at the base of the tallest mountain in the range was sprawled a tumble of greenery, thick moss, velveteen mushrooms, and a whorl of rich red roses which drew all manner of bees and butterflies.
here she took the others to frolic; rejoicing in the newness of the day and finding some solace in her spirit as she directed them toward honey, toward edible things, toward the beginnings of new buds and the groundberries favoured by bears.
The skin on his throat was still tender, scabbed over, and generally painful. But he was healing, and this new blemish would likely set him more easily apart from his twin. Saleem did not know if that was a good or a bad omen, only that it felt as though he had been defeated. Until he was able to find and redeem himself would he be truly happy. When Mother all but dragged them to a new area, Saleem was downtrodden and grumpy, flopping on the ground and disengaging with the activities of the day.
more would have to be done about it.
tamar's eyes momentarily hardened to see his throat once more, but she was brighter after that moment.
"tell me what is on your mind, saleem," she invited in a low voice, settling beside her boy.
Mother found her way to him, like she so often did, and Saleem shrugged absent-mindedly to her question. Just wanna be better so I can kill the thing that did this to me,
he said. Reyson said he would teach me how to hunt things that fight back!
He was not quite in tip-top shape yet, and he knew he wanted to be there before he went for his lessons. Saleem didn't think he could make much progress if his injury was still bothering him.
"tell me the story again, saleem."
tamar's voice was soft. "reyson is a very good teacher. he will teach you many things, if you listen. and not only fighting, i think."
was there a reason for her to leave the vale? it had been so long since she ventured beyond.
Mother asked for the story retold, and Saleem gritted his teeth. He did not like retelling it very much. It meant admitting his failure, and he was not so keen to do that.
It smelled like blood, so I tried to get it, just like you taught me,
he said. Except, when I tried to do that, it bit me back!
Saleem had yet to encounter anything like it since then.
"maybe you should learn to bite."
her voice was conversational, but now she stood. "your father knows fighting. he will teach you, both of you. that way, nothing will ever dare to bite you again, and if it does, you will bite harder."
Saleem liked the cut of her jib, and he smiled slightly to show his agreement. He would learn how to bite harder than it had, and he would learn so well that nothing would dare to attack him again. Perhaps he could learn so well that he could kill it the next time he saw it. Encouraged by this new idea, he supposed he could suffer through one day of whatever his mother wanted, so long as it meant lessons with father soon after.
Why did you bring us here, to this place?
he asked, blue eyes looking around to see what might be of use here.
"i like to come here. it is peaceful. but look."
and now she pointed upward, a low-slung branch curved for footing, which led up to a small ledge. "will you climb with me? i want to show you what you can see from there."
she demonstrated, claws gingerly gripping the bark, but only for a moment before she leapt to the small stone precipice.