SON OF AVONAR


SON OF AVONAR
Book One of The Bridge of D但rnath
CAROL BERG



Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 
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First Printing, February 2004 
Copyright ｩ Carol Berg, 2004 All rights reserved
Cover art by Matt Stawicki
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For teachers, the overlooked heroes and heroines who illuminate and nurture 
young minds, who inculcate our values and teach self-discipline, who shore up 
our freedoms, remind us of the lessons of history, and ensure the future of the 
arts. For a few in particular・em>Elizabeth Paar and Carol Roehl, Jane Conway, 
Marcia Stefan, Sister Francesco, Sister Anselma, Robert Patten, David Minter, 
Katherine Brown・em>and many others at OLV and Nolan and Rice, who inspired, who 
shared their devotion to art and literature, or who just flat expected their 
students to do the difficult, the boring, and the necessary in the name of 
learning.



CHAPTER 1
Midsummer痴 Day・em>Year 14 in the reign of King Evard
The dawn wind teased at my old red shawl as I scrambled up the last steep pitch 
of the crescent-shaped headland the villagers called Rif Paltarre・Poacher痴 
Ridge. A brisk walk to the eastern edge and I seated myself on a throne of rock 
as if I were a Leiran duchess attending a midsummer fete. But whereas my 
girlhood friends might celebrate the longest day of the year by watching 
jugglers, fire-eaters, and tittering ladies stepping through the spiritless 
mimicry they called 途ustic dances,・I beheld color and shape being born from a 
vast and silent wilderness of gray.
Stretching west for two hundred leagues, stood the snowcapped peaks of the 
Dorian Wall, their brilliant rose brightening to eye-searing white. To the north 
swelled the ocean of dark green forest. To the east the ground fell away gently 
in a stone-bordered patchwork of meadows and farmland to the bronze ripples of 
the Dun River and the haze-shrouded village of Dunfarrie squatting on its banks. 
It was a splendid desolation.
As the light grew, I stuffed my water flask into the cloth bag hanging from my 
belt, snugged the rags I壇 wrapped about my hands, and took up the true business 
of the day・hunting dye plants to barter in the village. The first lesson I壇 
learned on coming to Dunfarrie, when I had scarcely known that food grew in the 
ground, much less that it must be coddled and coaxed and worried over, was that 
those whose bellies are pinched by hunger know nothing of holidays.
In early afternoon, back aching, hands dirty and sore despite the rags, I 
abandoned the glare and blustering wind of the heights for a shady clearing of 
pine trees and oak scrub. I ate a few dried figs, hard and half turned to sugar, 
and refilled my water flask at the stream that mumbled through the weedy 
clearing, trying to decide whether to return to the ridge top to dig another 
bundle of scabwort roots or head down to the cottage and the uncountable tasks 
that needed doing before sunset.
A spider skittered across the scuffed leather of my boot. A jay screeched. 
Beyond the stream, something large rustled the bracken熔ne of Evard痴 deer, no 
doubt. No predators, human or beast, frequented the wooded hills behind Jonah痴 
cottage. Nor did enemy soldiers. Leire痴 current battles were being waged in 
faraway Iskeran. Nor did sorcerous enchantments lurk in the wild forest, 
threatening to corrupt the soul. As the priests and people of the Four Realms 
had demanded for four hundred and fifty years, the dark arts and those who 
practiced them had been exterminated.
I lifted my head. The rustling came louder, closer, and now accompanied by a 
muted, rhythmic pounding. Running footsteps・human・that halted somewhere in the 
trees to my right. 展ho痴 there?・I called out, scrambling to my feet.
As if from nowhere and everywhere sounded the blast of a horn, the clamor of a 
hunt sweeping through the forest on three sides: racing hoofbeats, jangling 
harness, a shouted command not ten paces from where I stood. The runner was 
closer than that.
鉄tay away from me,・I said softly, trying to look everywhere at once, 登r I値l 
scream and let them know you池e here.・/p> 
A branch snapped. I whirled about, but saw nothing. Backing slowly away from the 
hunt toward the downhill side of the clearing, my hand moved slowly toward my 
slit pocket where I could reach the knife sheath hidden under my skirt. But 
whatever I thought to do with my pitiful weapon was left undone. A muscular arm 
reached from behind and wrapped itself about my neck, while another grabbed my 
waist, crushing my elbow into my ribs. I fought to keep my footing as my 
assailant dragged me downstream through the water and into a dense tangle of 
cedar, pine, and juniper. Twigs and sharp, dry underbranches caught in my hair, 
slapped and stung my face.
My captor痴 arm was fiercely sunburned, the skin scratched and abraded. The heart 
pressed so close to my back was thudding ferociously, and his sweat soaked the 
back of my tunic. He stank of unwashed terror.
I slammed my unrestrained elbow into his belly, tore at his arms, stomped my 
boot somewhere in the region of his foot, and flailed at his flank妖iscovering to 
my surprise that he seemed to be entirely unclothed. When I reached over my head 
to claw at his eyes, he used my own right arm to bat away my left and tightened 
his hold on my throat.
The pursuit careened through the woodland, the riders so close, I could almost 
smell the leather harness and feel the cool steel of their blades. Yet even if I 
could have mustered a shout or a scream, I wouldn稚 have done so. I had no 
illusions that those giving chase were more benevolent than my captor. Such was 
the state of the vile world. I just wanted to get loose, to get out from between 
pursuers and pursued. A bizarre struggle・both of us wordless, desperate.
My chest hurt. Feebly, I tried jamming my fingers between my windpipe and his 
arm, but he trapped both my wrists in one broad hand and pinned them to my 
breast. But just as the black spots before my eyes started swirling together, he 
shifted backward a few wobbling steps, jolting to a stop as if he壇 backed into a 
tree. My knees buckled and left me sagging against his arm, and either the 
change of position or some release on his part allowed me to gulp a bucketful of 
air.
The day fell unnaturally quiet. The noisy pursuit had passed us by, but the more 
ordinary sounds葉he bawling of crows, the rustle of rabbits scrabbling through 
dead leaves揺ad not yet resumed. Only the faint mumble of the stream accompanied 
my captor痴 breathing. While his chest heaved with harsh, shuddering gasps, 
painfully muffled, I dangled from his grip like a scrawny chicken waiting to 
have its neck wrung. Filthy bastard. I knew how desperate men were likely to 
release pent-up fear and anger when a vulnerable woman was within their reach, 
and I was having none of that. The slight quiver beneath his flesh hinted at 
weakness, and the sweaty hand that held my two wrists was trembling. One chance, 
perhaps・/p> 
I wrenched my hands from his grasp, clawed at his arm, and tried to duck my head 
under it. But weakness is a relative thing. With devastating speed, and strength 
that came near cracking my spine, the man growled and spun me about, grabbed my 
wrists again, and slammed my back against the bole of an oak, his other hand 
clamped about my throat.
He was big葉all and broad in the chest and shoulder. His face was a blur of 
white, red, and brown: fair hair, blood, sun, dirt, terror・no・fury, not terror・I 
assumed I was going to die before I could see him with any clarity. But all at 
once, as if wrenched by an unseen hand, he snatched his hands away and staggered 
backward.
I took a full, satisfying, sight-clearing breath, and willed bone back into my 
knees. The naked young man擁ndeed he wore not a stitch耀tood motionless. His limbs 
and torso were powerfully muscled and threaded with bloody scratches, his pale 
hair unkempt, and his eyes a startling blue, the deep, rich color of lapis, 
fixed on my face as if he had never seen a human person before.
Trying to hold his eyes engaged, I slid sideways a finger痴 breadth. My skirt 
snagged briefly on the tree. Another step. Then I felt nothing behind me. I spun 
on my heel and bolted.
Damn and blast! Two steps and I was sprawled on the forest floor, my mouth full 
of dirt and pine needles, my chin stinging. I scrabbled forward, trying to get 
my treacherous feet under me, half turning backward, expecting to see his hands 
reaching for me again. But the man had not moved a step. Instead he had extended 
his hands palms up, as if dedicating a sword at the temple of Annadis. Ripping 
my skirt loose from the brambles, I lurched to my feet and backed away, then 
turned and darted a bit more carefully down the hill. One last glance over my 
shoulder showed him take a single step in my direction, sway drunkenly, and 
crumple earthward. I didn稚 stay to watch him hit.
* * *
By the time I reached the lower boundary of the forested hills, neither feet nor 
pulse were racing any longer, but my thoughts lingered back on the ridge. Those 
unbelievably blue eyes might have been the single spot of color in a painting 
rendered entirely in shades of gray. He hadn稚 the look of any poacher I壇 seen 
locked in the Dunfarrie pillory. Desperate, but without the ravenous derangement 
of a starving peasant. Skilled at violence, but lacking the reckless competence 
of the professional thief. He hadn稚 broken my neck.
The stream pooled in a weed-choked depression at the edge of the trees before 
meandering sluggishly across the dry meadow. Shooing away a cloud of gnats, I 
dropped to my knees by the pool and doused my face and neck, wincing as the cool 
water stung my scraped chin and the skin left raw and bruised by his wide hands. 
I didn稚 care what else he was. He was a brute. I壇 wager that all of them were 
brutes要illain and hunters together.
Mumbling oaths like a common soldier, I straightened my skirt and yanked at my 
shift, which had gotten uncomfortably twisted beneath my shapeless tunic. As if 
my clothes weren稚 threadbare enough, I壇 have to pull out my cursed needle to 
repair the rips. Drying my hands on my skirt, I set out across the meadow toward 
the squat, sod-roofed shack that was my home and the weedy garden that kept me 
living.
After a few hot hours of work, the immediate annoyances of turnip beetles and 
wire-like threadweed had pushed the incident to the back of my mind. The threats 
of persistent drought and harsh Leiran winters hung over my head like a 
heavy-handed schoolmaster, requiring me to work as hard as I could manage from 
dawn to dusk every day of the year. The work occupied only back, shoulders, and 
hands, though; my intellect was as dull as the flat, unvarying landscape east of 
the river. As I yanked at the stringy weeds choking my tender plants, I kept a 
wary eye on the ring of trees that bounded the meadow, but the morning痴 
misadventure soon took on the quality of an uncomfortable dream・until the 
hunting party arrived.
In late afternoon, five horsemen came galloping across the meadow from the 
direction of the village path. I kept at my work. No use in running. No use in 
wishing for a weapon more serious than my scratched dagger, still solidly and 
discreetly fixed to my thigh under my skirt. I didn稚 even look up when the dust 
of their arrival settled on the turnip leaves, and the massive presence of five 
snorting, overheated horses surrounded me. We take small victories where we can.
的 don稚 get many visitors,・I said, yanking a snarl of threadweed from the dry 
soil.
的solation does not suit you, my lady.・/p> 
My eyes shot upward to the trim, dark-haired man who urged his mount into the 
middle of the garden and halted right in front of me. 泥arzid!・I searched deep 
for the proper expressions of contempt, of wounding, of hatred, furious that 
words of sufficient pith and clarity would not come at my beck. Captain Darzid洋y 
brother痴 right hand, his chief aide, his lieutenant in all things despicable.
He jerked his head at the cottage. 鄭fter all these years, my first visit to your 
charming little refuge, and, sadly, I致e no time to dally.・As ever, amusement 
glinted in eyes as cold and sharp as black diamonds; the smile that creased his 
tanned, trim-bearded face held no more warmth. 的値l have to return for a tour 
another day.・/p> 
鄭re you here to exhibit your wit, Captain? Or perhaps to demonstrate your skill 
at confronting dangerous women? I知 sorry no infants are available to slaughter, 
or you could display your inimitable courage. But then, you didn稚 bring Tomas to 
show you how it痴 done, did you?・/p> 
Darzid痴 smile only broadened as he waved his companions toward the cottage and 
the solitary copse of willows and alders clustered about a muddy spring two 
hundred paces away. Two soldiers dismounted and entered the house; two rode for 
the copse. 添our brother is otherwise occupied today. He値l be as surprised as I 
to learn that this hunt has led me past your doorstep.・His long thin hands・the 
grotesque scarring on the palms the result of some long-ago battle, he壇 once 
told me耀troked the neck of his restless stallion. 鄭h, lady, when will you 
realize that your battles are lost and your grievances long forgotten? These men 
don稚 even know who you are. Our search has nothing to do with you.・/p> 
Returning my attention to my work, I shifted down the row and yanked on a 
spike-leafed thistle as if it were Darzid痴 honeyed tongue. 鉄o who is it you 
seek? Has some peasant failed to tithe his full measure to our king?・/p> 
徹nly a horse thief, the ungrateful servant of a friend of Duke Tomas. Your 
brother owes the lord a favor and has sent me to chase down the rascal. He seems 
to have vanished hereabouts. You致e not seen him預 tall man, so I understand, 
young, fair-haired, a bit unsteady of temper?・Darzid痴 words were cool, 
unruffled, mocking, revealing nothing of his true purpose, but then, I would 
have expected flames to shoot from his mouth before I would have expected truth. 
Yet, in the pause as he awaited my response, I felt something more預 pressure, an 
intensity I had never noted in all the eighteen years I had known this 
meticulous soldier who hovered in detached deviltry about the bastions of power. 
I glanced up. He was leaning toward me from the saddle, all smiles vanished for 
that moment, his very posture trying to squeeze an answer from me. Darzid cared 
about this matter. It could be no simple thief he was hunting.
的致e seen no thieves today save you, Captain. And as soon as you leave, I値l drink 
fish oil to rinse the taint from my mouth and burn dung to cover the 
stench.・Childish taunting, not worthy of my training in scholarly debate. But 
words helped diffuse the pressure of his scrutiny.
As I turned back to my work, the four soldiers returned with negative reports. 
Three more riders remained half hidden under the eaves of the forest. They hadn稚 
expected much trouble from me, I supposed. I shuddered when I noticed the 
three預n inexplicable reaction, for the day was warm and soldiers had no power to 
frighten me.
Darzid nudged his mount to the edge of the garden and paused, speaking to my 
back. 鉄o, a wasted venture. Good day, Lady Seriana. Behave yourself. Have you a 
message for your brother?・/p> 
I plucked off three beetles that had left the soft green leaves looking like 
ragged lacework, squashed them between finger and thumb, and flicked them into 
the dry grass beyond the garden.
Darzid snorted and spoke a clipped command. The five men spurred their horses, 
rejoined their fellows waiting at the edge of the trees, and disappeared down 
the forest path toward Dunfarrie.
For an hour I worked. Dug weeds. Hauled buckets of water from the pool to 
dribble on the beans and turnips. Salvaged what vines and plants I could from 
the horses・trampling and threw the ruined ones onto the waste heap. Refused to 
think of anything beyond the task of the moment.
The sun sagged westward. I stared at the ax waiting beside a pile of logs I had 
dragged from the forest on a wooden sledge roped to my shoulders. Then I ripped 
the grimy, blood-streaked rags from my hands, threw them on the ground, and 
strode back across the meadow, past the pool, and up the hill into the wood.
CHAPTER 2
The long body sprawled face down across the muddy stream bank. I sat on a stump 
just inside the circular clearing and watched him for a while. A squirrel 
screeched and nagged at me from an oak limb. Finches and sparrows rose in a 
twittering cloud beyond the stream, then settled back down on the very branches 
they had just deserted. High in the forest roof, the leaves shifted in a breeze 
that could not penetrate the stillness below. No sounds of horses or hunters 
intruded.
What was I thinking? Mysteries and desperate men were no concern of mine. I had 
reaped the bitter harvest of my fascination with mystery long ago. And this 
ruffian had come near strangling me. I should leave him to his own reward.
Yet I had never been accustomed to taking good advice, even my own, and so 
instead of retracing my path to the valley, I stepped warily across the stream 
and nudged the body with my boot, rolling him onto his back. His only injuries 
seemed to be the wicked sunburn, the network of angry scratches, and one 
slightly deeper gash on his chest. He was dirty. Fair-haired. A strong face, the 
square jaw unshaven, rather than bearded. He could be little more than twenty, 
and his big frame was well proportioned・exceptionally well謡ith nothing to be 
ashamed of if he ran about unclothed very often. How had he come to be in such a 
state? Nothing simple, I guessed. Nothing safe. Darzid was hunting him.
I scooped a handful of water from the stream and dribbled it on his cracked 
lips. They moved ever so slightly. 典hirsty, are you?・I gave him a little more, 
then pulled the red shawl from my shoulders and covered him. Some country-bred 
men thought you had to marry them if you saw them naked預nother of the 
uncountable stupidities abroad in the world. I stepped out of arm痴 reach, 
watching. Waiting. Maybe he would sit up, say 鉄orry, damnable mistake,・and run 
away.
Every passing moment set my teeth more on edge. Pursuers who chased a man out of 
his clothes were unlikely to leave off. Two times I started down the path. Two 
times I came back, railing at myself for stupidity. Shadows stretched well 
across the glade. I detected no untoward sound or movement, but felt a creeping 
sensation up my back. The air smelled of something that was not hot pine needles 
or dry forest earth, something as out of place in this woodland as perfume, but 
far less pleasant: the odor of hot wind across old stone, bearing the unhearable 
residue of screams and the tainted smokes of unholy fires・/p> 
I shook off my foolish imaginings. Though tall for a woman and stronger than I壇 
ever been in my five and thirty years, I was not strong enough to carry a 
well-grown man down to the cottage. I crouched over him, and this time, instead 
of dribbling the chilly water on his lips, I threw it in his face. Gasping and 
spluttering, he opened his startling eyes葉he deep, clear hue of midsummer 
evening.
展ho are you?・I said.
He squinted and blinked his sun-scalded eyes, fixing them on my face as he had 
earlier.
展hat does Darzid want with you?・/p> 
He edged backward, struggling to sit up without coming any closer. As he moved, 
he seemed to notice his condition of undress and the now-ineffective red shawl. 
Though he quickly yanked the shawl onto his lap, he did not seem embarrassed. 
Nor even as he shook off his stupor did he offer any apology. Rather he raised 
his chin and continued to stare. Still without a word.
的 just want to know what痴 happened to you,・I said. 的 don稚 care what you致e done 
or what you did to me. I understand that kind of fear.・Fear of the things men do 
to each other out of greed and ignorance and jealousy. Fear that cripples your 
life and makes you lash out, not just at strangers, but at those you love. I had 
once killed a man out of fear.
Keeping the shawl well in place and one eye on me, the young man bent over the 
stream, cupped his hand, and drank long and deeply. Well, at least he wasn稚 an 
idiot.
When he sat up again, wiping his mouth on his scratched arm, I tried again. 
添ou池e a long way from anywhere. Where did you come from?・/p> 
He shook his head slightly, but the cock of his head and the blank look of his 
eyes told me that it was not a negative answer, but only that he didn稚 
understand the question.
鄭re you not from Leire, then? Valleor, perhaps?・I dredged up what I could of the 
language of the fair northern race, but either my pronunciation was too rusty or 
my guess was wrong. 適erotea?・I had been no expert linguist all those years ago, 
but not incompetent either. Yet neither my Kerotean nor my smattering of 
Avatoir, the language of Iskeran, elicited anything but a negative shrug,
展ell, you say something, then. That痴 all I remember.・I pointed to my lips and to 
him, inviting him to put out a bit of effort to join the conversation.
He tried. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and worked his lips. Soon his fists 
were clenched and his whole body straining, until he clasped his hands to his 
head as if it might burst with the effort. But he produced only guttural growls 
and croaks. In the end, roaring and red-faced, he snatched a rock from the 
stream and hurled it into the trees, then another and another until, flushed and 
shaking, he sank back onto his heels and wrapped his arms tightly about his 
head.
I wanted to leave him there. People made their own choices, and in the ordinary 
event, I would let them reap their own consequences as I had done. But I would 
abandon no one to the mercy of Evard or Darzid or Tomas, whichever of the 
bastards wanted him. No one. Ever.
Calling myself an incomparable fool, I invited him to follow me, using gestures 
to augment my words. 的致e food in the valley. We値l find you some clothes, and you 
can sleep for a while.・His only response was to grope awkwardly for the shawl, 
trying to hold it about himself, looking furious and utterly humiliated.
典hen you may rot in your own prideful stink.・I didn稚 look back after starting 
down the path, having every confidence that he would follow just because I would 
so much rather he wouldn稚. He followed.
I didn稚 particularly want a stranger inside the cottage, certainly not one who 
had already left bruises on my skin. So I was well content when the young man 
sat on the splintered pine bench outside my door, leaned his head against the 
wall, and closed his eyes as if he had no better destination. I kept my 
attention on the forest boundary, and my ears open, halfway expecting Darzid and 
his riders to burst into view at any moment. But no one came, and the young man 
himself seemed little concerned about whatever had driven him to his sorry 
state.
I had no man痴 clothes that might fit him, but went inside, rummaged through 
Anne痴 trunk, and came up with a sheet, yellowed and many times mended. I cut a 
hole in the middle and trimmed a piece of hempen rope to the right length, then 
took it out to him and showed him what I planned. He picked at the sheet for a 
moment, then threw it on the ground, his lip curled in disgust, as if I壇 offered 
him dung for breakfast.
的致e nothing finer, my Lord Particular,・I said. Then I threw the wadded sheet 
back at him. 釘ut you値l not ruin Anne痴 shawl either. Go naked if you will.・I 
yanked the red shawl from his lap and went back inside, slamming the door behind 
me.
Before I could decide what to do next, he kicked the door open and stepped 
inside. A formidable presence in the single cramped room. He was not wearing the 
sheet. Shoving the chairs out of his way, he rumpled the blankets on my bed, 
examined the dishes and stores I kept on the open shelves by the hearth, and 
picked through the box of spoons on the table, tossing them onto the floor in 
disgust when he failed to find whatever he was hunting.
He knelt beside the chest I壇 pulled out from the wall and rummaged through it, 
strewing the meager contents on the floor: the blue dress Anne had put on when 
the old couple took their vegetables to market, my winter cloak, salvaged from a 
barge wreck on the river, three spare blankets, the finely sewn collars Anne had 
embroidered in youthful dreams of meeting a gentleman, but had never worn. 
Instead of a gentleman, she had married a sweet-spoken Vallorean lad stubborn 
enough to think he could grow his sustenance on this rocky meadow and avoid the 
humiliation of binding his body, soul, and future to the land of a Leiran noble. 
As if his suspicions were confirmed, the young man held up Jonah痴 slouched wool 
cap and gestured about the room, clearly asking where was its owner.
泥ead,・I said, trying to show him with my hands. 釘oth of them dead long ago. They 
were old and they died.・I stood by the door and pointed outside, meeting his 
hard gaze so he could not mistake my meaning. 滴ow dare you touch their things・my 
things? Get out.・/p> 
He surveyed the mess he壇 made, then tossed the cap on the floor and walked out. 
I sagged against the cottage wall. Stupid to bring him here. No matter who was 
chasing him, no matter how much hate was in me, bringing him to the cottage was 
stupid.
I had just closed the chest again with everything refolded, when a shadow 
darkened the still open doorway. My guest stood just outside looking resentful, 
but draped in a halfway respectable tunic, his long legs sticking out from 
underneath the sheet痴 frayed hem. I stepped to the door and looked him up and 
down. In truth, the garment looked ridiculous, but it would do as long as the 
wind was not too high.
的t痴 a good thing it痴 summer,・I said. He cocked his head and frowned. I fanned 
myself, pointed to my own light clothing and his skimpy outfit, and raised my 
eyebrows. That he understood, and just for a moment there blossomed on his face 
a smile of such unrestrained good humor and unexpected sweetness that it almost 
took my breath. Earth and sky・he could charm a penny from a beggar with such a 
smile.
Unfortunately his fair humor disappeared as quickly as it had come. He scowled 
and rubbed his belly with unmistakable meaning.
From a basket hanging in the corner I extricated a hunk of dry bread, the last 
of a loaf I壇 bought from the village baker. Pulling off the cloth wrapping, I 
stuffed the bread in the man痴 hand and waved toward the meadow. 鄭ll right. You 
won稚 starve. Now go.・/p> 
He glared at me sourly from the doorway as I set out a leek and a turnip)葉he 
rest of my food ration for the day・and filled a pot from my water jug. Before I 
could hang the pot over the fire, he had thrown the hunk of bread on the floor 
and was striding across the meadow.
For one moment I leaned heavily on my table, vowing never again to yield to 
rebellious impulse. When I began peeling the fibrous outer leaves from the leek, 
my hands were trembling.
But my hopes that my brutish visitor had decided to seek food and fortune 
elsewhere were quashed when, after crouching at the edge of the trees for 
something near half an hour, he headed back toward the house. He walked through 
my door as if it were his own. Onto the table in front of me he threw a rabbit, 
neck broken, already gutted and skinned, evidently by the bloody shard of rock 
in his hand.
Though sorely disappointed at his return, I acknowledged the offering with a 
nod. I threw another leek and another turnip into the pot, along with the 
rabbit. I was not averse to fresh meat.
While the savory steam rose from the pot, he stood at the doorway watching 
everything I did. Retrieving a bone needle and a sad-looking length of cotton 
from a rolled canvas packet, I set about repairing the rip in my skirt, an 
immensely practical garment that Anne had helped me make years before庸ashioned 
like a lady痴 riding togs with the modest, unremarkable appearance of an ordinary 
skirt, but split discreetly down the middle like wide-legged trousers. After a 
while he retreated a few steps, sitting cross-legged on the trampled grass where 
he could still see inside my door. I resisted the temptation to close the door, 
remembering the force he壇 used earlier to kick it open.
His incessant stare, my sore fingers, and the crude stitches down the side of my 
one decent garment did nothing for my temper. When the meat had cooked long 
enough, I shoved a filled bowl into his hand and indicated he should remain 
outside to eat. His disdain did not extend to my ever-mediocre cooking. His bowl 
was empty in moments, and he gestured for more. I set the pot outside the door 
and went back to my own dinner. Before I could finish my first serving, soaking 
up the broth with the bread he had discarded, my visitor had emptied the pot.
He lay back on his elbows, watching as I cleaned up the mess, carried in wood to 
refill the woodbox, and mixed dough to make hearthbread for the next day. As the 
evening cooled he wrapped his arms tightly about his bare legs, and whenever his 
eyelids drooped, he would jerk his head upright.
When my work was finished, I washed my face and hands in the last of the hot 
water. Then, as was my habit, I wrapped a blanket about my shoulders and sat on 
the bench outside my door to watch the day come to its end. Pious Leirans 
believed that twilight was a sacred time, when Annadis the Swordsman, the god of 
fire and earth and sunlight, handed off his watch to his twin brother Jerrat the 
Navigator, the god of sea and storm, moon and stars. Many years had passed since 
I had had any use for pious Leirans or their warrior gods, yet I still observed 
the ritual, using the time to keep the days from blurring one into the other. On 
this evening a good-sized oak limb lay on the bench beside me.
When my visitor unfolded his long legs and looked about as if to decide what to 
do with himself, I waved him away from the cottage. 泥on稚 think you池e going to 
sleep anywhere close.・/p> 
He eyed my blanket, my crude cudgel, and the cottage door, which I had 
deliberately shut when I came out. But I didn稚 flinch. As he stood up and walked 
slowly toward the alder copse, I muttered a good riddance. After a few steps, 
though, he turned and gave me a half-bow, little more than a nod of the head, 
but graceful and well meant・and immensely revealing. The man was no peasant 
poacher. No poverty-dulled laborer. No thieving servant.
As he turned his back again, I called after him. 添our name. I need to have 
something to call you.・I pointed to myself and said, 鉄en.・Then I pointed to him 
and shook my head in question.
He nodded seriously and worried at it for a few moments. Then he faced away from 
the cottage into the lingering dusk, pointing into the deep blue sky above the 
ridge. Slowly he waved his finger back and forth as if searching for something, 
until the quiet evening was pierced by the harsh cry of an aeren預 gray falcon. 
The young man gestured and nodded so there was no mistake.
鄭eren?・I said. He didn稚 agree or disagree, but only shrugged his shoulders 
tiredly and trudged across the grass to the copse. He lay down on the thick turf 
under the alders and was still.
A breeze rustled the dry grass. The plaintive whistle of a meadowlark echoed off 
the ridge. The stream burbled softly. But as the light faded across the meadow, 
my gaze moved from the unmoving form under the alders to the hoofprints left by 
Darzid痴 men, and my blood stayed cold. Karon had believed that enough beauty 
gathered in the soul might bury the knowledge of the evils of the world. I had 
never accepted his premise. Evil was too strong, too pervasive, too seductive.
Why had I asked the stranger痴 name? I didn稚 want to know anything about him. And 
when the longest day of the year was done, I went inside to bed, thinking that 
if there was any luck to be had, I would wake in the morning to find him gone.
CHAPTER 3
I dreamed of the fire again that night. After ten years, one would think such 
pain might fade into the dismal landscape of my life. Yet once more I saw Evard痴 
banners whipped by the cold wind, bright red against the steel-blue sky. I heard 
again the jeering of the wild-eyed crowds that surged against the line of guards 
surrounding the pyre, and the stake, and the one bound there, maintaining as he 
could the last shreds of dignity and reason.
Where was justice? Time blurs so much of worth, so much of learning unused, so 
many of the daily pleasures that shape a life, too small to make grand memories. 
Why would it not erase the image of Karon痴 mutilated face: the ragged sockets 
where they had burned out his eyes, the battered mouth where they had cut out 
the tongue that had whispered words of love and healing? Should not mercy dim 
his last avowal of joy and life, given just before he withdrew from what relief 
and comfort I could give him? After ten years I should not hear, again and 
again, his agonized cry as the flames consumed his sweet body. Dead was dead.
But as much as I tried, I could not silence that cry. In the day, yes, as I 
worked at the business of survival, but I had never learned to command my 
dreams. I had vowed on the shields of my ancestors never to weep again. Yet was 
it any wonder that weakness threatened to betray my resolve upon waking from 
such a dream?
I had permitted no tears on that day or for many days after. The dream forced me 
to relive that, too葉he two months they kept me confined in the palace with no 
companion save the mute serving sister, Maddy, and the doomed babe that grew 
within me. Even Tomas did not come to me in that time. My brother did not want 
my shaven head or bulging belly to stand witness against him for what he had 
done or what he planned to do. They could not kill Karon痴 child before it was 
born. The spirit might seek a new host, they said. They wanted to be sure.
Only Darzid had ever shown his face at my door, but it was not for me he came. 
Always he sat by the brazier, clad simply and impeccably in black and red, 
propping one boot on the iron hood. 典ell me of sorcerers, Seri. Who was your 
husband? What did he tell you of his people?・Always probing, always questioning, 
his unrelenting curiosity picking at my pain as the horror of what had happened 
settled into grim history, and the horror of what was to come took appalling 
shape in my ever-naive head.
I had begged Darzid痴 help, promised him gold and power, love and loyalty if he 
would but smuggle me out of my palace prison before my son was born. But he 
brushed away my pleading just as he flicked off ash that settled on his shining 
boot, and always he returned to his questions. 典ell me of the sorcerer, Seri. 
Something happened when he died. Something changed in the world, and I must 
understand it.・/p> 
Eventually I had stopped begging. Stopped talking. Stopped listening. Eventually 
Darzid had stopped coming, and eventually arrived the day that I willed my labor 
to stop, the day I struggled to hold the babe within me yet a few more moments, 
for I knew I would never hold him in my arms. Nature had its way, and I was left 
empty; the law had its way, and my son痴 life was cut short by my brother痴 knife. 
The physician, his head and throat wrapped in a black turban so that his cold 
face hovered above me like some cruel moon, had commanded the serving woman to 
take the child to Tomas. I wasn稚 even allowed to see my son until Darzid, sober 
and impersonally curious like an alchemist observing the turmoil he had wrought 
in his glass, brought him back to me葉he tiny boy, pale, motionless, washed clean 
and laid in a basket, perfect but for the angry red slit that crossed his 
fragile neck. Then they took him away and burned him, too, and proclaimed the 
last sorcerer gone from the earth.
Why had they bothered to wash him? I had never understood that.
Once all was done as the law prescribed, they left me alone in that cold room. 
Ten years it had been since that last day, and still the dream made it real・/p> 
Year 4 in the reign of King Evard
All was silent. The sprawling, squat-towered palace at Montevial, home to more 
than a thousand nobles, courtiers, servants, and soldiers, as well as the Leiran 
king, might have been abandoned. No sidelong whispers outside my door. No 
thumping boots or rattling weapons as the guards were changed. No clatter of 
dishes in the hallway or jangle of harness from the bleak courtyard far below my 
small window. Even mute Maddy, who had been my companion for every day of my 
imprisonment and who had coaxed me gently through the wretched birthing, had 
vanished.
I rose from the sodden bed, shivering from the sweat still drying on my skin. 
The murder had been swiftly accomplished; Tomas had been waiting in the next 
room, so Darzid had told me. I found a discarded towel and cleaned myself as 
best I could, tying rags between my legs to catch the birthing blood. Then I 
pulled Maddy痴 spare tunic from the plain chest beneath the window, wrapped it 
over my stained shift, and tied it closed.
The door was no longer locked. Karon痴 babe had been the prisoner, not Karon痴 
wife. They planned to send me to Tomas痴 keep, the home of my childhood, to live 
in penitence and subservience to my brother and his pouting seventeen-year-old 
wife. But even with nothing left for which to fight, I was not ready to submit 
to that particular death.
Nothing was left to take with me. Every shred of clothing, every trinket, every 
paper and book and picture had been burned. The gold locket with the bits of 
dried rose petal inside, my wedding ring. The bastards had taken 
everything・em>No, don稚 think. Just walk. The time for pain and hatred and grief 
would come after I was away. And so I walked out of the room and out of the 
palace and out of my life.
Strange to find it mid-afternoon. Time had been suspended for so many months, 
the passing of days marked only by my changing body. For all those days I had 
existed in the unyielding, unvarying embrace of death, yet out here in the 
palace gardens, bitter winter had been replaced by damp spring. Life had 
continued for the hundred gardeners trimming the hundreds of trees beside the 
carriage road on which I walked. Crocuses were already drooping, and the showier 
blooms of daffodils and anemones fluttered brightly in the damp breeze.
Two horsemen raced by, then pulled up short and turned back toward me as I 
approached the first ring wall. Tomas and Darzid. 鉄eri, you damned fool, where 
do you think you池e going?・Tomas, speaking in his best lord-of-the-manor style.
I kept walking. The two wheeled their mounts and placed themselves in front of 
me again, blocking the entire roadway. 的 spoke to you, Seri. It can稚 be healthy 
for you to be out so soon.・/p> 
Words broke through my vowed silence, as molten lava bursts the volcano痴 rocky 
cap. 鄭nd when have you ever concerned yourself with me or my health?・/p> 
My brother was not even a whole year older than me・as near twins as could be, so 
our nursemaids had always said・but the warm droplets trickling down my leg 
reminded me of the ageless gulf between us. My hands ached for a throwing dagger 
or my bow and a poisoned arrow.
的 won稚 see my sister die among the rabble like some whore who whelped in an 
alley.・/p> 
典hen you値l have to carry me, brother, and risk bloodying your fine breeches. The 
blood will match that on your hands, and it will never wash away.・ I walked into 
the gardens beyond the first wall, hoping to get past the outer gates before I 
collapsed. My knees were trembling. Vengeance is the right of blood kin, even 
against blood kin. Blood for blood. Vengeance was my duty.
鉄eri, come back here!・/p> 
Tomas ordered Darzid to follow me, while he himself fetched servants and a 
litter. So the captain trailed behind as I walked through the outer gates into 
the teeming midafternoon business of Montevial. Everything blurred together: 
smells of horses and new-baked bread, rushing figures of tradesmen, liveried 
messengers, and matrons in fluttering cap-ribbons, the clattering of cart 
wheels, and the shouts of drovers trying to clear a way through the muddy, 
crowded streets. How could the matter of one dark winter make such commonplace 
activity so utterly alien?
溺ove along, wench. Are you struck dumb?・/p> 
Darzid observed from his black horse, unruffled as the constable poked at me 
with his stick. Once I had considered Darzid my friend, but I had come to 
believe that he would have watched me burn alongside Karon with this same 
unemotional curiosity.
I wobbled against a barrow piled with apples before heading down a sloping lane 
into the mobbed market of the capital city, vaguely aware of apples bouncing all 
over the street, a startled horse, and a careening hay wagon. Someone in the 
street behind me cursed and cracked a whip. But I could no longer bring the 
angry rider痴 name into my throbbing head. Concentrating was so difficult・/p> 
As I walked past booths hung with lengths of fabric, coils of rope, and tin pots 
strung together, mats covered with raw, staring fish, wagons of fruits and hay, 
and pens of squawking chickens, thickening clouds devoured the sun. I shivered 
in the sudden chill. Halfway down a lane of food vendors, a hunchbacked old man 
doled out soup to anyone with a copper coin and a mug. I felt hollow. Empty. But 
when the old man held out his ladle to me, I shook my head. 的致e no money, 
goodman. Nothing to offer you. Nothing.・And then the world spun and fell out 
from under me・/p> 
Scents of damp canvas and mildew intruded on my chaotic dreams. A scratchy 
blanket was tucked under my chin, and the surface under my back was hard and 
uneven. As I dragged my eyelids open to murky light, my neck was bent awkwardly, 
and a warm metal cup, quivering slightly and giving off the scent of warmed 
wine, was pressed to my lips. A few tart drops made their way to my tongue. A 
few more dribbled down my chin.
撤oor girl,・said a voice from the dimness, a cracked, leathery voice of uncertain 
timbre.
展ho could she be, dearie? She don稚 have the look of a street wench, for all she痴 
dressed so plain.・This second speaker was surely an aged man.
哲awp. No street wench. Look at the hands.・Two warm, rough hands chafed my 
fingers. I was so cold. 的t痴 a lady痴 hands. What池e we to do with her, Jonah?・/p> 
鼎an稚 just leave her, can we? She痴 just濫 The old man痴 words quavered and broke 
off.
笛ust the age would be our Jenny.・So the sighing one was a woman. 鏑et痴 keep her 
for the night. Don稚 look as if she値l care this is no fine house, nor even that 
she might not wake up where she went to sleep.・/p> 
鄭ye, then. We値l be on our way.・/p> 
While I drifted between sleep and waking, the bed on which I lay began to move, 
rocking and jogging over cobbled streets. The old woman stroked my hair and my 
hands, and crooned to me gently, while rain plopped softly on the canvas roof.
滴ow did you discover it, my dear?・/p> 
鉄he was shivering so, and terrible pale. I thought she was fevered. But when she 
held her tits just so and wept in her sleep for the pain of them, I knew. It痴 
been less than a day, and she痴 lost a river of blood, and I don稚 know if it痴 
been too much or no. If we壇 left her in the market, she壇 be dead for sure. 探was 
a good deed you did, old man.・/p> 
鄭h. This adds a worry though. Fine ladies don稚 dress in working garb and take a 
stroll through the market after they致e dropped a babe, live or dead. There痴 
trouble here someways. We壇 best get her afoot as soon as can be, and put some 
leagues in between us.・/p> 
A hand gouged my aching abdomen, forcing me to cry out as I stumbled out of 
sleep.
典here, there, child. We must knead your belly a bit to stop the bleeding. You値l 
do better in a day or three.・The hand pressed and squeezed again, then took my 
own hand and forced me to do it, too. 擢eel your womb harden. That痴 the way it 
must be.・/p> 
A worried face hovered above me in the dust-flecked light. Unlike that of the 
turbaned physician, this face was connected to a body預 small and wiry woman with 
broken teeth. Her gray curls were tied up in a red scarf, and her face was 
gently weathered.
滴ere, my man Jonah痴 bringing summat to perk you up.・A flap at the end of the 
wagon flopped open to let in soggy sunlight and the hunchbacked soup-maker from 
the market. The old man had wispy white hair and soft brown eyes that seemed to 
embrace the old woman when he looked at her.
典hank濫
The old couple shushed me with a spoonful of soup. While they fed me, they 
gabbled about everything: business in the market, good prospects for the coming 
season, too much rain for the early crops. 展e池e headed south for Dunfarrie. It痴 
planting time. If you致e a place we can leave you on the way・friends who値l care 
for you?・/p> 
I shook my head. All our friends were dead. Like the books and the pictures, the 
few who had shared Karon痴 secret had been destroyed. He had been forced to hear 
them die, one by one: Martin, Julia, Tanager, Tennice, everyone he cared about. 
It had almost undone him. His tormentors told him he wasn稚 to know my fate, and 
they would taunt him with a different cruel story every day. But they never knew 
he could read my thoughts, or speak to me without words, or bury himself in my 
love so deeply that what they did to his body didn稚 matter. Until the end蓉ntil 
the fire.
的 didn稚 mean to cause you more grief,・said the old woman in distress. 展e値l take 
you with us until you can see your way, little girl. Old Jonah and Anne will 
have you up, if for nothing but to get away from our foolish prattle.・/p> 
天engeance is my right,・I said. 溺y duty・ But not on that night.
The old woman gathered me in her arms and rocked me softly, for at last weakness 
overwhelmed me, and I wept until there could have been no tears left in the 
world.
But I would never weep again. I was a Leiran warrior痴 daughter, and by the 
shields of my ancestors, I would not weep.
CHAPTER 4
When I woke, I was startled to find Aeren痴 face an arm痴 length from my own. He 
sat on the floor cross-legged, peering at me quizzically, his finger poised to 
touch my cheeks. I sat up abruptly, and he jerked his hand away.
適eep your paws to yourself,・I said, straightening my shift and running my 
fingers through my tangled hair, wishing he would point his eyes in some other 
direction, wishing I knew some way to banish dreams.
Aeren knitted his brow at my words, as if working at it hard enough would make 
the syllables fall together in a way that made sense.
Was it was worth the trouble to keep talking to the man? Could the sheer number 
of my words somehow alleviate his lack of understanding? I grimaced at him. 滴ow 
am I to get rid of you? I壇 hoped you were just another bad dream.・/p> 
He tried his best to speak, but again produced nothing beyond hoarse croaking. 
As his attempts grew more desperate預nd remained fruitless揺is knuckles turned 
white and his face scarlet.
鼎alm yourself. Like as not you致e had a blow to the head and it痴 unsettled you.・I 
tried to mime the words. Ineptly, as it appeared. He waved a hand as if to clear 
the air of my foolishness, while kicking savagely at a chair that toppled onto 
my woodbox, scattering twigs and limbs all over the floor and leaving my lone 
glass lamp in danger of tumbling off a shelf.
敵et out of here!・I said, pointing at the door. 敵o and introduce yourself to 
Darzid.・/p> 
He didn稚 go, of course, but I swore I would not attempt to communicate again. I 
ignored him and went about my morning痴 work, stepping over his long legs when I 
needed to, controlling the temptation to drop an iron kettle on his head.
When I peeled my flat round of bread from the iron plate in the hearth, I 
expected him to pounce on it. But he remained seated on the floor, his back 
against my bed. He dug the heel of his hand into his temple, squeezing his eyes 
shut as if the bright sunlight that streamed through the door pained them.
鄭re you ill?・Dismayed at the thought, I broke my vow of silence. 鼎urse you 
forever if you致e brought fever here.・/p> 
Whether or not he understood my clownish gestures, he shook his head as if to 
clear it, got to his feet, and stumbled out the door into the sunny morning. 
Before I could even wish him good riddance, he crumpled to the dirt. I hurried 
to his side, experiencing a perfectly idiotic wave of guilt, as if by wishing 
him away so fervently, I was somehow responsible for his collapse. Moments 
earlier, I had been wishing him dead.
展hat痴 wrong with you?・I said, tapping his cheek when I could get no response. He 
still didn稚 move. But when I shook his left shoulder, his eyes flew open, and he 
cried out with bloodless lips, almost rising up off the ground. 鄭ll right, all 
right. Let痴 get you inside.・/p> 
Once I had dragged and wrestled him onto the bed, I pulled aside the makeshift 
tunic. The mark on his shoulder that I remembered as a mere scratch was now 
swollen purple, hot, hard, and seeping a foul-smelling black fluid. I壇 never 
seen anything like it. Dredging up what I knew of such matters, I scalded my 
knife and lanced the wound, trying to get as much of the vile fluid out of it as 
I could. Aeren almost bit through his lip as I worked. 的致e got to do this,・ I 
said, grabbing a dry cloth to blot his brow. 添ou致e gotten something nasty in 
it.・/p> 
As I applied a stone-root poultice to Aeren痴 shoulder, he drifted off to sleep, 
leaving me awash in memory. How not? I even found myself whispering, J壇en 
encour. The words meant heal swiftly in the language of the J脱ttanne. 
Unfortunately, the words had no efficacy coming from me.
Have you learned nothing, stupid woman? I threw down my towels and left the man 
to his fevered moaning, busying myself by splitting and stacking wood, filling 
the woodbox, hauling in extra water, pouring water on the garden, anything to 
stop thinking. Flour and water, salt and millet went into a bowl for more 
hearthbread. I threw the rabbit bones and two shriveled carrots in a pot of 
water on the hearth to make broth. Starving the bastard would not get him out of 
my bed. I needed him away from the valley. What if Darzid decided to make 
another sweep?
Aeren awoke near sunset, somewhat surprised to find himself in my bed and mostly 
undressed again. He watched silently as I made willowbark tea, mixing it with 
yarrow and a spoonful of wine to ease his pain and fever.
泥on稚 get any ideas,・I said, deliberately and obviously holding the steaming cup 
above his bare torso and discreetly covered nether parts before putting it to 
his lips. He made no move to take the cup as he drank. 添ou致e done yourself no 
service, running through the underbrush as you did.・Setting the cup aside, I 
changed the dressing on his shoulder. Not long after I finished, his fever shot 
skyward again, and he slipped back into restless sleep. I sat up with him most 
of that night, applying cold cloths to his face and body, dribbling willowbark 
tea down his throat, and cursing myself for a fool.
The next morning, when I woke from an uncomfortable few hours on the floor, 
Aeren was sitting up, his eyes fixed so intently on my face that I could almost 
feel their heat on my skin. Sitting on the side of the bed, I removed the 
bandages and was astonished to see the horrid wound well on its way to healing, 
only a bit red and slightly tender. Youth has distinct advantages when it comes 
to recuperation. 鉄o, you池e better this morning,・I said. Fires of Annadis, why 
did he stare so?
Once I had renewed the dressing and tied up the bandage again, I busied myself 
about the cottage, trying to break the lock of his gaze while tidying up the 
remnants of my herbs and pots.
After a wobbly visit outdoors悠 did not even consider following him out揺e seated 
himself at the table. With one hand he gestured at his stomach and his mouth, 
while with the other he pointed accusingly at the idle pots beside the hearth. 
Though sorely tempted to grant such rudeness the empty reward it deserved, I 
threw onions, cheese, and my last five eggs into a skillet on the fire. He壇 been 
none too well fed when I壇 found him; after his fever, he must be weak as an 
infant, and I wanted him to put leagues between us today. 鉄orry, I知 not adept at 
bludgeoning rabbits. You値l have to do with what I致e got.・/p> 
I was convinced of his recuperative powers when I saw what he ate that morning: 
an entire round of hearthbread and every bite of my eggs. No encouragement to 
moderation had any effect on him, and when he emptied his bowl, he banged it 
down on the table in front of me, pointing a reproachful finger at its 
desolation. When I refused to cook anything more, he ate all the wild plums from 
the basket on the table and used his spoon to break off great slabs of cheese. 
Before I could get it wrapped up and stowed back in the stone-lined hole in the 
bank behind the cottage, he had eaten a quarter of the pale yellow wheel that I 
had planned to last until autumn.
Astonishingly, Aeren was pacing the floor by midday, restless with inactivity, 
not fever. I shoved a pail into his hand. 擢etch some water and I値l heat it, so 
you can wash before you go.・But either he didn稚 understand my gestures or didn稚 
want to understand. He dropped the pail at my feet, retrieved the dwindling 
cheese yet again from my crude larder, and sprawled on the woven rug beside the 
hearth to eat more of it. Grinding my teeth, I fetched water from the stream for 
my own washing, seriously considering whether it was enough to drown the brute. 
When I returned to the house, he was rummaging through my things again, just as 
he had on the first day.
敵et out of there,・I said, slamming the lid of the clothes chest. Only quick 
reflexes saved his fingers from being crushed. 展hat are you looking for?・/p> 
With precise and insistent gestures, he demanded a sword.
When I made it clear I had nothing of the sort, he stomped away angrily and sat 
sulking by the pail of water, dabbling his hand in it and watching the dirt 
swirl around his hand as he rubbed two dirty fingers together. 典hat痴 mine,・I 
said, moving the pail away from him and setting another log on the fire. 的知 no 
serving maid or bath-girl. You池e quite well enough to take care of yourself, and 
you smell like a stable.・I held my nose to illustrate my point.
He looked me in the eye and kicked over the pail, spilling the water all over my 
floor.
鄭s you wish. I致e no time for spoiled children.・/p> 
I began to sort the burdock, scabwort, sparrow-tongue, and bristling spur nettle 
that I would trade for eggs and butter in the village, purposely ignoring Aeren 
and the mess he had made; I would not give him the satisfaction of watching me 
clean it up. A childish response to match his childish behavior. But the 
hostility in his gaze told me that his anger was anything but childish. The 
swelling in my throat was only now subsiding, and the slightest touch reminded 
me of the bruises that remained. Whyever had I brought him here? Never again. 
Never.
When the plants were clean and bundled, I snatched up my sewing things and a 
shift that needed mending and moved out to the bench outside the door. The sun 
beat softly on my face, and the rasp of bees in the clover was the only 
disturbance on the hot, still morning. Aeren followed me out, slouching in the 
shadow of the doorway for a while. Then, abruptly, he strode to the center of 
the meadow and began to wave his hands about in jerking motions, like a 
scarecrow come to life. Soon he was whirling and thrusting, bending and kicking, 
rolling onto the ground, and then picking himself up again.
Dropping my work in my lap, I watched in fascination, certain he壇 gone mad.
But gradually his movements lost their insistent frenzy and became more fluid, 
and I at last recognized their patterns: lunge, spin, slash, parry・ Swordplay: 
graceful, powerful, masterful. Whoever was chasing him had better make sure the 
man never got his hands on a sword. I glanced uneasily about the boundaries of 
the meadow. Who was he? Why was Darzid after him?
The display ended abruptly when Aeren stumbled over a rock and fell to the 
grass. Bent over his knees, chest heaving, he slammed his fist to the earth, 
then dragged himself to his feet, trudged back up the path, and flopped wearily 
to the ground in front of the cottage. Without favoring me with so much as a 
glance, he began tracing his finger in the dirt, drawing a rough geometric 
pattern of lines, curves, and arrows or cross-marks with a crude beast to each 
side.
I twisted my head to see from the proper angle. Something about the arrangement 
of it whispered at me of familiarity. 展hat is it?・I said, tipping my head at the 
drawing.
He ignored me.
But the exercise gave me a thought. I sat down beside Aeren and began drawing in 
the dirt myself. 典his is the house.・I pointed to my picture and to the real one. 
He nodded, frowning. 典his is the ridge.・I marked on my map the place where I壇 
found him, the trail to the village, the river, the bridge, and the road. He 
waited for more. 的sn稚 any of this familiar? Where do you come from?・ I added 
more features. 溺ontevial is to the north,・I said. 適ing Evard痴 royal city.・/p> 
He just shook his head and looked blank. Then he began drawing a map of his own, 
adding roads, towers, mountains, then furiously erasing and changing them. It 
was no geography I recognized.
How was I ever to get him gone if he couldn稚 tell me where he was going or where 
he壇 been? We needed words. So I began to call out objects around the cottage and 
to name the things I drew. He learned incredibly fast. When I quizzed him, 
saying door or sky or sword and having him point to the object or the picture of 
it, he always got it right. He was either deceiving me that he didn稚 understand 
Leiran or his ranked among the quickest minds I壇 ever known.
I tried writing words, but he couldn稚 read them. I tried to think of a way for 
him to tell who he was or who were his people, but he could not. I pointed to 
myself and to my house, then tried to find out where on his drawing was his 
dwelling, but he shook his head angrily and kicked dirt over his attempts. 
Perhaps he had been banished or disinherited. I tried drawing the devices of 
prominent noble houses, but he recognized none of them. And then I drew Evard痴 
royal dragon ensign, but it evoked neither fear nor loathing nor any sense of 
familiarity, and I began to wonder if he had lost his memory along with his 
voice. After an hour of this his lips were thin and hard, his nostrils flared, 
and his knuckles white. I went back to teaching him words, and he liked that 
better. Unfortunately, though he didn稚 seem particularly happy, he didn稚 look in 
the least inclined to leave.
By midday I壇 had enough, so I packed up my knife and my bundled plants and 
started down the track toward the village. Aeren wanted to come with me, but I 
waved him away. I could just imagine the uproar if I took a half-naked stranger 
into Dunfarrie.
典hey値l arrest you. Put you in the pillory to wait for those who were hunting 
you, and all of this will be for nothing. If you want to leave, then by all 
means go, but take a different way at least.・I知 not sure what my gestures 
communicated. He pouted like a spoiled child. Maybe he would be gone by the time 
I came back.
The path from my cottage entered Dunfarrie behind Gareth Crowley痴 pigsties. 
Crowley痴 hovel and its collapsing fence poked up from his muddy barnyard, all of 
it sprawled across the foot of the hill as if a particularly nasty avalanche had 
buried a respectable dwelling. I circled wide and came to the dirt road that 
meandered past the sorely overgrown statues of Annadis and Jerrat溶o priest from 
any temple could be bothered to come and tend so small a shrine as Dunfarrie痴預nd 
through the jumble of tired wood-frame houses and shops to the Dun Bridge. The 
afternoon was still and warm, the stench of barnyard filth hanging over the 
stifling village.
The few people I passed hurried by with averted eyes or touched their fingers to 
their brows without speaking. The villagers tolerated me and my unsavory past 
out of respect for Anne and Jonah, but they kept a wary distance. I was well 
content to do the same. Life was difficult enough without moping over other 
people痴 hardships.
Jacopo, of course, was different. If it hadn稚 been for Jacopo, Jonah痴 younger 
brother, I could never have survived in the valley after Anne and Jonah died. He 
had no family of his own, and he came up every few days to help me cut firewood 
or work the garden, or to make soap or candles. He had taught me to snare 
rabbits and squirrels, and to make jack, the thin, tough strips of smoked meat 
that would keep forever. Every fall he helped me make the cottage tight against 
the coming cold. Jaco was all of my family and all of my friends together.
Eyed suspiciously by a bronze rooster, I picked my way through a cramped chicken 
yard to the back stoop of a tidy, sod-roofed house, where I traded my bundled 
dye plants to Mag the weaver for ten eggs and a fist-sized lump of butter 
wrapped in a rag. Jaco痴 shop was not as tidy as Mag痴 house. The outside had not 
been whitewashed since King Gevron痴 father ruled Leire, and the dirt-and 
soot-grimed window allowed little daylight inside. I pushed open the door and 
three cats made a break for freedom across my feet. 笛aco, are you here?・/p> 
Jacopo had taken up shopkeeping after thirty years wandering the world as a 
sailor. An Isker saber had slashed the muscles of one leg, leaving it too stiff 
for scrambling in a ship痴 rigging, so he had made his way home to Dunfarrie. Out 
of this dusty room he sold all manner of things: old boots, clothes, anchors, 
rusty lanterns, cracked bowls, farm implements. Anything he could find or trade 
for, he would set in his shop, and someone would want it eventually.
展hat池e you up to in town this day, girl? It痴 not your usual.・Jacopo emerged from 
the back room carrying a crate of rusty nails. He was very much like Jonah, 
wispy white hair and kind brown eyes. Though no taller than I, he had broad 
shoulders and a barrel chest, and the hands that gripped the heavy crate were 
wide, with short, powerful fingers. He set down the crate, then wiped his 
forehead with a rag. 鉄ummer痴 on us today, for sure.・/p> 
笛aco, we need to talk. Privately.・/p> 
哲ot a soul in town to hear, I壇 wager. Everyone痴 gone out to Augusto痴. With the 
eviction tomorrow, everyone thinks either to help him move out or to steal 
whatever they can get their hands on. After the flogging, Augusto can稚 move fast 
enough to keep up with his children, much less his belongings.・/p> 
I drew a pair of rickety stools close together where we could see the shop door. 
Jacopo pulled a wadded leather pouch from the pocket of his worn blue sailor痴 
coat, extracted a pipe, and filled it from a battered tin.
添esterday a stranger showed up on the ridge・
When I was done, the pipe remained unlit. 鄭nd he can稚 speak at all?・/p> 
哲ot a syllable. But he痴 not accustomed to it nor to rough living or having to do 
for himself. I can稚 seem to convince him to leave. So what am I to do with 
him?・/p> 
敵ive him over to Graeme Rowan. That痴 the only way to stay clear of trouble.・/p> 
I shook my head. 泥arzid痴 surely spoken with Rowan. Our upright sheriff would 
turn Aeren over straightaway. I won稚 do it.・/p> 
釘ut if he痴 a thief濫
展e致e no evidence this man has broken any law, and whatever his crime, I致e doubts 
he can remember it. He痴 not even sure of his name.・/p> 
撤erhaps he痴 not the one the captain痴 hunting. Likely he痴 just a fellow wrecked 
himself on the Snags and wandered up the ridge. I致e seen many a body with the 
clothes washed right off them after getting caught up at the Snags, though 
mostly they were dead.・/p> 
的 won稚 believe that. It痴 too much of a coincidence.・/p> 
展hat if I was to trot down to the docks and have a smoke with Graeme, see what 
he knows?・/p> 
添ou won稚 mention Aeren or me?・/p> 
的値l be as clever as a boy when there痴 work to be done.・/p> 
的値l watch the shop.・I had to offer, though I thoroughly disliked the task.
迭ight then. Have a look through my bins and see if there痴 aught to dress the 
fellow in. I値l be back in a bit.・/p> 
I delved into the three great wooden clothes bins. That the contents of the bins 
were entirely dead people痴 clothes didn稚 bother me. Dead was dead. The former 
owners weren稚 going to come back and haunt those who found some use for their 
breeches. I came up with gray under-drawers, a long tunic of russet, some worn 
and greasy loose breeches of brown kersey with a drawstring to hold them up, and 
canvas leggings. Aeren was clearly unused to going barefoot. His feet were soft, 
battered by the stones and sticks of the forest path, and the lack of calluses 
told me he was accustomed to boots that fit, not these hobnailed monstrosities 
the rest of us wore that weighed like oak and were no more yielding. The only 
thing Jacopo痴 bins provided were sandals that looked as if they壇 been chewed by 
a goat.
I had watched the shop for Jacopo on other occasions. I wasn稚 much good at it. 
Jacopo could talk to a customer for an hour about nothing, and before you knew 
it, a woman who had come in search of a spoon would leave with two crocks, a 
bowl, three shirts, and a ladle. I rarely managed to get past 敵ood day.・ 
Fortunately, only two people came into the shop while Jacopo was out.
Mary Fetterling, a bony woman of indeterminate age, brought in a tidy bundle of 
clothes: a thin summer cloak, a boy痴 stiff jacket, some stirrup-footed leggings, 
and a pair of patched and baggy farmer痴 trousers. Her graying hair flew about 
her head in distracted tangles, and her eyes darted from here to there, never 
fixing on anything. 的致e Tim痴 things. He won稚 be needin・them no more. And I could 
use a penny.・Tim was the last of Mary痴 four sons, one of thousands of Leiran 
conscripts dead from Evard痴 determination to conquer the desert kingdom of 
Iskeran, the only one of the Four Realms not under Leiran rule. Mary痴 husband 
had been lost in King Gevron痴 campaign against Valleor, and her other three boys 
in Evard痴 conquest of Kerotea.
I had grown up with soldiers, but they were men hired by my father to defend his 
house and support his obligations to his king, not conscripts. Conscripts were 
necessary in a war悠 understood that傭ut at the least they deserved good officers 
and reasoned strategies. And for a family to lose all of its sons・/p> 
笛aco isn稚 here, but I知 sure he壇 give at least two coppers.・The clothes weren稚 
worth so much, but Jacopo had taught me his ways.
The woman dipped her head. 典hank you, ma誕m. A fella that was with him come to 
tell me of him. It痴 been nigh on two years that it happened, and I didn稚 hear of 
it till this week. But I wasn稚 surprised. A mother knows. Tim was my youngest. 
He would always come濫
的知 sorry about your boy.・Useless words. Not worth the effort to voice them. But 
I didn稚 want to hear of her sorrows. I swatted at a fly buzzing about my face.
典hey say he died brave,・she said. 釘lessed Annadis will remember his name.・ She 
clutched her pennies and went on her way. Neither my words nor Jaco痴 coppers 
would keep her fed for long. And I壇 seen no evidence that having either of the 
disinterested Holy Twins remember a dead soldier痴 name benefited his family in 
the least. Mary would end up harnessing herself to a plow on some noble痴 
leasehold east of Dunfarrie and pull until she dropped dead from it. I hated 
working the shop.
An hour later, a ragged boy barged through the door carrying a wad of dingy 
rags, shouts of 迭un, Donkey・following him. Underneath a scraggly mop of 
honey-brown hair and thirteen years・accumulation of dirt were a thin freckled 
face and ears that seemed too large for his scrawny frame. One of his legs was 
shorter than the other, and he loped through the village with an off-kilter gait 
that left one expecting him to crash into the nearest obstacle at any moment. 
Paulo was his name. Almost everyone in Dunfarrie called him Donkey.
The boy pulled up short when he saw me, and he quickly stuffed his bundle behind 
his back. 展here痴 Jaco?・/p> 
徹ut. Do you have something for him?・/p> 
哲ope. Nothin・・He ducked his head, touched his forehead, and backed toward the 
door.
鼎ome, what痴 in your hand? You know I work the shop when Jacopo痴 away.・/p> 
哲ope. I値l wait.・/p> 
展ait for what?・Jacopo stepped through the doorway, pipe smoke curling about his 
head.
The boy looked from Jaco to me, hesitating.
的 think Paulo has a treasure for you, Jaco.・/p> 
展hat致e you got, boy? Out with it. I致e no time to dally.・/p> 
With a sideways glance at me, the boy unfolded the filthy cloth. Between the 
stained folds lay a silver dagger half again the length of Paulo痴 hand. The 
guard was a simple, elegant curve, and both guard and hilt were densely filled 
with intricate engraving that guttered as it caught the light.
Jacopo voiced our mutual astonishment. 展here in perdition did you come up with 
such a thing?・/p> 
擢ound it, Jaco. Honest. Left on the ground. Nobody about.・The boy held it well 
out of my reach. 泥idn稚 steal it. I promise.・/p> 
哲ot saying you did.・Jaco stroked the gleaming blade. 笛ust trying to figure out 
where such a fine thing might have come from.・/p> 
I thought I might understand the boy痴 anxiety. The villagers were well aware of 
my origins. 添ou needn稚 fret, Paulo. I致e not owned anything so fine for a number 
of years.・Ten, to be precise. 滴ere, let me see if I can recognize the 
markings.・/p> 
The boy allowed me to move in a little closer, but kept his thin hand firmly on 
the knife. A beautiful weapon. Wickedly sharp. I examined the engraving, and the 
day lurched off in a new direction. 展here did you find it, Paulo? Where 
exactly?・/p> 
Jacopo peeked over the boy痴 head and waggled his eyebrows at me in question.
