‘Grimra bring you a replacement,’ he informed them, startling them again.
He whirled away to the river to prowl the banks, where a few rabbit holes had escaped being covered by tents or mounds of supplies. Soon he found one, and squeezed into it and along.
‘Little rabbits?’ he said. ‘Where be thou?’
He entered a larger part of the burrow, where three rabbits clustered in the dark. A fine gift they would make for the Arabodedas he had stolen from.
‘Rar, ha ha!’ he cackled gleefully as he rushed in and tore them to pieces, his promise instantly forgotten. Tasty, tasty indeed!
Dawn was breaking, and Grimra decided he would check to see if Lalenda had woken yet. As he breezed into her and Losara’s tent, he was surprised to find she wasn’t there. He knew his amulet was close, however, for he could feel it always, his link to this plane. He drifted up beside the deeply sleeping Losara and tried to pull back a corner of the sheet on Lalenda’s side with his claw. As usual he was lousy at any action more delicate than rending things asunder, and tears appeared in the sheet. Growing impatient, he began to shred it to pieces.
‘Grimra,’ said Losara. He was sitting up, looking perplexed at waking to find the ghost attacking the bed. ‘What’s going on? Where’s Lalenda?’
‘Gone,’ wailed Grimra, having finally revealed the amulet. Slowly Losara’s eyes fell on it. ‘Flutterbug has gone!’
‘Gone?’ Now Losara was truly awake. He fell to shadow and re-formed on his feet. ‘Where has she gone?’
‘Grimra not be knowing. Grimra see her last night sleeping, but now, now, gone!’
He whirled around the tent, knocking things over.
‘All right, Grimra, settle down,’ said Losara. ‘I’m sure she hasn’t gone far.’
‘Why does she take off Grimra’s amulet then?’ keened Grimra. ‘ So Grimra cannot follow .’
Concern showed on Losara’s face.
‘Loves him too much,’ moaned Grimra.
‘What do you mean?’
‘So angry she be! She is watching the other lady every morning, watches her get up from blue-hair’s camp and off through his army, watches her pop out and go to swimming hole, every morning for days and days – such good eyes flutterbug has! Grimra says what be you thinking, and flutterbug says nothing, but Grimra knows, Grimra can tell from the hate in her eyes. She starts trying to go without him, to go and sit and watch the lady, tells Grimra to go find rabbits – but Grimra is watching her anyways, and she doesn’t be knowing.’
‘Grimra,’ said Losara, his voice resonant with power. It caught the ghost’s attention, made him slow.
‘Yes?’
‘Tell me,’ said Losara, ‘where she has gone.’
•
Jaya wandered through the army in no particular rush. No need, for the days had begun to blend, and there was little for her to do save keep Bel company as he sat around on display. It was not exactly boring, but it was sometimes …limited. So she enjoyed these little excursions away, a quiet time to herself, without thousands of eyes upon her. Some of the other folk here knew about the stream, of course, but she found if she visited at dawn when it wasn’t yet hot, between patrol changes, she usually had the place to herself. As she came to the edge of the army, there it was – a small copse of trees hiding a nice secluded spot.
Over the grass she trotted, passing a troop of soldiers on foot heading in the opposite direction. A young man who looked very new to armour glanced at the cloth she’d brought to dry herself, and shot her a quirked eyebrow – no doubt imagining her naked, silly boy – but she found herself grinning and sending him a wink in return. At least he hadn’t been openly lewd, like some of the soldiers around here.
She arrived at the trees and slipped inside, padding lightly through the undergrowth and coming out into a clearing through which the stream burbled. Blessedly there was no one here, and she wasted no time removing her belt and stripping down to her undergarments. She eased into the water and made for a deep spot towards the middle, diving as she reached it and enjoying the rush of cool water through her hair. She surfaced, her feet planting on smooth stones beneath her, and blinked. An odd beating sound reached her, and she shook her ear with a finger to unplug it. As the audibility of the world grew crisp once again, the beating sound descended upon her rapidly. She spun and flung up her hands.
Claws like needles slashed her arm but her cry was stifled as she fell under the weight of her assailant. Her feet kicked for the bottom but she was already off balance, and succeeded only in bouncing along backwards. Clawed hands came at her face, and her own hands shot out to seize them at the wrist. Wings beat at her, and a muddy brown face came close to hers just before she was pushed underwater.
The creature …a Mire Pixie …was pulling in her grip now, trying to get free, but she dragged it down with her. As its wing tips broke the water’s surface, it collapsed from the air to sink after. She twisted away, pushed it from her, kicked free, and came up gasping. About a pace away the pixie rose, breathing hard and watching her with hooded eyes from under a tangle of sodden black hair. Jaya glanced to the shore – her pile of things, including her sword, was downstream.
‘You will not steal him from me,’ the pixie said, wading into the shallows between Jaya and her gear. Jaya had a moment to really see her – a little over a pace tall, her eyes were a piercing blue that shone with fervour from the darkness of her face. She gave her wings a flick, sending a spray of water in either direction.
‘What,’ spluttered Jaya, ‘in Arkus’s name are you talking about?’
‘Arkus?’ said the pixie, cocking her head. ‘A strange name to invoke to me.’
She launched at Jaya with a whir. Jaya dropped down and her hand closed around a submerged stone, which she wrenched from the water and sent hurtling at the pixie. It glanced off her arm and she gave a little yelp, knocked off course. Jaya dashed from the shallows and along the bank to her things. She fell to the ground to scrabble with her belt, the sword end caught under her clothes, even as she heard wing beats coming closer. Flinging clothes away desperately, she yanked the sword free, and spun just in time to smash away the pixie’s outstretched hand with the hilt, deflecting her claws. The pixie spun in the air and half glided, half fell to the ground. Jaya strode to her even as she tried to rise, and put a boot in her side that set her on her back. The pixie opened her eyes to find Jaya’s sword point glinting over her throat.
‘Caught me by surprise, shadow,’ said Jaya, breathing hard.
The pixie hissed, but Jaya let the blade touch her flesh, and she quieted instantly – though her eyes were still brimming with accusation.
‘Why have you come here?’ demanded Jaya. ‘Do you realise I won’t feel safe in this nook again? You have ruined my bathing time. Who are you?’
The pixie slumped a little, her body finally seeming to realise the fight had halted. ‘Lalenda,’ she said.
Jaya frowned – she had heard the name before, but where? Then she remembered.
‘You’re Losara’s lover,’ she said, surprised. Her eyes travelled down Lalenda’s small form. ‘What peculiar taste he’s got.’
Lalenda scowled. ‘You can talk, Sprite.’
‘My love is also part Sprite,’ countered Jaya, then wondered why she was defending herself. ‘Why have you come here? You tried to kill me – why shouldn’t I run you through right now?’
‘Why do you always ask more than one question at once?’ spat Lalenda. ‘Decide what answers you really want before wasting my time.’
‘What did you mean by saying you would not share him?’
Lalenda stared up with pure malice. ‘What do you suppose will happen,’ she said, ‘if the men we love are made into one? What do you think will happen to their love for us ?’
Jaya frowned, unsure what to make of that – in truth, she tried not to think too deeply about Bel’s plan to absorb his other into himself. Always her concerns, when she dared to have them, were dismissed with talk of how Losara was the lesser part, and Arkus had told Bel that he would remain dominant, and she should not worry.