“But …” Deer Killer cautiously looked around. “Where are the ropes? If she just untied herself and took a drink from that bowl, where—”
“Have you considered that she might have stuffed them into her clothes?” Hunter bravely stalked over to stand in front of Dzoo. He looked her over carefully, trying to see a bulge beneath her dress where she might have hidden them.
“Find them,” Hunter said. “She might use them to strangle you the next time you sleep through your duty.” He motioned. “Search her.”
Deer Killer hesitated. “Me? Search her? A witch? What if she … she …”
“What’s going on?” Ecan’s deep voice called from beyond the lodge flap. The white hem of Ecan’s cape brushed the sand like gossamer wings as he ducked through the door. A faint hissing filled the air as he came forward. Wind Scorpion, returned from wherever he had been, walked behind him, his pinched expression reminding Hunter of a starved fox’s.
“Starwatcher,” Hunter said, and bowed. “We don’t know how it happened, but our prisoner managed to untie herself in the night, and we can’t find her ropes.”
Ecan glared into Hunter’s eyes for so long and with such deliberation Hunter knew the Starwatcher must be contemplating exactly how to murder him.
Ecan quietly took the torch from Hunter’s hand and ordered, “Get out of my way.”
Hunter stepped to the side, and Ecan fixed on Dzoo.
Hunter exchanged a glance with Deer Killer. The warrior had his hand on his belted knife and looked like he longed to slit his own throat before Ecan could order it done. Wind Scorpion was watching Dzoo through narrowed eyes, a slight smile on his lips, as if in anticipation.
Ecan gracefully walked across the lodge. “Dzoo?”
She didn’t move.
Ecan’s brows lowered. “There are tears on her cheeks. What happened in here? Did you harm her?”
“No, Starwatcher!” Hunter flapped his arms helplessly.
Deer Killer shook his head vigorously, but Wind Scorpion just stared at Dzoo as if seeing her for the first time.
Ecan watched a single tear trace a silver line down Dzoo’s cheek, then said, “Find the ropes. Retie her hands. Leave her feet unbound. We will be on the trail in less than half a hand of time.” He lifted a finger and pointed. “You, Hunter, search her for the ropes.”
He ground his teeth before saying, “W-why can’t you do it, Starwatcher? You have great Spirit Power. I am just a common warrior.”
Ecan’s eyes blazed.
Wind Scorpion said, “I’ll do it.”
He knelt before Dzoo and spread his huge hands, but couldn’t seem to force his fingers to make the actual contact.
“What’s wrong?” Ecan said.
“Nothing, it’s just … just …” A fierce shiver ran through Wind Scorpion’s body; then his fingers moved lightly up and down her legs, almost caressing, searching for anything amiss. He patted down her back and ran his hands over her arms. He took a deep breath as he faced her, avoiding her eyes, and still shaking, let his fingers trace the curves of her breasts and belly. Finally, he stood up. “She has … Gods! She has no ropes, Starwatcher.”
Hunter watched in awe as Wind Scorpion burst for the door on wobbling legs, his body shaking so violently that he looked sick.
By Old Woman Above, what kind of Power did the witch have, anyway? Wind Scorpion had always set Hunter’s teeth on edge. There was something about him—a dangerous presence about the man—that made Hunter’s skin crawl. And Dzoo had turned him into a quivering wreck?
As Ecan turned to Hunter, his cape swirled in the torchlight. “What happened to the ropes?”
Deer Killer hissed, “Maybe she changed herself into a bird last night and carried them far away before she dropped them? I’ve heard that she—”
“And maybe I’ll fry your heart for breakfast because you took them!” Ecan shouted.
“Me?” Deer Killer cried.
“Just tie her up!” Ecan shouted as he swept past Deer Killer and ducked out into the morning.
Hunter waited until he was gone; then he forced himself to breathe for ten heartbeats before saying, “Remove your belt. Use it to tie her hands. And tie them well!”
In the end Hunter had to do it himself. He ducked out of the lodge as the first rays of sunlight bathed the village. To his surprise, Wind Scorpion crouched to one side, his back bent. He held his hands cupped before him, his head down as he sniffed at them as though to catch the faintest of scents. His sweat smelled pungent.
“Are you all right?”
Wind Scorpion stared vacantly at Wasp Village, then whispered, “She wasn’t crying until Ecan entered the lodge, was she?”