徹n the ridge up to the head of Poacher痴 Creek.・Paulo glanced suspiciously from 
Jaco to me. 的t痴 a fine thing. If you can稚 pay, I might try Sheriff. He needs a 
good one.・The boy was studiously diffident. 徹r someone as comes downriver might 
want it. No hurry.・/p> 
I still had Jacopo痴 eye and shook my head ever so slightly.
Jacopo turned the dagger over in his hands. 展ell, I suppose you could take it to 
Graeme and he might buy it, but then he might well take it without paying, as 
maybe it was evidence or something lost as someone will want. All I could give 
for it would be a silver penny.・/p> 
典hree!・Glorious avarice burst through the boy痴 hangdog manner.
典wo, and not a copper more.・/p> 
Paulo痴 eyes gleamed. 泥one!・In moments the boy was trotting down the road, 
carrying more money than he could ever have thought to see in his life.
哲ow what is it you find so almighty fascinating about this little bit of 
wickedness, young lady? It痴 cost me dear.・/p> 
I pointed to the engraved device on its hilt. 典his is the mark Aeren was trying 
to draw in the dirt.・His version had been crude, but it was unmistakable: a 
rectangular shield with two rampant lions supporting a curved arch. Not arrows 
or crosses, but two starbursts sat atop the arch and a third underneath it. I 
didn稚 mention the nagging familiarity that still refused to resolve itself. 典he 
knife might help us trace him, or perhaps there痴 another clue at the spring.・/p> 

滴mm. Or it might belong to the other odd fellow what痴 been hanging about・
鄭nother one? Tell me!・/p> 
Jacopo rolled the dagger in a cleaner rag. 擢ound Graeme havin・a pint at the 
Heron. He was low about Barti Gesso痴 thievin・Mistress Jennai痴 flour. Barti did 
it no question, but he痴 got seven little ones to feed and his hold痴 got the 
blight. Mistress Jennai wants half the flesh off Barti痴 back, and Graeme痴 got to 
do it, so欄
鉄pare me the sheriff痴 moral dilemmas, Jaco. With two floggings and an eviction 
within three days, I don稚 think I can muster any sympathy for him.・/p> 
Sheriffs were constable, judge, and hangman in most Leiran towns and villages. 
They were charged to enforce the king痴 law, to support the king痴 whims, and to 
prevent interference with the conscript gangs, tax collectors, and 
quartermasters who ensured the unending supplies of lives, money, food, and 
horses for the king痴 wars. But such duties had been acquired only in the past 
century. The badge sewn on a sheriff痴 coat was scarlet, fashioned in the shape 
of a flaming sword, for the office had been created to enforce the extermination 
laws葉o root out sorcerers in every corner of the realm and burn them.
添ou池e still hard on Graeme, Seri. He痴 a fair man and does his job well. I致e 
known him since he was a boy.・/p> 
的 won稚 argue it again. So what else did he say?・/p> 
滴e talked of the king痴 men come riding through yesterday looking for the missing 
servant. They told him no more地 they told you. But then he said another fellow 
come through here a few days ago, an odd one, dressed as a nob from Kerotea, but 
his look was not such as would fit his clothes. Said the man was telling how his 
groom run off with a prize horse, and he was offering a reward for either the 
groom or the beast.・/p> 
鄭eren is no濫
哲ow just haul in your jib. Graeme believes the man wasn稚 looking for no horse, 
neither. The fellow couldn稚 even describe the horse other than it was big and 
white.
Right odd, Graeme said. For certain, he was no king痴 man. This Kerotean is 
staying down to Grenatte, and he wants Graeme to let him know right off if 
there痴 any word of the horse or the groom, but not tell anyone else that might 
be asking. Says the groom is tall, light-haired, about twenty and some years, 
fair in the face, but with a testy temper. The boy痴 not quite right in the head, 
he says. Might be talkin・wild.・/p> 
滴e痴 lying. If I壇 not seen Aeren痴 hands or feet, perhaps, or noted his manner. Or 
if I壇 not learned how intelligent he is, I might have believed it. But he痴 no 
groom, and he痴 not incompetent.・No groom practiced the kind of martial exercises 
Aeren had been doing that morning. The more I thought of the whole matter, the 
odder it was.
的t痴 a mystery, for sure. Graeme says he plans to look into it. And after hearing 
all this and knowing this little trinket is involved迫Jaco tapped the bundle on 
his hand・的 don稚 know but what we壇 best get you out of it as quick as we may.・/p> 

的知 not getting involved in anyone痴 problems. I知 going to give Aeren the clothes 
and send him off to Montevial. Could I take the dagger back with me?・Seeing 
Aeren痴 reaction to it might be interesting.
鉄urely. But I think I値l come along with it and get a look at your new friend 
myself.・/p> 
I hefted the bundle of clothes, Tim Fetterling痴 gray cloak, and my bag of eggs 
and butter, while Jacopo found an unused knife sheath, bundled it with the 
knife, and grabbed his walking stick. We strolled in quiet companionship past 
the clay statues of the Twins, glaring from their unkempt shrine, across the 
fields, and up the trail into the woods. The shadows were already lengthening.
My breath stopped when I glimpsed the still form sprawled on the grass under the 
eaves of the forest. Stars of night, was he dead? I sped across the meadow and 
dropped to my knees beside the body, but I had scarcely noted that Aeren was 
only sleeping when I found myself face down with my arms pinned painfully behind 
my back, my nose in the dirt, and not a breath left in my lungs.
鄭 blight on your thick head,・I said, gasping. 的t痴 only me and a friend.・/p> 
At my first word, Aeren released me. By the time I had dragged myself to my 
knees and reassured myself that neither arms nor neck were broken, he stood ten 
paces away from me, taut, wary, and watching Jacopo limp across the meadow.
泥emons! The rascal didn稚 hurt you?・said Jacopo, no longer leaning on the sturdy 
length of hickory, but gripping one end of it fiercely.
I crept across the grass and leaned my back against a tree, rubbing my shoulder 
and neck and brushing the leaves and dirt from my skirt. 摘asy, Jaco. I知 fine. 
Just a second layer of bruises.・/p> 
滴e痴 been trained to fight,・said Jacopo, glowering at the young man. 哲o doubt of 
that. Quick and smooth. Strong, too, I値l be bound. What痴 he done to you, little 
girl?・Jacopo bent over to take a look at my neck.
徹uch!・The old sailor was a ham-handed nursemaid.
Before Jacopo could apologize, Aeren grabbed his collar and shoved the old man 
away so forcefully that Jaco crashed into the dead lower branches of a pine 
tree. When the young man dropped to his knees beside me and reached for my neck, 
I flinched. To my surprise, his fingers brushed my skin quite gently. His brow 
was creased, as if he couldn稚 understand how the marks had come about.
的値l live,・I said, trying to calm the situation before he got more agitated. 展e 
startled you.・/p> 
His frown deepened, and he moved in closer, his bulk pressing me against the 
tree as he tugged at the tie that would loosen the gathered neck of my shift.
敵et away from me.・With an ungentle hand to his chest, I managed to squirm out 
from between him and the tree. But he removed my hand and moved closer again, 
yanking the cloth down to bare my throat. With a stiff forearm I knocked his 
hand aside, while with the other hand, I reached through my pocket, drew my 
knife, and pointed it at his belly. I knew where to hurt a man, and I knew how 
to talk to a brute, whether he spoke the same language or not. 敵et. Away. From. 
Me.・/p> 
Face a deep scarlet, he let go of my clothes. Then, baring his teeth, he grabbed 
my forearm and twisted it until the knife dropped to the ground. For a moment I 
thought he might break my wrist or snatch up the weapon and turn it on me. But 
instead, he pushed me to the ground, stood up, and walked away.
Jacopo gave me a hand up, stood close by my shoulder, and raised his stick to 
Aeren痴 back. 溺ay the good god Jerrat drown you, you filthy devil濫
展ait, Jaco.・No point in letting things get out of hand. I retrieved my dagger 
and sheathed it. 鄭eren迫I repeated his name several times and waited until he 
turned around again to lay my hand on Jacopo痴 shoulder欄this is my friend Jacopo 
from Dunfarrie. Jaco, this is・Lord Aeren of somewhere.・Jaco was busy mopping his 
forehead with a kerchief, and his grudging bow was less than gentlemanly.
Aeren ignored both Jacopo and my introduction. With a sour expression, he 
gestured to his stomach and his mouth and pointed to the cottage.
的致e better things to do, you wretched beast. Time to fend for yourself a bit.・I 
rummaged amid the eggs and butter in my pack and pulled out a well-bruised wild 
plum, left from my morning on Poacher痴 Ridge. I threw the plum at Aeren. Hard.
He caught it in one hand, deftly enough to prevent the soft fruit from 
splattering on him. As he bit into it, one corner of his mouth twitched. Smug 
little bastard.
I tossed the clothes bundle at his feet. Once he had finished the plum and 
flipped the stem into the trees, he squatted down beside the pile and, one by 
one, lifted the items by the tip of one finger. He examined each carefully, then 
gave me such a look of scornful disbelief that, despite all my annoyance, I 
could do nothing but burst out laughing. It seemed like a century since I had 
laughed, and finding myself doing so at an unpleasant brute of a man who had 
come near throttling me twice within a week was strange indeed. Aeren flushed, 
snatched the bundle of clothes, and disappeared into the trees.
的f ever I致e seen a spoiled lordling, it has to be this one,・I said, wiping my 
eyes with my sleeve. 泥id you see his nose turn up? I致e nursed him until I知 
exhausted and full of splinters from sleeping on the floor, I致e fed him half my 
food stocks, so that I値l be doing well to have a meal next week, and here he 
sits in Anne痴 old sheet and disdains something a hundred times better. I just 
don稚 think he痴 some common riverman, wrecked on the Snags.・/p> 
溺mm. No half-wit groom, neither.・Jacopo fingered his own knife and did not laugh 
with me. 滴e痴 a killer, Seri. I致e seen no man with such moves who wasn稚, whether 
lowborn or high. I don稚 like the way he looks at you.・/p> 
I clasped my hands about my knees and leaned back against the tree. 徹n that we 
are in complete agreement.・/p> 
A short time later Aeren emerged from the woods dressed in Jacopo痴 gifts. He 
picked at the rough cloth uncomfortably, like a small boy dressed in his first 
stiff-collared suit.
的 sympathize,・I said. 的 can稚 say I prefer kersey or russet to silk.・/p> 
泥o you think he understands what you say?・said Jacopo, as Aeren snatched my pack 
and rummaged through it, dropping it with an annoyed grunt when he found nothing 
of interest. Raking me with a glare, the young man strode across the field 
toward the cottage.
溺ost likely not, but I知 less likely to take an ax to him if I say what I 
think.・If he had broken my eggs, I was going to kill him.
滴e looks older than you said.・/p> 
Aeren soon returned, tearing at a hunk of the chewy hearthbread as a hunting dog 
tears at a doe. He did look more like mid-to late twenties than early. I had 
always considered myself a keen observer of such things. Perhaps it was his 
illness had changed him or the afternoon sunlight, revealing what forest 
shadows, soft mornings, and lamplight had hidden.
鉄how him the dagger, Jaco.・/p> 
的知 thinking that might not be clever.・/p> 
鄭s you said, a knife is no more dangerous than his hands. If he痴 of a mind to 
make away with us, then he needs no knife to do it. But somehow・ Twice in the 
past hour I壇 seen his rage surge. Twice I had seen it quelled. Perhaps I was 
getting cocky.
Jacopo tossed the bundle on the ground in between us and nudged the coverings 
open with his stick. Aeren picked up the weapon and ran his fingers slowly over 
its shining length, examining it curiously, especially the device on the hilt. 
His expression exhibited no sign of recognition. The knife痴 heft and balance 
were pleasing to him, though, and he snatched up the sheath and fastened it to 
his cloth belt. I didn稚 particularly like the idea, but wasn稚 going to argue. I 
wasn稚 afraid of him. I hadn稚 been afraid for ten years. What could anyone do to 
hurt me?
鼎ome on,・I said, scrambling to my feet, 斗et痴 take a look at where Paulo found 
the knife. Maybe Aeren got in a fight there・got whacked on the head or 
something. Whatever happened, seeing the place might force him to remember where 
he came from or where he was going. I want him gone by nightfall.・/p> 
The angle of the sun was steep as the three of us set out on the trail to the 
spring. Through the trees we glimpsed the grassy hillsides brushed with gold. I 
showed Jaco where I壇 first encountered Aeren, and where the hunters had ridden 
through, and I tried to get Aeren to show us which way he had come down the 
hill. He was unsure, but as we wandered up higher, beyond the boundary of the 
trees, his steps slowed. His eyes darted about, the lines of his face drawn 
tight, his fists clenching and unclenching.
鄭 little farther,・I said, pointing up the hill.
A cool, rock-lined grotto taller than a man split the side of the hill near the 
ridgetop. At the base of the smooth boulders was the spring. The clear, 
blue-green pool spilled over moss-covered stones into the stream that carved its 
way down the sunny hillside into the dark line of the trees.
Jacopo and I searched the soft ground for tracks or any sign that something 
unusual had gone on in the place. The only thing I found was a rusty ladle 
thrown into the pool, probably the offering of some drought-blighted farmer 
hoping to appease a local water spirit. Despite the priests・best efforts to 
stamp out all remnants of any gods but Annadis and Jerrat, a few stubborn, 
desperate people persisted in their desperate superstitions.
After a fruitless half-hour, I flopped down on a rock in the shade, discouraged. 
典here痴 nothing here.・Why did I care? Perhaps he was exactly the thief Darzid 
claimed.
Jacopo sagged onto the rock beside me, mopping his brow. 的t would help if I knew 
what we were looking for.・/p> 
摘nough is enough, Jaco. We値l give him some food, point him toward Montevial, and 
let him take his chances. He痴 certainly not defenseless, and if he sells the 
knife, he can keep himself far better than you or me.・/p> 
Aeren wandered about the hillside restlessly, frustration shadowing his handsome 
features. He had drawn the silver dagger, and every few steps he would stop and 
glare at it, until at last, with an explosive croak that was the only expletive 
he could manage, he threw it at the boulder that sheltered the pool. His face 
did not change expression when the dagger embedded itself to the hilt in the 
smooth and unbroken rock face, heeding its impenetrable solidity no more than if 
it had been a loaf of bread.
泥emons of the deep!・Jacopo jerked backward as if struck in the head.
I thought my heart had stopped. Every nerve in my body quivered with the charge 
that lingered in the air. Enchantment・It was like the fleeting embrace of 
lightning, or the kiss of fire痴 breath on frozen flesh, or a moment痴 memory of 
passion that stands every hair on its end, flushing the skin with exotic 
sensation. Ten years since I壇 felt the like預lmost fifteen since the first time, 
the day I discovered that the man I loved was a sorcerer.
CHAPTER 5
Evard. To consider how infatuated I had been with him still revolted me. Oh, he 
was handsome enough: tall, with shoulders as sturdy as a fortress tower, fair 
hair that drooped over one of his gray eyes as if in invitation to share a 
wicked jest, graceful hands that were always warm and never unsure. What Leiran 
girl of sixteen would not have been swept off her feet by such a dashing young 
duke, conqueror of an enemy痴 city at twenty?
My brother Tomas was already a swordsman of wide reputation, and he had 
attracted Evard痴 notice while serving in his regiment during the subjugation of 
Valleor. It was on the brilliant summer day of Evard痴 triumphant return to 
Montevial, as I stood with my father on our town-house balcony watching the 
victorious legions ride by, that I first fell under Evard痴 shadow. Life shifted 
when he looked at me. The first change in a year of changes・/p> 
Year 26 in the reign of King Gevron
鏑ook, Papa, there痴 Tomas, at the front of the troop! Next to the dark-haired 
adjutant just behind Duke Evard. Doesn稚 he look fine?・/p> 
My father squinted into the noonday, holding up one hand against the glare from 
the whitewashed houses and their new glass windows across the wide street. He 
rarely came out of his library anymore. He壇 not been the same man since my 
mother had died of fever when I was nine. I hoped that seeing the proud legions, 
hearing the drums of their marching, and feeling the glory of Tomas so favored 
would inspire him to his horse and arms again. He was not too old to ride in 
service to Leire, not yet forty, and his forearms still bulged with muscle. But 
only my firm hold on his arm kept him from retreating into the dim room behind 
the balcony door. 轍uite fine. Now let me loose, girl. Both flask and cup are 
empty.・Even at noonday, he reeked of his wine.
Still holding my father痴 arm, I tossed the yellow and purple garlands the 
servants had brought from the market that morning. I came near letting loose a 
most unmaidenly yell at Tomas, afraid his manly bearing might prevent his 
looking up at us as the Third Legion of Leire rode through the cheering crowds 
of servants, boys, and shopkeepers, and the maidens of marriageable age being 
thrust into the warriors・path. But just as the purple-robed priests carried the 
guide-staffs topped with the Swordsman痴 rising sun and the Navigator痴 crescent 
moon past the stoop before our own, Tomas leaned forward, laid his hand on his 
commander痴 sleeve, and pointed up at our balcony.
Duke Evard tossed back his fair hair and fixed his attention on my face, and I 
felt my color rise as if I壇 actually yelled out a soldier痴 lewd blessing or 
dropped straw on Tomas痴 head as I might have done in teasing one short year ago. 
I dropped my father痴 arm and gripped the rail of the balcony. To my breathless 
astonishment, the duke pulled out of the ranks and waved his troops on forward 
while he positioned his mount just beneath me, stood on his saddle, and reached 
for our iron trellis that was thick with the dark green leaves and orange 
blossoms of trumpet vines. As agile as an Isker acrobat, Duke Evard shinnied up 
the trellis and over the rail until he stood on the balcony beside me. Bowing 
gallantly from the waist, he presented me with a bouquet of white lilies some 
admirer had thrust into his hands.
Cheeks burning, I accepted the flowers and was scarcely halfway through my 
curtsy when he scrambled over the rail again. To a laughing roar from the crowd 
and his troops, he leaped into the saddle and spurred his charger forward, 
retaking his position at the front. Neither he nor Tomas looked back.
Evard claimed he was my slave from that moment. It did not occur to me at the 
time that the daughter of the oldest house in the kingdom would make an 
excellent match for one with royal ambition. And neither Evard nor Tomas nor any 
Leiran ever mentioned that his bloody victory had exterminated the entire 
population of the lovely, refined Vallorean city he had conquered. Years went by 
before I learned that part of the story.
My father died when I was eighteen. His passing was a mercy in so many ways, 
both for him預 great man before his grieving decline預nd for me. Though Papa was 
only forty-one, the tally of noble deeds we had the priests engrave upon his 
memorial stele in Annadis痴 temple comforted us that the Holy Twins would not 
forget him or our family when telling stories of earthly heroes. And I could not 
be betrothed in the year of mourning.
During that year I learned a great deal about Evard. He spent much of his time 
with Tomas at Comigor Keep, our musty holding on the northern downs, sparring in 
the fencing yard and making himself at home in our grand old library, drinking 
my father痴 brandy and talking of those who would stand between him and the 
throne when King Gevron died. I had listened to men痴 politics since nursery 
days, more than ever since my mother痴 death. And so there came a time when my 
curiosity prodded me to question Evard痴 certainties.
Year 28 in the reign of King Gevron
釘ut Evard,・I said on one evening, 電oesn稚 the law say that when only nieces and 
nephews are left, it痴 the children of the king痴 eldest sibling that will 
inherit?・/p> 
泥on稚 trouble yourself, my duchess,・he said. 展hen the time comes, there will be 
no one but me. I have information, you see. My aide Darzid預 truly valuable 
addition to my staff揺as discovered that Vennick has troubles with his estates. I 
do believe the good earl has failed to pay his levies for ever so many years, 
and, in fact, evidence will come to light that he has unlawfully diverted the 
taxes of his vassals・to his own purposes.・He widened his eyes in shock, then he 
and Tomas burst into laughter that I didn稚 quite understand. I didn稚 quite 
approve of it, either.
鄭nd my cousin Frederic. Have you heard the rumors?
It痴 being said he痴 a bastard, that my Aunt Catherine was never legally married 
to Colburn. Why, the whole brood could be turned out onto the streets if a 
witness was ever to be found to the matter. Dear Aunt Catherine, who would ever 
have picked her for a common whore? I couldn稚 bear to see her made to do public 
penance, though. The thought of her shaven head nauseates me!・/p> 
添ou can稚 be serious! Lady Catherine?・My mind stretched yet again into unfamiliar 
realms.
鄭nd I don稚 think Martin is a serious contender. He has very strange friends.・/p> 

Martin, Earl of Gault, was one of my favorite people in the world. He was about 
forty-five and, like all Leiran men, had been a soldier. He now held a powerful 
position at court. A distant cousin of my mother, he was a wise, cultured, and 
witty man. On my seventeenth birthday, Martin had issued me an invitation to 
join him and some guests for a few days at his estate, assuring my father that I 
would be properly chaperoned. He hosted these 都alons・for three days in the first 
week of every month, inviting a variety of fascinating and unusual people, and 
providing his guests with charades and plays, jugglers and mimes, word games, 
puzzles, and lively debates about anything and everything. Martin thought no one 
too young to participate if the person could make good conversation, which he 
denned as anything beyond fashion, horses, and the war of the moment.
I had spent my childhood with horses and dogs, playing at war with Tomas, 
listening to my father and his friends talk of battles and conquest, politics 
and managing estates. I was sure that every intelligent person in Leire believed 
the same as they on every matter of importance. But every day spent in the 
stimulating company at Windham advanced my education a whole level. There I 
began to learn of history, art, philosophy, and music, to question the 
certainties of politics and piety, and to experience the pleasures of sharp wit 
and well-considered disagreement.
I thought Martin would make a marvelous king, but I never said so to Evard or 
Tomas or even to Darzid, Evard痴 charming, cynical aide who began accompanying 
Evard to Comigor that summer and quickly became my favorite dinner companion. 
Tomas disdained Martin, saying that anyone who would dress himself up as a 
beggar for a Long Night entertainment had too little dignity to be a sovereign. 
When I told Martin of my brother痴 comment, he said, 的t does me good to dress as 
a beggar now and then. Gives me wondrous understanding of my tenants and my 
soldiers, having to do without boots in the cold.・Though he tossed it off 
lightly, I knew that he meant what he said.
It was at Windham, Martin痴 sprawling country house, that I met Julia, countess 
of Helton, a brilliant and elegant young widow. Julia was the first woman I had 
ever known who could hold her own in serious conversation with men. From the 
first evening of our acquaintance, I wanted to be like her. Fortunately, Julia痴 
rank made her a chaperone of impeccable credentials, for my father預nd later, my 
brother謡ould never have allowed me to continue in such liberal company without.
Julia and Martin were passionately in love. They could not marry because Julia痴 
dead husband痴 powerful family refused their consent. Martin would have had her 
as his mistress in an instant, but as he was third in line to the throne, Julia 
would not permit him to compromise his reputation. Certain influential Leirans 
required behavior in their kings-to-be that they did not require in their kings, 
she told me. Though I never saw them so much as touch hands, their intimacy was 
such that on occasion I felt like a crass intruder just watching one offer the 
other a glass of wine.
Resident in Martin痴 household were two brothers, Tennice and Tanager, second and 
third sons of a minor baron who had too little property to share among his 
children. Only military service or the priesthood were considered suitable 
occupations for landless noblemen. The baron, unwilling for his sons to reap the 
scorn reserved for men who would choose temple service over arms, had sent them 
to serve the earl. Martin had discovered in the two a depth of talent and 
loyalty that quickly raised them out of the ranks and into his inner circle.
Tennice was the elder, serious and scholarly, his thin face forever pushed into 
a book unless one made a chance remark about law or politics within his hearing. 
He had a remarkable memory, which had imprinted on it everything he had ever 
read. He was Martin痴 chief counselor, and thus accompanied the earl on all his 
business.
On one occasion, after an intense, three-day discussion of matters of royal 
succession and the peerage, Tennice invited me, quite sincerely, to read law 
with him. Perhaps I could move in with Julia, whose estates bordered Martin痴? I 
was overwhelmed by the compliment, for it was unheard of for a woman to 
participate in such intellectual pursuits, and I was surely no scholar. Of 
course, I had to refuse. My father was newly buried, and Tomas would never 
permit me to leave home unmarried for such a purpose. But as soon as I returned 
to Comigor, I began to receive books on law and politics and philosophy, and 
copious notes in Tennice痴 own handwriting. I studied them intensely, so I could 
discuss them on my next visit. I was determined to deserve his regard.
Tanager was Martin痴 aide and bodyguard and the very opposite of his brother, 
muscular and rash, exaggerated in every way. No one would plunge into Martin痴 
enterprises with more enthusiasm. His broad shoulders would bear a donkey痴 head 
for a Long Night farce or bloodstained armor in his lord痴 service with equal 
willingness and enjoyment. Again and again he would lavish his heart and his 
attentions on a woman, only to plunge into deep depression when she discovered 
his lack of fortune and abandoned him. The others teased that he should wear his 
armor in Martin痴 drawing rooms, as no one ever came out of the conversational 
battles more bloodied than Tanager.
By the autumn that I turned nineteen, I felt more at home at Windham than at 
Comigor・/p> 
Year 29 in the reign of King Gevron
I arrived in early evening, breathless with the chill wind of the open carriage. 
Julia met me with a kiss and swept me toward the fire, snatching off my cloak 
and tossing it to a manservant. 泥ear Seri, I知 so glad you池e here. I知 in 
desperate need of an ally. Your cousin is being an ass again.・Martin and a 
portly noble of similar age were propounding their dismay over the recent visit 
by one Baroness Lavastre to the Council of Lords. The formidable woman had 
intruded on the Council痴 deliberations, insisting that she be allowed to offer 
opinion on a property ruling being considered by the body, her husband being 
away at war and his man of business recently deceased. 的t痴 true the woman had an 
excellent grasp of tariffs and the subtleties of trading-company 
acquisitions,・said Martin, clasping his hands behind his back and shaking his 
head with such gravity, one might think the woman had suggested Leire surrender 
a city or two to a wild-haired Isker warlord. 的 discussed the matter with her in 
this very room only last spring. But if we allowed her to speak to the Council, 
why then next month she would want to vote her husband痴 shares!・/p> 
鄭nd why should she not?・Julia riposted as we joined Tennice, Tanager, and 
several other younger men who had settled on the couches and chairs near the 
fire. 鄭 good mind for business with a few fresh ideas could increase everyone痴 
profits.・/p> 
撤erhaps, if women were allowed to speak, some consideration might be given to 
the smaller shareholds whose masters are younger and thus all away at the war,・I 
added, not even pausing to give Martin his usual peck on the cheek before 
joining the fray. 鄭s it is, only those too cowardly or too old to serve are 
voting. They池e running smaller trading companies into the ground・ It was an old 
argument, and Martin always started it up again whenever a fellow member of the 
Council of Lords showed up in his drawing room. Did he believe his own 
pronouncements? I was sure I had heard him argue exactly the opposite way on 
earlier occasions when Tennice had brought out the points of law that prohibited 
women痴 voices being heard in the Council chambers.
We pursued the matter until supper was announced. Almost everyone in the 
fireside circle had seen his ideas upheld or trounced, and had been called 
variously a fossil, a libertine, or an anarchist fit only for the mad speakers・ 
corners near the Royal University in Valleor. Only one observer had stayed quiet 
throughout the discussion預 slender, dark-haired stranger, who stood leaning on 
the corner of the tall marble mantelpiece, arms folded across his chest. His 
blue eyes and high cheekbones gave him a slightly foreign look, though I could 
not guess his origins. He was clean-shaven, and conservatively dressed in a 
black doublet, high-collared white shirt, and slim black breeches, though in any 
Leiran house he would be inevitably conspicuous for the lack of a sword at his 
side. When the supper truce was called, and Martin bent over me for his greeting 
kiss, my cousin flicked his glance to the man. 泥id I not tell you we had a 
lively forum here, my friend?・/p> 
The stranger looked from Martin to me, crinkling his eyebrows as if making a 
serious study. 鄭re all the women in Leire so opinionated, or is it only those 
with fire in their hair?・He spoke in a soft, melodious baritone. 的致e lived among 
many strange cultures, and in few are women allowed a voice until they池e at 
least eighty. Now I think I understand why.・If his marvelous eyes had not 
sparkled with good humor, I might have been offended.
Martin almost choked on smothered laughter. 鏑ady Seriana Marguerite, 
duchess-daughter of Comigor, may I present my good friend Karon, a gentleman of 
Valleor. He is a traveling historian and archeologist on leave from the 
University, come to study the people of Leire and our peculiar customs. Karon, 
you must call her Seri or you値l never have a chance to get in a word of your 
own・
The gentleman bowed and took my hand, raising it to his forehead in the 
Vallorean way. I had never seen a man so graceful. He was of an age with 
Julia様ate twenties・and I plagued him shamelessly with questions throughout that 
evening, even more forward than usual as his air of mystery intrigued me so. But 
he remained vague about his origins, saying only that he壇 spent most of his life 
moving from one place to another after the death of his parents when he was very 
young. By the end of my three-day visit, I realized that I had done far more 
talking than he.
The ensuing months passed much too quickly. Once having met Karon, I never 
looked back to Evard. Karon痴 intellect and interests were wide-ranging, 
embracing subjects far from his specialties. Martin had taught me how to argue, 
how to poke and prod my opponent with strange ideas and bits of information, 
twisting and turning words into knots and puzzles, until both of us came out 
panting with the mental exertion. The purpose of it was never the winning or the 
losing, but only the exhilaration of the contest. Karon was never averse to 
taking a position far from his own simply to further the enjoyment of the fray. 
He reveled in the game, while Evard was interested only in winners and losers.
My year of mourning was almost over, but I was not ready to give up the freedoms 
it had granted me. When the months had shrunk to days, I decided that I must 
speak to Tomas.
典he year is up next week,・I said one evening, as we sat alone in the Comigor 
dining room.
鉄o it is. Will Evard offer for you?・Tomas seemed more interested in the slice of 
roast pork he was carving to refill his plate.
添ou know his mind better than I.・/p> 
滴is mind is on the succession. Gevron grows more feeble each day.・/p> 
I pushed a compote of currants and blackberries within his reach, watching a 
drop of the deep purple sweetness soak into the white table linen. 展hat if Evard 
doesn稚 win as he expects?・/p> 
滴e値l win.・/p> 
釘ut what if he doesn稚, and I知 betrothed to him?・My own meal sat untouched on my 
plate.
My question clearly set him thinking. Tomas would feel it disloyal to speculate 
on Evard痴 failure預nd Tomas was anything but disloyal傭ut a rich, virginal, and 
reasonably attractive young duchess was a considerable asset, not to be thrown 
away even for friendship and loyalty. I knew my worth.
鄭n interesting question.・He said nothing more about it that night or any other 
night following. But when the year was up, Evard did not offer. After some 
weeks, I broached the subject once again, but Tomas said only that Evard had 
agreed he had no time for betrothals or weddings or wives. Not until his 
position was secure.
That was enough for the moment. I lived for my days at Windham and harbored no 
illusions about my future. I was a key to Tomas痴 fortune every bit as much as 
his strong sword arm. Many brothers would have forbidden the freedom I had, so I 
treasured my friendship with Karon and all Martin痴 circle, and I acknowledged 
nothing beyond it.
Year 31 in the reign of King Gevron
King Gevron fooled everyone by lasting two more years. Though Evard chafed, he 
was not idle. As he had predicted, an astonished Earl of Vennick was found 
guilty of diverting tax revenues into his own pockets and retired to his country 
estate in disgrace. And a witness signed documents avowing that the priest of 
Jerrat who had presided at the wedding of Gevron痴 sister Lady Catherine to Sir 
Charles Colburn was an impostor, unknown to any temple in Leire. Therefore Lady 
Catherine痴 son Frederic, Duke of Warburton, was a bastard and had no claim to 
his uncle痴 throne.
With no little unease, I watched Evard bind Tomas ever more closely to his 
fortunes. Evard told my brother that it was time he named his own military 
staff. As the lord of such a vast holding as Comigor, Tomas should replace the 
old Comigor captains who were beholden to our father with younger men who would 
be loyal to him alone. Evard even offered to loan him Captain Darzid.
To think of my father痴 loyal commanders thus dismissed, seven fierce and 
honorable warriors who had dandled me on their knees when I was small, who had 
taught me to shoot a bow and still brought me exotic gifts from their travels, 
was insupportable. In the past year, as Tomas and Evard had become more 
engrossed in their intrigues, I had spent a great deal of time with Captain 
Darzid. I enjoyed his wit and found his ever-sarcastic observations of Leiran 
courtiers amusing. So, on the night before the change of command, I sought him 
out at his townhouse and explained my feelings.
He pressed wine into my hands and, once done with his delightful renderings of 
my brother痴 shock and the scandalized court ladies・gossip at my secret venture 
into a bachelor痴 house, seemed sincerely interested in my pleas. 展hat would you 
have me do, my lady? I am ever at your command as you well know. But my refusing 
the post will not help the old curmudgeons. Nor should it. Duke Tomas is 
absolutely right; your own safety depends on his control of his troops.・/p> 
添ou池e clever, Darzid. I know you care for no one but yourself迫we had discussed 
this many times欄but for this once, bend your wit to a kindness. I値l think of 
something magnificent to reward you. I swear it.・/p> 
He promised to think about it, and indeed on the next day as the seven were 
forced to turn in their shields and strip the four guardian rings of Comigor 
from their surcoats, he presented each man with a fine new sword, a new 
warhorse, and a document vouching for his valor and loyalty, so that he could 
get a new position with another house.
When I thanked Darzid for extending himself so generously and on such short 
notice, he looked at me in an oddly calculating way that left me feeling 
uncomfortably exposed. 的 would have as soon seen them hanged, lady. But the 
prospect of a reward from you・that intrigued me enough to spend a small fortune 
and a night痴 work.・/p> 
Interregnum
By the time King Gevron gave in and joined his forefathers in the great tomb on 
Pythian Hill, Martin was first in line for the throne, and, after him, Evard. 
Tennice said it was only a matter of time until some accusation surfaced about 
Martin. Even after all I壇 heard, I refused to believe that, either of Evard, who 
was almost certainly to be my husband, or of Tomas. But a few days before the 
Council of Lords was to announce the succession, the Council received a letter 
avowing that Martin, Earl of Gault, had sheltered a sorcerer. The letter named 
one Alfredo, a resident of Windham who had died the previous year.
I remembered Alfredo. The rumpled and absent-minded mathematician had once been 
Martin痴 tutor. Martin had offered the old man a home at Windham when he lost his 
last position due to failing hearing and other circumstances of age. Alfredo 
often forgot where he was, frequently misplaced his handkerchiefs and his books, 
and seldom dined with the rest of the household, ashamed of his trembling hands 
that could not hold a knife. But, despite his declining faculties, he remained 
extraordinarily good at chess, and with intense and exuberant joy he pursued his 
sole remaining purpose in life, designing complex chess problems in hopes of 
stumping Martin. One could not imagine Alfredo feeding his dark powers on blood, 
murdering children to use for depraved rites, raising demons to drive men to 
madness, twisting the beauties of nature into grotesque parodies, or carrying 
out any other of the evil works popularly attributed to sorcerers. And how could 
anyone believe that Martin, so wise and perceptive, would give shelter to an 
abominable heretic? The whole thing was absurd, yet the accusation could not be 
ignored. The extermination laws would not permit it.
Sorcery was a vile and wicked practice, the last dregs of the chaotic evil from 
the Beginnings, before the First God Arot had defeated the beasts of earth and 
the monsters of the deep and given dominion over the world to his twin sons, 
Annadis and Jerrat. In the past few years, I had learned that a number of 
intelligent and otherwise honorable Leirans looked skeptically on our sacred 
stories and rituals. But to countenance sorcery was to invite horror and chaos 
back into the world, denying the gods themselves・the very gods who stood beside 
our king and his soldiers on every battlefield.
The announcement of the succession was postponed, and the Council of Lords 
convened to hear the arguments. The principal witness was a chambermaid who had 
been dismissed from Windham the previous year. She had been assigned to take 
care of Alfredo痴 room, and a terrible burden it had been, she said. No one 
understood why the earl kept such a disgusting creature about. Alfredo was crude 
and had foul habits, just as she had always been taught about sorcerers. The old 
man marked papers with arcane symbols and patterns, and he cursed and murmured 
over them when she peeked through his door. He would always hide the papers from 
her and swear that she would never steal his secrets. He ate in his room, she 
said, not with proper company, and often she would spy him gnawing on meat that 
was just the size as would be a human baby. I had heard no more ridiculous 
accusations in my life. Knowing the old man and his preoccupations, every bit of 
these foolish accusations could be explained.
Despite the people痴 horror of the practice, and the priests・insistence that the 
merest taint of sorcery must be thoroughly investigated, Tennice was able to 
convince the Lords that there was no evidence to convict Martin of so much as 
discussing the dark arts, much less harboring one of the vile in his home. The 
Council ruled that Martin was not guilty of the accusations, but that since 
Alfredo himself could not be examined, it was impossible to determine whether 
the old man had truly been a sorcerer. That was enough. As long as any doubt 
remained, Martin would never be king. That was all Evard really wanted.
The afternoon of the verdict was dreary, the autumnal gloom deepened by a 
miserable downpour. Throughout the hearing, Tomas had sat beside me in the 
Council Hall, making sure I was seen nowhere near Martin or the others, but 
after the ruling he went off with Evard, abandoning me with servants to take me 
home. Instead, I traveled to Windham. Just the six of us were there: Martin, 
Karon, Julia, Tanager, Tennice, and me. We said we were going to celebrate, but 
the dinner was dismal. Martin left the dining room before the soup was taken 
away. The rest of us picked at the meal in silence. After an hour Tennice 
dismissed the servants, telling them to take the rest of the night as a holiday 
in honor of the earl痴 vindication. The five of us retired to the library.
Only two lamps were lit against the gloom. The dark leather of the furnishings 
and deep, rich reds of the rugs suited our mood very well. 的 never thought he 
cared so much,・I said to Julia, who sat staring at the closed door of Martin痴 
study, her eyes shining with unshed tears. 滴e always treated the throne as such 
a remote possibility, spoke of it so irreverently, that I thought濫
的t痴 what he wanted people to think,・she said, 鍍o discourage any interest in him. 
But he lived for it. It痴 how he put up with all the foolishness and idiocy of 
court life. Frederic and Vennick had agreed to cede the throne to him if they 
were named. They壇 won a clear majority on the Council to his support・ until all 
of this stupidity. The whole world is askew, and he can see so clearly what 
needs to be done to set it right. It will drive him mad to be relegated to 
impotence once more, to see Evard in his place, destroying what remnants of 
civilization linger in Leire.・/p> 
While Martin remained closeted in his study and the others drank brandy and 
regaled each other with sporadic bursts of funereal humor, Karon asked if I 
would walk with him in the gardens. I was happy to get out. Sitting and thinking 
was the last thing I wanted at the moment.
We strolled down gravel paths that wound through manicured bowers of roses and 
lilacs and into wild gardens of foxtail and harebells and summerlace. Around 
every corner was a lovely surprise: a grassy grotto with a stone bench or 
perhaps a pool or fountain tucked amid the ferns and trees like the presents 
hidden about houses and gardens for children at the Feast of Vines in the 
spring.
The evening air smelled damp and earthy from the afternoon rain. After a while 
Karon lagged behind, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him standing in the 
middle of the path staring upward, watching the first star emerge from the deep 
blue of the clearing sky. He was forever dawdling when we walked out, stopping 
to examine the subtle shading of a primrose, or peer underneath a water lily to 
see the silver trout hiding there, or gaze for moments at a time at a raindrop 
poised at the edge of a leaf. I had never known anyone so entranced with nature, 
with people, with beauty熔r so observant of them.
I had no heart for gardens or beauty. A message had arrived just before dinner. 
Tomas would be at Windham the next morning to escort me to the royal palace in 
Montevial. My time had run out. The knowledge that I might never return to 
Martin痴 house except as Evard痴 wife dissolved my resolution like frost in 
sunlight.
添ou are extraordinarily quiet,・Karon said after a while. 鄭m I too 
distracted?・/p> 
哲o. I wish I could do as you seem to do, take in all this to hazard against an 
uncertain future.・/p> 
鄭h.・We walked on.
The silence was too heavy. 展ill you travel again soon?・I asked.
撤erhaps. I致e stayed here much longer than I intended. I should go.・/p> 
鄭nd where will you go? Whom will you study next?・/p> 
As always, his smile illuminated his face as if his inner being had taken fire. 
的致e heard of a land of flame-haired women濫 He never finished the jest.
Tanager burst into the garden from the library doors. 適aron, Seri, come! It痴 
Martin. The blasted fool has tried to kill himself.・/p> 
We ran through the gardens, up the steps, and through the doors that led into 
Martin痴 study. He was slumped in his chair by the fire, scarcely breathing, his 
lips a sickly blue, his eyes glazed, spittle stringing from the corner of his 
slack mouth. A glass of wine had fallen from his hand, and Julia knelt beside 
his chair, staring in horror at a silver vial in her hand. 徹h, my darling, you 
said this was only for the worst of times, and we weren稚 there yet. Not yet. How 
could you?・/p> 
Karon took the vial. 展hat is it?・/p> 
的 don稚 know the name,・said Julia, pressing one hand to her mouth and wrapping 
the other about her stomach. 溺artin brought it from Valleor years ago. He said 
it was made by jonglers, a 播iplomatic gift・he couldn稚 refuse. They told him it 
was painless, and that it was always good to have a way out of the worst of 
times. He joked about it. Never, ever, did I think・
Karon did not hesitate. 典anager, bring me a knife. Sharp and clean. Just do it! 
Don稚 ask questions.・He gave Tennice a plain white linen handkerchief. 迭ip it 
into three strips and tie them together end to end. Tight.・Martin was limp as 
Karon lifted him to the floor; his eyes had rolled back in his head, and his 
tongue was swollen and discolored, threatening to choke off what little breath 
remained in him.
Hurriedly Karon removed his coat, loosened the left sleeve of his shirt at the 
wrist, and then knelt on the rug beside Martin. When Tanager returned, Karon 
took the knife, then glanced up at us hovering close about him. After an 
ever-so-slight nod of his head, he closed his eyes, opened his arms wide, and 
spoke with quiet intensity. 鏑ife, hold! Stay your hand. Halt your foot ere it 
takes another step along the Way. Grace your son once more with your voice that 
whispers in the deeps, with your spirit that sings in the wind, with the fire 
that blazes in your gifts of joy and sorrow. Fill my soul with light, and let 
the darkness make no stand in this place.・/p> 
He gripped Martin痴 hand and with a flash of the knife made a deep and bloody 
gash in Martin痴 arm. Before any one of us could cry out or pull him away, he 
pushed up his left sleeve and did the same to himself. He had done it before. 
His arm was covered with scars. Hundreds of them.
展hat in the name of all gods・・/p> 
Karon ignored Tanager痴 outburst, holding out the knotted handkerchief. 釘ind us 
together. Hurry, if you love him.・His command was tight and hard. Cradling 
Martin痴 head with his right hand to ease his choking, he positioned his wound 
over Martin痴 and had Tanager tie their bleeding arms together as tightly as 
possible. Tanager痴 hands were trembling. 哲ow, all of you stay back.・Eyes fixed 
on Martin痴 face, Karon whispered, 笛壇en encour,・/em> in a language I did not 
know.
I sank onto a stool by the fire, stunned and speechless. This must be another of 
Martin痴 pageants. Surely in a moment he would pop up and say, 敵ood joke!・ and 
Karon would show us how the knife was a trick and the blood was not real and 
nothing out of the ordinary was occurring here. But instead, Karon remained 
kneeling at Martin痴 side, the two of them bound together in this strange 
brotherhood. Karon痴 eyes were closed again, his head bowed, and for an hour he 
did not move. Nor did any of us, shocked and terrified as we were. I could feel 
a charge in the air like a veil of lightning, shimmering about us, ready to 
strike our hearts still at any moment.
The clocks in the Windham tower chimed a second hour. Just as I thought my chest 
must burst or my head split, Martin sighed and began to breathe easier, faint 
pink replacing the morbid blue of his lips. Karon was ashen, sweat pouring down 
his face. He swayed a bit, and Tanager moved to catch Martin before Karon could 
drop his head to the floor. But without moving or opening his eyes, Karon said 
hoarsely, 哲o! You must not. Only when I tell you.・Tanager paled and backed away, 
clasping his hands tight as if they壇 been scorched.
Another quarter of an hour and Martin痴 eyelids fluttered; his cheeks grew rosy.
鼎ut the binding now.・Karon痴 voice was no more than a whisper.
Gingerly, Tennice picked up the knife Karon had dropped and slit the strip of 
linen. Martin痴 arm exhibited no drop of blood, no mark; on Karon痴 arm was only a 
new pale scar among all the rest. Karon gently laid Martin on the rug and backed 
away, but remained on his knees, arms folded, shoulders hunched, looking pale 
and fragile, almost transparent. He did not raise his head.
Martin sat up slowly, rubbing his temples and blinking as he looked about the 
room. 展hat痴 going on here? Why so solemn? Stars and planets, Karon, you look 
like death.・/p> 
Karon, eyes still averted, said softly, 的 think there are those not far from 
here who値l tell you that is exactly what I look like.・/p> 
Martin glanced from Karon to the rest of us, and only after an awkward moment 
did his puzzled gaze settle on the spilled glass of wine, the silver vial, and 
Karon grimly fastening his left sleeve as if he could hide what was there. 徹h, 
my friend, what have you done迫his voice was filled with shock and distress, but 
no surprise欄and what have I, in my unbounded self-pity, done to you?・/p> 
的f Evard is to be king, then he must have someone worthy to keep an eye on him, 
to be ready when his subjects take his full measure,迫Karon glanced at Martin, 
his smile as pale as the rest of him欄and we壇 miss your entertainments so.・/p> 
鄭nd did you tell these others what you were about?・/p> 
Karon laughed ruefully and blotted his neck with the remains of his 
handkerchief. 的 thought it best to surprise them with it. More in keeping with 
the Windham tradition of puzzles and mysteries. I thought that if I were to 
reveal my little secret, I壇 best get some good out of it and make sure you were 
here to defend me.・His color was returning.
鄭nd what did you think we would do?・asked Julia, abruptly sitting herself on the 
carpet between the two men and grasping one hand from each, forcing Karon to 
look at her. 鉄uch faith you have in your friends!・/p> 
Tennice stood behind Karon and laid a long, thin hand on his shoulder. 滴ave you 
listened to nothing we致e said these past two years? We know what kind of man you 
are, and nothing you致e revealed this night makes any change in it.・ Then Tanager 
sagged onto the couch cushions, saying sorcery must not be all it was made out 
to be, as it looked more like work than the devilish fun he壇 been led to 
believe.
I sat on the hearth stool, trying to comprehend what it was I had witnessed. 
Nothing was as it had been. The world had changed as surely and irrevocably as 
if I had been struck deaf or blind, or had been roused from deafness to hearing 
or blindness to sight. But, just as Tennice had said, I knew this man. 溺artin, I 
think there are some inaccuracies in the lessons I致e been taught. I certainly 
hope someone has plans to set me straight.・/p> 
CHAPTER 6
Interregnum
The night of Karon痴 revelation was a night of intoxication. We were four 
initiates caught up in the heady exhilaration of mystery and conspiracy. As our 
questions flew about the library like autumn leaves in a whirlwind, Karon 
pleaded that we had no time to waste. 的 must go. Give me an hour. Then go to a 
sheriff, tell him my name, and report what you致e seen. I値l not have you 
compromised for me. Every moment you delay increases your danger.・/p> 
Julia was weeping, trying to thank Karon for saving Martin痴 life, and asking 
what refreshment might relieve the toll his night痴 work had so clearly taken on 
him. Tanager swore to slit the throat of any man who said that what we had seen 
was anything but holy, and began reviewing the events aloud as if we had not 
witnessed them for ourselves. 鉄tars of night, man, you致e got to tell us how you 
do it,・he said.
添ou can稚 just leave it.・Even Tennice pushed his brother aside and said he壇 
appreciate knowing one thing: Could Karon just tell him whether it was one of 
the Twins, or the First God Arot himself, or some unknown god who guided his 
hand in such works, or was it, instead, some factor of the blood?
I was so filled with wonder, I could not decide what to ask first, so I just 
kept mumbling that no one in that room could ever be so cowardly as to betray 
him to the law. He could never have heard me above the clamor. We might have 
continued all night in such fashion, but Karon looked more distressed by the 
moment and cast a pleading glance at Martin, even as he tried to disentangle 
himself from our exuberant circle.
鉄ilence, all of you!・Martin bellowed. 適aron, step into the garden for a moment溶o 
farther, mind you! We must give these nattering fools a chance to think.・/p> 
Only when an exasperated Karon had retreated through the garden doors did Martin 
turn to us. 鉄it down and listen, friends. This is perhaps the most dangerous 
night of your young lives, and I値l not have you go forward without stopping for 
one moment to give it some serious consideration.・/p> 
Once we had obediently sat ourselves on the overstuffed couches, sobered by his 
serious tone, he went on. 典his is the law of Leire預nd Tennice can correct me if 
I miss a word or two. To harbor a sorcerer, to knowingly speak with a sorcerer 
or listen willingly to one word from his mouth is punishable by death溶ot the 
unspeakable death Karon will suffer if news of this night痴 deed escapes this 
room, but death, nonetheless. To my everlasting shame, my weak and selfish 
impulse has put him and you in this danger. He has risked the stake, the burning 
of his living flesh・and every conceivable torment that could make even such 
horror as that a welcome gift・to save my pitiful life. Yet I know him well, and 
the last thing he would wish is to buy his safety with ours. Every moment that 
we delay in turning him over condemns us alongside him. You must think soberly 
of your lives and your futures. If you do not accuse him as he insists, then 
every breath you take from this night forward will have a binder on it, every 
word you speak will be restricted, every truth to which you swear will be 
tainted by the shadow of a lie, a secret, a withholding. No soul beyond this 
room can ever hear this tale, be it husband, wife, child, or lover. Never. Ever. 
Or we are all forfeit. Now, hold your peace until I give you leave. Think 
carefully.・/p> 
We obeyed his command in seeming. But one glance at each well-known face told 
the answer. No one of us would ever preserve his own life by setting the hounds 
on Karon. When Martin released us from our silence, we told him exactly that. 
Yet even as we released our pent-up indignation葉hat Martin might, in the 
remotest chance, believe one of us could be such a craven coward洋y cousin 
confronted each of us individually, asking if we would swear to keep Karon痴 
secret, be damned whatever came. Each one agreed. He came to me last.
鄭nd you, my dear cousin. Never would I knowingly have faced you with this 
circumstance. To require you to carry such a burden into a marriage・
典here is no burden here, Martin,・I said. 摘very time I知 at Windham my world grows 
larger. Who better to understand truth than one who might be queen?・/p> 
There. I壇 said it. The fact that could not be lost in the excitement of the 
night.
Martin smiled at me fondly. But behind the lines that five and forty years of 
good humor had written on his kind face was pain and worldly wisdom that I could 
recognize, though not yet understand. 的f I壇 only kept that thought in my head a 
few hours ago, perhaps I could have spared Karon and all of you the consequences 
of my unforgivable cowardice. Go fetch him, and we値l let him tell you more of 
truth.・Tennice and Julia poured brandy, while I hurried toward the garden door.
I found Karon stretched out on his back in the grass, his arms behind his head, 
gazing upon the stars that were scattered like diamond dust on the black velvet 
sky. Not wishing to startle him, I approached quietly, and so I glimpsed the 
expression on his face before he was aware of me. Not fear. Not anxiety. Only 
yearning葉he same hunger I glimpsed when he walked with me in the garden or at 
the times when he stepped back from our laughter in Martin痴 drawing room and 
embraced our company with his eyes. In seeing him devouring the glory of that 
night, and in thinking of all I knew of him and all I had witnessed, both the 
essential question and its answer sprang up wholly formed in my head. I believed 
I might already understand what he would tell us.
I cleared my throat and sat down on the grass, wrapping my arms about my knees 
and waiting a moment to see if he would look around. He kept his eyes on the 
sky, but he blinked and shifted his arms protectively across his chest, so I 
knew he was aware of me. 添ou池e replenishing yourself,・I said, venturing my 
theory. 迭eplacing what you spent on Martin.・/p> 
添es.・/p> 
典hat痴 what it痴 all about. What you are all about. Beauty, joy, friendship・ these 
things you are able to cache within yourself・and then spend.・/p> 
鏑ife. All of it. Pain and sorrow are wonders, also. But, of course, beauty is 
easier.・He rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand, smiling as one 
will do to soften a hard truth.
鄭nd the spending・is sorcery.・/p> 
摘xactly so.・/p> 
的 want to know. About you. About all of it. Why have we been so deceived?・/p> 
That sorcery equated with evil was a fundamental construct of the universe, a 
fact as sure as that time moved forward and not back. No history or science was 
required to prove it any more than history was required to say the earth was 
solid beneath our feet or the ocean fluid. Not only our priests condemned 
sorcery, naming it as one of the abominations of the earth that Arot had tamed 
in the Beginnings, but our kings and wise men, our mothers and grandmothers, men 
of science and warriors, believers and unbelievers agreed that it was a 
perversion of nature. Now, in one short hour everything had changed, and the gap 
in my knowledge of the world was so vast, so stark, I believed my head must cave 
in. This man and the healing I had seen him work were as far from evil as 
anything I had ever known.
Karon sat up and, after one quick glance at me, dropped his eyes and began 
picking at the grass. 的 wanted to tell you預nd the others傭ut because of how 
things were with you・your future・it made no sense. And then today, I should have 
sent you all away, but I didn稚 even think of it. After so many years, not to 
think of it・Maybe it was because I wanted you to understand.・He shook his head 
wonderingly and expelled a quick breath. 的 always thought it would be so hard to 
explain, but I should have known you would put the pieces together. Even Martin 
took a while to understand the connection you致e just seen.・/p> 
Why was it that those of Martin痴 circle were forever underestimating me? 的 would 
imagine that Martin had neither the patience nor the incentive to observe you as 
closely as I have over the past two years,・I said. 典here are some things at 
which a woman is an expert before she is eighty!・/p> 
The words came out more prim and bristly than I intended, but Karon burst out 
laughing and I felt myself consumed by his remarkable eyes. 徹h, gods, Seri, how 
I love you! What I wouldn稚 give預h!・He bit off his words and looked vexed. 泥amn! 
My tongue will not keep still. My habits are all askew tonight.・/p> 
He jumped to his feet and offered me his arm, instantly sober and contained. 
鼎ome,・he said softly. 典he others will remember all their training and believe 
I致e eaten you.・I allowed him to pull me off the grass, but I did not take my 
eyes from him. Everything was changed yet again by that moment痴 revelation. 
Though he avoided my gaze and swallowed his words as if to recall them, nothing 
would erase what I had just heard. Truth. As clear as the clean-washed night.
We strolled across the garden, up the steps, and into the library, but I might 
have been treading on cloud or water for all I knew. Only when we halted in the 
middle of the library did I wrench my eyes from Karon痴 face. The others were 
staring at us, sipping brandy, and waiting. I could not think what they were 
waiting for.
展e thought perhaps you two had wandered into some other garden,・said Julia, her 
head tilted, peering at us thoughtfully.
典his exceptional young woman would not get lost in Hierant痴 Maze,・said Karon, 
releasing my arm and immediately retreating toward the hearth. 鉄he has been 
explaining her theories of sorcery to me.・/p> 
As I sank to the leather couch beside Julia, Martin widened his eyes and waggled 
his eyebrows at her. I felt the blood rise to my cheeks, but before my cousin 
could come out with whatever clever jibe he was concocting, Karon drew the 
group痴 attention back in his direction. 鉄o have you decided, sensibly, that I 
must be on my way?・/p> 
Oh yes, the grim reality of the night. Somehow I could no longer grasp it.
Tennice snorted. 鉄eri! You didn稚 get even that far in almost an hour?・ Everyone 
but Karon and I laughed, and my face flamed hotter.
典here was no time,・Karon said, clasping his hands behind his back. 典he young 
lady was busy reading my soul and reciting to me its inner workings, telling me 
I must explain a few things more so as to advance her education.・/p> 
展ell,・said Martin, 都ince Seri was distracted from her task, I値l tell you that 
these young lions have sworn on their lives and honor預nd most importantly, their 
tongues葉hat your secret does not go beyond this room. They understand the 
consequences for you and for themselves if it should. So it痴 up to you. We will 
take the risk of having you here. If you are willing to take the risk of our 
silence, then there痴 no need for you to go.・/p> 
的致e traveled enough for the present,・said Karon, softly, and the great hand 
which had been clenching my heart and stomach released its grip.
Martin laid his hand on Karon痴 shoulder. 的f you池e to be with us for a while 
longer, and since I don稚 think any of us are yet ready for sleep, then perhaps, 
as Seri suggests, it痴 a good time to tell your friends the history they never 
learned.・/p> 
鄭s you wish.・/p> 
Another log was thrown on the fire. More brandy was poured. The two starving 
lamps winked out, leaving the pool of light from the hearth as the only 
illumination. Karon settled himself on the patterned rug and began.
* * *
的 am of a people whose name you致e never heard spoken, though we believed the 
race of the J脱ttanne was once as numerous as the Valloreans with whom we came to 
share a language. Much of our history has been lost, and I致e never heard any 
explanation of why we were born so different or whether at some time we had a 
land of our own. Our oldest stories say only that the J脱ttanne scattered 
throughout the Four Realms because they were constantly wondering what was 
beyond the next hill or past the next turn of the road. A J脱ttanni man and wife 
might labor to build a house and plant a crop, only to abandon them before the 
vines bore fruit, just because a day痴 sunrise was so lovely that they wanted to 
see what might lie east of their land. Or another might move to the next town 
when he heard there was a minstrel there who had sung a new song of surpassing 
beauty. Our neighbors thought our wandering life odd, for they didn稚 understand 
that the accumulation of experience is the essence of J脱ttanni power.・/p> 
The flames in the hearth set the shadows to dancing about the room.
鄭nd yet, our people were welcomed everywhere, for their only desire was to spend 
their power for good. Some could infuse new life into herds and crops. Others 
could build skillfully and beautifully. They could make light or fire from 
nothing・well, their talents could be applied to so many things.・/p> 
Karon痴 face was sculpted by the firelight as he spun his tale of wonder, his 
eyes riveted on the orange flames as if the only way he could proceed was to 
convince himself that no one was listening.
典he world was much as it is now. Greed and ambition set people against people, 
and a sorcerer痴 talents were too valuable to ignore when battle was to be 
joined. Most refused to join the service of the local warlords. To use their 
power for destruction violated everything the J脱ttanne believed. But the 
warlords tried to force them by taking their families hostage or burning their 
homes. Even if a man aided his lord willingly, he might find himself set against 
an army wherein his cousin, or his brother, or his sister was forced to serve.
鄭nd so a group joined together, calling themselves the Free Hand of the 
J脱ttanne, determined that the J脱ttanne be a people who would speak for 
themselves, not subject to any lord. Deep in the mountains that you call the 
Dorian Wall lay an ancient stronghold that J脱ttanni legend said was a place 
sacred to our people. The Free Hand rebuilt the stronghold so that all could 
have a refuge in time of trouble. The secret of its location was closely 
guarded, passed carefully from one to another of the Free Hand, who swore on the 
lives of their children to keep it. They couldn稚 allow the warlords to discover 
it.
鄭bout the time the rebuilding was done, there came a split in the Free Hand. A 
faction calling themselves the Closed Hand thought it was enough for us to have 
a safe haven, so individuals could choose to serve the warlords or not. Another 
group, called the Open Hand, looked beyond our own needs and asked why should 
peasants or knights, any more than sorcerers, be pressed against their will into 
the service of those who were unworthy? With the gifts of the J脱ttanne, it would 
be possible to order the world in peace. After long years of disagreement, the 
Open Hand prevailed, and J脱ttanne rose up all over the Four Realms, proclaiming 
that there would be no more war, no cruelty, no brutality. No more.・/p> 
滴ow was it possible?・I burst out, unable to contain all the questions jostling 
each other in my head. 典he talents you致e described are impressive, but not 
enough to defeat true warriors.・/p> 
鏑et me show you.・His gaze flicked around the room as if to make sure we were all 
still there. His cheeks were slightly flushed, and he quickly returned his 
attention to the fire. This is what they did, and what no one then or since has 
ever understood.
I heard him speaking as clearly as if his mouth were at my ear. But his lips did 
not move, and the room was silent save for the snap of a log in the fire. My 
neck prickled and my mind swelled with a presence that was not the one I carried 
with me every day. It was gentle and embracing and apologetic, but as undeniable 
and overwhelmingly powerful as a spring deluge. In that same moment, I felt an 
overpowering thirst, and I lifted my brandy glass to my lips.
This would not have seemed so extraordinary if Tennice and Tanager and Julia had 
not lifted their glasses at exactly the same moment in exactly the same motion, 
all of us stopping in a single movement as if time itself had halted. Suddenly, 
my knees felt like water.
鉄o you see,・he went on in audible speech once more, 塗ow it might be possible to 
change many things with such abilities.・/p> 
Tanager, Tennice, Julia, and I・we looked at each other with astonishment, 
disbelief, and a hundred other emotions that were written on our faces. Tanager 
downed his brandy all in one gulp and jumped up from the floor to pour himself 
another. Julia痴 slender hand seemed paralyzed, and she stared first at Karon and 
then Martin. Tennice slammed down his glass, sloshing the amber liquid on a 
small table and jerking his hand away. I forced myself to exhale, hearing the 
tremulous sound of my own breath as implications and possibilities ran riot in 
my head・terrifying possibilities・humiliating・violating・/p> 
Oh, Seri, don稚 be afraid. No, I致e never・em>not ever・em>done this to you before. 
You致e had no thought that was not your own. You致e felt no desire, performed no 
act that was not of your own will. And until this moment, I致e never let myself 
hear anything but what has come from your lips.
The words carried so much more than their meaning預 plea for understanding that 
exposed a part of his most private self葉hat I found myself thinking, It痴 all 
right; it痴 all right. I知 not afraid. Not of you. And I knew it all was real when 
he glanced up quickly and gave me a tenuous smile.
添ou can see how it might be easy to abuse such a gift,・he went on, 殿nd why 
people might come to fear it. That was what happened. For thirty or forty years 
the Open Hand ruled the Four Realms and corrected all that seemed wrong. But the 
J脱ttanne were no wiser than other men and no more immune to self-importance, and 
more and more they liked to order things according to their whims. Those who 
disputed their rule were punished with nightmares and terrors until the poor 
souls thought they were going mad. The poor and ignorant were controlled with 
superstitions羊umors of vile monsters, spirits, and demons. By the time of the 
Rebellion, the J脱ttanne had enslaved the people they thought to save, and, in 
their arrogance, had written their熔ur妖oom.・/p> 
釘ut what chance had ordinary people against such power?・Tennice sat stiffly in 
one corner of the couch with his third glass of brandy, his voice tight, verging 
on anger.
