«I do not know if you will call my people interesting or not. I will tell you about them, though.»
«Good. But you can do that after you come to me again. Unless-you cannot-?»
«No, Riyannah, I am not old and feeble yet.» The mere thought of having her in his arms again, was enough to revive him.
«Very good. Then come back to me. This shelter is warmer when there are two in it.»
«True.» He was barely inside before Riyannah's slim arms locked themselves around his waist.
Chapter 9
They made love three more times that day. They would have made love a fourth time, except that Riyannah finally admitted her left ankle was hurting her. Blade carefully examined it and decided she'd only pulled a couple of muscles. He laid cold cloths on it to reduce the swelling, then bound it tightly in strips of bark.
«Stay off it for a couple of days and you'll be able to walk again without any trouble. That's good, because I have a feeling we may have to move out of here before long.»
«The bat-cats?»
«Yes. They aren't the most pleasant neighbors.»
«Where do you think we should go? Do you have-a spaceship of your own?»
Blade was pleasantly tired after so much lovemaking, but his mental reflexes were still fast. He could recognize a leading question when he heard one.
«Not any more. What about you?»
«I hope I still do. If I do, it will be in the mountains to the north. I was going to take you to it. Then we saw the battle between the Targans and the Menel.» She was silent for a moment, shutting her eyes as if trying to shut out the memory of the battle. Then she went on.
«You did come to Targa in a spaceship, I suppose?»
Blade smiled. «What else? Do you think I walked?»
Riyannah laughed. «No. Not that. But your people seem to have so many gifts, and they look so much like the Targans-«