Clans of Luteri Bk. 02 Ch. 05-07

"They're far in the mountains, Corsaire, no danger to us," Kane said, her hand dropping. He pulled her back to him again. "But I'm glad you like the wilderness. I want to take you places."

#

Aslin woke in the deepest night. It was dark, completely dark. She was curled up face-first in Kane's chest, his arms around her. She raised her head to look up through the hole at the top of the great hollow log they slept in, seeing a sky so dark blue it was almost black, too many clouds for stars.

There was a noise right outside, stealthy. She looked at the covered opening. Something large. She didn't worry about wolves, Kane said they were far away, but she suddenly thought of bears.

"Kane?" she whispered.

"Yes," he grunted.

"There's something outside."

There was a long silence.

"There are two somethings," he said sleepily.

"Are you sure it's the horses?"

She leaned back to look up at his face. He opened his eyes a little to see her.

"There is no predator in Luteri larger than the one that has got his hand on your backside right now, Corsaire. We'll protect you."

This made her feel better. She turned in his arms, pressing against him behind her. She hadn't brought her nightdress, not wanting Corsaire to tease her for it. Kane gathered her to himself, his body hard and reassuring, pulling the blanket more securely around her. She settled in, fitting to him again.

#

In the morning after breakfast, they broke camp and Kane led them deeper into the mountains. The ground was still misty, a deep hush. They were riding next to each other when Kane leaned across her, pointing. A deer was gazing at them over its own shoulder not far across the forest floor, freeing when it saw them, its legs hidden in large ferns, a delicate face under stubby antlers, its neck thick with fur, strong haunches, stocky.

It was light brown, the color darker at its shoulders, its bottom a flash of white under a band of black. She looked at its black eyes, long ears, white in the tufts, white in an almost perfect circle around its nose.

"We will be near the northwestern border of Tavishi lands soon," Kane said to her. "The place I'm looking for is a bit east of that. It's not far now."

"Will you tell me where we're going?"

"Not yet, I think—," Kane began, and then he stopped Shaol, turning his head sharply, his eyes scanning.

Shaol felt Kane's tension, his ears coming up. Aslin stopped Ilian next to him. It was very quiet. Kane ducked and slid like liquid off of Shaol, coming to Ilian, reaching for her.

"Be quiet," he said softly.

She got off carefully. Kane took Shaol's reins, leading him quickly, Aslin bringing Ilian behind him. He headed them into thick cover, low hanging branches and ferns that obscured the horses from the path. Kane squatted, pulling her down with him.

"Stay here," he said under his breath. "Be still, Aslin."

She nodded. He left. She didn't see him anywhere. She was just wondering where he was when he reappeared beside her, startling her.

"I couldn't see how many or their colors. But nobody should be here. This is Tavishi territory. I need to see who they are, where they are, so we don't walk into more of them blind. But I can't leave you alone here. It's not safe."

"What about the horses?"

"They know. They will hide. They'll fight if they are discovered," Kane said. He looked at her. "I didn't anticipate this, Aslin, or I would never have brought you here. I want you to listen. If I tell you to run a certain direction, whether you're on foot or riding, go as fast as you can where I say. Don't question it. Do not double back to me. I'll find you. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

He looked at her for a long moment. Then he leaned forward, still speaking very quietly.

"He won't come unless it's absolutely needful, Aslin. But if he does, it's important Ilian doesn't bolt. If she does, I might hunt her. Tie her to something if you need to."

Her eyes had gotten wide.

"Okay."

His eyes were searching her face.

"He would never hurt you, mi dutul."

"I know that."

"Keep low and quiet," he said, taking her hand.

They didn't go far, but it actually took quite a bit of time of sneaking and stopping and listening. She did her best to be quiet, not to distract him. She knew he saw things she didn't, heard things. Smelled things, she suspected. They got to the edge of an outcropping overlooking a small valley. She crouched down low just as he did.

"Stay here," Kane said, his words little more than a breath.

He went out, getting on his belly and going to the edge. He watched for awhile and then came back.

"Duellan clan," he said low. "We have to get to Tavishi Hold."

They heard it. A Luterian horse, enraged. It had to be Shaol, and then she knew it was, Ilian's cry joining his. Kane cursed. He got to his feet and put his fingers to his lips and whistled very loud, Aslin looking around nervously after all their sneaking. He grabbed her hand, running with her through the brush to the path.