Karon stood up, folding his arms, a slender silhouette against the fire. 典here 
were so few of us. That was the key. We had been scattered for so long that our 
numbers had not increased like those of other races. And it doesn稚 matter if I 
can listen to what you池e thinking, for if all five of you are thinking at once, 
as loud and discordantly as possible, I can sort it out no better than if you池e 
all babbling at once.・/p> 
Tanager had stretched his long legs over the rest of Tennice痴 couch, and with a 
wry grin poked one of his outsized feet at his older brother. 典hat痴 exactly what 
Evan and I always did when we were boys. We壇 bully Tennice into taking on Father 
over our last scrape, while we went off and got into another. We壇 yell at him 
until he was so confused, he couldn稚 think how hard Father was going to come 
down on him.・/p> 
Tennice glared sourly at Tanager・and then slowly, reluctantly, his stormy 
countenance relaxed and he broke into a rueful chuckle. 的 had to take up the law 
as self-defense.・/p> 
Karon nodded, laughter dancing across his face like the wisps of summer fire 
above a midnight meadow. 轍uite the same. In our case, it was only the matter of 
a single year until the Open Hand was overthrown. Those who came to power 
decreed that no one would be safe as long as any J脱ttanne walked upon the earth. 
No work of the J脱ttanne could stand and no memory of the J脱ttanne could survive. 
Thus began the extermination and the law that you know. The priests called us 
heretics and destroyed everything we had touched, as well as many things that 
had nothing to do with us. They closed down every temple and shrine, broke every 
statue, burned every writing, ruined every artifact that was not devoted to Arot 
and Mana or one of the Twins濫
典hat痴 why the temple rules are so strict about heresy, and priests are so quick 
to stamp out any talk of lesser deities like harvest gods or shopkeepers・ 
daemons or water spirits,・said Julia.
摘xactly so,・said Karon. 典hey couldn稚 untangle politics and belief and 
superstition and sorcery. And so they had to destroy it all. Over the past four 
hundred and fifty years most of the J脱ttanne have been hunted down and killed, 
though I doubt three people in the world outside this room remember exactly why 
it痴 done.・/p> 
釘ut where have you come from, then?・I said. 滴ow have you managed to survive 
without being found out? There have been no・no sorcerer burnings・since I was a 
child.・The very words were as acid on my tongue.
的知 getting to that.・With a grateful smile, Karon drained a glass of wine Julia 
had given him. Setting the empty glass on the mantelpiece, he continued. 典hough 
most of the followers of the Open Hand were slaughtered right away, those of the 
Closed Hand held out for a few years in their stronghold. But they knew their 
days were numbered. With the hunt so virulent, they were sure to be discovered. 
So they decided to abandon the stronghold, building secret ways through the 
mountains and sending out a few families at a time to settle in remote places 
where they would not be known. These refugees carried with them two tenets: that 
the gifts of the J脱ttanne were for life and not destruction, and that no mind 
could be invaded without consent. At least a few survived and managed to escape 
detection for several centuries. Some prospered, particularly in one Vallorean 
city called Avonar. My ancestors were among them. As late as five years ago the 
Lord of Avonar, the Baron Mandille, was a J脱ttanne. He was my father・ His voice 
faded.
I caught my breath. 鄭vonar! Evard痴 triumph. Did Evard know?・/p> 
Karon hesitated, glancing at me and then at Martin, who was perched on the back 
of Tennice痴 and Tanager痴 couch.
滴e knew,・said my cousin in disgust. 的 don稚 know how, but somehow in the last 
days of the Vallorean War, King Gevron learned that sorcerers lived in Avonar 
and that they were the last. Gevron promised amnesty to every citizen of Avonar 
who returned to the city before midsummer痴 day, proclaiming that he had decided 
to leave the place a free city because the lord of Avonar had tried to broker 
the peace between the Leirans and the Vallorean king. The war was over. They all 
went home. But instead of amnesty Gevron sent the Duke of Doncastre. When Evard 
sacked Avonar and slaughtered all who lived there, Karon was studying at the 
University, bound by his father痴 command to keep his connection with Avonar 
secret.・/p> 
Martin paused for breath, and the four of us pelted him with questions, the most 
particular being how Martin had come to learn the truth about Karon before the 
rest of us.
展hen I was in Yurevan two years ago,・Martin said, 的 took a few days to visit a 
professor from the University whom I致e known since my own student days. He 
introduced me to a young colleague who was collaborating with him on a cultural 
history of northern Valleor. Karon, of course. We enjoyed each other痴 company 
immensely and went riding together several times over the course of the week.
徹ne day we came upon a young family with a newborn babe, the man and woman 
scarcely more than children themselves. They were starving, riddled with wasting 
fever, and had taken refuge in an abandoned charcoal-burner痴 hut in the forest 
just beyond Ferrante痴 land. The boy warned us off and, in his last despair, 
begged us to toss him a knife so he could put an end to his family痴 misery.
的 would致e done it, but our friend here said there was an alternative. He tried 
to shove me off with some twaddle about medical training and the risks of 
contagion, but being stubborn, as you all know, and damnably curious, I watched 
from concealment. And so I saw Karon do his little business with the three of 
them. Needless to say, he had to spend some time telling me all he told you 
tonight.・/p> 
Martin sighed. 展e thought we were done with the incident, but didn稚 the stupid 
young bastard ignore Karon痴 requirement of silence and take his healthy wife and 
babe into town, telling everyone of the miracle that had come about. The fool 
thought he壇 make his savior into a hero, but instead, at Ferrante痴 house, we 
hear that a hunt is up for a sorcerer in the district. I managed to smuggle 
Karon back to Yurevan, meet him properly in different circumstances, and invite 
him here, never thinking I壇 be so stupid as to put him back in the danger from 
which I had extracted him.・/p> 
CHAPTER 7
Day 1, Year 1 in the reign of King Evard
By the time Martin had finished his tale, the sky was rosy and the birds 
twittering in the garden. Tomas would arrive by mid-morning, and the events of 
the night would make my departure no easier.
Despite his best efforts, Tanager fell asleep on the floor, while Julia and 
Martin went to the kitchen to hunt up something for us to eat. Martin had told 
his stewards to continue the servants・holiday through the coming day. Tennice 
paced the library, grumbling under his breath and casting such mournful glances 
over his spectacles at Karon and me that we decided to escape to the garden. We 
walked for a while, but there was nothing to say and everything to say, and we 
could not even begin. Eventually we gave up trying and joined Martin and Julia 
in the kitchen.
Just as Martin pushed a knife into my hand and told me to slice the oranges 
piled in a copper bowl, Tennice burst through the door. 溺artin, do you have a 
copy of the West-over Codex? Surely you do. Don稚 tell me you don稚.・/p> 
The Earl of Gault was up to his elbows in buttered toast. 添ou池e going strange on 
us, Tennice. The Westover Codex at six in the morning? Here we致e had a night 
such as friends seldom experience, and you池e ready to get back to your 
books.・/p> 
哲o jest, Martin.・/p> 
Martin shrugged. 的n the vault, then. Black leather case.・/p> 
Before too long a time had passed, Tennice痴 head reappeared in the kitchen 
doorway. 鉄eri, would you come, please? I need to speak with you.・/p> 
Wiping my hands on a towel and yielding my sticky knife to Karon, I joined 
Tennice in the library. He was poring over a fragile parchment spread out on the 
library table, and when I came in, he whirled about, snapping a pen in his thin 
hands. I had never seen him so agitated.
泥o you love him, Seri?・/p> 
I was taken aback.
典ell me honestly. Karon妖o you love him?・/p> 
He was not asking lightly. 添es. Yes, I do, but濫
添ou池e not afraid?・/p> 
徹f Karon? No more than I知 afraid of you or Martin or the others.・/p> 
He nodded as if he had expected nothing else. 的f, by taking a great risk, you 
could avoid what is to come with Evard, would you be willing?・/p> 
的壇 do almost anything.・/p> 
的致e found you a way.・He beckoned me to the table to look at his parchment. 摘vard 
will likely be crowned this afternoon, no later than tomorrow. It痴 already been 
two months since Gevron痴 death. A thousand noble guests are getting restless at 
twiddling their thumbs here in Montevial, waiting for us to make up our mind who 
we池e going to crown, while their tenants are harvesting crops and their less 
honored neighbors are lusting over their unguarded fields and horses. And, most 
importantly, the fall campaign against Kerotea can稚 begin until there痴 a king. 
So I started thinking about how there痴 no time for an extended celebration, only 
the necessary rituals幼oronation rituals. And that reminded me of something I壇 
read.・Tennice never forgot anything he read, not even if it made no sense or had 
no relevance at the time. No one in all Martin痴 circle had ever been able to 
catch him up. 添ou壇 risk Evard痴 wrath. He痴 not a forgiving man, as you well 
know.・/p> 
The three from the kitchen appeared, carrying trays loaded with toast, jam, 
oranges, and tea. 展hat痴 this about Evard痴 wrath?・asked Martin.
的致e found a way Seri can refuse him and choose迫he glanced up at me欄a life she 
might prefer.・/p> 
典ell me, Tennice,・I said.
典here痴 a codicil buried in the Westover Codex about petitions put before the new 
king on Coronation Day葉he Favored Ten. To violate the Westover Codex is to 
violate the very basis of his own power. Evard won稚 do it. Can稚 do it. The 
Council wouldn稚 stand for it, and he needs them to support his war. And if he 
accepts the Westover Codex, then he must grant the first ten petitions on the 
day of his coronation. If you池e willing, Seri, you can petition him to marry 
whomever you will.・/p> 
When Tomas escorted me from Windham that morning, I told him that I wished to be 
presented to Evard as soon as he was crowned.
滴e値l send for both of us soon enough,・said my brother.
釘ut I should be the first to acknowledge his authority, should I not?・Now I knew 
of the Codex codicil, there was no stopping. I would not let myself consider 
what the future might bring; all would depend on Evard痴 reaction. But, whatever 
the consequences, I could live with them. Evard, I could not.
Evard, Duke of Doncastre, was crowned King of Leire and Protector of Valleor 
that afternoon in the presence of the Leiran Council of Lords, every Leiran 
noble of importance, the high priests of Annadis and Jerrat, and every resident 
of Montevial who could bribe, wheedle, or sneak his way into the palace 
precincts. One sullen group of guests dressed in sober finery were noble 
hostages from Valleor and Kerotea, kept under house arrest in Leire and now 
forced to witness the succession of their conquerors.
Sharp angles of purple and green light from the stained-glass windows streaked 
the gray stone floor of the Great Hall of Leire. The carved capitals of the 
soaring columns were lost in the dim and smoky heights, as were the frescoed 
ceilings. I stood among the most favored guests to the right of the throne, 
trying to avoid having my eye put out by the women痴 stiff headdresses, my skirts 
snagged by the men痴 jeweled sword hilts, or my breath choked off by the cloying 
perfumes. But I squeezed and smiled and elbowed my way to the front where I 
could see.
The ceremony began with a priest痴 long-winded recounting of the War of the 
Beginnings, and most especially of the part where Arot had retired to his mythic 
palace of Cadore with his wife Mana. While his twin sons guarded the world 
against the fiends of air and sea, those of us on earth were commanded to defend 
our own lands and welfare by serving strong, faithful warrior kings. By the time 
the chancellor was halfway through a recounting of our new king痴 life, Martin 
had dozed off. Evard was only twenty-five. This part shouldn稚 take so long.
For my part, I was neither sleepy nor anxious. In truth I was more concerned 
with Tomas than Evard, for what I was about to do would be a grievous offense to 
my brother. We had been our parents・only children, close in age and interests, 
and forced into constant companionship by the remote situation of Comigor, our 
father痴 keep. I loved Tomas dearly, honored him as a warrior and a swordsman, 
and respected his authority as the head of our family. But he had never once 
asked me of my wishes, hearing my objections no more than he would hear a 
complaint from his horse that the flies were becoming a nuisance. To do so had 
never occurred to him, though I had been frank about my declining opinions of 
his friend. But Martin had taught me that my opinions were worthy of 
consideration.
When the chancellor痴 droning ended, the Council of Lords came forward one by one 
to swear fealty to Evard. Martin winked at me as he took his place in the queue. 
I nodded, unable, even in my own anxiety, to forget the pain which had led to 
his moment of desperation the previous night. If Annadis and Jerrat truly 
favored Leire as our priests assured us, then somehow Martin would have a say in 
our kingdom痴 future.
After the twelve nobles had kissed the new king痴 hand and sworn their oaths, 
Evard named Tomas Champion of Leire, the most coveted honor in the realm. The 
Champion answered any personal challenge made to the king. It was perhaps the 
only royal office awarded on merit alone. My heart swelled with pride. How I 
wished my father had lived to see him so honored.
Tomas, dressed in white and gold, quite looked the part. He was as tall and 
commanding a presence as our father had been, who had been considered the 
epitome of the gallant soldier. My brother痴 hair was the same deep red-brown 
color as my own, shining and thick as it framed his handsome features: straight 
nose, dark brown eyes, and a battle scar on his jaw just large enough to make 
court ladies sigh at his bravery. Maybe there was a little too much of the 
indulged boy-child in his curling lip, but he was intelligent. He would grow 
into his power and see Evard痴 flaws. Perhaps his influence with the new king 
would help moderate those flaws.
When Tomas took his place beside Evard, he leaned over and whispered in his 
friend and liege痴 ear. Evard smiled indulgently. He sprawled on the gilded 
throne as if it had been his from the moment of his birth instead of for a mere 
quarter of an hour. He waved his hand to get the attention of the assembly, then 
nodded in my direction. 典his fair young lady has asked for public audience upon 
this occasion, and it is our delight to hear her.・/p> 
Now to me. There would be no turning back. I could be queen if I wanted. I could 
submit to the authority of my brother and the desires of his friend, and no one 
would ever take me to task for it. It was the singular expectation of a woman of 
privilege葉o marry according to her family痴 wishes rather than her own. I would 
not be held responsible for Evard痴 character except in my own mind. After a few 
years I could most likely take a lover. Evard wasn稚 single-minded in that regard 
even now, and I knew how things worked in royal circles. But that was not the 
life I wanted. Martin had opened up the world to me, and I was not willing to 
abandon his gift.
So I stepped forward and curtsied, pulled a manuscript from my sleeve, and 
proclaimed to the assembly that I was making petition of His Most Gracious 
Majesty King Evard upon his Coronation Day, according to the provision of the 
Westover Codex known as the Grant of the Favored Ten. Because my parents who 
would guard the welfare of their only daughter were dead, and because my 
brother, whom I honored, was almost of an age with me, I petitioned that I be 
freed from the traditional duties of a subordinate female and be allowed to 
choose my life痴 partner for myself.
Evard had to grant my petition. No one at court could fail to know that I had 
been intended for him and that my petition was a product of my disdain. But for 
that very reason, he had to be magnanimous. Better to be thought spurned by a 
proud and willful female than to let anyone know he cared. Many a man in the 
same position would bully the woman he desired into marriage, but I knew how 
Evard痴 mind worked. He would get his revenge some subtler way.
With strained good humor, the king proclaimed, 的t is difficult for us to imagine 
a determined young lady such as yourself ever entering into an arrangement 
counter to your desires. The unlucky gentleman would rue the day, we have no 
doubt.・The assembly laughed uneasily. 鄭s an impartial observer and your longtime 
friend and well-wisher,・he continued, 努e would caution you to heed the advice of 
your brother, who is perhaps wiser in the ways of the world than a sheltered 
young lady such as yourself. Whims such as this one can have consequences beyond 
a moment痴 gratification. But we can see no reason to deny your petition. Let it 
be so written.・/p> 
With a flick of his hand I was dismissed. It was a good thing I had no designs 
on any courtier. Evard had surely dampened my prospects with his remarks. I had 
a gracious response prepared, but someone else was already making his obeisance, 
speaking of dispatching messengers to the Leiran troops to pass on the joyous 
news of King Evard痴 ascension to the throne. The line of petitioners, grovelers, 
and well-wishers stretched all the way through the hall and into the outer ward.
My eyes cast down, I curtsied deeply and backed away into the murmuring crowd. I 
felt like flying to the ceiling with the pigeons, like leaping atop the long, 
curved Council tables and crowing like the gold and russet hawks who soared 
above the roofs at Comigor. I dared not look at Martin or Tennice, lest I burst 
out laughing or fling myself into their arms and bless them for their gifts. 
After a suitable time of humble attention to the proceedings熔f which I heard not 
a single word悠 worked my way to the back of the crowd and slipped out one of the 
many side doors to the hall. People were jammed up to every door, willing to 
suffer crushed toes and bruised elbows to provide themselves with a glimpse of 
history to carry though their lives・or at least through the next dinner party. I 
had scarcely made my way through the door when I felt a firm hand on my elbow. 
泥arzid!・/p> 
添our brother requires your presence, my lady.・To my surprise, the dark, deep-set 
eyes of Tomas痴 aide glittered with amusement. Did Tomas know his aide took so 
light a view of my rebellion?
的壇 have thought Tomas would be too busy with his new duties to have time for 
family visits.・/p> 
徹h, no. He痴 asked me especially to bring you to him. Need I say that he has a 
most ah・pressing・desire to have a word with you? Would this be a good time for 
us to run away together, do you think? You will reap his wrath for an hour, but 
I have to fight beside the man!・/p> 
Despite his smiles and mischievous humor, Darzid痴 gentlemanly touch brought me 
back to earth. My visions fled. My wings felt ripped away, my hawk痴 feathers 
plucked. I jerked loose from him and smoothed my gown, disheveled by the press 
of the crowd. 的f Tomas thinks to change my mind, he痴 mistaken.・/p> 
的 make no estimates of his expectations, my lady. I値l confess that after this 
day痴 events, I would not set myself up to predict any action of yours. You池e 
even more interesting than the young woman I致e come to admire so deeply over the 
past years.・He swept his hand indicating a path down a broad corridor to the 
left, and then offered me his arm.
Somehow, I could not bear the thought of touching him again, and so I shoved 
past him. 迭emember your place, Captain.・/p> 
Darzid bowed and led me to a small, luxuriously furnished sitting room. 的壇 
recommend you remain here until the duke is able to attend to you.・His 
expression did not register my rudeness. His smile did not change, nor the 
amused glint in his eyes. He bowed again and closed the door behind him.
I was left to occupy myself with an ivory and jade chessboard. Fingering the 
exquisite pieces, lost in thoughts of Windham and those who played there, I 
wondered what I might have to do to keep my friends out of harm痴 way. If naught 
else, Darzid had wakened caution. No attention must be directed anywhere near 
Karon.
An hour later, Tomas burst through the gilded door. 典here you are.・His face 
convulsed with fury. 展hat damnable perversity has made you do this to me?・/p> 
I was prepared to hold my tongue, to do whatever I could to mend the rift I壇 
caused or at least do nothing to make it unmendable. Tomas and I had no family 
but each other, no aunts or uncles, no one any closer than distant cousins like 
Martin. But my brother was not to be placated.
滴ave I not let you have your way all these years? Have I been extraordinarily 
cruel or brutal, that you should humiliate me so despicably? Our father must be 
crying out from the grave at the disgrace you致e brought on our house this 
day.・He strode to the center of the room, spun on his heel, and glared at me. 
的t痴 Martin, isn稚 it? He痴 put you up to it. The Westover Codex・ faugh! The 
self-righteous prig, thinking he痴 got the only mote of intelligence in the 
universe. This is how he takes his pitiful revenge, befouling all of us because 
the better man won. He痴 not strong enough or brave enough to face Evard on his 
own, so he manipulates a fool of a girl to do his dirty work for him.・/p> 
I thought he would never leave off.
添ou meant to do it this way. The culminating day of my life容verything I致e worked 
for, fought for, bled for・and what have you done? Turned it into a hill of 
dung!・/p> 
典omas! Listen to yourself,・I broke in at last. 鄭ll I hear is how you are 
humiliated, how you will have to wallow in dishonor, how your triumph has been 
turned to dung. Did you ever consider me for even a moment? Did you ever think 
what it is to be deemed of no more value than a plot of land or a chest of gold 
to be paid out because your brother is loyal? You would pledge your sister to a 
man she despises. For what?・/p> 
擢or everything. I would have made you queen, you little fool! We would have been 
the most powerful family in the Four Realms.・/p> 
Blast all stupidity, I thought, as Tomas trembled with rage. It was not just for 
loyalty and friendship. I壇 not given Tomas enough credit. It had never crossed 
my mind that his ambitions stretched beyond Evard.
I tried to soothe him. 添ou値l have all the power you wish, Tomas. You致e been 
Evard痴 most devoted friend; you致e fought beside him since you were boys. You are 
the Champion of Leire, and not just because you池e his friend. You池e the finest 
swordsman in the Four Realms and none in any realm will dispute it. But I don稚 
want to be queen, Tomas, not if it means being Evard痴 chattel or even yours.・/p> 

Tomas threw up his hands. 添ou prefer Martin痴 endless Long Night follies and 
juggling shows. Are you his whore, too?・/p> 
So much for unmendable rifts. I slapped him, leaving a darker red mark on his 
red face. 添our tongue is as foul as your choice of friends, Tomas, and just as 
unimaginative. The only foolish thing I致e done this day is think that somehow, 
given time, you might understand.・/p> 
My brother answered with cold hatred that was far more terrible than his anger. 
的 will never understand, Sen.・He opened the door and flung his last words over 
his shoulder. 泥on稚 bother returning to Comigor. I値l have your things sent to the 
townhouse and set up a means to keep you respectably. I trust you値l return to 
some semblance of decorum after this despicable performance.・ He slammed the 
door, leaving me alone in the gilded room.
The anger I had expected. Tomas had been indulged from his first breath, 
deprived of nothing save the remotest inkling that there were others in the 
universe besides himself. But the unyielding hatred葉hat I had not expected. I 
would have to tread carefully. In one day I had made enemies of the two most 
powerful men in the land.
Well, I had made my choice and I had no intention of regretting it, though I 
could see now the painful consequences that must follow. An ornate little desk 
in the corner of the anteroom housed paper, pens, and ink, so the first thing I 
did was to write a message to the housekeeper at our townhouse, saying the house 
must be opened that night, rather than later in the fall as had been the family 
custom. And then I wrote a letter to Martin.
My dear cousin,
As you have seen, it is done. My fate, at least in the realm of marriage, is in 
my own hands, and I do not regret my choice. But as with all choices of any 
significance, especially those which tread on the pride of kings and brothers, 
certain consequences must temper any celebration of success in my endeavor.
I cannot express too deeply my gratitude for the education and friendship you 
have given me in the past four years. My view of the world has been irrevocably 
changed by the enlightened company at Windham, but for now my participation in 
those pleasant activities must end. Though not my desire, this too, is my own 
choice.
My brother and I have agreed that I will take up residence here in the city. I 
am well provided for.
You must tell my friends that they will ever be in my thoughts, and for any who 
go traveling, may the road be filled with nothing but beauty.
Highest regards,
Your cousin,
Seri
It was not enough, but what could possibly be enough to tell them what I wished? 
They would read between the lines.
Year 1 in the reign of King Evard
I plunged immediately into the social life of the court, renewing girlhood 
friendships I had abandoned when I had begun attending Martin痴 salons. I found 
it ironic that I was supposed to find the 電ecorum・Tomas so prized in the drunken 
revelry of idle nobles who could converse on no topic more serious than who was 
whose mistress, and what were the prospects for the fall campaign, and weren稚 
last year痴 vintages the most bloody awful in history.
But between afternoon feasts, hunting parties, and evening entertainments, I 
read and studied furiously. Until the years at Windham I had never been 
studious, preferring a ride across the downs to reading a book or a game of 
draughts to composing an essay. Even at Windham, my scholarship had been mostly 
confined to avid listening, unschooled argument, and persistent questioning. 
Only Tennice痴 challenge had sent me to reading. But now that I was deprived of 
that company, I discovered a hunger for knowledge that I could ease nowhere but 
in books. In the back of my mind I held fast to something Tennice had mentioned 
in passing, that one or two women had been allowed to study at the Royal 
University in Valleor. To make something different of my life・I liked that idea. 
Things more unlikely had come about.
I also hired an elderly gentleman to teach me to play the flute. He was a 
drunkard, but in the rare times he came without spirits on his breath, he could 
sear the soul with the beauty of his music. He said he drank because no one 
would listen. I listened, and I learned.
One morning, as I sat in my library studying a history of the Four Realms, 
Darzid came to visit. 笛ust to discover how this new life suits you,・he said. 哲o 
need to stop what you池e doing.・/p> 
He settled in a chair by the window and seemed to mean what he said. He browsed 
through the stack of books I had left beside the chair: one on law, one on 
philosophy, one on the history of Valleor that I was devouring with new eyes, 
hunting any mention of Avonar. The task of opening a conversation was left to 
me. The trouble was, I was far more interested in what I was reading. The 
tattered book in my hand purported to recount the history of 鍍he reign of horror 
and the noble restoration・some four and a half centuries in the past. I 
purposely did not offer Darzid any refreshment and did not move from my library 
table to a chair that might facilitate our conversation.
添ou must report to Tomas that I appear comfortable and well fed, and I do not 
seem to be moping for the loss of his companionship or Evard痴.・/p> 
溺mm.・He thumbed idly through one of the books, but I didn稚 think he was reading 
it.
It was tedious to make conversation when you had no heart for it. 鉄o, Captain, 
are you finding sufficient fodder for your character sketches, since Tomas has 
dragged you so high? Have you decided to write them down as you threatened? I 
think the kingdom could do with a good laugh now the war has taken up again.・/p> 

典he world is absurd. I濫 He broke off, threw the book on the table, and sat back, 
tapping his long finger rapidly on the arm of the chair. Though his dress was as 
sleek as ever, Darzid didn稚 look well. The sunny window at his back left his 
haggard face in shadow. The mischievous glint was gone.
I waited for him to resume his thought. He was not one to dance about a topic or 
adhere to polite protocols. But the silence stretched so long and so heavily, I 
felt compelled to say something. 鼎aptain, why are you here?・/p> 
A hint of his sardonic smile flashed across his face. 的致e missed our dinner 
conversations. Every fishwife in this city knows of your estrangement from your 
brother, thus they refuse to seat me next you. You致e always brought out my best 
humor.・/p> 
鉄o, is it court life or soldiering that痴 quenched it?・/p> 
典ruth to tell, I致e not been sleeping well.・He drew up to the edge of his chair 
and leaned forward. 典ell me, lady, do you ever have the sense that you belong 
somewhere else? That your life has taken a course you cannot explain?・/p> 
徹n occasion,・I said. Certainly on the night I had learned that the society I 
believed built on honor had perpetuated a horrific lie葉hat sorcerers were 
universally evil and deserved to die in torment. 填sually when I am at some 
baroness痴 masque濫
哲o, no. This is something else.・A gold chain hung about his neck, its links 
gleaming in the sunbeams. 的 visited a village in the far north of Valleor last 
month, a place where I致e never been. The people of the village claimed to know 
me. To detest me. Old people swore they壇 met me in their youth. I thought it an 
oddity, but at three other villages in the district, it was the same. My lady, 
they told me of a duel fought there thirty years ago. I killed a local man, they 
said, a man well regarded in their district. They described the combat in 
detail. I scoffed at the tale, but they swore to it, mentioning a star-shaped 
scar left on my shoulder from the incident. I told them it was nonsense, of 
course. Tomas got a great laugh.・/p> 
釘ut you池e not laughing.・Indeed he was as serious as I壇 ever seen him.
的 have such a scar on my shoulder, exactly as they described it.・ 
Absentmindedly, Darzid rubbed his left shoulder, as if some ghost pain bothered 
him.
鼎oincidence. You池e a Leiran soldier. You have a number of scars, I知 sure. And 
every Vallorean hates every Leiran ever born.・/p> 
釘ut, strangely enough, I can稚 tell you where I got this particular scar. The 
whole matter got me thinking. There are a number of things I can稚 remember: 
stories of my family, my career, that I致e told so often they seem true, and yet 
when I turn my mind to them, they vanish like movements you see only out of the 
corner of your eye.・He stared at his hands and the ugly burn scars that crossed 
his palms. 鄭nd there are images floating in my head that have no place there, 
images that have the truth of memory, and yet are so fantastical・ He shook his 
head as if to rid himself of those very thoughts. 擢oolishness. You must think me 
drunk.・/p> 
展hy are you telling me these things?・/p> 
He forced a laugh. 的致e no one else to tell of my fancies. Tomas and Evard are 
quite single-minded, and everyone else in this kingdom gets the megrims from 
such talk. But you sit here wide-eyed and act as if you hear such mysteries 
every day. I knew you壇 not laugh at me. You are exceptional・
I壇 never seen such a look on Darzid痴 face蓉nmasked admiration・a request for 
intimacy・/p> 
I stood up abruptly. This conversation was going somewhere I didn稚 want to go. 
的知 sorry I can稚 hear the whole story, Captain. But for now, I知 in the middle of 
some work・ I waved at my book and a stack of papers on my desk.
Face scarlet, he leaped to his feet and called my butler for his cloak. 溺y 
apologies, my lady. I had no wish to make you uncomfortable.・/p> 
典his thing with Tomas will pass.・I said. 展e値l sit at many a tedious dinner where 
you can tell me more.・His story was indeed curious, but I had no need and no 
desire for intimacy with an ambitious courtier. Those entrusted with mortal 
secrets had to be careful about intimate relationships.
In a flurry of farewells and deprecating humor, he took his leave. 的f Tomas 
fails to come to his senses and you find this studious life as boring as a 
dinner party, perhaps you will invite me back sometime and restore my wit.・/p> 
鄭nything is possible, Captain.・/p> 
But in truth, I never invited him back. I cared nothing for Darzid and his 
humors and his mysteries. Rather, my thoughts remained at Windham, and I would 
smile to myself and wonder what dusty tomes Tennice had discovered lately, and 
who would ally with Julia to argue with Martin that women should own property, 
and was Karon even there or was he traveling again, searching for knowledge and 
beauty to feed his strange power. Someday I would know more of sorcery. I壇 had 
too small a taste of that exotic fruit.
When I was a child of five, King Gevron had decided that subjugation of the 
other three of the Four Realms was the only answer to the centuries of bloody 
disputes with our neighbors, Valleor, Kerotea, and Iskeran. He began with 
Valleor, the fertile kingdom to the northwest, also the weakest of the three and 
the one with the longest shared border. Eleven years passed until the day the 
last Vallorean fortress fell; only the kingdom痴 vast size預nd frequent 
interruptions from the more warlike Keroteans and Isker・had made the conquest 
take so long. Gevron spent three years ravaging conquered Valleor, and thus had 
turned his full attention to Kerotea only in the last years of his reign. That 
war had gone nowhere.
Evard marched out of Montevial one week after his coronation, bragging that he 
would finish off the Keroteans in far less time than Gevron had taken to crush 
Valleor. By midwinter of the first year of his reign, he claimed decisive 
victories on the Kerotean frontier. But dismal weather cut the campaign short, 
and gossip was that everything gained would be lost again by spring.
On the eve of Long Night, I decided to stay home. There had been an unending 
siege of entertainments celebrating Seille葉he midwinter season that culminated 
in Long Night and the ten days until year痴 end預nd I had refused no invitation 
lest any slight be noted. I flirted with any man who would look at me and made 
sure there was enough gossip at court that Tomas and Evard would hear of it. The 
king would be able to blame no man for standing higher than himself in my favor. 
Eventually, perhaps, he would lose interest and stop listening. But enough was 
enough. I pleaded the grippe and spent the evening with a wool comforter and a 
book of Vallorean folk tales, the winter shadows held back only by the flicker 
of my library fire.
The front bell rang. I assumed it was one of my latest suitors, most likely 
Viscount Mantegna, pleading with the butler that he would be eternally 
devastated if he could not drive me out in his new sleigh. Mantegna was a 
slobbering pup, but amusing enough. Luckily I had Joubert, the butler, well 
trained. 哲o・meant no.
There came a tap on the library door, and Joubert entered with a long, thin 
parcel in his hand. 添our pardon, my lady. A gift has arrived.・/p> 
The arm-length bundle of green silk was tied with a gold ribbon and had no card. 
Unrolling the layers of silk revealed a rose・in the middle of winter, a single, 
perfect red rose. The tips of the scarlet petals curled out, on the very instant 
of bursting open. Poised on one of them was a single dewdrop, no stray snowflake 
or ice pellet melted in the warmth of the room, for as I gazed upon the flower, 
wreathed in its sweetness, I smelled the dew-laden gardens of Windham. 
Enchantment・/p> 
I ran to the foyer to see if he was there, but the front of the house was dark 
and deserted. I was overwhelmed with disappointment, but only until I touched 
the rose again. Then I smiled, put it in a crystal vase, and set it on a low 
table where I could see it from every angle. The rose was message enough.
Spring brought the Month of Winds, when we celebrated Arot痴 wedding to Mana, the 
wind maiden who had given birth to the Twins. On each day of the Month of Winds, 
parents gave children presents and sweets in remembrance of the gifts Mana had 
given to the creatures of forest and sky at her wedding, hiding them around the 
house and gardens as Mana had hidden nuts for the squirrels. Midway through the 
month came the Feast of Vines, supposedly the most propitious day of the year 
for engagements and betrothals. Certainly it was a propitious day for 
wine-merchants.
On a rainy afternoon five days after the feast day, I attended the funeral rites 
for the Duke of Gamercy, a jolly, hard-drinking, foulmouthed old man who had 
been one of my father痴 closest friends. Gossip said the old man had enjoyed the 
Feast of Vines a bit too much for one in his sixty-seventh year. Tomas did not 
attend the funeral, being at Evard痴 side on the new campaign in Kerotea. Martin 
was present, though, sitting across the cold stone expanse of Annadis痴 temple 
with Tennice at his side. It was the first time I壇 seen them in the seven months 
since Evard痴 coronation. Neither of them looked my way.
After the incense-filled hours of songs and stories commending the old warrior痴 
name to the Twins as worthy to be entered on their lists of earthly heroes, the 
guests retired to the duke痴 townhouse for refreshment and reminiscence. Though I 
wanted nothing more than to fling myself into Martin痴 arms and beg for news, I 
followed his lead. My cousin engaged himself with a serious group of men I didn稚 
know, making no move to approach me. Tennice left early after speaking with the 
widow and no one else.
As I took my own leave of the duchess, a footman presented me with the customary 
engraved commemorative card, folded so that the duke痴 arms and martial history 
were scribed on the outside, and the tale of his lineage on the inside. It wasn稚 
until I got home, lonely and disappointed, that I discovered that my card had a 
scrap of paper inserted. The note was not signed, but two years of handwritten 
tutorials on the law enabled me to recognize Tennice痴 hand quite easily. The 
text read like someone痴 random, philosophical musings, but to me the choice of 
words was not at all random.
The wisdom of the fair sex is proved.
Safety for the traveler lies in prolonged absence.
Four is not enough for true diversity of opinion.
The first line confirmed my belief that Martin痴 failure to discourage my 
withdrawal from Windham was a recognition of its necessity. I wondered if he had 
more concrete evidence of my wisdom than did I myself. I had only instinct. The 
second told me that Karon was gone. I couldn稚 decide whether it was more 
difficult to think of him traveling in some distant, unknown land than it had 
been to think of him at Windham, so close, yet a place I could not be. I could 
not consider the prospect that he might never come back. Not after the rose.
The third told me that I was missed, and that made it all very hard.
Summer brought the fascinating news that Evard was betrothed to the daughter of 
Dagobert, the last Vallorean king. It was a brilliant move on Evard痴 part葉he 
legitimization of Leiran dominance over Valleor. Princess Mariel was sixteen and 
had been 都heltered・in a remote temple school since the day her entire family had 
been beheaded in front of her.
Though Leirans did not usually execute women, out of respect for Arot痴 holy wife 
Mana, spared by the monsters of earth and sky in Arot痴 battles in the 
Beginnings, they had made an exception for the Queen of Valleor. As her husband痴 
and sons・severed heads yet stared up at their executioners, Queen Margereth 
vowed to lie with the first healthy Vallorean man she could find, whether noble 
or peasant, and thus produce an heir to Valleor more legitimate than any Leiran 
king. She was beheaded straightaway. But King Gevron had allowed the girl child 
to live, as long as she was locked up tight in a temple school and never allowed 
to look at a man. Perhaps even marriage to Evard would be better than that 
sterile prison and never tasting life at all.
The wedding was in late summer. The pale-haired girl was lost in the opulent 
finery Evard had selected as suitable for his bride. She was short and thin, 
with a long, angular face and large eyes that blinked constantly. No one was 
impressed by her. I wished her a tolerant heart and a self-sufficient nature; 
she was like to need both.
Tomas attended the wedding, of course, handsome as always and appearing to have 
lost no standing with Evard because of my folly. He had stood as Evard痴 champion 
three times already, and word had it that he was undefeatable. When we crossed 
paths near the refreshment tables, his face hardened bitterly. He spun on his 
heel and walked away. No healing there. Darzid, at his side as always, bowed, 
but did not follow my brother. He made as if to speak with me, but I excused 
myself politely before he could say anything. Martin was in attendance also. He 
greeted me with a formal bow, then turned back to another conversation. So it 
was not time yet.
Year 2 in the reign of King Evard
In the second autumn of my 兎xile,・I turned twenty-three. I returned home early 
on my birthday evening, no more lonely being by myself than in a crowd of people 
with whom I shared no sympathetic interests. I found increasing pleasure in 
practicing my music and thought it would be a satisfactory celebration of the 
day. When Joubert opened the front door for me, he pointed to the library. 鄭 
parcel has arrived for you, my lady. I致e put it in the library. I値l return to 
light the lamps as soon as I致e hung your cloak.・/p> 
哲o need for the lamps. I知 just going to play for a while.・/p> 
I entered the shadowy library, wondering who among my acquaintance had recalled 
it was my birthday. On the polished table was a long, thin bundle of green silk, 
tied with a gold ribbon. My pulse quickened. The rose was white this time, with 
a blush of pink at its edges, the crystalline dew-drop like a tear of joy at its 
perfection. I stood in the firelight, inhaling its sweet fragrance and reveling 
in its beauty預nd even more in its meaning.
的 didn稚 know whether red or white was more to your liking,・came a voice from a 
chair in the corner, 殿nd having been tempered in the fires of the Windham 
debating society, I would be the last to risk your displeasure by making 
unsupported assumptions. So I thought I壇 best come gather evidence for 
myself.・/p> 
I whirled about, ignoring the thorn pricks in my fingers, and out of the shadows 
stepped a sorcerer, come to conjure the desire of my heart on my birthday.
CHAPTER 8
鄭eren, who are you?・/p> 
The young man had turned away, not seeing what he had done and not hearing my 
urgent question. He was furiously launching rocks down the hillside.
I took a deep breath and went to take a closer look at the knife.
Jacopo croaked, 泥on稚 touch it! Oh, demonfire, Seri. There痴 no crack there, no 
opening.・/p> 
的t痴 all right, Jaco. It痴 done.・But it was not all right. My eyes had not 
deceived me. The blade was firmly embedded in solid rock.
鄭eren,・I called again. Flushed and agitated, he dropped his stones and joined me 
beside the spring. I pointed to the knife, and he shrugged his shoulders, not 
surprised at all. What in the name of the stars had I stumbled onto? It became 
even more impossible to deny what had happened when Aeren yanked the knife from 
the stone. No mark, no slot, no chip marred the stone, and the weapon itself was 
neither scratched nor bent.
As I staged at the uncompromising evidence, the trees began to thrash in a 
rising wind, and shadows raced over the ridge top, draining the warmth from the 
wavering sunlight. Afternoon storms were typical of summer in the region, though 
drought had kept them rare the past four years. Yet no storm of nature痴 making 
had ever afflicted me with such profound unease. I shuddered with the sudden 
chill and found myself looking over my shoulder and scanning the horizon. 
Stranger still, although the sun痴 disk hung just over the hilltop, and the 
evening sky was unmarred by haze or cloud, neither my body nor Aeren痴 nor 
Jacopo痴 cast a shadow.
Aeren grabbed my arm and Jacopo痴, and, before we could question or protest, 
dragged the two of us down the slope toward the wood, shoving us roughly into 
the thick brush under the trees and motioning us to silence. I crouched low, and 
soon the entire physical substance of the world was reduced to the dusty twigs 
beside my nose and Aeren痴 muscular arms, pressing me into the thicket. Dread 
seeped into my bones. Time twisted in a knot and turned in upon itself. The wind 
stank of smoke and ash葉he scent of soul-searing desolation・/p> 
The weights lifting from my spirit and my back told me when the shadow had gone. 
A beam of sunlight pierced the forest roof, stinging my eyes. The still air 
smelled properly of hot pine needles and dry leaves, and a jay痴 raucous 
chattering roused the other birds. Jacopo and I reacted as one.
鄭eren, what was that?・/p> 
展hat madness is this, Seri?・I had never heard Jacopo afraid.
的 don稚 know, Jaco,・I said. 的 don稚 know.・/p> 
A frowning Aeren paid no attention to my question, but urged us down the trail 
toward the cottage, casting frequent glances toward the ridgetop. I had no mind 
to argue with him. Whatever we had experienced, I wanted no more of it. But by 
the time we reached the meadow and the cottage, the event was already fading 
into insubstantial memory, a lingering revulsion like the taste of spoilt milk. 
What had really happened besides a cloud passing over the sun?
Aeren himself was of far more interest to me. One language I had not tried with 
him. I knew only a few words, for most were long buried in the depths of 
history, and I had believed no one still living in the world could understand 
them.
鄭eren, J脱ttanne y dise?・/em>
Though he shook his head, his face came alive in a way I had not yet seen. I 
tried a few more words, and he recognized some, but not all, as if this was a 
language of which he, too, knew only fragments. Did he mean that he was not 
J脱ttanne or that he didn稚 know? I couldn稚 seem to make my question clear. One 
more thing to try. I formed a question in my mind with absolute clarity, 
sweeping aside every other thought and concern until the words stood alone like 
stone pillars in the desert, and then I took Aeren痴 hand and laid it on my 
temple, inviting him, with the gesture Karon had taught me, to read what was 
inside. He yanked his hand away and shook his head angrily, then rapped his 
clenched fist rapidly against his brow. So he couldn稚 do it, but he knew exactly 
what I meant.
I could hardly contain my excitement. Excitement揺ow strange it was. I should be 
terrified. No one could get wind of this or all of our lives would be forfeit: 
Aeren痴, mine, Jaco痴・/p> 
The old sailor sat on Jonah痴 bench beside the cottage door, staring at the 
horizon, his wide hands braced stiffly on his knees. I sat down beside him and 
laid my hand over his gnarled fingers. His skin was cold.
笛aco, I知 so sorry. I壇 never have gotten you involved if I壇 suspected this.・/p> 
鼎an he truly take our souls? Was that what he was doing up there? Evil, Seri. 
I致e never felt such evil.・/p> 
的知 not sure exactly what happened up there. The first part, when he did the 
magic, yes. When you felt prickly and alive. But what came later葉he stink, the 
feeling of snakes slithering up your back葉hat was outside my experience. But I 
swear to you that sorcery itself is not evil, and, though he is surely 
dangerous謡ild, half-mad, I think悠 don稚 believe Aere地 means us any harm.・A 
sorcerer・one of Karon痴 people・How in the name of all gods had he happened to 
come here? 的知 not sure what to do.・/p> 
典hey値l arrest you if they find out, little girl. They値l finish what they 
started. You can稚 let him stay.・/p> 
展hat they壇 do to me is not half what they壇 do to him, and the way he is, I知 not 
sure he would even know why.・/p> 
Aeren roamed restlessly across the meadow. I caught up with him, determined to 
get some explanation. 展hat was up there?・I gestured toward the hilltop.
He picked two blades of grass, one green and healthy, one brown and withered. 
Holding the green blade in the fingers of one hand, he passed his other palm 
over it, leaving only the withered blade exposed. That was clear enough. When he 
pointed to the trees and the cottage and folded his arms over his head, I 
gathered that such were places to hide. When I pressed him further, he shrugged 
and walked away.
The J脱ttanni language had denned no simple word for sorcery. It had been no more 
necessary than for other men to have a word for what it is that makes them get 
up in the morning, set one foot in front of the other, or inhale and exhale. But 
for my own safety and Jaco痴, I had to teach Aeren the difference between sorcery 
and other actions. He demonstrated no sense that there was anything unusual 
about what he had done and no understanding of the dreadful consequences if 
others saw such things.
I caught up to Aeren again and persuaded him to follow me. Taking a large rock 
from the stream, I demonstrated that I could not make my knife penetrate the 
stone. He was surprised. Stars in the heavens, where had he been? When I handed 
him the rock and my knife, and indicated that I wanted him to try it, he looked 
puzzled. But with a shrug, he stabbed my knife into the rock with no more effort 
than if it were a lump of cheese.
Though I had been prepared for it, my heart crashed against my ribs. I took 
Aeren痴 hand and made him look at me. 鉄orcery,・I said. He frowned and gestured 
for another word. I pointed to the rock and said its name, and I pointed to the 
knife and did likewise, but I pointed to them joined and said, 鉄orcery.・/p> 
What else could he do? He was not a Healer; I would have seen the scars. Karon 
had borne so many. Lifegiver, his people had called him. I dragged Aeren to the 
garden and showed him the bean vines that had wilted in the heat. 鼎an you make 
them grow?・I asked, miming my words as I spoke. 溺ake them healthy like the 
rest?・He thought what I wanted was ridiculous, but I insisted that he show me. 
He brushed his fingers over the plant, touching leaves and stem gently. A few of 
the leaves took on a deeper green, and for a short distance the vine became 
thicker, but most of the plant remained limp and withered. After only a short 
time he ripped the vine out by the roots, threw it down, and ground it beneath 
his sandaled foot.
的t痴 all right,・I said, trying to remain calm and keep him the same. I retrieved 
the vine and pointed to the leaves he had changed, saying again, 鉄orcery.・/p> 
That piqued his curiosity. With his eyes narrowed, he bade me come to the fire 
ring in the dirt near the cottage. He piled up tinder and kindling in the ring 
of blackened stones, and then he blew softly across his palm and passed his hand 
over the little mound, staring at it intently. After a few moments, a smoky 
tendril curled upward, and then another joined it, and another until a tiny 
flame poked its head above the dry stuff. Though the flame went out almost 
immediately, Aeren looked satisfied and gestured to me that he wanted the word.
鉄orcery,・I said, and he smiled with a brilliance that dimmed the day.
So the first hurdle was done. He knew what kind of things were sorcery. Now to 
convince him that he mustn稚 do any more of it. As I tried to explain, he acted 
puzzled, like a child suddenly told not to walk after being so praised for the 
accomplishment.
Poor Jacopo watched all these activities uncomfortably. Though they had known 
the crimes of which I had been accused, I had never discussed sorcery with 
Jacopo, Anne, or Jonah. Why distress them? I had fought my battles and lost.
But on this strange afternoon, I stepped back into the fray. I cared nothing for 
anyone; I would not cross a road to save a life. For ten years I had believed 
that human beings were the most despicable of creatures, vile, murderous 
hypocrites who would slaughter their own. Even the J脱ttanne, who so piously 
celebrated life, had taught their children that their destiny was to die, 
refusing to lift their hands to stop it. Yet in the end I was as bad as the rest 
of them, manipulating others, endangering lives to serve my own ends. I pressed 
a mug of ale into my only friend痴 hand and told him that my curiosity and my 
hatred were going to put him in mortal danger. 的致e decided what to do next,・I 
said, my cheeks hot, my limbs so light they might have belonged to someone else 
entirely. 的知 going to find this man who痴 searching for him.・/p> 
I owed the J脱ttanne nothing, but Aeren was a sorcerer and Darzid was hunting 
him. I would kill Aeren myself before I allowed Evard to burn another man.
* * *
Though Aeren was clearly unhappy about my decision to leave the valley, and 
Jacopo grumbled endlessly about my decision to venture my mission alone, I bade 
farewell to the two of them early the next morning. Grenatte was five leagues to 
the south, but I had walked it before. I followed a narrow track across the 
meadow, and when I reached the intersection with the main road just south of 
Dunfarrie, I found a surprise預 skinny, grimy figure perched on a pile of 
boulders waiting for me.
撤aulo! What are you doing here?・/p> 
哲ot my idea.・/p> 
的 wondered why Jacopo found it so urgent to go down to the village last night. 
How much did he pay you to tag along?・/p> 
鉄ecret. Promised.・/p> 
鄭nd what are you supposed to do? Protect me from highwaymen?・/p> 
The boy straightened his back. 溺ight. I know a bit.・/p> 
徹f course you do, but it痴 a very long way.・I didn稚 want to shame the boy, but I 
failed to see how he could walk so far with his twisted leg.
泥one it before. Faster地 you.・/p> 
I grinned. 典hink so? Well, we値l see then.・I started briskly down the road, Paulo 
scampering along beside. Jacopo was no fool. Having an extra hand, a pair of 
youthful eyes, and a trustworthy messenger was not a bad notion.
鉄o Paulo, does your gram know where you are?・/p> 
鉄he痴 down drunk again.・/p> 
徹h.・/p> 
His father had been hanged for thievery when Paulo was small, and his mother had 
disappeared only months after, leaving Paulo to be raised by his grandmother 
when she was sober and the rest of the village when she was drunk. He had no 
trouble keeping up. I thought it would be exhausting to twist with each step as 
Paulo had to do, but he seemed tireless, and though his body was far from 
perfect, his hearing was excellent. After an hour of good progress, he halted 
abruptly. 滴orses. Wagon. Behind.・He cocked an eye at me. 笛aco says maybe you 
want to be private.・/p> 
典hat痴 true,・said I, 澱ut I don稚 hear anything.・/p> 
擢our or five of 覇m. I値l swear on horseflesh.・/p> 
He was so sure of himself that, despite feeling a bit foolish, I motioned him 
over behind the sprawling blackberry bushes that lined the roadway. He promptly 
began stuffing berries in his mouth while I crouched itching and sweating in the 
prickly thicket. About the time I was convinced that his warning was only a ploy 
to get a rest, the boy put a purple-stained finger to his mouth, and I heard the 
jangle of harness.
Two heavily armed men rode and two equally tough-looking women walked beside a 
wagon driven by a hard-faced boy about Paulo痴 age. Their cargo was barrels of 
the type commonly used for sugar預 valuable load. Dangerous. I allowed the party 
to take a substantial lead before setting out on the road again.
的知 glad you池e here, Paulo.・/p> 
The boy trotted ahead of me. 釘est keep up!・/p> 
The road stayed close to the river for a while, then angled southwest, passing 
through a trailing remnant of the great northern forests before breaking out 
into the rolling grasslands of southern Leire. I disliked the few-league passage 
through During Forest. The giant oaks and ashes grew together so thickly that 
they blocked the sunlight, leaving their lower branches bare and brittle. Little 
grew on the forest floor to disturb the ancient piles of rotting leaves and 
tangles of fallen trees. We had been walking beneath the grim forest canopy for 
almost an hour when Paulo stopped again.
迭iders. Three of 覇m close behind. And there痴 men in the woods up ahead. 
Quiet.・/p> 
My skin crept. Highwaymen. Paulo and I quickly retreated into the shelter of a 
lightning-split oak, settling ourselves carefully so that no breaking twig could 
betray our presence, and so that we could not be seen from the road. Then we 
watched.
The three horsemen wore priests・robes, two of them in gray, one in black with a 
heavy gold chain about his neck. Their horses were richly caparisoned with red 
and gold, blazoned with the rising sun of Annadis. Intricate decorative goldwork 
hung from the bridles, jingling softly as they passed.
I had little use for the priests of Leire, resenting all the years I had 
listened to their drivel. They taught that the Holy Twins had no interest in the 
daily trials of mortals, only in deeds of honor and glory that reflected their 
own. Priests of Annadis had sanctioned what was done to Karon and my son. I was 
not interested in gods who found honor or glory in such doings. And for the 
common folk, honor and glory meant working themselves to exhaustion, paying the 
exorbitant temple fees and royal taxes without complaint, and dying cheerfully 
in the king痴 everlasting wars. No surprise that village shrines all over Leire 
were neglected, and the great temples deserted except on high feast days when 
the priests gave out alms.
The highwaymen slipped out of the trees and blocked the way of the hooded 
travelers just as the riders passed our position. 滴old!・commanded a short, 
stocky man. He wore a yellow rag tied around his head and carried a long knife. 
His four companions were variously armed with a cudgel, a spear, a dagger, and a 
crossbow, cocked and ready. 泥ismount.・The priests obeyed in silence. Two of the 
outlaws caught the reins of the horses, while their companions stood guard on 
the hooded priests.
The stocky man examined the horses carefully, running his hand down the withers 
of a well-formed bay. 鉄uch fine beasts are not the usual for traveling holy men. 
And such trappings・ He jingled the gold link work dangling from the bridle, and 
then strolled up to his victims and ran his eyes up and down the still figures. 
典urned out quite grand for priests, are we not?・With a swift movement of his 
knife he snatched the gold chain about the neck of the priest in black and 
deftly twisted it about the long knife blade, leaving the point of his blade at 
the man痴 throat. The three priests stood perfectly still and perfectly silent.
轍uiet lot, you are. Never met a holy man could keep from telling me how wicked 
are my ways, and how the Twins want my blood and my coin. Tiresome. Perhaps 
you池e not born to it.・He took another twist in the gold chain. 釘ut you致e 
prospered, nonetheless. Mayhap it痴 time you shared a bit with the poor.・/p> 
I was prepared to see murder done揺ighwaymen had nothing to lose, being already 
condemned傭ut not in the way it happened. With breathtaking suddenness, the three 
horses screamed and reared, crushing one of the outlaws and entangling another 
in hooves and reins. In the ensuing confusion, the two gray-robed priests 
whirled about with blinding speed and precision, overpowering their guards. The 
one in black pinned the leader of the outlaws to the ground under the point of 
his own knife. With simple ease and no hesitation, the priest drove the knife 
home in the bandit痴 chest, and then jumped up to join the larger fray.
It was over in moments. Three outlaws lay on the road unmoving. The two 
gray-clad priests held the two remaining highwaymen, pinning their arms behind 
them so cruelly that I expected to hear a bone snap in the sudden quiet. The 
priest in black approached the defiant captives. His hood had fallen back to 
reveal thin, light-colored hair and an angular face with jutting nose and brow. 
添ou should have been more selective as to your prey, my little wolves,・he said 
evenly, his voice the more unsettling for its complete lack of emotion. And 
before the outlaws had a chance to savor a last breath, he whipped his knife 
across each throat. The two bleeding bodies were released and slumped to the 
ground.
The priest in black jerked his head around and stared into the trees, exactly in 
our direction. I dared not breathe until he pulled up his hood, turned, and 
clucked at his horse. A fallen highwayman moaned. The black-robed priest snapped 
his fingers. One of his fellows picked up the dropped spear and plunged it 
through the injured outlaw, pinning him to the road. The spear shaft was still 
quivering when the three priests disappeared down the road south.
展hat, in the name of all gods, was that?・I shivered. The midday heat felt harsh 
and bitter. My mouth tasted of ashes.
擢ilthy, bloody damn.・Paulo never had a lot of words.
We crept out onto the road. I told Paulo to wait for me while I stepped 
cautiously to each of the five men that lay on the hard-packed dirt.
鄭re you loony?・said Paulo. 敵et away!・/p> 
的 need to make sure they池e dead.・/p> 
的t痴 only thieves.・/p> 
典hey池e men.・Well, they had been men. Now they were all quite dead. Outlaws, yes, 
murderers themselves, no doubt, many times over. Yet I found myself with an odd 
sense of sympathy. If I had been empowered to choose the victors in that battle 
and entangle my fortune with theirs, I would have, quite irrationally, preferred 
to take my chances with the highwaymen.
As a child I had adored my family痴 winter stays in Montevial. The crush of 
people and society in the city, the music and torchlight and carriages, even the 
spine-chilling sight of criminals hung up in cages or locked in pillories had 
been a thrilling change from our dull castle in the country. But now I found the 
stench and din of even so small a town as Grenatte made my head throb. Wagons of 
hay and wood rumbled noisily through the cobbled streets, and the walls of a 
blacksmith痴 shop bulged with deafening clatter. A leather-aproned tradesman 
stood in the door of his shop, arguing loudly with a driver over a wagonload of 
hides, while a slack-mouthed girl drove a herd of bleating sheep through the 
square and yelled lewd insults at a man locked in the stocks and emitting a 
thready moan. The prisoner had evidently borne false witness; flies crawled on 
the bloody void where his nose had once been.
I sat tiredly on the stone steps that encircled the public well in the center of 
the town square, having bidden Paulo go to every inn in town, giving out the 
story that he had been paid to deliver a message to the person seeking a stolen 
white horse. The message said to meet the sender, a dark-bearded man wearing 
red, in the Green Lion common room at sunset, I had no intention of confronting 
the stranger right away, only to get a look at him. At the end of an exhausting 
day, my motives were far less clear than when I壇 set out.
An army of beggars, the crippled remnants of Evard痴 Kerotean war, groped at 
passersby on the peripheries of the square. The Kerotean campaign had been 
murderous. The Keroteans were a fiercely independent, religious people, sturdy 
warriors who believed their mountains were the fortresses of their god. Only the 
sheer numbers of bodies Evard had flung against the heavily fortified Kerotean 
cities had conquered them. Rumor had it that twenty-five thousand Leirans had 
died to take Kallamat, the city of golden-domed temples where butter lamps 
burned to the Kerotean god every hour of every day, a city perched so high in 
the mountains that men could not breathe the air. Evard had told his men there 
were chests of gold in every house in Kallamat, but no common soldier had ever 
seen a single coin of it. And the people of Leire had seen only these armless, 
legless, or eyeless veterans, if they saw any result at all of twelve bloody 
years.
In less than half an hour, Paulo came streaking back through the late afternoon 
crowds, narrowly avoiding tumbling into the well. 擢ound him.・/p> 
展hat was he like?・/p> 
泥ark. Small. Dressed fine.・Paulo screwed up his face thoughtfully. 滴e don稚 
fit.・/p> 
I wasn稚 sure what he meant, but could garner no clearer explanation. 展hat did he 
say?・/p> 
典ried to grab me, but I nipped off like you said.・/p> 
添ou should stay out of sight for a while. Have you anything to eat?・/p> 
敵ot a biscuit.・Paulo touched a limp cloth bag hanging from his belt. I was sure 
the boy never got enough to satisfy a growing appetite.
I dug into my pack and pulled out a small cloth bundle. 滴ere痴 jack and cheese. 
I値l get a room and we値l see what comes. Jacopo did me better service than he 
knew when he sent you along.・/p> 
的 can do for myself. Innkeeper said I could sleep in the stables if I mucked out 
the stalls.・He hadn稚 touched my offered bundle, though his eyes had not left it 
since I mentioned its contents.
敵o on, take it. I brought enough for both of us.・/p> 
Before I could blink, the boy grabbed the bundle and was gone. The light was 
fading as I shouldered my pack and made my way to the Green Lion. It seemed a 
decent enough place, with less grease and soot than most Leiran inns. A wide, 
flyspecked window looked out on the docks. I told the innkeeper that I was a 
widow, hoping to catch a skiff going south so I could return to my family in 
Deshiva.
展e致e lost ten local boys to the war already this year,・confided the stout, 
bearded proprietor, who introduced himself as Bartolome. 哲o one can hardly work 
the land no more, for lack of hands to hold the plows. More widows like you than 
children. Don稚 know who they値l take next for soldiering. I致e a hope they池e not 
desperate enough for fat innkeepers!・His thick, hairy fingers traded a mug of 
ale for a copper coin, even as he talked. Fat or no, I had the sense that he 
would not even need to see the coin to know whether or not it was genuine. 鉄hall 
my wife send supper up to your room? Ladies often prefer it when traveling 
alone.・/p> 
哲o, I think I値l sit in your common room. I致e been alone too much and could use 
the sight of people.・/p> 
鄭s you wish. Becky there will see to you.・He waved at a barmaid and was soon 
deep in conversation with another customer.
Fifteen to twenty people sat in the smoky room: some lone travelers eating soup 
ladled from the common pot, a few laborers and tradesmen finishing the day with 
a tankard of the Green Lion痴 ale, and a prosperous-looking couple with two 
small, neat children in stiff collars, casting surreptitious glances at the 
other guests. No one fit my quarry痴 description.
I settled myself at a small table in the dimmest corner of the room, where I 
would be able to see anyone who came in the door or down the stairs. The 
ruddy-faced barmaid brought me a bowl of hot broth, thick with barley and spiced 
with pepper. The inn was busy; customers flowed in and out like a noisy, thirsty 
tide. Laughter blared from tradesmen sharing a bawdy story, some tankards were 
spilled, causing tempers to erupt and two men to threaten fisticuffs. Bartolome 
shoved the drunkards out the door, and the prosperous-looking family fled up the 
stairs.
As the light outside the window dulled, a man descended the stairs. I almost 
laughed. Paulo痴 description had been so right. He didn稚 吐it.・He had the look of 
a Kerotean・dark, almond-shaped eyes, straight black hair, and close-trimmed 
beard sculpted to a point預nd he was dressed in the flowing trousers and 
colorful, brocaded vest of the Kerotean aristocracy. But his skin was the color 
of dried oak leaves, not milk. More significantly, his head would only reach my 
shoulder, and there lived no Kerotean aristocrat so diminutive in size, not even 
the women, who aver-aged a full head taller than me. Kerotean nobles killed any 
of their children that were defective in any way, including those born 
undersized.
The fidgety little man whispered to the landlord, and when the portly Bartolome 
shook his head, took a seat at a table not too far from me. His dark eyes darted 
about the room, and I concentrated on my soup. When next I dared look up, the 
man was sipping from a tankard of ale. Another mistake. Keroteans drank no ale 
or spirits of any kind. I had thought to observe the man for a day or two, 
perhaps question the landlord and servants about him, but my plan suddenly 
seemed foolish. Paulo and I could wrestle this fellow into submission if he gave 
any trouble.
But before I could make a move, everything fell apart. The stranger痴 head jerked 
up and his eyes grew wide. My gaze followed his. Coming down the stairs were 
three robed priests, two in gray and one in black. When I glanced back at the 
table beside mine, it was empty, its occupant already halfway out the front door 
of the tavern. Judging by his wide-eyed terror, he wasn稚 coming back.
To be this close・I could not lose him. Jumping up from the table, I dodged 
tables and benches, patrons and barmaids to follow the hurrying man. But when I 
pulled open the door, ready to dash into the night, I stood face to face with 
Graeme Rowan, Sheriff of Dunfarrie.
