Chapter 15
Sympathy with the Beasts
At the next hunt, Khaidu and her eagle reached the crowning glory of their hunting together. The eagle managed to catch a baby mountain goat. To find it, they had to ride away from the main body of hunters, something that Etchigu did not like, but tolerated. Anything that broke with the proper order of the hunt was frowned upon by all Gumiren, but no one knew what to do with Khaidu, who did not fit into any existing category of hunters, for she could not descend from her horse to make the ritual killing blow with her knife.
This distressed Khaidu more than she was willing to admit. She treasured the comfort of being within a duty-bound category for the first time since her injuries, but it was a tenuous thing that could crack at any moment.
Today, sh
