From Untitled NR 4, Copyright Lynn Flewelling 2007 Do not copy or distribute.

In deep trouble, an unconscious Seregil dreams of the past.

****

"You're still abed?" Mydri called through the tent flap. "Get up, Haba, you
lazy thing!"
"Father's waiting for you at the assembly."

Seregil curled deeper in his blankets for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut and
trying to
pretend he hadn't heard. The air was already warm and filled with the sawing
buzz of
summer cicadas. He could tell by the slant of tree shadow through the painted
canvass
that it was well past dawn. He threw back the blankets and sat, knowing better
than to
keep Mydri waiting too long. Adzriel or Illina might shout for him, or come in
and tickle
him awake. Mydri was more likely to give him a slap.

No breakfast again, he thought glumly, unless he could charm one of his aunts or
cousins
into giving him something behind his father's back. Or he could steal something
from one
of the other camps; that was a favorite game lately, among his friends.

He pulled on his long white tunic and tried to brush out the wrinkles. One more
thing for
Mydri to scold him for. He stuck his tongue out at the thought and laced on his
sandals,
then made a hasty job of combing his long brown hair with his fingers. He took
more care
wrapping his dark green sen'gai around his head. When it was wrapped and twisted
into a
proper shape, he paused a moment, then let the long ends hang over his left
shoulder.
He pressed his fingers to his lips, cheeks going warm with the memory of last
night's
stolen kiss in the shadow of the forest. "I have a lover."

Shivering happily, he quickly brushed the ends back to hang down his back. He
wasn't
really Seregil's lover, not yet, and even if he had been, Seregil certainly
wouldn't give that
fact away to his father by wearing his sen'gai tails over his shoulder like
that.

Ducking out through the low doorway, he buckled on his knife belt, cinching it
tight
around his thin waist. You've no more hips than a snake does, Auntie Alira was
fond of
pointing out.