CHAPTER 9
Year 4 in the reign of King Evard・em>summer
鄭re you sure you won稚 go with us, little girl? Don稚 like to leave you here 
alone.・的 won稚 starve, Jonah. Anne痴 left me more than I could eat in the space of 
a week. I won稚 set the house afire or ruin your garden or break anything. And 
the weather痴 fine, so I won稚 freeze, even if I can稚 get a fire going.・/p> 
添ou値l learn the touch of flint, little girl,・said Anne as her dry kiss brushed 
my cheek. 笛ust as you致e learned so much already.・She climbed up to the wagon 
seat. 添ou know the way down village if aught frights you. Jacopo will take you 
in.・/p> 
Five months with the old couple had taught me one thing for certain: No one had 
ever been so inept, so useless, as I. Fires were lit by servants, not coaxed 
grudging from bits of metal and chaff. Food was brought on trays from warm 
kitchens, not grubbed from the dirt with raw and bleeding hands. I had only 
played at gardening. I knew nothing of rocky soil, wire-like weeds, or cartloads 
of stinking manure hauled from the pigsties in the village to feed the 
impoverished earth. Clothes were always clean and never had to be mended in 
candlelight with dull needles that tormented raw fingers. And there was always 
plenty to eat, even in spring when winter stores were depleted, so your stomach 
never gnawed at you until you were ready to eat sticks and weeds. Indeed I had 
learned a great deal in five months. Now it was time for me to learn to be 
alone.
釘e safe,・I said and got on with my lesson.
Just past dawn on the third morning after Anne and Jonah痴 departure, I lay abed, 
deciding whether a hot breakfast was worth the hour痴 struggle with the fire, 
when I heard a hail from outside the door. 笛onah? Are you in?・/p> 
No one but Jacopo had visited the cottage since I壇 come to live there, and the 
unusual stillness had the power to unnerve me. I pulled up the rag quilt and 
prayed the visitor would go away.
敵oodwife Anne? A word, if you would. And I致e brought some oranges from Jaco. 
Washed up from the barge that wrecked upriver last week.・/p> 
I shoved back the quilt with a silent curse. If the man was a friend of Anne and 
Jonah, it wasn稚 right to refuse him their hospitality. Hurriedly I pulled on the 
ill-fitting black dress Anne had given me, smoothed my ragged hair, and opened 
the door.
The man holding a splintered crate on his shoulder had sand-colored hair and 
green eyes and looked to be a few years older than me, perhaps as much as 
thirty. His face was serious, with regular features, a broad forehead, and the 
network of thin lines at the corners of his eyes that came from spending long 
hours in the sun. Unremarkable in height, dress, or manner. A ragged scar 
creased one side of his face from cheekbone to unshaven jaw.
He set the crate on the bench by the door. A dark blue jacket lay crumpled on 
the top of it, likely shed on the warm journey up the path. 敵ood morrow, miss.・ 
He did not seem surprised to see me. 的致e come to speak with Jonah if I may. Or 
Goodwife Anne.・/p> 
典hey致e gone to Montevial and won稚 return for several days more.・Surely he would 
go now. 溺ay I offer you ale or tea? I知 sure they壇 wish it.・/p> 
鄭le, then, and I壇 thank you for it. The day痴 gone warm already.・He retrieved the 
jacket, straightened it a bit, and flopped it over one shoulder.
I snatched a mug from the shelf, filled it from Jonah痴 little barrel, and shoved 
it into the man痴 hand, remaining standing in the doorway lest he decide to stay 
a while.
He raised the mug slightly and nodded as if answering a question I壇 not heard. 
的壇 be Graeme Rowan from Dunfarrie.・I couldn稚 remember any mention of that name, 
but his provincial inflections were much thicker than Jonah痴 or Anne痴, so I 
couldn稚 be sure. He downed the ale quickly, but, to my distress, seemed in no 
hurry to go. 撤erhaps I ought tell you why I知 here,・he said, propping one foot on 
the bench beside the sand-crusted crate. The rotting, fishy scent of river-wrack 
overpowered any smell from the battered green and yellow fruits. 鄭ye, it痴 
probably better I speak with you.・/p> 
I didn稚 like the way he looked at me so intently, his expression revealing so 
little. And his slow speech, as if he weren稚 quite sure he wanted to say 
anything, left my jaw tight with impatience.
的致e heard Anne and Jonah had a visitor these few months. Some in the village say 
it痴 their granddaughter Jenny, come home after so many years lost.・ The moment 
stretched. His gaze picked at my face. 鏑ast night, three men come to the 
village. They池e the sort who look as if they値l burn their shoes when they leave 
your town and think no one in a place the size of Dunfarrie can understand words 
of more than one syllable.・/p> 
The long pauses and his unreadable expression goaded me to speak. 鄭nd what did 
these men want?・The planed edge of the doorframe dug into my back.
典hey were looking for someone, someone they badly want to find, though they vow 
they wish her no harm. Told me only that the one they hunted ran away from her 
family five months ago, that she痴 five-and-twenty, tall for a woman, and has 
brown eyes and red-brown hair, cut shorter than the usual. They claim it be a 
matter of law. The time was the same as when Jonah and Anne came back from 
Montevial in the spring, so I thought to come up and ask what knowledge they 
might have of the question.・/p> 
As if an executioner痴 hood had been dropped over my head, the brightness went 
out of the day. 展hat did you tell these men?・My voice came out no more than a 
whisper.
His gaze did not waver. 哲aught as yet. But they didn稚 know who I was. They値l 
find that out this morning.・/p> 
鄭nd who are you?・/p> 
的壇 be the Sheriff of Dunfarrie.・/p> 
Bile rose in my throat. No matter what claims were made about maintaining order 
or protecting the citizenry from theft and murder, a sheriff痴 first duty, the 
very reason for his existence, was to exterminate sorcerers. And though he was 
appointed by his lord, a sheriff痴 first allegiance was to his king. Evard痴 man. 
Evard痴 anointed killer.
Coldly, no longer in a whisper, I said, 鉄o you値l tell them about Anne and Jonah痴 
guest.・/p> 
的知 god-sworn and king-sworn to uphold the law.・/p> 
I spat at his feet. 典hat for Evard痴 law!・/p> 
The slight hardening of his mouth and eyes reflected his judgment of me. 添ou致e 
no business here, madam.・/p> 
No matter that he was a damnable villain, he was right, of course. I couldn稚 
hide behind the old couple痴 kindness, and I didn稚 think I could run. Karon had 
told me about that kind of life, and I had neither the determination nor the 
skill for it. Survival was not that important to me. But Anne and Jonah were. 鉄o 
you値l hand me over?・/p> 
One might have thought I was some kind of dungworm. 的 ought. But they致e given me 
no warrant, no grounds, not even a name. For all I know this is just a game for 
ones like you and them幼ausing trouble for ordinary folk. But unless you give me 
some reason not, I値l tell these men what I知 required to tell them, and they値l 
have no such scruples.・/p> 
I stood mute. I would not tell a stranger預 sheriff熔f my life. He snorted, slung 
his jacket over his shoulder, and started down the path.
The world was already cold and shadowed even before I stepped out of the sun. I 
straightened the quilt on the pallet that Jonah had crowded into the corner by 
the hearth, put away the cup I had used the previous night, and folded the 
mended towel I used for washing. When all was tidy, I sat on Jonah痴 bench and 
stared at the sundrenched meadow long enough for the sheriff to be well on his 
way. Then I rose and walked down the path toward the village, expecting never to 
come back.
The common room of the Wild Heron was dim after the glare of summer morning, so 
it took me a moment to see the four men seated at a corner table: the sheriff, 
two soldiers in red livery, and a dark-haired man in black, who had his back to 
me.
Rowan noticed me first. His expression did not change. One of his companions 
touched the arm of the dark-haired man, who whipped his head around. Darzid. I 
thought I might vomit.
He remained seated, his shiny boots resting on the table, as he inspected me. 
展ell now, my lady, you致e come up in the world, I see. From sorcerers to pig 
farmers. What next? Gravediggers? Cutpurses?・/p> 
展hat do you want of me, Captain?・I said, forcing my voice even.
徹nly word of your safety and health to carry back to your friends and family. 
Your brother grieves for your company.・/p> 
迭ubbish.・/p> 
鄭lso, you have something that belongs to your king.・/p> 
的mpossible.・/p> 
鄭h, dear lady, only by his sufferance do you live.・/p> 
的知 sure I知 very grateful.・What kind of game was this?
敵ratitude is not enough. There痴 a price for the king痴 parole.・/p> 
Parole. I caught my breath. 滴e wouldn稚 dare!・/p> 
徹h, yes. The first day of autumn is only three weeks away. This exemplary 
sheriff has been charged with the responsibility to see that you fulfill your 
duty on Sufferance Day in this and every year of your life.・I started to speak, 
but Darzid raised his finger. 添ou壇 best not compound your past offenses with 
treasonable words. Such an example it would be. And from a duke痴 daughter, one 
whom rumor claimed was to be our queen! Do the good people of this place realize 
the honor to which they are privy, having such an exalted personage in their 
midst?・/p> 
One of his companions nudged him and said, 哲ot from her dress, would they, 
Captain?・/p> 
Darzid chortled merrily. 撤erhaps not. But her manners are so fine. I知 sure she 
curtsies to the swine, or perhaps she discusses fine points of law with the 
sheriff here.・He waved Rowan and the men in livery toward the door. Then he 
stood and straightened his dark purple tunic and vest. 滴ave you any message for 
your brother, my lady?・/p> 
As I was awash in the bitter implications of his news, it took me a moment to 
realize I was not to accompany him.
He propped one boot on a chair and used the hem of his cloak to flick away 
imaginary dust. 轍uickly, madam. If we stay here too long, we値l begin to stink. A 
message for the duke?・/p> 
A message? For Tomas the executioner? Even in the moment痴 relief, my hatred 
boiled over. 典ell my brother he cannot wash them enough.・/p> 
Darzid crinkled his eyebrows in puzzlement and shrugged. 鄭s you wish. Don稚 think 
to run away again.・With mock solemnity, he wagged a finger first at the sheriff 
and then at me. 的t would go hard with anyone who痴 given you aid. And the first 
day of autumn熔n your life and the lives of everyone in this charming sty, do not 
forget.・Darzid and his soldiers left the tavern without closing the door behind 
them.
* * *
The autumn equinox葉he Day of the King痴 Sufferance. The law stated that on the 
first day of autumn all those who lived by the king痴 sufferance must appear 
before him and swear they had not trespassed on his favor during the past year. 
The event was a favorite of those who enjoyed displaying moral superiority 
without fear of rebuttal or retribution. Observers could question the petitioner 
about anything, whether related to the past crime or no, and the penalties were 
severe if one answered untruthfully. A horrid custom. Humiliating.
At dawn on the last day of summer, I met Graeme Rowan at the Dunfarrie Bridge to 
make the daylong trek to Montevial. He waited on the seat of a rickety farm 
cart. A lantern gleamed from the seat beside him, revealing, among other things, 
a gray smudge in the center of his forehead. No surprise to discover he was a 
pious man, one who would pray at the shrine of Annadis before a journey, marking 
himself with earth to remind the god of earth and sky that he was his servant no 
matter where he traveled.
I climbed into the seat without a greeting, and the sheriff put out the lantern 
and slapped the mule. Only after half a league of the bone-jarring ride did 
Rowan first break the silence. 的知 sorry this isn稚 the kind of carriage you池e 
accustomed to,・he said after a particularly hard jolt.
添ou have no idea to what I知 accustomed.・/p> 
典hose men told me of your crimes.・His eyes were fixed on the road ahead熔r 
perhaps the mule痴 rump.
鄭nd are you properly appalled at the affront I am to lawful society? Afraid of 
my arcane connections? Afraid Jerrat will send a lightning bolt to strike me 
while I知 sitting next to you?・/p> 
的 thought it right you should know.・/p> 
添ou have a highly developed sense of honor庸or a sheriff.・For a man with so much 
blood on his hands.
Jacopo had told me how the sheriff had come by his office. Rowan had saved our 
local lord痴 life while serving in Evard痴 first Vallorean campaign back in King 
Gevron痴 time. That campaign, of course, had included the slaughter at Avonar. I 
glanced at Rowan痴 hands that gripped the mule痴 reins耀hort, work-hardened 
fingers, wide backs with a layer of wiry, reddish hair. Ordinary enough. But I 
could not look at them without imagining those hands binding women, men, and 
children to the hastily erected stakes, throwing piles of sticks at their feet, 
waving the blazing torches close・/p> 
Rowan slapped the reins hard. I didn稚 think the beast could go any faster. 的t痴 
true I have no rank, neither dukes nor earls nor even a lowly knight in my 
pedigree, but I manage to keep some sense of right and wrong about me.・/p> 
泥o you think that痴 why I知 allowed to live? Because of my rank? Does that offend 
your belief in the law?・/p> 
的知 not your judge濫
的 think I知 glad of that.・/p> 
痘but I tired long ago of those who take or leave the law at their will.・/p> 
迭est easy, sir. I would not think of challenging your sense of right and wrong 
while in your charge. Any man who burned the children of Avonar would surely 
have no mercy on a depraved soul such as my own.・/p> 
His features might have been carved from the oaken planks of that cart. He said 
no more. In fact, we traveled the entire day without twenty more words between 
us.
We arrived in Montevial after nightfall. Rowan had started fidgeting a league 
from the walls. As we pressed through the travelers crowding across the Dun 
bridge, trying to get across the sluggish river and past the city gates before 
they were closed for the night, his eyes flicked from side to side, and he moved 
almost imperceptibly toward the center of the wagon seat. The flickering 
torchlight made the lines about his eyes and the creased scar in his cheek seem 
deeper. Once he stopped the wagon, jumped down from the seat, and spoke quietly 
to a constable who was patrolling a street of shuttered shops. When we at last 
came to a halt in the muddy stableyard of a cheap riverside inn, he kicked the 
crowding beggars away from us and snapped an epithet at a ragged girl. The 
sheriff seemed to think she was trying to steal the mule, but she had only come 
to take the beast into the rickety stable. I don稚 know which of us was more 
relieved that the journey was over.
When Rowan appeared at my door the next morning, he wore his usual sober garb of 
tan breeches, a country man痴 canvas leggings, and a dark blue coat, cuffs frayed 
and thin at the elbows. We walked through the city in a mournful drizzle, the 
crowds growing thicker as we neared the palace. Rowan started at the bump and 
jostle of the passersby and gripped my arm tighter the farther we walked, as if 
I might be tempted to run away now I was in the bastion of Leiran aristocracy.
I tried to keep my eyes away from the palace towers that dominated the cityscape 
and the red banners with gold dragons that swelled limp and heavy from the 
walls, but as Rowan痴 firm hand steered me toward the center of the city, my 
steps slowed.
展hat is it?・asked Rowan.
的 cannot・not that way. There are other ways to the Petitioners・Gate.・Much as I 
despised myself for revealing anything to a sheriff, I could not hide the wave 
of trembling sickness that had come over me.
的sn稚 this the quickest route? I should think you壇 want to be done with it.・/p> 
撤lease, Sheriff. I beg you. Another way.・Some places even pride could not carry 
me.
鄭s you wish. As long as we get there.・/p> 
The Petitioner痴 Gate in the south wall of the king痴 residence at Montevial was 
opened twice a year: on the first day of autumn for the Sufferance Rite and on 
the last day of the year for the Feast of the Beggar痴 Penny葉he day when legend 
said that in the days of trial before he was granted dominion over the earth and 
sky, Annadis the Swordsman had given his last penny to a poor beggar in the 
depths of winter, only to find out that it was his own father, the First God 
Arot, in disguise. Soldiers in red livery guarded the gate, and a line of 
soberly dressed men of all ages and sizes was waiting to pass through. The men 
in line葉here were no other women謡ere mostly prosperous merchants or officers. 
The poor could not afford the king痴 parole.
Rowan released my arm at the edge of the plaza that fronted the gate.
鄭re you not to hand me over?・I asked when he motioned me to go on alone.
溺y duty was to assure your attendance. You値l find me here when your duty is 
likewise done.・/p> 
釘ut surely your duty does not extend to taking me back?・I was genuinely 
surprised.
溺y duty, madam, is to uphold the law.・/p> 
The sheriff痴 fiery emblem glared at me from his blue coat. Revolted, I left him 
and made my way to the line of petitioners, wrapping my shabby cloak tight 
around me.
The queue moved slowly through a small courtyard littered with leaves blown in 
over the walls. No one would ever bother to clean them up for such traffic as 
passed through the Petitioner痴 Gate. Beyond the courtyard was a waiting room 
crowded with wooden benches. I squeezed onto the end of a bench and fixed my 
gaze on the muddy stone floor. One by one the names were called. I felt 
lightheaded. Perhaps I should have eaten something.
An hour passed. I could do this. For Anne and Jonah who had saved my life, for 
my freedom, I could do it. What could they ask me that had not been asked during 
the weeks of interrogation before Karon痴 trial?
鏑ook deep inside, Seri love,・Karon had told me. 鏑ook at the beauty you致e stored 
up there, the life you hold, the spark that is no other. They cannot touch 
it.・/p> 
I would not let them in. Karon had built himself a fortress of peace to protect 
his own spark of life, and in the end, it had failed him. He had died screaming. 
But I was a warrior痴 daughter, and I knew of fortresses. To withstand the 
assaults of the world, you could not afford peace or sentiment. You couldn稚 
afford to care about anyone or anything. I would give these people no 
satisfaction.
鉄eriana Marguerite of Comigor.・/p> 
The heavy-jowled man wore red robes and carried a guide-staff with a gold dragon 
on its head. Neck straight, eyes forward, I rose and followed him down a 
passageway, through a tall arched door, and into the Great Hall of Leire. 
Hundreds of people were crowded along each side of the vast room, their gaily 
colored dress garish beside the somber, ancient stonework. Cold light fell 
through the high windows.
At the far end of the hall, scarcely visible through the murky light, twenty men 
sat at a long curved table. Evard slouched in his gilded chair at the center of 
them. Sitting on either side of him were others I knew: the Chancellor Villarre, 
the Dukes of Pamphile, Aristide, and Greymonte, the Earl of Jeffi, an old 
hunting partner of my father痴, his leathery wrinkles sagging in distress. So 
many who had once been part of my world. On either side of the table were a few 
rows of observers of high enough rank to jockey for chairs, those like the 
priests, who had a special interest in those who violated the sorcery laws. 
Everyone else stood, whispering and murmuring behind fans and jeweled fingers.
About fifteen paces from the table, the heavy-jowled steward stuck his staff out 
in front of me, barring closer approach. He spoke sideways through his teeth. 
徹beisance. Complete. Now.・Surely he was joking. No one of noble family made 
complete obeisance. The king was the first among equals. And to Evard? Never. I 
made a deep curtsy as was proper, keeping my head unbowed. My father had sat on 
the Council of Lords. My mother had been maid of honor to Queen Theodora.
As I rose, I glimpsed Tomas watching stone-faced while a fair, rosy-cheeked 
young woman clung to his arm, giggling and whispering with other women around 
her. His wife痴 name was Philomena.
The heavy-jowled man whispered from behind me. 徹beisance. Complete. Now.・I stood 
firm.
Evard痴 relaxed posture was belied by the edge in his voice. 的t is the custom for 
those who live by our sufferance to make a respectful approach.・/p> 
添our Majesty, I bear the honor of all who hold the rank I have been privileged 
to share. Acquiescence to such a custom would draw the structure of society into 
question. If such were my intent, I would most assuredly begin at a different 
place.・/p> 
The crowd drew breath as one. Evard slammed his hand on the table. 典he only rank 
of those who enter the Petitioner痴 Gate is the rank of supplicant. You will 
follow the custom or you will be forced to follow it.・/p> 
It would have been easy, though repugnant, to grant Evard what he wanted, but as 
with most bullies, it would only leave him with expectations I was not planning 
to fulfill. I stood quietly while Evard jerked his head to the heavy-jowled man. 
Three red-liveried guards surrounded me. Two of them grabbed my arms and spread 
them in the supplicant痴 gesture. One forced me to my knees and bent my head 
forward until it touched the floor. After a moment they released me, and I stood 
again. Tomas was livid. What did he expect?
The chancellor spoke first. 鉄eriana Marguerite, you have been adjudged guilty of 
the most serious crimes: consorting with enemies of Leire, conspiring to hide 
criminals, participating in treasonous activities, plotting to place on the 
throne of Leire one who knowingly harbored・I did not even listen until Evard 
began the questioning.
展here have you spent your time since you so ungratefully repudiated your family痴 
concern?・/p> 
鄭 village in the south, Your Majesty.・/p> 
鄭nd who has sheltered you?・/p> 
撤easants. No one of importance.・/p> 
泥o these peasants know of your crimes?・/p> 
典hey know of what I have been accused. I acknowledge no crimes. My husband was a 
healer who shared a blessed gift with all who needed it.・/p> 
The observers gabbled in disbelief. The high priest of Jerrat, a tall man with a 
craggy face, jumped from his chair. 的nsupportable!・/p> 
Evard pounded on the table for silence. 鉄tubborn still, are you? We would advise 
you to restrain your insolent tongue. It would be easy to overreact to your 
heedless provocation and do that which might give us indigestion tomorrow. Tell 
us, madam, in these months since your judgment, have you had contact with any 
person who has at any time or in any wise practiced, studied, or tolerated the 
repugnant and unnatural rites of sorcery?・/p> 
的 have not.・/p> 
滴ave you, in any other way, broken any law promulgated in our name?・/p> 
的 have not.・/p> 
Evard then turned the questioning over to those in attendance. It went on for 
well over an hour. Had I worked charms or spells? Did I know how? Where had we 
held the god-cursed rites? Was it true the late Earl of Gault was himself a 
sorcerer? Had I been intimate with a man since I ran away? The women痴 questions 
were the worst.
Tomas looked as if he might burst as the farce played out. His face blazed when 
one of his friends asked me if a sorcerer could 杜agic his prick bigger・ during 
the act of love. And when his own wife asked if I pleasured myself, as no man 
would have a woman befouled by a sorcerer, I thought Tomas might throttle her. 
Darzid sat just behind him, watching thoughtfully.
I would have gotten through it quite well if a sober Graeme Rowan had not been 
standing by the door as I was escorted out. But when I thought of him hearing 
all I had been forced to answer・I was truly humiliated.
The journey back to Dunfarrie that evening was even more awkward than that of 
the previous day. Rowan never shifted his eyes from the road. I could not look 
at him without anger and embarrassment, and then I cursed myself for caring what 
a murdering sheriff had heard. We arrived at the Dun bridge near midnight. Honor 
required me to acknowledge the escort; he could have left me to walk.
典hank you for bringing me back, Sheriff.・/p> 
的知 surprised you壇 wish to return to peasants of no importance.・/p> 
Stupid man. Couldn稚 he see it was better not to interest Evard in this place? I 
turned to go.
As I started up the path, though, he called after me in a very different tone. 
典ell me one thing. What was the place in the city where you wouldn稚 walk?・/p> 
What was one more question on this day? He could have asked it at the rite, and 
I would have been required to answer. And he had honored my request. 的t was the 
commard, Sheriff. Surely you know of it. The heart of any Leiran city where 
public rites and performances are held and proclamations posted. In Montevial, 
the place where sorcerers are burned. For a year, as a warning, they leave it 
there, the pyre, the stake・whatever is left. It is the law.・Words could not pain 
me. 的 heard that Avonar looked like a burned forest.・/p> 
* * *
From that day on, every year on the last day of summer I met Graeme Rowan at the 
Dunfarrie bridge. Neither his sober expression nor his stiff propriety varied 
from one year to the next, nor did we speak beyond the minimum necessary. The 
smudge of the gods always adorned his brow. Each year, he listened as I was 
questioned, and then we returned to our separate lives, duty and the law 
satisfied.
CHAPTER ID
迭owan!・/p> 
添ou! What in blazes・?・/p> 
Only a few times in my life had I been at a loss for something to say. The only 
clue to Aeren痴 identity was slipping away from me into the night, and standing 
in my way was one person who absolutely must not know of my mission. Possible 
explanations raced through my mind and were discarded just as quickly. Graeme 
Rowan was not stupid.
The sheriff took my arm firmly and propelled me backward into the shadowed 
alcove between the outer door, the staircase, and the wide entrance to the 
common room.
迭elease me at once. You致e no cause to hold me,・I said, in a furious whisper.
的致e every right to investigate suspicious behavior, and I find your presence 
here extremely suspicious.・Rowan spoke quietly also, in tones that brooked no 
dispute.
添ou have no jurisdiction here, Sheriff. If I should scream that I知 being, 
brutalized, you would have no more rights than any other bully.・/p> 
His sober expression did not change, though the sun lines at the corners of his 
eyes crinkled a bit. 的 disagree. Barnard, the local sheriff, knows me quite 
well. He would most likely be interested in the activities of known lawbreakers 
in his town.・/p> 
添ou wouldn稚!・/p> 
典est me. Or would you rather tell me what you池e doing here? I know there are few 
things that pain you more than having a word with me, but I really must know 
what痴 brought you here.・/p> 
And this, of course, was where I was out of words. I couldn稚 think fast enough. 
The long day痴 journey, the terrible doings in the forest, the odd little man 
running away・鼎an we step outside, Sheriff?・/p> 
鄭s you wish.・/p> 
Beggars, carters, and drunkards crowded the torch-lit lane, but the stranger was 
nowhere in sight. Curse the man! 滴ave you nothing better to do than bother 
honest citizens, Sheriff? You should leave me alone and clean up your own 
district. Take care of the murderous highwaymen that prey on travelers.・To my 
dismay, my voice faltered a bit as I recalled the brutal scene in During Forest.
If there was any lack of will on Rowan痴 part to pursue our confrontation, he 
dismissed it instantly. The pious mark on his brow glared at me like a third 
eye. 溺adam, what do you know of highwaymen?・/p> 
Cursing my loose tongue, I folded my arms and looked away.
釘lessed Annadis, give me patience!・he said. 滴ow do you propose I take care of my 
district if every person in it is so high and mighty as you?・/p> 
撤erhaps your district would be better off without a sheriff痴 care.・/p> 
His face flamed, but he gritted his teeth and kept his voice down. Once could 
not mistake his sincerity. 擢ive men were slain in During Forest today. They were 
no ordinary highwaymen, but the most ruthless that ever plagued this road. 
They致e survived for twenty years and were cut down in an afternoon. It痴 
something I must understand. If you refuse to speak what you know, then you致e no 
right to demand anything of me. I ask you again, madam, what do you know of 
highwaymen?・I had never heard so many words from him all at once.
My distaste for the upright sheriff and my revulsion at his past did not 
entirely cloud my perceptions. As Jacopo often reminded me, Rowan was neither 
excessively brutal nor grasping in his day-to-day duties, as were so many of his 
ilk. And if his unquestioning adherence to a flawed notion of law set him at 
odds with the ruthless travelers I had seen in the forest, I would not argue. 
However uncomfortable it might feel for me, reason was on his side. After all, 
the priests might have nothing to do with Aeren. Perhaps the almond-eyed man痴 
fear of the three had its origin, as mine did, in their handiwork of the day.
添ou池e right,・I said. What was pride but another garment to be discarded when you 
had grown past its use? 哲ot about everything・but about this. Yes. I witnessed 
what happened in During Forest. Quite by chance.・/p> 
鄭nd will you tell me of it?・/p> 
I glanced about the dark lane. 鼎an we walk away from here just a little?・ Rowan 
started to protest, but I interrupted. 的 promise, I値l tell you why.・/p> 
Just down the lane two empty crates sat outside a poulterer痴 shop. My feet felt 
as if someone had taken a hammer to them. Making sure I could still see the door 
of the inn, I sat on one of the crates and propped my heavy boots on the other, 
leaving Rowan to decide whether to sit on the filthy ground or remain standing, 
unable to see my face. He squatted, looking uncomfortable.
的 was on my way to Grenatte on private business,・I began, and without mentioning 
Paulo, I recounted what I had witnessed that afternoon.
鄭nd these priests are in the Green Lion?・/p> 
典hat痴 why I was leaving in a hurry,・I said. 典hey unnerved me, though I don稚 
believe they saw me in the forest, and though one could say they were entirely 
in the right in the matter. How can I explain it?・/p> 
He nodded thoughtfully. 典he kill was not cleanly done. Yet, as you say, it痴 not 
against the law to be good at defending oneself. But any who can take such men 
down easily are worth my attention, for rarely are they less dangerous in their 
turn.・/p> 
鉄o what will you do?・/p> 
的値l speak to these priests and see what they池e about.・/p> 
添ou値l not tell them who you are?・/p> 
鉄urely this is no concern for my welfare?・he said.
Graeme Rowan痴 welfare was his own concern. 的t just occurred to me that a casual 
encounter might be less risky than telling them you池e a sheriff. In fact迫a 
scheme began taking shape欄to make things easier, I壇 be willing to accompany you 
while you speak to them. We could say we are cousins.・/p> 
的 see no purpose in deception. In this matter, at least, they致e no reason to 
fear me.・He straightened to his full height, looking down at me quizzically. 釘ut 
if, for whatever reason, you壇 like to be present when I interview them, I値l not 
prevent it. I certainly don稚 intend for you to leave Grenatte until we can 
discuss other matters・such as what you池e doing here.・/p> 
I bridled. 典here痴 no need to assume that because I answered a few of your 
questions, I値l allow you to question me on my private business.・/p> 
溺adam, I would never presume to expect anything from you.・/p> 
I did not respond to his goading. I was already planning what to say to the 
priests.
As soon as Rowan and I entered the inn, the landlord bustled up to us, eyeing 
the sheriff suspiciously. 的s the gentleman bothering you, madam?・/p> 
哲o. Not at all, Goodman Bartolome. Thank you.・I would not allow Rowan to control 
the situation. 的n fact, this is my cousin, Graeme, come unexpectedly to meet 
me.・I ignored the sheriff痴 darkening brow. 鼎an you tell us, innkeeper葉here痴 a 
gentleman in your common room, one who wears the robes of a priest妖o you know 
his name, sir? He looks quite like the priest who wed my sister Catherine to her 
man, but I壇 feel quite foolish asking if it were not the same priest.・/p> 
典he fellow痴 name slips my mind,・said the innkeeper, 澱ut the three of them come 
from a temple school in Valleor. Don稚 know much else.・/p> 
Through the door of the brightly lit common room I could see the priests seated 
at a table near the center of the room. 典hat could well be the same Pere Franze, 
don稚 you think, Graeme?・I said, indicating the three. 的 believe he壇 be 
interested to know Catherine has produced five healthy boys in five years. His 
offering of Mana痴 blessing was most efficacious!・Producing the Twins was Mana痴 
only role in our holy legends, and the First God痴 wife was interested only in 
sons.
The sheriff peered through the opening and then dragged me back into the 
shadows. 的 think you should come away immediately,・he said in a tight whisper.
展hat think you, innkeeper?・I said, paying Rowan no more heed than a doorstop. 
鉄hould I speak to them?・/p> 
展ell, now, they seem right enough fellows,・said the innkeeper, shrugging his 
massive shoulders.
的 can稚 imagine they壇 have an interest in such trifles,・said the furious sheriff. 
添ou濫
溺y cousin always thinks I am too forward.・/p> 
Rowan tugged my arm so forcefully, it was difficult to hold my ground. 鄭nd so 
you are. You should not bother either the priests or our host with your 
foolishness.・/p> 
Bartolome thoughtfully scratched the hairy chest bulging above his apron. 展ell, 
I can稚 see as how it would hurt to ask. I always take it fair when someone says 
I致e done a decent job, even if I知 not the one as done it.・/p> 
摘xactly!・I said, and I yanked my arm out of Rowan痴 grip and marched through the 
doorway and across the smoky, crowded room. 摘xcuse me, Your Honor, sir. Might I 
have a word?・/p> 
When the man I had seen slit two throats and pierce a man痴 heart with skill and 
relish turned to look at me, it took all my resolution not to step away. There 
could be no soul in him. Neither beauty nor life had ever graced those pale 
eyes, nor had any human feeling with which I had kinship. I quickly averted my 
gaze.
滴ow may I help you, madam?・His voice was coolly friendly, not at all like his 
eyes.
的t痴 most likely foolish, sir, but my cousin and I have had a disagreement, and 
the only way to resolve it is to speak up. I say that you are the very most 
honored Pere Franze that has wed my sister Catherine and her husband David in 
Deshiva these five years past, and that it is my duty to tell you of the most 
efficacious blessing of Mana you performed on that happy occasion, being as 
Catherine and David have five healthy sons in five years迫I spoke much too fast, 
trying to bolster my faltering resolve欄but my cousin, who lurks in yonder 
shadows with our worthy innkeeper, says I should not bother a weary traveler 
with such trifles, though to my mind such a blessing that gets five healthy sons 
is no trifle!・/p> 
Though a smile played on the thin lips, it did not warm his emptiness. 溺uch as I 
would like to lay claim to such a success, I cannot. I致e never traveled to 
Deshiva. Giano is my name.・/p> 
溺y apologies for disturbing you then, Your Honor. I was so hoping you might be 
Pere Franze, for I was thinking of asking Annadis痴 warding for our travels back 
to Deshiva. After what we saw today・ I shuddered.
鄭nd what was that?・Early frost enfolded the summer night.
徹h, sir, I壇 not wish to offend you with the description of it while you池e at 
table.・/p> 
典ravelers should share their wisdom and experience, madam, so as to ease the 
road for their fellows,・he said coolly. 的 think it imperative. Don稚 you 
agree?・/p> 
I wasn稚 sure I would have been able to disagree. Though not invited to do so, I 
drew up an extra chair, sat down, and leaned across their table. To avoid his 
eyes, I kept my own focused on the gold earring he wore in his right ear. 典rue 
enough, sir. Indeed it was the most dreadful sight that ever I hope to see. Five 
dead men, brutally cut down and left to lie on the road through During Forest. 
Highwaymen, so I致e heard, and so better dead, but a fearsome sight nonetheless. 
I feel quite faint when I think of continuing our journey tomorrow.・/p> 
Pere Giano痴 slender fingers lay quiet on the table, one hand upon the other, no 
residue of blood on the pale skin. 展e致e heard of this discovery, also, and are 
shocked by it. We致e been sent to Leire to build a school to teach young warriors 
the service of Annadis, but such doings might hasten us back to our quiet temple 
life.・/p> 
So they were going to lie about it. No surprise.
的t would be a great honor to have a temple school in western Leire.・No student 
of my acquaintance would be sent to such a tutor.
填nfortunately, our plans have been upset,・he said, leaning closer, his words 
slithering their way into my head. 典hieves are not always found in the forest, 
but often in the very bosom of one痴 family. A faithless servant has absconded 
with the small endowment with which we were to build.・/p> 
And there it was・the connection. Though I dared not allow him to note my 
satisfaction, my heart quickened its pace. 滴ave you notified the authorities? 
Perhaps my cousin should summon Barnard, the local sheriff, so your servant may 
receive just treatment from the law.・A faithless servant・Were these men, too, 
seeking an 殿ddled groom・
的t痴 against our custom to bring down the law on our servants, but we致e seen 
nothing of him in a fortnight. We believe that if we could but find the youth, 
we could persuade him to rethink his wayward behavior.・/p> 
What persuasions might be imposed by a man with no soul? Enough to chase a man 
out of his clothes? Out of his voice? Out of his mind?
溺y cousin travels widely in his business, your honor. Why, he痴 most likely 
visited every hostelry and inn in five districts in the past month, as well as 
having wide acquaintance. Can you describe this fiend who is so wanting in 
decency as to steal from the Swordsman痴 holy servants? Perhaps my cousin has 
taken note of him.・/p> 
鄭 young man. Tall and light-haired, fairly made, but wicked and hasty in temper, 
and weak in the mind, full of grandiose delusions. I think the gods have sent 
him this weakness to make him humble, but alas, though we at the temple have 
nurtured the boy since childhood, our care seems to have gone for naught.・/p> 
鄭 sad story,・I said. He was so smug in his lies. 鄭ll too common among those who 
depend on the charity of holy institutions. I値l ask my cousin if he痴 seen 
anything likely. I致e neither seen nor heard of anything myself.・/p> 
摘ven so.・The priest picked up his wine cup and leaned back in his chair. He was 
done with me.
I craved to wheedle something more from him預 name, a province熔r some hint of 
whether he knew of his 吐aithless servant痴・talent for sorcery. But I had lived 
enough years to know when I had pushed my luck as far as was profitable. 的値l bid 
you and your companions a good night, sir. My cousin is known for being 
sometimes too free in his ingestion of spirits in such a friendly house as this. 
I wish him to be alert on the morrow!・/p> 
The man in black nodded and turned back to his silent, hooded companions. I 
believed I saw the trace of impatience on his narrow face, but I couldn稚 bear to 
look at him long enough to be sure.
I left the common room sedately, slipping past the shadowed foyer and up the 
first flight of stairs. But no sooner had I got out of sight of the common room 
and bolted for the second landing, than Rowan stepped out in front of me, grim 
as a headsman. 典hat was very foolish.・/p> 
釘ut revealing, don稚 you think? Did you listen? The poor servants of the 
Swordsman whose money has been stolen, though they wear gold worth an earldom at 
their necks. Not a word about the events in the forest.・And such a strange story 
about their missing servant.
添ou池e fortunate. These men are clearly not to be trifled濫
的 thought you might have more mettle than to eavesdrop from the stairs like a 
scullery maid. Quite a man of the world is my cousin Graeme.・/p> 
鄭 little forewarning might have helped.・Was he more annoyed with my 
interference, or that it was I who had done the interfering?
的 didn稚 think it necessary. Did I not play it quite well?・/p> 
的知 surprised you壇 think of it as play, having seen what you did in the forest 
today. Were all your questions answered satisfactorily? Perhaps you値l condescend 
to enlighten me as to your purpose in the matter and what else you might know of 
these people.・/p> 
展e should not discuss this in the passageway of an inn.・/p> 
的 suppose there痴 no question of a cousinly chat in your room or a walk in the 
evening air?・/p> 
的知 asleep standing, Sheriff. And, of course, I致e no interest in this matter. I 
was curious because of what I saw, and willing to help you, because・ you were 
right that I should. Good night.・/p> 
Rowan bowed stiffly. 的値l remind you that the conditions of your parole require 
your obedience to the command of any sheriff, and the nature of your crimes 
makes me responsible for your actions. We have not finished our business, my 
lady. You池e not to leave your room, and you値l have no commerce with anyone until 
I give you leave. I値l see you first thing in the morning.・The insufferable prig 
started down the passage, and, to my chagrin, I could not think of hateful 
enough words to throw back at him. As he disappeared down the stair landing, he 
called over his shoulder. 鄭nd you may tell Paulo that his sneaking about has 
left his gram half-frantic with worry, and that if he doesn稚 get himself wrung 
out by highwaymen or conspiratorial women, then it will most likely be by 
me.・/p> 
As well he turned a corner just then and that my knife was tucked away under my 
skirt.
Rowan would have been well satisfied had he been able to read my thoughts in the 
next hour. As the exhilaration of the evening痴 encounter wore away, I started 
shaking, almost sick as I thought of the slaughter I had witnessed and the empty 
eyes and pale hands of the one who had worked it. What was I doing? I had no 
business there. Only after I had made a vow to scoop up Paulo at first light and 
run as fast as I could back to Dunfarrie was my tired body able to sink into 
sleep.
Sometime in the hours after midnight, a scraping noise across the dark room 
brought me abruptly awake. I slipped my knife from the sheath under my pillow 
and held still until a freckled face rose above the windowsill like a grubby 
moon.
撤aulo!・I pulled him through the window, and he landed on the floor in a 
disheveled, ripe-smelling lump. 展hat are you doing here?・/p> 
擢ound him!・/p> 
展ho?・/p> 
典he one we come here for.・/p> 
添es, I found him, too, but he ran away before I could speak to him.・/p> 
哲ope. He痴 close. Got his horse from the stable and rode off, but didn稚 go 
far.・/p> 
My feet were already in my boots. 典ake me there.・All terrors were dismissed, all 
vows forsworn in the prospect of the chase.
The inn was dark and quiet, lying fallow like a well-managed field in the hours 
between closing and breakfast. We slipped down the stairs, then sped through 
deserted streets until we reached the southern outskirts of town. A jumble of 
squat, dark shanties crowded the dirt lane until it broke free into open country 
and wound up a shallow rise. Atop the rise, silhouetted against the moonlit sky, 
was a crumbling finger of stone, an abandoned watchtower once used for observing 
the road and the river.
Paulo pressed a finger to his mouth as we approached a gap in the curved wall. 
The wooden door had long since rotted away from its rusty hinges, allowing a 
narrow band of moonlight to penetrate the interior. We stepped inside. From 
across the circular darkness came the scent of a horse. I felt the soft solidity 
of its presence. Paulo tugged at my arm and pointed to a mound huddled against 
one of the curved walls. We tiptoed closer, but before we reached the dark form, 
Paulo lost his balance and fell against a pile of crates that clattered onto the 
stone floor.
展ho comes?・The voice from the direction of the dark mound quavered a bit.
擢riends,・I said.
的 have no friends here. Who are you? What do you want with me?・/p> 
添ou ran away before we could be properly introduced.・/p> 
的 know nothing of mundane women.・/p> 
鼎ome, sir, let us speak in a civil manner.・Mundane was as good a description of 
me as I had heard in a while, but how would he know? 添ou池e searching for a 
missing horse, and I may know something of it.・/p> 
I pulled one of the fallen crates into the path of moonlight from the door and 
sat on it. After a moment the slight figure emerged from the shadows to stand in 
the moonlit rectangle a few paces from me. Straw clung to his flowing trousers 
and Kerotean vest, and his high-necked tunic was twisted awkwardly about his 
neck. He stood up very straight, narrowed his almond-shaped eyes, and stepped 
toward me.
哲ot too close!・The man and I both nearly shed our skin when Paulo yelled and 
popped out from behind me with a good-sized stick of wood on his shoulder.
典he messenger boy!・cried the stranger, his eyes darting from Paulo back to me. 
添ou are the one who summoned me・a woman, not a man. Why have you lied? The Count 
de Mangerit I am, and no one must lie to me.・/p> 
I had to smile at his posturing. 鄭s I said, I have news of your horse.・/p> 
敵rasping mundane. Think you to extract some reward?・/p> 
哲ot a reward, but information. If I learn what I want, I may be able to tell you 
what you want to know.・/p> 
的 don稚 believe a mundane預 woman mundane幼ould know anything I want to 
hear.・Clearly mundane meant something particular to this man.
I had hoped to save my trump card for later. I sighed, pulled a twist of paper 
from my pocket, and showed the man its contents. While Aeren lay ill, I had 
trimmed the brambles from his matted blond hair. 的s this lock perhaps from your 
horse痴 mane, 任ount・・/p> 
The stranger sagged to his knees and covered his face with his fists, pretense 
shed like unwanted clothing. 鄭ll honor to you, Vasrin Shaper, Vasrin Creator,・he 
whispered, 塗e has been found.・After a moment he lowered his folded hands to his 
breast. 撤lease, woman, tell me that he lives.・He did not yet look up.
滴e lives. And my name is Seri.・/p> 
I thought he was going to cry. Whether it was because Aeren was alive or because 
he壇 had the audacity to do it with a 杜undane・woman痴 help悠 wasn稚 sure.
的 want to know who he is and who you are,・I said.
He straightened his head proudly. 的 am not permitted to tell you those things. 
You must take me to him.・/p> 
添ou池e quite mistaken. I値l take you nowhere near him until you persuade me that 
you池e his friend. And if you are not his friend, you値l not live to harm 
him.・Paulo blanched a little, but to the boy痴 credit, his stick did not falter.
添ou cannot understand, woman,・said the man. 添ou are a mundane. He is裕his is 
impossible!・He was entirely flustered. 滴e is my servant, my groom. He has taken 
my prize stallion. White. You are required to give him to me, as he has stolen 
my possession.・/p> 
添ou may leave off your playacting, sir. If you think to impersonate nobility, 
then you must learn more of their customs. Uncountable clues tell me you have 
never been to Kerotea, never laid eyes on a Kerotean, and most likely never had 
a groom. Now, answer my questions or I take my leave.・/p> 
哲o, no. You must not go without telling me where he is. Let me think. I must 
think. Good Vasrin shape thoughts of sense in my head.・The man began pacing, 
fingering a tassel dangling from his belt as he mumbled to himself. 的 will not 
say. I cannot say. I am sworn. But I must get to him. Why me? Yes, it happened 
fast, but Bendal was designated. So what he was wounded? Bendal wounded is worth 
ten of me. A mundane woman. I am cursed. But he lives, and the Zhid are close. 
The timing is all・ He stopped his pacing and sat himself cross-legged on the 
dirt in front of me. 添ou値l not take me to him if I do not speak?・/p> 
鼎orrect.・/p> 
鄭nd you will have this ferocious boy bash me senseless if I try to extract 
answers from you?・/p> 
鄭bsolutely correct.・I worked to keep my face sober.
鉄o you force me to tell you.・/p> 
撤rove to me that you are his friend.・/p> 
The small man cocked his head. 展hy do you care for him? I can give you a reward, 
a substantial reward, if you take me to him and ask no questions.・/p> 
的t痴 a long story. I care nothing for either of you, and even less for your 
reward.・/p> 
滴e is well?・He hugged his knees and looked at the ground.
滴e had a wicked knife-wound in one shoulder, but it痴 healing well.・/p> 
釘ut he痴 told you nothing? Perhaps you have harmed him.・He glanced up and, for 
just a moment, his dark eyes were daggers. 撤erhaps you lie.・The moment痴 ferocity 
vanished as quickly as it had appeared. 滴e would not trust you. He too has 
little experience of women or mundanes. Of anyone, if truth be told.・He shook 
his head in resignation. 滴e痴 never been easy・
的t痴 not just that. For one thing, he is incapable of speech.・/p> 
的ncapable・?
鄭nd for another, I don稚 believe he can remember anything to tell me. He doesn稚 
know who he is. He can稚 remember his people, or where his home is, or why the 
king痴 men were pursuing him through my valley. He needs a friend who knows 
him.・/p> 
鄭h, my sorrowing land・ Tears filled the almond eyes and rolled down his cheeks. 
He dashed them aside unashamedly. 典he foul Zhid have done this!・/p> 
典ell me who you are,・I said, more gently this time, hoping not to fluster him 
into complete incoherence. 鄭nd who is your friend? Truly, I wish him no 
harm.・/p> 
溺y name is Baglos. And you are correct. I was never meant to wear the dress of 
nobles.・He wrestled off his brocade vest and threw it into the dirt. 鄭nd I was 
never meant to be the Guide. I was meant to cook: to braise succulent fish, to 
baste roasting quail, to mix and blend and season. But the one who was 
designated as his madrisse was wounded. When it was decided that D誰atheil must 
make the crossing immediately, the Zhid attacked, and all was chaos. It痴 why we 
became separated, not just that I am inept, though that is true. I thought my 
duties were ended before they had begun, and that our last hope was dead because 
only Baglos was available to guide.・He sank into a melancholy silence, leaving 
me at a loss.
撤lease. You must explain a little more. I致e understood none of this except that 
your name is Baglos and that you池e a cook. Is that right?・/p> 
填nfortunately true.・/p> 
鄭nd you have been made Aeren痴 波uide槽 because someone else was wounded?・/p> 
鄭eren?・His head popped up from where it rested heavily on his fist. 展ho is 
Aeren?・/p> 
添our friend. He heard the cry of the gray falcon that we call an aeren, and he 
indicated to me that such was his name. Is that not true?・/p> 
For the first time, Baglos smiled. 泥誰atheil means falcon. D誰atheil is his name. 
The Zhid have not taken his name. That is good, very good. Thank you for telling 
me.・/p> 
I was glad to hear there was something good about the confusing mess. But the 
fellow痴 enemies had me worried; I壇 never heard of 纏hid.・And there was the matter 
of his talent・/p> 
典here was an afternoon when Aeren優誰atheil・became quite afraid, but he couldn稚 
tell me why.・I hesitated, then forged ahead. 典he light was・very odd・ that day. 
It smelled wrong. Felt wrong.・/p> 
I expected ridicule at this or at least puzzled curiosity. But Baglos jumped to 
his feet as if stung by a scorpion. 展e must go to him. Please. The Seeking of 
the cursed Zhid is already touching him. And they are here, so close.・/p> 
典he three priests葉he men you ran away from預re they these Zhid? Your enemies?・/p> 

纏hid are the warriors of Zhev誰a, the enemies of all who breathe, of all who live 
unfettered. They値l find him if we don稚 hurry. Such danger stalking him, more 
than you know if they find him too soon. Please, woman. He is our last hope.・/p> 

Though I was no closer to understanding his words, I believed Baglos. There was 
no pretense in his quivering anxiety, no deception in his concern for the young 
man. And he didn稚 seem very threatening, though the memory of the silver dagger 
embedded in solid rock could not but leave me wary of both Aeren and his 
friends.
鄭ll right,・I said. 鏑et痴 go.・/p> 
CHAPTER 11
Baglos was not happy at the idea of my returning to the inn before leaving 
Grenatte, and I myself had more than a few sharp words ready for Graeme Rowan 
and his self-righteous snooping. But if I failed to meet the sheriff, I had no 
doubt the man would be sitting on my doorstep with Aeren under arrest by the 
time I could walk back to Dunfarrie.
The fading moon was setting and the sky was gray with approaching dawn when I 
left Baglos and Paulo at the edge of town. The streets near the marketplace were 
already busy, and the smells of hot bread and sizzling bacon from Bartolome痴 
kitchen reminded me that I was ravenous. I was crossing the innyard, ready to 
wheedle an early breakfast from the good innkeeper, when I spied two men shaking 
hands close by the entrance to the stable葉wo men who should be in no wise so 
friendly. Dismayed, I slipped around the outside of the innyard into an alleyway 
separated from the stable only by a wooden wall. Though I could no longer see 
the two, I could hear very well.
添ou値l not forget our agreement,・said one. 展e池e relying on your utmost 
discretion. It has come highly recommended.・/p> 
的 am a servant of the law and take my duties seriously. I was surprised to see 
you here. You told me yesterday that you knew where to find him.・/p> 
My eyes had not lied to me. One voice was Rowan痴, and the other belonged to 
Giano, the pale-eyed priest of Annadis.
Giano laughed. 展e expect to have the business done within the day. You値l be 
rewarded handsomely.・/p> 
溺y reward will be in seeing a scoundrel brought to justice.・/p> 
徹ne item of information we yet require・ The voices faded away. The two men must 
have stepped inside the stables.
I was furious, more at myself than Rowan. Trusting one who wore Evard痴 badge, 
giving credence, even for a moment, to his words of higher motives, justice, 
unclean murder悠 should have known better. He壇 been working with the priests all 
the time. Were these Zhid naught but sheriffs, wearing a holy disguise as they 
went about their despicable work? They must have had a good laugh at my 
performance, thought themselves quite clever. Well, I would provide no more 
entertainments.
My appetite soured, I sat in the common room brooding until a grim Rowan burst 
through the door. 典here you are!・/p> 
Tempting to spit at the devil痴 lackey. 泥id you think I壇 left Grenatte without 
you, Cousin?・I said.
典he thought occurred to me. I think we should take some air this morning. A walk 
would be ideal.・He took me firmly by the elbow and escorted me into the lane 
without so much as asking me if I was willing. He propelled me between a wagon 
load of squawking chickens and a knot of people gawking at a merchant beating 
his bondsman, and into a narrow alley well away from the door of the Green Lion. 
鄭nd so, my lady, do you know where they are?・/p> 
I wrenched my arm away. 泥o sheriffs not breakfast before interrogations? 
Bartolome can take rightful pride in his fare, and it is always such a pleasure 
to spend time with you.・/p> 
Though he didn稚 touch me, the sheriff backed me into the soot-stained wall, 
propping one hand against the wall on either side of my head. 的 ask you again. 
Do you know where they are?・/p> 
典hey?・/p> 
摘ither of them. The one you came here to find or the one that seems to have the 
whole countryside in pursuit of him葉he weak-minded servant.・/p> 
鄭 servant? How could I know anything of servants? And why would I care? I 
despise weak-minded people・and devious ones.・I ducked under Rowan痴 arm and 
proceeded down the alley at a brisk pace until I emerged in another busy street.
The sheriff was close at my shoulder. 展hat of the other one, the small, dark, 
odd-looking man? You remember, the one who痴 looking for his prized horse, but 
can tell me nothing but that the horse is white; he痴 also disappeared. But then 
you know that already. Bartolome says he was in his common room last night and 
rushed out shortly before I arrived, only moments before I met you hurrying out 
the same door. You told me it was the priests that frightened you. Did they 
frighten him also?・/p> 
典his has nothing to do with me.・/p> 
Rowan was forced to let a well-guarded flock of geese pass by and then shove his 
way through its trailing mob of anxious buyers to catch up with me again. 典his 
has everything to do with you,・he said, anger snapping like sparks on a frosty 
night. I had never seen him display such intensity of feeling. 的 learned also of 
the messenger that came here yesterday, asking after the man who sought his 
stolen horse. The messenger was a freckled boy who limped. I知 no idiot, madam, 
despite what you think, and I don稚 forget that Jacopo would be the only person 
in Dunfarrie I told of the strange little man who didn稚 fit his 
impersonation.・/p> 
I threaded my way through the crowd that was rapidly filling the streets, and 
stepped around a shapeless beggar who had crawled into the muck-filled ruts and 
had the lack of consideration to die there. 鼎oincidence,・I said. 的f you must 
know, I知 here to see if the local dyeshops will buy some of my plants. Several 
of them grow only on Poacher痴 Ridge.・A glimpse over my shoulder twisted a knot 
in my stomach; the dead beggar was a woman, her thin face an artwork of bruises 
and sores, sculpted by starvation and the brutal world. She might have been 
twenty or seventy. Wasted life. Useless death. I wrenched my attention back to 
my companion. 鄭s you致e so often noted, I知 accustomed to living better than I do 
at the moment.・/p> 
Rowan did not yield. He stepped in front of me and halted, forcing me to look 
him in the face. 的n no measure would this be coincidence, and in no way do I 
believe a word of your story. I致e learned enough in these ten years gone to know 
when you tell the truth. You致e said yourself these priests are not what they 
claim. That I do believe. Who is this man they seek? It痴 someone you know, isn稚 
it?・/p> 
He knew・curse the man forever, he knew that Aeren was a sorcerer. A fiery heat 
that had nothing to do with the growing sunlight coursed through my veins. 展hy 
ever would I tell you? And how dare you judge my truth? I think you know very 
little of truth.・/p> 
的 will find out, you know熔r someone will who痴 even less to your liking. There 
have been other inquiries about this 波room.灯
的致e no need of your concern.・/p> 
Our voices had risen through the conversation, but Rowan痴 next words were spoken 
quietly. Only their edges were hard. 鄭h, but others might. Jacopo and Paulo have 
no noble relations to protect them from the consequences of their actions. If 
you have any feeling for them擁f you are capable of feeling遥ou should consider 
your course carefully.・/p> 
As the threat hung in the air like smoke from summer grassfires, the sheriff 
took my arm again, and steered me down the road to a stable where his horse 
stood saddled and waiting. 典ime to go home, 任ousin,・・he said, gesturing me 
toward his horse. 哲o more foolish playacting and no more sneaking about 
Grenatte. You will take yourself and your young accomplice back to Dunfarrie, 
and you will remain there until I return.・/p> 
添ou池e not planning to drag me back yourself? What if I, in my fiendish 
perversity, dare to disobey?・/p> 
哲o, you go alone. I致e business in Grenatte today. You値l swear to me that you値l 
do as I say, and I値l believe you. But of course if I should find out you致e 
disobeyed me, you値l spend the rest of the week in the gaol.・/p> 
添ou wouldn稚 dare!・/p> 
添ou致e told me many times that your rank has made no difference in your 
punishment. I live by your words.・Rowan unslipped the reins from the tether rail 
and stuffed them in my hand. 典ake Thunder. He値l carry both you and Paulo. I壇 
rather not have to dig any more graves in During Forest tomorrow, and mounted 
travelers are at less risk. Tell Paulo to bring Thunder back to me first thing 
tomorrow morning and I might not whack him for tormenting his gram.・/p> 
I wanted to refuse any gift tainted by Rowan痴 hand, but simple reason curbed my 
tongue. Amid all the confusion of the sheriff痴 motives, one thing was certain. 
Aeren and his friend must be long gone before Rowan痴 return. If riding the 
cursed sheriff痴 horse helped that happen, then, by holy Annadis痴 sword, I would 
ride.
We made good time on our return journey. Baglos had his own mount and rode 
skillfully. I was unable to question him along the route as I had planned, for 
he raced north along the dusty road as if the doom of the world were indeed 
riding with him.
When we turned onto the narrow track that led up to the meadow, we had to slow, 
for the track was all dry gouges and ruts, left from some long-ago year of harsh 
rains. 的s it much farther, woman?・asked Baglos, his voice reflecting my own 
anxiety.
哲o. Just over that rise.・/p> 
的s it a safe place? A large city, a village? This village I have visited 
before?・/p> 
的t痴 only a cottage. Dunfarrie is an hour痴 walk.・/p> 
鄭re there trees, then?・/p> 
I thought the question curious. 鄭 whole forest of them. Aeren優誰atheil耀leeps 
under the trees. And when the light was so strange, he took us into the wood, 
but we never saw anyone.・/p> 
Baglos brightened considerably. 鉄o he knows to go to the trees. Perhaps he痴 not 
forgotten as much as you think.・/p> 
The drought-starved meadow was just as I had left it the previous day, an ocean 
of limp gray-green rippled by the hot breeze, cheered here and there by a clump 
of stareye or stately stalks of pink and silver lupine. The cottage sat squat 
and peaceful in the middle of it.
Paulo gave a whoop and let Thunder race the last distance across the meadow. 
Jacopo came out of the house to meet us and steadied me as I slipped from the 
saddle. 鉄o Paulo has brought you home riding, eh? He痴 quite a boy, wouldn稚 you 
say?・/p> 
Paulo grinned and led the horses off toward the copse and the spring.
展here痴 Aeren?・I said.
滴e痴 been poking about the woodpile all morning. A strange one, he is. Never know 
whether he痴 going to break your neck or shake your hand.・Jaco peered over my 
shoulder at my companion, who was straightening his tunic and straining his eyes 
about the meadow. 鏑ooks like you致e been successful in your business.・/p> 
添es, this is Baglos, a friend of Aeren痴. Baglos, this is my friend Jacopo・
Aeren strolled around the corner of the cottage carrying a forearm-sized piece 
of wood. At the sight of us, he increased his pace straightaway. Giving Baglos 
not so much as a passing glance, he planted himself just in front of me and, 
with unpleasant grunts and most explicit gestures, expressed his displeasure at 
my long absence.
Before I could respond, Baglos crowded in between us. He dropped to his knees, 
grabbed the young man痴 hand, and kissed it. Aeren growled and jerked his hand 
away, waving the kneeling Baglos aside. When a confused Baglos failed to move, 
Aeren snarled and raised the piece of wood over the man痴 dark head.
鼎e地a davonet, Gire D但rnath! Detan eto.・/em> As he cried out, Baglos raised his 
arms to shield himself.
Aeren paused and dropped his hand, flicking his fingers toward his own ears and 
then toward the smaller man痴 mouth, as if he壇 heard something in the exclamation 
that interested him.
Baglos showered Aeren with words in a flowing musical language, most of them 
shaped as questions. Aeren understood the words, which seemed to soothe his 
dangerous irritation, but I saw no light of recognition in his eyes, and to none 
of Baglos・questions did he answer other than in the negative.
After a goodly time of this, Aeren pointed to his mouth and then to his head 
with a most humorously eloquent gesture, telling Baglos that the two appendages 
were equally useless. Aeren痴 changing humors were as spring on the northern 
moors, a continual race between sunlight and storm. Baglos bowed and backed 
away, gazing sorrowfully on the young man who sat down in the grass and turned 
his attention to his limb of birchwood, peeling off the bark as if he were 
expecting to find something underneath, but wasn稚 quite sure what it might be.
鄭h, woman, I did not believe it possible that D誰atheil could have truly 
forgotten himself,・said Baglos, holding his clasped hands to his chest, the 
color of his complexion gone sallow. 釘ut your surmise is entirely correct. He 
recognizes nothing I speak of. We are lost if he cannot remember. And I cannot 
guide if he has forgotten the words to command me.・He tugged at his disheveled 
tunic, straightened his shoulders resolutely, and bowed to me. 釘ut this is not 
your burden. I will take him away now, and we will trouble you no more.・/p> 
哲o!・I blurted out the word more forcefully than I intended. 添ou can稚 take him 
away yet. We should eat something before you go. He痴 been ill・
滴e does not belong in this place. He has duties. In the name of the Dar誰ethi 
Preceptorate, I thank you for your kindness.・The forlorn Baglos cast his eyes 
down and walked back to Aeren, bowing once again. 鼎e地a, D誰atheil・/em>・ Aeren痴 
head popped up as he spoke・em>砺en稚敗ar欄
釘aglos, look,・I said. 滴e recognizes his name.・/p> 
Baglos had already noticed and dropped to his knees beside the young man, 
chattering rapidly. An exasperated Aeren soon clamped his hand over the smaller 
man痴 mouth and toppled him over backwards.
敵ive him time,・I said, helping Baglos sit up and brush the grass and dirt from 
his shirt. 典ake it more slowly.・/p> 
But the little man waved off my help. 擢oolish woman. There is no time. 
Everything is prepared・waiting・This was not part of the plan. The Zhid have done 
this悠 felt their icy breath at the crossing預nd I致e not the skill to reverse it. 
Everything depends on me, but with this・I don稚 know what to do.・ Such profound 
distress surely had origins somewhere far beyond irritable masters and momentary 
confusion. Our last hope, he had said.
滴e understands your language. Perhaps if you were to tell me more of him, then, 
between the two of us, we could make him remember what he needs to know.・/p> 
The little man sighed and rubbed his brow with his fist. 的f only remembering 
were enough. Since the ruinous attempt to send him, he has not been capable濫 
Baglos glanced over at Aeren, dropping his voice though the young man was 
preoccupied with his wood-shaping. 滴e never regained even the small skills he 
had as a boy. You would not understand the importance of these skills, as they 
are not abilities your people possess.・/p> 
鉄kills?・I approached with caution. 展hat kind of skills? He seems to be a 
talented warrior and very intelligent.・/p> 
的 speak of what a mundane would call magic. Sorcery.・Baglos spoke as casually as 
one might mention a gift for poetry or painting or baking.
I breathed a prayer that my instincts were correct. 滴e has done magic here.・/p> 
Baglos sat paralyzed, eyes stretched almost round. 滴ow is that possible? And why 
didn稚 you tell me?・/p> 
的 wasn稚 sure if you knew he could. It痴 not a thing to mention lightly. The law 
of the Four Realms・surely you know that.・I told him of the knife and the plants 
and the fire.
展hat knife is this?・He sprang from the ground like a new-vented geyser.
