We rode slowly down the street, and every man we passed greeted Tammad by name. The barbarian returned the greetings, also by name, and many of the women stopped to stare at him, longing clear in their faces and thoughts. When they saw me behind him they frowned, but they weren’t overly upset. Obviously I wasn’t the first to be banded by him, although my dark hair might be something new. Almost without exception, every man, woman and child’s hair was some shade of blond.
The buildings we passed were of various sizes, but all were one-story affairs and each stood close to the next, some of them separated by a cloth-covered stall with items for sale on the counters. The items were examined by people near the stalls, but only men did the buying. If a woman was alone, all she could do was look.
We pulled up in front of a wide building that had extra wide and high doors, with a large sign on it that had a picture of a seetar Doran and I were swung to the ground, and the men dismounted.
“Remain here,” the barbarian said as he and Faddan tied their seetarr to tall posts that seemed to be provided for the purpose. “We will not be long.”
He and Faddan disappeared inside the building, and I glanced at Doran. She stood calmly and patiently waiting until the men would finish their business and return. I sighed a little, then tried to match her.
In a very few minutes, standing in the hot dirt of the street became uncomfortable. I shifted from foot to foot, wishing the barbarian had given me those buskins Denny had mentioned. Mud might be messy, but at least it didn’t burn. I looked around to help me forget about my feet, and found that almost every man passing by had his attention on me. I was stared at frankly and openly, and their grins said the same thing that their minds did. I expected to be annoyed but I wasn’t, and I didn’t understand it.
There was a small, narrow patch of shadow on the ground to my left, thrown by a tying post, so I moved over to it. It wasn’t large enough to shade anything, but it felt good on the bottoms of my feet. Men and women went by on the street, and little children played in the dust.
I felt the rage suddenly then, and it was almost unbelievable that everyone else hadn’t felt it, too. It was so strong it pounded at me, but people continued to pass by unconcernedly. I turned quickly in the direction it came from, seeing the seetar standing to the right of the building that the barbarian had gone into. It stood in an alleyway that probably led to the back of the building, staring out at the crowd of people, its rage increasing.
Abruptly it trotted out of the alleyway into full view, increasing its pace, bellowing its intention to trample and destroy. It wore no bridle or halter, and when the passersby saw it they moved fast to get out of its path. Everyone ran except some of the children who were paralyzed with fear. A number of the warriors turned back and ran toward the children, but from the speed the seetar had picked up it was easy to see they’d never make it.
I blocked out the horrified screams and desperate shouts and drew calm about myself, moving at a run toward the seetar at the same time. I knew that the great mass of emotions was too much for the seetar that it was more sensitive than normal to the people around it. It didn’t understand what it was feeling, and the result was intense rage. If it wasn’t stopped, it would kill everyone it could reach.
I projected calm at the seetar and its giant head snapped around to me. Changing course without slowing down, it came directly toward me. I stopped running and waited, urging it to come and share my peace. I put my hand out, sympathizing with its pain and offering understanding, and I felt its rage ease, allowing its loneliness and confusion to show through. I comforted the confusion, soothed the loneliness, and the giant beast stopped in front of me, nudging me gently with its nose. I stroked the nose, assuring the beast whatever help it was in my power to give.
“Never have I seen such a thing!” a man said from the awed and silent crowds. There was a murmur of agreement from the others, but mostly they were too numb even to think. I took the opportunity to help the beast raise a small and feeble barrier in its mind, and the barrier calmed it even more.
“What has happened?” another voice demanded, a voice that was all too familiar. I turned to see the barbarian and Faddan coming out of the building, accompanied by a third man. Faddan hurried over to a pale and shaking Doran, but the barbarian and the other man came over to me.
“Denday, I do not believe what I have seen with my own eyes!” a man said, coming out of the crowd. He was the same man who had spoken before, and he stared at me with the disbelief he spoke of. “The seetar was mad, yet she stopped it with naught save the sweep of her arm!”
“I know this seetar,” the man who had come out of the building with the barbarian said shakily “It was left with me for resale, yet I could find none to control it. A mad beast, locked away from all it would destroy and here it stands! How came it here?”
“From there,” I said pointing toward the alleyway. “It stood there seemingly lost, and I but called it to me.”
“Called it to her!” the man from the crowd snorted. “It would have trampled all in its path, and nearly trampled her. The why of its stopping is beyond me!”
“She has great facility with seetarr” the barbarian said evenly but his mind boiled with a monstrous anger aimed again at me. I knew I’d somehow failed him yet again, and I looked down at the dirt in defeat. “I shall send the seetarr to you when they are unburdened, Jezzar,” he continued to the man who had come out of the building with him. “Do you see to their sale. Come, wenda.”
I started to follow him back to his mount, but discovered that I, too, was being followed. The seetar kept directly behind me, and I stopped in confusion.
“I shall take the seetar,” the man from the building said in a kindly way. He produced a leather rope from behind him and started to put it around the seetar’s neck, but the seetar’s eyes blazed and it rumbled warningly. He stepped back immediately as did everyone else, but the beast calmed again when I put my hand on its neck. It lowered its head to my shoulder, and leaned there comfortably.
“The beast wishes to band her as its own,” the man from the crowd laughed. “Tammad, you must needs do battle for your wenda.”
The barbarian folded his arms across his chest and grinned with true amusement. “I have often done battle,” he said, “but never with a seetar. And what need would it have for MY wenda? It is wenda itself.”
The crowd roared laughter at this, and it was true. The seetar was a female. I had to calm her again because of the laughter, but it was becoming increasingly easier to do. The barbarian came closer and studied the seetar carefully, then turned to the man Jezzar.
“I would buy her from you, Jezzar,” he said. As the only alternative seems to be to sell my wenda to you, I shall have to offer a good price.”
“I would prefer the alternative, denday.” Jezzar grinned, looking at me appreciatively. “The wenda is one I, too, would keep five-banded. Yet I cannot take your price for the seetar. It would have done great damage had it not been stopped, and in gratitude I would gift it to you. It will do well as breeding stock.”
“My thanks, Jezzar,” the barbarian said warmly “You shall have the first of its offspring. Come you now, wenda, and bring my seetar ”
He turned back to his mount again and I followed, feeling the old annoyance all over again. I let him lift me to the saddle behind him, the female seetar still sticking close to me, and we continued up the street through the parting crowd.
After we had gone a short way I muttered, “She’s mine.”
“Did you speak?” the barbarian asked mildly, turning slightly in the saddle.
“I said the seetar is mine,” I repeated in a louder voice. “She did not come to you for comfort.”