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far along are you?"
Merissa dropped her head. "Two months."
"You conceived soon after his wounding?"
"Yes. I promised him it would be like the wild cousins ... that I would place
no ties upon him or expect anything from him."
"A cub is a powerful tie, daughter. Especially for someone like Isranon. When
did you intend to tell him?"
"I don't."
"Foolish cub. Foolish, foolish cub." Aisha wrapped her arms around Merissa.
"I don't know whether your father will try to force you to lose it or simply
send you away, rather than watch your belly swell with a sa'necari cub."
"Can I go to Isranon one last time before you tell father?"
Aisha thought a moment and then nodded. "Bring Nevin with you when you
return. The unborn will need an advocate either way. And I don't want your
father charging down on Isranon over this. Claw will listen to Nevin, even
when he will not listen to me."
* * * *
Merissa arrived at the cave late in the afternoon of the next day. She had
not been able to take the ride at her usual heedless pace because of the
discomforts of her body. Nevin stood up from the rock he sat upon, cleaning a
pair of partridges.
"Merissa!" He crossed to her as she dismounted. She stepped into his arms and
he held her a moment.
"You need to come back with me when I leave. My mother requests it."
"What is wrong?"
Merissa looked up at him and could not repress a tiny shine of tears. "I
cannot tell you until we have left."
Isranon heard them and emerged. His face lit at the sight of her. He took her
inside the cave and they talked a long time, lying on his bed. All sa'necari
were Readers and Isranon would have known her secret if he had been less
honorable and given to probing. Merissa shivered when his hands ran down her
body and lingered on her belly. Please, please, don't see what is there.
Then he kissed her as he parted her legs still more and settled his body over
hers.
"Like the wild cousins, Isranon," Merissa's voice trembled slightly.
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"Like the wild cousins." He entered her and she wrapped herself tightly
around him.
Merissa made love to Isranon all night long with a savage, desperate hunger,
certain that this would be their last night together. When he finally slept
beside her, she gently disengaged herself from his arms, dressed, and slipped
out. Nevin was drowsing in wolf-form when she woke him quietly.
"We need to go now, before Isranon wakes."
Nevin did not ask why, merely got his gear together and they rode down the
hunters' trace toward the Great House. Once they were well away from the
caves, he spoke. "Talk to me."
Merissa hung her head, her dark hair falling about her face.
"Merissa?" Nevin coaxed.
"I'm carrying Isranon's cub. You know the laws. Better a human's cub, than a
sa'necari's."
Nevin fell silent. Centuries ago, when the laws had been harsher, Merissa
would have been stoned to death for carrying a sa'necari cub. It was always
done quietly so that the sa'necari overlords did not learn of it. When
sa'necari did choose lycan mates or mistresses, they took them to the cities
out of reach of the clan to protect them.
"You want to keep the cub?"
"I am not going to let them hurt my cub ... Isranon's cub. Baroucha was
already preparing the brew to force it out of me when I left." Merissa's small
hands balled up into fists and she slammed them against the saddle startling
her horse into a canter.
Nevin kept up with her. "So Aisha wants me for an advocate."
"Yes. You can't let them hurt Isranon's cub."
"I will try. Claw may decide to call a full council on this matter. Isranon
has become the exception to many rules already. Perhaps he will in this also.
Or perhaps they will tire of making exceptions and punish you both."
Merissa shivered and began to cry.
"Or he may simply accept my judgment."
Merissa turned her tear stained face to him. "And what would that be?"
"Spare the cub."
Silence held again for several minutes and then Nevin spoke again. "Does my
clan-brother know about his cub?"
Merissa shook her head. "I will not bind him with the cub where he does not
wish to be bound." She rubbed the back of her hands across her eyes, streaking
her cheeks with moisture. "But some day, if he decides he loves me, he'll
return ... and I will be waiting for him."
* * * *
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Aisha rose from her place at her loom when Nevin and Merissa entered. "I wish
you had not chosen to spend the night," she said, reaching for Merissa who had
begun to look apprehensive.
Merissa threw herself into her mother's arms and stayed there for a long
time. Nevin watched them thoughtfully, already composing his words. They would
not destroy his fur-brother's cub.
"Come, Claw has been up in his study brooding all day. You'll be her
advocate, Nevin?"
"I agreed to it."
Nevin followed them upstairs. Claw sat at his desk, an oaken piece of
furniture as solid looking as the chieftain. Baroucha sat near him. Her
bottles and a glass were on the table as if the decision had already been
made. Claw glared at Merissa, and then at Nevin. "This is none of your affair,
Lawgiver." He waved his hand for emphasis.
Nevin bore the chieftain's anger without expression or reaction. "I am here
as her advocate and the cub's."
Claw frowned deeply, turning to Merissa. "You've been playing the slut ever
since the sa'necari arrived. This is beyond tolerating. No chieftain's son
will have you. I had hoped for an alliance through your marriage. These are
dangerous times and we need all that we can gather."
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