Veda's hazel eyes sparkled in the firelight, winking like however many
stars in a deep sky. Veda heard the music's beat, heard the quick tempo and
the sweet harmonization of the reed pipe and Bard Mikhail's lute. Herald
Wyrtes hummed along for a moment, and then she sang with all her heart,
singing words in some dialect of her Northern Clan, past the borders. The
music was haunting, and beautiful, with the hollow noise of the reed pipe,
the trilling of the lute, and Nathan's drums weaving together some weird
melody.
Brenna caught Veda's eye, and the girl's deep blues that were so typical of the Shin'a'in had a mischievous glint in them that was oh so typical of Brenna. Veda knew what this meant, and winced to think of the condition of her feet in the morning. Dancing. Brenna and Veda leaped to their feet at the same moment, and stood, back-to-back, in the center of the circle of Heralds and trainees, tapping their feet to the music.
:Wind dance?: Brenna asked, mind-to-mind.
:Fire dance,: Veda said, and Brenna nodded her agreement. Brenna had spent many a night with Veda in their shared room, teaching her Shin'a'in dancing. Veda learned well, and quickly, and the two friends danced together often at revels such as this.
The girls leapt into the air at the same moment, and spun round to face each other upon landing. A swish of Veda's mahogany braid and a few flickering, flame-like arm movements later they were in the air again, jumping and settling and jumping again, until all there was in Veda's world were partner, music, and fire. They swirled in endless patterns that reminded the eye of flickering shadows, bright flames, and crackling sparks. They danced, and danced, and danced, until they forgot everything around them and it was just as if they were the very essence of fire itself. The dance concluded with a synchronized leap where the girls' hands brushed, and they managed somehow to turn in midair and land facing each other, faces flushed and hot, breathless.
Veda and Brenna managed somehow to get back to their pile of cushions, and Nathan brought them brandy-wine and cool water to quench their thirsts and get their hearts beating at a normal rate.
"Once again, you have made it impossible for any of us to dance at a revel, ever again," Nathan said, sitting on a cushion next to Brenna. Veda laughed, and downed a glass of brandy-wine.
"Oh, come now, you know that Herald Coren will follow with some spectacular tale, and everyone will forget about us and wonder if his tale is actually true for once." Veda smiled. "No respect for good dancing, none at all." She sighed dramatically and sprawled over Brenna's lap.
"My, my…" Nathan began. "You two do look pretty together. Veda here, with her lovely, southern brown hair and complexion, and Brenna just a few shades darker with black hair and the everlasting Shin'a'in copper. Brenna, you could be Veda's shadow." Nathan smiled, and his cheeks dimpled. "Now, such a pity that you two won't grace each other's beds."
Now Brenna laughed, and leaned forward. "Nathan, you know very well that neither I nor Veda is shaych, and you should know very well that the only person sitting on these cushions who I find attractive is you." Brenna smiled seductively and lowered her voice to a purr. "And speaking of gracing each other's beds…"
"Oh, stop it now, both of you," Veda said, sitting up and shaking stray hairs out of her face. "I don't think that we three could ever be anything but especially good friends."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Nathan retorted, and brushed his ebony locks out of his eyes, which were, coincidentally, a very handsome gray-blue.
Veda broke the serious mood laughingly. "Keep dreaming, angel-face," she said, grinning. Nathan feigned astonishment.
"Angel-faced dreamer, am I? Well, perhaps I should encourage some rumors about you and Herald Coren, then. What was it you said?" Nathan paused, more for emphasis than to think. "I believe it was, 'Brenna, why does Coren have to be so gods-be-damned handsome? Oh, if he were to touch me, I would just die.'" Veda flushed at his amazingly accurate imitation of her voice.
"Stop it now, Nate," Brenna said. "You're embarrassing our poor little friend here."
"I can make it up to her," Nathan replied, and leaned in as if to kiss Veda. He blew a raspberry on her cheek instead.
"Oh, you!" Veda said, and endeavored to tickle him from head to toe, laughing the whole time. Only when Nathan's agonized cries of mercy were muffled by his laughter did she stop. The trio dwindled away the rest of the evening watching the performances of others and drinking the insanely delicious (and equally as addictive) brandy-wine. It was near dawn when Veda headed up to her room, without Brenna, who doubtless had found someone's bed to share. She fell asleep almost upon hitting the pillows, and didn't wake until late the next day.
Veda groaned, and rubbed her eyes to get the fog out of them. Last night I was up far too late. And I had far, far too much wine, she thought, recollecting the events of last night, or rather, this morning. Veda's head pounded, and she felt a wave of nausea. Veda reached for her wash-basin and emptied the contents of her stomach in it. Wonderful. Now I'll have to go to the bathing room to wash up. Veda reached for a clean set of grays and headed towards the comforts of a steaming hot bath.
Where's Brenna, Veda wondered, thinking back to the empty bed. Ah, yes, of course. She's most likely gone and found a bedmate. I wonder if she finally convinced Nathan of her charms. Veda felt a pang of envy in her chest at the thought of Nathan bedding with Brenna. Well that's odd, I wonder why I don't want Nathan and Brenna together. Why don't I want Nathan bedding with anyone at all? Veda continued to soak out her thoughts until she was incredibly confused.
Veda dressed quickly, and jogged up to her room to get what she needed for weaponry classes. And I've got to get something for this headache, she reminded herself.
Veda stopped abruptly at the door, seeing a mound of incredibly white clothing. There was a note atop the pile. She squealed with glee. Now she was a Herald!!! She had passed training!!! Oh, she had to go and share the news, that her whole year-group had passed! Veda's headache was forgotten as she pulled off her grays and wriggled into a set of her new whites, pristine and immaculate. Blessed Agnira, I look so different! Veda grinned to herself, and galumphed down the stairs at breakneck speed. She found Nathan sitting on a bench in the mess hall, eating a bit of chicken solemnly.
"Nathan!" she screeched, careening past tables and finally stopping next to his chair. "Nathan, we passed!!! We passed!!! We're really Heralds now!" Nathan looked up at her, saw her new clothing and the glow to her cheeks, and knew that she wasn't lying. Nathan yelped, as if someone had trodden on his foot, and hugged Veda tightly, grinning so fiercely his eyes watered. The sharp noise of Nathan's yell brought back the temporarily forgotten pain in Veda's head.
When they were fully done yelping and jumping, and Veda had gotten some willowbark tea for her hangover, Nathan and Veda went off to weaponry class, bouncing all the way to the salle.
"We did it, Kero!" Veda yelled ahead to the stern-faced blond woman, who was stacking practice shields neatly. Kerowyn smiled and nodded as the two former-students bounded up to her.
