The rock ledge jutting out over the river's bend was now studded here and there with masses of small, blue-white flowers, which bobbed merrily in the chill late-afternoon wind. The same wind spread ripples across the water, which looked ever-darker beneath the white gleam of reflected sunlight as Eguzki shut his eyes to the world. For some reason, Mikel and Peru had decided it was the perfect time for a swim, and Iñaki had joined them.

"Come on, Txiki*!"

Normally Iñaki didn't mind their high-spirited jests, but he wasn't in the mood to plummet four body-lengths into cold, muddy water. Still, he was stripped down to bare skin like his friends and shivering already, so he followed.

"Go swallow a bee, Mikel." The grass was already wet with dew beneath his feet, the sky taking on a purple tinge. It'd be dark soon.

Mikel just laughed and took a running start before he leapt off the ledge, arms and legs flailing comically, to land with a resounding splash. Peru followed a little less flamboyantly, making a clean dive, and surfaced spitting duckweed. He'd obviously scraped bottom. And Iñaki followed. He walked to the edge and looked down. It wasn't so much fear as a kind of basic conservatism; he didn't like changes in his environment to come too quickly. Oh well--he took a long breath and leapt out, his legs together, and oh the cold--

He surfaced spitting, icy water plastering his hair to his head, sucking in deep drafts of warm air.

"Eguzki's sacred pizzle that's cold," he gasped, leaning back to float on the surface, trying to get as much of his body out of the water as he could. It was not to be; Mikel and Peru swarmed him, ducking him under the water, using the weight of their bodies to wrestle him down, down... He struggled, thrashing in the muddy darkness, and broke free at last. Now he really was out of breath, and furious. He went after Mikel, and shoved his head under the water, once, twice, three times--the other boy came up red in the face and spitting water copiously.

"You--"

"Hey, hey!" Peru swam between them and shoved them apart, his face pale. "Don't be idiots--"

"Too late for him."

Mikel spat in the water, glaring at Iñaki through an eye grown bloodshot from the water that had burnt it in one of his duckings. "Shut it, Txiki, or I'll shut it for you."

Peru looped an arm around Mikel's neck, dragging him to the bank before he could do something they'd all regret. Usually the three friends got on fine, but tension was high: they were all worried about the planned raid. Iñaki watched, seething, as his friends talked in low, tense voices, and then he set off, letting the current carry him away from his so-called friends, past another bend and a small stand of trees until he found himself in shallower, warmer water. There he relaxed, floating dreamily until a sound from the bank--the crunch of a footstep on pebbles--made his eyes fly open, and he righted himself, turning over to paddle in the water, keeping his body decently covered beneath the darkening liquid.

"Esti! What're you doing here?"



*Little One

It took a lot to force a full-grown Zerui tribeswoman, especially the daughter of the Warlord, to take a nap in midday. Hours of being scolded by her father and several of his wives, burning her lunch, cutting her fingers on a hunting knife, and getting the evil eye from almost every other tribeswoman she saw and some of the ones she didn't see, however, had done it.

Esti lay on her side in a bed of furs, cocooned tightly even though the afternoon had been warm. A little furrow cut between her brows, her sour mood not diminished even by sleep, black hair loose behind her back. It was the movement of the shapes outside her tent that woke her, and as Esti rolled out of bed, threw a tunic over her bare body, and went outside into the fading day, she was quickly informed that she'd missed dinner, and would have to make her own. But she was in no mood.

A sideways glare sent the meeker of the women skittering away, leaving Esti to her own devices. She spun her hair into a messy braid, twining it up onto the back of her head and tying the whole thick mass off with a leather thong. And then, without a word to anyone, she stalked off to her favorite spot by the river, a shallow pool that somehow retained its warmth, even though it was surrounded on all sides by thick trees. She plopped down on the pebbled shore, letting her legs sprawl to one side. Her tunic, dyed dark red with boysenberries, fluttered loosely around her shoulders in a weak breeze.

