See Prologue (A) for Disclaimers
Chapter Ten
The party was fully underway by the time the sun had been abed for two hours. Platters of roasted meat, vegetables, breads, cheeses, and exquisite honeys and jams, sat on long trench-tables to be visited by any who wished. And there were a great many who wished: the Hidden Folk seemed to literally come out of the woodwork, most of the non-village-dwelling creatures putting in at least one appearance during the course of the evening.
Tao, Miren and Dar were startled by some of their appearances, especially the large creatures that they would have otherwise thought dangerous, but the denizens of Wood's Heart greeted them warmly and Rhianna quickly explained that most of these creatures either had long since given up any tendencies to attack their neighbors or else had never been dangerous to begin with.
It was like watching a convention of creatures out of myth and legend, most of them joining in the dancing or amiably playing games with the children. The shreeh, a night-dwelling people who were tall and spindly-looking, with a shock of white, downy hair and pale red eyes, brought wine. The friirh, small, gnome-like creatures that looked better suited to digging than dancing, arrived with eagerly-awaited sweets -- and consequently were immediately surrounded by very happy children.
Prahteshi, creatures who bore more resemblance to Ruh than anything human, stalked into the torch-lit square bearing an awesome collection of fruits. They regarded the younglings fondly, nuzzling them as if they were cubs, and greeted the adults with softly rumbling voices. A dozen more species, some human-like, some not at all, arrived as the hours passed, each bringing some form of food or music to add to the entertainments.
The more beast-like of the mystical creatures that arrived turned to Dar with curious looks and a slow nod of acknowledgement. Nearly every new face, however odd, at some point came to the newcomers to offer them well-wishing. Miren was overwhelmed by the good feeling that was displayed towards strangers; she had thought that this odd place would be a safe place to raise her child -- now she found herself realizing that it would also be a good place to raise her babe. Tao was alternately amazed and excited by the creatures they saw, throwing in commentary on what he had heard of each kind.
Dar listened with amusement, trying not to remember the past by keeping his gaze on his friends, specifically Sharak, who seemed distant amidst the festivities. And considering the amount of wine he had already quite deliberately imbibed, his lack of gaiety worried Dar far more than any carousing might have. There were so many things he didn't understand about his friend, so many things he didn't know -- and it seemed to the young BeastMaster that Sharak's former human shape was only one (and perhaps the least) of those things.
Dar wasn't the only one that thought had occurred to: sprawled contentedly at the base of a free-standing fountain near his human friends, Ruh watched the ex-eagle intently. He had no idea what the shape-shifter's natural tolerance for alcohol might be, but he doubted that imbibing this quantity after being imprisoned in a non-human form for so long was a good idea regardless of the body's abilities. He also knew enough about human behavior to know that imbibing this quantity for the sake of forgetting trouble was equally ill-advised.
Are all shape-shifting sorcerers drunkards, or are you hoping to start a tradition? he asked, keeping the thought only between himself and Sharak. It was a rather curious situation, being able to speak to Sharak -- and Niirin -- when they were in human-form, but Ruh figured it had something to do with either being a shapeshifter or having magick in your veins and left it at that.
Sharak glanced towards him with a scowl. Neither, and mind your own business. A man is allowed some privacy: leave my thoughts alone.
Ruh's tail lashed briefly against the ground, but he kept his tone mild. Hard to do when you seem to have mistaken wine for water. At the rate you're gulping that stuff down, you'll barely be able to stand in another hour, let alone fly or think.
That's the idea.
So I gathered, Ruh said dryly. He paused, then added, his tone almost gentle, It won't help, you know. Mayhap you've forgotten that about being human, but the expression "to drown one's sorrows" rarely works in reality.
Go away.
Ruh let out a sound that might almost have been a sigh. Don't make me have to go over there and bite you. If that's what it will take for you to come out of this and talk, I will.
Sharak frowned in his direction; distantly, he noted that Dar was picking up on something going on, but he was too preoccupied to care. Why do you care?
Ruh's mental voice gave the impression of a raised eyebrow. Because the last time I checked, he answered mildly, secrets or no, we were friends.
