The Priestess and the Thief Kindred Tales 30 - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,17

saying but it was low and soft and mesmerizing and it seemed to work miracles on the huge zorel.

After it had quieted, the girl calmly reached under its great belly and unfastened the girth which held the bejeweled, intricately worked leather saddle in place. The expensive piece of equipment fell off onto the dirty cobbled road and the girl inspected the broad expanse of the zorel’s back.

The rider, who seemed to have gotten over the shock of his fall, was getting to his feet.

“Here, now!” he exclaimed, standing up and reaching for the girl. “You can’t just—”

“Let her finish what she’s doing,” Roke growled, grabbing the Tenebrian by one skinny shoulder. He might be as tall as Roke was, but he had no muscle on his long, gangly limbs, so Roke was able to hold him back easily.

“But what is she doing? She got me thrown from my mount!” the Tenebrian exclaimed with a wounded air, glaring at the girl—who Roke had finally realized was the little priestess.

“Whatever it is, she’s not done yet,” he told the other male. “So be still and let her finish.”

Privately, he was still marveling at the change in the little priestess. Ellilah, he reminded himself. The Goddess said her name was Ellilah.

The female he had met at the human Christmas party aboard the Mother Ship had been shy and frightened—until she got a sip of the punch, that was. Then she’d been extremely insistent that he touch and kiss her. And so tempting he’d been forced to leave before he truly took advantage of her. But she had never displayed the kind of fiery wrath or reckless bravery he had just witnessed.

Clearly there was more to the shy little priestess than met the eye.

As he and the rider watched, the priestess continued to search the zorel’s broad back until she seemed to find what she was looking for. With a low, “Ah-ha!” she plucked something off of its midsection, just where the close-set scales of the front met the feathery hair of the hind end, and flicked it away.

“There now,” she said, going back to the zorel’s head. “It’s gone and you’re all right. I know it hurt but I got rid of it and it won’t bite you anymore.”

The huge beast put its head down and nosed her gratefully and the girl wrapped her arms around the massive head and gave the beast a hug. She didn’t seem at all frightened of its fangs or the dilated nostrils which were still puffing hot steam. She simply stroked the creature affectionately and murmured words of kindness into its great, tufted ears until it was fairly purring with contentment.

“I say!” The Tenebrian rider who had been angry at first, was now staring at the little priestess in apparent astonishment. “That beast has been the most recalcitrant, intractable, stubborn creature I’ve ever known! It took my trainer months to break him to the saddle and even now he snaps and hisses when I mount him—but she’s got him eating out of her hand in seconds!”

He went forward to the little priestess, who was still stroking the zorel’s long, soft whiskers and patting its nose. This time Roke let him go, though he kept right behind him, making certain to stay within reaching distance in case the Tenebrian threatened Ellilah again.

But the rider didn’t seem inclined to violence.

“How did you do that?” he asked the little priestess. “How did you quiet him so quickly?”

“By not beating him to start with,” she snapped at him, looking up with flashing green eyes. “Did you even stop to wonder why he was bucking before you started in with your crop?”

“I…” The Tenebrian looked shocked at being spoken to in such a frank manner by such a little slip of a female, but he finally answered. “I thought he was just being headstrong,” he admitted. “He is a most stubborn and disobedient beast, you know, Miss.”

“He was in pain,” Ellilah said, frowning. “He had a burrowing gnaw-worm right under his saddle! They’re obvious enough if you look for them—you should have seen it before you put his tack on.”

“I didn’t put it on myself!” The Tenebrian sounded offended, as though she’d accused him of doing manual labor unbefitting someone of his station.

“Well who did, then?” Ellilah demanded.

“My groom, of course,” the Tenebrian said loftily.

“Then you ought to fire him and do it yourself,” the little priestess lectured. “If you own an animal, you ought to take care of it personally. Otherwise,