| But when I got back Huda was asleep in our still pitched tent, and Dov wasn�t anywhere to be seen. Suppose Dov hadn�t come back at all? Should I go lookin� for him? I didn�t really want to, but I felt it was my duty to remind him that we had to be off today; and if he was lying drunk somewhere, I should probably bring him some fresh klah and herd tea to help the headache he�d have. So I left Huda snoring softly into her pillow, and headed up to the main Hall to find Dov. I smiled and waved as some of the miner men who recognized me called out at how nice my runner was, or how they wanted another round of poker to win what they lost, or asking if I could teach them to throw knives, or arrange for them to meet up with Huda. I told them thank you for Champ�s sake, that they wouldn�t win in another round of poker (although I didn�t tell them that the reason they wouldn�t win was because I had a fixed deck), said a weyr-given talent for aim like mine couldn�t be taught (and they laughed at this, and so did I), and ignored them when they asked about Huda, because I was pretty sure at this point she wouldn�t take to a man�s bed for money; although she was eager enough to do so for other reasons. I heard someone remark at how I must be jealous, always being near someone as beautiful as Huda, and I didn�t bother to respond to that either. How could I explain I couldn�t give a wherry�s backside how pretty Huda was? I�m sure everyone, including Huda, thought I was jealous or something, and I didn�t bother to say anything to the opposite effect. I only remembered a time when Celsya told me it took a friend to make you realize you could feel something, and I was glad I wasn�t friends with Huda, because then I might just possibly be jealous. I understood what Celsya meant, even though Huda was confused by it, and Dov just said it was ridiculous. But I was stopped on my way into the Hall by a handsome lad who told me the MasterMiner was holding a meeting, and no one was to leave or enter, no exceptions. �Not if dragoners come on Search?� I teased him, and the lad smiled and blushed prettily. I didn�t find myself attracted to him, but he was charming enough, and bold because I know he�d been a little afraid of me last night when I was throwing knives from horseback at airborn targets. I always hit them dead on, and I always got mixed reactions. Huda said it was mannish and gross, but I suspect she was just jealous. Some men got standoffish, jealous too, and others cheered me on and bought me hard beer afterwords. �Not even then.� He said firmly, and I sighed, and told him I needed Dov, for we were to be off that day, and asked if he could go in and find him for me. The lad shook his head, although I thought he seemed glad of saying no. Probably he wanted Huda to stay longer..this one was handsome enough to get Huda�s attention if she were in the mood. I put those thoughts out of mind though, I wasn�t dirty headed like that. I smiled at him, saw him blush again, and wished I was pretty enough to impress this obviously shy boy. But again I forced the thoughts from my head. What did I want with love? I had a hard enough time finding a friend here and there, maintaining romanticism wasn�t an option for me. I secretly suspect I wouldn�t much care for love anyway, it would surely turn out boring and trying. But enough of that. I didn�t care enough about Dov to go sneaking around the back,or climbing up through a window. I was content enough for the time being to stay here another day or so. I was personally getting tired of the slow moving trips on the road anyway. I loved traveling, hated staying in one place, but I hated�traveling? I shook out me head, trying to stop from thinking all sorts of odd things, and decided to go for a walk, maybe head down to the beach and see about finding a flitter egg or something. I had no use for the creatures, but they fetched a good price up north. So I headed out to the lakeside beaches. It was summer, warm, and sure enough I saw some wild (or tame) fire lizards flitting about the skies before I came into view. They all promptly popped between, the females a bit more hesitant than the rest. That meant there were eggs around; but flitters were getting smarter, at least as far as I can tell. There was a time when if you came close to a gold�s nest, she�d have at you, but now so many people were coming egg hunting the tiny things had realized that it was better not to let on where their eggs were. Half a day of searching didn�t turn anything up, other than two small green clutches sucked out by tunnel snakes. No money there. I was thinking perhaps I should round up some of the wilder Hallbrats, and maybe try to get them gambling a bit of money, but then decided against it. Chances were anyone not working at this time of day wouldn�t be the type who could gamble properly, and I�d have to use regular cards, not the fixed ones, and then I might end up loosing. I wasn�t so good at poker as all that. So with nothing else to do, I went of to find Huda. She was in the tent, pouring over a picture book of dragons some man had given her. I rolled my eyes at her as I went in and slumped onto my cot. She wrinkled her cute little nose up at me, and shook her blonde head. �You�re dirtier than a watch wher and stink worse than it�s den! Go take a bath before we leave, will you Elf? I don�t think I could stand smelling you all the way to Fort.� �Oh wouldn�t that be horrible for you.� I said sarcstically, and laid back on my cot, bare of all but one blanket roll and pillow. I didn�t much care I didn�t smell clean. I�d go for a swim later, maybe this evening if Dov didn�t bother showing up. �Where�s Dov?� I asked, and Huda shrugged. �Drunk somewhere. I don�t know, maybe you should go find him if you care.� Huda said sweetly, and rolled over on her back, staring up at her book of pictures. I smiled at that; when given the chance I�d go for something with a good story to it, or something to be learned, but here Huda was, content with a picture book, with dragons no less. After a while, I got fidgety, and decided to go out for that swim. Huda was right, I did smell something frightful. Digging through that beach, with all the fire lizard waste, had obviously taken it�s toll on me. I told Huda I was going, but she had been staring at a picture of a gold dragon for ten minutes now, and I figured she was going crazy. She didn�t even acknowledge me when I left, and I thought I saw her smile, ever so slightly, at the dragon queen in the picture. Continue.... |