It was one of the rare moments when Esti was utterly miserable and needed comforting. And what a rare and unusual surprise it was when out of nowhere, Iñaki came floating around the bend of the stream that led into the pool. Startled by the still (and from what she could tell, naked) body of her brother, Esti kicked her feet, shifting back a little on the pebbled shore. Iñaki rolled over, apparently just as startled. "Esti! What're you doing here?"

"...Relaxing." She sighed, rubbing the butt of her palm across her brow to erase the furrow. "I'm just as surprised to see you, anaia, as you are to see me, I promise." Shifting again on the shore, Esti drew her knees up as she tossed her legs out straight in front of her, wrapping her arms around her ankles.

"I needed to cool down. D'you mind if I join you?"

Iñaki eyed her doubtfully. Her words the other day had made him a little wary... but it was not as though she could take advantage of him, and besides, they had bathed together often until last year, when suddenly things had become different. Uncomfortable. But as for why, he couldn't say; whether it was his sudden awareness that she was a woman or her own feelings... which he was not going to think of.

But if he emphasized the awkwardness it would only grow, so he nodded, paddling back in the water, watching her.

"Sure, come in." He nodded at her, waiting for her to take off her clothes. He'd enjoy it, frankly, but there was nothing wrong with that; was there? Of course not... it was quite simple, it was only a reaction of his body, it didn't mean he had to act on it.

He blew out a long sigh as he waited for her to come in, trying to take his mind off what he could clearly see. "Mikel and Peru were being sem'Zakur again." He made a face. "I hate them sometimes. What's wrong with you? You look upset."

"Sure, come in."

Even though she'd been the one to ask to join him, Esti hesitated with her hands gripping her ankles as she debated her current position. She was frustrated, she was upset, and although she needed a shoulder to cry on, the physical closeness of Iñaki was not going to help her very much. Not in the state she was in. But really, what could be wrong with swimming with him? If she was found out, she'd be scolded, but not nearly as harshly as if she went swimming with the other boys, Iñaki's friends.

And if she went swimming with Xanti, her father would doubtless give her a pat on the back, but she'd no interest in doing that.

After what seemed like hours to Esti, but was probably only a minute or so, she stood up on the shore, peeling her tunic off and letting it drop to the pebbles. Keeping her eyes carefully away from Iñaki's direction entirely, Esti's gaze followed her feet as she waded into the water up to her hips, the jagged points of her hip bones casting garish shadows over her pale skin in the dying light. She dipped her hands into the water, pouring the cool water over her shoulders to get used to the sudden change in temperature. It was practice that led her to move there, and self-consciousness that forced her to stay, her crossed elbows covering her breasts effectively. Along her sides the soft, sunken shadows of her ribs, lightly visible through her skin, could be seen. She hated being so thin, hated it, hated the mockery it got her.

If she weren't a Warlord's daughter she'd never be married. And it was with that thought that she finally sank into the water up to her shoulders, finally releasing her death grip on her shoulders and letting herself float on her back, the pale shape of her body hovering just beneath the water. It was warm as it soaked into her hair, and she twisted her head to look at Iña as his voice carried to her, dripping into her ears like honey.

"Nothing. Everything. I'm just in a mood, Iña, no helping it. Today's been awful -- I just want it to be over." She held up her cut hand for proof, well aware that the water was probably not helping. A horselike snort burst from Esti's throat, definitely not the sound one would expect the Warlord's daughter to make. She brought her hand back down on the water with a slap and a splash, making herself more soaked than she'd already been. The little furrow buried itself between her brows again as she looked at her brother from far away.

"What use is being a woman when they all still treat me like a child?"

Iñaki couldn't help but watch his sister as she undressed and waded slowly into the water. It wasn't that her body was in itself so beautiful; she was skinny, with spare curves, but something in her body... sent strange echoes through him. It was a certain kind of soft downiness that hearkened back to her childhood, and his own, that held echoes of small-animal tenderness. It wasn't like lust, he reassured himself. It was only the sense that...that...