展e found it on the hilltop and believed it had some connection to Aeren because 
of the symbol on it. It痴 the one he uses even now.・Aeren had pulled out the 
dagger and was diligently scraping his piece of birch.
Baglos痴 eyes now filled half his face. 添ou told me that he wore nothing and 
carried nothing, but this is the Heir痴 dagger, D但rnath痴 dagger・our safety・ His 
olive skin paled even further to the color of milky tea. 典he sword・he carried no 
sword, did he? Please tell me he did not.・/p> 
的致e seen no sword. He痴 been looking for one.・/p> 
Baglos exhaled deeply and shook his head. 添ou say he does not recognize the 
knife, but he was able to penetrate the rock with it. This is astonishing! He 
was never able to do these things since his injuries when he was twelve. It is 
one reason we are so afraid. That he will never be capable迫he snapped his teeth 
together. 添es, woman, we will stay for a while and learn more of you. The 
Preceptors are wise beyond the ways of the Dulc・ Perhaps this is not entirely 
the work of the Zhid, for if D誰atheil has done magic・
I shrugged my shoulders at Jacopo溶o hope of understanding everything at once預nd 
sat down near Aeren, patting the turf beside me. 撤lease sit down, Baglos, and 
start at the beginning. Who are these Preceptors? Who is D誰atheil?・ I motioned 
the younger man to pay attention.
Baglos began his tale, speaking first in his own language to Aeren, then in 
Leiran for Jacopo and me. Setting aside his occupation, Aeren listened carefully 
to the little man痴 words, the afternoon breeze rippling his light hair.
典here are things of which I am permitted to speak and things of which I am not 
permitted to speak without D誰atheil痴 command. And there are many things I do not 
know at present. Do you know anything of the Breach or D但rnath痴 Bridge?・began 
Baglos.
The young man shook his head, and I did the same.
展ell, I cannot tell you that part, because I don稚 know it properly today, and 
truly it is a great mystery that is beyond my understanding, even if it was a 
time when I could tell you of it. D誰atheil could tell you if he could remember, 
or I could tell you if D誰atheil would command me, but I don稚 know how we will 
teach him of it if we do not know it correctly.・Baglos was in despair again, 
here at the beginning.
Unable to construct anything sensible from this rambling, I tried to get him to 
start again. 笛ust tell us about Aeren and how you come to be here. You honor him 
as a lord, and I致e seen enough of his manner to know it must be true. What is 
his family? Where do you come from? Has he truly grown up in a Vallorean temple 
school with those priests?・/p> 
鼎ertainly not! He has not lived with the Zhid. Zhid lie as easily as they 
breathe. They are no priests of any god I know, which is, of course, only Vasrin 
of the Two Faces: Vasrin Creator, who squeezed nothingness in his mind痴 fist to 
create matter, and Vasrin Shaper, who formed matter into the shapes of her 
dreaming容arth and sea and those of us who walk here. D誰atheil is the Heir of the 
royal line of D但rnath, a prince you would call him. The mark on the dagger擁t is 
the shield of his family.・/p> 
鄭 prince. I knew it.・/p> 
展e have had no king since the mighty D但rnath. His successors see their highest 
honor in being named his Heir. For a thousand years the Heirs of D但rnath have 
held the safety of Avonar in their hands. They have walked the world Bridge 
through the darkest perils. They have led us in the war against the Lords of 
Zhev誰a and their warrior Zhid. They have ruled with strength and justice and 
honor, bearing the hope of our people傭oth Dar誰ethi and Dulc髣that the Breach 
would one day be healed and the Wastes restored. But since the Battle of Ghezir, 
when the Zhid stole D但rnath痴 sword and dagger and closed the Gates, our hope has 
waned, for the Bridge cannot be maintained while the Gates are closed. D誰atheil 
is the sixty-third Heir of D但rnath. Since the Gates were closed, thirty-four 
Heirs lived and waited and died in vain, for we had become too weak to reopen 
them. We hoped against failing hope that the Exiles might open the way, to aid 
the Heir in his task as is their duty.・/p> 
I was at a loss already, grasping at bits that were comprehensible, even if they 
made no sense. 鄭 thousand years! What family can be traced back a thousand 
years? Not even the Kerotean priest-kings claim such lineage.・/p> 
添es. His family is very old, but he is the last. All the others of his line are 
dead. That has been our great dilemma. When the Gates were opened against all 
expectation, D誰atheil had only just come of age and been anointed. There was a 
great dispute among the Preceptors that day葉he Preceptors are our wisest and 
most powerful leaders, who advise the Heir in all matters of power and 
talent洋atters of sorcery, as you would say. Some thought to send D誰atheil 
immediately to walk the Bridge for fear we would lose the chance to repair and 
strengthen it, but Master Dassine argued that the boy was untrained and, at only 
twelve years, too young to survive the attempt. The other Preceptors overruled 
Dassine, and D誰atheil and Baltar were led to the Gate, but when they attempted 
the passage, D誰atheil was thrown from it with terrible injury, and Baltar, my 
cousin, lay dead. ,
的n the chaos that resulted, Master Dassine cried out that those who were not 
traitors deserved defeat for their stupidity預 charge not fairly given, and he 
had no call to chastise the other Preceptors. But Dassine picked up the young 
prince in his arms, took him to his own house, and posted wards that would allow 
no one near D誰atheil without his leave for all these years. Though many 
disagreed with Master Dassine痴 course of action, all could see that the 
premature attempt had harmed the boy in ways they could not understand. The hope 
has been that as D誰atheil grew older, he would learn the things needed to 
accomplish his purpose and develop the talents with which he was born.・/p> 
典alents for sorcery?・I said, fighting to untangle the knot he was making of my 
head.
滴e is not a bootmaker, woman. He is the Heir of D但rnath.・Baglos痴 indignation was 
worthy of a jilted bride.
I sighed. 敵o on.・/p> 
鉄o we in Avonar have fought to retake D但rnath痴 sword from the Zhid and to defend 
the Bridge and the Gates until D誰atheil could reach maturity. But we have seen 
no further sign from the Exiles, and the Zhid have grown more powerful. Eight 
days ago even Master Dassine agreed the Bridge was in imminent peril. D誰atheil 
himself fought on the walls of Avonar that night庸or the first time since his 
injury as a boy預nd he slew fifty Zhid. We heard the terrible rumor that he lay 
near death after it, but clearly that wasn稚 true. On the next morning Master 
Dassine announced that D誰atheil and his Guide must make the crossing before the 
Gates could be closed again.
典he rites were rushed and confused, for there was fighting in the city streets. 
Bendal was wounded迫Baglos・narration faltered briefly欄and Master Exeget performed 
the madris so that I might serve the Prince as his Guide. But at last D誰atheil 
reached the palace and stepped through the Gate. The Zhid must have broken into 
the chamber just as Master Exeget pushed me after the Prince, for three of them 
followed right on my heels.・/p> 
Baglos took a deep breath, as if only now recovering from the terror of battle, 
and when he continued, he spoke with resolve and conviction. 典he Zhid and their 
masters, the three Lords of Zhev誰a, will do anything to destroy the Bridge. 
Anything. They believe it will give them their victory, that it will complete 
the Catastrophe of their making. As the Heir, D誰atheil is sworn to defend the 
Bridge・to preserve our land・and so he must do. Now do you understand? Our people 
stand at the verge of annihilation, and he it is who must save us all.・/p> 
As Baglos repeated this last for Aeren, my mind was flooded with questions. And 
caught up in the words like flotsam on the tide were words and images that 
tweaked my memory, but would not explain themselves: the Breach, the world 
Bridge・I had tried so hard to erase the past, to get on with my useless life, 
forbidding the horror of my dreams from lingering into day. But one of Baglos痴 
bits and pieces had washed up on the shore and lay in plain view where I could 
not ignore it.
添our land,・I said. 添ou call it Avonar?・/p> 
徹ur land was once called Gondai and encompassed many realms, but now that only 
our royal city and the Vales of Eidolon are left outside the Wastes, that name 
gets little use. Avonar葉he City of Light. I fear that I may never again gaze 
upon its beauties.・/p> 
My throat could hardly give voice to my question. My skin felt tremulous, cold 
and hot and numb all together, as if I壇 had too little sleep. 展here is this 
Avonar, where such things as sorcery are the custom?・/p> 
的 cannot tell you where, except that it is in the mountains beyond the 
Wastes,・Baglos said. 鄭t some other time perhaps or if D誰atheil could command me 
to do so, I could tell you of it.・/p> 
典here was a city in Valleor called Avonar, but it was destroyed almost twenty 
years ago.・The hair on my arms was standing on end. 典ell me, Baglos, who are 
these Exiles of whom you speak?・/p> 
典he Exiles were dispatched right after the creation of the Bridge, long before 
the Battle of Ghezir. Twenty Dar・Nethi were led across the Bridge by D但rnath痴 
beloved brother. It is part of the story of the Bridge that I cannot remember 
today. To be sent so far from their home and abandoned with no hope of return 
seems a cruel punishment, but they are great heroes and not criminals. We never 
knew their fate, but our hopes that they would be able to open the Gates had 
long faded. When at last they accomplished it, our hearts were lifted.・/p> 
How impossible it was that I should be sitting in this meadow and talking with 
this odd stranger about such things, that of all the places in the Four Realms 
it should be Poacher痴 Ridge where D誰atheil would appear out of nowhere. For who 
else but I, out of so many thousands, would be able to see the connections I saw 
amidst the incomprehensible strands of Baglos痴 story? Even the symbol on the 
knife預t last that connection had resolved. Change the rampant lions to smooth 
curves, reduce the design to its elemental forms as a thousand years and 
imperfect memory are wont to do, and one could see the simple rectangle with the 
arced triangle inscribed, and the three stylized flowerets. The mark of a ruling 
family・just as it had been the mark of Karon痴 father, the Lord of Avonar. How 
could this be?
泥o you know, Baglos, what was the name of the one who led your Exiles, the first 
one those hundreds of years ago?・I could not have said whether it was day or 
night, so intent was I on his answer. I would not have noticed a whirlwind had 
it settled in our midst or a storm of fire raging in the trees. The storm was 
within me.
摘veryone knows that. He holds honor next to D但rnath himself. J脱ttanne was his 
name.・/p> 
The universe shifted underneath my feet. This was not coincidence. It couldn稚 
be. 添our people are called Dar"-Nethi, then?・/p> 
的n our land we are of two peoples, Dar誰ethi and Dulc・ You can see clearly that 
my parentage differs from that of D誰atheil, for I am of the Dulc・ Dar誰ethi and 
Dulc・have lived in harmony since the beginning of time, for our gifts are very 
different.・/p> 
D誰atheil sat in the golden light of afternoon with his chin on his knees, his 
face expressionless. How much he understood, or whether any of the strange story 
had touched a familiar chord, it was impossible to tell.
My own difficulty was where to begin my questioning. Bridges seemed clear. 
Breaches幼hasms洋ade sense. What were these gates of which Baglos spoke?
The Gates marked the two ends of D但rnath痴 Bridge, so Baglos told me as the sun 
settled westerly葉he Heir痴 Gate in Avonar, the Exiles・Gate in this land. Found 
deep in a chamber accessible only to the Heir or those to whom he has given the 
magical key to unlock its wards, the Gates appear as a wall of fire through 
which one must pass to walk upon the Bridge. Baglos had been prepared for a 
journey of horror at the crossing, but in truth he must have fainted, for a 
great fracturing burst upon him just as he stepped through the wall of fire. The 
only remaining entry to the Heir痴 Gate was located in the royal palace in 
Avonar, and that was where he and D誰atheil had begun their crossing. Baglos had 
no idea at all where any entries to the Exiles・Gate could be found. 哲ot today at 
least,・he said. D誰atheil should have emerged at the principal entry to the 
Exiles・Gate; such had been the expectation. And he, Baglos, should have been 
with the Prince, but this 吐racturing・had separated them. He had awakened in the 
middle of a wheat field with a pounding head and had begun to search the 
countryside for D誰atheil. For three days he walked in circles, but he couldn稚 
find the Prince. Thus he had begun visiting towns and villages, used his silver 
to buy a horse, and revealed himself to strangers so as to inquire after his 
missing lord.
I tried to digest the idea of a 吐racturing,迫an earthquake, perhaps?傭ut quickly 
decided to go on to more urgent matters. 典ell us of these Zhid, Baglos.・/p> 
Baglos wrinkled his face in disgust. 典he Zhid. The Empty Ones. Servants of the 
three who are called the Lords of Zhev誰a. We are taught that the Zhid, and even 
the Lords themselves, were once Dar誰ethi or Dulc・like us, their souls lost when 
the Catastrophe laid waste all the lands beyond Avonar. But I believe they were 
a terrible mistake of Vasrin Shaper when she put form to the life Vasrin Creator 
had made. Zhid feed on fear and destruction and despair. And they are powerful 
warriors, though their Seeking is more to be feared than their swords.・/p> 
典his 粘eeking・is something of sorcery, then?・/p> 
的t is their most terrible sorcery. It withers a man, binding him to the Lords in 
service, sometimes taking his name and leaving him empty or mad, sometimes 
making him like to the Zhid in all of their evil. A forest can shelter you from 
them, as can some dwellings, because a forest is of all places the one where 
life is thick and rich. And if the dwelling is a home where there have been 
births and deaths and people living there who care for each other, the Zhid can 
destroy the house itself, but their Seeking cannot penetrate it.・/p> 
I asked Baglos much more, but he seemed incapable of answering anything beyond 
what he had already told us. 徹n another day,・he kept saying. 鄭sk me again and I 
could tell you.・His knowledge was so spotty, his physical capabilities so 
unprepossessing, and his emotional state so volatile, that I doubted that he 
could keep D誰atheil alive, much less do anything in the way of guiding him. He 
obviously cared for his young lord and his people very deeply, but, aside from 
his remarkable fluency in my language, he demonstrated no power of intellect or 
intuition to support his duties, especially when one thought of the dangers 
D誰atheil faced from the law of Leire, as well as his own enemies.
展hat must you do now, Baglos?・I asked. 展hat were you and D誰atheil to accomplish 
in Leire, if all had gone as you planned?・/p> 
Baglos looked at me like a child who has just heard from his parents that he 
must teach them to walk, instead of the other way around. 的 do not know.・/p> 
鉄urely there was some goal, some deed to perform?・/p> 
的 do not know.・/p> 
添ou are called a Guide. To what place were you to lead him or in what activity? 
You speak of his duty to 背alk the Bridge.・Is that it? What does it mean?・/p> 
的 know my own duties, woman, but as for D誰atheil痴 course and his purpose and 
what he must do to further them, I cannot say.・/p> 
滴ave you lost your memory, too?・/p> 
的 have not!・Baglos was indignant and turned away from me in a pout.
I exploded. 典hen why in the name of all that lives were you sent? If you don稚 
know these things today, you池e not going to know them tomorrow. How wise can 
your Preceptors be to put someone who knows so little in this position? It痴 
madness!・/p> 
Baglos turned back to me with an expression of long suffering. 哲o, no, woman. 
You do not understand the Dulc・ Did I not tell you our gifts were different from 
the Dar誰ethi? It is not required to know all these things. If the Heir were to 
command me, then I would know what was necessary, and I could teach him or lead 
him as he desired.・/p> 
My head was splitting as I tried to understand. 的t doesn稚 make sense. How could 
you tell him anything you don稚 know?・/p> 
鉄uch is the gift of the Dulc・ to make connections when commanded by our 
madrisson熔ne with whom we have been linked by the rite of the madris. If 
D誰atheil commanded me to lead him to some great city, even if I had never seen 
it, I could discover the best way to take him there. If he commanded me to teach 
him the lore of the stars as practiced in your land, then I could do so, but I 
could not tell you of it now. If the information is to be found, then I can 
acquire it. But he it was who knew his course and his purpose. It was not 
necessary for me to be told.・The Dulc・leaned close and his strange eyes hammered 
at me. 添ou must help me, woman. We must find a way to make him remember and to 
finish his preparation, for if we do not, D但rnath痴 Bridge will fall and the 
Lords of Zhev誰a will feast on the souls of your people as well as ours. We will 
see no beauty and no joy ever again.・/p> 
Though I believed he spoke truth, I wondered about the many things the Dulc・ 
would not or could not tell us. His story was impossibly strange. And woven 
through it all were the magical names. J脱ttanne. Avonar. Just as they were woven 
through the life I had fought so hard to forget・/p> 
CHAPTER 12
Year 2 in the reign of King Evard
In the season of Seille of the year that I turned twenty-three, Karon and I were 
wed. The true ceremony took place in the grand drawing room at Windham, Martin痴 
elegant silk tapestries, crystal, and brass softened by garlands of fragrant 
evergreen and the light of five hundred candles. Only our four closest friends 
were there to witness it. I wore dark green velvet and carried roses that Karon 
had grown for me. Martin placed my hand in Karon痴, and it was difficult to tell 
which of our company radiated the greatest happiness. Julia swore adamantly that 
it was Tennice. For my part, I believed that good Arot himself, in that first 
Long Night at the beginning of the world, could have been gifted with no better 
friends and no more perfect joy. I notified Tomas of my marriage. In return, I 
received a letter from his man of business. My marriage portion was to be the 
townhouse and a settlement sufficient to ensure the Lady Seriana痴 position 
cannot be seen as a reproach to the family. The Duke of Comigor has no wish to 
enter into any negotiations with any parties, and since his consent to the 
marriage was not required, he will assume that the consent of the suitor is not 
required as to the settlement.
Though I knew Evard would have claimed the sizeable dowry my father had set 
aside for me, I didn稚 argue. Karon and I had more than enough. Tomas had not 
been stingy, and Karon had a gentleman痴 income, set up anonymously by his father 
when Karon had first gone to the University.
Our more public wedding was in Montevial, where my circle of acquaintances had 
come to know Karon as the new Leiran Commissioner of Antiquities. My former 
beau, Viscount Mantegna, had told me of the post, vacant for several months 
since its most recent occupant had died, and I had pestered Karon until he 
applied for it. My new husband had returned to Montevial with some vague notion 
of using his income to buy a house in some out-of-the-way place so we could be 
together, but to leave Montevial made no sense when I held title to my family痴 
townhouse, a much finer home than anything he could afford. Evard痴 marriage and 
Tomas痴 flourishing career had eased the fears that had forced both Karon and me 
into self-imposed exile, and even Martin agreed that a respectable position and 
Karon痴 intention to forego any privilege of rank would preclude any closer 
inquiry as to Karon痴 origins. Though we would always need to be careful, we 
believed we had weathered the storm. And truly, the court posting was perfect 
for him.
The antiquities collection was a conglomeration of cultural rarities and 
worthless junk dumped haphazardly into the vaults of the royal treasury after 
every Leiran military victory. No one knew quite what to do with it all. Only 
the suspicion that abandoning the hoard would somehow subject Leire to the scorn 
of foreigners, who seemed to value such things, convinced the administrators to 
replace the deceased commissioner. Karon did not care about the political 
purposes of the treasure, but considered the position an unparalleled 
opportunity for anyone with an interest in history and culture. To care for such 
treasures as they needed to be cared for, to have unlimited access to study and 
write about them, to have the charter to seek out whatever might be available to 
augment the collection揺e admitted that no position was more suited to the nature 
of a J脱ttanni scholar. So much to discover.
We kept up a social life in keeping with my rank and Karon痴 position, though 
with far fewer engagements than I had in my year alone. Marriage made me dull, I 
heard it said. Acquaintances whispered that I had married beneath me, but then 
it was a fact that I was getting on in age for a first marriage. Indeed, most 
men would shy away from anyone with my uncomfortable relationship with King 
Evard, so perhaps I couldn稚 afford to be too selective. I cared not a whit for 
what anyone said.
I still had a thousand questions about sorcery and the J脱ttanne, but Karon was 
unused to speaking of his secrets, and I was reluctant to begin our life 
together by forcing him out of his habits. When he was ready, he would tell me 
everything I wanted to know. I had never felt so deliriously happy, so much at 
peace, as in those first weeks after our wedding.
Karon reveled in his work, and I delved into my studies with renewed fervor, 
determined to share in the intellectual pursuits he valued. But as the winter 
deepened, I noticed a disturbing change in him. It began with a growing 
restlessness that no amount of walking, riding, or other occupation seemed to 
satisfy. He would sit with me of an evening to write letters or read, but 
instead of luring me into two hours・conversation with some anecdote from his 
reading, he would throw down his book or his pen after only a short time and 
stand staring into the fire. No teasing or question, no puzzle or activity or 
entertainment of any kind could hold his attention, and though his affection 
seemed undiminished庸ar from it, in fact揺e expressed less and less of it with 
words. Even after the act of love itself, he could not speak or sleep, but would 
excuse himself and go walking alone.
I refused to pry. I had observed a similar behavior in his years at Windham; it 
had always passed without explanation, and I had promised myself to respect his 
privacy. But on the evening he broke off our planning for Tanager痴 
thirtieth-birthday celebration, circling the library like a trapped beast and 
muttering that he couldn稚 concentrate, I decided I could no longer wait for 
explanations・/p> 
適aron, what is it? You値l wear holes in the floor with your pacing.・/p> 
He looked up, his expression that of a deer facing a hunter痴 bow. Every terrible 
fantasy a new wife could invent raced through my mind: he didn稚 love me・he felt 
he had made a mistake・I had displeased him in some way.
典ell me,・I said. 展hatever it is.・/p> 
徹h gods, Seri. I thought I could be rid of this. With all you give me, I must be 
a fool.・He paced across our library and picked up a book, riffling through its 
pages. Without looking at a line of it, he tossed it down again. He crouched and 
threw a log onto the fire, and then cursed himself when it rolled out, 
scattering ash and sparks across the rug. He reached for a hearth brush to scoop 
up the mess, but I snatched it from his hand and pushed him to the floor, 
seating myself on the rug just in front of him.
的 am your wife. Tell me.・/p> 
He breathed deeply, his face sculpted with such distress, I had to force myself 
still. 哲ot two months ago I pledged I would never leave you, and here we致e 
scarcely begun・I swear to you, Seri, my feelings have not changed, nor has my 
intent, but I知 afraid my vow must bend.・He took my hands in his, as he unleashed 
the flood of words. 泥o you remember, in those early years at Windham, how I 
would leave for a few weeks from time to time?・/p> 
添our research trips. Interviews and observations.・/p> 
展ell, that wasn稚 quite the truth. But of course you didn稚 know about me. If I壇 
told you I had to go because my blood was on fire, you would have thought me 
mad.・/p> 
溺ost likely.・/p> 
He tried to smile. I could not even attempt it. His hands were near scorching my 
own.
典o describe it so would have been・would be・no exaggeration. This gift I have is 
forbidden by every law and custom in the world, yet would be far easier to 
ignore my eyes or my heart or to forgo speech or breathing than to abandon it. 
The journeys I made from Windham were to every manner of place. In such times as 
ours, it痴 not difficult to find those who need what I have to offer. Though 
there aren稚 ten people on this earth who would knowingly accept healing from a 
sorcerer, many are desperate enough to ask no questions.・/p> 
He kneaded my fingers, then bundled them up and enfolded them in his own. 展hat 
I知 trying to say in this stupidly muddled way is that I cannot stop. I thought I 
could after I came back last autumn. After a year of wandering, of doing little 
else but healing, I was spent. I thought that perhaps I had done enough, and 
from then on, it could be only when I would choose. I swore I壇 never do anything 
to endanger you, even if it meant I never used my talents again. But that痴 
impossible. Neither my body nor my mind will allow me to ignore what I am. If I知 
not on this earth to heal, then I cannot understand the purpose of my life. And 
if I fail to heed this call, then I知 afraid you may wake one morning to find a 
lunatic in your bed. I have to go, Seri, until I can settle again.・/p> 
展ill you come back?・/p> 
He drew our clasped hands to his burning forehead and breathed the words. 的 
swear to you that I値l come back as soon as I quiet this demon in me.・/p> 
I had planned that my life would be different from the lives of other Leiran 
women. How often my mother had heard my father say, 溺y duty is to my king. I 
cannot take my ease in bed with you when there are battles to be fought and 
won.・She, as all warriors・wives, had spent her life waiting for her husband to 
come home from war. But as a girl, I had nurtured dreams of fighting my own 
battles, of leading merchant caravans, or exploring the wild lands beyond our 
borders預 life of more purpose than waiting.
And so, as Karon told me haltingly of the strange fever that grew in him the 
longer he denied himself use of his power, I began to envision possibilities: 
travel together, adventure, not bloody combat with swords and severed limbs and 
looted cities, but secret kindness and magical escapes. I could help him tend 
his patients, divert suspicions, watch his back while he was occupied with his 
magic. When he fell silent, looking a little puzzled, I burst out with my ideas. 
展ell, at least you needn稚 go alone anymore・
But Karon dismissed my fantasies as quickly as they壇 grown. 典he places I go are 
not for you: battlefields, border villages, the poorest quarters of any city, 
disease and danger in every corner. And the way I have to manage it, in secret, 
always hiding, in disguise, ready to run at any moment. It would be impossible 
for two. I致e no love for putting myself in jeopardy, but I cannot謡ill 
not容ndanger you. I値l not take you.・/p> 
I argued with him all the rest of that evening and into the next day, as he 
gathered a few things to take with him on his journey: some plain and sturdy 
clothes, a worn brown cloak with deep pockets on the inside, a supply of food, 
and a flask of wine. But despite my best reasoning, my escalating accusations of 
his mistrust and his disdain of my abilities, and a serious threat to bar him 
from my bed when he returned, he would not even tell me where he was going.
的 tell you again,・he said, 土ou are the most capable, most intelligent, most 
determined person I know洋an or woman. I trust you with my life every hour. But 
this is for your safety. If I were to・If anything were to happen・ which I 
promise it will not遥ou must have no idea where I致e gone. You can say that I was 
a typical blockheaded man and refused to allow a woman to know of my business. 
Be ignorant and blame me for it. Promise me・ Even with all his peaceful ways, 
Karon could be stubborn.
Only as he led his horse from our stable and kissed me did I relent. 典hen I 
suppose this is the way it must be,・I said. But only for now, I thought. I was 
stubborn, too.
He did come back, after only five days away. Four weeks later, he had to leave 
again. Sometimes he was gone for a week, rarely more than two. He would return 
home tired, sometimes grieving, but always at peace. And after a few weeks, the 
restlessness would begin to grow in him again. I came to recognize its onset 
before Karon did.
At first, he did not speak of his journeys even after he came home. I quite 
pointedly refused to ask about them, acting as though he壇 not even been away. 
But after one four-week absence that had left me so frantic with worry that I 
could not pretend indifference, he broke his silence. Late on the night of his 
return, after a singularly desperate lovemaking, he held me in the dark of our 
bedchamber and began to tell me of a poor, isolated village near the Kerotean 
border that was devastated by a wasting sickness that had left three quarters of 
its people and all of its children dead. I let him talk until he fell asleep. He 
never spoke of it again.
But as time went on he did open this most private part of his life to me. He 
told of towns rife with fever, of Kerotean settlements ravaged by bandits, of 
streets where children grew malformed because their food had been taken for 
soldiers or because their childhoods had been sold for labor in mines or 
quarries. He would work until someone asked questions or until he had done all 
he could do.
So many of us lived our lives without accomplishing anything of worth. I could 
only marvel at the stupidities of a world that would call such a gift, so freely 
given, evil.
Deep on one night in early spring, when Karon was away on one of his journeys, I 
was awakened by the soft pad of footsteps crossing the wood floor of our 
bedchamber. Beyond the bed-curtains a faint light moved from the direction of 
the doorway to the far wall where a washing cabinet stood between the windows. I 
huddled silently under the bedclothes, cursing my foolish presumption that just 
because I shared a bed with a sorcerer I could forego the Comigor custom of 
hanging knife and sword above the bed. A medley of strange sounds came from the 
room: a bundle laid down, a quickly silenced ring of metal, the clink of glass. 
Time passed. My terror turned to puzzlement. No one had murdered me. Thieves 
would have taken what valuables I owned and fled. Pouring liquid・ ripping 
cloth・a man痴 muffled curse・Karon・/p> 
I yanked open the bed-curtains and saw him standing shirtless by the washing 
cabinet, dabbing at his side. 鉄eri! Gods, I知 sorry・ He tried to hide it from me 
with a ripped and bloody towel. 的 didn稚 want to wake you.・/p> 
鄭nd did you think to sneak away again once you壇 ruined all my towels?・I said, 
pulling his hands away to see a long, blood-crusted gash in his side. Ugly and 
painful, but not too deep at least.
的 just wanted to clean up a bit before you saw. You mustn稚 worry.・/p> 
I motioned him to a chair, lit a lamp, and brought towels, a healing salve, and 
a linen bandage I kept in a drawer, and then set to cleaning the wound myself. 
哲ot worry? Better ask me not to breathe. The law of Leire is・Stars of night, 
Karon, you were a prisoner!・I held his hand up to the light, my skin crawling at 
seeing the rope burns on his wrists.
典his was thieves, not the law. They saw my heavy cloak and my decent horse and 
thought I might fetch a good ransom. It was quite clear there was nothing 
extraordinary about my skill in avoiding them,・he said, grimacing as I tightened 
the bandage about his middle. 鄭nd since I can稚 heal myself, they had no cause to 
suspect me of anything else.・/p> 
鄭nd how did you get away?・/p> 
展ell, they had to sleep, and I was able to conjure myself out of their ropes, 
leaving them only the most convincing evidence that I壇 got hold of a knife and 
cut myself free.・He stroked my hair. 的t could happen to any traveler at any 
time, you know. I was just able to get out of it easier.・/p> 
I jerked my head away from his hand and dumped the bloody water into the waste 
jar. 添ou live in Leire, not Valleor. You must wear a sword from now on,・ I said. 
哲o Leiran noble would ever walk the street without a weapon, much less travel 
that way. You might as well ride naked.・/p> 
的 cannot.・/p> 
I gaped at him uncomprehending. 鼎annot・ My father and mother, my brother, 
everyone I knew, both male and female, and I, too, lived by the sword. I壇 known 
how to wield a blade since I was ten, prepared to use any weapon to defend 
myself and those I loved. The brocade knife sheath strapped to my thigh was 
never empty. 展ell, then迫I scarcely knew what to say欄you don稚 have to use it, 
only look as if you are capable.・/p> 
徹h, I知 quite capable. I was trained just as any youth. But I gave up carrying a 
sword when I realized I could never use it. I知 a Healer, Seri. How could I?・/p> 
I could think of several points of debate, but I had already learned that Karon痴 
deepest-held beliefs were immune to reasoned argument. 典here lives no more 
stubborn beast than a man of conviction,・Martin had once told me. Karon took me 
in his arms, and we said no more about it, but I never again rested easy when he 
was away.
As the months passed, Karon taught me more of sorcery and the life of the 
J脱ttanne in Avonar. There was no day he could remember, he told me, when he 
could not do things I would call magic: to light a candle with the brush of his 
mind, to make a rose bloom from a dormant shrub, to call a bird to sit on his 
hand. And on every one of those days he knew he could be burned for it. It was 
as if I had grown up knowing I could be executed because my heart was beating.
In Karon痴 youth, several hundred of the J脱ttanne had lived in Avonar. They had 
learned through hard generations how to live a dual life, to suppress their 
talent until they were in safety or to use it so subtly that no one would ever 
know. They were merciless with their children, he said, for it was the only way 
to keep them safe. Whenever a sorcerer was taken, seven of the J脱ttanne, always 
two of them children, would stand in the command of Montevial or the Imperial 
Amphitheater in Vanesta and watch while their friend or kinsman burned耀o they 
would never forget.
But the children were also taught the skills and the love of life that were 
bound up with their heritage. Never did they deny who they were or reject the 
difficult course laid out for them. Never was there any suggestion that they 
forsake their Two Tenets and revert to the practices of their foolish ancestors. 
Many J脱ttanne became quite facile at using their talents. The ordinary citizens 
of Avonar never suspected that the reputation of their city for having the most 
exceptionally beautiful gardens and fountains and the most skilled craftsmen in 
all of Valleor rested in large part on the community of sorcerers that lived 
among them.
徹f course, our life was happy,・Karon told me one evening as we worked in our own 
tiny garden, tucked away behind the townhouse. 轍uite happy. There were always 
蚤unts and uncles・to care for you and to listen when you were troubled. And we 
weren稚 isolated from the rest of the children in the city. We couldn稚 be or it 
would be noticed. We just learned how to manage it.・/p> 
鼎ould everyone do the same things you do? Heal, I mean. Tame birds. Make 
light.・/p> 
釘asic things, yes, like the candles and the birds. But it wasn稚 until age 
sixteen or so that your primary talent would manifest itself. A bit terrifying 
when it happened. You would go to sleep as a modestly capable boy or girl, 
plagued with the normal confusions of being neither child nor adult, and then 
awaken the next day as a Gardener or a Builder or a Metalwright or a Healer. 
There were those who could melt silver without fire and shape it into marvelous 
creations with only their minds. There were the Speakers溶ot many, as 
truth-telling was always a rare gift預nd there were the Word Winders and the 
Singers. My mother was a Singer. When she sang, the image of her words was 
brought to life right in the room with you, not just in your mind, but a 
shimmering vision in the air before you, alive with color and motion. When she 
sang you to sleep, you would dream her songs.・/p> 
I shoved a stick-like tree into the hole Karon had dug and wished I had some 
magic to make it grow faster, so that it would shade this corner of my garden 
before I had white hair. Some days, my own life felt truly useless. 展hat of you 
then?・I asked, pounding the dirt about the tree to hold it straight. 展hen did 
you discover you were a Healer?・/p> 
的 was seventeen. All that summer I had lived with the growing fear that I had no 
talent beyond the ordinary, that the Way would never be laid down for me. On 
rare occasion that would happen. No one knew why. One day my brother Christophe 
and I were out tramping in the mountains. He was just thirteen and very much 
determined to show he was my equal in climbing. We were hoping to find a new 
route to the top of Mount Karylis that day, but had begun to think it 
impossible. Then Christophe found a narrow chimney that looked to reach a ledge 
we壇 been trying for, and before I could discourage him, he was up it. He fell, 
and・well, the details aren稚 important. He landed on a rock and caved in his 
chest. There was no one to help溶o one within two hours・walk.・/p> 
Karon痴 attention drifted into the realm of story and memory that was always as 
vivid as present daylight for him. 的 had watched J脱ttanni Healers perform the 
blood-rite and prayed for years that whatever my gift, it would not be that one. 
But on that day my desire was reversed, and I had no choice but to try. 
Otherwise Christophe was dead and would cross the Verges long before I could get 
him home. Our people had many theories on how specific talents developed; 
perhaps my gift might have been different if my need had not been so great. I 
did what I had to do, holding Christophe close to me so the blood would mingle 
as it must and taking myself into him so I could put right what had been 
damaged. More than half a day it took me.・He laughed and squeezed my hand, 
returning from his journey of remembrance. 的 was not very skilled and caused 
both of us more grief than was necessary. That scar is my constant inducement to 
humility.・/p> 
When I asked him, he showed me the long, ragged white mark that had been his 
first.
鼎an you remember them all?・I ran my fingers over the tracery of white that 
criss-crossed his left arm. Hundreds of scars.
摘very one. You cannot forget. The sense of completion・of purpose・of wholeness・is 
indescribable. There痴 been nothing in my life to compare to it・ until I met 
you.・/p> 
And then were both talking and gardening interrupted for a while.
Later, as we walked into the house in the moonlight, I asked him what he meant 
by 田rossing the Verges.・He wrinkled his brow and said, 哲othing in Leiran 
cosmology corresponds to the concept. The J脱ttanne call the place where souls 
reside after death L探iere, the 杷ollowing life.・We know nothing of its nature, 
but we believe that between the life that we know and L探iere, there exists a 
boundary which the living cannot cross and from which there is no return. After 
death there is a time庸rom a few moments to a few hours謡hen the soul has not yet 
crossed this boundary and can be returned to the body. It痴 why time is so 
critical to a Healer. With skill and effort and luck and the gift I have been 
given, I can return one who is dead to life again, but only if the soul has not 
yet crossed.・/p> 
I was fascinated by all this, but uncomfortable, too. Death was rarely a topic 
of discussion in Leiran society. Warriors lived forever in legend and story, of 
course, and the Holy Twins would inscribe their names on their lists of heroes 
when we recounted their noble deeds in temple rites. And the families who 
nurtured such heroes shared in this immortality, as Mana shared in the glory of 
the First God Arot. Otherwise, Leiran gods had no use for the dead. Living a 
life of honor was what was important.
的t was not so very different in Avonar,・Karon said, when I mentioned my 
discomfort. 展e had a somewhat more optimistic view of whatever is to come, but 
Healers were never the first ones that came to mind when one was making a guest 
list. Reminders of mortality are never welcome.・He gave an exaggerated sigh. 的 
suppose now you値l want to banish me to the kitchens when you entertain.・/p> 
的壇 already planned it so. It was your conversation that attracted me, you know, 
and I知 hesitant to put your social graces on display lest another woman be 
singed by the same flame!・/p> 
As Karon flourished in his more ordinary profession, I spent more and more time 
with him at the antiquities collection. Here we had no arguments, but reveled in 
the unending variety of human creativity. Among the bins and boxes we found 
man-high statues of Kerotean marble and tiny fetishes of wood and ivory from 
cultures so primitive that nothing at all was known of them. There were 
Vallorean tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, helmets and armor and swords of a 
thousand varieties, maps and glassware, jewelry and silverwork, rugs woven of 
the hair from exotic beasts. Most of these articles had been stuffed into musty 
vaults in the royal treasuries with no regard for their fragile nature. Armor 
was thrown on top of crumbling manuscripts, paintings laid face down, ivory and 
jade statuary left where dampness had made stagnant pools.
Shortly after assuming his post, Karon had several large, well-aired workrooms 
set aside for his use. He had his small staff of assistants bring each item to 
the workrooms, so it could be judged, and then it would either be disposed of or 
sent to be cleaned, repaired, and packed away more carefully.
Our delight was to find an article that was unmarked and unknown and to unravel 
the mysteries of its origin. We would seek some idea of its history from the 
pieces stored alongside it. Then we would attempt to trace the materials, the 
paint, the stone, the paper, the ink, the yam. Karon would search the royal 
libraries for references to anything similar or write letters to scholars or 
collectors who might have information. If we were still lacking information, I 
might take the piece to the market, and inquire of visiting merchants or 
travelers if they had ever seen such a thing.
Evard痴 lord high chamberlain heard of the new commissioner痴 work and sent his 
secretary to ask if there might be articles suitable for display in the palace. 
Evidently Evard had decided that some ornamentation might better suit his role 
as the supreme monarch of the civilized world. Perhaps his decision was 
connected with the rumors that the young queen considered Leirans, including her 
husband, to be barbarians. And so, when we found a particularly fine piece, I 
would write a card describing it, pack the card with the vase or statue or 
tapestry, and send them to the chamberlain with the commissioner痴 compliments 
and a recommendation as to the object痴 placement and method of display.
The only activity I avoided was accompanying Karon down into the vaults. I 
blamed my deep-rooted horror of dark, confined spaces on Tomas. Once when I was 
but five or six years old, I was playing hide and seek with Tomas and two of his 
friends through the dank cellars and musty storerooms of Comigor. Tomas decided 
it would be a great joke to abandon the game without telling me. He and his 
friends took themselves off riding, not knowing that the ancient cupboard I had 
discovered deep in the darkest cellar had a faulty latch and that I could not 
free myself. When I failed to come to supper in the nursery, the governess 
assumed I was out riding, too. Only when the boys returned at nightfall did the 
alarm go out.
It was two days until they found me, pale and terrified and perfectly quiet, 
huddled in the pitch-blackness of the cramped old cabinet. I had been afraid to 
cry out when I heard the searchers, for our old nurse had always told us that 
there were demons in the dark who would devour crying children to feed their 
sorceries. I had decided it would be better to starve than to risk such an awful 
fate. Years passed before I could sleep without a lamp left burning, and the 
fear of confinement had never left me.
The first time Karon took me into the vaults, eager to share the wonders of his 
treasury, I convinced myself that my childish megrims would surely be banished 
now I was a married woman. But as luck would have it, halfway down the ancient 
stairway our lamp ran out of oil, and it took no extraordinary talent for Karon 
to discover my terror. I almost tore the sleeve off his coat. In an instant, 
without regard for the risk, he conjured a light for me預 soft white glow 
emanating from his hand that faded only when he led me into the daylight and 
wrapped his arms about me to calm my shaking.
鄭h, love, you need never fear the demons again,・he said, after I壇 told him the 
tale. 的s it not true that you have married one of them, who, now he is in your 
power, can well hold his fellows at bay?・It became a joke between us about the 
demons, and indeed I discovered that as long as Karon was with me, I could 
survive a venture to the vaults. Only rarely did I go, however, and I always 
checked the lamp oil carefully.
It was while delving into the crates of booty hauled from Valleor after its 
conquest that Karon came across a legacy from his ancestors. One summer 
afternoon, I came to Karon痴 workroom as I did several times a week to help sort 
and number the artifacts. I had suggested a cataloging scheme, so we could have 
a record not only of what was stored in the vaults, but also where each item was 
located and what other items might be related to it.
On this particular day I was recording a description of a crate of mouse-chewed 
books, a set of erotic stories written and illustrated by a Kerotean noble for 
his bride. I was hoping the woman had possessed a strong stomach and an exotic 
sense of humor. Karon appeared in the workroom doorway, and I waved a greeting, 
but he didn稚 seem to notice me. He was dusty and disheveled, not an unusual 
state when he壇 been working in the vaults, but the expression on his face was 
his 都torytelling・look, as if, despite his body being in the room, he traveled in 
some faraway oun ur Hvunnn place. Where ordinarily he would see fourteen things 
needing his attention, he seemed at a loss.
I left my list with a workman and threaded my way through the workroom clutter. 
適aron, what is it? Have bodies come popping out of your rusty armor?・/p> 
His eyes caught mine for a moment. 添es・well・in a way.・/p> 
A young man, whose nose, mouth, and chin came to such a sharp prominence as to 
be vaguely reminiscent of a rat, called out from across the room. 鏑ord 
Commissioner, should I discard this helm? It痴 quite ordinary有eiran, and not even 
a very nice one. I think it must have belonged to the fellow who collected this 
lot.・Racine had been the secretary for the previous Commissioner of Antiquities, 
but had been required to do little more than carry notes to the man痴 mistress. 
Karon was pleased with Racine痴 keen interest in the new procedures and how 
quickly the eager assistant痴 eye had become discriminating.
展hatever you think, Racine.・Brought out of his distraction a bit by the 
exchange, Karon spoke quietly to me. 鼎an you come? I壇 like to show you. I don稚 
know what to do with it.・/p> 
徹f course.・/p> 
Karon told Racine to carry on and led me to the steep, winding stair. 展e have to 
go down. Will you be all right?・/p> 
的値l manage,・I said, touching his hand and remembering his magical fight. 溺y 
demon is with me.・/p> 
He took me deep into the far corner of the vault to a pile of rolled carpets. 
Setting the lamp on a nearby crate, he dragged a cracked leather trunk from 
underneath the pile. The trunk was full of old clothes. From deep beneath the 
jumble of faded silks and satins he pulled out a flat, wooden box. The wood was 
polished dark and smooth by years of handling, the plain brass hinges and latch 
tarnished. Karon raised the lid and reverently removed the contents, one by one.
First, a silver knife, the finger-length blade and curved, ornately worked 
handle black with tarnish. Next a threadbare strip of cloth, a scarf or sash 
perhaps, more like a spiderweb that threatened to dissolve at a touch. Then a 
round, button-like piece, also made of silver, blackened by time. Karon laid 
each thing in my lap, and I could not mistake the wonder in his eyes.
典hey池e not very old by the standards of many things in the collection,・he said, 
澱ut they池e quite rare.・/p> 
展hat are they?・/p> 
典ools. The tools of a J脱ttanni Healer. One can use things that were originally 
designed for other purposes, as I do when I work, but there was a time・well, the 
custom was to have your own tools always ready: a knife of silver, cast with 
your own proper enchantments to keep it keen-edged葉here is no way to make that 
part of it easy or pleasant, but a sharp knife is always better than dull預nd a 
strip of white linen for the binding擁t痴 dangerous to lose contact in the middle 
of the rite, as I致e told you. You can get dizzy. And in this迫he showed me how 
the button was actually a tiny cup with a hinged lid欄you would keep indiat, a 
paste made from herbs, quite rare and expensive, but it would ease the pain of 
the incision for the one you were to heal. The rite can be very hard, especially 
for children.・/p> 
As always, I had a hundred questions but I wasn稚 sure he would even hear me.
的t痴 incredible enough to find these things, but they池e not all.・From the wooden 
box he pulled a small book, hardly bigger than his hand. Its leather cover was 
half rotted away, the stitching gone, leaving it little but a stack of pages of 
precarious thinness. Faded ink filled the pages, words of a language I didn稚 
recognize written in a bold hand.
典he Healer痴 journal,・said Karon. 鉄ee the symbol of the knife on the front. And 
here迫with utmost care, he opened to the front of the little book欄a list of names 
and places, and what I think must be a description of the circumstances for each 
healing he did. It痴 written in the old language of the J脱ttanne, which went out 
of use long before bound books. I know so little of the language, it痴 hard to 
read it. But look at this entry.・His face was that of a child on Long Night. 
敵arlao, the miller. Mycenar・that must be the village・em>hand caught in耀omething. 
J壇ente means healed. It痴 so important for a Healer to remember. There are times 
when it痴 not right to change the outcome, times when death is not an enemy to be 
thwarted, times when sickness must be left to burn itself out, and so you must 
constantly look back at the judgments you致e made to see if your course is 
straight. This man did it this way.・Karon痴 whole posture begged me to understand 
what it meant to him to find these things. He believed he was the last living 
soul of his own kind.
的t痴 a connection both to all those who came before you and to one particular man 
who was a Healer like yourself.・/p> 
鄭nd even more than that. You see, he痴 marked the book into days. Some are 
skipped; some are just noted by a symbol.・He turned the delicate pages 
carefully. 典his one he痴 marked Av狸enat. I think the text must be a description 
of it・by one who was there.・/p> 
Av狸enat was the 展alking Night,・the late autumn celebration when the ancient 
J脱ttanne would come together to celebrate the passing of summer, the harvest, 
and their belief that life was a formless essence, given shape by the crossing 
of our paths as each of us walked the Way laid down for us. It was a time for 
storytelling and family reunions, for betrothals and weddings, reunions and 
feasting, and magical games and displays of all kinds.
Karon痴 face glowed in the lamplight. 鄭ll I致e ever heard is legends, passed down 
so many times one never knew if they were true. Our people never dared join 
together on Av狸enat. Only in the heart of the family could we have any 
celebration, and that contradicted the whole meaning of the feast. If I were to 
work at it, I could read of the real thing from one who witnessed it.・/p> 
添ou could learn things that even your own family didn稚 know.・/p> 
He nodded, but the glow was already fading, and his brow quickly settled into a 
frown. 釘ut I知 required to destroy the journal and the other things. The law 
explicitly forbids these words, this language, any mention of these events and 
activities.・/p> 
的f you were not married, would you consider destroying them?・/p> 
He glanced up quickly. 徹f course I would. The risk・ The flush of his cheeks 
spoke truer.
滴ow dare you use me as an excuse for cowardice! I don稚 recall making any vow of 
safety when I married you. Nor do I recall requiring you to make any pledge to 
relinquish your life, your history, or any of those things that make you who you 
are. Besides迫I grabbed his chin and shook his frown away欄these are treasures 
that belong to the royal collection, and it would ill become the Commissioner of 
Antiquities to destroy anything in his charge.・/p> 
鄭h, Seri.・His pleasure illuminated the dim vault. 的t would take me quite a while 
to decipher it all. What I致e thought is that I could first transcribe it. Then I 
could return the book here and work at the translation as I had time.・/p> 
哲ot at all efficient, Lord Commissioner. If I were to transcribe it for you, 
then you could begin work on the translation before the transcription is 
complete葉onight, if you wish.・/p> 
For the rest of the summer, I seldom came to the storehouse of antiquities. Not 
only did I transcribe the fragile pages onto decent paper, but I also made 
separate notes of word usage and combinations that appeared frequently. Karon 
taught me the words as we worked, and I developed the rudiments of a dictionary 
comprised of both words and symbols. Never had any work satisfied me so.
The Healer often wrote in symbols, many of them representing J脱ttanni talents 
and offices. Karon told me that in the Healer痴 day it was the custom to have the 
device painted on the lintel of your house: the knife for the Healer, the lyre 
for a Singer, the bridle for the Horsemaster, and so on. 的f my father had lived 
in those days, he would have had his own Word Winder痴 spiral, as well as this 
one.・He was sitting at our library table, and in the margin of his page of 
translation, he sketched a rectangular shield with two curved lines set into it, 
and a stylized floweret in each of the three regions scribed by the lines. 典his 
is the symbol of a ruler. Christophe inherited both the talent and the office 
from our father濫
I was standing behind him and leaned over his shoulder to look closer. 釘ut you 
were older. Why was your brother to inherit?・/p> 
徹ur elders had ways to discern who was gifted in that way. Perhaps they could 
see I had no stomach for ruling. Christophe was to be officially named my 
father痴 heir on his twentieth birthday in the autumn Avonar was destroyed. I 
planned to go home for it. If the Leirans had attacked two months later, I would 
have been in Avonar with the rest of them.・/p> 
I tugged at his chin, forcing him to look at me. 釘ut you were not庸or which I 
bless the hand of fate every hour. Does it bother you? Make you feel guilty that 
you weren稚 there with them?・/p> 
He smiled. 哲o. That would not be very J脱ttanni, would it? Such was the Way that 
unfolded for us; we had escaped the ravages of the Leiran war for a long time as 
it was. But I miss them all and wish very much that they could meet you. All 
except Christophe.・/p> 
鄭nd why not him?・/p> 
鄭h. He was very much closer to your age than I, and altogether more handsome and 
charming.・/p> 
的mpossible.・/p> 
摘very young woman in Avonar was in love with him.・/p> 
鄭nd did they not recognize the charms of his older brother?・I took the pen from 
his hand and threw it on the desk, crammed the stopper in the ink bottle, and 
pulled him from the chair.
鏑et痴 say I was fortunate to meet you before you knew of my true profession. Few 
Healers ever married. Though you, I think, would have defied the common wisdom・
The hunger was growing in him again. His easy laugh told me that he didn稚 sense 
it yet, but his skin was hot, and when I wrapped my arms about his neck, I felt 
the quickening of his heart. I closed my eyes and drew his arms around me like a 
shield.
CHAPTER 13
Year 3 in the reign of King Evard
By my twenty-fourth birthday the king and queen of Leire had produced a 
daughter, the Princess Roxanne, and my transcription of the Healer痴 journal was 
complete. I had copied every word, drawn every symbol and diagram just as the 
author had penned them. Karon had replaced the journal in the wooden box and 
buried the trunk under piles of carpets, marked with a number that appeared on 
none of Racine痴 lists. The translation was progressing well. Karon was able to 
puzzle out enough of the words to make some sense, and I would carefully record 
each newly deciphered word in my dictionary. We had come to think of the ancient 
Healer, whom we called the Writer, as an acquaintance just as real as Martin or 
Tennice.
The Writer had lived approximately four hundred fifty years ago, during the time 
just before the Rebellion when the J脱ttanne ruled Leire葉he unholy usurpation, 
Leiran historians called it. He had traveled the roads of Leire and Valleor, 
taking his skills from village to village, spending his power until he had no 
more to give. Even in those days the gift of healing was rare, and the need for 
his help far outstripped his capacity.
Karon told me that a healing such as he had done for Martin, using the 
blood-rite to bring someone from the very brink of death or beyond it, was all 
the sorcery he could work for a matter of several hours. Lesser healings were 
easier, not needing the heavy investment of lifegiving, but the effects on the 
Healer were cumulative. Many Healers would not even attempt small hurts or 
illnesses, husbanding their resources for more serious needs, afraid the process 
of replenishing their power would be too slow.
The Writer had not been one of these. He would take all comers until he could do 
no more. There had come a night when one of his own children had wakened with a 
virulent fever. The Writer had spent all of his power that day and had nothing 
left with which to heal her, and so his small daughter had died. He wrote of his 
profound grief, but did not change his ways.
I was appalled. 釘ludgeon-headed man, why didn稚 he learn from his mistake? He 
should have saved something back for his own children. What a cold fish he must 
have been.・/p> 
哲ot at all,・said Karon. 迭ead how he wrote of the child. He cared very much. But 
he didn稚 see it as a reason to change. When you give a gift, you cannot retain 
part of it. It is either yours or the other痴. No in-between. Sorcery and healing 
are not some oddity or aberration that alter the paths of life. They are a part 
of it. I was able to heal Christophe because it wasn稚 time for him to die, and 
Martin the same. If I壇 spent what I did on Martin, and then Tennice had needed 
me, it would not be my part to say, 祢f only I had not・ That痴 a sure route to 
madness.・/p> 
釘ut you said you must constantly look back at your judgments.・/p> 
鄭nd so you must. But in each case on its merits alone, not on what the 
circumstances of life have made of it. Such is the Way.・/p> 
I couldn稚 see it. 的t makes no sense. If you see your way blocked by the enemy, 
you don稚 keep marching down the same road. You withdraw and change your tactics. 
It was his own child. He was responsible.・/p> 
As with so many of our arguments, a kiss ended, but did not settle it.
When winter came and another Seille, we celebrated the first year of our 
marriage. Karon gave me a delicate gold locket, engraved with a rose. Inside it 
I put a crumbled bit of the enchanted roses he had grown for me. I gave him a 
chestnut stallion. He named the horse Karylis, which in the language of Valleor 
means sunlight. Karylis was the name lot of the mountain where he had healed his 
brother and come into his calling.
On one quiet night in midwinter, I sat nestled in an oversized chair by our 
library fire, plodding through a story written in Vallorean, trying to bolster 
the smattering of language skills I had neglected so sorely in my girlhood. I 
was finding myself easily distracted, in the latest instance observing how the 
pool of lamplight lit Karon痴 high cheekbones so delectably as he sat at the 
library table poring over the journal transcription. So I was not too startled 
when he sat back and burst out, 溺other of earth! Seri, come see what I致e 
found.・His high color made the lamplight pale. I hadn稚 seen him so excited since 
the finding of the journal.
I abandoned my chair and lap robe to lean over his shoulder and see what page 
had revealed such a dramatic secret. It was a diagram labeled with odd symbols. 
的 never expected we壇 make any sense of this one,・I said. 滴ave you deciphered 
it?・/p> 
的致e not interpreted the diagram or the symbols, but I know their purpose.・ He 
turned back a few pages and traced his finger over my writing. 典he Writer has 
been getting more and more worried about the terrible things being done by the 
Open Hand. He says that on Av狸enat, one of the rebellious cities was beset by a 
罵egion・or 殿rmy,・or something like that, of nethele. Nethele means 稚he 
dead.・Evidently this ruler, Zedar, whom he has mentioned before, sent the 
spirits of the dead to frighten his subjects into submission, filling their 
minds with 杯he most pernicious mortal dread.・The Writer is horrified at the 
perversion of Av狸enat, and it looks as if it inspired him to action. What do you 
think he痴 done?・/p> 
I squeezed his shoulder and jiggled it. 泥on稚 make me guess.・/p> 
滴e痴 gone to the elders of the Closed Hand and asked for refuge in Vittoir Eirit, 
the J脱ttanni stronghold. And he痴 written down the route they told him.・/p> 
滴e wrote it down? I thought it was the most closely guarded secret.・More and 
more I was losing any wonder at how powerful sorcerers had given up a kingdom so 
easily.
的t was. But the Writer never trusted himself to remember everything he needed to 
keep straight, so he encoded the instructions. It痴 the reason for the symbols. 
Seri, if I can unravel his code, I might be able to find the stronghold. Can you 
imagine it?・/p> 
鉄urely there would be nothing left.・/p> 
滴ard to say. The stories we told in Avonar came from people sent away from 
Vittoir Eirit when the elders decided to abandon it. My ancestors never knew 
what became of the stronghold, and they were forbidden to seek out any other of 
the J脱ttanne, so they had no way to find out. They assumed it had been 
discovered and destroyed. But even if it痴 ruined, think how fine it would be to 
discover its location. To walk in Vittoir Eirit・
Karon had taken on his dreaming look again, and I tugged at his hair. 敵ive it 
up. You値l not unravel a four-hundred-fifty-year-old puzzle without the key to 
his code.・/p> 
典rue. But we致e already learned that the Writer is not a complex man. The key 
will be here in his journal.・/p> 
鄭nd birds will fly upside down and Evard will develop a heart.・I flopped back in 
my chair and picked up my book, but my eyes did not leave Karon痴 glowing face.
The search for the key to the Writer痴 code occupied the entire spring, but by 
the beginning of our second summer married, we were no closer to the answer. The 
diagram consisted of five symbols, connected by straight lines. We assumed the 
lines were roads or trails and the symbols landmarks of some kind. We pulled out 
maps of Valleor to see what roads might fit the pattern, but too many years had 
passed, and even in our present day, maps were notoriously inaccurate. And, too, 
we had no idea if the distances between the symbols on the page were at all in 
proportion to the actual distances involved. The five symbols were no more 
enlightening. One was almost certainly a foot, one looked something like a trunk 
or chest, another resembled a hunting horn. The other two looked like a man痴 
face and a rabbit. We investigated the names of towns and villages, rivers and 
landforms, and tried a hundred other ideas, seeking some correspondence, but to 
no avail.
Karon proceeded with the translation, learning more of the Writer痴 travels and 
his life with his wife and six remaining children. The man wrote of his garden 
and his animals, of the difficulties of teaching his children to read and 
finding mentors for their emerging talents. He wrote loving and lengthy 
descriptions of their games and childish follies. We laughed when we read of his 
five-year-old daughter痴 attempts to install the family pig in the house in the 
dead of winter. She was afraid the beast would be cold and succeeded in inducing 
it to follow her about like a tame dog. It took all of the family together to 
overcome the little girl痴 enchantment and persuade the agitated pig to retreat 
to the cold barnyard.
As Karon read this passage, he sat beneath a tree in our garden, and I lay on 
the grass with my head in his lap. 展hen do you know・with a child?・I asked.
的f they have magical talent, you mean? When one of the parents is not 
J脱ttanne?・I felt him move under my cheek. I loved the way Karon痴 body came to 
life when he spoke.
I nodded.
擢ive or six years.・Karon touched my cheek, and looked down with a smile that 
made my heart swell. 的t won稚 matter you know, if and when such a marvel occurs. 
The child is the miracle. And the love that creates it. Nothing else.・/p> 
展ere there marriages like ours in Avonar?・/p> 
添es. We were so few. We could not marry just within our own kind.・/p> 
鄭nd the children・it really didn稚 matter? Not even to them?・/p> 
His eyes drifted out of focus. 典here was an old J脱ttanni Healer named Celine. 
She became my mentor after my day in the mountains with Christophe. She was 
married to a candlemaker who was not J脱ttanne, and one day I asked her if her 
children had talent or not. She said that one of her sons had looked to be a 
tamer of horses since he could walk, and he had grown into the most renowned 
horse-tamer in Avonar.
・忍duardo, the Horsemaster?・I asked her. Eduardo痴 power was renowned among us. 
尿ye,・she said. 韮ut my other son showed no magical talents at all.・/p> 
鄭nd in the fullness of my newfound J脱ttanni manhood, I asked her, quite 
solicitously, was it not terribly difficult to see one son so talented and one 
so・ordinary. Celine nodded gravely and said it was one of the trials of parents 
to see children unequally blessed. Her other son had worried about it a great 
deal when he was a youth and didn稚 want to listen to those who told him that his 
own talents were of no less value than J脱ttanni sorcery. But while Eduardo was 
in the fields with the horses, Morin read and studied, talked with the elders, 
and made what he could of himself.
溺orin?・I said. And she smiled slyly and said, yes, Morin was the name of her 
unmagical son. Well, Morin was possibly the wisest man I have ever known. He was 
my father痴 chief counselor and the most respected man in Avonar. Of all that was 
lost to the world in the destruction of Avonar, the loss of his mind was perhaps 
the most grievous. Even now, I always begin to sort out a problem by thinking 
how Morin would approach it. So, you see, I learned my lesson early what gifts 
were important. It really doesn稚 matter.・/p> 
For Karon痴 birthday I gave him a walking stick made of cherry wood. 的t痴 quite 
the fashion at court, in case you haven稚 noticed,・I said that evening in our 
library. 鄭nd I had it made especially for you.・Despite his avowals of delight 
and appreciation, I did not imagine that he was anything but puzzled at my 
choice. We were not at all bound by court fashion. Karon would sprout wings 
before he gave up the high-necked shirts and muted colors of provincial Valleor.
He brushed the richly colored wood and twirled the stick about his head. 鄭m I to 
use it to fend off your frustrated suitors, then?・/p> 
哲ot my suitors迫I snatched the stick from the air, rotated the ebony ring set 
into the shaft, and held the implement where he could see the sharp steel blade 
that now protruded from its lower end欄only those who mean you harm.・I had failed 
miserably in trying to persuade him to carry a sword when he traveled and 
thought perhaps a weapon that did not invite confrontation might be more 
acceptable.
鄭h, Serf・ It took no mind-speaking to tell me right away that I had failed 
again. He was still smiling, but his delight had gone.
的値l have it taken out,・I said, retracting the blade, unable to look at him any 
longer. I could not bear the thought that I had disappointed him. 的 should have 
known better.・/p> 
The distance across the room between us suddenly yawned very wide. 的 can稚 be 
what you want,・he said. 的n every other matter, I will follow your lead, become 
whatever you wish, but this one濫
添ou are everything I want,・I said as I fitted the stick back in its wooden case. 
的 just thought・I just want you to have something more reliable than sorcery to 
defend yourself. Stars of night, Karon, what if you致e used up everything・all 
your power・and you池e taken?・I could scarcely say the words, and even as I said 
them, I shoved them out of mind. 哲o matter. You are as you are, and I adore you, 
and Martin and the others are waiting for us with your birthday feast.・/p> 
I started for the door, but he did not follow. His stillness forced me to turn 
around. He was standing where I壇 left him beside the hearth. His eyes were 
locked on me, and he wore a look of such distress that I hurried back to him and 
tried to wipe it away with my hand. But he gathered my hands into his and 
gripped them hard. 鉄eri, I致e wronged you sorely. All these years I致e known I 
would have to explain this. The Way of the J脱ttanne葉his path that I choose for 
my life擁s very hard. Coward that I am, I致e told myself that my choices will not 
harm you if I知 careful enough. If I知 strong enough. If I love you enough. I致e 
ignored the truths of our future and soothed my guilt by saying that I cannot 
rob you of the power to choose your own way. If your choices endanger you, then 
that is the Way laid down for you.・He sat down on the couch and pulled me down 
beside him. 釘ut I致e been fooling myself and you. I知 so afraid・
Afraid? The fingers that stroked my own so softly were cold. I felt as if 
someone had crammed the walking stick down my throat. 典ell me.・/p> 
He took a deep breath. 展hen the day comes that I am discovered, I値l not 
fight.・/p> 
的 don稚 understand.・/p> 
的 mean, I cannot use my power or any other weapon to take life or inflict an 
injury. Not to save myself. Not to save you. Not for anyone. The gift I have is 
for healing, for lifegiving, and I cannot use it otherwise. It痴 ingrained in me 
so deeply, it wouldn稚 be possible. You have to know that.・/p> 
I came near blurting out that this assertion was ludicrous, an impossibility for 
a man of honor. And Karon痴 honor was unquestionable; he constantly risked his 
safety to care for people whose names he didn稚 even know. I could understand his 
reluctance to inflict bodily injury, having lived so intimately with the pain 
and suffering such violence caused. Yet it was inconceivable that a man would 
not use whatever weapon he possessed to defend his family and friends, and in 
Karon痴 case, defending us meant defending himself.
