"And what's so funny about that?" I demanded.

"You," he chuckled. "Why would anyone-or any animal-not trust you?"

I stared back at him blankly.

"He's got a point," Rafe conceded. I suppose having someone come to your aid in battle will put you on a more even footing with them, even if you do claim to own them, because Rafe didn't seem to notice Leo speaking up anymore than he would have with any other man. I hoped this change in attitude continued.

"What are you talking about?" I snapped back. "They have no reason to trust me at all!"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Just look at you!"

"What?" The best I could tell, I looked like a snowman, and I'd never heard that snowmen were particularly adept at instilling trust in animals, or anyone else.

He went on patiently. "You have a squirrel that comes down out of the trees to ride with you, a dog that does your bidding whether you speak or not, and a horse that does not truly require a bridle. Huge purple birds perch on your saddle and will even let you approach them when they are injured. By that alone, a horse should be able to feel that he could trust you."

"Maybe," I conceded. "But horses are different- having been prey animals and all. They generally *164 *32*.

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run first and ask questions later. We have more in common with other predators-you know, like dogs and, um...cats."

Leo didn't miss the reference to himself, and I got a sly, suggestive smile in response. "Yes," he said evenly.

"Cats do seem to like you very well."

"But not always right at first," I cautioned. "Sometimes they take a while to warm up to me."

He didn't miss that, either-and neither did Rafe.

"Speaking of warming up, are the two of you planning to keep warm together again tonight?" he asked conversationally, brushing the snow from his sleeves.

No, we hadn't fooled him, and it made me wonder if he hadn't heard us the night before and drawn his own conclusions. I mean, I'd tried to keep quiet, but I suppose the occasional moan or gasp might have slipped out inadvertently. Leo could do that to me more easily than any other man, and there was always the offside chance that Rafe remembered a few things about the time we were together. However, on this evening I thought I'd be the one who was nearly frozen and in need of the heat of another body to make it through the night. I'd had to glance at my hands and feet every so often to keep them from freezing, and I do not recommend a heavy dusting of the white stuff on anyone-the possible insulation factor notwithstanding-because you're still covered in what is, essentially, ice. Oh, yes, I had every intention of spending the night in Leo's arms, and I said as much.

"He might not need to be kept warm tonight, but I certainly do," I declared, shrugging my shoulders to dislodge the crusts of snow from my back. "And I am not, and I repeat , not, sleeping with you!"

*165 *33*.

166.

Cheryl Brooks "So, we're right back where we started last night,"

Rafe said equably. How he wasn't getting angry about it, I couldn't begin to fathom, though perhaps it was a "brothers in arms" thing. Of course, I'd always heard that soldiers before or after a battle were all pretty randy-the "I might die tomorrow" mentality was a powerful sexual stimulant prior to battle, followed by the "I didn't die!" relief the night after-which Rafe and Leo could both be reasonably expected to feel, despite the foul weather. And this time, unlike the night before, I couldn't very well say that Leo was sick, since he'd already demonstrated just how healthy he was.

"Yes, we are," I said firmly. "Unless Max will sleep with me. Dogs have a remarkably high body temperature, you know."

"I hope I am more than body heat to you," Leo said, sounding slightly indignant.

"And I hope that I would be a more desirable partner than a dog-or a cat," Rafe remarked with a disdainful glance at his feline slave.

"Not really," I said with a nonchalant shrug.

This remark was met with silence, since neither of them was sure which of them I'd been responding to.

I thought I'd let them stew for a while-I really didn't care to discuss it. I was cold, tired, and hungry, and the thought of spending a night curled up in a sleeping bag in the snow all by myself held no appeal for me whatsoever, whether I had a tent or not. I still hadn't shaken off the effects of the battle, and even though I knew the animals could probably warn us in time if there were to be another attack, I was still a little nervous. I just hoped we didn't get our throats slit while we slept.

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Finally, Sinjar spoke up-though I was the only one who heard him-and it was apparent that he had either been reading some of my thoughts or that he understood human speech better than I'd have believed any horse could.

"You could sleep with me, Tisana," he said kindly.

"I've got more body heat than any of them."

"Yes, but you usually sleep standing up," I reminded him.

"Oh, I can go either way," he said. "No problem."

"For you, maybe, but I have no desire to curl up with anyone who has hooves."

"Afraid you'll take one in the belly?"

"Actually, I'm more worried about taking one in the head, but you get my point, don't you?"

"Yes. Pity, that." Sinjar shook his head and snorted.

"Might be the only female companionship I get on this venture."

"Aw, give her a break, Sinjar," I suggested.

"Morgana's not in season-though much more time spent in your company should do the trick. Be patient."

Glancing over my shoulder at him, I smiled secretively and turned away.

"You were talking to him, weren't you?" Rafe said accusingly.

"Talking to who?"

"Sinjar," he snapped. "Did he by any chance mention what the other horses might have told him about my sons?"

"No," I replied, still smiling to myself. "That wasn't what we were talking about."

"Well, could you ask him, then?" he prompted.

*167 *33*.

168.

Cheryl Brooks "I suppose I should," I said, sounding as weary as I felt. "It might save us some trouble after all. Besides, the animals are easier to talk with than you two."

"What do you mean?" Leo inquired.

"I mean I don't have to watch what I say quite so carefully."

"You don't have to do that with us," Rafe disagreed.