"Alright, you've had your celebration. Time for work, if you're going to survive," she told them. "We're ready to begin, here come the others." Kero pointed behind them, and, sure enough, a bright-eyed Brenna came along, with Tori and Blaise in tow. All of them were just as happy as Nathan and Veda, and all of them looked stunning in their whites.
Kero paired them off, making Veda work with Tori, and Blaise with Nathan, while she tried to get Brenna to guard her right side a bit better. Veda assessed her sparring partner with a keen eye. Tori kept light on her feet, and her light rapier was never in one place for more than a second or two.
Veda, on the other hand, favored slinking and striking, and then slinking away, keeping her body centered low to the ground and a dagger in one hand, a light, but broader sword than Tori's rapier in her other hand. While Veda tumbled and crawled, Tori leaped, bounded, fluttered, and flew. Tori fought like a hummingbird in all respects, flitting here and there to get in sharp pecks, and then even a victory chirp when the enemy had been conquered.
Veda fought like a thief, silent on her feet, and not daring a sound, even when she had won—or been injured. Veda was like an unearthly cat, arching her back and baring her teeth at the enemy, using every available inch of space to her advantage, and always making the first, and usually deadly, swipe. Kerowyn watched with amusement as Tori and Veda came to a very sweaty stalemate, and granted the girls rare smiles.
"You'll do," she said, nodding with approval. "You should be able to stay alive long enough to do some good, anyway, if you can avoid getting shot in one of your human-target uniforms." Kero winked and sidled over to Nathan to harass him about his defense.
The day passed without much more incident, nothing exciting happening until Veda's whole year-group was in the courtyard, laughing and joking about what might befall them on their internships.
"I don't care what any of you say," Veda said. "I just said that I wouldn't mind at all if I were to intern under Coren, that's all."
"Like hell you wouldn't," Brenna said with a grin, in her slightly accented Valdemaran. "Not that I would mind having Coren all to myself for eighteen months. Oh, but imagine having Wyrtes! That woman is so odd. Comes of being raised with one of those northern clans, I suppose. Wolf-clan, isn't she?"
"She is Wolf-clan," Tori replied. "she's very friendly, too, and Gods know she should have been a Bard. But, of course, Kletli had to go and choose her. Mara says that Kletli's just as strange as his Chosen, for all that I ever heard of a Companion that was celibate." Tori sighed and leaned back.
"Celibate?" Blaise inquired. "Havens, Wyrtes' Companion is celibate?"
"Yes, Delsin's heard that too, but not from Kletli himself. Just hearsay, and Heralds never make decisions purely on hearsay," Veda argued. "And why is that important, anyway? Kletli's doings are his business, and his Chosen's, and not ours. When do you think we'll be getting our assignments?"
"Soon, I think," Nathan piped up. "I got a slip of paper saying that our internships will start at the end of this week. One thing that's bothering me though…I don't know that they'll have enough Heralds to send all of us out separately. Some of the ones ready for internees have mage-gift, and they've been on circuit, so now they're getting training from those gryphons. And Shandi, Talia's protégée, is in Whites now, and ready for internees, but she just had that spot of family trouble with her sister and some Hawkbrother boy. Just had their first child, I think. So that leaves Wyrtes, Coren, Oliana, and Reuden. That's four to get internees, and five of us."
Veda nodded. "So two of us are going to have to double up. Argh, I just hope I don't get my aunt Oliana. She'll always be telling me off for some thing or another, playing mother." Veda sighed. "As much as I love her, she can be so overprotective sometimes. She never got to have children of her own. She's barren, and I think she resents that."
"Oh…But think if you and I both got Coren, Veda! We would be fighting over him like dogs over a bone in two minutes flat. And I would win." Brenna said with a huge grin.
"Well," Veda began, "that is because you fight dirty."
"I do at that," Brenna said fervently, with a shake of her raven mane. "But I'd still win."
The next day, Herald Wyrtes braided her silver-blond hair back, as usual, and set off to find the two young people she was supposed to ride circuit with for the next year and a half. A boy and a girl, she had been told, by the names of Nathan and Veda. Strange names, to her, but then, most people in Valdemar didn't have names like Wyrtes, or her father's name, the near unpronounceable Ja'hortesyth. Hellfires, not all Companions had names like Kletli, either. No, it seemed Wyrtes was the oddball here, with ringlets of spun silver-blond and the narrow, widespread eyes of some elfin princess out of a tale.
She went to the girl's room first, this Veda. She'd seen her dance, and knew by reputation the lithe, brown girl from the south, near the Rethwellan border. She was said to have a sunny disposition that almost made up for her terrible temper when angered. Well, those testimonies were supported from Wyrtes' own experience with the girl.
Wyrtes had been her tutor in Religions, two years back, and she remembered all too well what had happened when she had first had need of guidance. Veda was the kind of headstrong girl that never wanted to admit that she needed anyone, or anyone's help, for that matter.
Wyrtes would be sure to watch her step around this one, and not take anything she said at its face value. Wyrtes knocked on the door and it swung open, revealing the girl whose huge, bright hazel eyes dominated the rest of her delicate features.
"Veda?" Wyrtes asked, and got a nod in return. "I am Herald Wyrtes, I am to be your supervising Herald for your internship…" Veda nodded, and smiled.
"Yes, I'd gotten that message. Gods, Wyrtes, it's nice to see you again! I'm all ready, as well. We'll be going to Evendim, Sector one, right?" At Wyrtes' nod, Veda smiled again. "Good, are we going now?"
"No," Wyrtes answered, and brushed a stray curl out of her eyes, wishing she had had time for a better braid. "No, you aren't the only internee I'm taking with me. We need to go pick up your other year mate, Nathan, it says here."
"Oh, Nathan. I can mindcall him, if you'd like. It'll be quicker, he's all the way down at the other end of the building. I'm a strong mindspeaker, and he is too and an Empath." Wyrtes nodded again, more than a bit bewildered at Veda's speech, which had been said very quickly. Needless to say, Wyrtes' Valdemaran would be a lot quicker after spending more time with this girl.
A few scant moments later, Nathan came determinedly down the hallway, and set down two packs at Wyrtes feet.
"Heyla, Veda," he said, with a twinkle in his eye and a big wink. "Herald Wyrtes, I am Nathan. I believe I am your other internee." Nathan smiled at her, and an enchanting smile it was. Nathan was very good looking, jet- black hair, grayish eyes, and a rounded nose that gave the impression of boyishness.
Nathan and Veda were very comfortable around each other, that much was clear to Wyrtes as Nathan hugged her tight, and, from the vague concentrating looks on their faces, they began having an impromptu mindspeech conversation. Wyrtes sighed. It would be most difficult to come to know both of them as well as they knew each other, that's for sure.
