Hanstau opened his eyes a crack to see gold sparkles gathering by his bare toes. He frowned at them. That was another bone of contention. Walking in grass toughened the feet of those of the Plains. His feet were far more tender, and pale. They’d taken his boots as yet another way of keeping him captive. As a result, his guards, even Reness, had commented on his pale feet and long toes.
If they gave him back his boots, maybe they wouldn’t have to see them.
The power also seemed fascinated. The sparkles jumped around his feet, and he could almost feel their giggles.
‘Practice as a child does,’ Reness had urged him. ‘Try, fail, try again.’
‘Wild Winds warned against that,’ he’d told her. ‘He said he would teach me.’
‘That is no longer an option,’ she’d pointed out.
Hanstau frowned at his toes, wiggling them the tiniest bit. The sparkles scattered, then danced around them, growing brighter.
He’d seen Snowfall use her powers just the one time, when she had somehow shielded them from the wyverns threatening them. He’d been focused more on his patient at the time, trying to carry the woman to safety with Snowfall’s help. But he seemed to remember that she had pulled the glow within as they’d moved, drawing power into herself. After, Snowfall had been tired, she’d said something to Simus about…
“I had to carry, and concentrate, and move,” Snowfall shook her head. “Not as easy as I thought.”
Concentrate… Hanstau thought about that. Snowfall had been talking about her thoughts, but maybe the sparkles could be brought together. Like boiling willow bark down to a thick paste for fever’s foe. Absorbing it through your skin to aid the whole body.
He wiggled his toes again, and the sparkles clung like gold dust in the dim light. Like putting on joint cream to help stiff fingers and toes. He’d often wondered what caused the stiffness to be so bad in some, and not as bad in others. But the joint cream, applied thickly and then covered well with wool socks warmed by the fire, was a remedy that eased the pain of those that suffered.
Hanstau stifled a yawn, and continued to stare at the glow as it grew and then diminished, wrapping in and around and through…
He could see his toes. No. Seethroughhis toes. He could see the bones, the muscles, the blood rushing through healthy flesh, see the joints in all their complexity. So many bones. He flexed his foot, and then his ankle, watched the interplay of healthy flesh under the skin, watched bone and muscle work together. Entranced, he stared in wonder at—
“Antas wants the male,” came a gruff voice from outside.
Hanstau started, disoriented. The vision was gone, and he was left blinking in the light as the tent flap was thrown open. Had it been a dream? He felt odd, tired, drained and yet… elated.
Reness had calmly moved, swift and silent to sit on her pallet. She gave him a puzzled glance as one of the guards stepped within their tent.
“Come,” the warrior gestured. He dropped boots and a hooded cloak at Hanstau’s feet. “Antas summons you.”
Hanstau reached for the boots, and quickly pulled them on. The cloak was for a much bigger man, and he was lost in its folds. The warrior frowned, pulling the hood up to cover Hanstau’s head. Satisfied, he grunted, and held the tent flap open.
Hanstau glanced at Reness.
“Be careful,” she said in Xyian. “Assume nothing.”
Hanstau nodded in the depths of the hood, and followed the warrior out of the tent.
It wasn’t far. Hanstau noticed for the first time the size of Antas’s tent, nearly as big as Simus’s. A warrior waited for him at the flap, she bowed him in, holding out her hands for the cloak.
“Greetings,” she said. “I am Catha, Token-bearer to Antas of the Boar.
The tent was warm, lit with braziers. It was set up the same as Simus’s had been, with a low wooden platform. A general meeting area, Hanstau remembered. Even the scent of leather, old kavage and sword oil was similar.
Antas stood before the platform, waiting for him.
Hanstau steadied himself, and walked toward his captor, looking him in the eye.
Antas watched him with lowered lids. “You speak our tongue?”
“A little,” Hanstau said. “Not too well.”
“Enough, though.” Antas gave a nod of satisfaction. “Come. We will eat, you and I. We will exchange truths. You understand?”
“Yes,” Hanstau said.