The connection between them reeled with Sharak's surprise. For a moment, Ruh thought he would argue or ignore the tiger, but then suddenly the energy seemed to leave him. I'm sorry, Ruh, Sharak said finally, contrite and soul-weary. It's just . . .
You'd forgotten that it could hurt to be human, Ruh supplied. I've known you for longer than I've known Dar. You told me much in those years, but never about this. I don't question that, he added quickly, as he felt Sharak prepare a protest or apology. Your mind is your own, and I've seen the pain you've felt since you . . . came back to yourself. Some things are too painful to share. I know that well for myself. But talk to me now, friend. Dryly, he added, While you're still capable of thought.
Sharak chuckled, but there was sadness in the sound. I knew her for so long before the curse . . . and I never saw her for who she was.
And now you have and she is lost to you. Ruh sighed. I know of loss, my friend. As does Dar.
Sharak nodded mentally. And that is why I have said nothing. Why I will say nothing, to him. I will be fine, Ruh. I need only time and a chance to wallow in my own self-pity.
Ruh saw someone heading towards the sorcerer. You may have company in that, he said, amused. That one seems to find you most interesting.
Sharak frowned and looked up to see Pasha approaching. Her manner of dress was slightly different: the pants had been replaced by a softly-flowing skirt that was settled low on her hips and hung down to her ankles. The fabric was light and plentiful, flowing as she walked and belling out as she turned. She had paused halfway to him, her eyes meeting his before she joined the dancers in the center of the square.
Sharak smiled despite himself. She finds our friend the BeastMaster equally to her taste.
Ruh chuckled. True. But the BeastMaster will not indulge her. You might. Again, Sharak started to protest. I can scent your reaction to her from here -- and hers to you and to Dar. That one hungers for more than food this night, and her appetite matches that of one so long away from love as you.
Sharak glared at him. Do you think me so little in control of myself as that?
Ruh chuckled and stood, stretching languorously before departing. I think you male, my friend. And I think her young and fully aware of what she wants and from whom she will seek it. And, he added with a chuckle, I think that one is not so easy to turn down as you would like to think. He paused, then said gently, There are better ways than drink to find comfort in life. She seeks a mate for the night, friend Sharak, not for life. What is freely offered can be freely taken . . .
He slipped into the shadows, his destination a mystery -- as it is with all cats. Sharak watched him go with a scowl. Almost against his will, he found his gaze drawn to the figure dancing in the square, her movements almost entrancing in their fluidity. Just as much against his will, he felt his body respond. Sharak sighed and took another long drink from the cup in his hand. Damn that tiger. You'd think after 12,000 years, Sharak could be the one who'd be right.
~*~*~*~
One of the things Pasha had discovered about being human that she truly enjoyed was the ability to dance. Her smile as she twirled and swayed among the other folk gathered in the center of the town's square was exuberant, relaxed and playful at the same time. She had learned to dance quickly and well from Anelysa, a nymph-human mix who had been kept as a slave and "entertainer" for a king in another land. While Anelysa kept to the fringes of the village because of her past, however, her dancing was something she could never forget or hate. So when Pasha and her parents had arrived in the Wood, she had gladly taken the young woman under her proverbial wing at her request for lessons.
Now, as Anelysa arrived and joined her on the dance-space, Pasha laughed in welcome. If this didn't catch the attention of the handsome BeastMaster and the equally handsome sorcerer, nothing would. Anelysa caught her glance towards the two men and laughed, guessing her intent. Pasha's grin did nothing to dissuade her. As always, they quickly became the most watched figures in the square. The other dancers moved back slightly to enjoy the show that was always guaranteed when the two dancers shared the same space, and the rest of the crowd moved closer. Out of curiosity, Dar, Tao, Miren and Sharak followed suit.
The women made a startling contrast to one another as they wove through steps that seemed well-rehearsed and yet came at a moment's notice. Pasha was the night to Anelysa's fiery day: the nymph-human had hair the color of sunset and ivory skin from her father, with the willowy build and vivid yellow-green eyes of her mother. They spun and twirled, moving in counterpoint to one another as the musicians sped up the beat obligingly, the music becoming a wild mix of drums, flutes and what in another land would one day be called fiddles and zithers.