He had to duck under the water, chilling himself to the eyebrows. When he surfaced, he looked at Esti, now floating on her back in the water. Her body was a glimmer of fishbelly-white beneath the dark water; she was much paler than he.

Iñaki canted himself backwards and let himself float along side her, turning his head so that they focused on each other's faces and on their bodies... his tended to float toward the surface, and he did not want the situation to grow too uncomfortable.

He laughed a little at her comment. "I know what you mean, arreba.* Mikel still calls me Txiki. It's hard to get respect, but you, arreba, are still practically a child, really, and I am a full warrior." He hit her lightly in the cheek as one hand came up out of the water, an attempt at teasing. "I only wish there were some way to get everyone to see; after--" He didn't want to mention the raid; that had to remain secret, and Esti was not known for her close-mouthedness. Worse, she might try to join them somehow--knowing her...


*sister

Iñaki's wet hand brushed against Esti's cheek, leaving a cold streak to drip down the side of her face. Rolling herself over in the water, Esti gave him a hard glare, but not without a wry smile on her lips. "A full warrior my eye," she growled, before lunging forward in the water to grab him by the shoulders, the weight of her body as it collided with his dragging them both under the water.

Even though she'd been expecting it and he, most likely, hadn't, Esti still came up out of the water and had to sputter for a moment, rubbing her head against her shoulder to get the water out of her eyes. "After what?" she asked. Being preoccupied with tackling Iña hadn't made her miss the broken statement. Water trickled down her cheeks from her wet hair, which had started to come loose around her shoulders. And as it splashed back into the pool, Esti looked down to catch the drips and saw the pale stretch of her arms against his tanned skin.

The slow realization came that she hadn't let go of his shoulders, that she hovered over him in the water, just a hair's breadth from his skin, that her body was shadowing her view of --

Esti let go of Iñaki's shoulders abruptly, using him as a force to push back from, floating a foot or so away in the water. She wiped at her eyes with her hands, which didn't help much because there wasn't a dry part of her left. "I'm --" she blurted, but then didn't know what to say. Sorry? She wasn't. Attracted to you? She had to deny it. In love with you? She'd convinced herself that she only felt love for him as a brother, and yet still the thoughts didn't sit well in her brain.

"-- lonely?"

Well that hadn't made sense.

Iñaki had been half-expecting some kind of retaliation, and he didn't mind it from his sister, of all people. Still, he swallowed water when she shoved him under, and had to thrash to get up. Spitting and coughing, he rubbed his eyes and grabbed blindly for her to hold him upright, his legs moving to keep him upright. His hands went around her ribcage, just under her arms.

They were now very close, she with her hands on his shoulders, their bodies within inches of each other, their legs brushing as they worked to remain afloat. She pulled away, which was a relief, because he doubted he had the capacity. Iñaki too shoved back, gliding toward the riverbank. It was growing darker and cooler, and soon they would have to get out.

"Lonely?" He looked toward Esti. The word stabbed at him. "I am too, sister. Because I'm not good enough. You're lucky to be a girl; all they want is that you be pretty, and able to cook. I have to be some sort of hero, like Xanti." His voice was bitter. "It's always Xanti. Xanti gets everything..." The deeper meaning of this wasn't to be delved into.

Iñaki dug his elbows into the grassy mud of the riverbank and kicked out his legs, watching his own body through the rippling, dark water, then glancing back at Esti. The tension had ebbed when the broke apart; that was good. But he did not trust himself to get out of the water anytime soon, not that she likely didn't know how he felt... she was teasing him. And it was working, too, much better than her teases in childhood.

"But I'm not," she protested, slowly swimming toward the shallower portion of the pool, unconsciously following him to the shore. It brought back a brief flash of childhood; whenever they'd gone swimming, her mother had warned her to stay close to Iñaki. Stay close. That was the best advice Amaya had ever given her. "I'm practically as white as an interloper, and my nose is all wrong and I'm skinny and bony and pokey, and in the name of Eguzki have you seen my eyes? They're all sunken in and dull. And my hair's crazy. And today I burned my lunch."

