Butler, Octavia - Patternmaster

…

Teray looked at Amber, and read not only weariness but bitterness in her face. He realized abruptly that the bargain that he and Coransee had made in no way included her. She had fled from Redhill because Coransee had denied her independence, tried to hold her against her will. And now she was his again. At least Teray had a chance for freedom, but she was caught—unless she wanted to try against Coransee her healer’s talent for swift murder. And she had already admitted that she was afraid of him.

Abruptly Teray urged his horse forward to pull alongside Coransee. He could not abandon the woman, could not let her be drawn back into captivity without even trying to help her. She had helped him. The shot rang out just as Teray moved.

Teray felt the bullet’s impact so strongly that he slumped to one side, almost falling from his horse. He held on somehow, aware of pain now, growing, but oddly dulled. It was then that he realized that it was not he who had been shot, but Amber.

The link, fulfilling its function too well, had given him so great a share of her experience that if they had been alone he could have been shot too while he was recovering. But he was not alone.

He realized from the alert, intense expressions of the outsiders and women that they were already seeking the Clayark sniper. The party had come to a stop. Teray left the hunt to them, dismounted, and went to help Amber.

She had not fallen. She sat hunched over, coughing blood, fighting desperately to keep herself alive. She had taken a bullet through the throat. As Teray lifted her down she seemed to pass out. He felt the limp, dead weight of her and only the link reassured him that she was still alive.

He carried her onto the soft sand of the beach, put her down, and knelt beside her for a moment, wondering whether it would be dangerous to disturb her with an offer of help. Did she need help? A wound like that probably would have killed a nonhealer before anyone could do anything about it. She was not only alive but working to heal herself. Teray felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, startled, as Coransee knelt beside him.

“You looked as though you were just about to reach out to her,” the Housemaster said.

“To help her. She might need it.”

“No. I’ve seen her badly hurt before. She manages better if she’s left alone.”

Teray looked at him doubtfully, wondering whether he knew what he was talking about. But the link was no longer transmitting distress. Amber had gotten rid of her pain and she was no longer bleeding either from her neck wound or from her mouth. She seemed in control. Teray decided to leave her alone unless she seemed in trouble again. He got up, went to his horse, and got a clean handkerchief. He wet it from his canteen and brought it back to wipe the blood from her face and neck. Coransee watched him silently for a moment, then said, “Were you speeding up a little just before she was shot?”

“Yes, to talk to you. To talk about her, in fact.”

“That’s interesting. From what Lias said—she was riding just behind Amber—if you hadn’t moved when you did, the bullet would have hit you.”

Teray thought about that, and nodded slowly.

“It was probably you they were aiming at. You were lucky.”

“Where was the Clayark?”

Coransee pointed inland toward the hills. “He was high and far back, but he waited until you and Amber were almost directly in front of him. I

hope they don’t have many rifles or riflemen who can make that kind of shot.”

“Well, at least now they have one less.”

“No. We lost him.”

Teray stared at him incredulously. “All of you? You couldn’t catch one Clayark?”

Coransee lifted an eyebrow. “That’s what I said, brother.”

Teray heard the warning in his voice and ignored it. “I don’t see how you could possibly have missed him. So many of you …” He thought of something suddenly. “Lord, are you linked with anyone?”

“I’m not, but the others are linked in pairs.”

And the range of a linked pair of them would be little better than Coransee’s range alone. What good did it do Coransee to have ten people with him if he didn’t use them sensibly? Teray found himself glaring at the Housemaster in open accusation.

“Blame?” said Coransee calmly. “What are we doing out here between sectors with the Clayarks, Teray? Why are we here?”

Teray made a sound of disgust. “All right, make it my fault if you want to. But you know as well as I do that you should link up with at least some of your people. You could stand it with a couple of them even though they’re not close to you. Hell, you’re the one who wants the Pattern. That will link you with everyone.” He could see that

Coransee was getting angry, but he did not care.

“You know,” said Coransee quietly, “I would have stopped you some words back if I didn’t realize you were speaking out of your feelings for the woman. But even for that, you’ve said enough.”

Teray looked at Amber and saw that she was breathing normally now. For a while she had hardly seemed to be breathing at all. But she was pulling out of it. The wound was closed already. She was going to be all right. And this wouldn’t happen again, because weary or not, he and Amber wouldn’t depend on the protection, the watchfulness, of others. They would look out for themselves as before, working together, their combined, extended awareness missing nothing. For days they had traveled safely alone. Now, amid a group of strong Patternists, the Clayarks had reached them. Coransee could not even be trusted to give protection to the people he claimed as his own.

Teray touched Amber’s arm and knew that she was aware of him, that she took comfort in his presence. He looked at her silently for several seconds, then spoke to Coransee.

“You’re right, Lord, I did speak out of love for her. I… do you intend to keep her?”

“Yes.”

“I was afraid you did. If Rayal’s findings free me, will you let me buy her?”

“Buy her with what?”

“With service, brother, work. I had planned never to see Redhill again if I was freed. But I’ll go back and work at whatever you say if my service will buy her.”

But Coransee was already shaking his head. “You’re welcome to come back to Redhill, to my House, if you’re freed. But she’s not for sale.” Coransee smiled slightly. “You’d never be able to hold her anyway.”

“I wouldn’t try to hold her against her will. I want her as my wife, not as my prisoner.”

“You won’t have her as either. At least not until I’m tired of her. But you’ll have the same access to her as any other outsider if you return with me.”

Amber opened her eyes and looked at Teray, then at Coransee. She did not speak. Perhaps she could not, yet

“Of course,” said Coransee to Teray, “you can have it all if you decide to stop fighting me. Amber will be the least of what you’ll get.”

Amber sat up, closed her eyes again for a few seconds, then opened them and stood up. Still without speaking, she walked over to her horse, took down her canteen, then went off several steps to a large rock. She leaned against the rock, kicked aside some sand, and vomited into the depression she had made. When she was finished, she rinsed her mouth, then took a long drink of water. She kicked sand into the depression, turned, and came toward them,

eating something that Teray had not seen her take from her horse. Her eyes were on Coransee.

“I’m an independent, Lord.” She spoke with slight hoarseness. “I’m an independent because most people realize how much trouble I can cause them if they try to hold me.”

“You think I don’t, after two years?”

“I think you haven’t thought about it enough.”