Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...

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Flogging to falling was what I had planned for you after that last piece of ignorance, and it's what you're going to get, she thought, as she filled Zoltanova's canteen with the mixture of pure white wadiki and water from her own. It was pleasant not to have to do this to an undeserving soldier… drunk and asleep, while the commander went into the woods to take a dump and never came back. Notquite enough for execution… maybe. Now the plan: off into the woods a little, put her armor down a well, quick-change into the Imperial set she had packed on one of the mounts;they were both of the Arkan breed as well, runners, not destriers. Cut her arm a little, blood on Hotblood's saddle along with the point and broken-off shaft of a barbed Arkan javelin… NO, Hotblood thought. Shkai'ra groaned mentally. YES NO YES! NONONONONONONONONONOIsmallsharpsnippy-disagreeable—the Ri's thought-concept for Megan, colored with a mixture of dislike, respect and apprehension— golook/search/smellcoltredmaneherdmarestaywithMEME MEMEMEMEMEl YES! Shkai'ra threw her greatest overtone of dominance into the thought, along with images of dismembered bleeding Arkans in Megan's company. Sulk. She hesitated for a moment, looking at the banner. "Sheepshit," she muttered to herself. The biggest war she'd ever been involved in, a brigade command coming up, and she had toleave , on a clandestine mission. That was irony for you, sneaking around was Megan's special skill… totally useless now, simply because of her size and the color of her hair and eyes. "Only for you, my love," she muttered, turning Hot-blood's head into the woods. "Only for you." The Slaughterers would search energetically, of course, but evading a search and running mounted ahead of a cavalry screen were skills she had learned as soon as she could walk. And the Alliance army had moved into the Empire like a spear into flesh, a long narrow thrust down its eastern highway; she would not have far to go to reach territory more or less under Arkan control. XV Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html The sunlight deepened from golden to orange, the slanting shadow of each rider growing longer; soon they'd halt and camp. Not soon enough; despite the leather riding-sling giving it support, Megan's leg hurt like Halya. "Zhymata?" Sova had been deep in thought all day as she rode, the hazel eyes seeming full to bursting, but the lips tightly closed. Buckled to her saddle, in the place of honor, was Shkai'ra's saber. "I had a talk withkhyd-hird . She said… she wants me to decide whether I wanted to train to be a great warrior and a
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html commander, or just good enough to defend myself. She says she thinks I could be as good asher ." "From what I can see, she's right," Megan said. "You also show promise at mathematics; you could be a good merchant, if you wanted. You are a bit old to choose what you want to be, but you don't have to yet, because the family has money." "I don't know what I want." The girl pursed her lips. "I used to: I wanted to marry a good Thane-man and live in a big house in Brahvniki. I know you think that's wimpy, but that's what I wanted. But I can't do thatnow ." "So marry a good person of someother nationality and live in a big house in Brahvniki. If you're happy raising children and running the household, that's fine too." Megan scratched the back of her neck carefully, nervous, waiting for the news she knew was coming, feeling her stomach knot, but stopping her hand from pressing under her breastbone. "Zhymata, do you really think anyone in Brahvniki, anyone who knows or would be warned what happened, and cares for hiszight , would marry me?" "If the person you want to marry cares more for theirzight than for you, fik 'em. Find someone who doesn't give a shit for what your father or I did but cares only for you. Shyll is like that, and I hardly went looking forhim ." Sova didn't answer. "Does it matter to you that he's Thanish? It hasn't seemed to, when I think of a certain young Yeoli." The Thane-girl smiled helplessly. "Megan! Megan called Whitlock!" The voice came from ahead, official sounding, but with a tinge of hidden panic. Oh, Halya. Here it comes. "Here!" Megan raised a hand, turned the pony out a step or two without stopping. The caller was a cavalrywoman, one of the Slaughterers, it looked like, breathless even though she was mounted. "You've got to come forward! We need you! It's by authorization of Bukangkt… uh… Slaughterers' actingkras ." "Oh, shit, Bukangkt? Where's Shkai'ra? I'm coming." She kicked the pony hard enough that it jumped and crow-hopped in surprise before plunging forward. Megan didn't even notice that, clinging on. The cavalrywoman wheeled before Megan reached her and led the way. "She's gone missing," the woman, whose nationality Megan couldn't tell, said once they were out of earshot of Sova. "The only one escorting her we found sleeping dead-drunk under a tree; and Hotblood came back…" She glanced over her shoulder, eyes seeming to measure how Megan was taking it. "With a javelin stuck in his saddle, and blood. Bukangkt said you had some way… of searching." Megan set her face, thinning her lips, as if holding in emotion. For a moment she thought it might be real, not the faked missing in action, long enough to pale her face; she didn't answer, only nodded. The woman said nothing, only kicked her horse into a gallop, Megan doing likewise. They passed the head of the column. Badfeelingaboutthis. badfeelingaboutthis. Hotblood's thoughts, not berserk; yes, Shkai'ra was intentionally gone, according to plan.Redleadmareaway, miss, MISS ! The woman led her to a field where a knot of horses stood; the Ri she saw standing off, pacing, the javelin-shaft standing up from his
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Und now I vind dose two—Celestial
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