Esti gestured, frustrated, to the sopping mess that was her hair, now hanging loosely around her shoulders in a tangled up clot. "So I'm lucky? I'm not pretty and I can't cook and I prick myself sewing. What is it that makes me a girl anyway? Maybe I would've made a better boy." The water got too shallow to swim anymore, so Esti slogged through it on hands and knees, eventually flopping down on her back. She propped herself up on her elbows, undoing the leather tie that held the remnants of her braid together and running her fingers through the knotted mess before giving up and letting it fall down into the water behind her head, the water sloshing around her shoulders and the tops of her breasts.

"Xanti's not a hero. He was just born first, and if he was anybody else's son it wouldn't have mattered at all. Iña, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. They call you Txiki, well, I've been called names too. Mostly by ama." She toyed with the piece of leather thoughtfully, twining it around her fingers and then unraveling them.

"We're always so serious. Children are supposed to be happy..." Esti twisted, looking to Iñaki for confirmation as she had when she was younger. "...aren't they?"

"But we're not children, arreba. You're a woman, and I'm a man."

They certainly were, he thought, gazing at the outlines of her breasts beneath the water. He jerked his gaze away as though burned. He ought to get out; it was cold, and he didn't like being muddy and wet, but if he were to duck under again he wanted the promise of a warm blanket after. Except that he had left his clothes far upstream, with Mikel and Peru, whose idea of a good prank was stealing them. Fun, but not original; they did it all the time.

Damn them.

"I've just realized I have no clothes." He smiled sideways at her, trying to change the subject. "You aren't a bad woman, Esti, you're a very good one, and I think you're pretty. Any sister of mine would have to be!" he added, to cut the tension. "So, my good sister, Eguzki-blessed woman of the Zerui, would you mind running to get me a blanket, or some clothing?"

He did not want her to see him naked. Not that it was the nakedness in itself that he minded...

"You aren't a bad woman, Esti, you're a very good one, and I think you're pretty. Any sister of mine would have to be!"

Ignoring the thinly-veiled self-compliment, Esti had to smile at his praise. "Really? Hunh." And he had no clothes. Well, that thought brought some rather interesting and slightly awkward imagery to mind, imagery that she quickly pushed aside. Slipping back into the deeper water momentarily to get the mud off, Esti stood up and walked back to the shore to get her tunic. She was still dripping wet when she put it on, and it clung hopelessly to her sides, suctioning to her body. She might as well have been nude.

Amaya would have a fit if her daughter walked into camp that way. But... without clothes, or at least a blanket, Iñaki was not leaving the pool anytime soon. That much, at least, was clear. "I'll be right back." As Esti walked back to camp through the woods, she had to notice that every time she took a step her stupid wet tunic rode up around her hips. So she had to walk with her hands at her sides to keep the wet fabric down, and it made her look silly. Like a duck.

Which was the thought she walked into camp with, and was focused on when suddenly she heard Amaya's voice. "Alaba! You are soaking wet and it's nearly night, where have you been?"

And the words that were supposed to stay in her head Esti suddenly heard spouting from her mouth: "I am a woman in the eyes of the tribe now; where I go and what I do are no business of yours. Get after your emaita instead." She ducked quickly into Iñaki's tent, grabbing the closest tunic and pair of breeches she could find, before snatching her blanket from the ground in front of her own tent. Just as she turned to go, she straightened and found Amaya standing before her, looking very displeased indeed.

"Alfer -- you will be a woman of the tribe when you behave like one. I expect better of my daughter -- your aita would be ashamed."