But Martin had taught me how difficult it was to argue with an idealist. 鄭 small 
dose of hard reality will always make idealists into practical men,・he had once 
said. And so, rather than disputing Karon痴 professed beliefs, I argued with his 
more speculative point. 典hen we値l just have to make sure you池e not discovered. 
Martin is wait濫
I tried to rise, but Karon would allow me neither to leave nor to divert him. 
的t痴 more likely than not, and the result will be terrible. I致e seen what they do 
to sorcerers, Seri, and what they do to those who consort with them. The image 
never leaves me. And I知 telling you that I can稚 protect you from it.・/p> 
的 am perfectly aware of the risks. I just don稚 want to think about them.・/p> 
釘ut you must. If you have me in your life, then I知 afraid you値l have that in 
your life, too.・/p> 
的 won稚 let it happen.・/p> 
的f anything gives me hope that it won稚, it痴 your determination. But you池e the 
daughter of a Leiran warrior, and you致e been taught that failure to fight is 
despicable cowardice. I知 a J脱ttanni Healer, who痴 been taught that the crooked 
paths of life are the most marvelous. You were so young on that night when 
Martin and the others chose to have me stay・I値l not sneak away and pretend I 
don稚 love you, but I can稚 ignore this anymore. I知 asking a great deal of 
you.・/p> 
And, of course, because I loved him and it was his birthday, I said I would 
accept whatever came and whatever he could or could not do about it. But somehow 
I would persuade him to carry a weapon.
In early summer Karon and I rode out to a jonglers・fair that had grown up in the 
hills just outside the walls of Montevial. Jonglers were wandering entertainers 
who usually traveled in small family groups, but who would stop for a few weeks 
in summer here or there, gathering in ever-greater numbers to exchange stories, 
wives, and horses, and generally to enjoy each other. Though jonglers were 
widely regarded as thieves and liars, people would travel from nearby cities and 
villages to enjoy the risky marvels of their fairs. The colorfully dressed women 
told fortunes by casting painted sticks, and wiry, shirtless men in pantaloons 
swallowed fire. They told tales, sang songs, fought mock battles in wildly 
colored costumes, and painted portraits on bits of wood and glass. Their ragged, 
scrawny children were the envy of every child in Leire who dreamed of living in 
eternal entertainment without the restraints of propriety or lessons or labor.
鄭re you sure you池e not ready to head home?・asked Karon, giving me his hand as I 
jumped over a running ditch, left full by an afternoon cloudburst. 典his isn稚 the 
safest place to be after nightfall.・/p> 
展e couldn稚 go before she finished the sketch,・I said, the dim light forcing me 
to squint at the few coal-drawn lines on the split shingle that evoked an 
astonishing likeness of Karon痴 face. 鄭nd there痴 still the fire dancers. A 
jongler fair is so much more exciting after dark. Tomas and I were once confined 
to our rooms for a month after we sneaked out to a fair that had grown up near 
Comigor one summer, and we never regretted the punishment. They actually plunge 
the torches right down their gullets, while everyone around them is whirling and 
stomping.・Some delights one just never outgrew.
典hen we壇 best circle around this muck, rather than crossing straight through it 
and having you in wet shoes the rest of the night.・Karon led me along the dark 
peripheries of a field trampled into ankle-deep mud by a jousting demonstration. 
The flaring torches of the main venues were far across the field from the shanty 
where an acquaintance had told me I could get a portrait of Karon so like I 
would swear there were two of him. Forced by the mud to take a circuitous route, 
we threaded our way through a ragtag village of tents and lean-tos, currently 
dark and deserted except for a few bony dogs. Periodically a great cheer went up 
from the distant fire-glow of the central fair, so I almost didn稚 hear the 
child.
鄭gren. Agren. Wake up, Agren. Come on.・The quiet pleas were interspersed with 
sniffs and sobs. 泥on稚 be dead. Please don稚.・/p> 
We slowed our steps and peered into a shed of canvas hung from wood beams that 
had been roped together in a box-like shape. A ragged little girl of some six or 
seven years knelt beside a dark form sprawled on the ground. She was shaking his 
shoulder, but he was not responding to her pleas, likely something to do with 
the knife hilt protruding from his back.
Karon tried to drag me away, but I wouldn稚 budge. 展ait,・I said. 鄭ren稚 you needed 
here?・/p> 
哲ot while you池e with me,・he said, glancing grim-faced at the child as he urged 
me toward the distant light. His hand was hot on my bare arm. The fever pained 
him when it grew too fierce, and the child痴 quiet desperation would make it 
worse.
適aron・do what you must. I値l keep watch.・/p> 
Another cheer went up from the distant revelers. He shook his head. 展e池e too 
close to the city. Too many people about.・/p> 
展ho痴 there?・The girl痴 voice quavered as she twisted around to look out of the 
flapping doorway. 的s it you Deft? Don稚 frig me, Deft. Agren don稚 like it.・/p> 
展hat happened here?・I said, loosening Karon痴 fingers, ducking my head under the 
low beam, and stepping into the shelter. 鄭re you all right?・/p> 
The man lay on his belly. His beard was matted and dark, his long dagger still 
sheathed. Though I felt no breath when I placed my cheek by his mouth, his skin 
was still warm. 展ho are you?・asked the child, glaring at me ferociously as she 
huddled beside the body.
擢airgoers. My husband is a・physician. Perhaps he can help.・/p> 
鉄omebody shiwed him.・Her chin quivered. 的 think he痴 dead.・/p> 
撤erhaps he痴 not dead. I thought I felt a breath.・I gathered the child to me and 
drew her away, nodding to Karon, who stood outlined against the doorway. 鼎ome, 
let痴 give my husband some room to work.・/p> 
The girl湧ettie was her name耀at on a barrel outside the shed and told me of 
Agren洋aybe her father, maybe not, she wasn稚 sure預nd how he壇 gone off to meet a 
man about a gambling debt. When he didn稚 return to the fair, she壇 come hunting 
him. Through the dangling canvas, I glimpsed Karon kneel beside the man and, 
after a brief examination, yank the dagger from his back. Though he was but a 
shadow against the gray night, I recognized the next movements: unbuttoning his 
sleeve, scoring the dead man痴 arm, the moment痴 stillness as he cut himself and 
then wrapped the man痴 own long scarf about their joined arms.
I stroked the child痴 braids, sticky with the oil her people used to make their 
hair shine in the torchlight, and let her chatter on about the jonglers she 
liked and those she feared. Karon痴 back was still. A warm breeze flapped the 
canvas walls.
哲ettie!・A rasping whisper came from the darkness. 滴ere, girl・
鄭gren?・Eyes the size of saucers, the child jumped down from the barrel. I 
grabbed for her arm to prevent her seeing what Karon was about or touching him 
or her friend, but she squirmed free, scuttered into the tent, and dropped to 
her knees on the dirt across the body from Karon. Right on her heels, I bent 
down to lift her, only to have my hand fall slack in horrified astonishment.
天engeance, Nettie. It痴 Deft done this. We値l poison the sodding bastard・ The 
hoarse voice, the vicious and brutal words came from Karon痴 mouth. Anger and 
hatred twisted his face until it was almost unrecognizable. 展e値l take him ere 
morning. I値l cut out his heart・ As vile, murderous epithets poured from him, 
Karon痴 expression convulsed and his shaking hand gripped the knife he had pulled 
from the jongler痴 back.
適aron!・I dared not touch him. He壇 told me of the explosive enchantment, the 
dangerous unbalancing that could damage both Healer and patient when the link 
was disturbed. So I squeezed the squirming child to my breast, hiding her eyes 
while I did nothing but speak his name.
The quivering knife moved laboriously upward, drawing my eyes and breath with 
it. I was ready to shove the child aside and leap, but the blade fell so 
quickly, I could do nothing but cry out. 滴oly gods!・Three・four・five more times 
the knife slammed into the corpse.
When all was quiet again, Karon was bent almost double, his right hand still 
holding the knife embedded in the jongler痴 back. 溺aratathe・maratachi・ 
maratakai,・/em> he whispered in his own voice, repeating the words over and 
over. When he had gained control of his trembling, he said, 填nbind us.・/p> 
One arm still wrapped about the squirming child, I drew my knife and sliced 
through the dirty scarf holding Karon痴 left arm to that of the jongler. After a 
moment, Karon got to his feet, took my arm, and pulled me up to his side. Nettie 
remained on the ground beside the dead man.
的知 sorry,・Karon said softly to the gaping child, as he drew me away from them. 的 
couldn稚 help him.・/p> 
We walked straight to the carriage row and drove home, Karon neither speaking 
nor looking at me the entire time. Though my curiosity was near bursting, I 
waited for him to begin. Only after he had bathed and dressed the unclosed 
laceration on his left arm did he come sit beside me on the couch in our 
candlelit bedchamber, leaning his head back on the cushions and closing his 
eyes. 鄭gren did not like being dead. Coarse, corrupt, filled with so much greed 
and jealousy and hatred・In a hundred years, you could not imagine it. Instead of 
entering his own body again, he took mine. Celine told me of such souls, ones 
that longed so for life that they refused to cross the Verges and would turn on 
the Healer. I致e never experienced it before, and never will again, I hope. Stars 
of night・
典he knife・what did you do?・/p> 
Karon opened his eyes and rolled his head toward me, revealing a rueful smile. 的 
convinced him that he could only come back as himself. Which meant, of course, 
that he was truly dead, for his body had failed beyond revival.
He wasn稚 happy about that. You saw the result. I知 glad he took it out on his own 
body and not on you or the child or me.・/p> 
的 wonder what will become of the child.・/p> 
He shuddered. 鉄he値l be better off, no matter what.・/p> 
We sat up together the rest of that night, falling asleep on the couch only when 
dawn was peeking in the window.
A few weeks later Karon took a small party to Valleor to investigate an ancient 
tomb exposed by an earthquake. The royal governor of Valleor痴 southern district 
had notified the Antiquities Commission of the find that lay near the city of 
Xerema, reporting that the site appeared to have relics of great value.
Karon took two of his assistants on the trip to learn what might be necessary to 
mount a full-scale excavation. He was only to be gone a few days, and so I chose 
to wait and accompany him on the larger expedition he planned for autumn. I was 
working at my language studies again, helping Tennice translate an Isker 
manuscript for Martin, and I hated to abandon him in the middle of it.
Three weeks passed with no word from Karon. It wasn稚 like him. This was a public 
journey, not one of his private ones. A few more days and I had difficulty 
concentrating on Tennice痴 project and couldn稚 settle at anything else. When the 
fourth week passed, I went to the palace to see if Racine or Sir Geoffrey, the 
administrator of the royal archives, had news. But there was nothing. Never had 
I been so worried; every morning when I woke alone in bed, I felt nauseated.
Martin came to our house only rarely, so when Joubert interrupted my pacing one 
afternoon to announce the Earl of Gault, the sea of dread burst through the 
feeble dike I壇 built to contain it. 哲ews out of Valleor,・he said, taking my 
hands, his calm voice belied by his somber face. 哲othing specific to Karon, but 
we致e had word that there痴 been another earthquake. They say Xerema has been 
leveled.・/p> 
滴e wasn稚 to be in the city・ One has to say the words.
套 and I知 sure travel and communication are difficult,・said Martin. 典anager is 
already on his way. He値l send word as soon as he knows anything.・/p> 
I hated Martin for sending Tanager without me. I had to sit and eat and walk and 
wait, counting leagues, counting days and hours, imagining horrors・After ten 
excruciating days, a cryptic message arrived with a Windham footman. 哲ews. 
Come.・I was in the carriage before the footman痴 voice fell quiet.
Martin was waiting when I hurried up the steps. Without wasting time on a 
greeting, he led me to a sitting room where Tanager sprawled on a couch, 
shirtless and producing snores of prodigious volume. One arm was bound to his 
chest, and his head was bandaged. Julia was cleaning dried blood and filth from 
an ugly gash on his leg.
典anager insisted that he must explain with his own mouth what he found,・ said 
Martin, shaking Tanager痴 shoulder, 澱ut we thought he should stay put for a 
while. Here, lad, Serf痴 come.・/p> 
的 didn稚 see him,・Tanager mumbled, as I knelt on the floor beside the couch. 釘ut 
I知 convinced he痴 alive.・His broad face sharpened as he forced himself awake. 鉄un 
and thunder, I致e never seen such destruction. If a thousand armies had taken a 
thousand battering rams to those walls for a thousand years, they couldn稚 have 
caused so much. Not more than a tenth of the place is habitable, even if you 
could bear the stench of the dead.・With his unbound arm, Tanager shoved himself 
to sitting, not seeming to notice Julia still working on his wounded leg. 
典housands were buried alive in the rubble. Those lucky enough to get out dug 
without stopping, trying to get to the rest before the governor痴 men set fire to 
the ruins. I rode out to the place of the tombs, and there was nothing left. 
Half the mountainside had come down on it.・/p> 
I thought I might suffocate.
鏑isten to me, though.・Tanager痴 broad hand gripped my arm. 哲o one could tell me 
anything of the Leiran party that had come to excavate the tombs. But then they壇 
start speaking of their own troubles, and I kept hearing of a stranger who had 
appeared in the midst of the destruction. Time after time he managed to find men 
and women and children buried in impossible places, yet they lived. Unhurt. 
Everyone wanted to find this stranger to come pull out their relatives and 
friends, for luck walked with him, and he might find them alive when there was 
no other hope. They called him the Dispore, the saving hand. They couldn稚 
describe him. Some said he was milk-skinned like a Kerotean; some said he was 
dark and had the tilted eyes of an Isker. But all marveled at his strength, his 
luck, and his skill.・/p> 
鉄o you see why we have hopes?・said Martin. 的t sounds as if our Healer just can稚 
pull himself away.・/p> 
Tanager nodded. 釘y the time I left, they had burned the rubble. But the tales of 
the Dispore hadn稚 died out. They say he痴 in company with those working with the 
sick and injured. I tried to find him, but the place is chaos, and he was always 
a step ahead of me. I only hope he doesn稚 stay too long. I got tangled with a 
mob who decided to share out my horse for supper. In thanks for saving his neck, 
the beast brought me home without much guidance.・/p> 
I wanted to believe that the stranger in the tales was Karon. He would indeed 
find it difficult to leave a place where he was so much needed. There was 
nothing to do but wait.
Seri・/em>
On a moonlit night a week after Tanager痴 return, I had fallen asleep in a chair, 
having stayed up reading far too late as had become my habit when Karon was 
away. The call startled me awake, but a glance about the dark library quickly 
confirmed that I was alone. The glass doors to the garden stood open, the scent 
of balsam hanging on the summer night. Moonbeams laid a silver path across the 
rug. The lamps were long cold, and a breeze ruffled the pages of a book I壇 left 
open on the table.
Dreams, I thought, or perhaps some midnight noise from the lane beyond the 
garden wall, but as I gathered my shawl and my dropped book, ready to head up 
the stairs to bed, the call came again, faint, but clear. Seri. Hear me!
適aron? Where are you?・I was wide awake now, and sure the voice was his, but I 
couldn稚 fathom where he could be for it to sound so faint.
My love, I need your help.
展here・?・And then I realized why I couldn稚 find him. His voice was only in my 
mind. Not since that first night of revelation in Martin痴 study had Karon spoken 
in my thoughts. I was unsure how to answer, but he seemed to know I heard him.
Be at the Inn of the Bronze Shield at Threadinghall, tomorrow. Bring Karylis for 
me. If I知 not there by nightfall, on your life do not stay. Ride for home and 
tell no one.
的値l be there,・I said. It seemed so foolish to speak aloud. 鼎an you hear me? Are 
you well?・But I heard nothing more.
The full moon allowed me to leave well before dawn. I carried only a bit of food 
and wine in my saddle pack. With Karylis痴 halter attached to my saddle揖aron 
never rode him on his travels for fear of losing him悠 rode northwest as fast as 
I dared, avoiding the main road and all other travelers. I had never ridden so 
far unaccompanied, but I had surely read more maps than books in my life. Only 
in isolated spots did I stop, and then only long enough to rest the horses. And 
in those short intervals, my hand never left the slit right pocket of my riding 
skirt, where I could reach my dagger, secure in its brocade sheath. I would not 
fail.
CHAPTER 14
Year 3 in the reign of King Evard
Threadinghall lay about ten leagues northwest of Montevial, set in a heavily 
forested part of the kingdom, about forty leagues from the Vallorean border. The 
baron who held the region was a nasty man with a nastier wife and a son who was 
known to hunt starving Valloreans for sport. By midafternoon I was riding into 
the little town, a mournful sort of place with a clock tower in the center of 
it. The streets were narrow, the tall houses pressed close together, and the 
people as pale and shaggy as the moss-covered trees that surrounded them so 
thickly. I inquired of a stringy-haired sausage vendor as to where I might find 
the Inn of the Bronze Shield.
展here the trees take the road,・said the girl, pointing to the west.
I didn稚 quite catch her meaning, until I found the inn. It was the last 
structure in the town, and the forest did indeed appear to have swallowed 
whatever of the town or the road that had ever existed beyond it.
Leaving the horses with a ragged boy I found sleeping on a mound of hay beside 
the stable, I took a deep breath and walked into the inn. The common room was 
gloomy, lamps already lit despite the early hour. Five roughly dressed men sat 
at a large round table in the middle of the room, drinking ale and regaling each 
other with raucous commentary on a hunting trip gone awry. One of the hunters, a 
bear-like man with a red beard, whistled through his teeth, bobbed his head at 
me, and elbowed a sinewy youth beside him. Halting in midsentence, the youth 
looked me up and down, grinned wide enough to show a mouthful of stained teeth, 
and tipped his hat. The elbowing and crude politeness completed the circle of 
the table. I smiled back at them and dipped my head, from habit as much as 
anything. I had grown up around my father痴 soldiers. Rough manners often masked 
good hearts.
I sat at a table near the door and asked the proprietor for a cup of cider and a 
bowl of whatever he had simmering over his cookfire. He hovered near my table 
once he壇 brought my refreshments, asking me three times if he could do anything 
for me. Women rarely traveled alone.
的知 supposed to meet a party of friends here,・I said. 溺y cousin, young Lord 
Elmont, with his friend, and his sisters. Two women and two men.・/p> 
敵ot no party of that description, miss.・The man retreated a step at the mention 
of the unsavory local nobility.
鄭 messenger then? They壇 send a messenger ahead if they were to be late. Are 
there any strangers about?・/p> 
哲one save the two in the corner there. Shall I ask them if they池e sent to 
you?・/p> 
I hadn稚 noticed the two men in the dim corner farthest from the fire. 哲o, 
certainly not.・I sniffed and wrinkled my nose. 的知 sure Lord Elmont would not 
have used any common messenger. I値l wait.・/p> 
鄭s you wish.・/p> 
I dawdled over my meal. A few local tradesmen came in. A thin, twitchy man in a 
many-colored coat ordered a mug of ale. The tradesmen called him Weaver and 
teased him for being away from his loom in the middle of the day. The thin man 
turned scarlet and said he was waiting for a cartload of wool due in at five. 
The hunting party grew louder in their cups. The two from the corner left. By 
this time I壇 sat for two hours and began to feel conspicuous, so I left a coin 
for the proprietor and strolled into the yard. The sky above the trees was still 
ruddy with late afternoon, but in the premature darkness of the forest, the 
lamplighter was already flitting about like an oversized firefly. It痴 not 
nightfall yet. Not yet.
I wandered back to the stables and explored a path that led around behind the 
ramshackle building and through the encroaching trees. As I approached the fence 
and the little gate where the path returned to the stableyard, I heard quiet 
voices.
泥on稚 look like aught痴 comin・ Sheriff. P池aps you got a bum turn.・/p> 
Sheriff・The word froze my steps.
展hen the clock strikes, we値l have him. Lynch drives his route as regular as 
clockwork.・The dry chuckle held no mirth. 迭emember you池e only to hobble the 
beast, so he can do no harm until we have him properly restrained. Kill him and 
your own life is forfeit. Understood?・/p> 
鄭ye. I致e never seen one, you know. A priest told me they can set a man afire 
with their eyes.・/p> 
滴e can do no harm if you池e quick and do as I致e told you. There痴 reward enough in 
this to pay well for any risk.・/p> 
Heart racing, I crept back along the stable wall until I could peer around the 
far corner of the stable into the yard. Like two great spiders, the strangers 
from the common room lurked in the shadowed niche where the tall wooden fence 
met the stable building. One of the men wore a broad-brimmed hat with a feather. 
The flaming sword blazoned on his cloak glared boldly in the failing light. The 
giant body of his companion slouched against the fence. That one痴 leather vest, 
worn over a long tunic and baggy trousers, along with his wide belt with a short 
sword dangling from one side and an iron bar from the other, named him a 
hireling thug of the sort one could find in the alleys of Monte vial. He would 
have four more knives hidden in boot top or sleeve, and perhaps a vial of lye 
tucked in his sleeve. A soft cap was pulled low over his brow.
When the clock strikes・Lynch drives his route・/em> And the weaver was expecting 
a wool cart at five. I imagined I could hear the grinding of the gears in the 
clock tower. How long had it been since the last quarter struck? No time to 
plan.
Yanking the narrow brim of my hat lower to shade my face, I marched out of the 
trees toward the sleeping boy. 添ou lazy beggar, I値l have you flogged.・/p> 
The poor lad sat up, rubbing his eyes.
Calling to mind every tantrum of spoiled nobility I had ever witnessed, I 
stamped my foot and yelled. 的diot boy! If I miss my reunion with Uncle Charles 
and Aunt Charlotte because of you, I値l personally remove your ears! My whole 
life is at stake-洋y inheritance, everything預nd to have it ruined by a filthy 
stable beggar is insupportable.・/p> 
As the bewildered child shot jumped up and ran into the stable, I hurried across 
the yard to the two lurkers. 的 commanded this lazy, insolent boy to have my 
horses ready so I can leave this dunghill before nightfall, but he痴 not even got 
them saddled. And my cousins have contracted for a reliable guide to lead me out 
of this pestilential forest. I suppose there痴 no possibility that either of you 
is my guide?・/p> 
哲o possibility, madam,・said the cloaked man. His eye sockets were almost flat, 
his eyes protruding like those of a fish. His bulbous lips, protruding from a 
thicket of dark, wiry black beard, curled in disdain.
Several passersby stopped to see what was the disturbance. Good. I wanted a 
crowd. 敵ood fellows, I知 not an unreasonable woman. I値l pay you well. But I must 
insist・Ah, you, sir!・/p> 
The sallow-faced proprietor had stepped into the sta-bleyard, looking annoyed.
的 must have an escort, hostler,・I said. 溺y party has not arrived, my cousin is 
laid up with the gout, and your fool of a stable boy is only now saddling my 
horses, though I致e no one to ride with me.・I dragged the speechless proprietor 
into a position that would prevent the two lurking men from leaving their corner 
without walking over us. From the lane, a plodding horse痴 hooves clopped on the 
cobbles, and the wheels of a wagon creaked and slowed. I forced myself not to 
look. 典ell these two to escort me. If I don稚 get satisfaction at once, I shall 
remember the poor service I received in Threadinghall and at the Bronze Shield, 
in particular. You値l get no more trade from my family・
The jolly hunters from the common room had wandered out into the yard, as the 
proprietor scratched his head and questioned the stable lad who had just 
returned with my horses. The poor boy was likely more befuddled than ever, 
having remembered how I壇 specifically instructed him not to unsaddle the pair 
when I壇 arived.
The creaking wheels turned into the stableyard. The two strangers stiffened and 
shuffled their feet. Grabbing the reins from the boy, I maneuvered the horses to 
where they would block any view of the yard.
鉄irs, are you honorable men?・I said to the two. 泥oes your road take you north? I 
know I知 bold to ask it, and Aunt Charlotte will be horrified at the impropriety, 
but if you deliver me to my relations at Elmont Castle this night, you can 
demand a prince痴 ransom. I致e an extra horse濫
敵et out of the way, woman, and your filthy beasts with you,・said the sheriff. 
展e致e business with this wagon.・/p> 
鼎urse you, black-hearted villain,・I shouted as loudly as I could, praying that 
Karon was listening. 展hat business with this wagon could possibly be more 
important than my inheritance?・I backed away from the men, keeping close enough 
to prevent any passage around my horses, and clapped my hand to my breast. 展hy, 
I値l wager you plan to rob it! Help! Thieves! Driver! You on the wagon! These two 
plan to rob you. Beware!・My brother had always accused me of having the most 
piercing scream in the Four Realms.
Several bystanders closed in on the two angry men, who were now trying to force 
their way past me and the horses. The situation quickly degenerated into chaos. 
鄭 pox on you, whore!・With a bone-cracking grip, the fish-eyed sheriff shoved me 
backward into the horses. 的 am a king痴 sheriff. Get out of my way.・/p> 
I pulled back just enough to make room for the hunting party who had crowded up 
behind me growling. The cornered pair tried to push their way out of the ring, 
but my rescuers had drunk enough ale to make their courage and honor invincible. 
The red-bearded storyteller quickly pinned the sheriff against the wall. As I 
slipped backward, the pushing and shoving gave way to serious fisticuffs. The 
crowd was large enough and confused enough and drunk enough that no one could 
tell who was who.
Oh, please, Karon, be ready.
The proprietor was shouting at the combatants over the heads of the crowding 
observers, and I thought matters were well in hand. But as I led the horses away 
from the melee, the sheriff痴 thuggish companion dodged the flying fists and 
squeezed along the shadowed edge of the stable toward the yard, where the wagon 
had come to a halt under a spreading oak.
A dark figure dropped lightly from the back of the wagon. The thug crept up 
behind him, iron bar in one hand and a loop of heavy chain in the other.
Karon! Watch out! No one was watching. Everyone was occupied with the brawl. 
Holy Annadis, he didn稚 see・/p> 
I drew my knife. Ducking between the two horses, I called up every skill my 
father and his soldiers had taught me and let fly my weapon. With a harsh 
expulsion of air, the brute straightened and pitched forward into the dirt. 
Satisfyingly still.
Heart and stomach threatening to choke me, I dragged the horses toward the wagon 
and the newcomer, who had slipped behind the bole of the great oak.
撤lease, madam迫I flinched and spun backward, but it was only the flustered 
proprietor who had popped up at my side欄forgive this misunderstanding. Allow me・ 
He gestured toward the horses and offered his hand.
Taking a quick breath, I stiffened my chin and raised my foot purposefully. The 
proprietor quickly linked his hands and gave me a leg up. 鉄ince my honest guide 
has not arrived to escort me, I suppose I must ride alone,・I said.
鉄o sorry, madam, but for me to leave the inn濫
的 am the guide hired for you, madam.・The figure in the hooded cloak stepped out 
from behind the tree and bowed, interrupting the innkeeper before he could 
grovel further. 溺y apologies for my tardiness.・/p> 
滴old up there,・yelled the grizzled driver of the wagon, as he stood shading his 
eyes and peering into the noisy fracas. He waved his arm toward the corner, but 
the sheriff was fully occupied, and Karon was already on Karylis痴 back.
In moments, we were racing out of Threadinghall and down the forest road, back 
the way I had come earlier. The full moon lit our path with the brightness of 
day.
For an hour we rode without stopping and with no possibility of speech. When we 
emerged from the dense trees into the rolling moonlit meadows, Karon pointed to 
the right branch of an upcoming fork in the road. We thundered down the dusty 
track, winding through gentle hills until at last we came to a grove of willows 
bordering a wide stream. The water rippled merrily in the silver light.
We pulled up, and I slipped from the saddle straight into Karon痴 arms. I 
whispered into his neck, 的 was so frightened for you.・/p> 
的知 so sorry,・he said, stroking my hair and pressing me fiercely to his breast. 的 
had no idea. Never, never would I knowingly call you into such danger.・He was 
trembling.
I pulled away and laid a finger on his lips. 笛udge on the merits of the deeds 
alone, not on what the circumstances of life have made of them. Have I got it 
right?・/p> 
添es. Of course you do.・He smiled weakly. 溺y chief counselor never forgets 
anything that can be used to refute a fool痴 premise.・/p> 
鉄hould we not ride on now? I can go farther, you know.・/p> 
展e should, but I can稚. I have to rest for just a bit.・Karon痴 trembling was not 
just the released anxiety of the evening痴 events. His skin was hot and dry, a 
fever that had nothing to do with sorcery, and his rigid posture told me that 
sheer strength of will kept him upright.
展hat have you done to yourself?・I asked, stroking his haggard face.
哲othing that a year of sleep and a lifetime of you will not take care of. And to 
my great regret迫leaning on my arm, he sank to the spongy ground of the willow 
thicket・殿 little of the sleep must come before anything else.・His eyes closed as 
he mumbled. 笛ust an hour, no more than two, then we must go・ And while holding 
my hand as if it were his last connection to life, he was asleep.
For a long while I sat and watched him sleep, knowing full well that the night痴 
events had changed my life forever. Karon had come a finger痴 breadth from 
capture. I had killed a man to protect him. Full of uncomfortable musings about 
what else we might have to do to keep him safe, I pulled his cloak around us 
both and fell asleep.
The moon hung like a huge yellow lantern low above the mountains in the west 
when I woke. Karon slept unmoving, his scarred left arm thrown over me. 展ake 
up,・I said, shaking his shoulder. 添ou said two hours, no more.・/p> 
He buried his face in my tunic and emitted a muffled groan. 釘ut this feels so 
marvelously fine.・/p> 
徹ur own bed will be much nicer, and perhaps you値l be clean. Happy as I am to see 
you, there is definitely an aura of the stable about.・At least his fever seemed 
to have cooled a bit.
He rolled over wearily. 的 was the only passenger in Lynch痴 cart, but chickens, 
and sheep, and pigs had most definitely preceded me. I was in no position to be 
choosy.・/p> 
I pulled out the provisions from my saddle pack. That roused him a bit. First he 
drained two waterskins. Then he downed half a loaf of bread, a knob of cheese, 
and three apples, and did not protest more than once when I gave him my portion, 
too.
典he man who laid the trap was a sheriff. He knew about you.・/p> 
He rubbed his neck and stretched his shoulders. 的 was sure I壇 shaken them・ 
careless・unforgivable濫
的 told you, it痴 all right. You池e safe. That痴 all that matters.・/p> 
We didn稚 return to the main road, but continued on a longer, less traveled route 
back to Montevial. As we rode, I told him Tanager痴 story, and then he told me 
his own.
的壇 gone into Xerema to hire guards to protect the site. It was a fabulous find預t 
least seven hundred years old, built deep and hidden to protect it from 
graverobbers・but, of course, it痴 all gone again now. I was on my way back to the 
site when the earthquake struck, out in the open. Though I used everything I 
knew to find Rinaldo and Damon, I had to give it up early on; I sensed no hint 
of life and had no hope of digging through that mess.
釘ut I couldn稚 leave the area without trying to help. Unlike at the mountain, 
there were pockets in the city ruins where people could survive for a little 
while. Whatever I did, it wasn稚 enough. Every few hours I壇 have to forgo use of 
anything but my hands, and I could still hear people screaming and crying. But 
somehow I managed to do more than I could in ordinary times. As did 
everyone.・/p> 
The beautiful morning seemed at odds with his dreadful tale. Hawks soared 
through the haze of dayfires, hanging over the patchwork grain fields. Karon 
stared at the weedy path ahead of us, lost in the telling. 鄭fter a week or so, 
there was no one left living under the stones, and no one who hadn稚 crossed the 
Verges, and I thought I壇 come home. But I met up with a surgeon named Connor. 
We壇 worked together at several sites, and he had guessed there was something out 
of the ordinary. He asked if I had medical training, and I told him I did, 
though perhaps different from his own. He said that if I壇 continue working with 
him. he壇 ask no questions.・/p> 
Karon looked up at me with a sadness that tore my heart. 滴e was extraordinary, 
Seri. Never have I met anyone who gave so much of himself. For days he would go 
without sleep, treating all who came to him: nobles, beggars, peasants, 
soldiers. Never did he lose patience or fail to treat even the least of them 
with kindness and respect, as if each were the most important person in the 
world. And he was skilled beyond any physician or surgeon I致e known. I would 
assist him as best I could, and when he found something he couldn稚 handle, he壇 
ask if I might have some insight into the case beyond his own. If I thought I 
could do it, he would find a private place and see that I was not disturbed・
添ou speak of him in the past.・/p> 
He nodded. 典here was a little girl. Only five years old or so. A beautiful 
child. We got to her too late. With all of Connor痴 skill and all of mine, we 
could not undo what had been done.・He spoke as if the terrible scene still lay 
before him. 典he child痴 father went mad. His wife and five other children had 
died in the earthquake, and the little girl was all he had left. When Connor 
told him she was dead, the man pulled a knife and stabbed him to the heart. It 
happened so quickly迫Karon痴 face was a portrait of grief欄and just as with the 
Writer and his daughter, it came at a time when I had nothing left to give him. 
Before he died, he whispered that he had hoped he could at last witness what it 
was I did. Oh, Seri, would that I could have saved him. It was very hard to keep 
my own teaching in my mind.・/p> 
釘ecause he was an uncommon man and a friend in terrible times.・/p> 
溺ore than that. The murderer was a man I壇 brought back from the dead.1・/p> 
We rode in silence for a long while. What ordinary words of comfort could ease 
such extraordinary sorrow? But eventually Karon took up the tale once more, 
shaking his head as if to rid himself of his own thoughts. 典hat was about twelve 
days ago, I think. I knew I couldn稚 keep up the work indefinitely. Someone would 
see or guess, and I was very tired, sick enough that I was endangering people I 
wanted to help, seeing two of everything or things that weren稚 there. And 
without Connor my work was far more difficult. A day or two after I buried him, 
I began to suspect I was being followed. I致e been running ever since. Every time 
I thought I was clear, that sheriff would turn up again. Finally I heard about 
this carter that plied the Leiran road, so I believed I could get to 
Threadinghall. I壇 be safe there. But I knew I could go no farther without help濫
痘and you called me.・/p> 
的nexcusable. I should have known they壇 find me again. But I was at the end of my 
resources, and you were so much in my thoughts. I don稚 think I could have spoken 
to anyone else at such a distance. I couldn稚 conjure a broomstraw after it. 
Still can稚. The certainty that you would be waiting was the only thing that kept 
me moving yesterday. But invading your mind, stealing your thoughts擁t violates 
everything I profess・
展ould it make a difference to you if I said it was all right? If I gave you my 
consent to speak to me in that way any time?・The idea had been with me since I 
had first heard him in our library. 鏑ast night, I needed to warn you. I wanted 
you to hear. I trust you, you know, and I welcome you into every part of my 
life. It doesn稚 frighten me.・/p> 
敵ods, Seri・
We reached home without incident and with no evidence that Karon痴 pursuers had 
any clue as to his identity. He believed they had never seen his face. He 
worried that I壇 be recognized, but I assured him the light had been poor and my 
face shaded by my hat. For good measure I burned the clothes we had worn.
I didn稚 tell Karon that I had killed to protect him. Keeping the secret caused 
me far more guilt than the killing, but I told myself that I would reveal it as 
soon as time had blurred the event. Perhaps by then Karon, too, would realize 
that the Way of the J脱ttanne was not the way of the world.
Karon痴 illness passed quickly with rest and decent food, but I had never seen 
him in such a desert of the spirit. In the weeks after his return, he ventured 
out of the house only once葉o visit the families of his two assistants, offering 
them his sympathy and what help he could in dealing with their loss. Though he 
hadn稚 asked me to do so, he seemed relieved that I discouraged visitors. The 
effort of communicating with anyone was so monumental that even a quarter of an 
hour痴 company left him pale and sick. He had spent everything he had five 
hundred times over. Now smiles and laughter and even words came hard.
But on one morning in early autumn I awoke to find him gazing down at me, head 
propped on one elbow, a sober demeanor belied by a sparkle in his blue eyes. 
典here痴 something you池e not telling me, my lady.・/p> 
展hat do you mean?・/p> 
鄭re there more secrets than this one?・/p> 
展ho ever said you were to know everything that goes on?・/p> 
釘ut I believe I have an interest in this matter.・/p> 
滴ave you been prying with this fiendish talent you have, sir?・/p> 
的 confess to it. You致e seemed unwell these few weeks, and I was worried.・/p> 
鄭nd so you致e deprived me of my surprise?・/p> 
His face lost its shine for a moment. 泥oes it really bother you? I thought濫
I rolled over into his arms. 哲ot a whit! I was just waiting to be sure.・An 
astonishing thought came to mind. 展hat else can you tell about it?・/p> 
His laughter was bursting with joy and life. 泥o you really want to know?・/p> 
摘verything you know. If I have no secrets, neither can you.・/p> 
的t is a son.・/p> 
The months that followed were the sweetest that life can provide. Whether caused 
by delight in our child痴 new life, or the newfound intimacy of our 
mind-speaking, or the summer痴 brush with mortality and dread, that golden autumn 
was wrapped in aching beauty. It was as if nature itself had decided to grant us 
a season of perfection long after a normal year would have lost itself in snow 
and ice. We walked and rode in the intoxicating air of the countryside. We read 
and we laughed. Karon delved into his work, and I with him, and we marveled at 
each new treasure we dragged out of the bottomless vaults of Leire.
Our son would be named Connor Martin Gervaise. So many names for a being so 
tiny, said Karon. Every night he would close his eyes and lay his hands on my 
belly, whispering the proper words, and, after a moment, he would smile and tell 
me all was well. Sometimes he would say it with words, and sometimes he would 
look into my eyes and speak with his other voice. Words were only a pale shadow 
of that other voice, no more representing the wholeness of speech than notes of 
one octave can represent the wholeness of music.
The J脱ttanne of Avonar had only rarely used their talent for mind-speaking. The 
gift carried an immense emotional burden, for it had been their downfall. Its 
use was rigidly constrained by the Two Tenets of the J脱ttanne. Thus it was only 
with the freedom granted by my offer that Karon was able to explore his strange 
talent for the first time. Eagerly he experimented with all its various aspects, 
working at openings and barriers, contacts and distractions, until I thought 
that he must turn his head inside out・or mine.
We practiced enough that it became easy, Karon speaking to me and then listening 
to my thoughts in reply. But once we mastered the skill, we used it only rarely. 
Karon said it would be too easy to misstep, demonstrating knowledge of something 
one had no business knowing while in the company of others. It was the same 
reason he used his other magical abilities so sparingly. Habits. Though I 
believed no one would ever learn of what we did, I did not complain as I might 
have a few months earlier. Karon痴 . safety was the one subject on which I no 
longer offered any dispute.
Karon made no healing journeys that fall. At my urging he would take Karylis out 
to run in the countryside long after I felt too uncomfortable to ride, but he 
would always be back before nightfall. Each time he would say that perhaps the 
groom should take the horse out for exercise from then on, so he would not be 
away too long. But I told him, laughing, that he should not deprive himself of 
his delight in riding, for I had bribed Karylis to make sure he always came 
home.
CHAPTER 15
As Baglos recited the tale of his mysterious land and people, the afternoon 
waned gracefully. The meadow came alive with birdsong and a soft breeze. While I 
sat picking at the dry, weedy grass, giving thought to our next move, D誰atheil 
used my ax to split the thick chunk of birchwood and shorten it. Baglos stood 
nearby, chewing his lip and watching D誰atheil uncertainly, as if he weren稚 quite 
sure what to do next either.
Jacopo stood up, rubbed his backside, stretched his shoulders, and then promptly 
squatted down again beside me, rapping his thick knuckles on his boots. 的 should 
go home,・he said, eyeing my two visitors uncomfortably. 的知 feeling down in the 
leg after all this hill climbing, and I left Lucy Mercer with the shop. The old 
biddy痴 overgenerous with my money. Got no eye for a bargain.・/p> 
添ou should go,・I said. 撤aulo, too. Better if you池e both out of this.・/p> 
At some time during Baglos痴 astonishing story, Paulo had finished with the 
horses and fallen asleep in the shade of my woodpile. He could not have heard 
much and was surely not in the habit of volunteering information to anyone. But 
Rowan seemed to have an eye on Paulo, and the prospects for a lame, illiterate 
boy from Dunfarrie were bleak enough without tainting him with talk of sorcery.
的 don稚 feel right to leave you. Fearful business預ll this talk of madness and 
murder and men with no souls. And I can稚 say as I trust these two as you do. 
Come along home with me, Seri.・/p> 
典hey値l not be here for long. Wherever their mysterious duty takes them, it痴 not 
likely to be Dunfarrie.・And I couldn稚 run away. My search for reason and order 
in the universe had long succumbed to defeat, but I was coming to the conclusion 
that I had to do something about D誰atheil. When fate opens a chasm underneath 
your feet or shoves a lava-spewing mountain into your path, you cannot ignore 
it.
Jacopo laid his thick fingers on my knee. 的 know better than to try to keep you 
out of their business if your mind is made up. And I値l do your bidding in 
whatever way a disbelieving old man can do. But I値l ask you one thing, Seri 
girl. You must tell Graeme about all this. He痴 his own man first, not the king痴 
nor Lord Marchant痴. If those villains are as wicked as this Baglos says, then 
Graeme痴 going to get himself killed or worse. You know he値l not leave off.・/p> 
Rowan was definitely a puzzle. Did the sheriff even know that the priests were 
sorcerers, too? Was he corrupt, or merely stupid, or was he a wily villain, 
planning to lure the priests into the fire once they had led him to other 
sorcerers? Whichever one, we could afford no dealings with him.
的 can稚 tell him anything, Jaco. His duty is to exterminate sorcerers. He lives 
by the law, no matter the consequence, and by the law, he must turn all of us 
over to the king. I won稚 let him do that. Assuming Paulo wakes up by tomorrow, 
he値l take Rowan痴 horse back to Grenatte. By the time Rowan returns to Dunfarrie, 
D誰atheil and Baglos will be gone. Even if the sheriff is determined to be 
pigheaded, it値l do him no good.・/p> 
鄭sk for his help. He値l listen to you.・Jacopo scratched his grizzled chin and 
grinned, 的 love you dearly, little girl, but if there痴 one of you that痴 been 
pigheaded, it痴 not Graeme.・/p> 
Jacopo痴 grin raised my hackles, and I answered more sharply than I should have. 
的 don稚 trust any sheriff. You shouldn稚 either. Don稚 you dare let him drag you 
and Paulo into this.・/p> 
Before we could argue any further, a bone-cracking slap and a sharp cry sounded 
from the direction of the cottage. I turned to see Baglos staggering backwards, 
his hands shielding his face. D誰atheil痴 hand was raised for another strike.
・em>Bence, mie giro!・cried Baglos. ・em>Ne stes damet濫
D誰atheil痴 second blow knocked Baglos to the dirt. Blood dribbling from his brow, 
the Dulc・vainly tried to scramble out of harm痴 way, but his master痴 foot caught 
him in the backside and sent him sprawling.
灯Stop it!・I cried, jumping to my feet and running toward the men. 埜hat are you 
doing?・/p> 
Another kick caught the fallen Dulc・in the side. 溺ie giro, stes vyn濫 Another, 
and Baglos could only grunt instead of finishing his plea.
I stepped between them, trying not to flinch as the back of D誰atheil痴 hand flew 
toward my face. His fair complexion darkened to yet a deeper shade of purple. 
But the blow did not fall. Rather, he snarled, shoved me aside, and went after 
Baglos again. He did not continue the beating, but rolled Baglos to his back and 
yanked something from the Dulc髓s belt揺is own silver knife. Glaring darkly at his 
cowering servant, D誰atheil sheathed the weapon. His blood-streaked fingers 
twisted the Dulc髓s purple vest and pulled Baglos痴 upper body from the ground 
until the small man痴 face was only a handspan from his own.
泥on稚 you dare hurt him again,・I yelled. 典hat痴 enough!・/p> 
D誰atheil shifted his cold blue stare to me. Lip curling, nostrils flared, the 
young man gathered the wad of satin tighter. He needed no power of speech to 
tell me that he could break the Dulc髓s neck without reservation, without 
remorse, almost without effort.
添ou. Will. Not,・/em> I said, biting each word and spitting it at him. It seemed 
to be the only language he truly understood. 添ou are his prince. You are 
responsible for him. Tell him, Baglos. Exactly as I said it.・/p> 
From his precarious position, the Dulc・closed his eyes and murmured hoarsely.
The moment expanded to fill the space between us. Then, with a hiss of disgust, 
the Prince slammed Baglos to the turf and walked over to the wide stump where 
lay the ax and his birch limb. I watched to make sure he planned to use the ax 
on the wood and not our heads. But he was soon lost in his work again, using the 
blade to hack long slivers from the chunk of birch. After each cut, he would 
explore the wood痴 thinning shape with his fingers, examine each piece for who 
knew what, and then raise the ax again.
Baglos had rolled to his side and curled into a ball. 鉄tupid, stupid, stupid,・he 
mumbled. 泥id I think he wouldn稚 notice?・/p> 
鄭re you all right?・I knelt beside him and laid a hand on his dark hair. He 
jerked at my touch and tried to sit up. 哲o, stay down for a moment, until we see 
how he痴 hurt you,・I said. 笛aco, bring some water.・My friend was already on his 
way to the stream with a pail and a rag, and soon I was blotting the Dulc髓s 
bruised and bloody cheek.
展hat Dulc・was ever so stupid?・He waved off my hand, struggled to sitting, and 
took the rag, pressing it under his nose, which was bleeding profusely. But even 
the blood paled beside his skin color. Stars of night, he was embarrassed!
添ou picked up his knife. He has no call to beat you for it.・/p> 
滴e thought濫 Baglos changed whatever he was going to say. 的t is D但rnath痴 blade. I 
could not see it left in the grass. Dropped. It should not even be here・but in 
Avonar. D但rnath痴 weapons are葉hey bear immense濫 He took a breath as if to quiet 
his stumbling. 的t was a misunderstanding. He is young.・/p> 
添ou池e more forgiving than he deserves. To serve a master so unworthy of his 
position, no matter how important his duties, requires a more generous spirit 
than mine. When your friend was wounded, you should have let someone else have 
the 派onor・of being D誰atheil痴 Guide.・I regretted that D誰atheil could not 
understand me. I would have told him what I thought of people who beat their 
servants. 悩ou needn稚 make excuses. I致e known him for a brute since I first 
encountered him.・/p> 
Baglos shook his head. 的t is not his fault he is this way. His life濫 He glanced 
at the oblivious D誰atheil and quickly dropped his eyes to the ground. 溺y lord痴 
mother died when he was but a babe. Avonar was at war, and no one had time to 
see to a boy who was wild from his earliest days. No one worried about his poor 
training, because it was his oldest brother D谷oran that would be the Heir after 
his father, and then D担eto next. Never had a third son been named Heir. But the 
war worsened and one after the other his father and brothers fell. Then all 
attention turned to D誰atheil, who had been left to play in the alleys, sleep 
with the dogs, and eat with the warriors on the walls.・/p> 
The Dulc・sighed and blotted his nose again. 滴e was only nine years old when he 
became the Heir, a full three years before coming of age. The Preceptor Exeget 
was named his mentor and guardian. D誰atheil was insolent and prideful and would 
forever run away. He had no desire to learn of his gifts, or the art of ruling, 
or the history of his people and their past glory. Master Exeget disciplined him 
harshly, until the other Preceptors begged him to go easier on the boy, but the 
master said only that the Zhid would not go easy on the Heir, and one could not 
disagree with that. And so, my lord progressed・only slowly・ in anything but his 
fighting skills.・/p> 
And when the boy was only twelve, so Baglos had told us, his desperate people 
had sent him into a magical war for which he was unprepared. I rinsed the bloody 
rag in the pail of water, wrung it out, and gave it back to the Dulc・ 滴e has no 
right to hurt you, Baglos. Many people have terrible childhoods and impossible 
duties, but they live their lives with grace.・How could this callow hothead be 
kin to the J脱ttanne? 的s he even capable of what痴 needed to save your people?・/p> 

Baglos was a long time answering, his face hidden in the rag. 滴e is, dear lady. 
Whether he wishes it or no.・/p> 
One might have thought the Dulc髓s cuts and bruises magically vanished when I 
asked if he felt well enough to prepare a meal for us. While Baglos busied 
himself with my pots and poked about in the garden, the meadow, and the larder 
dug into the hillside, Jacopo and I hauled water to my neglected garden.
泥oes Emil Gasso still have extra horses?・I asked as we splattered the contents 
of our pails onto the dry soil.
Jacopo had relaxed a bit, now he was busy with something not smacking of 
sorcery. 滴e does. Old buzzard figures he壇 best get gold for 覇m soon or the 
king値l have them for the war.・/p> 
的f we池e to get these two out of here in good order, they池e going to need another 
mount. Maybe two. I知 not sure if Baglos痴 horse is reliable.・I was not yet 
willing to tell Jaco that I was planning to accompany them. My plan was still 
too flimsy to expose to the daylight.
敵asso痴 got at least three good mounts, so it shouldn稚 be a problem.・/p> 
展ould he lend them? It would take far more than I have to buy even one.・/p> 
哲ot likely. Emil Gasso is as penny-pinching as a body can be, so he値l not let 
the beasts out of his sight without the coins in his purse.・/p> 
Baglos interrupted, asking for salt, so I went to show him, while Jacopo 
finished watering the garden. There wasn稚 room in the cottage for all of us to 
eat, so I had Jacopo help me move the table outside, and then sent him to drag 
Paulo from his nap in the woodpile while I fetched D誰atheil.
The Prince was no longer behind the cottage or anywhere that I could see, so I 
walked over to the copse where the horses were tethered. He was kneeling by the 
spring, frantically scrubbing at his hands. Curious at his odd frenzy, I held 
back and watched. After drying his hands on his breeches, he wrapped his arms 
about his face and head and bent over until his elbows almost touched his knees, 
releasing a quiet groan of such heart-tearing misery, such private and profound 
despair, it seemed to swallow the last light of the sun. Disdain and 
condemnation died on my tongue. Any man in such pain was suffering more than any 
reproach of mine could cause him. And so I retreated. Even if I had cared to 
ease him, I had no remedies for that kind of wounding.
Not long after I had returned to the cottage, D誰atheil came striding across the 
meadow, haughty and composed, displaying no remnant of the emotion I had 
glimpsed at the spring. I motioned him to the table, where Paulo leaned on his 
elbows yawning and a frowning Jacopo tapped his knife idly on his empty bowl. 
The sky had deepened to a rich blue, and I set out candles that flamed against 
the evening like two new stars. An odd company we made: a peasant sailor, a 
village urchin, a disgraced duchess, a diminutive cook, and a mute, half-mad 
prince. I sacrificed the flask of wine that I kept for emergencies, shared it 
out, and when Baglos set his fine-smelling dish on the table, I raised my cup to 
the company. 笛弾dai en j痴ameil. To life and beauty everlasting!・I said the words 
first in the archaic language of the J脱ttanne and then in Leiran.
D誰atheil痴 eyebrows lifted slightly as he raised his cup and tipped his head in 
gracious acknowledgment. The season had changed yet again.
Baglos痴 mouth fell open, and he almost dropped his cup. 典he Avonar feasting 
wish! Where have you learned those words, woman? And spoken in the most ancient 
tongue of the Dar誰ethi! Has D誰atheil幽ow could he have taught them to you?・/p> 
滴e hasn稚. It痴 my story, Baglos, and I値l tell you some of it, but right now we 
feast on your magic. What incredible thing have you done with my bits and 
pieces?・/p> 
Whatever the shortcomings of the little Dulc・ they did not include his cooking. 
Thin slices of ham were rolled up around a savory filling made of bread and nuts 
and onions. Tart monkberries from the hillside were sweetened with honey and 
made into a sauce to go over it. To top it all he brought out apples, baked in 
the coals with butter and honey. Hard to believe they were the hard early apples 
that were always so tasteless. None of us could get enough. From what 
conversation went on during the meal, one might think we were all as mute as 
D誰atheil. Paulo came near bursting with unbridled ecstasy when we gave him the 
last bites, as well as the pot to scrape.
Jacopo left for Dunfarrie soon after we were done. He bowed politely to Baglos, 
but granted D誰atheil only a disapproving stare, his terror of sorcery 
momentarily superceded by disgust at the Prince痴 unmanly behavior. The pleased 
Dulc・returned the formality. D誰atheil ignored him. Jacopo set out across the 
moonlit meadow, stopping to wave just before disappearing into the trees.
典hat ranks among the finest meals I致e ever eaten, Baglos,・I said as we cleaned 
up the mess, 妬ncluding those at the tables of kings and nobles. Any great house 
in Leire would make your fortune were you to agree to manage its kitchen.・/p> 
撤lease excuse me,・said Baglos, as he wiped the pots and stacked them neatly by 
the hearth, stood on a chair to hang the net bag of onions in the rafters and 
set the small tin of salt on my shelf. 釘ut I have great curiosity. What woman 
who lives・excuse me・as you do, has ever dined with kings and nobles? And how is 
it possible that you know the ancient language of the Dar誰ethi?・/p> 
While the moon rose above the eastern horizon and a dry breeze nipped at the 
candle flames, I perched on the table and told the Dulc・and D誰atheil something 
of myself and something of the J脱ttanne and something of how I had come to live 
as I did. Not so very much. Only that the descendants of J脱ttanne knew nothing 
of these things Baglos had told us, that they had been exterminated, and that it 
was possible my own husband, a Healer, and my son, a newborn infant, had been 
the last of them.
Baglos was in shock at my story, exclaiming his horror even as he translated it 
for the Prince. 典he Exiles all dead・and their gifts outlawed. Burned alive・ 
slaughtered at birth・Vasrin guide our steps from this place. I think the Lords 
of Zhev誰a have already won!・/p> 
添ou see why I believe you致e been sent to me? It痴 possible there痴 no other soul 
in the Four Realms who even knows the name J脱ttanne.・/p> 
典hat seems indisputable.・/p> 
鄭nd you see why D誰atheil must do no magic where anyone can see? Make sure he 
understands that. Our law is absolute.・/p> 
溺uch is now explained. Will you not tell us more, woman? About J脱ttanne痴 people, 
about their life in this land? Why did they no longer come to the Bridge?・/p> 
的 told you, they had no lore of a Bridge or of a kingdom such as yours. I致e no 
answers that can help you. As for their life擁t doesn稚 matter anymore.・The past 
was done. Karon and the J脱ttanne were dead. Dwelling on their stories would not 
repair that. I hated speaking of them.
When Baglos told D誰atheil all of this, the Prince indicated that he remembered 
my teaching. He displayed no fear, of course. Bullies never believe they値l 
experience the kind of wickedness they parcel out. He retrieved his birchwood溶ow 
a slender chip the size of his palm耀at himself in the light spilling from the 
cottage doorway, and began carving on it with the tip of his silver dagger. Once 
I felt the slightest stirring in the air, a faint sigh that was not the cooling 
breeze, and I looked over to see him running his fingers over the blade of his 
knife. I wondered if he was invoking some enchantment, but I wasn稚 about to ask.
Baglos and Paulo moved the table back into the cottage. Paulo mumbled something 
about seeing to the horses and strolled into the night with his hands in his 
pockets. The boy would not consider taking Thunder down to Dunfarrie. The 
sheriff had told him to ride the horse as far as Jonah痴 cottage, and Paulo was 
unwilling to jeopardize his privilege by straying one finger痴 breadth from the 
instruction. A fine meal, responsibility for Rowan痴 horse, mysterious princes, 
and talk of sorcery猶aulo had likely never had such a day in his thirteen years.
A short while later, as I dumped out the water we had used to clean the dishes, 
D誰atheil suddenly jumped to his feet, dropping his woodcarving into the dirt. 
Grabbing my pail and throwing it aside, he shoved me toward the doorway of the 
cottage, and then, with vehemently expressive hands, demanded to know where 
Paulo was. Just like him not to notice anyone else until he wanted something for 
himself.
展hat do you want with・・Before I could finish my question, D誰atheil bellowed in 
frustration, waved his hand to the sky and the meadow and the wood, and then 
slapped his fists together ferociously. Danger. Even as I squinted at the 
darkening edge of the trees, trying to see what bothered him so, a gray haze 
shadowed the moonlight, and the cheerful nickering of candlelight faded, though 
the moon was unclouded and the candleflame yet burned. An alien wind swept 
through the valley, leaching the warmth from the summer night, bearing on its 
back the scents of smoke, ash, and decay. 滴e痴 with the horses.・ I pointed to the 
copse.
With long, graceful strides D誰atheil dashed across the stretch of grass to the 
dark grove, and soon returned with a squirming Paulo over his shoulder. The 
young man pushed me farther into the house, dumped Paulo on the floor, and 
slammed and barred the door. Breathing hard, he leaned his back against the 
door, and his defiant chin challenged me to argue.
Baglos said, 展hat is it? Wild beas・ Holy Vasrin! The Zhid!・He cast his 
almond-shaped eyes to the roof and the walls, climbing onto my bed to close and 
bar the shutters.
Paulo picked himself off the floor, rubbing his arms.
滴e痴 balmy.・/p> 
哲ever mind it, Paulo,・I said, urging the boy away from the Prince and toward the 
fire. 典here痴 danger about, and he wants you safe. It will pass.・/p> 
展hat of the sailor?・said Baglos. 滴ow far had he to travel? I pray Vasrin he is 
not out.・/p> 
My heart stopped for a moment in fear for Jaco, thinking of him on the exposed 
lower slopes of the Dunfarrie path, but then I considered the time and shook my 
head. 哲o, it痴 only an hour痴 walk to the village, and it痴 been at least two濫
痘and he is not the one they seek,・said Baglos, patting my arm. 釘uild up the fire 
and do not think of what passes outside the door. In Avonar, we would tell 
stories when the Zhid were seeking, hoping to bar them from our thoughts.・ The 
wind gusted and howled and pawed at the cottage, rattling the door and shutters, 
seeping through the log walls. Beneath its bluster was an undertone of uttermost 
desolation, a song worthy of a world mourning for a dead sun or a race lamenting 
its lost children. I needed no urging to build up the fire. 的f there are to be 
stories, someone else will have to tell them,・I said, pulling a blanket about my 
shoulders. 的 don稚 think I can.・/p> 
D誰atheil sat on the floor beside the hearth, eyes narrowed and head cocked to 
one side, his senses fixed on something far beyond the fire. As the rising 
flames gnawed at the logs, his expression gradually lost its intensity, as if he 
were mesmerized by the play of light and colors.
溺ie giro.・/em> Baglos sat down on the worn woven rug beside his master and 
plucked the Prince痴 sleeve. 溺ie giro, ne pell don ・ D誰atheil ignored him. His 
narrow face tight, the earnest Dulc・persisted. He spoke softly to his master, 
shaking his head and pressing a fist to his heart, coaxing and cajoling until 
D誰atheil dragged his gaze from the fire, blinked, and nodded.
典he Prince has agreed that I may tell a story of his childhood to distract him 
from the Seeking. I hope it might make him remember.・Baglos spoke first to me 
and then to D誰atheil, as before.
展hen my lord was six years old, he was a wild boy, who wished to do nothing but 
fight. He greatly admired his older brother, Prince D担eto, a young man both 
honored for his courage and fighting skills and beloved for his great good 
humor. One day D誰atheil stole a sword from Prince D担eto, not understanding that 
it was only a flimsy ceremonial sword that his brother had enchanted so as to 
make the one who carried it irresistible to the ladies and tireless in・ah・ 
adventures of the heart. D誰atheil was so small that the strength of the 
enchantment acted on him like an excess of wine・
Baglos proceeded to tell us a long series of D誰atheil痴 embarrassing adventures 
among the warriors and ladies of Avonar. The Dulc・was a fine storyteller. I 
found myself shaking my head in amused disbelief, Paulo giggled, and even 
D誰atheil was flushed and smiling. And amid the humorous escapades, I caught 
vivid glimpses of a cultured city and a courtly people bitterly scarred by war.
After a while, however, Baglos痴 tale flagged. He struggled to continue as if a 
lead weight were attached to his tongue, and as his voice faded, so did our 
laughter. I huddled deeper in my blanket, cursing my foolish imagining that I 
might be able to help anyone avoid horror. I hadn稚 even been able to keep my own 
child alive. D誰atheil took up his listening posture again. He watched the fire, 
and Baglos watched him, gingerly touching his sleeve or his knee, whispering in 
his ear, but unable to distract him. Only Paulo remained serene. He fell asleep, 
curled up on the wood floor.
After perhaps half an hour more, the Prince startled me by leaping to his feet 
and yanking open the door. The moon was bright, casting silver-edged shadows 
over the meadow. The wind was gone along with the morbid chill. Evidently, the 
Seeking had passed.
The past two days had been exhausting. I had been awake since well before dawn, 
and I managed to keep my eyes open only long enough to tell the others that they 
should remain in the house. 典his won稚 hurt my reputation,・I said, when Baglos 
expressed concern at three men sleeping in the house with an unmarried woman. 
的致e none to worry about.・It would be crowded, but only for a night. 典omorrow we 
leave for Valleor. I know someone who may be able to help you.・Then I curled up 
on my bed and knew nothing until dawn.
Paulo was off to Grenatte with the sunrise. As he proudly mounted Rowan痴 black 
horse, I loaded him up with jack and hearthbread. 展hatever the sheriff asks you, 
tell him only the truth. But carefully, Paulo. You致e heard some strange talk 
here, and you must be cautious about what you repeat of it・lest someone get 
wrong ideas.・/p> 
的 mostly hear more地 people think,・he said, 澱ut my head痴 too thick to keep hold 
of much.・The boy gave me a sideways grin, and then he and the horse were racing 
down the trail to the south.
I set off for the village shortly after, trying to decide how to broach to Jaco 
the news that I was leaving Dunfarrie. He was limping about the shop and 
grumbling about the mess Lucy had left him. 釘usybody,・he said, before I壇 even 
had time to wish him a good morning. 泥on稚 have nothing better to do than try to 
set everything to rights. Junk shops aren稚 supposed to be set to rights. Who値l 
ever think they致e found a treasure if it痴 all laid out in front of them like I致e 
looked at it careful? She even cleaned the window. Fool woman. If I wanted more 
light in here, I壇 of lit me a lantern. Blasted leg is seized up good this time 
or I壇 be up there smoking up the glass again.・He pointed at the clean window 
with his walking stick.
