See Chapter One (A) for Disclaimers
Chapter Six
"Oh, bluska on that! I don't care what you two lunkheads think! We are going after the BeastMaster and his friend, and you will apologize to them! They went this way, while you two were still nursing your wounds. Pick up the pace . . . they have more than a day's headstart on us," Atalla ordered her two brothers.
She stood in the middle of the trail, hands on hips, and in that moment, she looked more like their mother than either boy cared to think about. The angry little red-head continued, "Now come ON! I should have made the BeastMaster and his friend stay until you two idiots woke up, and then made you apologize to them."
She would have said more, but a strange sound interrupted her. Atalla looked at her brothers, then ran in the direction of the scream. Or whatever it was. Daneurth and his younger brother looked at each other, then the elder swore under his breath.
They followed their sister through the forest, wondering uneasily if they would encounter the demon who guarded these woods and the animals that dwelled here. Their mother had encountered her once, and she had warned the two boys what happened to anyone who harmed that which belonged to Curupira.
While neither boy really believed such a creature existed, one that could suck the very air from the lungs of a person, it was best to be safe. However, their headstrong sister didn't seem to care if she ran into Terrons, the demon . . . or the BeastMaster again.
Daneurth acknowledged they had made huge mistake in assuming that the two travellers with the baby would be an easy mark. But how were they supposed to know that one of them was a BeastMaster! Daneurth had thought they were just legends, myths made up to frighten children into behaving. Like the demon Curupira.
Which begged the question . . . if the BeastMaster was real, was Curupira? Daneurth decided he didn't want to think too much about that. Besides, while everyone knew the legends of the Sula tribe, how only two survived, Daneurth had his suspicions of that as well. He had never met any Sula . . . maybe they never really existed.
On the other hand . . . the muscular stranger fought in a way Daneurth had never seen before. He wondered uneasily if his sister was leading them into a trap, when she skidded to a stop in front of them. Daneurth started to chide Atalla for that, when he saw why she had stopped.
A girl, who looked to be the same age as Atalla, stood in the center of the trail with a wolf in her arms. Atalla dropped to one knee in front of the girl, saying, "Our pardon, Lady Curupira . . . I hope we didn't hurt the wolf?" Daneurth gulped . . . had his sister just said what he thought?
"No harm came to us . . . and your brothers should be thankful for it," the girl answered. Daneurth saw his sister gulp, and wondered why. After all, he had been the one threatened! The girl continued, "And where are you going in such a hurry? Trying to get away from someone . . . or something? Perhaps a crime you don't want to acknowedge?"
"No, Lady Curupira," Atalla answered, "we were trying to find the BeastMaster again, when we heard the most horrendous scream." The demon frowned, and Atalla explained, "It sounded like someone in terrible pain. We . . . I . . . was afraid for. . ."
"You were going to the aid of another?" the demon asked, sounding almost puzzled, and Atalla blushed, hunching her shoulders in a way that neither of her brothers were used to seeing. The blonde she-demon continued, half to herself, "First my BeastMaster tries to save that worthless trader, now here's a child trying to save someone she doesn't even know."
Then she looked at Atalla again, asking, "You said you were trying to find the BeastMaster?" Atalla nodded and Curupira went on, "Why? What business do you have with him?" Her voice had suddenly grown hard, as had her eyes. Daneurth wondered uneasily if his sister had just gotten them all in over their heads.
"I wish to make my brothers apologize to him, and to his friend. There was an . . . encounter yesterday, and my brothers were unable to properly make amends for their foolishness. I am making sure they have that opportunity now," Atalla said, glaring at both young men.
Unexpectedly, the demon laughed and said, "I like you, girl! When you find the BeastMaster, ask him to take you with him to the Varoni. Their queen is his sister, and she can teach you what you need to know. Especially about keeping your two brothers in line."
She laughed again, then vanished. Atalla stared at the place where she had been standing, then murmured, "That's passing odd. Mother said that she was a cruel, miserable demon. She said nothing about what she was really like." Daneurth disagreed . . . the chit seemed unpleasant enough to him. However, he knew better than to voice that opinion.