Esti tossed her hair back over her shoulder, stepping around her mother with a haughty glare, and managed to keep her chin held high and her back straight until she got to the forest. There, she set off into a sprint, winding up back at the edge of the pool winded and breathing hard, dropping the bundle of fabric on the ground to tug her tunic back into place. "I brought your clothes," she said, stating the obvious. The adrenaline of the run had worn off, leaving Esti somewhat energized. She'd finally told off her mother, no matter she'd been scolded in return.

"But if you want them," she said, dangling his tunic from her hand playfully, "you have to come get them."

Iñaki pushed himself out into the middle of the pool and ducked under, immersing himself completely. The water shocked him with its cold, and he was shivering head-to-toe by the time he came up. His teeth chattered, and something in his brain seemed to rattle; an odd and inexplicable side effect of the cold, no doubt. Unfortunately, the rest of his body hadn't gotten the message.

Esti was very wet. Her tunic clung to her body, and while she was skinny, there was something... something about her... was it that she shared certain traits with him? The same lankiness and slight frailty that so shamed him? Whatever it was, that--and the fact that she kept flirting with him--

He swam to the edge of the pool and narrowed his eyes at her when she teased him, but there was nothing for it. Moving quickly, so she wouldn't notice certain reactions, he leapt out of the pool and dashed for her, trying to seize his clothing before she got a good look at him. He grabbed her arm, trying to immobilize her, trying not to give into the urge to wrestle her to the ground and...

As she stood at the forest's edge, swinging his shirt back and forth lazily as it hung from one finger, Esti wasn't sure he would come out of the water. And at some point, she'd have to give him his clothing, or let him catch cold. He certainly didn't seem to mind though, as he dunked his head under the water one last time, coming up shivering. "Do you want them or not?" she taunted, grinning. Iñaki swam a bit closer to the shore.

And suddenly, he leapt from the water and was beside her in three quick strides. Esti burst out laughing, the sound ringing merrily through the open space around them. Cold hands seized her arm, sopping wet, not that her tunic could have been any more soaked with water. Instinctively, she twisted her arm, but instead of moving back, she moved forward, closing the space between them. His shirt would get wet, but that wasn't something she cared about. And so in one quick step, making the move look completely accidental, she collided with Iñaki, putting her hands on his shoulders to catch herself as she --

Oh. His reaction was much different than she'd expected -- had he -- was this why he had sent her for clothes? Was Iña trying to hide from her? Why? Couldn't he see that --

No, he couldn't. He couldn't see anything she didn't show him, and she hadn't shown him any desire for -- at least, not like that. But now that they were here, completely alone, completely safe... was this what she wanted after all? "Iña," she mumbled, laughing quietly. "Iñaki, I..." She what? Esti blinked up at him, her dark eyes huge and black in the coming night. Her hands trailed down his chest, like beacons of white against his tan skin, coming to rest on his hips. Should she -- go further?

More importantly, did she dare?

Iñaki found his heart pounding very hard; in fact, he was amazed she couldn't hear it. He looked down at her, unable to move away. Her hands were on his hips. Her body was pressed against his. Slowly, as though he were hypnotized, put under a spell by some witch, he moved his own hands to rest on her waist and slid them up... up past the little, fragile indents between her ribs, through which he could feel the increasing rhythm of her breathing...

"Esti, we can't," he said softly.

What would happen? He had never heard of this before. Would he be shunned? Would his father turn him out of the Zerui? They both carried the blood of Eguzki's chosen... maybe... maybe... but the bronze blade of custom seemed to come down in his path, barring his way. It was not done. The eldest sister married the Warlord. Yes, there was the taint of shame on Zeru himself, because his first arreba had--vanished--and that was why, some said, the interlopers... that was why the tribe had so many problems...

His thoughts tumbled out of control. Iñaki as not good to saying no to anyone: not his father, not Xanti, and not even Esti, but he was trapped. His lips trembled. He looked down at her. He wanted no responsibility for what came next, but he wanted... wanted...

"Esti, we can't."

