Daylily drew herself up, her tiredness forgotten in her ire. “Do as you say? Do as you do?”
“Both.”
“Let go of my past? Is that what you have done?”
“This is what all of us must do in order to devote ourselves fully to the master.”
Her gaze ran up and down his savage form—his skins, his bloodstains, his weapons, his scars. Then she said, “If that is so, why do you still wear those two beads about your neck?”
Sun Eagle’s face did not move. Slowly one hand rose to the necklace on which hung the clay beads, the blue and the red, name marks given him long ago to carry into the Wood as he made his rite of passage. He touched them now as though he didn’t quite know what they were.
The Land is all. All we need.
“All we need,” mouthed Sun Eagle, but he still caressed the blue stone. Then he smiled grimly. “We have work to do. No more talk.”
He passed on into the jungle, and Daylily had no choice but to follow. Thunder rolled overhead, threatening rain, but the air was already so thick with moisture, plastering Daylily’s body with sweat, that she felt rain could scarcely make a difference.
Suddenly Sun Eagle stopped. He lifted a hand and Daylily also froze, tilting her head to listen, lifting her nose to sniff. But she sensed nothing. Nothing but jungle and greenness all around.
“What is it?” she whispered.
“A Faerie beast,” said he. Then his lips drew back in an animal snarl. “One I know. One I know too well!”
The next moment, he was running, disappearing into the green, and Daylily was hard-pressed not to lose him.
Foxbrush sneezed again.
He couldn’t help himself. It’s not something a fellow likes to do when a stunningly beautiful woman is leaning toward him with an expression on her face like Nidawi’s wore. But sneezes are not prey to the wants or wishes of those inflicted with them. He sneezed so violently that he nearly knocked his forehead against Nidawi’s exquisite little chin. She leapt back lightly, frowning at first, then shaking the frown into a rain of laughter.
“True love is such a beautiful thing!” said Nidawi the Everblooming. “It has made me decide to find that odd little quirk of yours charming. I can find anything charming if I love it enough. Even mortals!”
“Pardon,” Foxbrush gasped and pulled a fig leaf down to wipe his nose, simultaneously trying to sidle away from the tree and put it between himself and the fey woman. For she was overpoweringly beautiful with a natural, breezy, frolicking sort of beauty, like a flower or a young tree or a fawn on delicate, gamboling limbs. Her hair was loose and tangled, with thick braids of moss and flowers, and her leafy gown fluttered in the wind of an oncoming storm. One could far more easily believe she had sprung up from the ground than ever been born of a mother.
But she was too frightening for words. Trying to escape her, Foxbrush rounded the tree and started to back away when he felt a gust of warm breath on his neck. His mouth opened, his lips drew back from his teeth with the desire to scream, but his throat closed up. He turned his head ever so slightly and found himself gazing into Lioness’s black-rimmed eyes.
She started to purr. Foxbrush thought it a growl and nearly died on the spot.
“Lioness has decided she likes you too,” Nidawi said. Taking Foxbrush’s hand, she turned him to face the beast. “She wasn’t certain at first, but after we talked about it, she agreed you would be a fine husband.”
Lioness’s mouth was open, her pink tongue showing hugely between her teeth. If one strained the imagination, one could believe it was a smile. But one required no imagination whatsoever to think it was a hungry expression. Foxbrush felt his knees giving out.
Nidawi caught him before he collapsed, easing him gently to the ground. Twilight was deepening, bringing with it a heavy summer storm. The first few drops began to fall, and Nidawi, seated with her arms around Foxbrush’s rigid body, tilted back her head and caught rain in her mouth. “Delightful! We shall have a drink to toast our betrothal!”
“B-betrothal?” Foxbrush shook his head, trying to find strength to protest. Despite the warmth of the evening, he began to shiver.
“Why, of course! Now that you love me, I see no reason for us not to wed. Just as soon as you’ve killed my enemy.”
Foxbrush’s head continued shaking for some moments before he could find words, during which time Nidawi laughed and stuck out her tongue to catch more rain, then suddenly turned and planted a huge kiss on Foxbrush’s cheek. This worked like a lightning bolt, shooting him instantly to his feet and out of her arms.