"Oh, don't I?" I said dryly. "Pardon me, but I believe I do! These animals and I exchange thoughts, so it's pretty hard to be anything other than completely honest with them, but with other people, I hardly ever say exactly what I'm thinking-not so I can be heard, anyway."

Rafe's reply was as dry as my own. "Funny, I've rarely known you to mince words."

"No?" I inquired coolly. "You might be surprised."

We rode on. Leo said very little, which was probably wise of him. I'd probably be sorry if Rafe had any idea what I'd said about him to Leo. Or had I said anything?

Honestly, I was getting so tired and brain-fogged that I couldn't think straight, and I couldn't remember.

Perhaps it was the fact that I could barely see ten feet ahead of me that was messing with my mind. The snow seemed to be blowing at me as fast as Morgana was moving, making it seem as though we were standing still in a surreal sort of way.

As the horses struggled through the deep snow, my mind began to drift like the snowflakes swirling around my head. Rafe kept rattling on about talking to the horses but he seemed to be getting farther and farther away. My hearing and vision were so muffled; reality was difficult to interpret. It felt as though I was dissolving into the storm itself, and the cold no longer bothered me. I *168 *33*.

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picked up random thoughts from the animal's minds, and if I hadn't known I was capable of actually doing such a thing, I would have assumed that I was asleep and dreaming.

Somewhere along the way I must have fallen asleep or frozen solid or something, because I forgot to work at keeping myself warm and, reportedly, keeled over suddenly, slipping from my saddle to plunge headlong into the snow.

*169 *33*.

Chapter 8.

It probably wasn't very wise to take a pregnant witch on a rescue mission during a snowstorm. Of course, the fact that I hadn't volunteered the information that I was expecting hadn't been terribly brainy of me.

No doubt I should have protested against such an undertaking, but there were children to rescue, and I wasn't ready to tell anybody about my baby at that point. Leo, however, had no such qualms, and I could hear him bickering with Rafe as I regained my senses.

It was still snowing. I could feel the flakes touching my face as they fell, first cold, then wet upon my skin.

That was about all I could feel-I was pretty numb. I was being carried-in Leo's arms, I thought hazily. I knew this only because when I heard his voice, it was louder than Rafe's, and, therefore, closer.

"I didn't know she was pregnant!" Rafe hissed. "How was I to know that?"

"You never asked her how she felt, did you?" Leo said accusingly. "Never gave her the opportunity to refuse to go on this quest."

If Rafe thought his slave was being too uppity, he apparently managed to overlook it, for they were talking man to man, not slave to owner. Rafe sounded defensive, but Leo was angry; I could hear it in his voice, though he wasn't bothering to waste his energy by shouting.

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"You didn't know then, either, did you?" Rafe said in an effort to exonerate himself. "And how could she know? For that matter, how could anyone know so soon? You've only been together for less than a month!"

"She is a witch," Leo reminded him. "When I told her that I knew, she did not seem surprised."

"And exactly how did you figure it out?" Rafe said scathingly. "Was she glowing or what?"

"I knew it only when I saw that she was in danger,"

Leo replied. "My kind are gifted with sudden insights at times. They are rare, but certain. I had only to look at her, and I knew."

"Well, my kind isn't that gifted," Rafe said irritably.

"We have to be told these things-which is what she should have done."

Leo took several moments to form his reply. "She chose not to tell you, and I do not believe she intended to tell me."

"And why not?" Rafe said indignantly. "If you are the father, then you should be told."

"I am a slave," Leo reminded his rightful owner.

"Perhaps she felt it would be best that I remain ignorant."

I didn't catch Rafe's reply-though I believe it was more of a grunt than actual words. Rafe knew very well that he was the only one who could change that slave status of Leo's, and I wanted to say so, but I found that I couldn't get my mouth to move well enough to form the words. After a while, I gave up trying.

I could hear Rafe talking again. Leo was standing still, continuing to hold me in his arms, which under other circumstances would have felt very nice, indeed, *171 *33*.

172.

Cheryl Brooks but I was so cold. Rafe's speech was short and rather breathless, making me wonder what he was doing.

"A man's children are all he has to carry on when he is gone," Rafe was saying. "Keeping them from their father is a terrible thing."

"On this world, perhaps," Leo said. "Not on others."

"On any world!" Rafe snorted. "How else can a man know that his life has been worthwhile? Who can he leave his property to when he dies if he has no children?"

It was so like Rafe to focus on that aspect of it, rather than how much he cared for them. Not having children to love and be loved by, I thought of my own mother, who had loved me very much. She was firm with me-had needed to be in order to train me to replace her-but I had always known that I was loved-never had the slightest cause to doubt it. I wondered about Rafe's boys; would they be able to say as much about their relationship with their own parents when they were grown? That Carnita was very self-centered, I knew, and my experience of Rafe was that he wasn't much better than she was at putting other people's needs before his own.

"This society of yours is very backward in that respect," Leo said reasonably. "Children were very important to us on my world, but not so much so that someone would steal them."

"It rarely happens here, either," Rafe said. "It's peaceful here, as a rule, though the possibility of disorder is always present-which is why we stay ready for battle." I heard a soft thud as something heavy landed in the snow. He was unsaddling the horses, I thought-or perhaps pulling off Goran's pack. "There," he said. "Put her down and then we'll pitch a tent over her and build a *172 *34*.