The dance was fascinating enough in the intricacy of its steps to seem innocent to the children gathered, but the adults could well see the touch of exotic in the movements. As well they might have: Pasha was in all things mature and curious, and Anelysa had taught her about more than one kind of dance. The couples in the crowd didn't mind the display. They were secure in their relations and were not bothered by the reactions of their respective mates: they each knew that it was neither Pasha or Anelysa whose bed their mates would be sharing or desiring that evening, or any other.
Miren, likewise, was fascinated by both the steps and the connection she could sense between the two women. She was unprepared, however, for Anelysa to stop in front of her at the end of one spectacular spin and unerringly grab her hand between the people half-way pressed around her. She gave a token resistance, but laughingly gave in when Pasha in turn brought Rhianna into the circle. The music slowed only slightly, but Miren surprised herself by being able to keep up even with the added weight and encumbrance of her belly.
Anelysa smiled in encouragement and said as she led her in a complicated turn, "You have music in your soul, child. And a mother should dance when her babe is so near to joining the world. It puts that music in the little one's soul as well."
Miren smiled back at her as the fire-haired woman released her at the end of the turn. "I thank you," she said, catching her breath.
Anelysa smiled and nodded. "Be welcome to the Wood, child."
Miren's smile grew, and unexpectedly, she felt her hear expand at this newest example of the warmth of her new neighbors. Truly, she decided, this would be a fine place to raise her child. Tao met her at the edge of the circle, smiling in wonder and concern. Miren assured him she was only a bit winded, but Anelysa caught his hand before she could say any more. Tao looked at the woman, startled, and protested quite heavily. "I'm too clumsy!" Tao insisted as she pulled him forward. "Really! I'll trip all over you and--"
Anelysa only smiled and said into his ear, her voice like a spring wind, "I'll catch you. A most enjoyable experience either way. Trust me." She winked.
Tao stared at her, stunned, and found himself in the center of the circle. At least I'm not alone, he thought, as he watched Rhianna in turn pull a couple of other people into the circle and Pasha advance on Dar's position. Tao grinned. That in and of itself might make this worth it. Then Anelysa started moving and he seemed to forget how to think.
Dar saw Pasha moving towards him, but her eyes were on someone else in the crowd. A true hunter, he realized, as she turned her attention away from the decoy at the last moment and grabbed his hand instead. Her palm was warm, and her grip was strong. She smiled up at him, torchlight dancing in her yellow eyes, and pulled him towards her. "Dance with me, BeastMaster," she said over the music.
Dar started to protest, then saw Tao looking at them with a grin on his face. If he backed down from this while the "clumsy one" danced, Tao would never let him live it down. So he sighed and let Pasha pull him into the circle. He knew perfectly well she didn't want just a dance, but he would ignore that -- it had been a long time since he danced at a festival like this one. His mind tried to wander down the appropriate path of memory, but he shut it down.
The music was very different from that played by the Sula, but he found himself able to move surprisingly well to it. Of course, some part of him noted with amusement, that might have had something to do with his "instructor." Pasha spun and wove around him with a grace that seemed at odds with her other form, her skin brushing against his as she tightened the circle of steps more than she had with her other partners. Her eyes caught his, playful, mischievous, slightly hungry, and Dar's breath caught unexpectedly.
The attraction was there -- most definitely, as his body informed him -- and the intensity of it took him by surprise. He had not felt this strong a pull to a woman other than Kyra since his meeting with that Amazon, Hypolita. Tao had commented dryly, in response to Dar's own teasing, that if kindling had been placed between the two warriors, the whole forest might have caught fire. But Dar had resisted then and he resisted now, although it seemed a bit more difficult this time between the music, the wine, and the dance.
He leaned down slightly and said, "I thank you for the dance. I'm going to sit now."
Pasha touched his arm lightly, and her touch seemed like fire on his skin. "There are more dances t' share, BeastMaster."
Dar smiled slightly. "I'm as aware of them as you," he assured her. "But my heart belongs to another."
Pasha raised an eyebrow. "It is not your heart I want for tonight," she told him dryly.
Dar chuckled. "I'm aware of that as well. But . . . for me . . ."
"T' give your body ye must first give your heart." Pasha cocked her head slightly and smiled. "Or so ye would prefer it t' be. An idea I shall never comprehend. But I do respect it."