"Follow me. Keep your head down. If Duellan find us, keep riding down the path and hide when you're clear," he had time to say before Shaol's broad chest was suddenly looming in front of them, Ilian behind him.

She ran to Ilian, mounting, keeping herself low in the saddle as Kane turned Shaol. Then Ilian was running after Shaol, the path going down. She was wondering if Duellan clan would find them when a man showed up around the bend on a warhorse directly in their path, coming the opposite direction. The Duellan man had blonde hair, his colors yellow and black.

"Go!" Kane cried to her, drawing his weapon.

Everything happened so fast. Shaol threw himself at the other horse, both partially rearing, meeting him chest for chest, the horses shrieking. Shaol's teeth sank into the other horse's shoulder as Ilian ran by them. The Duellan raised his weapon over his head and slashed at Kane.

Then she was past them, Ilian running down the trail. The path took a sharp turn, Ilian slowing briefly. Aslin concentrated on staying on her as Ilian leapt a log across the path, sailing over it, landing, Aslin jolting forward and then back as Ilian ran again. She kept herself low on the horse.

Her heart was pounding, looking behind her, but the path was empty. Kane. Her mind wanted to scatter, terrified, remembering the Duellan warrior. She forced herself to breathe. She had to believe Kane wouldn't be hurt, that he would come for her. She needed to hide. She was afraid she would meet another Duellan warrior on the path.

She began to scan the forest they passed for a place, but she didn't see anything. Finally the shoulder of the path fell away ahead to her left, a decline, another downed log making up part of the path, a huge network of tree roots disappearing into shadows. She slowed Ilian and turned her, guiding her down the steep slope, leaning back until they reached the bottom.

Ilian jumped the last of it, Aslin looking around. She slid off the horse, taking the reins, leading her into the dark shelter under the roots, the path above almost overhanging where they were hiding. Ilian came around in front of her, side on, her ears up, until Aslin was pressed against the hillside. The horse's head turned constantly, watching everything.

They waited. Aslin tried to quiet her breathing, which sounded very loud to her. She tensed when she heard hooves on the path above them. They slowly got louder, riding fast, and then louder, and then they were right above them, thundering. Ilian becoming a statue, her head up, and then the sound slowly faded, Aslin's heart racing.

Then she heard it, her body flushing with fear. The hooves came back, a trot, then closer, the horse walking now, the heavy tread of a Luterian warhorse. They slowed and stopped. The sound of boots hit the dirt above her.

She felt Kane touch the bond, near. She opened it, so relieved, beginning to push past Ilian.

Kane sent her a sharp surge of warning. She retreated until her back was to the dirt wall again, her hand going to her waist. She drew her dagger. Boots walked slowly on the path above them. Not Kane. She imagined the Duellan warrior looking at the fresh tracks in the grass on the shoulder.

She pressed against the dirt, all of her senses straining. Ilian was soundless. The bond was still open, the flavor of Kane's feelings focused, alert.

The boots above her stopped for a long moment. Then they ran and a moment later the warhorse was pounding away from them down the path. She felt Kane's tense waiting, his surge of aggression, killing rage. Kane closed the bond. There were sounds down the path, a Luterian warhorse, then the sound of steel on steel. A man yelled, cut off quickly. Aslin was breathing hard. Kane was fighting.

Then there was nothing. She waited. There was a thud in front of Ilian, the horse snorting and lunging.

"Stach, Ilian," Kane said irritably, turning her nose with his hand, and then he was there, taking her dagger from her hand and putting it back in its sheath, his strong arms, her body melting into his with relief.

"You did well," he said, releasing her, taking her hand and bringing her to Ilian. "We have to go. There's too many of them and they're alerted. There's a place. Duellan won't know about it. We have to ride fast."

She led Ilian back to the path, Kane giving a sharp whistle. Shaol came, Kane mounting. They were riding again, riding as quickly as they could on the terrain. Kane suddenly cut into the woods, leaving the path, slowing the horses. They went up an incline toward the face of the mountain, Shaol sometimes forcing his way through thick brush, pushing his way through.

At last Shaol broke into a small clearing set low in the landscape, difficult to see. Kane looked all around and then he dismounted, motioning to her. She got off Ilian. Kane took Shaol's reins and began to walk along a thin cleared path running along the side of the mountain, the face going straight up on their right. She followed, hearing hooves in the distance. Riders on the path they had left.

