Free Burning Tower by Larry Niven

silent if they came from his turf.”
    â€œCoyote—the god, not the animal? He talks to you?” Sandry asked. He tried to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
    â€œTo my daughter, to Clever Squirrel,” Twisted Cloud said. “Sometimes to me, since he fathered my child.”
    Sandry looked at her in wonder. No one else seemed startled or surprised. These people are strange, Sandry thought, and felt a shiver. Then Burning Tower laughed, and he forgot his fears, and the hour passed too quickly.

Chapter Seven
Chief Wanshig
    T hey were packing the wagon train. Boxes of boxes, everything designed to fit into the wagons for moving, or under them as defensive walls, or outside the wagons to form the elaborate nests the wagoneers lived in. A craft of great skill, Sandry thought. It would take a long time to learn all the details of that nomadic life.
    But if a Lordkin had learned that, so could a Lord.
    And even if—He snorted. Horses, I know. Not bison, and I’m no merchant. And where would I get a wagon? But he kept watching Burning Tower as she helped her brother pack the carpets into the wagon boxes. She knows this life, and I don’t, and—
    â€œThe horses are rested, Lord,” Chalker said. “Reckon it’s time we got back to our duties.”
    Sandry nodded. “Right.” He turned to Green Stone. “My thanks for your hospitality. We will see that everything is ready for you in Peacegiven Square. Water, hay, kinless to shovel and carry…” Amazing how much water the bison could drink, and how much waste they made.
    Green Stone squinted at the sun. “We’ll be there before dark,” he said.
    â€œMay I invite you to dinner? At my house. You and your household,” Sandry said.
    â€œOh, yes, please,” Burning Tower said, but her brother cut her off.
    â€œNot tonight,” Green Stone said. “We’ll be all night setting up the market. Maybe tomorrow.”
    â€œTomorrow then,” Burning Tower said eagerly.
    Green Stone scowled at her for a moment, then relented. “Oh, all right, dinner in Lordshills tomorrow night, then. If we can get there. That wizard Morth says kinless ponies can’t get up your hill.”
    â€œThey can’t,” Sandry said. “But horses can. I’ll have teams and wagons waiting. And of course you’ll stay the night; I’ll have rooms ready for you. How many will come?”
    â€œJust us, I think,” Green Stone said. “Me, Blazes, and Twisted Cloud.”
    â€œAnd Nothing Was Seen,” Burning Tower said. “I know he’d like to come.”
    â€œOh. All right,” Green Stone said.
    Sandry caught the odd note in Green Stone’s voice. What was that all about? “Wonderful. I’ll have four rooms ready, then. Mother will be pleased to meet you.”
    Green Stone and Twisted Cloud exchanged glances.

    The ride back to Peacegiven Square seemed to take forever. Then there was a fire in the Grey Falcon territory, and Sandry had to go to make sure that the Dirty Birds and Snakefeet didn’t get into a turf war. Wanshig’s Firemen were shorthanded because of the losses to the terror birds, and it took all afternoon before they were sure it was completely out and the kinless cleanup crew could be left to finish the job.
    â€œBad one,” Wanshig said. “Cold drink?” He indicated the door of the Serpent’s Walk guild hall.
    â€œThank you, yes.” He followed Wanshig inside. Few Lords had ever seen the inside of any Lordkin building. Of course not many would want to. “Tough one, all right, and it’s going to get worse when the Devil Winds whip up,” Sandry said. “You’re going to need more men.”
    Wanshig shrugged. “Yes, Lord, and I can get a few, but…”
    He didn’t have to finish the sentence. It wasn’t all that hard to find Lordkin who wanted to be Firemen. The tough part was