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“Yes, and she doesn’t understand it. It troubles her headspace.”
“It is a puzzle, then. What better distraction from reality than a puzzle?”
Sally lets out a small laugh. “Yes, I suppose that is true. At least she is blessed with a mate clever enough to see and understand such things. Would you like me to help you speak with her?”
“If she is amenable,” I say, smiling to myself.
Sally gently interrupts the conversation between my Angie and Liv, directing my Angie’s attention toward me. There is no hostility in my Angie’s expression, but there is wariness. I grin at her, delighted to see the colour my expression puts in her cheeks.
“Please tell my Angie that I am braced to find out how discomforted I should be by all she has shared with you about our conversations in the dreamspace.”
Sally gives me a puzzled look, but dutifully translates my words. My Angie scowls.
“Ahbarelymenshunedyoo,”she says.
“She says she’s kept your conversations private,” Sally says. I have long suspected that she sometimes softens the messages she is asked to pass between humans and raskarrans, being the kind spirited female that she is, and here is proof.
“She did not say that,” I say, laughing.
“Well, not quite in those terms,” Sally admits.
“Please tell her that I hope she is comfortable in the new clothes,” I say, still chuckling. “I will return the unneeded boots to Rachel now. Tell her I am eager to meet again in dreams this night.”
I do not force my Angie to make a reply, collecting the boots she has not chosen and pressing my fist to my heartspace once more, before leaving them to their discussions.
Paskar is by the fire when I emerge from the hut, Shemza administering djenti berry paste to some jagged cuts on his side. Anghar and Darsha are close by, watching the proceedings. I greet Darsha with a clap on the shoulder before turning to Paskar.
“You encountered trouble?”
Paskar grimaces. “Merka beast. As skinny as I have ever seen one. Ribs jutting out so far it was an easy thing to count them. Coat so patchy, it was not worth saving for our supplies. But it fought like it possessed the strength of ten. Took some flesh out of my side before I managed to drive my spear through it.”
“The scratches are not deep,” Shemza says, his voice full of his healer’s calm. “You will be sore this evening. Sleeping might be a challenge. But you will be mostly recovered by the morning. No running for you tomorrow, I suggest.”
“A good job Vantos and the others have arrived then,” Anghar says, gripping Paskar’s shoulder. “You think Callif might be well enough for some mapping?”
“I think I would not trust him not to push himself far too hard,” I say, taking a seat opposite Paskar. “How much has the merka beast encounter delayed you?”
“I was on track to arrive not long after the midday meal,” Paskar says. “The blight extends maybe a half day’s steady running. I was pushing to get back in case any more of the frozen females had been woken.”
Darsha laughs. “You could have taken a more steady pace. None have been woken, even now.”
Paskar’s expression twists with disappointment. “What is the delay?”
“They do not wake them with the curiosity of the unmated only in their minds,” Shemza says. “It is a difficult and complicated process. Not easy for the frozen female or the one doing the waking.”
It is so light a rebuke it barely registers as one, but Paskar is not so oblivious as others in the tribe. He nods to Shemza, having the good grace to look a little embarrassed.
“I do not mean to sound like Larzon,” he says.
I laugh. “You have a long way to go before sounding like Larzon. Still no Jaskry?”
Anghar shakes his head. “Not yet.”
It does not worry me. Not right now, anyway.
Sally and Brooks emerge from inside the Mercenia hut, but my Angie does not come with them. They go to Rachel and Grace, Sally introducing Brooks, who smiles shyly, holding herself as though she is uncomfortable. They talk for a while, then Brooks, Rachel and Grace head back inside, taking Shemza with them.
Not long after that, the first of the new females emerges, holding herself as though she is afraid a blow is going to land across her shoulders, hands clenched tight together, back hunched. Long dark hair falls about her face, dark eyes looking round at everything - the trees, my brothers, the other females - with wide-eyed fear. She is guided by Grace, who brings her to sit by Molly and Sam at the fire. Molly is all friendly smiles, looking relaxed and happy, while Sam is her usual exuberant self. They are good choices to assist with the waking. Molly being young and Sam being so small makes them appear vulnerable. If they are happy and comfortable around us raskarrans, then it only emphasises that the new females have nothing to fear from us.