"Well, we should go now." Wyrtes decided to break her stern and foreboding mask. "I hope Delsin and Trevvan can keep up with my Kletli. He'll give you a run for your money." Wyrtes laughed, grabbed a couple packs, and sprinted down the hall, leaving two very surprised eighteen year olds in her wake.
"What are those things?" Nathan asked, staring at the three creatures in front of him. "These aren't chirras, are they?"
"No," Wyrtes said, smiling at Nathan's bewildered expression. "These are a rare breed of longhair mules." The elf-like Herald patted the shaggy shoulder of the black mule, and its brown-gray counterpart snorted and moved over for a scratch as well. Wyrtes laughed and began to load packs onto the animals.
Veda hadn't exactly been displeased to hear that she was to ride circuit with Wyrtes. In her second year, Wyrtes had tutored her on the very complicated religion of her northern tribes. Why, Veda liked Wyrtes, even if the other trainees had avoided her out of fear for her supposedly barbaric customs. Veda hadn't seen any supporting evidence of the rumors that Wyrtes' clan's totem, a giant spirit-wolf, ate a sacrificial child a year to bring the clan prosperity in the hunt.
Of course, Veda had been half afraid to ask the question for fear the rumors be true.
Veda took part eagerly in the work of the morning, fetching supplies and loading mules, and checking and re-checking all of the Companions' abundant straps and buckles hanging from the silver gilded saddles. The entire group was ready to go, it seemed, but Veda made one last round of the Companions.
Delsin had warmed right up to Kletli, it seemed, and the two sat in quiet company much like the old grannies of Veda's village had done, except that Delsin and Kletli weren't knitting.
:Everything comfortable, dearest?: Veda asked, patting Delsin's soft flank.
:For the third time, yes. Everything is fine.: Delsin snorted and tossed his mane, and turned to look at her in contempt. :If everything wasn't comfortable, you know we'd be giving you humans an earful.: Veda laughed and smiled, and walked over to check Trevvan and Kletli. Trevvan was fine, and looked at her the same way Delsin had, with mild distaste present in the sapphire eyes.
"Alright, I get the picture," she laughed again and turned towards Kletli. Her eyes met his with a shock. Kletli looked like every other Companion in every respect, except that instead of the normal sky blue, sapphire, or the occasional blue-violet, Kletli's eyes were quite clearly, and quite startlingly, a deep blue-green, almost teal. The eyes looked at her and smiled, somehow, and she got the impression that Kletli was laughing at her surprise.
:Everything's fine, thank you,: a new voice spoke into her head. Veda blinked.
:Scared you, have I?: now a mindvoice did laugh in her "ears."
:You're talking to me,: Veda said, in awe, for lack of anything better to say.
:I'd noticed, that, girl. Now, are you just going to stand there and stare at me, or are you going to ride circuit?: Kletli put his soft nose into Veda's hand and nudged her towards Delsin. Veda mounted, and sat in silence, shocked. Wyrtes noticed her blank staring and looked from her, to Kletli, and back again. She threw her head back and laughed.
"I should have warned you," the older woman said, patting Veda's thigh sympathetically. "Old Kletli here likes to mindspeak anyone he pleases, and he doesn't give a damn for the consequences." Wyrtes mounted and gave Veda a big smile. "I daresay that won't be the last time Kletli speaks to you." The women waited for Nathan to mount, and when he had, they trotted through the gates of the Collegia into the streets of Haven.
The streets were most crowded in the inner-city commercial area, with shrieking, bartering women with huge baskets laden with purchases and gruff merchants yelling prices and wares. The crowd parted a bit for the three Companions and their Heralds, but not enough to let the silvery apparitions go as fast as they would have liked.
Veda and Delsin could breathe a bit easier once into the purely residential part of Haven, at least here people kept to the sides of the streets, and the noise was restricted to the sharp chatter of laundry maids and the polite conversation of the highborn beside their pristine flowerbeds ensconced in quaint whitewashed boxes. But once outside the gates of Haven, the Companions' trots became brisker, less controlled, as they rode past the houses and farms that grew farther and farther apart the further they went along the road.
"Which road is this?" Nathan asked, fracturing the silence with his smooth baritone voice.
"Exile's Road," Wyrtes replied. "Tonight we'll stay in a Waystation outside of a small village called Stalmar's Pointe. Our first large village will be Forst Reach, and we won't reach that for a week or two, depending on how many disputes we have along the way."
"Forst Reach? Isn't that the place with the Ashkevron warhorses?" Veda pondered.
Nathan nodded. "Yes, it is. And speaking of the family, the Ashkevrons are the family that put out Herald-Mages Vanyel and Savil. The Ashkevrons are a very prominent family out in western Valdemar, I've heard."
"Oh." Veda didn't have anything else to say in reply to that, so she changed the subject. "Who did the others get for supervising Heralds?" Wyrtes cleared her throat, but Nathan answered anyway.
Nathan chuckled. "Well, your aunt got Blaise, and Reuden got Tori. And Veda," he said, pausing, "Coren got Brenna."
Veda gasped. "The council must be out of their minds! They'll be in bed together in a second!"
"Where do you think she went after the revel?" Nathan asked, grinning maliciously.
"No! Are you sure? No wonder she seemed so assured that she would be the one to win the man: she already had! And she tried to get me to put money on it, as well." Veda shook her head and laughed.
"I can just see Brenna happily taking your money. Sure enough, Svetlana would have made her give it back, eventually, but Brenna would be teasing you about it until you're old and gray," Nathan jeered.
"Very few Heralds live to be old and gray," Wyrtes interjected. And on that melancholy note, the conversation was ended.
Veda, Nathan, and Wyrtes rode until it was almost dusk. When they reached the Waystation, they fed the Companions and made a fire. Veda plopped herself down on the hearth, glad to be out of the saddle.
"Sore?" Wyrtes asked, echoing Veda's thoughts. Veda nodded weakly and continued to bask in the heat.
"Don't fall asleep now, Veda. You have to eat," Wyrtes said, filling a pot with dried meat, water, and herbs from a package. She placed the pot over the fire where it simmered mouth-wateringly for what seemed like an eternity, but it was likely only a few moments, until Wyrtes took the pot off the fire and spooned the soup into three bowls.
All of the Heralds ate heartily of that soup, and sat in a contented stupor until Wyrtes announced that it would be time for bed. Wyrtes and Veda undressed quite shamelessly, but Nathan stuttered and blushed, and turned towards a wall to undress.
Wyrtes noticed his efforts and clamped him on the back the moment he was dressed.
