Chapter 15 #3
I reached up to check my ribs, but there was no knife wound, and when I looked at Ilesekh I discovered his blade was simply gone.
He looked like he’d seen a ghost, shock written all over his dramatically marked face.
Then he flicked his hand to my left, pointing at a nearby tree trunk, and several gasps went up.
“Who shot that arrow?” he demanded. Coiling back on his tail, he raised himself higher to glare at the males gathered behind him.
Scai, Srahyi, Misha, three males I knew to be amazing archers.
Others I did not know, but I had no doubt were just as skilled.
Anyone of them could have pulled off that shot, except they were very much in the wrong place to have done so.
I knew there was only one person who could have, and she’d done it to protect me.
“Look at the fletching, Ilesekh. It’s not ours…” Srahyi pointed out with a deep frown. His orange eyes flicked from the arrow that had pinned Ilesekh’s knife, by its woven handle, to a tree, then traced the path it must have taken straight to the ridge where Jasmine was hiding.
“You have backup lying in wait, Water Weaver?” Ilesekh demanded, still furious.
He balled his fist and flexed it, but it appeared completely unmarked.
Jasmine had shot it right out of his grip without harming him.
Clever female. She had protected me without jeopardizing a potentially peaceful resolution.
That took skill, that took thinking, and all of it had happened in the blink of an eye.
I rolled my tail, the arrows bristling from my abused flesh.
“And I needed it, what is this? Shooting a peaceful trader who offers you help!” Ishmakah shook his head in dismay and immediately lowered himself next to my wounded tail, hands reaching for his satchel to pull out the healing tool he could slide over his palm.
I trusted Ish, so I left my tail with him, certain it was in good hands.
It hurt, those arrows, but I would do it again if they tried anything.
The sleara quivered against my neck, still shaken from his brush with death.
That was curious. I thought I could not understand the bond Jasmine had with Dove.
I did not mind the company, or the extra burden of feeding her, but I did not think I needed it.
When Hunter huddled against me for safety and comfort, that felt good.
I felt like I’d saved someone very important, and he gave me loyalty in turn.
He’d dived to protect me; that was just as baffling to begin with.
Why would the sleara do that? We hadn’t gotten off to a good start, and all I’d done was feed him a ration bar and then release him.
When Ilesekh moved toward me again, it was with less hostility, his chin tilted down to his neck in what was almost a submissive, apologetic gesture.
That did not seem to matter to Hunter, who stuck his head through my hair and hissed furiously in his face.
“Easy, Hunter, easy. I don’t think Ilesekh here intends to sink another knife in my side, am I right?
” The last I aimed at the Sun Fang leader, and he lowered his head even further, the horn on his chin dipping toward his vulnerable throat.
“No, I will not,” he agreed. Spreading his hands, he began the expected apologies, the rushed words to assure me Sun Fang would never be hostile to Water Weaver males and their oh-so-valuable trade.
No, he’d realized right away that he might have just incurred the wrath of every female in his clan by attacking me.
I could see on the faces of the males behind him that they were equally dismayed by that prospect.
Those who had actually struck me with one of their arrows might be feeling even more concerned I’d hold it over them.
Ish broke the shaft of the first arrow without warning, and a wave of pain burned through my tail.
I hissed, “Warn me, Ish. Damn it. It’s been a while since I was last shot…
” He tilted his head, yellow face filled with even brighter eyes and the widest, sunniest smile I’d seen in a while.
Then he bent right back over my tail and snapped the next arrow in his fist.
“I smell of human,” I said then, while they were all still feeling apologetic.
“Because my backup is human,” and then I pointed at the arrow pinning Ilesekh’s knife to the tree.
I let that sink in for a second, eyes growing wide, mutters rippling through the group.
A human? Yeah, they really didn’t like the idea that some human had shot an arrow with the same sort of skill level they demanded of their hunters.
A skill some here might even be hard-pressed to rival.
I knew I was; I could not have replicated that shot. I was certain of it.
“Well, where is he then? Bring him out, we must meet this human archer,” Ilesekh barked, his arms crossing over his chest, disbelief coloring his features.
“She,” I said smugly, “and I will bring her out if you swear she has safe passage. She is not here to harm any of you. In fact, she came with me to aid your kin, just like I did.” Then I looked straight at Ish. “And I would consider it a personal favor if you could heal her.”