The Nomad Read Free Page B

has need for a service only I am able to perform. I have waited years for him to find me useful once again. Now let him wait.”
    Veela’s jaw dropped open with disbelief. “No one defies the Shadow King!” she said with shock. “No one!”
    “Then let him strike me down,” Valsavis said. He made a dismissive motion with one hand before she could respond. “Oh, I know he could, and easily, with no more effort than it would take for him to blink one of his evil yellow eyes. But he shall not, because he needs me. And it must be a task of some importance, else he would not have sent you, rather than some lowly messenger, as he had done in years gone by. I was preparing supper. Will you share it with me?”
    She gaped at him as he turned without awaiting a reply, picked up an armload of wood, ascended the porch steps, and went into the cabin. Not knowing what else to do, she followed him.
    After a hearty supper of roasted kirre steaks, together with wild mountain rice seasoned with herbs, they sat down on wood benches by the fireplace to enjoy some hot, spiced tea brewed from a mixture of wild herbs. It was a blend Valsavis had concocted, and it was delicious.
    “You may have missed your calling,” Veela said as she took another sip. “You could have been a master cook. Dinner was superb.”
    “I master everything I attempt,” Valsavis said simply. “There is no point in doing anything by halfway measures.”
    “So do it with a master’s skill, or do not do it at all?” she asked. “Is that why you have never had a woman?”
    “I have had many women,” replied Valsavis.
    “But no wife.”
    “I have no use for a wife,” Valsavis said with a shrug. “I occasionally have use for a woman. I had wondered when you would finally ask me about that.”
    Veela stared at him. “Finally?” she said.
    “You often used to wonder about it many years ago,” Valsavis said, speaking as calmly as if he were discussing the weather. “I see you wonder still, though you no longer seem to entertain the notion of bedding me to find out for yourself.”
    Veela’s eyebrows shot up with surprise. “I? Bed you? Why… you insufferable… arrogant… ”
    “You can deny it all you wish, but it is true, nevertheless,” Valsavis said. “You’ve asked the question with your body and your eyes more times than I could count. Do not forget, Veela, that I am a hunter, and a hunter always takes care to learn the nature of his prey. That is why I have always studied people. Just as a beast will reveal things about itself from the trail that it leaves, so do people reveal much more than they realize by the motions of their bodies, by attitude and gesture. As a young woman, you had entertained the fantasy on numerous occasions. Doubtless because the Shadow King is, at best, an inattentive and infrequent lover. His passions do not flow in the direction of the flesh. But yours… well, perhaps when you were young…” He shrugged.
    Veela stared at him open-mouthed, and then, to her own surprise, she chuckled. “It is true,” she admitted. “I had often wondered what it would be like to be your lover. I never quite knew why. You always were, and still are, such an ugly brute.”
    “It was precisely for that reason you felt attracted to me,” said Valsavis. “Women are strange creatures. They claim to be repelled by brutish men, and yet they are attracted to their power. And the stronger a woman is, the more she is drawn to men who are stronger still.”
    “Why should a weak man interest a strong woman?” Veela asked.
    “A weak man may have many other virtues,” said Valsavis. “If he is weak in body and spirit, he may yet be kind and gentle and devoted. But a strong woman will always be able to control him. It is the man whom she cannot control that she is drawn to, for he represents a challenge, and the stimulation of unpredictability.”
    “And what sort of woman are you drawn to?” Veela asked.
    “One who is capable of