Warsworn

other." Keir continued. "That will see us through."
    "Oh yes, my Keir." I kissed him softly, and nuzzled his ear. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my palm. Wrapped in those blankets, both of us fully clothed, I some how felt more intimate with him than if we'd been naked. "I could stay like this forever." I whispered.
    "So could I." He whispered back. "Sometimes, I think of us taking two horses and riding away, as far and as fast as we can."
    Surprised, I studied his face. He returned the look steadily. "We could run, Lara. Far and fast and free, with only the skies as a witness. We'd have each other, no worries beyond our own needs, no burdens, no—"
    "No Iftens?"
    "No Iftens." He growled. "It would be perfect."
    "It would be."
    He heaved a sigh, and we lay in silence for some time, until I shifted slightly and spoke into his ear. "But that is not who you are, Keir of the Cat, Warlord of the Plains." I felt his head move, nodding his agreement. "It is not who you are either, Xylara, Daughter of Xy and Master Healer."
    I nodded, but stayed silent.
    "Now, Marcus will be worried." Keir smiled ruefully. "If I could, I would rise from this pallet, sweep you up and carry you to the command tent. But I fear that if I try, I will fall and take you with me."
    I smiled through my tears. "Let us lean on each other, then." From what I could tell, 'purification' was just another way of saying 'clean everything'. Everything in camp was cleaned to even Anna's exacting standards. Tents were shifted to new ground, and even the horses were washed. If it couldn't be washed or boiled, it was burnished or polished, until the entire camp glowed. Braziers were set up at central points, and something called star-grass was burned to cleanse the air and the spirits. It made me sneeze. This took a great deal of time and effort. At first the warriors moved slowly, almost all recovering from the illness. But as days passed, their strength and spirits started to rebuild. Keir reached the point where he could walk through his warriors again, and it wasn't long before he was moving about with his old confidence.
    Meara too, made an enormous difference in the camp.
    She of the melting brown eyes and dark lashes, had each and every warrior wrapped around her little finger. I didn't see much of her, as she was being passed from warrior to warrior, each acting as thea for a part of the day. At first I was concerned, but when I made a point of checking on her regularly, she was always smiling, waving her arms and legs in the air from her basket. She thrived and her presence raised the spirits of everyone around her. After the purification, almost everyone had regained their normal strength, but the planned contests had everyone pushing harder to get into the best condition possible. The camp rang with the sound of sparring weapons clashing, and the grunts of fighting warriors. Keir participated as well, claiming the need for practice. But as far as I could see, he was in excellent condition. I loved to watch him in the practice circles, as graceful as the cat he was named for. He seemed to enjoy that I watched him every chance I got, and yet all was not the same between us. Although he seemed fully recovered, Keir had made no move to resume our
    … physical relationship. I wasn't too worried, since he was still mending, and yet…
    The other sound that rang through the camp was the constant sound of warriors announcing their chess moves to one another. Everyone was determined to enter the tourney and win the honor of champion. I had quite a few visitors to my stilltent, with vague complaints of stomach troubles and sly questions about chess strategies. I cheerfully answered their inquiries, dosed them with my worst-smelling, foulest-tasting flux remedy and sent them on their way. There were very few repeat visitors.
    More letters arrived from Water's Fall, with reassur-ances of the conditions in the city. Othur continued to complain of Simus's behavior, but now he mentioned additional problems with the Lords, including some border disputes that he felt would never be resolved without bloodshed. Which told me that things were fairly normal within the Kingdom of Xy. Simus demanded, rather loudly in his missives, that we give him all the details of events and that more kavage be sent. He also gave some rather pithy details of his sexual adventures. I could barely contain my laughter at the sight of the scribe's handwriting. I was certain sure