It was mid-day when Orpheus came out into the long meadows that stretched away behind the wood. He looked around warily, and crept along, staying close to the ground. His ears were keen and told him it was safe, but he stayed low all the same. Something in Eda's voice had stirred fear in him. He looked up now and again, into the cloud-streaked sky, wary even of the small birds circling above him. Finally the tall grass gave way to a thicket of brambles along the edge of a stream. Orpheus was able to follow the banks, under cover, till nightfall. Then, in the safety of darkness, he bathed in the stream and allowed himself a few hours of rest. He found himself thinking about Eda, and then Isadora and Rata, Briedit and Fantilee, Jeid, Susto and Meeren. He was no spring bunny anymore. He had been through a gauntlet of doomed romances. Never with a rabbit - no, there were very few rabbits left in the West - and maybe that was the problem. He shook his head and looked up at the great map of stars, rubbing his tired feet. "Are you there?" he whispered at the night.
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