Free Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe) by Julie E. Czerneda Page A

going on between the two males. It didn’t matter that I was alien to both, not at this moment, with blood hot from the dance, and judgment smudged by drink. Morgan stood expressionless, hands loose at his sides, but Premick knew. The hunter released me, pushed me aside with one rough hand, the other fumbling for the knife that, thank custom, was left behind for the feast-night.
    “Stop this,” I said, aghast at the change in things, still shuddering with the impact of Morgan’s emotions amplified by his mental strength. At least that was kept to the two of us, those now moving to surround us seeming to feel no more than anticipation. They were a basic people, I realized. The tense posture of the two males had its place in their feast-night, too.
    Premick let out a low grunt and launched himself at Morgan. The Human moved with incredible quickness, but was brought to the ground with a thud as Premick’s long arm caught one of Morgan’s feet. Frantically, I looked around for Laem’sha, Withren, or anyone with authority. Surely they would help me stop this meaningless war between friends.
    There. I was certain the lone figure to the right of the crowd was the wise man, though his costume made it impossible to be sure from a distance. I pushed through to his side with difficulty, the villagers having changed from peaceful dancers to hot-eyed encouragers of the battle.
    Despite my urgency, I had to stop and stare at the apparition Laem’sha made in the fires’ light. From the mid-torso origin of his legs to well above his head, he had been mummified within an immense basketlike contraption. It was filled with fruit and other foods, much of it pressed so firmly against the wicker the pulp was oozing through, attracting insects and somewhat larger visitors who peeked at me before rustling out of sight. I could only imagine what it felt like to be on the inside. Between the ripe food and garlands of flowers, competing aromas blasted my senses.
    There was, as the living larder turned toward me, a hole at face-height. In the shadow, I could make out a pair of eyes. I supposed he had to be able to see where he was dancing. “Laem’sha,” I said, gathering myself. “You—” Then I leaped back, startled into a cry by a hideous creature lunging at me from its hiding place at shoulder-height. It was the size of my fist, but had jaws that opened much wider, revealing multiple rows of green teeth and two forked tongues. The protruding eyes were glazed over, as if the creature were blind. I wasn’t sure which was more repulsive: its bloated, four-footed body, or the yammering screech with which it continued to threaten me.
    Laem’sha, for I had been right in that identification, quickly produced a pulp-smeared hand to soothe his pet, if that monstrosity could ever be called such. Amazingly, the creature calmed at once. With its huge mouth closed, body slimmed, and its eyes more reasonably held in sockets, it looked better, but remained more nightmare than nature. “My truthsayer, Lady Witch,” the wise man said by way of introduction, stroking the thing on a patch of brown fur between its eyes—the only part of it not coated in small, irregular spines. “You are troubled by this?” Laem’sha waved his fingers at the two figures now rolling perilously close to one of the fires, the crowd roaring its approval.
    “It may be your custom, Laem’sha,” I said dryly, recovering from the scare his creature had given me. “It’s certainly not mine. Can we stop it, without offending your ways?”
    Laem’sha’s hand disappeared for an instant, then suddenly the entire top half of his costume split in the middle. He squirmed free of it—wiping a mass of crushed fruit from his head as his pet climbed determinedly back to his shoulder—and looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes. “Oh, it doesn’t offend us, Lady—whether it goes on or ends. We of the jungle understand the needs of the flesh. But consider. Do you not feel