"There it is," Kane said ahead of her.

She looked. She didn't see anything until they were almost on it. A long tall crack showed in the side of the mountain, as wide as a man lying down, overhung with bracken and leaves.

"Gather dead wood. We'll need fuel."

There was plenty on the ground. She gathered it and brought it to Kane, who bound two bundles with twine, linking them and throwing them over Shaol's shoulders.

"Follow me," he said, taking Shaol's reins and leading him into the crack in the mountain. "Don't fall behind."

Chapter Seven

The cave's floor was dirt at first, hard packed, but then it became rock, uneven. Past the entrance, it was quickly dark, and within steps it was pitch black, no relief from it. As Aslin followed the sound of Shaol in front of her, it began to get cold. Her cloak was on Ilian, but Aslin was afraid to stop. She didn't know how far he was ahead. The cold made her hands ache and she thought that if she could see, her breath would be misting all around her.

The realized her eyes were wide in the dark, trying to see. She began to shake with cold, hunching her shoulders, her hands clenching, shivering.

"Stop there, Aslin," she heard him say somewhere in front of her, his voice low, still sounding loud in the place.

Aslin stopped, moving closer to the horse, so cold, tucking against her great shoulder, Ilian's chin resting on her chest. She heard Kane moving, heard him open a flap on the packs on Shaol's back. Then there was the sound of more flaps, the clank of buckles. He cursed under his breath. She heard him move to the wall at her left, his footsteps, and then the clatter of small things. Kane's footsteps again. Something dry.

Clacking, a sputter of sparks lighting the darkness, and another, again and again, Ilian tossing her head.

Since they were stopped, Aslin found her way around the horse by touch, going to the packs on Ilian's back, pulling her cloak out. It was such a relief to put it on, still shivering, her hands achy and numb with cold. She blew on them, pulling them into the sleeves.

A small flame appeared, very bright in the surrounding space, and then it got larger, and at last it became a torch and she could see the side of Kane's face, his shoulder, his hand holding it, the rest of him in deep shadow. The walls sprang to life around her, rough and black. He walked to her.

"Good, you got your cloak. The flint was still here, I couldn't find it in the pack. We've got a ways to walk. There'll be a place for fire when we get there and I'll get you warm."

"Won't they see the smoke if we make a fire?" she said, still shivering, her breath misting in the torchlight.

"You're an intelligent person, Corsaire," he said, walking to Shaol's head and grabbing the reins, leading him. Aslin grabbed Ilian's reins and followed. "Put your hood up, you'll be warmer. They will see it, you're right, but they know we're in the area anyway. Where we are going, where it will come out, they can't reach unless they know where the mouth of the cave is. If they already know that, they'll come anyway, smoke or not. If they don't, they will never chance upon it. The cloaks will protect us some, but we'll need heat in this place."

The walls around them were wet as they walked forward, the passage wider now, torchlight dancing over the walls, glistening. She realized it wasn't water she was seeing. It was ice, and as they walked it began to coat the walls and corners, thickening until they were walking through a circular tunnel of smooth white, the horse's hooves crunching the ground they walked. Neither Shaol nor Ilian seemed cold, although their breath misted and they sometimes blew out great breaths.

"Where are we, Kane?" she asked quietly, her voice still seeming loud.

"Where I had intended to bring you. I've always wondered about it. It's on Tavishi maps. I knew roughly where the entrance was, but I'm glad I found it so quickly. It's the Tavishi shrine to Shai."

"This is a shrine?" she said, looking ahead at the strange tunnel they walked through, the passage almost completely round now, the white ice on the walls thick.

"Yes. It's a place Tavishi clan don't tell others. You can come here because you are Tavishi. And because you are Tavishi, you will keep it a secret, Aslin, for your honor and mine," he told her.

"I will, Kane. I swear it," she promised.

"I didn't mean to sound like I doubt you, Aslin. I don't. I just wanted you to know it was a serious thing so you didn't reveal it lightly. You weren't raised Luterian."

"Why is there ice when it's so warm above?"

Well, it wasn't warm, but it wasn't like this.