Atalla turned to face her brothers and announced, "Well! We have to hurry. I want to meet the BeastMaster's sister, and learn whatever Curupira wants her to teach me!" That wasn't the only thing his sister wanted, Daneurth was sure, but he also knew enough to keep that to himself as well. Atalla had ways of making him regretting opening his mouth.
As Atalla hurried off again, Daneurth muttered to his younger brother, "First we have an encounter with the BeastMaster, then with that demon Mother was always warning us about . . . do we even want to know what comes next?" It seemed too terrifying to him to think about. Then he looked at his brother again, murmuring, "On second thought, never mind. We have to worry about Atalla."
"I heard that!" Atalla called back, and Daneurth rolled his eyes. Atalla added, "And Lady Curupira probably heard you too. You know what Mama always used to say . . . she can hear anything that's said or done in her forests." That was too good for Daneurth to let slide, especially since she had been haranguing him for the last eighteen hours.
"She also used to say that Curupira was malicious, and you liked her well enough. Mama also used to say that she would leave the skins of her victims hanging over the trees as warnings. That's even assuming she can draw the very breath from a man's lungs, which I highly doubt," the boy replied, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, she can . . . I've seen her do it," a quiet voice said from just ahead. Daneurth looked around wildly . . . then realized the voice was somewhere over his head. He looked up, frowning . . . and gasped as a figure jumped from the tree in front of him.
Daneurth immediately recognized him as the man who had trounced him the day before, and the newcomer went on, "If you attempt to harm one of her animals, she'll do the same to you. There's the skin of a man lying about a hundred paces to your left, a man who made the mistake of attacking one of her animals in her sight."
Daneurth's own skin crawled at the matter of fact way the man spoke. Of course, that was nothing compared to the nausea he felt when the other traveller emerged from the trees, asking, "Dar, are you sure she didn't do anything else to him? I've seen some of her victims before, and while none of them looked great, none of them looked THAT bad."
"She was angry when the trader attacked the wolf and me, but nothing out of the ordinary," the BeastMaster answered. He looked at Atalla and smiled, saying, "Hello again . . . I wasn't expecting to meet you again so soon." Daneurth almost groaned aloud at the puppy-dog eagerness in his sister's eyes. Oh, Lord and Lady, she was going to embarrass them.
"I didn't dare hope that we had caught up with you already, BeastMaster. I brought these two lugs with me, so they could apologize to you for attacking yesterday. Hello again, Tao!" Atalla said to the dark-haired man with the baby in his arms. He smiled and nodded.
"Hello again, to you, too. We haven't been on the road that long," the man answered. He paused, glanced at the siblings, then added, "I really wouldn't suggest going that way. It's not especially attractive." Daneurth glared at the man, and started to answer, but a quiet glance from the BeastMaster stilled his tongue.
He had only to recall the sound drubbing he had received from the man earlier . . . as well as the tongue-lashing from his sister. She glared at him now, tapping his foot in a way Daneurth remembered from the years before the Terrons had killed their people. And he remembered he had something to say to the man in front of him.
"We apologize for attacking yesterday . . . my brother and I didn't think," Daneurth said. Didn't think you would be far more than what you appear to be, didn't think a man carrying a baby would be so bloody dangerous. Or that his face would hurt so badly from the BeastMaster's kick.
The BeastMaster hesitated, looked at his friend, then replied, "Apology is accepted." He started to say something else, but the dark-haired man looked away, trying not to smile. The Sula shook his head, looking exasperated. Daneurth tried not to laugh . . . he understood how the BeastMaster felt! The other man asked Atalla, "Where do you head now?"
"Well . . . we . . . hoped we could go with you. We encountered the Demon Curupira, and she told me that I could learn much from your sister, the queen," Atalla answered, with an uncharacteristic shyness. Daneurth rolled his eyes. Oh, his sister had it badly for the BeastMaster if she was being shy now!
