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present situation, which was losing to Robert Morcar sitting in the chair
beside the bed.
A  black lycan, Robert Morcar had light olive skin and raven hair. His blocky
build and big bones, despite being only five eight in height, gave him a solid
look. Five of Belgair's guardsmyn had beaten him into submission after he
managed to kill one of them. Robert had tried to reach Claw and get his
chieftain out of the manor. He had gotten within three doors of the Blue Room
before they overtook him. The chieftain had been sitting in the doorway,
watching what happened. Robert would never forget the look of fear and
startlement in his late chieftain's eyes seeing Malthus and the others
overtake him. Despite Kynyr telling Robert over and over that he should not
blame himself for Claw's death later that night, Robert could not let it go.
Kynyr sat on the near side of Robert in his wheel-chair, observing the game
with a pensive look that suggested to Finn that the three myn had been
discussing that night again. It seemed like they were all still trying to
piece the events together, asking themselves what they did wrong.
"Hey, Kynyr! Ugly cubs have more fun."
Kynyr's good looks had led his six sisters to treat him like a pretty toy that
was never supposed to get dirty. As a result it seemed his homely
spiritbrother got to go fishing far more often than Kynyr did growing up.
"What's up?"
"Darcy's having a bitches night out with Thunder and a couple of new friends
from the manor. So I was thinking about how I promised you a race as soon as I
could sit up proper and get me one of these things."
"This I must see. A spark of humor touched Vayle's worn face.
"The halls are crowded. Kynyr started to refuse, and then noticed the way
that both Vayle and Robert perked up.
"There must be somewhere in this place with a straightaway?"
"Yeah, Vayle. Let me think a minute. Kynyr's brow creased.  There's a hallway
just off the West wing that isn't seeing much use yet..."
"So? Let's do it."
Phoebe appeared.  Quite a gathering you have here, Brubs. What's up?"
"Finn and I are going to have a race. Kynyr did not care for the sudden glint
in her eyes.  Vayle and Robert are going to watch."
"In that case, Brubs, there are a lot of extra chairs on wheels out front."
Kynyr's eyes narrowed in suspicion.  What are you up to, Phoebe?"
"Nothing. It would just be an awful lot of standing and them wounded and
such. She put on her nicest smile, which made Kynyr all the more suspicious.
Vayle glanced at Robert.  I have no objection, if you don't?"
"So long as someone pretty pushes them? Robert chuckled.
Phoebe favored Robert with a disarmingly sweet smile.  I am certain that Leeny
and Mary will want to help."
Kynyr thought that his sisters were taking far too much delight in the chairs.
 Maybe this isn't such a good idea...."
Phoebe wrinkled her nose at him playfully, and dashed out of the room.
"Don't you dare change your mind, Kynyr, Russa warned him.
Vayle and Robert laughed as a dubious look passed between Finn and Kynyr.
Phoebe soon returned with Leeny and Mary to push Vayle and Robert.
On the far side of the manor there was a dusty corridor where most of the
rooms were currently being used for storage. The few tables scattered along
the length of the hallway were soon moved into a room. With the corridor
cleared for the race, Kynyr let the brake off and started. He had not gotten
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far when Russa seized the handles of his chair and took off at a run. Phoebe
squealed, grabbed Finn, and raced after her. They careened along, bumping them
together heedless of the myn's protests.
Leeny suddenly shrieked  charge and snatched the handles of Vayle's chair.
Vayle swallowed a curse and gripped the arms so tight that his knuckles
whitened.  What are you doing?"
Mary shrugged and went racing off with Robert.
Cries of  No,  Stop,  Wait, and  Watch out for that wall, soon echoed
through the corridor.
Kynyr and Finn stopped hollering first and simply held on tight. Vayle and
Robert continued to shout until they ran out of breath. It was not until Russa
managed to bump Kynyr into Vayle and overturn both chairs, spilling the myn
onto the floor, that the mad dashing about ceased.
"That's why you call them the Dreaded Horde? Vayle asked ruefully, as Leeny
uprighted his chair and Phoebe helped him back into it.
"Ayup, Finn and Kynyr chorused.
* * * *
Darcy had not been to the Difficult Horse since Hereward sold it to
Juniperarrow and Starsilent. The two Fae had kept the name and the sign that
featured a horse sitting on its rump while a mon tugged the reins before it,
but otherwise the place had changed a lot since the first time that Finn
brought her there. The tavern sat across from the town common on Main Street.
The interior was warm and brightly lit, and pleasant compared to the snowy
cold outside. Barrels with spigots jutting from them lined the rear wall
behind a polished bar of walnut heartwood. Sturdy chairs circled the round
tables placed throughout.
The main change had been the stage constructed on the far side. Juniperarrow
had torn out the wall between the common room and a storage area to build it.
A wintering minstrel had been traded a place to stay, meals, and tips to
perform each night until the spring melt would allow him to move on. That
night he sang a ballad about the Lycan Rebellion of 997 filled with the deeds
of Todd Sinclair, Tarrant Redhand, and other heroes. Darcy grinned into her
glass of whiskey, certain that the minstrel was pandering to the audience by
reminding them that they had the last surviving hero of that conflict living
amongst them.
Jennifer Sherbourne lowered her eyes, flicked a strand of saffron hair behind
her pointed ears, and swirled her glass of dark violet wine. A spiritworker,
Jenny served as Stone's Captain of Mages, commanding the magic workers as well
as the swan mays and their gryphon units. She had known Stoneriver for nearly
a century, and for a time they had been lovers. But Jenny had wanted marriage
and children things that Stoneriver could not give her. The romance had died,
but the friendship remained strong.
"So what do you do, Darcy?"
"I was general to MacLachlan, but now I'm Todd's second. Darcy drained a
glass of whiskey.
"She's a newlywed. StealsThunder wiggled her eyebrows. The tiny snowdrop of a
Fae hair, eyebrows, and eyes like ice sat at Darcy's right hand across from [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]