"Shy, are we? Nothing we've got that you haven't seen before, Nate." At Nathan's deep flush, she had to force down a smile. "Unless this is something you haven't seen before. Oh, poor boy. Poor, virgin boy." Nathan flushed from the tips of his ears to the roots of his ebony hair at her comments.
"I apologize, Nathan. That was…ahem…rude of me. But now, we don't mind if you see as long as you don't ogle us to death. Come now, lad, it's going to be a long year and a half if you keep being such a prude! But now, let's just sleep." Nathan nodded slowly and headed for his bed-box.
Veda slept soundly that night, and awoke refreshed, with only a distant memory of the ache of her legs and butt. She stretched heartily and yawned, pulling herself out of bed as she did so. The moment she was on the floor, she breathed deeply and caught a whiff of something that smelled exceptionally delicious, and looked to see not Wyrtes, but Nathan manning a pan over the fire.
"Morning," he said, happily, with a big smile, almost not daring to take his attention from the pan affront him.
Veda groaned. "Why are you so cheerful? It is not right to be cheerful at this unholy hour! Everything should be quiet, as if beckoning you back to bed."
"'Fraid not, sister. Breakfast?"
"What are those?" Veda asked, abandoning her feigned grouchiness and peering at a mound of golden brown pats lying on a scrap of linen.
"Breakfast goodies. Griddle cakes," he replied simply, and poured a new circle of batter on the pan with a tin cup. He took his little wooden spatula and flipped up the edge of one of the cooking cakes. It was a pretty, beige color, like tanned leather or honeycomb. He seemed satisfied, and flipped the little pat over with a hiss and a spit from the pan.
Veda picked up a wooden plate and piled on several of the golden cakes, and made her way to the corner where Wyrtes sat. The older Herald was chewing with a most savory expression on her face, and nodded towards the jar at her side and pointed with a fork. Veda sat beside Wyrtes, opened it experimentally, and sniffed. It seemed to be berries in their syrups, sweetened. Veda took a look at Wyrtes' plate. Sure enough, it sported a mound of the cakes smothered in the berry concoction.
Veda spooned the delicious-smelling berries onto her griddle cakes and took an experimental bite. The cakes themselves were fluffy and breadlike, well cooked in the grease of the pan. The fire had warmed the berry sauce, and it was sweetened by just enough sugar to take most of the sourness out of the strawberries and blackberries, but not sweetened overmuch, allowing her to taste the juice of each berry directly.
Veda delved into her food more avidly this time, taking a large bite and closing her eyes, savoring the mingling berry flavors and the texture of her warm, golden cakes. Veda ate quickly, not wishing her delicious cakes to become less so by getting cold. Nathan sat beside her, eating his own breakfast with a speed that equaled—or surpassed—Veda's own. Veda set her plate down with a contented sigh, just as Nathan finished his cakes and berries.
"Lady, that is the best breakfast meal I have had in a long time. Nate, what was that?" Veda looked at him, curiosity in her eyes. Nathan grinned at her, a berry-stained grin. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, and gave her a better estimation of a courtly smile.
"I told you. They were griddle cakes." Nathan stood up and took his plate and Veda's to the washing sink, filled with foaming water. She glared at him as he submerged them in water, and went back to the fireside.
"I'm still waiting for an answer," she said, still glaring as he wrapped up a few remaining cakes in the scrap of linen. Wyrtes looked at this little charade with amusement, stifling laughter at her internees' audacious blows.
"What, you want a step-by-step recollection of how they came into existence?" Nathan laughed and slipped the bundle of cakes into a bag waiting by the door, and turned to go back to the washing sink, only to find Veda standing in front of him.
"Stop playing coy. I want to know what they were, not just a name. I'd like to be able to duplicate that," she said, prodding him with an accusing finger on every syllable.
"Hunger is the best spice," he said, flashed a mischievous grin, and dodged Veda. She followed him right back to the washing sink, but before he could get within an armslength of it, his feet were swept out from under him.
Veda stood above him, smiling down. She leaned down with the grace of a dancer, and sat herself right down on poor Nathan's abdomen.
"Now," she began, the smile transforming from condescending to wicked. "I want answers, and am I going to get them, or am I going to be forced to resort to my old method of tickle and conquer?" She poised her hands over his abdomen, ready to tickle, and gave him yet another glare of false animosity.
"Oh, anything but that, Lady save me!" he said, sarcastically, and Nathan wriggled, trying to get free, but Veda had him securely pinned between herself and the floor.
"You were forewarned of this fate," she said maliciously, and began to tickle him mercilessly, in what were obviously responsive places, as he began to convulse and shriek and giggle.
"Mercy?" Veda asked, pausing in her torturous ways for the moment.
"Never," he muttered, and Veda took up her previous amusements. Wyrtes watched the whole thing, shaking her head as they played like children on the floor, though she was eighteen, he was soon to be nineteen, and both of them full Heralds at that. And to think, she thought, this is all over what we had for breakfast.
"Mercy?" Veda inquired again, panting. Nathan nodded, out of breath. "No, no, no," she said venomously, "You have to say it."
Nathan panted and caught his breath quickly. "Mercy, mercy, I beg of you!" Veda lowered her hands but did not move from her perch on his stomach.
"I want my answers," she said. Nathan nodded weakly and began to speak.
"In them, eggs, flour, a pinch of baking powder, and little else. Cook them in grease, butter or oil, or something of the sort. And now that you have your answers—" Nathan paused as Veda moved off him. "It is high time for payback." Nathan grabbed her around the ankles and whipped her back down onto the ground. He grasped a foot in both hands and pinned the other beneath him, and he began to do enticing things to her foot.
He traced patterns on her soft skin, and she shivered slightly, and when he knew her feeling in that foot was aroused. . . Nathan tickled just as mercilessly as she had, even as she kicked and strained with all her might, she could not get loose.
"Demon!" she yelled, with all the infusions of anger and helpless glee in her voice. "Demon, bastard, GET OFF OF ME!!!" Veda cackled, screeching at the top of her range. She strained and kicked as he touched her lightly and brushed all his fingers against the underside of her foot. He let her go, eventually, and she placed a well-aimed kick to the arm supporting his upper body, and he fell back with a barely audible ooph.
Wyrtes paced over to the limp pair lying in the middle of the room.
"We're still going to be riding all day, you know," she said, with a suppressed smile. "So I sincerely hope that you can regain all of the energy you just spent in your—wrestling." Wyrtes turned on her heel and escaped into the morning air, laughing uncontrollably the moment she was out.
Nathan and Veda looked at each other, and began to laugh again. They clambered to their feet, brushed themselves off, and exchanged a look.
"We'd better get on the road soon, or Wyrtes'll have a litter." Nathan grinned at Veda.
