Noctisardor Bypass through caverns measureless to man

tulimaq, she echoes, the name utterly, savagely beautiful on her tongue. it tastes like battle-blood, and she wants, suddenly, to test his mettle. he looks like a man who can handle a stout fight. the insult is not forgotten, but it is abandoned, for now, in her zeal to know more about the wolf in front of her.

it is a title, tasha explains, lifting her head proudly. i am tashkent-luk, recently come to these lands. did you say you met a boy like me? mengu. straying away from the main group would have merited a beating for the slave back home. tashkent, however, is not as harsh a mistress as her father was master. she is merely intrigued.

he did not cause you trouble, did he? she asks. if so, i apologize. he is my slave, my responsibility.