Those three words were bone-crushing, but instead of turning her face or running away in fear of punishment or rejection, she kept stubbornly stuck to him, her hands resting on the ridges of his hips, feeling the smooth skin of his back under her fingertips. Her lips quivered as they opened, smile fading into the night. Esti was afraid of the answer, but everything in her told her she needed to ask the question, needed to know.

"Why not, Iña?"

Why not? It rang in her head even after she said it. There were probably a million reasons why not, why this was wrong, but she was sure she could come up with a million reasons why it was right. The primary one being that they were there, and they wanted... Zeru had always taught his children that they were different from animals. Animals were something to be respected, like the noble horse or the fierce wolf, or even the timid rabbit, but they were different from humans. Respect could come from fear, as the wolf; or reverence, as the horse; or gratitude, as the rabbit, which gave them food.

But perhaps they were not so different from animals after all. What could be more animal, what more primal, than desiring something, even if it was forbidden? What could be more animal than living freely? And if animals were to be respected, then these desires made them no less human.

He looked down at her. "You know why." He didn't move, though, and didn't release drop his hands from their place on her back, only slid them down, bit by bit, until they rested again on the curve of her waist, which he could feel ever through the soaked fabric of her tunic. "You're promised to Xanti..."

But something told him that would never happen. Was it a premonition, sent by Eguzki Himself? He was tangled in the knotty problem of prophets everywhere: how was his claim to prophecy legitimate? If he was to become the Warlord himself then he would have Eguzki's ear and it was legitimate. But if it was not then he was doubly damned, because he would not legitimately be granted the hand of his sister... was it Eguzki, or was it the influence of the Evil Spirit some talked about? The Zerui were not supposed to believe in It, but there it was, nonetheless, in the darkness...

He didn't want to think about that. He realized he was still standing pressed against Esti, and his arousal had not receded. He licked his lips. "I don't know. I do... I..." He tilted his head perhaps a fraction of an inch closer to her. He was not tall. They were very close.

"You're promised to Xanti..."

Esti very nearly snorted at the prospect, but she kept her mouth inexplicably closed, and managed to stifle the urge. Trying to think of competent things to say was becoming somewhat more difficult as his hands roved down over her back, resting on her waist. It was a thin thread that tied them together -- hope, wild and tremulous hope -- but they were tied nonetheless.

"Then let me make that choice, Iñaki. I don't want Xanti."

I want you. The words went unsaid, but still they seemed to hang in the air between them, figuratively dripping from her still-parted lips. Her head tipped back to try and see him better, for Iñaki had gone very still. Esti wondered if he was thinking, if he was searching for an answer, and the innermost part of her heart hoped desperately that the answer would be yes. "I don't know. I do... I..."

Was it her imagination, or had he moved toward her? In that split second of doubt, Esti made the frantic decision to make this very easy on Iñaki. She had to rise up on her tiptoes just slightly to do it, which pressed her body into his and forced her to tighten her grip on his hips so she didn't fall over. And very lightly, Esti brushed her lips against his, the touch sending tingles down her spine. And there she waited, barely breathing, for Iña to catch up.

It was as though she'd opened floodgates long held back. Iñaki pulled her to him, crushing her body against his, and kissed her back, turning the light brush of her lips against his into a deep, searing, gut-wrenching embrace. She was practically as tall as he was; it wasn't hard, and they were close, and his hand went down to pull her leg up, wrapping her around him. He kissed her again. His other hand was on her waist, but traveling lower, over her hip to the bunched-up bottom of her tunic, sliding it slowly upwards--

"Esti--" It sounded right. Much too right. When things sounded this right you knew it was because they were flavored with wrong. He kissed her again, his mouth moving against hers, and his hand was under her tunic now. Any moment he'd pull away, as though waking up from a fevered dream. Eguzki knew he'd had enough of them. Any moment now...

