in the room. Her thighs were soft under my
head, and for an instant I wondered if, in delirium, I had conceded to
her. I muttered, "Sun ... not down...."

She bent her face to mine, whispering, "Hush. Hush."

It was heaven, and I drifted off again. After a moment I felt a cup
against my lips.

"Can you swallow this?"

I could and did. I couldn't taste it yet, but it was cold and wet and
felt heavenly trickling down my throat. She bent and looked into my
eyes, and I felt as if I were falling into those reddish and stormy
depths. She touched my scarred mouth with a light finger. Suddenly my
head cleared and I sat upright.

"Is this a trick to force me into calling my bet?"

She recoiled as if I had struck her, then the trace of a smile flitted
around her red mouth. Yes, between us it was battle. "You are right to
be suspicious, I suppose. But if I tell you what I know of Rakhal, will
you trust me then?"

I looked straight at her and said, "No."

Surprisingly, she threw back her head and laughed. I flexed my freed
wrists cautiously. The skin was torn away and chafed, and my arms ached
to the bone. When I moved harsh lances of pain drove through my chest.

"Well, until sunset I have no right to ask you to trust me," said
Dallisa when she had done laughing. "And since you are bound by my
command until the last ray has fallen, I command that you lay your head
upon my knees."

I blazed, "You are making a game of me!"

"Is that my privilege? Do you refuse?"

"Refuse?" It was not yet sunset. This might be a torture more complex
than any which had yet greeted me. From the scarlet glint in her eyes I
felt she was playing with me, as the cat-things of the forest play with
their helpless victims. My mouth twitched in a grimace of humiliation as
I lowered myself obediently until my head rested on her fur-clad knees.

She murmured, smiling, "Is this so unbearable, then?"

I said nothing. Never, never for an instant could I forget that--all
human, all woman as she seemed--Dallisa's race was worn and old when the
Terran Empire had not left their home star. The mind of Wolf, which has
mingled with the nonhuman since before the beginnings of recorded time,
is unfathomable to an outsider. I was better equipped than most Earthmen
to keep pace with its surface acts, but I could never pretend to
understand its deeper motivations.

It works on complex and irrational logic. Mischief is an integral part
of it. Even the deadly