Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...
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Generated <strong>by</strong> ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html<br />
the city. Duff crunched under her feet, <strong>and</strong> there was little undergrowth beneath that shade; she crouched<br />
<strong>and</strong> examined the wound in her thigh. The swelling had not gone down; the edges of the deep narrow<br />
puncture were more puffy than ever, reddish-purple, <strong>and</strong> it leaked clear puss. Shkai'ra swallowed<br />
experimentally <strong>and</strong> assessed herself; there was the slightest hint of fever-hum in her ears.Not<br />
light-headed , she thought grimly.Yet . There was still some br<strong>and</strong>y in the flask; she lay on her back <strong>and</strong><br />
hauled the knee back to her ear so that she could pour liquor into the cut <strong>and</strong> let it st<strong>and</strong> for a moment.<br />
The pain was much worse than the initial wound, enough to make her swear softly under her breath.<br />
Have to do, she thought, as she re-b<strong>and</strong>aged it <strong>and</strong> tested her weight. But it would slow her, <strong>and</strong> if there<br />
was going to be a fight it had better come in the next little while. She pulled the rear of the skirt up<br />
between her legs <strong>and</strong> tucked it into the belt at the front, <strong>and</strong> unwrapped her weapons with an<br />
unconscious sigh of relief. Having them out of reach made her feel considerably more naked than walking<br />
unclothed would have. She took the sheathed sword in her left h<strong>and</strong>, the one that held the buckler <strong>by</strong> its<br />
single central grip, <strong>and</strong> tucked the dagger into the folds of skirt that circled her waist.<br />
Fifteen minutes, she estimated, squinting up at the flickers of morning sun that shone through the<br />
bird-clamorous branches of the pines. That would let thefessas get enough of a lead on her, <strong>and</strong> he was<br />
city-bred if she had ever seen such, used to pavement under his s<strong>and</strong>als. Shkai'ra had been a hunter from<br />
the time she could walk, mostly on horseback <strong>and</strong> on the steppe, but often enough in woods. Her bare<br />
feet made little sound on the needles. She ran stooping until she found the scuff-marks of her quarry's<br />
passage, then upright at a steady walk.<br />
The pinewoods gave way to terraced fields planted with grapevines <strong>and</strong> fruit trees, <strong>and</strong> she followed<br />
cautiously through the fields as the man took to a secondary road, graveled <strong>and</strong> graded <strong>and</strong> good enough<br />
for a main highway outside the Empire. Cautiously around a village, <strong>and</strong> then past the hedges ofAitzas<br />
country-seats, a nerve-wracking half hour creeping through ditches while watchdogs barked <strong>and</strong> the<br />
fessas stopped <strong>and</strong> looked, suspicious.<br />
Into oak woods at last, in a district even more rocky <strong>and</strong> tumbled than most of the l<strong>and</strong> to the west of<br />
the great crater of Arko; slabs of porous volcanic rock reared up through the forest. The huge trees were<br />
shaggy with moss <strong>and</strong> laced with wild grapevines thicker than her thigh, tangled with masses of lilac bush<br />
<strong>and</strong> wild rhododendron. That forced her back onto the road, as it shrank to a rutted <strong>and</strong> overgrown<br />
carriage-track, one that had not seen wheeled traffic in years, from the look of it.<br />
Horses much more recently, or mules—hoofprints <strong>and</strong> dung both. Shod, but not too large, probably<br />
riding hackneys. Shkai'ra slowed to let the man get well ahead of her, <strong>and</strong> because her leg was bad<br />
enough that she could not do more than a hobbling limp. The sun was declining; a day's quick march, but<br />
they had covered only about twenty kilometers.<br />
She was sweating heavily; her ears buzzed, <strong>and</strong> her breath came far more quickly than it should. She<br />
almost walked into the yard of the stone house at the end of the lane. Only the whisper of movement in<br />
the air as the forest opened out warned her, <strong>and</strong> she sank to the ground behind a topiary bush gone wild<br />
with neglect, shivering as the sweat turned cold on her skin. She could smell chimney-smoke, <strong>and</strong> a light<br />
gleamed through the gathering dusk ahead.<br />
Rasas gripped his five cards tighter <strong>and</strong> thrust a full copper chain into an already heavy pot, with a<br />
poorly repressed smirk.<br />
"Look, boy of gold," Glikasonas scolded, taking a swig of the harder gold-colored liquor he preferred