Martha Wells
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21. Selis at the Cordans' Camp
🕑 Added 2016-09-13 15:24:04 +0000 UTC Two notes before the story:* Pixel Project: On Saturday, September 17, 2016, at 7:30 CST I’ll be doing an online reading and an interview as part of The Pixel Project’s Read for Pixels Fall Edition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1EyARkzeKQto to help raise funds to fight violence against women.
They also have an Indiegogo (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/read-for-pixels-2016-fall-edition#/) with great book prizes going on now, including a special goodie bundle witha signed copy of THE EDGE OF WORLDS and a special “Indigo Cloud” tea blend. The last time I looked, there was only one left.
* The Harbors of the Sun is now up for preorder in hardcover: http://www.raksura.com/harborsofthesun.htm Ebook and audiobook preorder will be available closer to the release date.
By the second day, Selis knew Moon wasn't a groundling.
Which meant he was a predator. The Old Mother of Selis' family group, now long dead, had been a scholar back in the old cities, when there were such things as scholars. She had told the children that the Fell weren't the only things to fear, that there were other predator species who could change their appearance, either through physical trickery, or by illusion, or by means of magic. They would make themselves look like their prey, or like something that their prey would see as harmless, or neutral. That was often a soft-skinned biped, the most vulnerable of ground-dwelling or water-dwelling species, with no scales, fur, or tough hide to protect them.
But Selis said nothing about Moon because that wasn't an accusation one should fling around wildly.
Also, nobody ever listened to her.
She realized early on that he was sneaking away from camp in the middle of the night. She carefully chose her moment and followed him, and watched him change. Then she had spent the rest of the night thinking it over.
Maybe it was part of a plan to destroy the whole camp, but what plan would be needed to do that? They were vulnerable here already. And no one had gone missing since Moon had arrived. In fact, he was one of the few arguing for more sentries at night and less reliance on the rickety palisade. The dark winged form might be a Fell ruler,she hadn't gotten a close enough look at it. But she couldn't believe a Fell ruler would be so awkward and so inept at ingratiating himself, or would wait so long before acting. If Moon was Fell, they would already have been eaten by now.
And he listened to her. That first night in the tent, the sheer novelty of someone listening to her about the best way to lay the ground cloths had struck her to the core. She felt like no one had heard a word she had said since Old Mother died.
She had decided to wait, to watch. It was a risk, but she couldn't believe a true predator would like cooked melon that much. And she had a tent hold of her own to organize as she wanted, and no one criticizing her or provoking her to arguments just because they thought it funny to make her angry.
So time went on and nothing terrible happened.
Moon did a good job of faking it for the elders, who were all idiots anyway. But at close quarters, he sometimes forgot to be careful, and that worried her.
He was jumpy, making minute twitches when he was startled. After some consideration, Selis thought it might be an effect of living unprotected in the jungle for a long period. He couldn't find the skin scraper lying on the mat right in front of him but he could focus on movement across the length of the camp and tell Dalanis that her toddler was about to stumble down the slope into the river. He stared too long and too intently sometimes. His peripheral vision took in a wider area than was possible with the shape and placement of his eyes. He moved like something that had a sensory organ in the back of its neck, though when he stripped to bathe in the river nothing was visible but smooth skin with the occasional old scar.
And Moon didn't act like a Cordan man,though Selis counted that as a virtue. When the elders had given her and Ilane to him, he clearly had no idea what to do with them and seemed to find the whole arrangement awkward at best. He seemed to think he was supposed to take care of them, not the other way around, and Selis had to make it clear that she was in charge of maintaining the tent and preparing their food. In charge of everything, since Ilane was useless.
About the only thing wrong with their arrangement was that Moon liked Ilane, so that meant Selis was stuck with her too.
Ilane's appearance wasn't anything to write songs about, but this wasn't usually an impediment to a happy life in the tents. But Ilane was lazy and practiced something Selis could only describe as scheming, though that wasn't quite the right word. Bad things seemed to happen to people who didn't do as Ilane wanted, but few people seemed to realize it. The women who spoke of it were called jealous and scheming themselves, or were said to despise Ilane for her lack of beauty. Selis had pointed out the contradiction there, but as usual, no one had listened.
So far Ilane hadn't cause any problems, partly because Selis was wise to her tricks. But Ilane had also put out some effort to be nice to Moon, probably because it soon became obvious that Moon was the best hunter in the camp, and that came with a status that Ilane badly wanted. Maybe Ilane liked Moon as much as he liked her, though Selis couldn't be certain.
Still, Selis found herself cautiously hoping for the best.