"C'mon, demon-child, let's go." Veda picked up her pack and sprinted to the door, still giggling. Nathan followed on her heels carrying his own packs towards the three waiting Companions and a now completely somber Wyrtes. Veda winced to think of how her buttocks would ache at the end of the day…
Brenna caught Veda's eye, and the girl's deep blues that were so typical of the Shin'a'in had a mischievous glint in them that was oh so typical of Brenna. Veda knew what this meant, and winced to think of the condition of her feet in the morning. Dancing. Brenna and Veda leaped to their feet at the same moment, and stood, back-to-back, in the center of the circle of Heralds and trainees, tapping their feet to the music.
:Wind dance?: Brenna asked, mind-to-mind.
:Fire dance,: Veda said, and Brenna nodded her agreement. Brenna had spent many a night with Veda in their shared room, teaching her Shin'a'in dancing. Veda learned well, and quickly, and the two friends danced together often at revels such as this.
The girls leapt into the air at the same moment, and spun round to face each other upon landing. A swish of Veda's mahogany braid and a few flickering, flame-like arm movements later they were in the air again, jumping and settling and jumping again, until all there was in Veda's world were partner, music, and fire. They swirled in endless patterns that reminded the eye of flickering shadows, bright flames, and crackling sparks. They danced, and danced, and danced, until they forgot everything around them and it was just as if they were the very essence of fire itself. The dance concluded with a synchronized leap where the girls' hands brushed, and they managed somehow to turn in midair and land facing each other, faces flushed and hot, breathless.
Veda and Brenna managed somehow to get back to their pile of cushions, and Nathan brought them brandy-wine and cool water to quench their thirsts and get their hearts beating at a normal rate.
"Once again, you have made it impossible for any of us to dance at a revel, ever again," Nathan said, sitting on a cushion next to Brenna. Veda laughed, and downed a glass of brandy-wine.
"Oh, come now, you know that Herald Coren will follow with some spectacular tale, and everyone will forget about us and wonder if his tale is actually true for once." Veda smiled. "No respect for good dancing, none at all." She sighed dramatically and sprawled over Brenna's lap.
"My, my…" Nathan began. "You two do look pretty together. Veda here, with her lovely, southern brown hair and complexion, and Brenna just a few shades darker with black hair and the everlasting Shin'a'in copper. Brenna, you could be Veda's shadow." Nathan smiled, and his cheeks dimpled. "Now, such a pity that you two won't grace each other's beds."
Now Brenna laughed, and leaned forward. "Nathan, you know very well that neither I nor Veda is shaych, and you should know very well that the only person sitting on these cushions who I find attractive is you." Brenna smiled seductively and lowered her voice to a purr. "And speaking of gracing each other's beds…"
"Oh, stop it now, both of you," Veda said, sitting up and shaking stray hairs out of her face. "I don't think that we three could ever be anything but especially good friends."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Nathan retorted, and brushed his ebony locks out of his eyes, which were, coincidentally, a very handsome gray-blue.
Veda broke the serious mood laughingly. "Keep dreaming, angel-face," she said, grinning. Nathan feigned astonishment.
"Angel-faced dreamer, am I? Well, perhaps I should encourage some rumors about you and Herald Coren, then. What was it you said?" Nathan paused, more for emphasis than to think. "I believe it was, 'Brenna, why does Coren have to be so gods-be-damned handsome? Oh, if he were to touch me, I would just die.'" Veda flushed at his amazingly accurate imitation of her voice.
"Stop it now, Nate," Brenna said. "You're embarrassing our poor little friend here."
"I can make it up to her," Nathan replied, and leaned in as if to kiss Veda. He blew a raspberry on her cheek instead.
"Oh, you!" Veda said, and endeavored to tickle him from head to toe, laughing the whole time. Only when Nathan's agonized cries of mercy were muffled by his laughter did she stop. The trio dwindled away the rest of the evening watching the performances of others and drinking the insanely delicious (and equally as addictive) brandy-wine. It was near dawn when Veda headed up to her room, without Brenna, who doubtless had found someone's bed to share. She fell asleep almost upon hitting the pillows, and didn't wake until late the next day.
Veda groaned, and rubbed her eyes to get the fog out of them. Last night I was up far too late. And I had far, far too much wine, she thought, recollecting the events of last night, or rather, this morning. Veda's head pounded, and she felt a wave of nausea. Veda reached for her wash-basin and emptied the contents of her stomach in it. Wonderful. Now I'll have to go to the bathing room to wash up. Veda reached for a clean set of grays and headed towards the comforts of a steaming hot bath.
Where's Brenna, Veda wondered, thinking back to the empty bed. Ah, yes, of course. She's most likely gone and found a bedmate. I wonder if she finally convinced Nathan of her charms. Veda felt a pang of envy in her chest at the thought of Nathan bedding with Brenna. Well that's odd, I wonder why I don't want Nathan and Brenna together. Why don't I want Nathan bedding with anyone at all? Veda continued to soak out her thoughts until she was incredibly confused.
Veda dressed quickly, and jogged up to her room to get what she needed for weaponry classes. And I've got to get something for this headache, she reminded herself.
Veda stopped abruptly at the door, seeing a mound of incredibly white clothing. There was a note atop the pile. She squealed with glee. Now she was a Herald!!! She had passed training!!! Oh, she had to go and share the news, that her whole year-group had passed! Veda's headache was forgotten as she pulled off her grays and wriggled into a set of her new whites, pristine and immaculate. Blessed Agnira, I look so different! Veda grinned to herself, and galumphed down the stairs at breakneck speed. She found Nathan sitting on a bench in the mess hall, eating a bit of chicken solemnly.
"Nathan!" she screeched, careening past tables and finally stopping next to his chair. "Nathan, we passed!!! We passed!!! We're really Heralds now!" Nathan looked up at her, saw her new clothing and the glow to her cheeks, and knew that she wasn't lying. Nathan yelped, as if someone had trodden on his foot, and hugged Veda tightly, grinning so fiercely his eyes watered. The sharp noise of Nathan's yell brought back the temporarily forgotten pain in Veda's head.
When they were fully done yelping and jumping, and Veda had gotten some willowbark tea for her hangover, Nathan and Veda went off to weaponry class, bouncing all the way to the salle.
"We did it, Kero!" Veda yelled ahead to the stern-faced blond woman, who was stacking practice shields neatly. Kerowyn smiled and nodded as the two former-students bounded up to her.
"Alright, you've had your celebration. Time for work, if you're going to survive," she told them. "We're ready to begin, here come the others." Kero pointed behind them, and, sure enough, a bright-eyed Brenna came along, with Tori and Blaise in tow. All of them were just as happy as Nathan and Veda, and all of them looked stunning in their whites.
