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."Form u-u-u-up!" The pony ambled over to its place, rolling an eye.Megan stroked the wing-cat untilshe was a sprawled bundle of purring fur, wing-tips bobbing gently to the pony's walk.Playlater? She thought at Fishhook.The cat's mind was fuzzy, half snoozing.Finehunt, follow.Sneaky.Fishhook shook her head, waking up from her snooze, blinked.Megan desisted then, but took timeseveral more times during the day to repeat the thought-threads to the wing-cat.Have to get her to thinkit's her own idea.They camped.Shkai'ra asked no questions.Not that Megan showed anything but a closed face; but inthe years that the Kommanza had lived with the Zak, she'd watched, with hope, Megan's habitualexpression change from closed-in suspicion, a mask, to a more serene, open look.When this sort ofthing happened, the mask came back.Megan kept Fishhook on her shoulder, one wing draped over hershoulder and tail wrapped firmly around one wrist, primarily through slipping her slivers of boneless pork."Meoew?" Fishhook pawed at Megan's cheek,more-good nobonessmacklickLater.A hard concept for the cat, future; she meowed peevishly.Megan refused wine, drinking only aswallow or two of the cider, her stomach knotting against food.She'd only taken meat to bribe the cat.She pressed a hand flat to her stomach.I'll eat later, too, after I get back.When it was dark, she put on her full cloak and hid the wing-cat cradled in her arms.Fishhook wascontent enough to travel that way.When she got close to the latrine, before she stepped out of shadow, she thought at the cat:followman,good-meat.She could feel Fishhook sniffing.The cat sneezed I don't blame you, in this stink, beast and crawled out of the cloak, swooping in a low arc into the bushes.I hope you want to follow.Koru, Goddess, make her want to follow him.She stepped out into a patch of starlight."So." The smooth whisper came from her left and in front of her."Well?"She sighed."You leave me little choice." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"Who has choices in the face of duty? I must serve my Empire, you must retrieve your child.War makesbarbarians of us all, and someone's life is always lost, ground between its wheels; this way we mayensure it is neither yours nor your child's nor mine.Hah! It should have beenhis sooner; it would havebeen far fewer others'."Koru, arokatzkphilosopher."I understand your point of view, Arkan," she said coldly, as thoughresigned."I, of course, don't necessarily agree, having suffered enough at Arkan hands.It will take sometime.I imagine you don't care how I do it; so I choose to be subtle.You understand the necessity, I'msure.I wouldn't want to free my son to leave him an orphan moments later.""Of course, of course, of course," he said, like an overly syrupy party host."Though I am well-apprisedof your superior capability in such matters; no one covers a getaway better than an illusionist.Anillusionist I."For once the Arkan's smoothness was broken, interrupted, it seemed, by his own thought; but in amoment he d put it aside or filed it away, and went on."And you understand that while time may not beof the essence for you an eight-day wouldn't come between you and your child it is very much of theessence for us, withhim rapidly coming between us and our future.How long did you have in mind?""An iron-cycle is roughly what I'll need," she said, sending a questing thought for Fishhook's mind.Nothing."That should still give your army time to break the Alliance, if they're as good as they'resupposed to be.""Mydear." His voice picked up a scolding edge."First of all, stop the childish little stabs at my race.You don't want to try my patience unnecessarily,believe me.Second: all the rest of Arko may kid itselfabout how this war has gone, and will go.You and I are not such fools, so don't think to beguile me withthat.And an iron-cycle is a damn long& what in Hayel is an iron-cycle?"Whoops, thought Matthas.Almost gave away I've lived on the Brezhan, there !An illusionist& the visions in camp&"Thirty days." Megan pursed her lips."Look, Arkan, how do I know you won't snuff my son just toclear up loose ends even if I do what you want? You ask me just to trust you, with no reassurances.""If you won't trust me, there's no point in talking further; I shall just cease sending the order I'm sending,and never think of it again.But let me reassure you.First, I will swear the oath sacred to all: Second Firecome if I lie, I will deliver your son to you unharmed if you succeed at what I ask, kill him if you fail.Second, do I need to explain why it would be bad tradecraft to doublecross your& ""No.I'm familiar with the principles.Fine, I'll trust you, but if youdo betray me& I've gone a long waybefore, for revenge.""As would be understandable and just.""I need an iron-cycle to set things up properly.""Thirty days.Why so long?""Do you think I carry subtle poisons with me?" Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"Of course you do.What else would you be doing for Shefenkas? You think I haven't done myhomework on you? Besides, I don't carehow you kill him, knife in the back or duel of honor, so long asyou kill himdead , andsoon.""I already told you, I won't leave my child an orphan.An iron-cycle is what I need!""You're telling me it would take you thirty days to acquire a poison?""Andestablish my route home.""That's just a matter of thinking it out! You aren't convincing me, Whitlock.I know you'd love to stall, tofind some way to squirm out of this; you and I both know you have every reason to lie to me now.Morethan I to you."Fishhook? she thought.goodmeatnobonesman?, the cat's thought came back
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