His eyes opened then, and cleared, truly seeing me. "You must take another guard, Lara."
All four girls went wide-eyed and sucked in their breaths, clearly impressed.
"No, Rafe. I am safe. Prest and Isdra will see to me until you can return to your duties."
"I will return as soon as I…" He sighed, and his eyes drifted close.
"Win this battle, Rafe." I stood, and left the tent before he could see my tears.
Outside, Marcus and Prest waited for me, their faces grim. We walked in silence for a moment,as I got my emotions under control. When I felt I could, I turned and looked at Prest. "Fourwomen?"
Prest smirked.
Marcus gave a dry chuckle. "Rafe has always been popular. A charmer, that one. To rivalSimus."
I smiled at the comparison. But my smile was short lived as I lifted my head and saw the blacksmoke still rising from the pyres that burned where a village used to be.
"Rafe was right, we need another to ward you." Marcus spoke from behind me.
I looked down at the ground as I continued to walk, wishing for the security and comfort of mystilltent. "No, Marcus, don't disturb Keir. I have Prest and Isdra, and that's enough." I felt thedisapproval radiate from him and cut him off before he could speak. "The healthy care for thesick. The sick try to reclaim their health. Who has time or the strength to threaten me?"
We returned to the stilltent in silence.
The next day a slight noise outside my tent caused me to peek through the flap to see Marcusworking his familiar magic on yet another warleader. This time his victim was Joden, being toldin no uncertain terms to sit down and eat. Poor Joden looked drained of all his strength as heplopped down onto the stump.
Marcus returned to shove the baby into Joden's arms, wrapped in a blanket and fussing loudly.
"Make yourself useful and see to her."
Startled, Joden took the wriggling handful as Marcus stalked off. The babe was kicking andcrying as Joden started to make funny noises, trying to distract her. But I could see her tinyfeet moving and knew that she was not to be soothed by such a trick.
So that clever, exhausted man patiently reached into his pouch and brought out a strip ofprivacy bells. At the sound, tiny hands reached out of the blankets and clutched them tight. Thefussing changed to happy laughter; a happiness reflected in Joden's face. A happiness that Ihad seen in the faces of others that Marcus had played this trick on, using one tiny baby torestore their hearts. I turned back to my pots with a lighter heart.
When Marcus returned with soup and kavage, Joden was relaxed, singing a quiet song to thebabe. I emerged from the tent as Joden put the babe back in her basket. When he tugged atthe bells, she let out a squall, and tugged right back, putting the leather strap in her mouth andgurgling with joy.
"A warrior's grip, Warprize." Joden accepted the food from Marcus. "What have the elementsnamed her?"
I pushed my hair back behind my ear as the wind caught it. "Her name was lost, Joden. Wefound her next to her dead mother. Her thea."
Joden drank soup, and studied the child. "A serious thing, to lose a name." Isdra walked upwith a load of firewood as he continued. "We listen to the elements to find a child's name. Sheis young yet, the loss will not harm her. We should have a naming ceremony for her."
Isdra brushed her hands off. "She is of Xy. We should follow their ways in this."
Joden looked at me.
"We name our children for their ancestors, or we choose a name that we like. Rahel said hermother's name was Meara."
"Name her for her thea then," Isdra knelt by the basket.
"Meara, it is." Joden reached out to tickle a waving foot. "She should be marked. Stained."
I had a sudden vision of Anna's face on seeing this child with a tattoo, no matter how temporarythe mark. "We can see to that later." I stated firmly.
Joden sighed and picked up his kavage. "It is good that she is named."
Meara shook the bells and laughed, letting us share a rare smile as well.
Her laughter reminded me of something else. "Joden, I forgot to tell you, Simus sent a letterfor you. He asked that I read it to you, so that you had his words for your song."
