two rescuers gave full attention to approaching the cave mouth. Men who take captives but post no sentries, Lisah thought, shaking her head. What sort of people were these?
Entering the cave mouth gave no immediate answer to the question. Not only was there no sentry posted, the entire knot of people in the large cave were clustered around the five who had just returned. More than thirty, Lisah estimated as she and Wind Whisper eased themselves into the shadows to the right of the entrance, mostly men and women and a few children. The cavern itself, although large, was almost barren, with occasional torches on the walls and pallets of rags scattered about on the floor well to the left. To the right was where Bryahn had been taken, not far from a dark tunnel mouth, his body set down on the pebbly floor and bound with leather. Lisah could see him dearly when those who had been in the process of binding him stepped back, and then another man stepped forward, one who hadn’t been with those who had gone out.
“Brothers and sisters, we must bow our heads and give thanks to God Almighty for providing us with a new brother,” he said in a satisfied voice as he raised his arms. “This man, stranger though he be to us, will henceforth be considered one of our own, and we will bless him for his sacrifice all the days of our lives. Soon will come his finest hour, and he will be purified and made holy just as those who have gone before him. Let us pray.”
All of those standing around lowered their heads above clasped hands, just as though they understood what the man had been talking about. Lisah had no idea what was going on, but was able to see that all of the people there, men and women alike, were wearing long, thin dresses of dirty white with no decorations on them. The man who had spoken also had a band of stained and faded red wrapped around his waist, but there wasn’t a true weapon in sight anywhere. All of the men had long, unkempt beards, and some of them had lengths of tree branches hung from thin belts of white as dirty as their dresses, but not a single sword or dagger or dart or anything beyond the branches. And those weren’t dresses they wore, Lisah suddenly realized, they had to be what were called robes. She had never seen anyone dressed in them before, but that had to be what they were.