笛aco, stop this. Listen to me. Did you see anything strange on the way down last 
night?・/p> 
He wouldn稚 stop fussing about. 哲ope.・He limped slowly to the back room and 
returned with a roll of chain.
典he shadow came again after you left. Like we saw on the ridge, only worse. 
Closer. The night went dark even though the moon was up. The wind was cold and 
smelled like death.・/p> 
的 saw nothing like that. It was a fine night. I walked down, sat and smoked a 
pipe for a while, stopped in at the Wild Heron. It痴 your imagination all roused 
up by these two strangers. I致e a hard time even remembering what it was like 
that day on the ridge. The more I think on it, the more I believe all this 
magical business is just foolery, and we really didn稚 see nothing at all. This 
Aeren熔r whatever his name擁s addled from his fever. And there must致e been a crack 
in the rock.・He dumped a barrel of neatly folded clothes on the floor, kicked 
them into a muddle, and then stuffed them back in the barrel.
哲o. It was real then, and it was real last night. We stayed in the house as 
Baglos said, and he told us stories to take our minds away from it. He says 
these Zhid feed on fear.・/p> 
鏑isten to your foolish talk. You must be rid of those two, Seri. Send them 
away.・He unstacked a nest of iron pots. Into one he threw some bits of rope. 
Into another he dumped a wadded cloak, three spoons, and a battered tin of tea.
摘xactly so. I知 taking them to see a man I know in Yurevan. Jaco, you濫
典aking them? Yourself?・For the first time I seemed to get Jaco痴 attention. His 
head shot up from his puttering. 哲ever heard anything so foolish. Why would you 
do that? Who is this man?・/p> 
鉄omeone who might be able to help unlock D誰atheil痴 confusion.・/p> 
添ou need to tell me・who is it? What痴 his name?・His brow was creased, his face 
red. 鉄o痴 I can find you if need be. Maybe I ought to go with you. Yes, that痴 
what I must濫
滴is name is Ferrante, a professor at the University who knows about the 
J脱ttanne. He used to live just outside of Yurevan. I don稚 even know if he痴 
alive.・/p> 
Only after I so stupidly blurted everything out did I think what a predicament I 
was leaving Jaco in. 鏑isten, I know the sheriff is your friend, but you mustn稚 
tell him any of this. Rowan fought at Avonar. Leiran soldiers slaughtered 
everyone in the city just because some of the citizens were sorcerers. They 
burned the sorcerers and their families and friends. Even their children, Jaco. 
Rowan helped them burn the J脱ttanni children.・/p> 
Jacopo stopped his work and pulled out his pipe. His fingers were shaking as he 
worked to fill it, spilling the fragrant tobacco all over the floor until he 
threw pipe and bag down in annoyance, and sank onto one of his wooden stools, 
his back to me. 哲o. I won稚 say aught to him. I致e been thinking you池e right. It痴 
not such a good idea to bring in Graeme. He痴 still got to take you to Montevial 
in the autumn, and I don稚 know he could lie to the king.・/p> 
Though he had finally yielded to my opinion, I was astounded. Jacopo had been 
after me for ten years to trust Graeme Rowan. He must be truly afraid. I laid a 
hand on his hunched shoulder, but he didn稚 turn around. Perhaps he was weeping 
or embarrassed to show his fear. 鄭utumn is months away, Jaco. You mustn稚 worry 
so much. This mystery has got my blood running again. That can稚 be a bad thing, 
no matter what comes of it.・/p> 
敵ive up this sorcery business, girl. It痴 vile. Wicked.・His plea was a plaintive 
chant such as a child might use to ward off evil spirits. 鉄end this prince away. 
He値l be the death of you.・/p> 
的 detest D誰atheil,・I said to Jacopo痴 back. 滴e痴 a bully and a brute, and I can稚 
get rid of him soon enough. But I won稚 give him over to Evard or Darzid or the 
sheriffs of Leire. And that means I have to go with him. He and Baglos would be 
lost or arrested within a day, and Ferrante won稚 trust messages溶ot in this 
matter.・And now for the awkward part. 的 do need your help, Jaco. I致e got to have 
two of Emil Gasso痴 horses.・/p> 
典he horses迫Jacopo scratched his head slowly with his wide fingers欄yes, I値l get 
you the horses. A loan, mind! But you値l have to wait a day, as I can稚 deal with 
Gasso until tomorrow. Too much to do here; boat due within the hour.・ He glanced 
toward me, and then stood up and went to work again, sticking his head deep in a 
barrel of rusty tools and tossing one after another onto the floor. 的値l bring 
you the horses tomorrow midday. It値l do you good to rest up before traveling so 
far.・/p> 
To wait another day was a dreadful risk, but I couldn稚 press Jacopo痴 generosity 
any further. 添ou池e a good friend, Jaco. We値l meet you tomorrow at the spring on 
the ridge. We can稚 be at the cottage when Rowan returns.・I waited for him to 
answer, but he only grunted and dropped an old pump handle on the floor. 
典omorrow then.・/p> 
I had to pass Emil Gasso痴 stable on the way out of town, and on a whim decided 
to stop in. Gasso was a small-time horse breeder who had been hit hard by the 
constant levies for the Isker war. When I told him that Jaco would buy his 
horses and tack for a reasonable price, he was so delighted that he said I could 
take the horses with me. He would trust Jacopo for the money. I couldn稚 believe 
my good luck.
One of the horses was a huge chestnut with powerful legs and fire in its eye. 
The other was a smaller roan who nuzzled my hands and my pockets. 的 think we値l 
let D誰atheil ride your friend, and you値l stay with me,・I said to the roan. I 
considered going back to tell Jacopo about Gasso痴 generosity, but the morning 
was escaping. So I started up the trail to the cottage, riding the 
sweet-tempered roan and leading the chestnut.
CHAPTER 16
Less than an hour after my return from the village, I led D誰atheil and Baglos 
onto an obscure track that led over the ridge and down into the deep forest. 
D誰atheil rode as I knew he would, as if he壇 been born in the saddle, a primitive 
exuberance in the man matching that of the fire-eyed chestnut. As for me, what I 
had told Jacopo was the truth. My blood raced as it had not in ten years, and I 
spent a great deal of the day marveling at what a short time it had been since 
Midsummer痴 Day, when I壇 believed I would never feel anything again.
By early afternoon we came to the crossroads at Fensbridge. At Fensbridge market 
Baglos traded an unmarked coin of silver for boots and sword for D誰atheil, the 
latter old-fashioned and dull, but decently made. The young man hefted the 
weapon and grunted in satisfaction, if not pleasure.
From Fensbridge you could cross the river and travel the main road south back to 
Dunfarrie and Grenatte or ride north to Montevial, as Rowan and I did every 
fall, or you could take one of several roads west into the foothills of the 
Dorian Wall. Straight west would lead to the high, rugged country at the base of 
the mountains. Our northwest route would take us through the forested, rolling 
borderlands all the way to the Valleor highroad, a well-traveled way across the 
border. Those who wished to avoid border checkpoints could leave the highroad 
and find innumerable secondary paths into Valleor. Karon had often used them on 
his private journeys, and such was my intent.
By nightfall the morning痴 excitement had long dissipated. I was saddle-weary, 
and a day痴 contemplation had convinced me that my plan had more holes than a 
moth-eaten cloak. I had no assurance that Ferrante was even alive, much less 
residing in the same ivy-covered country house where Martin had first met Karon. 
And I had only the most faint supposition, entirely unsupported, that Ferrante 
knew whether there had been more than one J脱ttanni survivor of the slaughter at 
Avonar. And yet, the history professor had been a close friend of Karon痴 father, 
the one person outside of Avonar that any of the sorcerers would go to for help. 
I hoped he would tell me what I needed to know without my having to recount 
Baglos痴 fragmented stories of Heirs and enchanted bridges.
We camped for the night in dense forest. The air was humid and still, smelling 
of old leaves and moldy earth. We would see rain before morning. D誰atheil worked 
at sharpening and polishing the battered sword. After some rapid speech and hand 
gestures from Baglos, the Prince began to run two fingers over the weapon 
slowly, touching every part of the dully glowing surface. I believed enchantment 
flowed from his touch.
Watching the Prince intently, the Dulc・retreated to the log where I sat by the 
fire. I leaned toward him and whispered, 展hat痴 he doing?・
Baglos jumped, as if he had forgotten I was there. 徹h, I told him悠t痴 just葉o keep 
its edge and strengthen it・to enable it to serve him, a Dar誰ethi warrior can 
give a weapon his blessing. He has lived his whole life with swords,・he said 
softly, 殿nd wielded them as a man when he was scarce taller than the weapon. But 
never before has he managed to do this. It was said that he would try too hard, 
get angry, and stop before he could get the rhythm of it. Now・I知 not sure he 
understands what he does.・After a while, Baglos sighed and set about cleaning up 
the supper things and laying out D誰atheil痴 blanket.
The night passed undisturbed for the most part. In the middling hours of the 
night, I woke from dreams of suffocation to an unsettling scent of cold ash. But 
after an hour of anxious watching, I was convinced that it was only the result 
of our own fire being doused by the onset of the rain. We were well away from 
Dunfarrie and safe under the trees.
Over the next few days we traveled into the cooler hill country that bordered 
Valleor. As we rode through thick forests of dripping pines and birches, and 
between rocks covered with thick green moss, a constant drizzle seeped through 
the collars of our cloaks and the seams of our boots, leaving us as wet and 
miserable as if we壇 been caught in a deluge. Baglos pestered me with questions: 
about the Four Realms, about the forest, about politics and trade, clothing and 
geography, weather and cooking and growing vegetables. Everything was which and 
where and how and why, why, why. Half a day of this and I was ready to scream. 
When I asked, 鼎ould we not speak of something less trivial?・he began asking me 
about Karon and the life of the J脱ttanne. For example, was not it a sore trial 
for a Dar誰ethi to be wed to a mundane?
溺y husband and my life are my private business, Baglos. Do you understand the 
word private・・/em> I had given Baglos and D誰atheil my sustenance, my peace, such 
as it was, and my safety. They would get no more from me.
In deference to my ill humor, Baglos shifted his attention to D誰atheil and spent 
the afternoon speaking exclusively in his own language. I rode behind them, 
pronouncing my relief at being left alone. But two hours of unintelligible 
monologue did nothing to improve my irritation. When I asked the Dulc・what he 
was telling D誰atheil, he said that he was describing royal Avonar, its people, 
and things he knew of D誰atheil痴 childhood, hoping to prod his young master痴 
memory. I hinted that I could use such information as well. But the Dulc・found 
the constant translation too awkward to keep up, so I was abandoned once again 
to my own thoughts. Annoying. As seemed to be my experience of late, what I 
asked for was not necessarily what I wanted.
On the next day, when the whole sequence repeated itself, I asked Baglos if he 
would teach me something of the Dar誰ethi tongue. To my satisfaction I picked up 
a few words quite readily. As I demonstrated the first results of my lessons, 
D誰atheil seemed pleased and motioned insistently to Baglos to teach me more.
When we camped that night, D誰atheil went through his martial exercises again, 
but this time with his sword. I had grown up surrounded by soldiers, but never 
had I seen anyone move with such grace or such ferocious intensity. He would 
make even Tomas look like a newly vested squire.
Near midday on the fifth day of our journey we came to a good-sized town called 
Glyenna. It was market day, a drab, colorless affair, where the animals were 
sickly and the wares of the poorest and most utilitarian kind. The sour-faced 
crowds milled about the poor display as if they had been sentenced to attend as 
punishment for the sin of cheerfulness. We planned to stay only long enough to 
fill waterskins and buy food, though Baglos had shown himself an incessant 
conversationalist at every stop and seemed to enjoy nothing more than coaxing 
information about anything and everything from anyone he could get to speak to 
him. But as I paid a peasant woman for our supplies, I caught a glimpse of a 
sandy-haired horseman in vehement discourse with a man wearing the colorful 
badge of a local constable. Rowan! The still, heavy morning suddenly closed in. 
I backed away, turned, and ran.
D誰atheil had stopped to gawk at a cockfight, and when I touched his sleeve, he 
growled and slapped my hand away, craning his neck to see better. As always, 
Baglos was gabbling with the raucous onlookers about why and how they watched 
such things and what kinds of fowl were best to use and all manner of useless 
information. Despite my whispered warning, I had to drag the reluctant pair away 
from the bloody, vulgar spectacle, watching for the sheriff as I led them 
through the crowd.
We were almost to the edge of the marketplace when a disturbance broke out just 
behind me. I looked over my shoulder, and, to my dismay, D誰atheil was sitting 
atop a filthy, ragged man. He had the man痴 head dragged backward into an 
impossible angle and his dagger poised at the man痴 bared throat. Two burly 
townsmen hung on to D誰atheil痴 arm, a temporary reprieve for the squirming, 
whimpering victim. Baglos was babbling at the Prince and trying to pull him 
away.
的t痴 just Hekko, the beggar,・shouted an old woman. 溺eant no harm. Didn稚 take 
nothing.・/p> 
A tradesman in a leather apron bawled for someone to bring the constable, as 
Hekko had been trying to steal the stranger痴 silver dagger. More townspeople 
were gathering by the moment.
With a ferocious bellow, a powerful wrench of his shoulders, and a backhand 
sweep, D誰atheil dislodged his restraints, sending the two men and Baglos 
sprawling. His knife flashed toward the beggar痴 throat.
哲o!・I yelled, lunging toward him and grabbing his knife arm with both of my 
hands. 釘y the stars, you must not.・Though I had not the least faith that he 
could hear my angry remonstrance over the uproar, and my physical strength was 
surely no more threat than that of a child, the mad fire in D誰atheil痴 eyes faded 
instantly into bewilderment. He loosened his grip on the moaning beggar and 
allowed Baglos and me to drag him away.
滴e痴 been to the war,・I said to the grumbling men pressing close as I shoved the 
Prince toward our horses. 的t痴 left him high-strung・touchy・you understand.・I 
jerked my head at Baglos, who pulled out a copper and tossed it to the bruised 
and shaken beggar. While the old woman continued her screeching, and two ragged 
boys inexpertly tried to pick my pockets, the rest of the onlookers nodded and 
shrugged and murmured about the war. By the time we were mounted, the crowd had 
begun to disperse. 展ait! Stop those three!・Over my shoulder I glimpsed Graeme 
Rowan struggling to get to us through the milling throng.
敵o!・I screamed, and we kicked our horses to life, leaving the bewildered 
citizens gaping.
We raced westward along the heavily wooded road, not slowing until the night was 
so dark we dared not risk the horses. We had left Glyenna a considerable 
distance behind, but I insisted that we walk another half a league into the 
thick trees before stopping. What a spectacle we had made of ourselves! My fury 
at D誰atheil痴 folly had not cooled by the time we made camp.
添ou will tell him exactly what I say,・I commanded Baglos as we unsaddled our 
horses in a high, rocky grotto. 鉄ome things other than sorcery are frowned upon 
in Leire, at least among people of rational mind. To attack a beggar is the act 
of a coward, and to call attention to yourself in such a way is utterly stupid. 
Our lives are at risk because of your childishness. You will control yourself if 
you want any more help from me. Do you understand?・D誰atheil, his face blazing, 
turned his back on me. Baglos tried to smooth it over. 溺adam, you must 
understand that D誰atheil has been trained as a warrior since he could walk. He 
is considered to be one of the finest濫
典hat痴 no excuse.・Annoying little twit. I wanted to strangle him and his master 
both. 的t痴 quite possible to control one痴 reactions, no matter how finely honed. 
Warriors should be somewhat larger of mind than animals. Tell him that, too. 
Exactly as I said it.・/p> 
Baglos paled, but did as I asked, speaking softly to his master痴 rigid back. The 
silence was long and awkward as we made our camp. D誰atheil threw his pack to the 
ground and kicked away the rocks that lay where he planned to make his bed. He 
kept to himself for the rest of the night.
With Rowan so close on our trail, I made sure we were on the road early and took 
extra care that we were not observed by any other travelers. Whenever I sought 
information about roads, I asked about Vanesta or Prydina, relying on my own 
geography skills to set us right and hoping that the sheriff would follow the 
wrong path. I considered taking the wrong direction for a while, and then 
looping around in hopes of throwing off pursuit, but I dared not delay. If Rowan 
was in company with the sorcerer Zhid, they might be able to follow us anywhere.
The journey would have been dismal even without the close pursuit and the rainy 
weather. The border villages had suffered the most in the years of the Vallorean 
War, and in few of the rotting settlements that were still occupied were there 
any men at all between the ages of thirty and sixty. Strangers, especially 
sturdy young men of military age, were regarded with scarcely controlled 
hostility, and only grudgingly were we allowed to avail ourselves of food 
supplies.
As stiffness and saddle sores took their toll alongside the discomforts of 
constant rain, cold food, and sleeping on hard ground, I thought regretfully of 
my childhood when Papa would take Tomas and me on three-day riding excursions to 
see the site of his grandfather痴 victory over Vallorean raiders or the hill 
where legend said that Annadis spent his vigil night before being named Arot痴 
successor. Twelve hours a day in the saddle had seemed life痴 ultimate delight. 
My brother and I would sleep with the horses and dogs while Papa痴 soldiers 
cooked, told stories, and stood watch for wolves. Rain just made our treks more 
adventurous. What dreary tricks fate can play on us.
After Glyenna, D誰atheil refused to engage in any conversation. He rode, he ate, 
and he brooded, and when we stopped at night, he practiced his swordwork and 
took his share of the watch. The Dulc・was anxious to pursue his teaching further 
but had learned not to press. His master痴 anger was quick and heavy, though, in 
truth, D誰atheil痴 withdrawal seemed to restrain his intemperate hand along with 
everything else. After a few days, Baglos might have welcomed a blow just as 
evidence D誰atheil was listening to him at all.
展as D誰atheil always so changeable?・I asked Baglos one night when the Prince had 
disappeared yet again as soon as he had eaten his share of the night痴 meager 
fare. 徹n one day I知 sure he痴 going to put a knife in me as I sleep. The next, I 
could be the muck on his horse痴 shoe for all he cares. And then・well, before I 
yelled at him・he would surprise me with one of those smiles, and I壇 think he was 
going to ask me to dance.・/p> 
Baglos was scraping the last of the boiled turnip from the bottom of our cooking 
pot. 的n addition to physical strength, intelligence, and extraordinary power, 
the family of D但rnath has always been blessed with those amiable qualities which 
allow men to lead others in difficult times. In the matter of aggressive 
temper迫he glanced over his shoulder at the empty clearing欄they have been 
variously gifted・or afflicted as one might view it. As you see, D誰atheil was 
born with a full measure. When he was eleven, D誰atheil had a swordmaster who was 
quite serious about his task and rigorous in his discipline. D誰atheil scorned 
him, complaining that his skills were inferior, and grew increasingly impatient 
that no better master was brought in. One day the master was found dead in the 
sparring arena from a sword wound in his belly. D誰atheil claimed it was an 
accident in their practice, simple proof of his contention that the man was 
unfit to be his tutor. No one witnessed the incident, and nothing more was said. 
But I致e heard the man was hamstrung.・/p> 
On the afternoon of the seventh day we dropped down into the high plains of 
eastern Valleor. Southward, to our left, soared the peaks of the Dorian Wall, 
needle-sharp spires piercing the heavy clouds. To the far west a lesser range 
called the Vallorean Spine split Valleor down the middle, and before us and 
stretching far to our right lay the valley of the Uker River, endless vistas of 
gentle hills and lakes, dotted with the darker green of patchy forests, 
eventually rising into craggy highlands many leagues to the north. It was 
beautiful country, the fertile heart of gentle Valleor, on that day pooled with 
fogs and mists.
King Gevron had raped the fields of Valleor, stripping them bare to feed his 
armies and then slaughtering any who tried to work them. Now, anything grown in 
the Uker valley must be shipped instantly to Leire. Only then could it be 
purchased, properly taxed and at highly elevated prices, for distribution in the 
subjugated land. The starving Valloreans had to watch as heavily laden grain 
wagons rolled past their villages, and never did they see even one-tenth of 
their land痴 bounty returned to them.
Three more days brought us to Yurevan, the oldest city in Valleor, and Ferrante痴 
house, Verdillon, some half a league outside the city walls. The professor was 
the second son of a Vallorean count. Though unable to inherit the title or 
lands, he壇 had a decent enough portion to escape the poverty of most University 
dons. As it turned out, his had been the luckier inheritance, for his brother 
the count had been hanged and the family痴 traditional holdings confiscated after 
Gevron痴 victory.
I managed to find the proper road, and my heart thumped a bit when I caught 
sight of the stone walls, thickly covered with vines of lush green. The gate was 
standing open when we arrived, and the grounds were as I remembered from my 
single visit long ago: sprawling cherry orchards, roses of a hundred varieties, 
spreading carpets of green grass. The gravel carriage road wound through the 
lovely parkland to a classic beauty of a country house.
The day was inordinately quiet, no sound of groom or gardener, dog or bird. 
Perhaps the heavy mist rolling in from the forest had deadened the noise on what 
should be a normally active day about the property. When we reached the 
flagstone courtyard before the front door, I dismounted and rang the bell. 
Ferrante had to be there. To have come so far to find only strangers would be 
too cruel.
D誰atheil stepped past me and pushed on the massive doors. They swung open 
easily. Wariness and foreboding shadowed his face, quieting my protest. The 
foyer was just as I remembered: highly polished oak floor, graceful, curving 
staircase, the display case still holding Ferrante痴 greatest treasure, a 
thousand-year-old brass bowl dug up from the tombs at Doria. The air smelled of 
the cut roses that stood in every nook and the cleaning oil used on the dark 
mahogany tables.
滴ello!・My greeting seemed muted by the richly colored tapestries hung on the 
dark wood paneling. No lamps were lit to chase away the gloom of the afternoon. 
Bustling servants should have been taking our sodden cloaks and wiping our damp 
footprints off the fine floor, but no one came.
撤rofessor Ferrante? Is anyone here?・/p> 
Baglos whispered anxiously, 撤erhaps we should go, woman. Though your rank would 
permit it, we do not look like we belong here, coming in the front door.・/p> 
Something was certainly amiss. D誰atheil could sense it, too. I started up the 
stairs toward Ferrante痴 study on the second floor. 滴ello,・I called again. 
撤rofessor?・/p> 
When we reached the upper gallery, D誰atheil pointed inquiringly at a pair of 
satiny walnut doors. I nodded. Quietly and carefully, the young man pushed open 
the door and led the three of us into the professor痴 study.
Tall, paned windows welcomed the gray afternoon into the book-lined room, 
revealing the comfortable furnishings of thick rugs, brass lamps, and deep 
chairs. Professor Ferrante sat at his wide desk, but the brilliant, gentlemanly 
scholar would never again answer anyone痴 questions. The front of his gray 
morning gown was drenched in blood, and his eyes gazed out at us, fixed in a 
horrified stare.
My skin crept. 展e need to leave,・I said.
的 don稚 think so,・said a man痴 voice from behind me. I whirled about to see 
Baglos痴 eyes bulging. A long, thin arm was wrapped about the Dulc髓s throat, and 
the point of a knife was poised at his belly. The hand that held the knife was 
shaking, but there was no mistaking its intent. The owner of the arm and the 
voice was obscured by the shadows behind the door. 滴ave you come back to review 
your handiwork? Pull down your hoods. Let me see those who would so foully 
murder a man of peace and intellect in his own home.・Anger and grief left the 
man痴 voice hoarse. 泥o it now傭efore I skewer this one!・/p> 
As I lowered the sodden hood of my cloak, ready to proclaim our innocence, I 
heard a sharp intake of breath. 鉄eri!・Baglos stumbled to the side, the knife 
fell to the carpet, and from the shadows stepped a bespectacled man, thin and 
slightly stooped, gray at the temples with creases at the eyes from too many 
years reading in dim light. A graying goatee lengthened his narrow face, causing 
a moment痴 uncertainty before I recognized him. Then a small eternity of 
disbelief passed before I could convince my lips to say his name. 典ennice!・/p> 
In movements so swift one could see only the result, D誰atheil痴 sword was drawn 
and touching Tennice痴 belly. pressing him to the wall.
泥誰atheil, no!・I cried. 釘aglos, tell him no. This is my friend・a friend who痴 come 
back from the dead.・/p> 
Baglos spoke quietly and insistently to D誰atheil. After a long moment, the 
cold-eyed young man released Tennice, but he did not sheathe his weapon.
的s it really you, Seri?・Once it appeared that he was not going to be spitted on 
D誰atheil痴 weapon, the ghost lowered his hands and touched my cheek with his 
cold, but quite substantial fingers.
滴e heard you die,・I whispered. 典hey made him listen. All of you were dead.・Now I 
was shaking. Dead was dead.
鄭nd so I was or so close as to be thought so. I can tell you what happened and 
must hear the same from you, but first迫he turned to the grisly scene in the 
library and ran his fingers through his thin hair欄I致e got to take care of 
Ferrante.・/p> 
展hat happened here?・/p> 
的致e been in Vanesta for several days, searching for a book for Ferrante. An hour 
ago I rode in and passed four strangers on the service road behind the house. I 
thought nothing of it. Students are in and out all the time. But no servants 
were about, no grooms in the stable, and then I came up and found・ this. When I 
heard your call, I thought you must be students or tradesmen. But when I stepped 
out and spied you coming up the stairs, I thought the murderers had come back. 
Who would do this to him? They didn稚 even steal anything!・/p> 
This murder left me with a horrid, creeping sickness・a sensation well beyond 
that caused by the vile deed itself. I glanced at Baglos and D誰atheil, then down 
at my own soggy cloak, and my revulsion took on more substance. 展hat made you 
believe we were the murderers?・/p> 
添our long cloaks, I suppose, and the colors. Two of those I saw riding away wore 
gray, one of them black. Like you, they had their hoods up, so I couldn稚 see濫
Baglos caught the connection. 敵reat Vasrin, the Zhid! It痴 a trap. We must be out 
of here!・He was already out of the library door, dragging D誰atheil like a fierce 
sheepdog, bullying his charge away from the wolf痴 lair.
展hat痴 he saying?・said a bewildered Tennice.
展e致e no time to explain. We must go, and you must come with us.・/p> 
的 can稚 leave him this way. I have to notify someone・the University・his 
friends.・/p> 
I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door. 撤lease, Tennice. You mustn稚 be 
here if the killers return. You can稚 do Ferrante any good.・/p> 
Reluctantly, my friend allowed me to drag him down the stairs. D誰atheil listened 
carefully at the front door, then motioned us to stay back. Watchers, he 
gestured. Our horses nickered restlessly. A quick exchange of words and gestures 
between Baglos and D誰atheil, and the Dulc・announced that D誰atheil would fetch 
the horses and take them around the back. The rest of us should meet him・where?
典ennice, does the blacksmith痴 shed still link the kitchen garden and the 
stable?・I asked. He confirmed it. 釘aglos, tell D誰atheil that the stable is just 
past the carriage house east of the kitchen garden. We値l meet him there. And 
tell him he can fight today.・/p> 
Baglos translated, and D誰atheil nodded. He put his hands up to raise his hood, 
and, for the first time in a fortnight, he smiled, the piercing brilliance of it 
reflected in his marvelous eyes. For that single moment, my fear vanished, and 
all the annoyance of the journey was forgotten. Then he disappeared into the 
back of the house.
From a window that opened onto the courtyard, we watched D誰atheil slog slowly 
around the corner of the house from the direction of the stables. He looked 
shorter, bent in the back, and had acquired a slight limp. He untethered our 
horses and led them back toward the corner of the house, as if he were taking 
them to the stable to stay the night. No hurry. No hesitation. Melting into the 
scene every bit as much as the paving stones or the dead leaves heaped in the 
corners of the courtyard. It was difficult to focus on him. One痴 eyes kept 
slipping off into the background.
展ho is he?・whispered Tennice. 徹ne would almost think・
I thought I glimpsed movement in the shrubbery beyond the courtyard, but the 
harder I stared, the less I saw, and finally I forced myself to look away. 的値l 
tell you about him once we池e safe. Now it痴 our turn.・/p> 
Tennice threw on his cloak and led us through the dark, silent passageways and 
the deserted kitchen into the kitchen garden. We crept through the muddy garden, 
hugging the high stone wall, and slipped through an iron gate that led to the 
blacksmith痴 shed. The dark enclosure smelled of coal and ashes and cold dirt 
floor. Carefully, Tennice cracked the wooden door that opened onto the 
stableyard, and we peered out. Far across the yard the stooped figure shambled 
toward us, leading our horses. Tennice whispered that he would meet us in the 
stableyard, and then he vanished into the adjoining stable. I was beginning to 
think our elaborate precautions foolish when a gray-robed figure stepped out of 
the rainy gloom behind D誰atheil.
添ou! You with the horses. Who are you? All the servants were dismissed 
today.・D誰atheil didn稚 stop, but he didn稚 hurry either. Every sense was screaming 
at me to run out of the shed and get away. But D誰atheil was still too far away.
添ou! Come here!・The voice was cold, like jaws of ice gnawing at the heart.
D誰atheil paused and looked around as if he had all the time until world痴 end. He 
waved at the hooded figure and continued on his way to the stable, limping 
slowly. When the Prince was some twenty paces from the stable, the gray-robed 
man started running. I needed no signal. I thumped Baglos on the shoulder, and 
we burst from the shed. D誰atheil snatched me off my feet and catapulted me into 
the saddle, then did the same for the Duke. The man in gray attacked D誰atheil 
before the Prince could mount his own steed, but D誰atheil raised his arm and 
backhanded him. The gray-robed man staggered backwards. Two rough-looking men in 
leather jerkins appeared from the front of the house and ran toward us, swords 
drawn. D誰atheil drew his own sword and ran one of them through in a single 
motion. The second, he upended with a blow so hard, the man痴 jaw cracked like 
dry wood. Two more men leaped out of the bushes.
As D誰atheil threw himself onto the chestnut, shouts rang out from several 
directions. Tennice shot from the stable astride a fine-boned bay, crying, 典his 
way!・We raced down the carriage road, following him through the wet fields and 
gardens.
At least three horsemen gave chase. Whisperings of horror teased at my back: 
might as well stop now・the race is over・you値l never elude them・/em> Tennice 
moaned and pulled up on his reins, and Baglos, too, began to slow, but D誰atheil 
roared and slashed at our horses, and the four of us thundered down the road and 
through the back gate of Verdillon. Beyond the park boundaries Tennice led us 
off the road and into the thicker trees, and more quickly than we could have 
hoped, our pursuers and their creeping horrors had vanished. We pushed on, not 
daring to stop too soon, scarcely able to see through the rain and the failing 
light. Raindrops stung our faces and soaked our clothes.
At last Tennice pulled up somewhere deep in the forest. He gave me a hand down 
from the lathered roan and kicked open the door of a squat hut made of poorly 
joined logs. 展e lost them, I think,・he said, urging me through the doorway. 哲o 
one knows about this place.・/p> 
Baglos tethered the horses on the lee side of the hut. While Tennice and I 
carried our packs inside, the Dulc・and the Prince tended the beasts, rubbing 
them down with a blanket Tennice had used for a saddle. Before long, Baglos 
joined us in the hut.
Shivering, the Dulc・and I pulled out blankets and what little we had that was 
dry, sharing with Tennice. After a brief glance inside, D誰atheil remained 
standing in the doorway, staring out into the rain, one hand peeling strips of 
soft wood from the rotted facing. When Baglos offered him a plain silver flask 
pulled from the leather bag he always carried over his shoulder, he shoved the 
Dulc・away and stepped outside, striding across the soggy clearing to a low brick 
wall, part of the abandoned charcoal oven. He perched sideways on the wall, drew 
up his knees, and rested his head on them, letting the cold rain pour over his 
head and back.
For myself, I appreciated Baglos痴 offering. The potent, sweet wine left a trail 
of fire down my throat.
Tennice broke the tired silence. 鄭nd now can someone explain all this to me?・/p> 

的 can try,・I said. 的f you致e no wish to be・involved・I couldn稚 blame you.・/p> 
的致e just left my friend and employer wallowing in his own blood, and I致e been 
pursued through the forest by those who make me feel like someone else is living 
in my skin. And in the midst of it all appears a woman I believed ten years 
dead, who happens to be in the company of two most unusual strangers. Not likely 
I can just leave it.・/p> 
典he ones who murdered Ferrante are called Zhid,・I said, as I tried to get my 
thin, damp blanket to make a double layer around my cold feet. 典hey, as well as 
my two friends here, come from・someplace else. I知 not sure where. Clearly you致e 
guessed some of this as you watched D誰atheil葉hat surly one who prefers the rain 
to our company. I seem to have gotten myself mixed up with sorcerers again.・/p> 
的 knew it・
I told him how D誰atheil had come to me, and the evidence that led me to believe 
that it was not by chance. 套 and so, even though for the past ten years I 
believed myself as dead as the rest of you, I have now been selected, coerced, 
or summoned to play nursemaid to a mute, half-wild princeling who can scarcely 
remember his own name. And this other one葉he good Baglos耀ays he痴 been appointed 
as D誰atheil痴 濡uide,・but he knows nothing of where he is to guide him, and cannot 
tell me where their home lies, and in fact knows very little unless his master 
bids him. And somehow D誰atheil must remember how he is supposed to go about 
saving the world.・/p> 
典his makes no sense.・/p> 
鄭bsolutely correct. I値l confess that it痴 more than a little unnerving to listen 
to these two and attempt to find some logical conclusion to it.・/p> 
Even Tennice痴 puzzled expression could not persuade me to voice the absurd 
speculation that had been running around the back of my head for the past few 
days. Where had D誰atheil and Baglos come from? From a land called Gondai that 
appeared on no map I had ever seen in my father痴 vast collection of maps, nine 
tenths of it laid waste embroiled in a war that had lasted a thousand years. 
From an Avonar that was not Karon痴 Avonar, but far older, a city of sorcerers. 
Across an enchanted bridge that connected Gondai to a land with no sorcery, a 
land that the people of D誰atheil痴 Avonar considered exile. We in the Four Realms 
were indeed turned inward, giving scant attention to the vast reaches of the 
world beyond our borders. But how could such places exist and our people not 
know of them? Enchantment・sorcery・another place・/p> 
Tennice took a long pull at one of our wineskins. 展ho are these Zhid? And what 
does Ferrante have to do with any of this?・/p> 
擢rom what I understand, the Zhid are the ancient enemies of D誰atheil痴 
people・Karon痴 people. And Ferrante濫 I puzzled over it again, the intricacy of 
the puzzle distracting me from my unnerving ideas. 釘aglos claims he is unable to 
explain more than I致e already told you, and that D誰atheil is the one who must 
explain their mission. And he says that D誰atheil痴 condition揺is inability to 
speak and his loss of memory擁s certainly new. And so I decided that the only 
hope to discover what痴 locked inside D誰atheil痴 head is to find someone to read 
what痴 there in the way Karon could.・/p> 
釘ut Ferrante was no sorcerer.・/p> 
鄭nother of the J脱ttanne could do it.・/p> 
With every justification, Tennice stared at me as if I壇 gone berserk. 典hey池e all 
dead, Seri.・/p> 
鄭re they? When Karon first went to the University, his father told him that in 
time of trouble he should go to Ferrante, that Ferrante was the only person 
outside their community who could be trusted implicitly, that he was sworn by 
the most sacred of oaths never to reveal a J脱ttanne to anyone. Ever. In that 
last autumn before he was arrested, Karon began to wonder if perhaps the 
professor was unable to tell him the truth, that Ferrante took his oath so 
seriously that he wouldn稚 even reveal one J脱ttanne to another. He never had the 
opportunity to confront Ferrante with his theory.・/p> 
Tennice痴 eyes had grown wide as I said this, and when I paused, he spoke in 
quiet excitement. 典he list of those who are left・
展hat?・/p> 
的 can稚 believe it. You池e right. Karon was right. It痴 so obvious now.・His eyes 
glittered behind his spectacles. 擢errante had records of all the students he 
ever taught over the years. Hundreds of them. Under each name he would list the 
topics they had covered, thesis titles, research projects, and the like. He was 
forever asking me to find out who had done the work on the Battle of Horn痴 
Cavern or written a discourse on the Honneck Invasion. On one of my delving 
expeditions, I came across three instances of Karon痴 name. Two entries were 
quite typical, one from his student years when he first came to Yurevan, the 
other from his second sojourn, when he was studying archaeology and Martin met 
him there. But the third entry had nothing beside it but a mark. Several other 
names were on that list, most with the same mark beside. I asked Ferrante about 
those entries, and he said only that it was 杯he list of those who are left.・ 
Stupid me, I never understood. I値l wager frogs to elephants, they were J脱ttanne. 
There痴 your answer・
釘ut we can稚 risk going back for it.・The disappointment was crushing. To be so 
close・/p> 
Tennice bumped my chin with his bony knuckle. 滴ave you forgotten so much? Though 
I never had Karon痴 intelligence, Martin痴 wisdom, or Julia痴 wit, I possessed one 
skill that was out of the ordinary. These cursed eyes don稚 see so well as they 
did, but the head to which they池e attached is the same.・/p> 
添our memory!・/p> 
擢our names were still unmarked: Lazari, Bruno, Kellea, Celine.・/p> 
鄭nd was there any clue as to where these people might be found?・/p> 
哲ot in the book. Bruno, I never ran across again, nor Celine. But until a year 
ago, someone named Lazari wrote often from Kallamat. And Kellea迫he looked as 
though he might burst. 展ell, there痴 an herb shop near the University悠知 not sure 
exactly where. But once a year, Ferrante had a little box of a rare herb sent to 
Verdillon to ease his old cook痴 gout. He said he could get it nowhere else, but 
that Kellea had a gift for finding things.・/p> 
鉄he痴 here in Yurevan!・I jumped to my feet, unable to w w ・ui n w u II H n 
contain my excitement though cold reason told me we could not set out right 
away. Even if the shop was easily found, and the woman still there, we dared not 
leave the forest. Night was falling. The Zhid would be seeking. Even D誰atheil 
had come indoors at last, settling in a corner, where he was cleaning his knife 
and his sword with his sodden shirt. 的 wonder if this house ever held people who 
cared for each other in a way that would hold back the Zhid?・I said.
的 don稚 know about all those who致e lived here,・said Tennice. 釘ut a family stayed 
here once. This is where Karon healed the family of plague, and where Martin 
watched from that window and saw what he did.・/p> 
滴ere?・I pushed the shutter wide open and leaned on the damp sill of the crudely 
cut window. Gazing into the darkening forest, I heard Martin tell once more of 
the strange and poignant sight that met his eyes as he watched the young 
sorcerer work his magic on the dying family. Karon had been here in this room, 
worked his magic, given of himself. I looked afresh at the crude walls, the dirt 
floor, the cold firepit, the timber roof, as if somewhere in their grime and 
splinters might be scribed a reflection of the past, one glimpse・oh gods, one 
glimpse of his face. Such a dagger of grief pierced my breast at that moment 
that I almost cried out with it.
滴e stayed with me, you know. In my head, through it all.・Tennice, sitting on the 
dirt floor and leaning tiredly against the wall, twirled his spectacles in his 
thin hands. D誰atheil watched us from his corner, where Baglos sat beside him, 
listening to our talk and murmuring into the Prince痴 ear. 的 would have lost my 
mind otherwise. I held onto him like one drowning, though what they did to me 
was nothing to what they壇 done to him. After everything else they decided to 
finish me off with a sword. I suppose I was boring next to Martin and Julia. I 
told them everything I knew in the first day, said everything they wanted me to 
say, and signed whatever they wanted me to sign soon after. At the last I lost 
consciousness, believing and hoping I壇 never wake again.・/p> 
He drew up his knees and rested his long arms on them. 典here was a guard揺e never 
told me his name. You know how you could never go anywhere without meeting 
someone who壇 been one of Tanager痴 澱ully comrades.・That held true even in the 
foul pits of our foul king. Instead of hauling us out for the gravediggers, this 
man carried the two of us to an out-of-the-way cell. He cared for us as best he 
could and sent word to Father欄
典anager! Is he・・/p> 
Tennice shook his head. 的t must have taken a great deal to break him. I believe 
he was dead already. For certain he died long before Father痴 men could retrieve 
us. I, for whatever reason the mad gods dreamt up, did not.・/p> 
典hat痴 why your father refused to claim your bodies.・For all these years I had 
cursed the old baron for abandoning his dead sons.
典he guard would have had to produce two corpses, and he had only one. It was 
weeks before I knew anything. Father told me of Karon痴 death, and he tried to 
find out what became of you. Oh, damnation, Seri, we thought you were dead. 
Father was told that both you and the child were 杯aken care of.・When I 
recovered, I came here and never looked back. Ferrante heard that my brother 
Evan was killed two years ago in the war, so Father is left alone now. I daren稚 
write him, though. To protect him, I must be dead, too.・/p> 
的s it your choice or his?・/p> 
滴e believes it痴 his, and that痴 enough.・/p> 
釘e sure, Tennice.・/p> 
He glanced up, his face wrinkled into a rueful smile. 添ou sound like 
Karon.忍veryone must choose their own danger.・I hadn稚 thought of it so・the Way of 
the J脱ttanne.・/p> 
My skin grew cold. What was I thinking to speak such drivel? 典his has nothing to 
do with the Way of the J脱ttanne.・The Way of the J脱ttanne brought only death. 
Wasted, useless death. There was no 吐ollowing life,・no greater good, and, for 
those of us left behind, no reprieve from the cost of such wretched, foolish 
idealism.
As Baglos shared out bread and apples, I told Tennice of Anne and Jonah and my 
life in the past ten years. The story didn稚 take long. There wasn稚 much else to 
say. We were all exhausted.
Frightful dreams plagued me that night. Each time I woke, I saw D誰atheil 
standing in the doorway of the hut, his unshaven face hard and fierce, lit by 
the traveling moon. I woke again when the sky was just beginning to lighten, and 
he was no longer there. He must have given in to sleep at last. But as I turned 
over, hoping to find a more comfortable position and wrest another hour of sleep 
before the day to come, I glimpsed him sitting in the shadows, his eyes fixed on 
me.
CHAPTER 17
Year 4 in the reign of King Evard
Evard痴 war was going badly. Only a month into the fourth year of his reign, his 
armies had been repulsed at the very gates of Kallamat and driven into the 
mountains. Even the weather seemed to side with the pious Keroteans, for a 
ferocious winter storm had assaulted the already decimated Leiran troops. Five 
thousand soldiers died of starvation when supply wagons foundered in chest-high 
snow. Five thousand more froze to death, the injured men abandoned by their 
comrades in fear of the bloodthirsty pursuit. The remnants of the Leiran army 
straggled into Montevial on the heels of winter, Evard and his household among 
them.
Baron Hesperid, a young noble who had lost his right arm in the spring campaign, 
publicly accused Evard of mishandling the war, of proceeding too fast and too 
far. He hinted that the king had promised his friends new leaseholds of Kerotean 
lands before taxes were due in the spring. Only intervention by the Council of 
Lords prevented Hesperid痴 execution for treason. Instead, Evard stripped him of 
his lands and title and banished him from Leire for thirty years.
鏑ucky, I think,・Martin said. 鏑uckier than the rest of us who were less pointed 
in our criticism of this course of stupidity. I wouldn稚 want to be in the way 
when Evard decides who値l be the scapegoat for this mess.・But, of course, he was. 
We all were・/p> 
徹f course, it痴 the cursed sorcerers. Kerotea is ruled by barbarian priests. They 
claim to speak for this vile horse god or frog god, or whatever it is・ Come, 
Seri, you壇 know. Your husband studies these barbarian things.・/p> 
的lehu is half-man, half-wolf.・Stupid, ignorant woman. I restrained my hand from 
knocking away the wineglass the countess was waving in my face.
笛ust so,・she said to the three other women who stood gawking at her idiocies. 
典he savages claim this Ilehu commands them to destroy any of their children born 
defective or weak. I致e heard they eat the hearts of the dead babes, just as 
sorcerers do! It痴 a mercy King Evard survived their magics.・/p> 
Yes, Karon had taught me about the Keroteans. They believed that their terrible 
custom was a mercy for those who had to survive in their harsh mountain kingdom. 
But Leirans had never understood such ways, and so every unusual behavior was 
wrapped in the mantle of the evil they壇 been taught to abhor above all 
others耀orcery.
的致e heard濫 The sparrow-like young baroness on my left was twitching, her thin 
fingers flitting over her mouth and chin. The black dots of her eyes darted 
about the crowded drawing room, and then she leaned forward, drawing the other 
women close. 的致e heard they walk among us again,・she whispered. 鉄orcerers濫
摘xcuse me,・I said. 的 think my husband is ready to leave. A lovely evening, 
Countess. Karon is thrilled with the addition of your artifacts to the 
antiquities collection.・/p> 
展ell, I don稚 see how such a gentleman as your Karon can enjoy mucking about with 
such refuse, but I told Fenys that I wouldn稚 have them here any longer. What if 
there were spells on them? My dogs have been acting most strangely of late・
Within hours of Hesperid痴 banishment, rumors had begun flying that the Keroteans 
had orchestrated their victory by means of sorcery. In a matter of days one 
could not walk down a street without hearing some demagogue ranting that the 
Kerotean priests were devilish wizards. Survivors of the campaign swore that 
snow monsters had appeared in the Kerotean mountains to steal their supplies and 
mesmerize their comrades. Frost wraiths had lured Leirans into blind-ended 
valleys, and spells of paralysis had overwhelmed the soldiers to make them lie 
down in the snow until they died. Every misfortune of that winter battle was 
attributed to diabolical influence.
I was maddened with it・and with Karon, who kept trying to ease my worry. 鼎ome 
now, I look less like a Kerotean than does Evard himself, and, besides, I hate 
winter travel.・I didn稚 laugh.
鼎ome here迫he gathered me into his arms欄I will take care. I promise.・/p> 
On one such occasion, as he tried to placate me with more empty assurances, I 
told him at last of killing the man at Threadinghall. 的 would do it again to 
protect you,・I said. 釘ut now I can稚 see who痴 creeping up on you, and I知 going to 
go mad with it. How can you live this way? You need to take responsibility for 
yourself.・/p> 
He was not angry at what I had done. Not revolted, as I壇 feared for all these 
weeks. Shocked, yes; he had not seen the man fall. Grieved, yes, that I had done 
so ponderous a deed and felt I could not tell him, bearing the weight of it 
alone. But my accusation of irresponsibility cut deep. He stood beside the 
garden door, its panes garlanded with snow, his face as pale as the flakes still 
falling so softly. 的 can稚 tell you how to live, Sen,・he said after a long pause. 
添ou are who you are, and I would not change you. Your love, your goodness, and 
your courage are the joy of my life, and this act tells me nothing about you 
that I have not known and treasured all these years. But you cannot ask me to 
make the same choices. My calling, my power, demand different things of me. 
Stars of night, do you think this is easy?・/p> 
I listened only to my own fear, not his. 鉄ometimes it痴 easier not to fight. To 
follow the rules, to let your ancestors make your decisions, to let terrible 
things happen and claim it is for the greater good.・/p> 
鉄ometimes fighting destroys the thing you池e fighting for.・/p> 
I hated this discussion. 典hen either way I値l lose you, and I can稚 bear the 
thought of it.・And then I was in his arms, and he was stroking my hair and 
promising again to take care. But nothing had changed.
Whether responding to my prompting or his own caution, Karon stayed close to 
home as the days grew shorter, venturing only to the antiquities workrooms. We 
no longer practiced mind-speaking. He said such things were better left for 
easier times.
After several Valloreans were arrested and executed for spying for the Kerotean 
sorcerers, Karon said he would neither work any sorcery nor speak of it again, 
not even to me. 滴abits,・he said, as he knelt by the hearth and burned his 
translation of the Writer痴 journal, along with my transcription and all our 
notes. 典hey池e the key to safety. If your mouth is trained to say nothing of 
sorcery, then words cannot betray you. If your mind is trained to forget all you 
know of it, then you cannot inadvertently slip a reference into a discussion.・ 
He traced a smile on my face with his finger. 的致e become too comfortable, 
relaxed my vigilance, but I can build the wall again. I just need to work at it, 
and so will you. No one need find out.・When the hunger to use his power came on 
him, he walked and rode and exhausted himself with work, staying out of my way 
until he could suppress it.
I wanted to refuse any invitation into society, but Karon reminded me of what I 
already knew. Such blatant change in one痴 habits would draw unwanted attention. 
We had no reason to think any suspicion should be directed Karon痴 way. But he 
would never have burned the work on the journal if he were not concerned. I 
wondered if perhaps we should consider leaving Montevial. Going away・somewhere.
Midwinter brought the usual round of Seille entertainments. In lengthy and 
elaborate temple services held to appease and flatter holy Jerrat, whose storms 
had so tested our troops, priests had reminded us of the first Long Night, when 
Arot lay sorely wounded. The gifts of music and food and human companionship had 
raised the god from his winter of despair and prepared him to resume his battle 
with the beasts of chaos at the coming of the new year. Thus, Evard commanded 
his courtiers to celebrate lavishly, reassuring the common folk that the Leiran 
spirit was not darkened by the unnatural deviltry of our enemies. And so, at 
night after night of entertainments, noblewomen dressed in elaborate finery and 
laughed in shrill gaiety at jokes devoid of humor. Men played the buffoon, drank 
too much, and spoke too loudly of the glories of war.
A fortnight before Long Night, Karon and I were invited to a musical 
entertainment at the home of Sir Geoffrey Larreo, the administrator who had 
engaged Karon to develop the antiquities collection. I saw no way to avoid the 
occasion. Evard was to make an appearance as a favor to Sir Geoffrey熔r rather as 
flattery to Sir Geoffrey痴 relatives預nd anyone with a court posting would be 
expected to attend.
Sir Geoffrey was a distant cousin of the late King Gevron, but had no landed 
titles of his own. He was a kind man, a bachelor much given to birdwatching and 
other gentle pursuits. Evard ridiculed him publicly and would have ignored him 
altogether if Sir Geoffrey were not regarded so fondly by Gevron痴 family.
展ould I had given Sir Geoffrey our regrets,・said Karon as he waited for me at 
the bottom of the stairs that night.
I壇 had a new gown made for the season, not to follow the frivolous fashion of 
society, but to accommodate my changing shape溶ot too noticeable as yet except to 
me. The gown was dark green silk cut low at the neck, falling loosely to the 
floor from a high waist. The narrow wedge of underskirt in front showed a darker 
green brocade. My hair was caught in a loose braid that fell halfway down my 
back, and my only other adornment was the gold locket engraved with a rose.
鄭m I too awkward to be seen in public already? You値l want to avert your eyes in 
a few weeks more!・/p> 
He took my hand as I descended the last steps. 徹n the contrary. I知 only 
reluctant to share such loveliness with the rest of society.・/p> 
的 wonder if you値l still say such charming things when we pass two years married 
this month, or will flattery run its course as quickly as the time has done?・/p> 

典here is only truth between us.・That, at least, was one good thing that had come 
from our argument. The killing at Threadinghall had burdened me more than I had 
been willing to admit.
哲ot only truth,・I said, wrapping my arms about him. 添oung Connor Martin Gervaise 
is rapidly taking up a most prominent position between us.・/p> 
Karon threw back his head and laughed. 的 shall begrudge him every moment!・/p> 
添ou know, my love, you look quite fine yourself,・I said, as Joubert announced 
the hired carriage, and Karon helped me with my cloak. He was dressed simply in 
a loose white shirt of the finest cambric, full-sleeved and buttoned high at the 
neck in the Vallorean fashion. No puffed satin breeches, fluted neck ruffs, or 
slashed brocade sleeves, as Evard痴 courtiers wore, but simple, well-fitted black 
breeches and black velvet doublet, embroidered in silver. His dark hair was 
pulled back from his face, setting off his deep-set eyes and high cheekbones. I 
loved it that he remained adamantly clean-shaven, defying Evard痴 fashion of 
close-trimmed beards and narrow mustaches.
Joubert opened the door, and Karon threw on his own cloak that buttoned high on 
one shoulder. 的 care for nothing but that it please you, my lady.・After a 
gallant, sweeping bow, he kissed my hand and led me into the winter darkness.
Sir Geoffrey often had musical evenings at his town-house, inviting small groups 
of selected acquaintances to hear a singer, instrumentalist, or ensemble. He had 
a good ear, and it was a considerable benefit to an artist痴 reputation to be 
invited to play for him. Music and theatrical performances were a new fashion in 
Leire柚artin joked that it was all his doing預nd few people knew quite how to 
judge talent for themselves. On that night carriage after carriage emptied its 
elegant occupants at Sir Geoffrey痴 front door.
滴e must have invited half the court,・I said, dreading the heat and the crowd.
摘veryone痴 heard the king is to be here.・/p> 
的 wonder if he痴 come to make sure we池e all celebrating joyfully as he痴 
commanded.・/p> 
When Karon and I were announced and directed into the music room, we found over 
two hundred guests already seated on red velvet and gold-leaf chairs. 
Intermingled with the scent of expensive perfumes were traces of the pine, 
laurel, and balsam boughs that were stuffed into great jars and vases and set in 
every corner, crack, and crevice. The house blazed with candlelight. While 
gold-liveried servants scurried about with wine and extra chairs, the ladies・ 
diamonds and the gentlemen痴 swords scattered glittering reflections.
More guests streamed through the side doors. A young woman in a white gown took 
her place in an island of red carpet at one end of the music room, twisting her 
fingers and glancing anxiously toward the opposite end of the room where the 
wide main doors remained closed. As we were seated, she was joined by a 
hollow-eyed young man with a harp and an enormously large man with a flute, who 
settled his bulk on a precariously fragile chair. The ensemble did not look 
promising.
The entertainment could not proceed until the king arrived. Sir Geoffrey 
circulated among the guests, joking about the wait. 展orth it, as you値l hear,・ he 
said. 的 picked up this one in Valleor. Such a find! She was the favorite of a 
Vallorean merchant until his palace fell in on him in the earthquake last 
summer.・/p> 
Karon shifted in his chair, peering between the heads in front of us. I felt his 
arm stiffen, but before I could question him, the double doors were thrown open 
and a royal herald stepped into the room. Everyone rose.
滴is Most Gracious Majesty Evard, King of Leire and Valleor, and Protector of 
Kerotea.・/p> 
Evard strode into the room. An ermine-lined red velvet short cloak was removed 
by one of his attendants to reveal a tight, gold-encrusted doublet, its 
exaggerated point dipping all the way to his groin over puffed breeches of gold 
brocade. A shirt of red and gold patterned silk poked out at his wrists and at 
his neck in great ruffles, above a wide, flat collar studded with sapphires and 
rubies. As did the rest of the ladies, I dipped my head and curtsied as he 
passed. Karon and the other gentlemen bowed. Evard痴 fair hair drooped rakishly 
across his brow as always, but the hard gray eyes underneath peered about 
uneasily, as a fluttering Sir Geoffrey guided him to a seat on the front row.
The queen did not accompany him. Tomas and Darzid followed just behind him, 
however, as did at least twenty aides and serving gentlemen.
I had not seen Tomas since Evard痴 wedding, though I壇 heard the news of his 
marriage to the seventeen-year-old daughter of Evard痴 chancellor. Though as 
stiff and wary as his royal master, he looked well, apparently none the worse 
for the Kerotean disaster.
Darzid alone seemed relaxed. He strolled through the aisles greeting every 
high-ranking noble as if he were himself a duke, whispering in ladies・ears, 
sharing a laugh or a word with the gentlemen. His behavior brought to mind a 
recent comment of Martin痴. 的t seems as if, nowadays, when you turn over any 
slime-covered stone in Leiran society, Darzid slithers away. And I don稚 believe 
it痴 your brother that sets him to it.・I wished we had not come.
The performance began, and, for a while, royalty, politics, Darzid, and the 
unnerving reference to the Vallorean earthquake were easily forgotten. The music 
was glorious. A find, indeed. The girl痴 fidgeting evaporated with the first 
silvery note of the flute, and when she answered the ringing note with her own 
clear tone, I thought it might be difficult to tell which was which. But as she 
began to weave her voice about the music, it became clear that the instrument 
could not rival the purity of her voice. She wrapped this loveliness about a 
song of love undying, a song not out of the ordinary way, but when she was done, 
few eyes in the room were dry. For the next hour the anxieties of the past weeks 
were forgotten, as if the noble assembly had heaved a great sigh. As Karon痴 
mentor had taught him, nature bestowed many gifts that magic could not surpass.
Karon was entranced, his rapt expression telling me that he was storing up the 
beauty against the day when he could use his power again. But when the music 
ended, and the guests rose and began to crowd their way toward the supper rooms, 
he whispered in my ear. 典he girl will know me.・/p> 
Dread wrapped cold arms about my heart. 典hen we must go,・I said.
Karon nodded. His face was calm, but his grip on my arm was tight as he guided 
me against the flow of the crowd toward the outer doors. Acquaintances attempted 
to turn our course, but I pleaded an unsettled stomach as the reason for an 
early departure. A quarter of an hour and we were almost clear, but just as we 
reached the doors that led to the foyer, Sir Geoffrey waved his hand above the 
crowd and called after us with a hearty voice. 適aron, my lad, where are you 
going? His Majesty has asked for you.・The old gentleman forged through his 
milling guests and clamped his hand on Karon痴 shoulder. 的 inquired how he liked 
the Dorian monolith standing at the entrance to the Crown Vault, and he asked 
was it the new commissioner痴 choice? I said it was either his or his lady痴, and 
he said he would like an opportunity to express his appreciation.・/p> 
的 was just going to take Serf home,・said Karon. 鉄he feels a bit ill tonight.・/p> 

釘ut of course you can稚 refuse His Majesty痴 summons. Perhaps your lady would like 
to lie down in a guest chamber. Or I could supply an escort to take her 
home.・/p> 
Karon looked at me, questioning.
Only one answer was possible. 的値l wait with Karon, Sir Geoffrey. Perhaps it will 
shorten the formalities. The evening has been exceptional.・/p> 
的t has, has it not? Misara will be the most brilliant star of our musical 
firmament for a generation.・He laid one arm across Karon痴 shoulders and crooked 
his other arm for my hand. 哲ow come. This could be excellent for our plans. I致e 
been worried that the discouraging military news might preclude our proceeding 
with the expansion, but if His Majesty himself is taking an interest・
Evard was holding court in the drawing room beside a pink marble mantelpiece 
carved with dolphins. Above the mantel was a gigantic mural of a naked Jerrat 
holding a lightning bolt, surrounded by crashing waves, sea monsters, and 
storm-wracked vessels. As Sir Geoffrey forged our way through the glittering 
company like one of the brave ships in the painting, Karon gave me his most 
reassuring smile. All will be well, it told me.
I didn稚 believe it.
The king was tapping one foot, looking anywhere but at his companion, a 
beribboned matron pontificating on the virtues of her gangly son, who looked, 
conveniently, just old enough to be knighted. Evard himself appeared older than 
the last time I had been near him, his gray eyes harder, his face more angular, 
even his blond beard more wiry and pointed. Perhaps life was not going as he had 
planned.
My brother stood next to Evard and took no notice of me. One would think he was 
seven years old again, trying to show his displeasure at some slight. He, too, 
looked older than when I壇 seen him last. Regret at our estrangement still 
bubbled its way to the surface of my heart. Karon stood close and squeezed my 
hand.
Sir Geoffrey quickly swept the fond mother and her goggle-eyed progeny to the 
side. 添our Majesty, mav I present the Royal Commissioner of Antiquities濫
的知 sure your lady has told you of our long and・intimate・acquaintance.・ Evard 
scarcely glanced at Karon and did not acknowledge Sir Geoffrey痴 presence at all. 
The full weight of his attention fell on me.
鄭n honor, Your Majesty迫Evard twitched a finger and Karon rose from his 
genuflection欄and my wife has indeed told me of her privilege to be a friend of 
your youth.・Despite my apprehension, I had to smile. Was this meeting just 
curiosity or did Evard hope to plant some seed of discord by his implications?
添ou致e likely not been introduced to her brother, the Duke of Comigor. Tomas, 
have you met your sister痴 chosen lord and master?・/p> 
哲o, sire.・Tomas raked Karon with a glance. His lip curled slightly. Karon bowed, 
but the courtesy was not returned. Tomas jerked his head at his lieutenant. 溺y 
aide, Captain Darzid.・/p> 
鄭 delight, of course.・Darzid smiled cheerfully as he bowed to me, and, in a 
surprisingly intimate gesture, offered Karon his hand. Karon did not rebuff him, 
of course, and as they touched, Darzid stared with unabashed curiosity. When he 
finally released Karon痴 hand, Darzid grinned at me in his most charming and 
mischievous manner. 鉄orry I can稚 stay,・he said. 溺y lord痴 business calls.・/p> 
He genuflected gracefully to Evard, bowed to Tomas, and leaned toward me with a 
not-at-all-private whisper. 的 wish we had found time to talk about my dreams, my 
lady. Too late now, I知 afraid.・He bowed to me and left the group.
Sir Geoffrey, courteously ignoring the awkward greetings, reminded Evard of the 
matter which had drawn his interest.
鄭h, yes. The monolith. An interesting choice to guard the Crown Vault.・His lack 
of interest in artifacts was quite apparent.
鉄uch was its function in the Dorian Empire, Majesty,・said Karon. 的t seemed 
proper.・/p> 
的t serves.・Evard drew two fingers along my jaw. 添ou look exceptionally well, my 
lady. Town living must suit you. At some time during this cheerful season, we 
must dine I curtsied, which put my face nicely out of his reach. 乃hank you, Your 
Majesty. My husband and I would consider it a privilege to dine with you. We 
wish you and your queen a fair Seille.・That for you, you sly devil. Two can play 
these games.
I had begun to think that all might actually be well, for Darzid was gone, Tomas 
distracted, and Evard already engaged by a giggling young woman who looked as if 
she would be thrilled to have the king痴 fingers trace her jaw. But before we 
could withdraw, Sir Geoffrey bustled toward us again, towing someone in his 
wake. 適aron, Lady Seriana, don稚 leave yet. Your Majesty, may I present the belle 
of the evening, Misara, the Lark of Valleor?・/p> 
Karon quickly slipped behind me, as if to make room for the singer.
The girl made full obeisance in the Vallorean way, which was the way of 
penitents in Leire, kneeling, arms spread wide with the forehead touching the 
floor. Evard frowned and gestured to one of his attendants to pull her up. 哲o 
penance is necessary for such a performance as we致e heard this night,・he said. 
哲ow you must excuse us. We have other business.・/p> 
The guests bowed or curtsied as Evard moved toward the supper room. We were 
almost free. But as we rose from our genuflections, the singer came face to face 
with Karon. 溺i Dispore!・/em> she cried. Dropping to her knees, she grasped 
Karon痴 hand and kissed it.
At the young woman痴 exclamation, Evard glanced back and saw what she did. 展hat痴 
this?・he said, scowling over his shoulder.
