Paxton watched the cub as it curled up and eyed them warily. Aye, he was a hunter and he ate animals, but he had compassion for all living things. This one, in particular, tugged at his heart.
A loud hissing from below made Paxton and Konor step back, but Rozaria squatted with a smile. They peered in at a reptilian creature. It had the body of a dragon lizard, with extraordinarily long legs and a whiplike tail, but its neck and head were that of a python.
Rozaria thrust her face forward and made a vicious hissing sound. The young creature swiped at the metal bars with its long claws and hissed in return. Rozaria chuckled. The creature was relatively small, but it would no doubt eventually grow to be as long as Paxton. The sight of it gave him chills.
“How’d you do that?” Konor asked. “Make two animals become one?”
Rozaria smiled, as if she had hoped someone would ask this question. Without a word, she went back into the mainroom and they followed. She came to a crate in the corner and took out a small, stiff, furry carcass, laying it on the nearest table.
“This one did not make it. It had complications while I was away. In the early stages they need constant care.”
Paxton and Konor inched closer to see the creature. It appeared to be a miniature version of the beast that had ravaged Lochlanach. A warthog’s face, scales along its torso, and arms and legs like a bear.
“I take the strongest, most dangerous parts from animals and fuse them together. Living things are fragile, but there is a small time span when they can die and be brought back—just enough time to be cut and pieced together. I have to be sure each has the working parts that it requires on the inside. It takes great concentration to bind flesh and bone of one to another.” She ran a finger along the line of the creature’s back, where it seemed that a rectangle of reptilian skin had been patched. “It only works on younglings that are still growing. If the binding works, I then infuse magic to enlarge them and strengthen certain parts.”
She took its stiff paw, pressing the oversized claws into the pads of her fingers. “When I send my energy into these creatures, it’s almost as if they are made of countless tiny entities, and I must speak to each one. To rework each thought process about what its limits are.”
A chill of fascination overtook Paxton. He remembered feeling that way when he healed Tiern, as if his magic wereencompassing the smallest of rogue particles and forcing them to his will. But to hear her say it, in this context, appalled him.
Konor stared at her in open awe. “And then you train them?”
She nodded. “Once they are strong enough and I know they will survive, I begin tests of strength and loyalty, then instill a desire to protect at will and attack on command.”
“How long have you been doing this?” Paxton asked.
A fond look crossed her face. “My entire life. My father was the one who started this work. His first creature was an ugly, small, mutilated thing, but it lived. He didn’t know he could grow it at that time. We learned much together.”
“Where is he now?” Konor asked.
“Dead. When I was ten I watched as a beast with a tiger’s face took his throat in its mouth during training. I swear, he was smiling with pride when he died. He could not be saved.”
She looked at Paxton and Konor matter-of-factly before dropping the dead beast into the crate and wiping her hands on her skirts. “You will both be required to do rotations guarding this building and keeping watch over the beasts, helping as needed.”
Both men nodded, Konor a bit more enthusiastically. The door opened behind them, and they all turned to see the hooded girl enter.
“Ah, Nicola,” Rozaria said. She looked at Paxton. “It is time for us to begin our work.”
He nodded. “I would be happy to hunt today for thecamp . . . if you see fit to return my bow.”
She squinted at him, causing his heart to race, then she gave a slow nod. She called out something in Kalorian to the guard outside.
“Roza . . .” said the girl, Nicola, in a warning tone. Paxton looked at her, but could only see her lips and nose. She seemed to be staring pointedly at Rozaria. Was she warning her against giving him back his bow? Rozaria said something soothing to the girl before returning her attention to Paxton.
“You shall have your weapons.”
Triumph raged inside him as he calmly said, “Thank you.” Perhaps if he could find a wild boar to feed the camp, he’d be able to gain the trust of the others. Regardless, he had seemed to earn the trust of Rozaria Rocato, and for that he thanked the seas.
Chapter
14
Vixie was concerned about Tiern. He wasn’t at breakfast that morning, and he’d been awfully quiet since he’d arrived. He had to be worried about his brother, and missing him, as she was missing Aerity. But his entire being seemed to carry a darkness that had never been there before, and it had worsened after his conversation with Lord Alvi. She intended to find out what had stolen every morsel of his joy.
She had stopped trying to gain admittance to her father’s study. She knew Wyneth would tell her everything. So after breakfast she’d rushed to her chamber to change into riding clothes. The first winter cold had set in, so she donned a forest-green woolen hat with fur lining, a matching scarf, fingerlessgloves, and a fitted riding jacket. She set off toward the guest chambers planning to ask Tiern to join her. She was wary of bringing up his brother, because, to be honest, she couldn’t understand why Paxton would up and leave for good. Even if he had fallen in love with Aerity, as Vixie suspected, it was still selfish for him to leave his family forever.
At the entrance to the guest hall, a maid was coming out of a room carrying a tray of dirty breakfast dishes.
“Is that Tiern Seabolt’s chamber?” Vixie asked her.
