The Prophet of Panamindorah, Book One Fauns and Filinians by Abigail Hilton Read Free Book Online Page B

wear black because I am
in mourning.
    —Fenrah Ausla
    Corry staggered out of the hole just in time
to see Xerous flip Syrill into the shallow river. Syrill came up
with a yelp. Xerous fished him out at once, blindfolded him, then
cut the ropes on his feet. Syrill had quite a lot to say about all
this, but he was having trouble getting his curses out between his
chattering teeth. “You were dirty,” explained Xerous.
    Meanwhile Talis ordered Corry into the cold
river for a less abrupt bath. She blindfolded him as well, and they
followed Xerous and Syrill. Soon Corry was forced to his knees and
into a tunnel. After crawling for a short distance, he felt a cool
breeze on his face. Then he was on his feet and told to remain
still.
    Next moment, he felt something strapped
around his waist. Talis commanded him to sit, and Corry let out an
exclamation of surprise as he sprang away from the ground. The
movement soon ceased. Hands disentangled him from the harness and
removed the blindfold. “Greetings!” came a cheery voice. Corry
blinked at Sevn. “Welcome to the camp of the Raiders.”
    * * * *
    The prisoners sat on a platform in the boughs
of a massive tree, patch-worked with moonlight. Both were bound,
although they were allowed the luxury of sight. Wooden catwalks led
away in either direction, although Corry could see few details
through the leaves and shadows. Xerous stood guard over them,
fletching arrows on the far side of the platform. In spite of the
warm summer air, Corry felt cold in his wet clothes. He and Syrill
had been in the camp an hour, and no one had paid them much
notice.
    Talis, Lyli, Sevn, and Danzel all passed
occasionally along the catwalk. Once Talis hurried over to Xerous
and asked him for some medical herbs. Finally, Sham strolled by
with Sevn. Sham paused beside the prisoners and glanced at Xerous.
“Have these two had water?”
    Xerous thought for a moment, then shook his
head.
    “Sevn?”
    “I don’t think that they have, Sham.”
    “Gabalon’s teeth, what terrible hospitality.
And poor Syrill is a mess.”
    Sevn pursed his lips. “I wouldn’t say that
the other looks like a dandelion.”
    “I’ll ask Talis to clean them up. Then Fenny
wants to see them.”
    Sometime later, Talis arrived. She wrapped
them in blankets and cleaned the cuts on Syrill’s face and the back
of his head—a mass of bloody hair where Sham had struck him. Syrill
peppered the nursing with comments about spoiling Sham’s handiwork
and why didn’t they scratch both sides of his face so things would
be symmetrical?
    The prisoners had their hands retied in front
and received a much-appreciated drink to which even Syrill made no
protest. Talis brought food, but when it came, Syrill cried out in
indignation. “Is this your idea of a joke?”
    Talis reddened. “I forgot that you don’t eat
deer meat.”
    Syrill continued to grumble, but when she
returned with vegetable broth he ate two bowls of it. Both
prisoners were reasonably comfortable when Xerous returned and
unfastened their feet. Talis took Corry’s arm as before. Xerous got
a good hold on Syrill, who kept eyeing the distance to the ground
as they proceeded along the narrow boardwalk.
    At last they came to the crotch of a very
large tree, which formed a natural bowl. Moonlight washed through
the leaves and threw shadows and shifting patches of light on the
textured bark. Within the shadows of the bowl, Corry saw the
silhouettes of two wolflings, crouching over a block of wood that
had been set up as a table.
    Corry heard Sham’s voice, apparently in the
midst of a mild argument. “What else was I to do? They would have
killed her.”
    The response came too low to hear.
    “Yes, I know, but Danzel wasn’t there! It’s
not as if I wanted to take hostages!”
    Corry heard an alto female voice. “I should
never have sent that pup.”
    Sham sounded sad. “He did it for me ,
Fenny. I think I made him understand.”
    “I hope so.”
    Xerous cleared his