But the moment seemed long in coming, and in the meantime Esti's nearness intoxicated him. He couldn't stop. But he would, soon, before it got too--too--

Esti felt the movement of the muscles in his arms before she felt the pull, felt the subtle dance of each tendon below his skin. Iñaki's mouth descended on hers with an unforeseen hunger, his embrace crushing. Yes, Esti had been kissed before, but never like this -- her whole body trembled with the force of the feelings it evoked in her, their movements in total harmony with one another. Iñaki reached down, pulling her against him, wrapping her leg around his hip, and Esti willingly left it there, stumbling slightly as she pressed against him.

His hand slipped lower, and she gasped a little, between the kisses that had completely stolen her breath. "Esti--" She tried to respond, tried to catch her breath, but all that she had time for was a quiet mumble, barely even coherent as speech.

She reached up in the brief pause, wrapping her arms tight around his neck, accepting the kiss that seared her mouth, blinded her to anyone else, deafened her to any sound except his breath in her ear, her own frantically beating heart. Iña's hand slid under her tunic, a soft, sweet sound drawn from her throat at his touch. And her hand moved to tangle in his hair, so like hers, rich and dark --

"Iñaki," she whispered, her lips moving against his; she couldn't be bothered to take the time to draw all the way back. His name dissolved into another kiss, and Esti had no more room to think, her head and heart full with Iñaki.

"You called me Iñaki," he mumbled against her lips, in the middle of kissing her back. His desire was now almost painful... but something stopped him. Some echo of wrongness. Iñaki's lips continued to move, but now they moved without sound. Abruptly, he shoved himself back, his hand coming out from beneath her tunic, his other pushing her leg down from around his waist. He stumbled, dazed and naked, away from Esti...

And heard the sound of her mother calling them. He stood staring at her wordlessly. His tunic and breeches were on the ground, and he bent to pick them up, holding them defensively in front of himself. If his stepmother found out... they couldn't risk it. But had he broken away from her because he knew she was coming, somewhere in the back of his mind? Or because of some other prompting? Had he done the right thing for once instead of what the person in front of him wanted?

Eguzki... it was certainly instead of what he wanted... Iñaki was not used to contravening that.

"Esti." The word was different now, solemn, a plea for forgiveness. He had wounded her in some way, with his rejection. But there were more important things...

... more important people to please, said a vicious voice from deep in his gut. He ignored it.

Uh-oh.

There was a moment that passed, as he whispered into her lips, in which a switch flipped in Iñaki. Esti couldn't see the change, but she could feel it. The desire that had met her with such ferocity receded as something... else took its place. Her brother moved back from her so quickly, severing the connection painfully and leaving Esti stumbling and hurt. He was looking at her as though she had burned him, bewitched him.

"Iñaki is your name," she said, straightening her tunic around her hips. Esti twined her hands together, her knuckles going white under the force. It was then that she heard, in the distance, Amaya's voice calling for them. Stalking past him, Esti snatched the blanket she'd brought from the ground, keeping her head down and her eyes averted. She threw the blanket around her shoulders, adjusting it silently, her back to him.

"Esti."

"Don't. Just --" I'm such a fool. Esti wrapped her arms tight around herself, finally turning around. She almost couldn't wait for Amaya to come in and drag her off by the ear. Even her mother's rages she could deal with, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to look at her brother.

Iñaki rapidly pulled on his breeches, then his tunic, ignoring Esti. She was in a sulk--again. But things would come out all right. They would, wouldn't they? Whatever all right could be. The same as they had always been. Iñaki would be Iñaki, the second son. Esti would be Esti, promised to Xanti.

He felt a moment of searing anger at Xanti. It was his fault, after all, that they couldn't love each other. That he had to be cruel to her, and turn her away until she hated him. Iñaki hated to be hated, particularly by someone he loved.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice very clipped. Amaya was calling from further down the riverbank. He took one last look at Esti and turned on his heel, making his way toward th horse fields. Amaya wouldn't let Esti out tonight, but Iñaki was a man, and he could sleep with his father's horses if he liked. He could do whatever he wanted, except for what he really wanted to do.