"Xyians bathe under the bells," Amyu offered.
"Really?" Essa didn"t seem impressed with the idea. "If that is what you wish, I will see what can be done." He rose and adjusted his robes and weapons, about to depart. "Is there anything else?"
I looked at him, tall and straight, really looked at him. He waited patiently, allowing me to study him, and that bird"s wing around his eye.
"Would you sing something for me?" I blurted out.
Essa"s eyebrows went all the way up. Amyu looked shocked.
I fidgeted slightly, and looked away. "I"m sorry. I heard Joden sing a few times, and he has a wonderful voice. You are a full Singer and I wanted to . . ." My voice trailed off.
"I am honored." Essa tilted his head. "What songs have you heard?"
I grimaced. "Mostly sad songs." I sighed. "Although Joden sang a funny breakfast song for us when we celebrated the ehat hunt."
"Perhaps something more fitting your mood, yes?" He took a deep breath, and began to sing. His wonder
ful voice filled the tent. It wasn"t as deep as Joden"s but it held the same kind of power.
I listened, spellbound, as he sang. The first verse spoke of the sun rising, and lovers laying in the cool
gra.s.s, their bodies bathed in the light of the dawn. As the star disappeared from the morning sky, they ap peared in his lover"s eyes.
Essa took a breath, and the second verse talked of the sun at the nooning, with the lovers riding their
horses side by side. Their shadows danced over the gra.s.ses and their skin was slick with warmth and
sweat. The Plains shone gold in the daylight, but the stars were still in his lover"s eyes.
Another breath on Essa"s part, and the sun sank down, to set on the Plains. Now the lovers danced in the light of the fire, their bodies yearning for one another. The stars were still hidden in the light of the sunset, but he turned to his beloved to see their gleam in her eyes.
The last notes of the song died away. Essa closed his mouth, and looked at me.
I swallowed hard. "That was beautiful, Eldest Singer Essa. But," I felt myself tearing up as I spoke, "there is another verse, isn"t there?"
"There is." Essa tilted his head to look at me. "Would you hear it?"
"Yes. Please."
In the song, the sun was gone. The moon was high in the endless darkness, and his beloved had gone to the snows. His body ached for her scent and touch. The words explained that the darkness covered his sorrow, and his blade would end it. For even the stars cannot compare to the warmth of her eyes.
I dropped my eyes, remembering Isdra, and her pain.
As the last notes faded away, I looked up. Essa nodded his head to me, and left the tent.
Amyu wasn"t going to go with me on my walk, claiming the press of ch.o.r.es. But I convinced her to come with me, since I knew that the warrior-priest guards wouldn"t talk to me, or answer my questions. In point of fact, I noticed that the guards that appeared when I left the tent were older, and more experienced. I suspected that the younger ones had been replaced after the incident with Simus, but I didn"t say anything.
Besides, I was proud of myself, that I could start to tell them apart. Once Keekai had told me of the one distinctive tattoo, it was much easier.
I exited the tent, putting on my cloak, and stopped dead in my tracks.
"Xylara?" Amyu was behind me, her cloak over her shoulders.
"I thought there was a wide walkway here. Last night, I am almost positive ..." I looked around, puzzled.
There was a wide open area in front of the tent now, with other tents surrounding it.
"There was." Amyu stepped forward, and my guards moved into position. "But the Tribe of the Snake wishes to dance tonight, for a new babe, born into the tribe."
"So they moved their tents." I took a few steps forward. "Does that happen often?"
"Of course." Amyu looked at me oddly. "They"re just tents."
"Of course," I echoed. We started walking, skirting the open area to a walkway off to the side. "But if everything moves, how do you know where anything is?"
She took my question seriously. "Some things do not move. Waste areas, fire pits. And the herds are al ways beyond." She flashed me a look. "We have a saying. "The Heart of the Plains is always beating." "
I nodded in response, too busy looking around to talk.