Once more, a glance passed between the BeastMaster and his friend, then the Sula answered, "I think that would be a very wise course of action. And she's right. You could learn a great deal from my sister. How do you feel about children?" Atalla frowned, and the BeastMaster explained, "My sister has a daughter, six years old."
"Oh! Well, I used to care for the other children in our village, before . . ." Atalla began, then stopped. She looked up at the BeastMaster with another uncharacteristic emotion, and added in a low voice, "Before it happened. Before the Terrons came." The Sula nodded, his face reflecting the same emotion as Atalla's. Grief. Pain. Rage.
"Before we go with you, though," Danuerth said, before he could become lost in those old emotions, "we have to go back to our old village. There are . . . things we need. Will need on the journey." The BeastMaster nodded and Daneurth continued, "We will catch up with you again tomorrow. Safe passage."
"Safe passage," the dark-haired one, Tao, answered. Daneurth took his sister's arm, and together, the three siblings took the path to the left. As the BeastMaster had said, about a hundred paces into the trail was what remained of a man. Daneurth shuddered. Maybe his sister was right?.
~*~*~*~
"As I said . . . the girl definitely likes you," Tao observed as he and Dar continued on their way. His friend shot him an exasperated look, and Tao continued, "It's true! I don't understand women that well, and I could see it." Tao paused, then added, "I don't understand women at all."
"You understand my sister well enough," Dar pointed out. Tao smiled . . . well, Mira was special. While he had met her as 'Carrin,' Dar continued to call her 'Mira,' and the queen had not objected. Tao found himself picking up his friend's habits. A frightening idea, when he thought about it.
"Mira is one of a kind, Dar. If she weren't your older sister, married, and a queen . . ." the Eiron answered. Dar just grinned, and Tao continued, "However, she is already mated with Gereon, she is your sister, and she is most definitely a queen."
"She's always been a queen," Dar answered with a faint, affectionate smile. They continued walking, and Dar said after a moment, "I keep remembering odd things. Not even full memories, just . . . flashes. Sensations. Mira spinning me around, so I would know what it felt like to fly."
Dar paused, then added, "The strongest memory is the night she was taken. But there are other memories. Good ones. Falling asleep in her lap while she sang. And now, we can create new memories. Memories which won't be flashes, or sensations. In a way, I've always envied Mira, because she was so much older when she was taken. Her memories are more real to her. Mine aren't."
"But her guilt is also so much stronger than yours, Dar. Think about it. She was ten years old when she was taken, ten years old when she had to run away and leave her three year old brother in the forest. Anything could have happened to you. Yes, the animals would have never attacked a Sula child, you told me that yourself. But there are other dangers to a small child," Tao pointed out.
Dar sighed and answered, "I know. But she can also remember Mother. I only have my dreams. She has memories. She told me a little about Mother before we left." Dar fell silent, and Tao looked down at the baby in his arms. Aveta had fallen asleep, perhaps lulled by the sounds of their voices. Tao drew her a little closer, smiling.
"I know," the scholar answered, "I heard her talking about Etain. Your parents must have been incredible people, loving each other, and Mira, so much that Mira never felt threatened by you." Dar looked at him quickly, and Tao continued, "It's true . . . some feel threatened by a new arrival. They fear their parents won't love them anymore."
"If Mira felt that way, she never let on. And if she blamed me for Mother's death, she never let on about that, either. Maybe she did sometimes at night, when it was just her and her straw doll . . . but I don't remember feeling as if she held me responsible," Dar answered.
"Oh, she didn't," Tao assured his friend, "I asked her once, while you were resting. I asked her if she had ever blamed you for your mother's death. She looked at me as if I had suddenly grown two heads, and said quite fiercely 'no.' She almost seemed insulted by the question."
And, Tao admitted silently, he really couldn't blame her. Like her brother, Mira was a protector. He supposed that was why he liked her so much. It didn't matter if she was taking care of her people, her family, or her brother. Mira took care of people. That was what she was good at. Dar didn't answer, and Tao decided to let the topic drop. Too many memories had been stirred up.
~*~*~*~
(Continued)
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