Free Deception's Pawn (Princesses of Myth) by Esther Friesner

hurting—it shows.”
    “Your mother told you.” I lowered my eyes. I didn’t want him to see my annoyance at having been discovered.
    “Mother? She never said a word. I’ve got two good eyes. It’s brave of you to act as if you’re ready to fight again, but I won’t allow it until you’ve had a few days to recover.”
    “Then why did you give me our signal this morning?” I said heatedly. “If you wanted to spare me, you could have left me—”
    Kee-kee-kee! A keen, familiar, beloved cry came from the far side of the clearing. I froze in midspeech, all my anger transformed to surprise, disbelief, and delight. Grinning hugely, Kian bounded across the grass, ducked in among the trees, and returned bearing Ea on his arm. I uttered a wordless cry of joy and rushed to welcome her, though every step I took sent a twinge through my legs.
    I was so caught up in the happiness of seeing the hooded kestrel that I only half-heard Kian say, “I didn’t want to make you pick up any heavy weapons until your aches were healed, but I also didn’t want you thinking I’d given up on your lessons. That’s why I sent for you, to tell you that no matter how many days we have to wait between meetings, I’ll keep on teaching you as long as you want to learn.”
    I didn’t stop to think about what I did. I simply acted, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek. Ea flapped her wings and scolded what she couldn’t see. When I stepped back I saw his free hand cup the spot I’d kissed as though shielding a newly struck spark from the wind. He had the most comical look on his face—astonishment and pleasure against a background of bright red.
    “If that’s my reward for such a small gift, what will yougive me when I say I’m taking you hunting now?” he wondered aloud.
    “Hunting?”
    “With this one.” His fingertips smoothed Ea’s wings. “I know you admire the bird, and it must like you or it would’ve had a chunk out of you. I thought you might enjoy seeing what it can do besides look pretty.”
    “She,” I said quietly.
    “What?”
    “You keep calling that lovely kestrel ‘it,’ but see those broad dark bands across her tail feathers? That’s how you can tell she’s female, and you tell a male by his cap of blue feathers.”
    “Huh! I guess I learned something. How did you come to know that?”
    I hesitated. The thin braid I’d made from my own hair was still tied to Ea’s foot. For whatever reason, Kian hadn’t removed it. Did I want to point it out and tell him the full story behind my bond with her?
    Not yet , I thought. I can’t talk freely about Ea without naming Odran, and I won’t—I can’t speak of him to Kian. Kian’s been kind to me—he might even become my friend someday — but Odran is my heart. I can’t entrust anything so precious to Kian yet.
    I shrugged and gave him a hedging reply: “I’ve talked with people who know about wild birds. Isn’t there anyone like that here, or are you the only person at Dún Beithe who knows their ways?”
    “I’m no expert, or I wouldn’t have needed you to tell me that my hunter’s a huntress,” Kian said amiably. “So, as long aswe’re out here, do you want to see it—I mean, do you want to see her work?”
    “Yes. More than anything.” My heart began to beat rapidly. I had to hold myself back or I’d give that young man another kiss. One was safe, but two? He might get ideas—ideas involving a third kiss, and a fourth, and then what? I would rather not have to waste time explaining why I’d kissed him twice and no more when we could be watching Ea fly.
    Kian led me beyond the trees on the far side of the clearing to where the woodland ended and an open field awaited. It wasn’t a short walk, but my aches became an afterthought as I looked forward to seeing my Ea take to the skies again. Part of the field was plowed farmland. I could see a small house in the distance and a thin trail of smoke from a cookfire