Lamarchos Read Free Page B

dreamed the Hounds since we left Jaydugar.”
    He pulled away from her hands and sat up. “Thanks, Lee.” He stretched and yawned then leaned against the wall, eyes searching her face. “We’re still broken loose of them?”
    â€œMmmmh.” She tapped a forefinger against her temple evoking the ghost chimes. “I think as long as I wear the diadem they’ll sniff me out.”
    â€œPleasant thought.”
    â€œI’ll just have to keep running fast.”
    â€œOne comes.” The reedy, small voice cut into the conversation, pulling both pairs of eyes to the crib. “And one other.” The speaker’s small head, alert ears wiggling erratically, dark eyes glittering, nestled between tiny, black paws clutching at the foot of the crib.
    Aleytys ran her fingers through her tangled hair. “Maissa …” She yawned and rubbed her face. “So it begins.”
    Stavver stood up, his face drawn in an intent inward look, radiating a feeling of unease and diffused anger. Anger at himself, at Maissa, at the whole situation which forced him to submit himself to the caprice of others, and anger at Aleytys for arousing feelings in him that imposed a responsibility for her safety on his reluctant shoulders.
    The strip of batik around his hips began to unwind as it slid down beneath the wide leather belt. Muttering a complex curse in a language Aleytys had never heard, he jerked it taut, resettling the belt to keep it in place. “Maissa will expect us in the lock waiting for her,” he growled. “Lee, you remember what I said? Don’t contradict her in any way. Just do what she says, all right?”
    Aleytys shrugged. The elaborate, blue markings on her breasts drifted and jiggled with the movement. “I hear,” she said shortly. “You don’t have to keep reminding me.”
    He eyed her unhappily. “You’ve got a temper, Lee. I—oh hell.” He stalked out of the room without looking to see if she followed.
    Aleytys sighed and smoothed the cloth over her hips.
    â€œTake me with you.” At the sound of the speaker’s voice, Aleytys started and turned around. The three-fingered, black paws were waving excitedly in the air. She picked him up, then checked to see if Sharl were still asleep. She touched her son’s soft cheek with love flooding through her body, forgetting briefly the complicated and dangerous situation waiting for her.
    Sighing, she shifted the speaker to her shoulder and reluctantly left the cabin. Out in the corridor she rubbed her fingers up and down his spine, laughing as his contented humming rumbled in her ears. “Do you have a name, little one?”
    â€œName?” His breath was warm against her ear.
    â€œNo name? Then I’ll call you Olelo. You’re Olelo. Do you understand?”
    â€œOlelo.” The speaker tried the sound out, pleased with it. “Olelo. Me, Olelo. Olelo.” The syllables turned over in his mouth as if he found them tasty. “Speaker say thank you for the naming, Sister.”
    Aleytys jumped slightly, almost dislodging the beast, startled by the sudden change of timbre in the small voice.
    â€œAhai! I suppose I’ll get used to this. No thanks necessary, Lakoe-heai. It’s only a matter of convenience. A very little thing.”
    â€œNaming is no small thing, Sister. A name given sends ripples through time like a stone thrown into water. Never name lightly.” She heard a tiny chuckle from the speaker, echoed by the boom of thunder outside the ship. “But you have named well, nonetheless, and we thank you for the gift.”
    The sense of presence receded until, once again, Aleytys heard the beast purring in her ear. She pulled her mind from this new puzzlement and marched resolutely down the corridor toward the lock.
    Hand on the cold metal above the fingerplate, she paused. “Olelo?”
    â€œOne hears.”
    â€œThe rain. Can