Kero paired them off, making Veda work with Tori, and Blaise with Nathan, while she tried to get Brenna to guard her right side a bit better. Veda assessed her sparring partner with a keen eye. Tori kept light on her feet, and her light rapier was never in one place for more than a second or two.
Veda, on the other hand, favored slinking and striking, and then slinking away, keeping her body centered low to the ground and a dagger in one hand, a light, but broader sword than Tori's rapier in her other hand. While Veda tumbled and crawled, Tori leaped, bounded, fluttered, and flew. Tori fought like a hummingbird in all respects, flitting here and there to get in sharp pecks, and then even a victory chirp when the enemy had been conquered.
Veda fought like a thief, silent on her feet, and not daring a sound, even when she had won—or been injured. Veda was like an unearthly cat, arching her back and baring her teeth at the enemy, using every available inch of space to her advantage, and always making the first, and usually deadly, swipe. Kerowyn watched with amusement as Tori and Veda came to a very sweaty stalemate, and granted the girls rare smiles.
"You'll do," she said, nodding with approval. "You should be able to stay alive long enough to do some good, anyway, if you can avoid getting shot in one of your human-target uniforms." Kero winked and sidled over to Nathan to harass him about his defense.
The day passed without much more incident, nothing exciting happening until Veda's whole year-group was in the courtyard, laughing and joking about what might befall them on their internships.
"I don't care what any of you say," Veda said. "I just said that I wouldn't mind at all if I were to intern under Coren, that's all."
"Like hell you wouldn't," Brenna said with a grin, in her slightly accented Valdemaran. "Not that I would mind having Coren all to myself for eighteen months. Oh, but imagine having Wyrtes! That woman is so odd. Comes of being raised with one of those northern clans, I suppose. Wolf-clan, isn't she?"
"She is Wolf-clan," Tori replied. "she's very friendly, too, and Gods know she should have been a Bard. But, of course, Kletli had to go and choose her. Mara says that Kletli's just as strange as his Chosen, for all that I ever heard of a Companion that was celibate." Tori sighed and leaned back.
"Celibate?" Blaise inquired. "Havens, Wyrtes' Companion is celibate?"
"Yes, Delsin's heard that too, but not from Kletli himself. Just hearsay, and Heralds never make decisions purely on hearsay," Veda argued. "And why is that important, anyway? Kletli's doings are his business, and his Chosen's, and not ours. When do you think we'll be getting our assignments?"
"Soon, I think," Nathan piped up. "I got a slip of paper saying that our internships will start at the end of this week. One thing that's bothering me though…I don't know that they'll have enough Heralds to send all of us out separately. Some of the ones ready for internees have mage-gift, and they've been on circuit, so now they're getting training from those gryphons. And Shandi, Talia's protégée, is in Whites now, and ready for internees, but she just had that spot of family trouble with her sister and some Hawkbrother boy. Just had their first child, I think. So that leaves Wyrtes, Coren, Oliana, and Reuden. That's four to get internees, and five of us."
Veda nodded. "So two of us are going to have to double up. Argh, I just hope I don't get my aunt Oliana. She'll always be telling me off for some thing or another, playing mother." Veda sighed. "As much as I love her, she can be so overprotective sometimes. She never got to have children of her own. She's barren, and I think she resents that."
"Oh…But think if you and I both got Coren, Veda! We would be fighting over him like dogs over a bone in two minutes flat. And I would win." Brenna said with a huge grin.
"Well," Veda began, "that is because you fight dirty."
"I do at that," Brenna said fervently, with a shake of her raven mane. "But I'd still win."
The next day, Herald Wyrtes braided her silver-blond hair back, as usual, and set off to find the two young people she was supposed to ride circuit with for the next year and a half. A boy and a girl, she had been told, by the names of Nathan and Veda. Strange names, to her, but then, most people in Valdemar didn't have names like Wyrtes, or her father's name, the near unpronounceable Ja'hortesyth. Hellfires, not all Companions had names like Kletli, either. No, it seemed Wyrtes was the oddball here, with ringlets of spun silver-blond and the narrow, widespread eyes of some elfin princess out of a tale.
She went to the girl's room first, this Veda. She'd seen her dance, and knew by reputation the lithe, brown girl from the south, near the Rethwellan border. She was said to have a sunny disposition that almost made up for her terrible temper when angered. Well, those testimonies were supported from Wyrtes' own experience with the girl.
Wyrtes had been her tutor in Religions, two years back, and she remembered all too well what had happened when she had first had need of guidance. Veda was the kind of headstrong girl that never wanted to admit that she needed anyone, or anyone's help, for that matter.
Wyrtes would be sure to watch her step around this one, and not take anything she said at its face value. Wyrtes knocked on the door and it swung open, revealing the girl whose huge, bright hazel eyes dominated the rest of her delicate features.
"Veda?" Wyrtes asked, and got a nod in return. "I am Herald Wyrtes, I am to be your supervising Herald for your internship…" Veda nodded, and smiled.
"Yes, I'd gotten that message. Gods, Wyrtes, it's nice to see you again! I'm all ready, as well. We'll be going to Evendim, Sector one, right?" At Wyrtes' nod, Veda smiled again. "Good, are we going now?"
"No," Wyrtes answered, and brushed a stray curl out of her eyes, wishing she had had time for a better braid. "No, you aren't the only internee I'm taking with me. We need to go pick up your other year mate, Nathan, it says here."
"Oh, Nathan. I can mindcall him, if you'd like. It'll be quicker, he's all the way down at the other end of the building. I'm a strong mindspeaker, and he is too and an Empath." Wyrtes nodded again, more than a bit bewildered at Veda's speech, which had been said very quickly. Needless to say, Wyrtes' Valdemaran would be a lot quicker after spending more time with this girl.
A few scant moments later, Nathan came determinedly down the hallway, and set down two packs at Wyrtes feet.
"Heyla, Veda," he said, with a twinkle in his eye and a big wink. "Herald Wyrtes, I am Nathan. I believe I am your other internee." Nathan smiled at her, and an enchanting smile it was. Nathan was very good looking, jet- black hair, grayish eyes, and a rounded nose that gave the impression of boyishness.
Nathan and Veda were very comfortable around each other, that much was clear to Wyrtes as Nathan hugged her tight, and, from the vague concentrating looks on their faces, they began having an impromptu mindspeech conversation. Wyrtes sighed. It would be most difficult to come to know both of them as well as they knew each other, that's for sure.
"Well, we should go now." Wyrtes decided to break her stern and foreboding mask. "I hope Delsin and Trevvan can keep up with my Kletli. He'll give you a run for your money." Wyrtes laughed, grabbed a couple packs, and sprinted down the hall, leaving two very surprised eighteen year olds in her wake.
