Spider Wars: Book Three of the Black Bead Chronicles (15 page)

Gudu emerged finally,
triumphantly holding up a cloth bag. Without another word, he herded
them to the next wooden building, opened its small door, and shoved
them into the dark interior. Gudu pressed a light switch and a dim
ceiling panel lit the room. They stood in a tiny vestibule as long as
the hut was wide but only a couple paces deep. A bench occupied each
end, clothing hooks on the walls above them. Shelves full of bath
towels flanked another small door.

“
Strip down to skin,” he
said softly as he punched a blue button on the top of a control
panel. He entered in something on the pad underneath and then studied
the information that steamed across the screen. “Either one of you
done a sauna before?” He must have got his answer by the blank
expressions on their faces. “No? You’ll need two or three towels
apiece. One to sit on. The boards get hot.”

Cheobawn bent down to
unbuckle her boots and another coughing spell overcame her. Gudu
pushed her down on the seat and started flicking buckles, one after
another, as fast as his fingers could travel.

“
That cough needs loads of
steam and as much of the smoke as you can stand. The longer you stay
in, the faster you will heal. If you start overheating get out and
jump in the pond for a few seconds.

“
What?” Connor wheezed.
“It’s like ice. Are you trying to kill us?”

“
Trust me, I know what I
am talking about,” he said. Gudu stood up and retrieved a device
from a small basket high on a shelf. This he attached to Cheobawn’s
ear lobe. “This is a core temperature sensor. It will beep if you
get too hot.” He did the same to Connor’s ear. “Watch her temp.
She's smaller and female. High temps will affect her first and make
her wonky 'cause her brain will start cooking. Pay attention. You are
going to sweat. Remember to drink when you get thirsty. That cistern
holds water. Cups are stored under the bench seats here.”

When they were both naked
and shivering in the cold, he opened the door and guided them in,
handing them each an arm-full of towels. A small furnace topped with
stones roared in one corner, a bucket full of water with a
long-handled dipper next to it. The room was small, the benches
stepping up only two tiers. Gudu upended his bag and dumped its
contents onto the stones. A pile of dark, glossy leaves, freshly cut
and too green to burn, fell onto the stones and began to smoke. He
followed this with a dipper full of water. The stones hissed, steam
boiling up off the hot stones. The air became laden with the slightly
medicinal tang of menthaleaf.

“
Start on the lower bench,
work your way to the top. Use standard focused breathing. Don’t
ignore the sensors when they beep. When you get that hot, the plunge
into the pond is the best rush ever. Keep the room steamy. The more
steam the better. I gotta go. I need a plausible story when they come
looking for you. I am going to say I dropped you off at the
infirmary. Sigrid is going to claim the same. Don’t make any noise
and I figure you got a handful of hours before the Elders put all the
pieces together and think to ask Eban. Keep your head down and keep
quiet.” With that he pulled the door closed.

“
Goddess, I thought he’d
never leave,” Connor said as he laid a towel on the finely-sanded
wood of the bench. Cheobawn was too tired to smile at his attempt at
humor. She followed his lead, putting her towel on the other end of
the lower seat and sat down. She forced herself to breath in the
fumes. Connor threw another cup of water on the stones and settled
onto the bench, tucking his feet under his knees in the traditional
posture of deep meditation. The air grew hotter and heavier. Cheobawn
copied her packmate’s pose, resting her wrists on her knees as she
tried to concentrate on the silence around them.

The heat made her sleepy.
She leaned back and hissed in pain. The wood, while not burning hot,
was uncomfortable to bare skin.

“
Spread a towel on the
upper deck so you can lie down. I’ll feed the stones,” Connor
said softly. She did as he said and was asleep in moments. If she
dreamed, she did not remember.

“
Wake up, Ch’che,”
Connor said softly against her ear. Something was beeping. “We
gotta go take a swim.”

She blinked groggily, her
lids incredibly heavy. It was so much easier to keep them closed.

“
Come on. Get up,” he
said, pulling roughly at her arm, trying to lever her up. She
obliged, too exhausted to fight him.

“
What’s beeping?” she
asked looking around blearily.

“
That would be you, Little
Mother,” Connor laughed. He pulled her to her feet and helped her
down the risers and out the door.

“
Oh, my…” Cheobawn
said breathlessly as he opened the outer door. Her skin was on fire
and the cold air felt wonderful.

“
Run,” Connor barked,
jerking her into motion. Hand in hand, they ran barefoot down to the
small dock in front of their hut, pounded down its length, and
launched themselves off the end, screaming like banshee lizards. The
frigid water closed over their heads, sucking all the heat out of
their skin instantaneously. She came up hooting in exhilaration,
Connor not far away. They splashed about, laughing, but soon her
teeth began to chatter. It was time for the next round of steamy
smoke. They found the bottom with their feet, staggered up the bank,
and raced back to the hut.

“
Let’s do that again,”
Cheobawn said, a huge grin on her face. Connor’s grin matched hers.
He opened the sauna door and then paused.

“
I almost forgot. Gotta
drink,” he said. He poured to cups full of water and handed her
one. “Drink all that and then we can go at it again.”

Cheobawn drained it in one
breath. Connor laughed, shaking his head.

“
If you get stomach cramps
and vomit, I am making you clean it up,” he said sternly.

Cheobawn was about to reply
when the sound of laughter drifted up from the pond.

“
Shh,” Connor said as he
opened the exterior door just a crack and pressed his eye into the
gap.

“
Who is it?” Cheobawn
whispered, craning her neck to see over his shoulder. “Wait, I know
that laugh.” The tones of the indistinct banter, followed by a
splash and yells of pleasure were painfully familiar.

