Ten Crescent Moons (Moonquest) by Marilyn Haddrill Page B

humbly.
    Benfaaro
peered into the darkness. "I know you're there, Bruna. Step forward. Your mate
misses his beloved."
    Did Adalginza
imagine she heard a note of irony mixed with outright insincerity in her
brother's voice?
    It was hard
to tell, for Bruna immediately melted from the darkness and into Benfaaro's
arms.
    Adalginza
tried to assess the uneasy feeling she always had when her brother and Bruna
were together. Around Bruna, he was sometimes transformed into a different man.
A man bewitched. That was the word whispered behind Benfaaro's back.
    Right now the
two of them embraced eagerly, kissing as real lovers do, seemingly eager to be
off to Bruna's sleep chamber before the night turned to day.
    A few
moments later, Benfaaro stepped back from the gaunt, grim woman.
    "Would
you like to hear news of our sweet daughter, Calasta?"
    "No."
Bruna shrugged. "I'm sure she is fine."
    "She is
your daughter . She turned eight only a few turns ago. Yet, you sent her
no token of your affection through one of our couriers. Is this something you
have forgotten? Do you not have a treasure for me to bring back to her, to
assure her of her own mother's love?"
    "She is
with you. Because of this, she has all the treasure she needs."
    "She
misses her mother."
    Bruna merely
shrugged again. "And I miss you."
    Adalginza
heard a slight grinding of Benfaaro's teeth, accompanied by the visible
contortions of his jaw. "Why did you cut the screen? You put Adalginza in
great danger."
    "Maybe
I didn't do it." At Benfaaro's stern gaze, Bruna reached out with
elongated fingers and stroked the growth of beard on his chin to placate him.  "Or
maybe I did it for a reason."
    Benfaaro
reached up, grabbed her hand, and moved it away from his face. "Which was?"
    "Not to
kill the captain. At least not until we have his secrets."
    Adalginza
stepped forward then, to confront Bruna.
    "You
wanted the snake to kill the rest of his family. His mother and his nephew.
That's why you did it."
    Bruna's
smile was so malevolent that Adalginza had to physically control a shudder.
    "A
grief-stricken man would be in great need of consolation," Bruna pointed
out, sounding reasonable. "Not that you, little one, would be up to the
task. Not from what I have seen so far."
    So it had
been Bruna, not Benfaaro, who had spied on the earlier flirtation between
Adalginza and Kalos near the outer gate.
    Bruna turned
to her husband.
    "I
witnessed the whole thing earlier this evening. The captain wanted her, and she
spurned him. She fears him because she has no experience with men."
    In the
waning moonlight, Adalginza had expected to see anger in her brother's eyes. But,
even worse, she spied pity.
    Benfaaro addressed
her gently. "You know what it is we are asking of you, little sister. You
were born with eyes that the men of the Crescent Houses covet so greatly. You
cannot continue to — withhold yourself — and expect to succeed."
    Adalginza
dropped her head. "I know this."
    "If the
men of our tribe had shown more interest in her, we wouldn't have this problem,"
Bruna interrupted irritably. "Talan would have taken her. Taught her the
things she needs to know. But she rejected him."
    "Talan
is not right for her," Benfaaro said dismissively. "He wants her only
because she is my sister and has the title Of the Blood. He is strong in body,
but small in spirit."
    "He is
a great warrior!" Bruna protested.
    "He
wants to be me. I do not trust him. Therefore, I say Adalginza has good judgment."
    "But no
experience as a result of this — judgment," Bruna argued. "She could
have seduced the captain tonight. He wanted her. Now our mission could fail
because of her."
    "I will
do better." Adalginza hoarsely spoke the promise.
    Benfaaro
reached out and took Adalginza's hands in his own.
    "In
another time, I would never ask this of you. You know that, don't you?"
    Adalginza
felt her eyes brimming with tears. She could only nod.
    Benfaaro's
own eyes glistened in response.
    "Know
this, too. Our people