"What are those things?" Nathan asked, staring at the three creatures in front of him. "These aren't chirras, are they?"
"No," Wyrtes said, smiling at Nathan's bewildered expression. "These are a rare breed of longhair mules." The elf-like Herald patted the shaggy shoulder of the black mule, and its brown-gray counterpart snorted and moved over for a scratch as well. Wyrtes laughed and began to load packs onto the animals.
Veda hadn't exactly been displeased to hear that she was to ride circuit with Wyrtes. In her second year, Wyrtes had tutored her on the very complicated religion of her northern tribes. Why, Veda liked Wyrtes, even if the other trainees had avoided her out of fear for her supposedly barbaric customs. Veda hadn't seen any supporting evidence of the rumors that Wyrtes' clan's totem, a giant spirit-wolf, ate a sacrificial child a year to bring the clan prosperity in the hunt.
Of course, Veda had been half afraid to ask the question for fear the rumors be true.
Veda took part eagerly in the work of the morning, fetching supplies and loading mules, and checking and re-checking all of the Companions' abundant straps and buckles hanging from the silver gilded saddles. The entire group was ready to go, it seemed, but Veda made one last round of the Companions.
Delsin had warmed right up to Kletli, it seemed, and the two sat in quiet company much like the old grannies of Veda's village had done, except that Delsin and Kletli weren't knitting.
:Everything comfortable, dearest?: Veda asked, patting Delsin's soft flank.
:For the third time, yes. Everything is fine.: Delsin snorted and tossed his mane, and turned to look at her in contempt. :If everything wasn't comfortable, you know we'd be giving you humans an earful.: Veda laughed and smiled, and walked over to check Trevvan and Kletli. Trevvan was fine, and looked at her the same way Delsin had, with mild distaste present in the sapphire eyes.
"Alright, I get the picture," she laughed again and turned towards Kletli. Her eyes met his with a shock. Kletli looked like every other Companion in every respect, except that instead of the normal sky blue, sapphire, or the occasional blue-violet, Kletli's eyes were quite clearly, and quite startlingly, a deep blue-green, almost teal. The eyes looked at her and smiled, somehow, and she got the impression that Kletli was laughing at her surprise.
:Everything's fine, thank you,: a new voice spoke into her head. Veda blinked.
:Scared you, have I?: now a mindvoice did laugh in her "ears."
:You're talking to me,: Veda said, in awe, for lack of anything better to say.
:I'd noticed, that, girl. Now, are you just going to stand there and stare at me, or are you going to ride circuit?: Kletli put his soft nose into Veda's hand and nudged her towards Delsin. Veda mounted, and sat in silence, shocked. Wyrtes noticed her blank staring and looked from her, to Kletli, and back again. She threw her head back and laughed.
"I should have warned you," the older woman said, patting Veda's thigh sympathetically. "Old Kletli here likes to mindspeak anyone he pleases, and he doesn't give a damn for the consequences." Wyrtes mounted and gave Veda a big smile. "I daresay that won't be the last time Kletli speaks to you." The women waited for Nathan to mount, and when he had, they trotted through the gates of the Collegia into the streets of Haven.
The streets were most crowded in the inner-city commercial area, with shrieking, bartering women with huge baskets laden with purchases and gruff merchants yelling prices and wares. The crowd parted a bit for the three Companions and their Heralds, but not enough to let the silvery apparitions go as fast as they would have liked.
Veda and Delsin could breathe a bit easier once into the purely residential part of Haven, at least here people kept to the sides of the streets, and the noise was restricted to the sharp chatter of laundry maids and the polite conversation of the highborn beside their pristine flowerbeds ensconced in quaint whitewashed boxes. But once outside the gates of Haven, the Companions' trots became brisker, less controlled, as they rode past the houses and farms that grew farther and farther apart the further they went along the road.
"Which road is this?" Nathan asked, fracturing the silence with his smooth baritone voice.
"Exile's Road," Wyrtes replied. "Tonight we'll stay in a Waystation outside of a small village called Stalmar's Pointe. Our first large village will be Forst Reach, and we won't reach that for a week or two, depending on how many disputes we have along the way."
"Forst Reach? Isn't that the place with the Ashkevron warhorses?" Veda pondered.
Nathan nodded. "Yes, it is. And speaking of the family, the Ashkevrons are the family that put out Herald-Mages Vanyel and Savil. The Ashkevrons are a very prominent family out in western Valdemar, I've heard."
"Oh." Veda didn't have anything else to say in reply to that, so she changed the subject. "Who did the others get for supervising Heralds?" Wyrtes cleared her throat, but Nathan answered anyway.
Nathan chuckled. "Well, your aunt got Blaise, and Reuden got Tori. And Veda," he said, pausing, "Coren got Brenna."
Veda gasped. "The council must be out of their minds! They'll be in bed together in a second!"
"Where do you think she went after the revel?" Nathan asked, grinning maliciously.
"No! Are you sure? No wonder she seemed so assured that she would be the one to win the man: she already had! And she tried to get me to put money on it, as well." Veda shook her head and laughed.
"I can just see Brenna happily taking your money. Sure enough, Svetlana would have made her give it back, eventually, but Brenna would be teasing you about it until you're old and gray," Nathan jeered.
"Very few Heralds live to be old and gray," Wyrtes interjected. And on that melancholy note, the conversation was ended.
Veda, Nathan, and Wyrtes rode until it was almost dusk. When they reached the Waystation, they fed the Companions and made a fire. Veda plopped herself down on the hearth, glad to be out of the saddle.
"Sore?" Wyrtes asked, echoing Veda's thoughts. Veda nodded weakly and continued to bask in the heat.
"Don't fall asleep now, Veda. You have to eat," Wyrtes said, filling a pot with dried meat, water, and herbs from a package. She placed the pot over the fire where it simmered mouth-wateringly for what seemed like an eternity, but it was likely only a few moments, until Wyrtes took the pot off the fire and spooned the soup into three bowls.
All of the Heralds ate heartily of that soup, and sat in a contented stupor until Wyrtes announced that it would be time for bed. Wyrtes and Veda undressed quite shamelessly, but Nathan stuttered and blushed, and turned towards a wall to undress.
Wyrtes noticed his efforts and clamped him on the back the moment he was dressed.
"Shy, are we? Nothing we've got that you haven't seen before, Nate." At Nathan's deep flush, she had to force down a smile. "Unless this is something you haven't seen before. Oh, poor boy. Poor, virgin boy." Nathan flushed from the tips of his ears to the roots of his ebony hair at her comments.