"It's an ice cave. The cool air can't escape, and the warm air can't get in, so it just gets colder. I'm told there's a large cavern ahead. Inside, at night, Shai's light shines into the cave through a fissure onto the ice and the walls and ceiling glow. I've heard it's a wondrous thing."

"People come here to worship the Goddess?"

"It's a place Tavishi come to visit Shai and speak to her, to possibly learn answers to questions, or to unburden a deep hurt or shame. I wanted to bring you here so you might know her a little, if you want. I thought it would be good for you to meet her in one of her houses, since you have been away from Luteri for so long."

This was obviously important to him, considering they were currently surrounded by Duellan clan who wanted to kill them and he was talking about it. She hesitated.

"I've never been very religious, Kane," Aslin said, not wanting to offend him.

She was a little nervous that he would want her to pretend, given that Shai was the one thing—the only thing, it seemed—that all Luterians seemed to be in agreement on. She hadn't met one yet who didn't talk about the goddess as if she were real, Kane included.

Kane laughed.

"Nobody preaches Shai in Luteri, Aslin, not even the Priestesses who love her. Our relationship with her is personal, outside of clan or family or oath. Maybe you will meet her here. Maybe you won't. But that's for you to understand, not me."

"Don't we have to get back to Tavishi?"

"Yes. But we can't just break cover and run, Aslin. They've had too much warning. They will look for us in the surrounding area, thinking they will find us, that we are maybe still running. We need to slip through them from behind when they're spread out. We have grain for the horses. We will be warm enough. We'll stay here for a time."

"Will we be able to get away?"

Kane stopped ahead of her and cleared Shaol, turning to her with the torch, raising it and looked her down and up.

"Your confidence in me is overwhelming, Corsaire," he said indignantly.

Aslin blinked. She opened her mouth and closed it.

"I didn't mean it that way, Kane," she said, conciliatory.

He didn't answer, turning and grabbing Shaol's reins up again, leading him.

"I guess you'll just have to hope, then," he muttered ahead of her, still sounding disgruntled.

Her mouth twitched. She couldn't catch up with him. There wasn't enough room. For the next few minutes he didn't talk to her. More time passed. Yes, he was still disgruntled.

"Is it far?" she finally asked.

Silence.

"A little," he said shortly.

Still upset with her. They walked, only the crunch of ice under the horses' hooves.

"My Corsaire cousins told me things I could do to pleasure a man," Aslin told him casually.

Silence. She sighed.

"Of course, it may be things Corsaire don't tell others. I wasn't raised Luterian, it's difficult for me to judge. Never mind—," she said.

"What did they tell you?"

"Will you forgive me? I am confident in you. The situation just seemed a bit desperate for a moment."

Silence.

"Will you tell me everything they said?" he returned.

"I can't believe you're bargaining, Kane. Yes, everything."

"I forgive you, Corsaire," he said, and laughed.

It felt like they'd been walking for hours when the passage began to get lighter around them. Ahead the circular tunnel narrowed into a tall and narrow and high slit, with light shining through it, the craggy rock at the opening showing in gradients from white to dark blue as the light shining into it from behind radiated outward, creating the impression of overlapping folds.

"Does it remind you of anything, Corsaire?" Kane said as he approached it.

Aslin's brows raised. She approached behind him, going through it, just wide enough for the horses. It spilled them into a wider passage, stronger light ahead of them.

Kane moved into the cavern, moving aside after the entrance and waiting for her. He set the torch into a slot at the entrance. Aslin walked through, staring, her eyes wide.

The ceiling above them was lit in streaks, patterns of luminous color shining through the ice from above with the strong sunlight, everything gradients of blue, from the dark blue rocks around them to an iridescent light blue yielding to white light where the fissure opened. The rocks seemed translucent, the shine refracted everywhere off of crystals, as if they had walked into the center of a large jewel with all its facets. There was a small shore under the fissure, water beyond that, a shallow lake.

"It's so beautiful," she said, awed.

"I always wanted to see it," Kane said, his voice as quiet in the space. "There are stories of this place among Tavishi. I never thought I'd stand here."

They led the horses into the space. Kane began to unburden Shaol, setting the wood down. She unsaddled Ilian, patting her, removing her bridle. To their right the ground went up to a level space with a huge pit for fire, a place to sit carved around it.

"You were very brave today, Ilian," she told the horse, coming next to her, running her hands over the horse's neck and passing under her head, tall as she was.