“
Megan,” breathed
Cheobawn, pushing at Connor to open the door wider and go out to
their packmates.

“
No,” hissed Connor,
wrapping his arms around her to hold her back. “We are not supposed
to be here. The temple students cannot communicate with the outside
world until they are done with their training.”

“
Connor, please,” she
begged as she twisted in his arms, “just for a minute. Just a hug.
Just a touch. I can’t stand being this close and not being able to
talk to them.”

Connor tightened his hold on
her. It was instinctive, the thing she did next. She pistoned her
feet into the floor and exploded upwards. Her head connected with his
chin and suddenly she was free, running naked across the cold ground
towards the sounds of splashing coming from the end of the next pier.

Connor tackled her. Caught
up in his arms, they tumbled, Connor twisting in midair so that she
landed on top of him as they hit the ground. A soft curse escaped
from his lips. She tried to roll off him but he rolled with her and
somehow regained his footing. Fingers locked around her arm, he
pulled her to her feet, jerking her up the slope until he dragged her
back into the hut. She fought him all the way, hissing in pain at the
bruising grip on her arm but that was the only sound she made. She,
too, knew the finer points of silent combat. She tried to grab the
door frame of the first door but missed. He opened the interior door
and tossed her bodily back into the heat. She sprawled against the
lower platform. By the time she had gathered herself up and spun
around, Connor had the door shut. He fell on her, pushing her down
again to put his hand over her mouth. She bit down hard. He swore
softly as he tried to shove his fist down her throat to break the
grip of her teeth on the flesh of his hand. It suddenly dawned on her
that this hut was not their hut. She stopped struggling.

“
By all that is holy,
Ch’che,” he hissed furiously in her ear, “you got what you
asked for. Stop fighting me.”

She opened her mouth. Connor
jerked away from her, swear words hissing softly out of his mouth
like a slow leak out of a steam engine. She licked the blood from the
split in her lip and looked around. This hut was longer and taller.
There were three tiers of platforms, not two. And the sprinkling of
leaves on the hot stones was not menthaleaf but something sweeter.

“
Your back is bleeding,”
Cheobawn said.

“
Oh, really? What a god’s
cursed surprise,” Connor said plunging his hand into the bucket of
water by the stove. Cheobawn picked up one of the towels lying
discarded on the wooden bench and began gently wiping the dirt and
gravel out of his scratches. “Why can you never, ever do what I
tell you?” he asked bitterly.

“
Because it still
surprises me when you are right,” she said honestly.

Connor opened his mouth to
say something equally cutting and then thought better of it. He shook
his head ruefully.

“
To be perfectly honest,”
he said finally, “it surprises me too.”

Cheobawn smiled and looked
around again.

“
How did you know that
this was their hut?”

“
I don’t,” Connor said
grabbing another towel to daub at the blood seeping out of the wound
between finger and thumb.

“
What!” Cheobawn
screeched softly. She spun around at the sound of voices in the
vestibule just outside the door. “Oh goddess …“

Tam opened the door and
froze, his face inscrutable.

“
Hey, Tam,” Cheobawn
said tentatively.

“
This isn’t what it
seems,” Connor began.

“
Really?” Tam said,
opening the door wider and stepping aside to let Alain and Megan in
before he closed the door a little bit more firmly than was
necessary. “I see two junior members of my Pack in a place they
know is strictly forbidden. Wait. Is that blood? Have you two been
fighting?”

Cheobawn ignored Tam’s ill
humor. She launched herself at Megan and hugged her as hard as she
could.

“
Fighting? Us?” Connor
said innocently, “Nah, we just came from a sparring match. Decided
to take a sauna and work out the kinks. We were next door and heard
you talking so we thought we would stop by for a second to say hi,”
Connor said nonchalantly.

Tam glared at his Third,
believing none of it. Alain lifted the towel off Connor’s hand to
inspect the wound. Megan pried Cheobawn’s arms from around her
waist and took hold of her chin to inspect her mouth. The older girl
sighed in long-suffering resignation and grabbed another towel to
wipe away the evidence of carnage. Cheobawn sucked on her lip and
grinned up at her packsister.

“
You let her get her teeth
into you? Have I taught you nothing?” Alain said, tsking over the
oozing punctures. “That’s going to get infected unless you put
something on it. Humans have filthy mouths.”

“
Your leaves smell better
than ours,” said Cheobawn with a soft cough. The bubbling in her
chest had almost disappeared. Bless the oldmas and their ancient
remedies.

“
Oh goddess,” Megan said
looking around in alarm. “Tam, they can’t stay.”

“
Why not?” Alain asked.
“A few minutes won’t hurt them.”

“
What is in your smoke?”
Connor asked suspiciously.

“
Nothing. It just helps
you relax and let go so you can meditate better,” Megan said
evasively. Connor sniffed deep, then let his breath out with a long
sigh.

“
I missed you guys so
much,” Cheobawn said as she hugged Megan again. “This winter has
been just the worst without you.”

There was a sour look on
Tam’s face as he silently laid a towel on the middle platform, sat
down and laid another towel across his lap. Alain pulled Connor up to
the top level and settled them both there. Megan pried Cheobawn’s
arms from around her waist and sat on the bottom tier, pulling a
towel over her lap and patting a towel on the bench beside her.
Cheobawn found their uncharacteristic modesty curiously disturbing.
They had seen each other naked every day since they had declared
Pack. What was different?

She sat sideways on her
towel so she could see them all at once. She wanted to drink in their
familiar faces but found herself inexplicably puzzled. There was
something different about them. Their features had not changed but
something subtle had shifted under the surface of their skin.