“I don’t know—help me up!” Myakk howled. “Velda…Velda, come back you cursed bitch of a tubb-oh!”
But Velda was clearly not in the mood to listen. She had an unfamiliar rider and—much like Nettie—she wasn’t too happy about it. She bucked and careened crazily through the marketplace, giving Lan’ara occasional glances of shocked faces and dismayed shouts.
Somehow she had managed to hold onto the mesh bag of tanska fruit but she lost her grip and the fruit all went rolling out and started bouncing around the inside of the shell-pink tub with her. It was, as Need had promised, as hard as a rock and it hurt as the many fist-sized globes hit her.
“Ow…ouch!” Lan’ara gasped as she bumped along crazily with the multicolored fruits bouncing up and down all around her.
This is awful! Have to sit up—have to get hold of Velda and make her stop! she thought dizzily. If only there were some reigns to hold on to—or anything to hold onto for that matter—except the slick sides of the tub! There was still about six inches of blue liquid sloshing around in the bottom too, which made things even slipperier. But somehow she had to manage—otherwise who knew where she was going to wind up?
Grimly, Lan’ara gripped the sides of the tub and tried to sit up. For a moment, it seemed she had succeeded. She found herself upright and looking at the shocked faces of the merchants and buyers in the market as Velda careened through the crowd.
But then Velda shied at something and reared up, causing Lan’ara to fall backwards. There was an audible clonk as she hit the back of her head against the tub’s sloping wall, a sharp pain, and then…nothing but darkness.
Thirty-Three
“Where in the Seven Hells did they go?” Need demanded, glaring around the crowded marketplace. You wouldn’t think a big pink tub creature could get so thoroughly lost in the crowd in such a short time but somehow Myakk’s steed had managed it. It was gone without a trace and it had taken Lan’ara with it.
“Where did that damn tubb-oh thing of yours take my female?” he demanded again, crouching over Myakk, who was flopping helplessly on the ground. “Think, man—where would she go?”
But a change had come over Myakk. He was flopping on the rich carpet that covered the floor of the stall and moaning as he pulled at his hair and beard.
“Demons…demons!” he cried. “Ah, no—I am in Hell! The place of the damned! My soul has been weighed and found wanting!”
Well, shit.
Need knew at once what had happened—when the Yarrow root flew into the air, Myakk must have inhaled some. And now, though he had bragged about using his own product for years with no problems, he was finally having a bad trip.
Need got right up in his face, trying to make the other male understand him.
“Myakk! Come back to me!”
But the other male recoiled from him, a look of sheer terror on his piratical features.
“No, Demon! I will not go with you! I will not go, I tell you!”
Need gave up. There was no getting through to the male right now. Later, when the effects had been mitigated a bit he might be able to help Myakk see through the demonic effects of the drug. But right now, with the yarrow root powder so fresh in his system, he would see anyone near him as a demon bent on dragging him to Hell.
There was nothing to do but try and track the pink bathtub creature who had carried Lan’ara off himself.
And pray to the Goddess that he found her before a slaver or a cloner from a chop shop did.
Thirty-Four
Lan’ara opened her eyes to see a clear, cerulean blue sky and the tall, golden towers of an immense palace rising above her. There was a sweet smell like flowers in the air and she inhaled deeply, taking it in.
“What in the world?” she murmured, blinking her eyes and looking around. She was in a lovely tub about a quarter filled with sparkling pale blue liquid. The liquid had seeped into her clothing, making them cling to her skin in a way that Lan’ara found strangely charming. There were bright, jewel-colored things bobbing around in the liquid with her. They were…
Wait a minute—what were they? And where was she? Lan’ara had a vague idea that she was about to remember—the name for the things around her was right on the tip of her tongue—but somehow it wouldn’t come to her. If only her head didn’t ache so much and she could concentrate…
Suddenly, an angelically lovely face with long golden hair and wide blue eyes appeared above her.
“There, didn’t I tell you?” it said. “A right beauty, ent she? I wager Madam Bigaboo will pay a pretty penny to have this one in her stable.”