I pulled my cloak closer about me, prickling with excitement, as I
knelt between Raif and Kerrel in the tree-platform. Just beneath me,
Narayan clung to a lower branch. My ears picked up the ring of distant
hooves on frozen ground, and I smiled; I knew every nuance of this
hunt, and Evarin might find his deadly birds not so obedient to his
call today. Not a scrap of me remembered another world where a dazed
and bewildered man had flown at a living bird with his pocketknife.
Coldly I found myself considering possibilities. A snare there must
be; but who: Narayan himself? No; he was my only protection until I
got clear of this riffraff. Besides, if he ever unsheathed his power,
unguarded like this, he could drain me as a spider sucks a trapped
fly. No; it would have to be Raif. I had a grudge against the fat man,
anyway. I pulled at his sleeve. "Wait here for me," I said cunningly,
and made as if to leave the platform. Raif walked smiling into the
trap. "Here, Adric! Narayan gave orders you weren't to run into any
danger!"
Good, good! I didn't even have to order the man to his death; he
volunteered. "Well," I protested, "We want a scout out, to carry word
when they come." _As if we wouldn't know!_
"I'll go," Raif said laconically, and leaned past me, touching
Narayan's shoulder. He explained in a whisper--we were all whispering,
although there was no reason for it--and Narayan nodded. "Good idea.
Don't show yourself."