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Darcy pulled away, tapped him on the nose playfully, and headed for the
chapel. She saw a very pregnant bitch emerge from a room and stand speaking
with Sha.
"Finn, is that her?"
"Be nice, Darcy."
She shrugged, strode over to Kady, and stuck out her hand.  Lady Maguire, I'm
Darcy MacFie."
Kady wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, a brittle smile edging her
mouth.  You brought aid to my husband. I'm grateful."
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"You should be. Darcy gave her a cheeky grin.  You're exactly what I
expected."
"And what's that? Kady's tone caught on the edge of wary and lodged against
suspicion.
"A pretty little piece of fluff. But don't worry; I won't hold it against
you."
Before Kady could respond, Darcy did an about face and headed back down the
hallway.
Finn hesitated, his cheeks burning, and glanced from Darcy's back to Kady's
glower.  Darcy's not so bad, Kady. Not once you get used to her."
Then he fled.
CHAPTER SEVEN
TODD PREPARES FOR WAR
Todd turned his horse over to the stablemon they had hired and went into the
shop through the backdoor. When he stepped into the front room of the shop,
his eyes widened. The tables sparkled with jars and dishes of bright beads,
spools of thread made rows beside them. Another table held tools, saws, wood
chisels, and hammers. Still another had bolts of cloth, linen, silks, and
cottons such as the lycans did not produce for themselves.
The floor overflowed with crates and boxes that had not yet been opened.
Cahira sat on the floor going through a crate. Artair MacFie sat on a chair
with a wooden box between his feet, handing books to his wife Betrys who
stacked them on a glass counter. Betrys, Trevor's oldest child, had run off to
the Clerk of Records and married Artair MacFie, a mon her father barely knew.
Trevor had yet to decide whether he liked Artair or not, but Todd had gotten
to know Artair well enough before the Battle of the Scarlet Petticoat to sense
the warrior behind his grandson-in-law's monkish ways. Todd believed that it
was only a matter of time before Trevor saw likewise.
He picked his way through the chaos.  What's all this?"
Cahira turned and Betrys looked up.
Betrys was definitely a Sinclair. At fifteen, she was already a statuesque
five eleven. She stood two inches taller than her twenty-year-old husband.
Married for three weeks, the worshipful glow of newly-weds shone in their
faces every time they touched or looked at each other.
"Dyna. Items placed on consignment. Cahira frowned.  You don't look happy."
Todd's wife, Cahira, had changed little over the years, beyond gaining laugh
lines around her eyes and mouth; and remained much as she had been when he
married her: a tiny blonde, barely five feet tall; cornsilk hair hanging in a
braid past her hips; and a temper like a stung badger. Cahira Sinclair was
that rarest of lycans: a mage. She had no large talents; nothing great enough
to call herself anything except a generalist. However, she had literally
dozens of minor talents that she put to such skilled use that her lack of a
major gift often went overlooked by those who did business with her. She was
most noted for two talents. Cahira was a Mender capable of repairing wounds
with the precision of a master surgeon. She also  Jumped and could carry a
handful of people with her when she leaped across vast distances in a wink of
her powers.
His shoulders drooped.  Cahira, you need to come over here and sit down. He
settled into a chair and patted the one next to him.
"Kynyr? Her face twisted and tears leaked
"Coma."
"But he was improving... Cahira joined her husband at the table. She wept and
cursed as Todd told her what Larena had done to Kynyr.
"I'm going to him."
She vanished in a shimmer of blue light.
Betrys burst into tears. Artair blinked back tears of his own and wrapped his
arms around her, patting her.  Treachery was the only way they could bring him
down. I'm so sorry."
Todd glanced up at them.  Can one of you grab me a bottle of whiskey and some
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glasses?"
Betrys mastered herself and fetched it from the back room. Artair sat down
across from Todd.
"I'm very sorry. If it had not been for Kynyr, our losses at Hell's Widow
would have been much worse." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]