There were people everywhere. Talking, laughing arguing. In front of tents, repairing tents, knocking tents down. Even as I watched, a section of tents collapsed, and warriors were loading them onto pack beasts.
"Are they moving?" I asked.
Amyu shrugged. "Moving or leaving. The snows come, and many are setting out."
"Does anyone stay here during the snows?"
Amyu shrugged. "A few. The lodges here are small."
The sun was warm on my face, but there was enough of a chill to the breeze that I was glad for my cloak as we walked.
But the people had caught my attention again. A group of small children ran past, laughing and chasing each other. They all had a wooden dagger in their belt, and a wooden sword at their side or strapped to their back. The children swirled around us, and then ran off between the tents. I laughed, enjoying their innocent mirth.
Then a man stepped between the tents, and blocked my view.
I looked up, right at Prest.
He stood there, tall and strong, with Epor"s warclub strapped to his back. He"d shaved his head when he"d been sprayed with ehat musk, so his hair was still very, short. I sucked in a breath in surprise at seeing him.
He waited until he knew I had seen him, winked at me, and walked off.
I stumbled a bit, but Amyu was walking ahead of me, so I focused on following her. None of my guards had noticed anything.
I stifled my grin. "So, do the Tribes stay together when they camp here?"
Amyu shrugged. "Most warriors like to be close to the theas and the little ones. So Tribes do camp together. But there are no formal lines that are drawn. All are free to camp where they please."
A fight broke out to our left, two female warriors taking blades to one another. My warrior-priest guards moved to avoid the clash when it spilled onto our path. I allowed myself to be steered off to the side. A flash of red caught my eye, and I looked behind us for a moment.
There stood Ander and Yveni, just behind us. Ander was grinning like a fool, and Yveni was smirking. They stepped off the path before anyone noticed them standing there.
I didn"t bother to suppress my grin this time.
We rounded a corner, and I spotted a crowd gathered around something on the ground. Two warriors were sitting there, studying something on the ground between them. Others stood over them, watching intently.
As I drew closer I realized they were playing chess.
"I want to see this," I told Amyu, and moved closer, not waiting for her approval. I craned my head around to see the board that lay before them. Sure enough, it was chess, with pieces carved of wood. I chuckled when I saw the castles had been replaced with ehats.
One of the players looked up. "Warprize!" He scrambled to his feet. The crowd eased back so that I could get closer.
"Warrior." I gave him a nod. "How goes the game?"
He laughed. "I am showing them all my prowess, Warprize."
"Where did you learn it? Were you with Keir"s army?"
He nodded. "I was, Warprize. Didn"t last long in the tourney, either. Keir of the Cat is too good at the
game."
The mention of Keir"s name made my guards restless. I gestured for him to return to his game. "Good luck, Warrior." "My thanks, Warprize." His voice followed me as he settled back to his game, and I returned to my guards.
Amyu was frowning. "I thought they planned a pattern dance."
I shook my head. "It is a game of Xy, called "chess". I taught it to Keir and some others. It is very popular
with the warriors of his army."
We kept walking, and I soaked it all in, the sights and sounds of Keir"s people. It was only when Amyu suggested that she needed to prepare the meal for the nooning that I agreed to return to my tent. It was as we were strolling back that I spotted him. It wasn"t easy to do, but a movement in the shadows of a tent caught my eye.
It was Marcus. Fully cloaked, and hidden between two tents.
I almost felt like crying, but I kept moving, not wanting to put him at risk. How hard was it for him to
move about, in a city of people who thought him afflicted?
They were here, all here, and that meant that Keir was close as well. I drew a deep breath of satisfaction, and kept walking.
We were almost to the tent, when a warrior came towards us, at a run. "Warprize! Warprize!"
"Here!" I called out, and the warrior ran over. My guards reacted, drawing their weapons as if to ward
him off. The warrior stopped just outside their reach.
"Warprize." He sucked in air in order to speak. "Warprize, there is one that is ill. You must come."
"No." One of the guards spoke.