Dar smiled, then lifted her other hand and kissed its knuckles lightly. "I thank you for that as well."
Pasha smiled, her expression still hungry, but mostly mischievous now. She leaned up on her toes and breathed into his ear, "Let me know if ye should change your mind. I would greatly like t' dance with ye again . . . and again . . ." Her tongue flicked out to lick the rim of his ear delicately. Dar started, his body reacting in ways he really wished it wouldn't. Pasha stepped back and grinned at him. "And again," she said, winked at him, and turned back to her dancing.
Dar stood there for a moment, then forced himself to move. He could feel Ruh's amusement through the link as he accepted a cup of wine from Ordan (who was carefully not smiling) and for a moment saw through the tiger's eyes. From the vantage point shown, Ruh was on a rock on the hillside, slightly above the crowd, with a perfect view of the square. Dar glared in that direction. Not a word, he warned.
The sense of a wry smile was unmistakable. I wouldn't dream of it, Ruh assured him.
~*~*~*~
Sharak watched the dancing with interest, and found his attention narrowing almost completely to Pasha. The way her body moved, the way she smiled, the flashes of skin that would appear as her skirt belled out, revealing slits on four sides that lifted in even panels to show her legs. Ruh had been right, it had been a very long time since he had lain with a woman, and his body was informing him quite clearly that this one would be more than acceptable to satisfy those urges. His mind was likewise telling him that he needed the release such an indulgence would bring, the comfort of someone's arms -- if only briefly, and even though it would not be the arms he desired most.
Ricenne was lost to him before he even had a chance to find her, and Sharak's heart hurt worse than it had in millennia. So Sharak watched Pasha dance, and let his body push the hurt away with a wash of pure desire and need. The magick in the girl's blood called to him as surely as the way her eyes flashed, or the way her waist curved between the blouse and the skirt. He watched her dance with Dar, watched the BeastMaster clearly turn her down, and felt his hand clench on the cup of wine.
It was not jealousy, he realized quickly, but rather a reaction to images that formed in his slightly inebriated mind of the two young ones together. They would make a striking pair, with the difference in their coloring, and the imagined look of desire and pleasure on her face sent very strong messages to his hormones. He wanted her. Now.
As if hearing his thoughts, Pasha left the dance-circle with a smile and a laugh to the gathered crowd. Their attention returned to the circle as more people joined in, and Pasha headed for one of the tables, seemingly searching for a drink. Then she paused, her gaze turning to Sharak with an expression that told him that direction was as much a false one as the decoy she had set up for Dar before taking him to dance. Sharak's eyes met hers, and suddenly the tension and electricity between them was almost palpable.
Pasha smiled, slowly, then carefully wet her lips. She turned slightly away from the table and backed towards the path that branched off towards the woods. Her gaze remained locked with his, a faint smile playing at her lips: a challenge and an invitation all in one. Follow me if you dare, her eyes said clearly.
Sharak smiled and stood. His people, the Liunde, had quite a good tolerance for alcohol. His step showed no hesitancy or even the faintest wobble; his gaze was steady on hers as he advanced. Pasha smiled and glanced at the cup of wine in his hand. Sharak, who had been about to place it on the table, paused and smiled. She had been dancing after all, it would be inconsiderate to waste the rest of the wine when she need something to drink. Pasha grinned at him briefly as he kept the cup in his hand, then turned to walk down the path.
She never even glanced over her shoulder to see if he was still following. Sharak grinned. Cheeky little lass, he thought with a flash of mischief. So sure of your allure as that? Mayhap I should teach you some humility. . .
Not that he truly believed that could be accomplished: the girl's mind and soul were that of a wolf. There was no concept of humility -- or subtlety -- for her. She wanted what she wanted, and took it when and where she wanted. There would be no strings attached to this meeting, no emotional bond to complicate things. This was pure physical attraction. It sent another jolt of desire through his body. Sharak felt Ruh's amusement as a warm rumble before he shut the doors of his mind.
The reader here has a choice between sticking with an R rating or detouring briefly into NC-17.
Part B has both a Version A, which contains the full love-scene,
and a Version B, which summarizes somewhat.
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