Page 17

Tobi looks up at Harok. He has the same look. His cropped beard and long hair are the colours of rich earth, his eyes the blue of the sky. Tobi shivers. He has heard stories that the people of the Amber Forest were not men, but trees come alive.

At the front of the group of courtiers is an older woman dressed in a floor length cloak of deep green velvet and fox furs, over long green robes. She has beads of green and deep orange strung around her neck. Her face is well-worn with age and her long hair is pure white, but she has an air of distinct refinement. She marches directly over to Harok and drops a bow, saying something in Ambolk.

Harok greets her as she straightens with a nod and as soon as he does so, she embraces him. The way she grasps hold of Harok makes Tobi think this woman might be his mother.

The woman holds Harok for a long moment. When she pulls back, she turns and looks at Tobi.

Harok reaches for Tobi’s wrist, pulling him forward to present him to this woman. “Kushir,” Harok says, “Kushel Yaelin.” He speaks like this is an introduction. Is Kushel Yaelin this woman’s name? If she is Harok’s mother, is Kushel a title for the mother of a king? Kushel and kushir. Exceli. Urynwud. He tries to remember each new word he discovers.

Tobi bows his head. Tobi is suddenly very aware that he is dressed in his revealing stage costume with its tight, low breeches and the small, open waistcoat that leaves his chest and arms bare. His hair is mussed and tangled from riding and fleeing from their attackers. He must smell strongly of horse. And like this he is being presented to the mother of the man he is to be married to.

Is married the right word? He is still unsure what kushir truly means.

But Harok doesn’t seem at all concerned about Tobi’s appearance. Tobi supposes he ought to be grateful Harok is not presenting him naked and oiled as a pillow slave meant only for his bed.

Harok says something to his mother in a commanding tone.

Harok’s mother’s lined face draws tight. She nods solemnly. She says something to Tobi. The only word he understands is the last one. “Kushir.”

Tobi nods.

Harok says, “Sho.”

Is that what he is meant to say? Sho?

“Sho, Kushel Yaelin,” Tobi says. He gives the woman another delicate bow and takes her outstretched hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles in the correct greeting for an Azurian noble woman. She seems a little shocked by this, pulling her hand back more quickly than is really proper.

But Harok smiles, “Ga, garan, garasiana,” he says.

Tobi looks at him. He has no idea what Harok just said but it seems he has pleased him.

Harok takes Tobi around the hall, showing him to person after person. The dogs run around, weaving through the legs of the Ambolk people. Tobi stops to pet each one that comes close, feeling the soft calmness that always comes over him when he strokes an animal. It makes him pine for Baby. He desperately hopes she is safe, wherever she might be out in the forest. She will be here soon, he tells himself. He will bury his face in her fur and all will be well.

The Ambolk blur after he has been introduced to more than a dozen people in a language he does not understand. It seems to take a long time, but they finally arrive at the foot of the dais. Harok leads Tobi up onto it and turns. He draws Tobi close to him and addresses the crowd. His voice is so deep and strong it makes Tobi shiver, although the only words he understands in Harok’s triumphant address are kushir and Solwen, a new word he has picked up, which he thinks is what the Ambolk call themselves.

At the end of his speech, Harok raises his voice and says, “Kushir. Tobi Darekul. Beast Tamer.”

He takes hold of Tobi’s elbow and pulls him close. At this, the crowd cheers. Harok’s hands circle both Tobi’s upper arms as he is crushed to Harok’s chest and kissed hard.

The kiss takes Tobi’s breath. Despite the night-long ride, Harok smells delicious, rich and sweet like damp earth, with deeper scents like spice and rare herbs. Harok moves one of his hands to run a thumb gently over Tobi’s cheek. The sensation sends a shiver of pleasure up Tobi’s spine.

As Harok’s tongue slips deep into Tobi’s mouth, Tobi tries to remind himself that this pleasure is something he wasn’t allowed to choose. He was snatched by Harok and his Ambolk warriors. Forced to comply with their demands as they threatened people he loves. But those thoughts melt away as he feels Harok’s body, hot against his, and the deep, suggestive penetration of Harok’s tongue, which seems to be urging him to see this situation in a wholly different way.

The kiss is quite short, but when Harok breaks it, Tobi is panting and limp in his arms. He lifts his head to look out at the crowd.

Harok slides an arm around Tobi’s waist, against the bare skin under his waistcoat and lowers his lips to whisper, “Kushir Suskara.” Tobi has no idea what Suskara means, but it sounds sweet on Harok’s lips.

Tobi looks at the hall and sees, through the open door into the courtyard, that more Ambolk riders are arriving. With them is a familiar cart and — the thing he most wants to see in the world — Baby in her wheeled cage.

Tobi points, “Baby,” he exclaims. “Baby. Please, can I see her?”

Harok looks at Tobi blankly.

“Baby,” Tobi says again. “My beast. My lykat.” When Harok still looks uncomprehending Tobi points again and makes a growling sound. “Baby.”

Harok smiles. “Karran. Sho,” he says. Then, “Bay-bee.”

He takes Tobi by the wrist and leads him down from the dais. The crowds part, letting them pass easily through the hall and back out into the large courtyard.