"I apologize, Nathan. That was…ahem…rude of me. But now, we don't mind if you see as long as you don't ogle us to death. Come now, lad, it's going to be a long year and a half if you keep being such a prude! But now, let's just sleep." Nathan nodded slowly and headed for his bed-box.
Veda slept soundly that night, and awoke refreshed, with only a distant memory of the ache of her legs and butt. She stretched heartily and yawned, pulling herself out of bed as she did so. The moment she was on the floor, she breathed deeply and caught a whiff of something that smelled exceptionally delicious, and looked to see not Wyrtes, but Nathan manning a pan over the fire.
"Morning," he said, happily, with a big smile, almost not daring to take his attention from the pan affront him.
Veda groaned. "Why are you so cheerful? It is not right to be cheerful at this unholy hour! Everything should be quiet, as if beckoning you back to bed."
"'Fraid not, sister. Breakfast?"
"What are those?" Veda asked, abandoning her feigned grouchiness and peering at a mound of golden brown pats lying on a scrap of linen.
"Breakfast goodies. Griddle cakes," he replied simply, and poured a new circle of batter on the pan with a tin cup. He took his little wooden spatula and flipped up the edge of one of the cooking cakes. It was a pretty, beige color, like tanned leather or honeycomb. He seemed satisfied, and flipped the little pat over with a hiss and a spit from the pan.
Veda picked up a wooden plate and piled on several of the golden cakes, and made her way to the corner where Wyrtes sat. The older Herald was chewing with a most savory expression on her face, and nodded towards the jar at her side and pointed with a fork. Veda sat beside Wyrtes, opened it experimentally, and sniffed. It seemed to be berries in their syrups, sweetened. Veda took a look at Wyrtes' plate. Sure enough, it sported a mound of the cakes smothered in the berry concoction.
Veda spooned the delicious-smelling berries onto her griddle cakes and took an experimental bite. The cakes themselves were fluffy and breadlike, well cooked in the grease of the pan. The fire had warmed the berry sauce, and it was sweetened by just enough sugar to take most of the sourness out of the strawberries and blackberries, but not sweetened overmuch, allowing her to taste the juice of each berry directly.
Veda delved into her food more avidly this time, taking a large bite and closing her eyes, savoring the mingling berry flavors and the texture of her warm, golden cakes. Veda ate quickly, not wishing her delicious cakes to become less so by getting cold. Nathan sat beside her, eating his own breakfast with a speed that equaled—or surpassed—Veda's own. Veda set her plate down with a contented sigh, just as Nathan finished his cakes and berries.
"Lady, that is the best breakfast meal I have had in a long time. Nate, what was that?" Veda looked at him, curiosity in her eyes. Nathan grinned at her, a berry-stained grin. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, and gave her a better estimation of a courtly smile.
"I told you. They were griddle cakes." Nathan stood up and took his plate and Veda's to the washing sink, filled with foaming water. She glared at him as he submerged them in water, and went back to the fireside.
"I'm still waiting for an answer," she said, still glaring as he wrapped up a few remaining cakes in the scrap of linen. Wyrtes looked at this little charade with amusement, stifling laughter at her internees' audacious blows.
"What, you want a step-by-step recollection of how they came into existence?" Nathan laughed and slipped the bundle of cakes into a bag waiting by the door, and turned to go back to the washing sink, only to find Veda standing in front of him.
"Stop playing coy. I want to know what they were, not just a name. I'd like to be able to duplicate that," she said, prodding him with an accusing finger on every syllable.
"Hunger is the best spice," he said, flashed a mischievous grin, and dodged Veda. She followed him right back to the washing sink, but before he could get within an armslength of it, his feet were swept out from under him.
Veda stood above him, smiling down. She leaned down with the grace of a dancer, and sat herself right down on poor Nathan's abdomen.
"Now," she began, the smile transforming from condescending to wicked. "I want answers, and am I going to get them, or am I going to be forced to resort to my old method of tickle and conquer?" She poised her hands over his abdomen, ready to tickle, and gave him yet another glare of false animosity.
"Oh, anything but that, Lady save me!" he said, sarcastically, and Nathan wriggled, trying to get free, but Veda had him securely pinned between herself and the floor.
"You were forewarned of this fate," she said maliciously, and began to tickle him mercilessly, in what were obviously responsive places, as he began to convulse and shriek and giggle.
"Mercy?" Veda asked, pausing in her torturous ways for the moment.
"Never," he muttered, and Veda took up her previous amusements. Wyrtes watched the whole thing, shaking her head as they played like children on the floor, though she was eighteen, he was soon to be nineteen, and both of them full Heralds at that. And to think, she thought, this is all over what we had for breakfast.
"Mercy?" Veda inquired again, panting. Nathan nodded, out of breath. "No, no, no," she said venomously, "You have to say it."
Nathan panted and caught his breath quickly. "Mercy, mercy, I beg of you!" Veda lowered her hands but did not move from her perch on his stomach.
"I want my answers," she said. Nathan nodded weakly and began to speak.
"In them, eggs, flour, a pinch of baking powder, and little else. Cook them in grease, butter or oil, or something of the sort. And now that you have your answers—" Nathan paused as Veda moved off him. "It is high time for payback." Nathan grabbed her around the ankles and whipped her back down onto the ground. He grasped a foot in both hands and pinned the other beneath him, and he began to do enticing things to her foot.
He traced patterns on her soft skin, and she shivered slightly, and when he knew her feeling in that foot was aroused. . . Nathan tickled just as mercilessly as she had, even as she kicked and strained with all her might, she could not get loose.
"Demon!" she yelled, with all the infusions of anger and helpless glee in her voice. "Demon, bastard, GET OFF OF ME!!!" Veda cackled, screeching at the top of her range. She strained and kicked as he touched her lightly and brushed all his fingers against the underside of her foot. He let her go, eventually, and she placed a well-aimed kick to the arm supporting his upper body, and he fell back with a barely audible ooph.
Wyrtes paced over to the limp pair lying in the middle of the room.
"We're still going to be riding all day, you know," she said, with a suppressed smile. "So I sincerely hope that you can regain all of the energy you just spent in your—wrestling." Wyrtes turned on her heel and escaped into the morning air, laughing uncontrollably the moment she was out.
Nathan and Veda looked at each other, and began to laugh again. They clambered to their feet, brushed themselves off, and exchanged a look.
"We'd better get on the road soon, or Wyrtes'll have a litter." Nathan grinned at Veda.
"C'mon, demon-child, let's go." Veda picked up her pack and sprinted to the door, still giggling. Nathan followed on her heels carrying his own packs towards the three waiting Companions and a now completely somber Wyrtes. Veda winced to think of how her buttocks would ache at the end of the day…