Misara, tears streaming down her face, said in broken Leiran, 的t is the Dispore, 
Majesty, the saving hand. After the earthshaking, my family were dead, their 
house fallen. But this one digs・so careful・all night. Pulls the stones away, 
crawls in the tiny passage, earth still shaking, again and again, and we thought 
he was to be dead, too. Such a long time. But then each one he brings out: my 
father, my mother, Leno, Jasra, Tegro, Niste. All living. Five days were they 
under the stones, Majesty.・/p> 
Sir Geoffrey leaned toward Evard. 適aron was in Xerema to examine an ancient tomb 
site and was himself injured in the terrible earthquake.・/p> 
的 am in your forever debt, mi Dispore. Command me,・said the singer.
Karon spoke softly, looking only at the girl. 摘veryone who could so much as 
stand or lift a stone did the same.・/p> 
Now quiet your tongue, foolish girl, I thought.
But she would not stop. 哲ot like you, sir. You were everywhere bringing hope. I 
sought for you to save my family because I heard of you. Everyone knew. It was a 
miracle・the Dispore.・/em>
Evard cut her off. He flicked his hand in dismissal, spun on his heel, and 
murmured to Tomas, loud enough that we could hear. 溺ight have expected Seri to 
dredge up a paragon.・/p> 
My hand was already on Karon痴 arm, my feet moving toward the doors. 泥ear boy, 
one more thing.・When Sir Geoffrey accosted Karon yet again, I wanted to scream. 
的 do wish you would view this manuscript given me earlier today by Jahn Gronne 
who is just back from Iskeran. I must value it and return it to Gronne by 
morning, so if you could spare one more moment before escorting your lovely wife 
home・
Karon pressed my hand and smiled at me with encouragement. 徹nly a moment.・ Then 
he followed Sir Geoffrey to his library.
I remained by the hearth, not at all cold, but most definitely shivering. What 
if the girl had seen Karon work his magic or mentioned the rumors of the 
supernatural that had floated about Xerema?
Karon was back in a quarter of an hour. 敵ood night, Sir Geoffrey. A marvelous 
evening.・/p> 
的 hope you will soon feel yourself again, my lady,・said the old knight.
I curtsied. 的知 sure I will. Thank you, Sir Geoffrey.・Once more Karon and I moved 
determinedly toward the exit doors. I breathed easier when we walked into the 
cooler air of the spacious, lamplit foyer. But no sooner had the porter summoned 
a footman to fetch our cloaks than two men appeared between us and the outer 
doors. One of them was Darzid. The other was the fish-eyed sheriff I had last 
seen in the innyard at Threadinghall.
No time to think. Frontal assault was always the surest tactic. 鼎aptain 
Darzid,・I said. 的 was beginning to wonder if you were a separate being from my 
brother, and now I see you are attached to someone else. It痴 refreshing to know 
you致e not taken root upon my family tree. Introduce me to your friend.・/p> 
Darzid glanced at his companion. 的 believe you have already met Maceron.・/p> 
徹h, yes,・said the sheriff. 哲o doubt of that.・的 don稚 think so,・I said. 的 never 
forget an acquaintance.・I approached my brother痴 lieutenant, all the while 
screaming in my mind for Karon to run. But instead, I felt him stroll up behind 
me. His hands would be clasped behind his back as always, as if waiting 
patiently for the cloaks and his foolish wife. 鉄o what mischief are you about, 
Darzid?・I asked, fighting to make sure the man could not read my terror.
The sheriff was not to be fooled. 的知 sure of them both. The woman is the whore 
from the inn, and the man迫his thin lips parted in a smile of purest hatred欄the 
man is the sorcerer.・/p> 
The devastating accusation hung in the air like a hawk poised on the wind, ready 
to dive for his prey. Karon put his arms around me from behind, bent forward, 
and softly kissed my hair.
A moment later, green-clad guards ripped him away, and I whirled about to see 
such love and regret in his blue eyes that I thought my heart might crack. 
Maceron shoved me aside, and while two guards pinned Karon痴 arms cruelly behind 
him, the sheriff smashed a brutal fist into Karon痴 face. I cried out, 鉄top!・ and 
reached for Maceron痴 arm. But Darzid grabbed me and held me fast. A second blow 
left Karon dazed and with a bloody gash above one eye.
典here痴 an easy way to confirm our contention,・said the sheriff. 的f we池e right, 
he値l be wearing his perfidy, not on his sleeve, but inside it.・/p> 
Karon shook his head groggily. 展ait濫
The fish-eyed man struck Karon again, this time across the mouth, and then 
pointed one thick finger at me. 典he next blow will fall on the woman.・/p> 
I wrenched my arms from Darzid痴 grip and found my voice, shaking though it was. 
展hat is the meaning of this, Captain Darzid? How dare you lay hands on a 
daughter of the house of Comigor or an official of the king痴 household? Where is 
Sir Geoffrey? Where are the guards? My brother濫
鄭h, no.・Darzid raised a finger in warning. Never had I seen such cold darkness 
as his gaze. 的 learned years ago not to underestimate you, my Lady Seriana, so 
you needn稚 fear I致e left anything to chance. Your brother has been properly 
notified of my suspicions, as has His Majesty. They are awaiting my report. If 
I知 wrong, then the mistake was an honest one・but I知 not wrong, am I?・He knew. 
Blessed Annadis be merciful, he stripped the truth from me even as I stood 
there. A wintry smile brushed his narrow face.
Darzid pushed me into the hands of one of the guards. Drawing his knife, he slit 
Karon痴 left sleeve from shoulder to wrist, exposing the scars for the crowd that 
had begun to gather by the music room doors. No assault could have been more 
devastating. Karon, blinking and trying to shake off the blows to his head, 
struggled to pull his arm close in to his body, but he could not move.
典ake them to the king,・said the sheriff, motioning to the heavily armed soldiers 
who had appeared behind him. 滴ave a care with the man. He is dangerous beyond 
your imaginings. Bind his eyes. Keep four spare guards ready at all times.・/p> 
Darzid took my arm again. 的f he utters a sound, I値l kill the woman.・/p> 
We passed a blur of wide-eyed onlookers, including a bewildered Sir Geoffrey, as 
Darzid propelled me down a softly lit, wood-paneled passageway and into a 
comfortable sitting room. Evard slouched on a brown velvet couch, and Tomas 
stood stiffly behind him.
添our Majesty,・said Darzid, with a deep bow. 典he information provided by Sheriff 
Maceron has proven correct. It is no paragon of virtue to whom the Lady Seriana 
has gotten herself wed, but to a sorcerer擁f such a sublime state as matrimony 
can be said to apply to a fiend.・Underneath his display of shock, I felt him 
laughing.
Four soldiers shoved Karon into the room. A scarf of incongruously bright green 
was tied about his eyes. Blood soaked one side of it.
添our Majesty, I beg you right this injustice,・I said. 的s this the way your 
servants treat members of noble families or men who hold positions in your 
household?・/p> 
Evard looked past me to Darzid. 滴e is incapacitated?・/p> 
Darzid nodded. 滴e値l not be dangerous as long as we control him, prevent him from 
speaking, and keep his eyes covered. And as long as we have the woman.・He was as 
cool and matter-of-fact as if he were discussing the finer points of a new 
horse.
Nodding, Evard rose from the couch, walked over to Karon, and stared at his arm. 
徹h, Seri, my dear girl, what have you done? You could have been queen of the 
Four Realms. Instead you致e chosen to consort with a demon.・He bent over to 
examine Karon痴 scars more closely. I wanted to scream.
滴e痴 bewitched her,・burst out Tomas. 典his is all Gault痴 doing.・/p> 
敵ault will be dealt with.・/p> 
的s that what this idiocy is all about?・I said, desperate to gain some foothold. 
溺artin has long relinquished all claim to the throne. You致e no need to 
manufacture some fantastic plot to discredit him. Tomas, can you believe I would 
marry a sorcerer? I had the same tutors as you.・/p> 
But no one was listening to me.
鄭nd so, Sheriff,・said the king, straightening up again. 展hat is it that such 
creatures as this do?・/p> 
典hese scars indicate that this one claims to be a healer,・said Maceron, moving 
to Evard痴 side. 的n fact, sorcerers of his kind can indeed pull a passing spirit 
from the brink of death. What could be a more disgusting distortion of nature 
than depriving a soul that is done with life of its proper end? The sorcerer 
does it, not out of generosity, of course, but to create a spirit slave who has 
no choice but to do his foul bidding.・/p> 
鄭nd it causes this?・Evard curled his lip as he touched Karon痴 arm. Karon jerked 
away and the guards twisted his arms tighter.
的n all its perversity, it痴 quite an impressive show. Would you like a 
demonstration, your Majesty? There would be no danger in it as long as Captain 
Darzid and I control him. He can do only one working at a time. And it would be 
inarguable evidence at his trial.・/p> 
I looked from one to the other, trying to understand what they were saying.
的 don稚 see how you could make him do it.・Evard flopped onto the couch again, 
looking skeptical.
的 know a very good way,・said Darzid. He whipped off Karon痴 blindfold and nodded.
Karon blinked, and his gaze flicked to something behind me. For the first time 
since I壇 known him, I saw fear in his eyes.
適aron, what is・・Fire exploded in my back, and roaring erupted in my ears. Karon 
yelling・Tomas, somewhere far away, cursing. My head spun. I couldn稚 get a 
breath, and my knees turned to water. Only as I felt warm wetness spreading 
across my back did I begin to comprehend. 哲o・don稚・ I tried to warn Karon, but my 
tongue refused to obey me. There would be no going back if he did it. They had 
no proof unless he gave it to them.
My knees gave way. Someone caught me. 泥amn you. Damn all of you. Get a surgeon 
in here.・/p> 
I floated in and out of awareness, the words and shouts drifting through my 
spinning head.
套 a knife, clean and sharp.・/p> 
No, Karon, no. They値l not let me die. My tongue wouldn稚 work.
套 grace your son・
泥amnation, what is it he does?・/p> 
套 fill my soul with light・
Fire ripped my arm. No, Karon・/p> 
套 death to touch either one of them while he・
・em>J壇en encour, my dearest love・
I had been so cold sleeping, but now all was warm again. I lay on my back. A 
smile crossed my face. Connor Martin Gervaise was getting big enough that 
sleeping on my back was becoming uncomfortable. And the bed was so hard. I tried 
to roll over, but couldn稚. Karon was there. I felt him breathing. Tassaye, 
tassaye, he whispered. Softly. Softly. He was holding my arm so tight. I couldn稚 
move it, and my eyes fluttered open to see him leaning over me. What had 
happened to his face? Was it from the earthquake? Such terrible bruises・and 
blood all over・one eye swollen shut, and he was so pale・almost transparent like 
the day at Windham・/p> 
It all came flooding back to me. 哲o,・I said weakly.
His eyes flicked open・such love in them. When he smiled, I felt the warmth of 
his life flowing in my veins. 鼎ut it now,・he said to someone over his shoulder. 
And tome, 的t is a wonder. All of it.・/p> 
My arm was released, but before I could reach out for him, they dragged him 
away, and there on Sir Geoffrey痴 fine carpet, they beat him until he was 
insensible. Fear lent weight to their fists.
I sat unmoving on the floor where they壇 left me, and stared at the door through 
which they had at last taken him away. Someone came up behind me, and I 
flinched, but the hands that lifted me up and led me to the empty brown velvet 
couch were not rough hands. Tomas sat me down and knelt in front of me. No one 
else was in the room. 釘y Annadis痴 holy sword, Seri, what is he?・/p> 
I fingered the place on my arm where Karon had made the incision. There was no 
remnant of it but the fire in my memory. It would have been too difficult to 
hold me around the back where the knife had gone in. Better to make a new place 
to mingle the blood・the blood of life.
Tomas spoke as if I were a child. 滴as he bewitched you? Silenced you with some 
ensorcelment? Is that what happened three years ago? Did he control you even 
then?・/p> 
I stared at my brother, trying to comprehend what he was saying. My mind was in 
chaos, horror and wonder entwined in a mortal embrace.
鉄eri, tell me you池e all right.・Fumbling, he examined my back. My gown felt damp 
and scratchy耀tiffening as the blood dried where Maceron痴 blade had gone in. 滴oly 
gods, it痴 impossible.・/p> 
Finally I gathered words. 典omas, you must help him.・/p> 
Awkwardly he put his arm around my shoulders. 的値l take care of you, Seri. We値l 
find out what must be done・the priests・to purify you. Are you free of him now 
he痴 away from you?・/p> 
哲o. You don稚 understand・ I tried to tell him about sorcery and the J脱ttanne. But 
the longer I spoke, the farther he withdrew from me, and by the time I noticed, 
it was too late. I had told him about our child.
Tomas spoke in muted horror. 添ou let him do that to you? Plant you with his 
venomous seed? How could you live? Was there no knife, no sword to put an end to 
your debasement?・/p> 
典omas, you致e heard nothing I致e said.・/p> 
的致e heard enough. This is an entirely new situation. Evard must be told that 
taking care of the sorcerer is insufficient.・/p> 
典omas!・/p> 
添ou値l not burn. You値l not die. You池e still of the house of Comigor, and Evard 
has sworn to me. But you致e consented to evil beyond my imagining, and it will be 
undone.・He stormed out of the room, leaving me alone in the library.
Sometime in the night I was taken to the palace and locked in a bare, cold room, 
such as scullery maids might live in. My locket and my wedding ring were taken 
from me, and my bloodstained green silk was replaced by a muslin shift and a 
plain black dress. I would not weep. I would not.
CHAPTER 18
The morning dawned cool and gray, as did most summer mornings in the Uker 
valley, but the rising sun burned off the fog early. I awoke cramped and tired 
from the night on the dirt floor of the charcoal burner痴 hut, and the lingering 
disturbance of my dreaming was hard to shake. Stars of night, why could I not be 
rid of it? Perhaps if I could get the unpleasant prince and his annoying servant 
on their way, I could go back to Dunfarrie and bury it all again. Yet I 
wondered. My cottage now seemed as remote as D誰atheil痴 Avonar.
Tennice and Baglos were quiet that morning, too, brows furrowed and shoulders 
tight as we passed around chunks of dry black bread, spread with a paste of 
beans and leeks that was long past fresh. D誰atheil showed no interest in 
breakfast, but sat in the open doorway, intently scribing his wood chip with the 
point of his knife.
展hat is it he makes?・I asked Baglos, as I smoothed my still-damp clothes into 
some semblance of order.
的致e asked, but he does not respond.・/p> 
的s he well? He looks ill・or, no, maybe thinner somehow.・The growing sunlight 
revealed a tracery of lines around D誰atheil痴 eyes. I壇 not noticed them before.
Staying out of arm痴 reach, Baglos questioned the Prince. D誰atheil shook his 
head, but rather than lashing out at the Dulc・as was his morning habit, he 
graced Baglos with his smile, the smile that was everything of good humor and 
unsullied delight.
The smile was the only constant in D誰atheil. I had never known anyone to change 
so rapidly, not only in the seasons of his mood, but in his physical appearance 
as well. I could no longer envision him as he had been on that day he appeared 
naked in the woods behind my cottage, but I would swear by everything I valued 
that it was not as he looked today or yesterday or a week ago. I had thought him 
little more than twenty, and from the Dulc髓s tales I judged that close to 
accurate. And yet on this morning he looked almost of an age with me, as if 
these past days had laid brushstrokes of years and care on the canvas of his 
face.
Baglos denied it. 滴e is as he is, woman. Anything else is only your 
imagination.・/p> 
I told him that my imagination had been unused for so many years it wouldn稚 know 
how to invent such a business. But, then, after a fortnight without, the Prince 
had shaved his face this morning. Perhaps that was the difference.
It took me a while after entering the gates of Yurevan to decide what had 
changed about the city since I had last visited. The mottled stone buildings of 
the University still dominated the city from its hilltop site, their cloisters 
welcoming the brightest thinkers from all the Four Realms. The winding brick 
streets were marked only by time, not war. Ironwork of intricately designed 
flowers and beasts still ornamented balconies and walls, and the flowers still 
bloomed in their charming niches. Quaint, tall houses peered down on passersby 
like old grandmothers inspecting their children痴 children. It was the people 
were different, I finally decided.
In the past every street corner had been occupied by a speechmaker haranguing 
the populace about excessive taxation or the indenture of children, or a student 
debating society arguing points of history or the origins of the universe. No 
tavern had lacked an aspiring poet to serve up verses along with his ale, and no 
sausage cart had failed to employ a young philosopher ready to argue about 
whether your sausage truly existed beyond your desires. And everyone had taken 
time to listen.
No more. Now the citizens of Yurevan hurried about their business with averted 
eyes, and vendors offered no word beyond your transaction. Only on one corner 
stood a wild-eyed, shabbily dressed man, preaching that the stars foretold the 
doom of Leire and the coming of a philosopher-king. Mothers pushed their gawking 
children past the man quickly, and while Tennice and I bought sausage and cheese 
to take back to D誰atheil and Baglos, green-clad guardsmen dragged the man into 
the street and beat him silent.
添urevan痴 no different from any Leiran-ruled city any more,・said Tennice, 
hurrying me through an alley to avoid the guardsmen, who were laughing as one of 
their fellows relieved himself on the crumpled body of the madman. 摘vard has set 
up his own man to run the University. He claimed rebels were using it as their 
lair, disturbing the freedom of the academics. He痴 come near 廃rotecting・ the 
place to death. Ferrante wouldn稚 lecture there any longer. One of his friends 
after another disappeared when rumors of sedition touched them, and he decided 
it was safer to take only private students at home.・/p> 
的 had no idea.・Conquerors had always paid deference to the University, even when 
the cultural centers in other cities were looted and burned, even in the death 
throes of the Vallorean kingdom. I had come to think it was some deep-rooted 
yearning to share in the wisdom tangible in its cloisters. 的 always imagined 
that no matter what madness enveloped the rest of the world, Yurevan and the 
University would be exempt from it.・/p> 
典hat belief is what brought me here. But we were wrong. The madness is 
everywhere.・/p> 
Thinking that four together would be too conspicuous, Tennice and I had come 
alone to seek out the J脱ttanni woman. We壇 left our horses at a hostelry and made 
our way through the narrow, twisting streets that climbed University Hill. 
Tennice stopped at a bookshop that he frequented and asked the owner if he knew 
where he could find gymnea, a medicinal ointment used for failing eyesight. The 
bookseller directed us to an herbary two streets west and four streets north. 
They had a good selection, he said, though the shop was run by a 途ight prickly 
sort of woman.・/p> 
Halfway along a bustling lane we found the tall, narrow shop with a wooden sign 
over the door that read herbs, teas, medicaments . The storefront sported two 
windows, each with its wooden planter box crammed with aromatic flora, and when 
we opened the shop door, we were almost bowled over by the hodgepodge of scents. 
The tiny room was filled floor to ceiling and on every wall with row upon row of 
shelves, each crammed with neatly labeled glass jars and tins and paper bundles. 
Two worktables crowded the rest of the room so that it was almost impossible to 
move. On one table was a stack of thin paper, a ball of string, a mortar and 
pestle, measuring cups and spoons, and a small brass balance. On and under the 
other table lay heaps of plants, stacks of jars and boxes, and innumerable trays 
of roots, leaves, stems, and flowers spread out to dry.
Two well-dressed women stood by the weighing table chattering about the ague and 
the grippe, and the annoyances of servants who forgot themselves enough to get 
laid up. A small, dark-haired young woman measured a quantity of black seeds 
into one pan of the balance. She transferred the seeds to a sheet of paper, 
briskly folded the paper into a small packet, and exchanged it for a coin. 
鄭nything else, Madame LeDoux? Have you fenugreek tea for Nidi痴 throat?・/p> 
撤lenty for now. Perhaps next week if she痴 no better.・/p> 
敵ood day, then.・/p> 
敵ood day, my dear.・/p> 
The two ladies fluttered out the door, and the girl turned to Tennice and me. 
展hat do you need?・Her dark hair was cut short, and it hung straight, framing her 
high cheekbones and light eyes. Her well-defined chin and short, straight nose 
complemented her blunt manner. She could be no more than eighteen. When the girl 
stepped around the table, eyeing our disheveled clothing impassively, I was 
astonished to note that she wore trousers. I had thought my own split skirt 
bold.
Tennice spoke up. 展e池e seeking the owner of this place.・/p> 
展hy?・said the girl.
展e have business with her.・/p> 
添ou may tell me of your business.・/p> 
哲o, young lady, this is private business.・/p> 
典he owner does no private business with strangers.・The girl痴 words snapped like 
dry sticks.
Tennice whispered to me, 鉄peak to her, Serf. You know I致e never been adept at 
handling women.・An understatement to be sure. Though neither kings nor dukes nor 
judges could faze Tennice, a timid serving maid could throw him into a fluster.
I started again. 撤erhaps, if you壇 be so kind, you could give the owner a message 
from us?・/p> 
的 might.・/p> 
典ell Kellea that we were recommended by a friend. He says this is the only place 
to buy a rare herb to treat the gout. We would appreciate a word with her.・/p> 
The girl looked at us strangely. 展hat word would you have with Kellea? If all 
you want is mycophila, then I can get it for you.・/p> 
撤lease, we wish to consult Kellea on a confidential matter. You understand. A 
bit embarrassing to talk about・Is there a time when we could find her here or 
perhaps a place where we could meet her? Our friend recommended her 
especially.・/p> 
The girl shrugged her shoulders. 添ou池e speaking to her already. I知 Kellea.・/p> 
No, no, no. The girl was too young. It had been almost twenty years since the 
destruction of Avonar. 典here must be some mistake. Is there someone else by the 
same name? Your mother, perhaps? Or perhaps another herb shop? We were expecting 
an older person.・/p> 
典here痴 no other Kellea. My mother had a different name and is long dead, anyway, 
and this is the only herb shop in Yurevan. What痴 your business? Tell me the name 
of your friend.・/p> 
Tennice and I looked at each other in confusion. 的 must have been wrong,・he 
said.
適ellea!・called a croaking voice from beyond a narrow doorway.
展hat is it, Grandmother?・/p> 
典ea, dear heart. Could you bring me a cup of nine-leaf tea?・/p> 
的 have customers who are just leaving. As soon as they池e off, I値l bring it.・/p> 
I looked sharply at the girl. 添our grandmother. Is her name perhaps the same as 
yours?・/p> 
的 told you, I知 the only Kellea. If you have business with me, state it.・ She 
folded her arms tightly across her breast, her hostility shoving us out the door 
before our feet had moved.
I hated abandoning our only clue. Kellea was the only one of the four裕hen it 
struck me. The herb shop, shelves laden with medicines. The names. 適ellea,・I 
said, scarcely restraining my excitement, 努hat is your grandmother痴 name?・/p> 
典his is ridiculous. What could you possibly・・/p> 
的t would be a great kindness. It痴 very important.・/p> 
I might have been dragging the answers from her with red-hot pincers. 滴er name 
is Celine.・/p> 
Context. How is it we can stand in two different rooms, hear the same 
combination of letters and sounds, and our minds construct such differing 
images? Tennice had spoken four names, but I hadn稚 listened in the proper 
context. 鼎eline・was not a vanished stranger, one more unmarked name in a list of 
the uncountable dead. I knew her. 撤lease, Kellea. May I speak with your 
grandmother? My information was in error, and she痴 the one I need to see.・/p> 
溺y grandmother sees no one. She痴 quite feeble.・/p> 
的 swear to you that I mean her no harm. I知 a friend of her friends. Take her the 
message I give you, and if she commands us go, we値l go.・I took a deep breath and 
reached backward. 典ell her I knew a student of hers from long ago. He learned 
many lessons from her, but the most important one was to look at the whole 
person before judging the worth of their gifts.・/p> 
As rigid as an iron spike, the young woman disappeared into the back room. She 
returned quickly. 鉄he値l see you. But only for a moment. You mustn稚 tire her. She 
turns ninety next month.・/p> 
Tennice and I followed Kellea into a tiny room that smelled of lavender and 
mint. A sunny window flooded the room with light and air and myriad other scents 
from a courtyard crowded with planter boxes and baskets of herbs and flowers. In 
a chair by the window sat an old woman, so withered and dry that it looked as if 
the slightest breeze could swirl her away like dust. Her head nodded 
continuously in the way of the very old, but her blue eyes blazed with 
curiosity. 展ho is it speaks of long ago?・/p> 
溺y name is Seri, madam, and this is my friend, Tennice of Verdillon. I cannot 
say how honored I am to meet you. Never did I believe I would have that 
privilege.・/p> 
典hat痴 all very nice, but you haven稚 answered my question.・/p> 
溺y husband was your student. His name was Karon, eldest son of the Baron 
Mandille, Lord of Avonar.・/p> 
Celine showed no fear. No hesitation. But she was listening, surely, awash in 
stillness. Even her head had stopped its bobbing for the moment. 鄭nd what has 
this to do with me?・/p> 
滴e told me of his mentor whose name was Celine, and of how she took a frightened 
and awkward boy and taught him the beauty of his calling. And when he became 
cocky, as young men do, she taught him the grace to look for the gifts in 
everyone. He told me of your candlemaker and your sons, and how, whenever he had 
a problem, he would think first, 埜hat would Morin do?・・/p> 
The old woman extended her hand, her head nodding again as if I had recited my 
lesson correctly.
敵randmother!・said Kellea.
But the old woman痴 handclasp was firm, and she examined me with unclouded eyes. 
適aron. Such talent he had・and the heart to match his skill. Lifegiver, we called 
him. I didn稚 know he lived past the dark day. But I see in you that he has gone 
the way of the rest of them.・/p> 
典en years ago. He was discovered.・/p> 
的 was old when he came to me. Who would have thought I would outlive him? I 
suppose I致e outlived them all.・How familiar was her speech. Not querulous or 
sad, but only wondering at the mysterious ways of life, rejoicing, even in 
grief, at the interleaving of joy and sorrow and pain and beauty. 鄭nd you were 
his wife. You were not of Avonar?・/p> 
哲o. We met several years later.・/p> 
添ou knew what he was?・/p> 
添es.・/p> 
的t痴 no easy thing to love a Healer葉o share with a thousand others what should be 
yours alone.・She touched my cheek with her warm, dry finger. 添ou laughed with 
him?・/p> 
天ery much.・/p> 
敵ood.・Celine settled back in her chair, shaking her head solemnly. 哲o. No easy 
thing to walk the Way with a Healer.・/p> 
Kellea stood watching like a new-honed knife, ready to slice the first thing 
that came in its path.
鉄o this is your granddaughter?・I said, wanting to leave the past behind and get 
to our business.
敵reat-granddaughter. Morin痴 granddaughter, newborn only a week before the dark 
day. On the day the Leirans came, I had taken her for a walk in the hills to 
give her mother a rest. I watched from the hilltop as the soldiers burned 
Mandille and Christophe and Eduardo and everyone else of the J脱ttanne, and they 
put my Carlo and Morin and the rest of the people of Avonar to the sword. Now, 
why are you here? Not to reminisce. Not after so many years.・/p> 
展e found you through Professor Ferrante.・/p> 
的知 surprised at that. He was sworn. Why?・/p> 
典he story is so long. I hate to tire you with it.・/p> 
的致e nothing better to do. Kellea runs the shop. I sleep here in the sun or watch 
the flowers bloom. Soon I値l be in L探iere and have all the sleep I壇 ever want. 
Keep me awake for a while.・/p> 
Through the long afternoon I sat at Celine痴 feet and told her the story of 
D誰atheil and Baglos, and the reason I sought a J脱ttanni survivor. Whenever the 
bell on the shop door rang, Kellea would disappear and tend to her customers, 
and then she would return to her post at Celine痴 doorway. At every half hour, 
she would tell me that Celine needed to rest.
滴ush, child, and listen,・Celine said to her after the third time Kellea ordered 
us out. 典hese are matters of concern to you.・And then to me. 適ellea is greatly 
gifted, but she has never known any of the J脱ttanne but her old grandmother, has 
never heard the stories told on Av狸enat, never had a mentor for her talent. I 
could not be all things to her.・/p> 
的 need none of those things, Grandmother. Just you. I want you left in 
peace.・/p> 
泥id you not hear the story, girl? If we don稚 help, then even such peace as we 
know may be swept away.・/p> 
展hy do you believe them? Because they say familiar words and names? You致e taught 
me to trust no one, and now you open your door to these people without a 
question. It could all be lies.・/p> 
Celine patted my arm as she spoke to her granddaughter. 的f you cannot tell truth 
from lies when you池e ninety, then you致e made a great waste of your time and 
deserve no better than you get.・She gave me a thoughtful glance. 的t痴 quite a 
thing you ask, Seri, for me to read this man. It may not turn out as you 
wish.・/p> 
釘ut you値l try?・/p> 
的致e seen my friends slaughtered and my sons and grandsons put to the torch. I致e 
held life in my hand as few ever have a chance to do, with the choice to give or 
take. I致e listened to the voices of my ancestors for ninety years. If you think 
I would miss the chance to find out why, then you should bottle me in one of my 
own glass jars and sell me as a specific for inducing madness.・/p> 
敵randmother, you can稚!・But Kellea痴 horrified exhortation was drowned in Celine痴 
hoarse laugh, and as Tennice and I joined in, the girl stormed out of the room.
哲ow the two of you be off,・said Celine, wiping the tears that rolled down her 
dry cheeks. 鏑et me soothe the fears of my sulking child and take myself a nap. 
Bring your silent friend tonight after dark. Then will we investigate the 
mysteries of the universe.・/p> 
When we reclaimed our horses at the hostelry, one of the grooms was saddling a 
large black horse. The shape of its head, its legs・the trim of mane and tail・ 
the saddle I had shared with Paulo on the ride from Grenatte to Dunfarrie・ 
Rowan痴 horse. I urged Tennice to hurry and did not breathe easy until we were 
lost in the press of traffic heading for the outer gates of the city.
CHAPTER 19
Year 4 in the reign of King Evard・em>midwinter
For endless hours I sat on the hard bed in the dark and tormented myself with 妬f 
only.・I remembered Karon痴 birthday, the night when he had explained how he could 
not use his power for harm, even to protect himself or me. I hadn稚 believed him 
then, sure that if this test ever came, he would strike as would any other man. 
When I had told him about killing the man in Threadinghall, and he had remained 
steadfast in his resolve, my confidence that he would do what was necessary had 
not been vanquished, only shaken. But the apology in his eyes as he was dragged 
away from me had withered my heart. No matter the horror to come, he would not 
fight. His last words to me had confirmed it. It is a wonder. All of it・/em> 
part of a humorous J脱ttanni story that was the very expression of their 
acceptance of the vagaries of life葉he path 斗aid down・for them. Damn them all! I 
wanted to shake Karon痴 father and his grandfather and every cursed one of the 
J脱ttanne and scream that it was possible to lay down your own path in this 
world. No wonder they all were dead and forgotten. And now my Karon would be 
dead, too, for no one was going to listen to him and learn of the beauty and 
grace he brought into this horrid world.
I could not allow it. If Karon could not fight, I would have to do it myself. I 
just needed a little time. Plots and schemes fed one upon the other in the dark, 
until I fell into a exhausted sleep.
Seri・help me・/em>
The cry startled me awake in the deepest hours of that dreadful night. It was a 
time of second memory, as if I had lived the exact event before: Karon calling 
out to me in the darkness. Surely I would open my eyes to silver moonlight 
streaming through the library door, my book pages fluttering in a summer breeze 
scented with balsam and thyme. But this room was cold and barren. No light of 
any kind shone through the window, a small rectangle of lesser darkness high on 
the wall above my bed. 適aron?・/p> 
Help me. He was on the verge of screaming. I could feel him struggling to hold 
it back.
典ell me what to do.・/p> 
Talk to me. A tale, a song, an image, anything I can hold on to. Please, love, 
quickly.
I fumbled about for a moment, trying to think what might serve, trying not to 
think why he might need a distraction so desperately. After a few abortive 
attempts葉oo short a tale, too abstract a concept, too shallow a subject・I began 
to speak of Comigor, the ancient keep that had been my childhood home, the windy 
heath that attracted storms, but had repelled all would-be conquerors for six 
hundred years. I explored every passage, every cellar, every attic, every map in 
its library. As he had taught me, I used audible words to force my thoughts into 
a single pattern, not allowing worry or distraction to muddy what I left for him 
to find in my head. Every once in a while I would pause, listening. I heard 
nothing, only felt his desperate presence in my mind, as surely as if I could 
hear his harsh breathing or feel his sweat. So I continued.
I considered my warrior father, so distant, so strong, bewildered by his 
children, yet so gentle with my fragile, lovely mother. Her image was hazy, but 
I remembered her stories and her garden, and I explored those things, too. I 
described my bedchamber at Comigor, where I had imagined myself an astronomer, 
unraveling the mysteries of the heavens, or a minstrel, traveling the land 
singing songs of heroes that would ignite a warrior痴 soul. As the high window 
spilled dead gray light into my room, I told how I had stood on Comigor痴 highest 
tower, pretending I was a captive princess, waiting to be rescued by a handsome 
knight.
This time the princess has done the rescuing.
哲o, no. You rescued me long ago,・I said, crossing my arms on my breast as if to 
hold him to me. 展hen you stepped from the shadows in my library with a rose in 
your hand.・/p> 
Seri, you must tell them I misled you, that I ensnared and deceived you with 
magic.
的値l do no such thing.・/p> 
You must. They致e proven to me that they池e quite serious about all this.
泥on稚 worry about me. Tomas has sworn to protect me, just as I致e always said he 
would.・/p> 
Karon痴 relief surged through the night. Good・oh, gods of night ・ He sounded so 
hurt. His voice in my head, usually so intense, so vibrant and colorful, was 
almost unhearable.
展hat have they done to you?・I said.
It痴 no matter, he told me. When I知 with you this way, it痴 easier. But I don稚 
think you値l ever call me fine-looking again.
I told him stories until I could no longer speak, and then continued by closing 
my eyes and thinking of the things I wished to say and see. Yet, deeper still, 
in a small place yet available for rational thought, I made my plan of battle.
My strategy was simple用olitical power. Those who wanted Karon convicted would 
manufacture what evidence was necessary, and, truly, eight people裕omas, Evard, 
Sheriff Maceron, Darzid, and four soldiers揺ad seen Karon heal the stab wound in 
my back. The only thing that could overrule such testimony was a counterthreat 
to Evard痴 war・and ultimately his throne.
I could not use Martin. He was in enough danger. But I could contact ten 
high-ranking nobles that had been close friends of my father and ten more that 
owed him life-debts, plus I had friends of my own, men with wealth and status, 
women with influence over husbands or brothers or fathers. All paid levies to 
support Evard and his war. All knew of Evard痴 frustrated plans for me. They 
would believe me when I said that jealousy was behind the king痴 accusations, and 
that if Evard could manufacture evidence against me and my husband, then no one 
in the realm was safe from him. All were honorable Leiran nobles and would come 
to my defense. I just needed a chance to speak with them.
I could not even begin. They confined me to my room with no paper, no pen, no 
book, no possible way to send a message. The serving sister who brought my meals 
and washing water was mute, and the guard who accompanied her forbade me to 
utter a sound in her presence, his drawn sword indicating that the woman痴 life 
would be the price of my disobedience. The guards might have been deaf for all 
the notice they took of my pleas for justice or my promises of gold. I was 
allowed no implement that could conceivably be turned into a weapon. The serving 
woman was required to comb my hair, and the lamp was taken away whenever I was 
left alone, so that I spent every hour of the long winter nights in darkness. I 
was permitted no visitor save priests and royal inquisitors, and they always 
came in pairs lest I somehow corrupt them.
The priests treated me as an innocent, possessed of evil spirits raised by 
sorcerers. They deafened me with prayers and exhortation, lectures and sermons, 
encouraging me to repudiate the sorcerer. Arot, the First God, had laid down the 
law of the world: His sons Annadis and Jerrat were to hold dominion, and they 
reserved the powers of earth and sea, sky and storm to themselves. Sorcerers 
tried to steal that power for their own・the ultimate blasphemy.
The inquisitors treated me as if I were myself a sorceress. They threatened me 
with imprisonment and torture, demanding that I confess my depravity and that of 
the Earl of Gault and his friends.
Tomas never came to me. Not once. Nor did any other friend or acquaintance. I 
kept thinking that surely someone would question where Karon and I had been 
taken. But then I would remember the faces in Sir Geoffrey痴 hall when Darzid 
exposed Karon痴 arm・and a cold weight would settle heavier in my belly where I 
should have been feeling only the warmth of our growing child. Who would have 
courage enough to defend us?
Through all the days and nights of that winter, I felt Karon with me. Some days 
he could converse with me in our strange way. Some days he could only listen, 
and I suspected that his captors were interrogating him・torturing him. I would 
force such dreadful speculation out of my mind and talk to him about whatever I 
could think of: art or music, or philosophical speculation, or the Writer and 
his coded map that we had never managed to unravel, or my plans to study at the 
University someday when Connor did not need so much of my time.
That will be the worst, Karon said, in a rare moment of sadness. Never to see 
him.
I did not take the foolish course of saying that, of course, he would see our 
son. Neither of us was stupid. We had been imprisoned for over a month, and I 
had accomplished not one step to help him. I kept a barrier in my mind as Karon 
had taught me to do, a private place where I would not allow him to go, and 
there I kept my fear and grief and my guilty hopes that Karon would abandon his 
convictions and save himself. 典here痴 still the trial,・I said. 展hen they 
transport you to the King痴 Bench, there might be some opportunity・a 
distraction・and you could change yourself and walk away.・/p> 
Ah, Seri, if willing could make it 50・/p> 
He could not break chains with his magic. He could not unlock the doors of his 
prison. I knew that. The only way for him to be free was to invade a mind・ to 
force his will upon another with torment and fear・to take a weapon and slay 
those who would harm him. Exactly the things he could never do.
鄭nd the trial itself. Several of the lords on the Council are intelligent, 
thoughtful men・
Yes. Well. Don稚 get up any wild hopes about the Council.
展ild hopes are no more unreasonable than wild hopelessness,・I argued. 的 can cite 
many historical references to prove that wild hopes are the only way anything 
useful ever gets accomplished.・/p> 
I should have learned long ago never to make any absolute statement to a woman 
with flame in her hair.
How strange it was to carry on these dialogues without seeing each other. Though 
I spoke aloud to help me focus my thoughts謡hispering, so that the guards outside 
my door could not hear謡e could have continued without a single audible word. 
Eventually we found it possible to share jests, as well as our deepest thoughts 
about life and death. I came to hate sleep. Such a waste of time. Karon rarely 
slept. He said his captors hadn稚 made it easy for him, and that he rested better 
when he was with me. He told me he could listen to my dreams.
的 wondered why mine have seemed benign, considering our circumstances,・I said.
I can稚 change dreams, only drown them with other visions if I worked hard enough 
at it. I would never do that, though. There are those who say that dreams are 
how our minds work out their difficulties. There痴 so much I壇 like to learn about 
the mind. Our knowledge is so limited. Perhaps the J脱ttanne could have done 
better had we understood more about such things.
We talked for a long time that night about the nature of dreams.
The trial would not begin for weeks yet, but as the tally of the new year began 
to run, I could feel Karon getting weaker. When anyone came to question me, I 
would ask how my husband was being treated. 滴e is a son-in-law of one of the 
oldest families in Leire. The law forbids starvation or maltreatment of any 
person who has not been convicted of a crime. I can cite the reference in the 
Westover Codex.・/p> 
No one listened to me. Once Karon mentioned that it appeared my good offices had 
gotten him an extra ration of water. Have you gained a sympathizer as I deeply 
hope, or have you just bullied someone so long they値l do anything to quiet you?
滴old on,・I said. 的値l find a way.・/p> 
But nothing changed. I might as well have been spitting on the palace towers, 
hoping to wear away the stone.
Year 4 in the reign of King Evard・em>winter
A week before the trial was to begin, Karon came to me in the middle of the 
night. I知 sorry to wake you, but I needed to talk.
的壇 much rather be with you,・I said, sitting up on my bed and quieting my jangled 
thoughts so I could communicate clearly as I spoke.
I think they致e decided I致e told them all that I will, so I致e had little to do 
but think.
鄭nd what have you been thinking while I so lazily slumbered?・/p> 
Why I知 here.
的 don稚 understand.・/p> 
If I知 really the last, then it痴 a matter of some import when I die・em>beyond the 
small matter of a J脱ttanni healer of two and thirty years that no one but you 
will miss. No, I知 not teasing for you to tell me who値l miss me, though it is a 
comfort. But it would seem that if I知 the last, and nature has consented to it, 
then, in some way, something will have been completed. I壇 give much to know what 
it is.
鄭nd has some insight come to you through all this thinking?・/p> 
Perhaps I知 losing my reason. I can稚 tell anymore. That痴 why I had to talk to you 
now. I致e spent these days and weeks doing my best to deny that my body exists, 
and as I close off the outside world, I致e found out how large and mysterious is 
the inner one. Alone in this darkness and feeling this way, I found something. 
It must have been buried in me long ago・or maybe it痴 not in me, but in that part 
of me that is my father or my mother or my grandfather・/em>
敵o on.・/p> 
It痴 a word of power, like the words I use to heal.
鄭 word・what does it do?・/p> 
I don稚 know. Maybe nothing. But I can稚 get it out of my head, and there are 
images entwined in it, much in the way engravings of birds and beasts and 
flowers are worked into an illuminated manuscript. A white city stands 
surrounded by green mountains, and beyond it lies a great chasm, so deep and 
dark, I can稚 see into it. Something・broken・I don稚 know. Likely it痴 all 
madness・/em>
添ou池e not mad. You are not. You are the one I know in every way. Do not doubt 
it.・I was up and pacing my room like a caged beast. It was so little I could 
give him. Only my conviction.
That痴 what I needed to hear. Perhaps I値l find out more about it as things go on.
展e値l find out together.・/p> 
With only a few days left before the trial, I was still trying to find someone 
to help in Karon痴 defense, but neither the priests nor the inquisitors were of 
any help. No one would ever defend a sorcerer, they said. Why ever would they?
釘ecause it痴 just,・I said.
的 cannot comprehend why King Evard even permits a trial,・said a slight, balding 
priest of Annadis who had visited me several times. 典o let a sorcerer live even 
one day is an intolerable affront to the Twins. The people demand to see him 
burn. They say he痴 a spy for Kerotea, most likely working deviltry on their 
behalf, even imprisoned.・That, of course, was why the whole business was being 
drawn out so long. Karon was to be fed to the people to whet their appetite for 
Evard痴 war, to supply fighters for his spring campaign.
撤ere Glasste, I must go to the trial. I must be allowed to speak for him.・/p> 
徹h, I致e no doubt you値l be there, my lady. The king swears he痴 never known you to 
lie.・/p> 
Though I thought it curious that Evard was touting my virtues, I took that bit 
of news and nestled it to me as if it were the most precious thing in the world. 
Hope. One splinter of hope. I would be able to speak for Karon. Martin had 
always said I could persuade the sea god Jerrat himself to drain the ocean. I 
wished the wizened little priest would take his quivering young acolyte and 
leave so I could savor hope, so I could think and plan what to do with it.
展e only hope you値l be free enough of the sorcerer that the truth will not burn 
your lips.・/p> 
Bold with promise, drunk with infinitesimal possibility, I responded as if the 
priest might actually listen to me. 的致e spoken only truth to you and your 
fellows all these weeks. And my husband speaks only truth. Listen to him, hear 
his story, and you値l recognize it.・/p> 
The pale, scrawny man squirmed distastefully. 的 would never listen to a 
sorcerer. That was your downfall, my lady: to hear the evil that got you into 
this dreadful obsession. Thank the Twins and the great father Arot that no one 
can ever again be taken in by this sorcerer痴 devilish speech.・展hat do you 
mean?・/p> 
展hy, because they cut out his tongue. Just yesterday. They couldn稚 let him 
bewitch the king or the Council of Lords at his trial.・/p> 
The goggle-eyed acolyte joined in. 的t痴 the same reason they burnt out his eyes 
and crushed his hands on the night of his arrest. So he couldn稚 use them to 
ensnare his inquisitors with evil signs and spells. We致e had no instance of 
bewitching from this sorcerer at all!・/p> 
I felt as if the earth had given way beneath my feet. Backing away from the 
preening little beasts, I turned to the locked door and hammered my fists on it 
until blood streaked the pale wood. 敵uards! Curse you forever. Guards! The gods 
curse you all. Remove this vermin from my room. I must see the chancellor or 
someone in authority. I demand to speak to my brother. Crimes are being 
committed in the name of the king. King Evard must be told!・/p> 
In moments the door was opened and the gaping priests scurried out, trembling 
like frightened rabbits. The acolyte dropped his lamp, and when a guard threw 
his heavy cloak over the burning pool of oil, I tried to push past him. But his 
comrade shoved me back inside the room and slammed the door. I screamed my 
outrage until I had no voice left, but no one was sent, either then or later, to 
listen to my grievances.
Shaking, hoarse, scarcely able to think through my sickness, I dropped to the 
floor and buried my head on my bed, fighting for control. I had not spoken with 
Karon since the previous evening耀ince they had done this new horror預nd as the 
silent hours passed, I began to fear he was dead. His eyes. His tongue. His 
sweet hands. Oh, gods have mercy・/p> 
The wheeling of the light outside my high window witnessed that time had not 
stopped. Morning came. Someone left a tray inside my door. I did not move to 
touch it. The angle of the beams shifted to afternoon. The tray disappeared. 
Only when the last sallow rays of the sun were swallowed once again by the gray 
of evening did I hear his call. Seri・/em>
的知 here,・I said, and filled my mind with the images I had readied for him, 
hoping and praying he could find some small comfort in me葉houghts of gardens, of 
riding his great horse, of mountains and dawn light and my arms around him. But 
all my preparation went for nothing. I thought I knew the worst they had done to 
him, but I was wrong.
They致e taken Martin and the others. They say they値l do whatever is necessary to 
make them confess to treason. I can hear them screaming・/em> The voice in my 
head was as gray as the sea under storm clouds, as dead as a battlefield when 
even the gleaners have moved on, as joyless as the charred ruins of Xerema. Even 
on the worst nights of that terrible winter, Karon had not come so near despair. 
They say they値l do the same to you. They say they致e evidence you致e done murder, 
and that you値l hang for it. Oh, gods, Seri・/p> 
典hey値l not touch me, Karon. Tomas has Evard痴 word.・I gripped the raw wood frame 
of my bed until I thought the plank must bend. 鼎onnor and I will be safe at 
Comigor. No one can harm us there.・/p> 
The others won稚 understand what these people will do to them. They値l try to 
resist, thinking it will make some difference.
典hey knew, Karon. They knew the risks as I did. You allowed us to choose our 
way. We were grown adults, and we made the choice to have you in our lives. It 
was not just words that night at Martin痴.・/p> 
I should have left Leire.
溺artin has known for years that the moment Evard痴 popularity waned, his life was 
not worth a copper penny. But even if that weren稚 so, we made the choice and no 
one of us would change it. It is life, Karon, the life we wanted, and you must 
let us embrace it as you do yours.・/p> 
Which was, of course, exactly why I did not scream at him to use his sorcery to 
save us all, though in every corner of my soul I knew the horrors yet to come. 
How do you persuade the one you love to violate the very essence of his being? 
He had chosen, and I was his wife who had promised to sustain him in his life痴 
path. But I could not think how I was to bear it.
CHAPTER 20
Year 4 in the reign of King Evard・em>late winter
I awoke before dawn on the day of the trial and, as on most mornings, found 
Karon hovering on the edge of my dreams.
的値l be close to you today,・I said.
I wish you wouldn稚 come.
I understood why. He was afraid I would get myself into worse trouble when I saw 
what they壇 done to him. He didn稚 realize that I already knew.
添ou know I must have a chance to open my mouth. I値l tell them that if you池e 
truly a sorcerer, then why did you not quiet your argumentative wife years ago? 
You will have abundant sympathy.・/p> 
They致e not stoppered my ears, so at least I値l be able to hear your voice.
添ou see? They think that痴 the worst thing they can do.・/p> 
I almost didn稚 recognize Karon when they brought him into the Hall of Judgment. 
In less than two months the strong, vigorous man I knew had become a bent, blind 
scarecrow, shackled so heavily he could scarcely drag himself into the prisoner痴 
dock. How did they expect him to stand through the day痴 proceedings? They had 
covered the ragged remnants of his eyes with a strip of cloth so as not to 
offend the sensibilities of the onlookers, but the blackened, twisted claws that 
had once been a healer痴 hands were left visible as a comfort for the fearful. I 
could not bear to look at his ravaged body, yet could look nowhere else. As soon 
as he was in his place, I felt him with me.
Are you here?
I am. It was difficult to merely think the words, rather than speaking them 
aloud.
Where? I can稚 see you・with this blasted rag・/em>
Across the room to your left, surrounded by six stone-faced warriors, ready to 
defend me from your fiendish forays. Listen. ・I coughed aloud quite vigorously 
and saw his head turn slightly toward me.
It痴 probably just as well you池e that far away. If you thought I reeked of the 
barnyard in Threadinghall・well, my nose still functions properly, and I wish it 
didn稚.
They致e only let me see priests and inquisitors, and so my sensibility to foul 
stenches is perhaps not so refined as it was.
A nice way to put it.
It痴 so good to see you. I think you look quite dashing, you know, like some 
wicked pirate.
I don稚 think you can see any better than I can.
I see only what I know. My distress must have overflowed my words. There would 
be no miraculous escape that day. He could scarcely move.
Don稚 fret too much, Seri love. Things are not so bad as they must look.
But I can稚 help you.
Not so. You are life to me. Don稚 look at me at all. Look deep inside yourself, 
at the beauty you致e stored there, the life you hold, the spark that is no other. 
They cannot touch it. It is where your love lies, that you can give and take as 
you please. You致e let me in, for which I bless all spirits of earth and sky, and 
they cannot touch me while I live in you.
I tried very hard to believe him.
Karon was momentarily overcome by a wracking cough. Blood trickled from the 
corner of his mouth after it, and a young woman sitting behind me cried out, 典he 
devil slavers blood!・Her companions fanned her, and a young nobleman demanded 
that the guards cover Karon痴 head so the ghoulish creature would not frighten 
the ladies. It took several moments to calm the crowd.
It痴 very hard to sort out what痴 going on. You must tell me who痴 here and what痴 
all the commotion. I gather it has something to do with me.
And so instead of screaming or weeping, I set myself to provide him a commentary 
on those in attendance: a large crowd of courtiers, many of whom we knew, and an 
even larger group of commoners let in to witness the great events. Not one man 
or woman among the spectators would meet my eye. Interesting to inspire such 
terror, especially in ones who had shared our table such a short time ago.
Once Evard arrived in full regalia, and the Council of Lords was seated in the 
raised box to the side柚artin痴 place conspicuously empty葉he proceedings moved 
quickly. The first witness brought forward was Maceron, the fish-eyed sheriff. 
He had dedicated his life to eradicating this greatest of evils from the world, 
so he said, and had relished his post in eastern Valleor, as rumors of sorcery 
had always been strong there. Tales of supernatural events had drawn him to 
Xerema: victims pulled from the ruins, alive beyond all reason, victims ready to 
be lured into the hellish legions. The devil was obviously recruiting himself an 
army of slave spirits from under the stones of the fallen city, servants of 
chaos who would challenge the Twins for control of the world.
To support this ridiculous contention, the prosecutor called the Vallorean 
singer. The girl was commanded to tell why she made obeisance to Karon in the 
very presence of her king. Not realizing what it was she did, Misara spoke 
eagerly of the rumors and stories that had circulated Xerema in the summer, of 
the blessed one who was said to bring life and hope beyond death. Her father had 
sworn to her that he had seen her mother, brothers, and sisters die, one by one, 
until the Dispore had appeared in their living tomb and coaxed them back to 
life.
Had she seen her family recently, to judge of their moral bearing since the 
events?
No, she壇 been brought to Leire to sing, but・/p> 
The prosecutor did not let her continue. I don稚 think the girl realized that the 
grotesque remnant of a man in the prisoner痴 dock was her family痴 savior.
The constant assumptions and speculation, the lack of any real evidence, the 
coloring and manipulation of events were beyond all rational belief. Surely the 
judges could see it.
The most telling witness was yet to come. Evard did not descend to the witness 
box, of course, but spoke from his gold-leaf chair on the dais to the left of 
the Council. With simple sincerity he described the episode in Sir Geoffrey痴 
study. Lady Seriana was renowned for intelligence and honesty, so said the king. 
When aides brought him the dreadful suspicion that her husband was one of the 
demon sorcerers, he did not wish to believe it. She was the sister of the Duke 
of Comigor, his own sword champion, and she confirmed her opposition to sorcery 
in the very moment of his questioning. But then the demon had struck. He himself 
had not seen who stabbed the knife into the lady痴 back, but had seen the devil 
bring her back from death. A hundred honest witnesses could vouch that Lady 
Seriana had been irrational, hysterical, completely mesmerized since the event, 
spending all her energy defending the sorcerer beyond all reason. How could 
anything serve as more profound evidence of the prisoner痴 guilt?
Angry murmurs rose from the noble observers, and from the commoners standing at 
the back came cries of 釘urn the devil!・The bailiffs did not quiet the clamor 
until Lord Hessia, the head of the Council, commanded it.
The king concluded his testimony with a dramatic recapitulation of the ill-fated 
Kerotean campaign, and, in an explosion of righteous anger, proclaimed that, as 
the protector of his people, he would allow no such sorcerous fiends ever again 
to torment the good soldiers of Leire. The place was in frenzy when he was done, 
and I thought the farce of a trial was to be halted. But calm was restored, and 
I was called to witness.
I could see now how it was supposed to read. The king had vigorously proclaimed 
my honesty, and now I was to demonstrate how thoroughly Karon had corrupted me 
by defending him in front of the assembly. Evard had unleashed such a tide of 
emotion that he believed no one would give me reasonable hearing, and he knew 
how easy it was for my spiteful tongue to get out of my control. Well, he would 
not get what he planned.
Vycasso, the Lord High Prosecutor, was a wrinkled old man who combed his long 
thin hair from left to right in an attempt to obscure his balding forehead and 
chewed anise I seeds that failed to cover the smell of onions on his breath. He 
was also a wily prosecutor who had skewered many a witness. I would need to be 
careful. Once my guards had escorted me to the witness box, he began to skip 
around from topic to topic, while pacing, halting and turning abruptly, back and 
forth in front of me like a fencing master trying to keep his student off 
balance. 滴ow long have you been under the influence of the beast in the 
prisoner痴 dock?・/p> 
的 think there are many people in this Hall of Judgment who will note that I am 
rarely under anyone痴 influence. My honored father, the late Gervaise, Duke of 
Comigor, was not the last to remark on my independent turn of mind.・Amid the 
shocked murmurs at my levity, I glimpsed not a few nods and smiles. The Lord 
High Prosecutor had never jousted at Windham.
添et you have been enslaved to this creature in some degenerate parody of holy 
wedlock?・/p> 
的 met this gentleman, whom you have treated so despicably, some five years 
ago,・I said. 鄭fter a seemly time, we became engaged. Two years ago last Seille, 
Pere Dejarier witnessed our marriage before at least fifty people who are in 
this room. If you remember, sir, that same good priest was a witness to His 
Majesty痴 marriage to our queen. I don稚 believe Pere Dejarier, a priest of 
Annadis since my father was a boy, presides at degenerate rites.・/p> 
Vycasso halted a moment longer than usual, but then whirled about and poked a 
finger at my face. 典ell me, madam, who are this devil痴 friends?・/p> 
填ntil these scurrilous accusations were brought forth, I don稚 think you could 
find anyone who knew my husband who would not claim him as a friend. He has been 
regarded as a gentleman of wisdom and scholarship by those of the royal 
household, as well as those in his employ. Several of you gentlemen on the 
Council have been guests in our home or have consulted with my husband on 
matters of his specialties, history and archaeology. His Majesty, whose judgment 
in friends is known to be impeccable, requests his advice on artifacts to 
display in the palace, and most generously invited us to dine with him at 
Seille. Several people in this room can attest to it.・/p> 
Vycasso cast a sidelong glance at the king, but Evard wore no expression. 添es, 
yes, we know the beast was a secret and sly devil,・said the prosecutor, 塗iding 
his vile craft behind a facade of respectability. But it is well known that he 
has practiced his depravity here in the heart of our beloved realm. Tell us, 
madam, of the evils he did perpetrate in your home.・/p> 
的f you account eating, sleeping, studying, entertaining, and keeping company 
with one痴 wife to be evil, then the same evils as other men.・A few snickers 
erupted in the crowd, quickly silenced by a glare from Lord Hessia.
The prosecutor forged onward, undeterred. 展hen did you learn this man was a 
sorcerer?・/p> 
典ell me, Lord Prosecutor, what is your definition of a sorcerer? Explain it to 
me, and then I can tell you when I knew of it.・/p> 
Smirking, he gestured toward the crowd. 展hy, everyone knows that. A sorcerer is 
one who perverts nature, despicable filth who revels in the blood and death of 
human men and women and innocent children.・/p> 
典hen my husband is not and has never been a sorcerer, my lord. Your own evidence 
contradicts such an accusation. You have accused him of healing my injuries and 
rescuing Misara痴 family from a dreadful death. Such acts, even if possible, 
could hardly be considered reveling in blood and death. Perhaps your definition 
of sorcery is flawed, for I知 sure you致e no intention of slandering the honorable 
warriors of Leire who rejoice in the slaughter of our enemies. Do you accuse 
them of sorcery also?・/p> 
敵ot you there, Lordship!・shouted someone from the back. Vycasso glared at a 
guard and jerked his head at the man, but before the soldier could move, those 
around him took care of the matter. A scuffle broke out amid murmurs of 泥evil!・ 
and 泥evil痴 whore, accusing our own・
I could not listen to them. I had to stay in control. My words were the only 
defense we were going to get. 適aron reveres life and cherishes nature, and the 
only perversion here is what you honorable men have done to him.・Careful, 
careful, echoed the soft words in my mind. 鉄orcerers have these exceptional 
abilities,・piped up Lord Hessia, an intelligent and reasonable man who had done 
his best to make the Council a serious body. He was clearly disturbed. 填nlike 
those of ordinary men.・/p> 
I held on to the edge of the witness box and leaned toward the lord, as if one 
hand痴 breadth less distance between us and I might convince him. 鏑ike yourself, 
sir, who are accounted the finest swordsman ever to carry a blade? Or like my 
brother, who is said to be the only man in a generation to rival you? Like this 
young singer from Valleor, who had half the court in tears over a song that is 
hackneyed drivel? Are you a sorcerer, then, and my brother and Misara also?・/p> 
哲o, no,・burst out the prosecutor, brought to life once more by an impatient 
gesture from Evard. 鏑ord Hessia means abilities that are against nature. They 
claim for themselves powers reserved for the gods.・/p> 
典hen tell me, my lords. What has Karon done that is against nature?・/p> 
The prosecutor exhaled his foul breath into my face again, nodding in 
satisfaction. 鼎learly the beast has deafened you, my lady. Your very sovereign 
king has testified that this devil healed you from a knife wound that punctured 
your heart. If that is not against nature濫
釘ut there is Lord Dumont in the Council box, who has seen something quite the 
same.・I pointed at a graying warrior who sat in serious contemplation, his mouth 
buried in one hand. 鏑ord Dumont, did not the respected physician, Ren Wesley, 
bring back your wife from the brink of death after your fine son was born last 
autumn? Her very heart had stopped beating, and you had closed her eyes with 
your own hand. How is it that nature rejoiced at your dear lady痴 recovery and is 
scandalized at my own?・/p> 
Dumont, the most respected of all the Counselors, waved his hand as if trying to 
shoo away such an association. 鉄uch healing is natural. What was done to you is 
but a mockery.・But his tone was thoughtful, almost a question of itself.
I directed my words as if he were the only judge. 撤lease explain to me, my lord, 
why the healing is ignoble, when the act of striking a knife to my heart is left 
unchallenged? Though His Majesty痴 sight was blocked, every other man in that 
room saw truer crime. The hand that wielded the knife was not the hand of my 
husband who was bound and restrained by the king痴 own guards溶o weakling 
recruits傭ut rather that of this sheriff, Maceron, who sets himself above other 
men. Sober consideration will expose the truth of my words, for despite the 
wags・tales of spirit slaves and armies of the healed, Karon had nothing to gain 
by such an act. I had already defended him that night. And think of it悠 had 
lived with him uncoerced for two years. What reason could compel him to strike 
me down and then heal me in front of the one witness who could be the most 
devastating? Monumental stupidity is not listed among the crimes of which he is 
accused.・I turned back to the yellow-faced Vycasso. 哲o, my Lord Prosecutor, you 
must explain to all rational observers why Maceron痴 deed, the unprovoked act of 
attempted murder, rather than the undoing of it, was not the true 
perversion.・/p> 
So it continued for an hour or more. I tried to answer every charge and 
insinuation with reason and logic. I had clearly won several of the Council 
lords, especially those who were friends with Martin and had frequented his 
salons; they likely knew why he was not in his place that morning. Yet their 
grim faces told me that every one of them would vote for condemnation. A verdict 
of sorcery had to be unanimous, and Evard would permit nothing else. He would 
appeal to greed, to fear, to patriotism, to blackmail, whatever was necessary to 
get his way. As this harsh truth sank in, my only defense against despair was 
the frail satisfaction that Karon would not die undefended.
A few more witnesses were questioned after me. A workman from the Antiquities 
Commission claimed to have watched from hiding while Karon made boxes and chests 
fly about the cellars, and to have hidden his eyes when the mummified remains of 
ancient Isker warriors pushed their way out of their caskets at Karon痴 command. 
A servant girl, whom I had dismissed for terrorizing a young chambermaid and 
stealing her wages, vowed that Karon had me thoroughly under his control, not 
allowing me to go out into society and forcing me to spend inordinate amounts of 
time reading and writing. 哲o great lady would do such things voluntarily,・she 
said.
The lords looked embarrassed at this testimony, and the prosecutor moved quickly 
to his closing flourish. To gasps of shock and disbelief, he entered into 
evidence signed confessions from the would-be usurper, the Earl of Gault, and 
his chief counselor. The documents detailed the sorcerer痴 plot to murder the 
king and his young daughter, Princess Roxanne, to put the Earl of Gault on the 
throne as a vassal of the Priest-King of Kerotea. The prosecutor proposed that I 
be made to verify the handwriting, as the earl was my own cousin, and I was 
intimately acquainted with the accused.
It made no difference to claim the confessions were worthless when extracted by 
torture. King Evard permitted no torture, therefore, no torture was done. To 
allow the confessed traitors to speak before the court would only give them 
leave to denounce our king and give scandal to the good people of Leire.
I could not listen to these last absurdities. I fixed my eyes on Karon痴 back, 
blocking out every other voice, every other sound and face, the better to hear 
him and concentrate only on his words. I could want no better counsel, he said. 
I wish・He began coughing again and could not continue.
Less than an hour after the prosecutor痴 impassioned call for the final 
obliteration of the great heresy of sorcery, the Council of Lords filed back 
into the Hall of Judgment from the adjoining chamber where they had completed 
their deliberations. A red-faced Lord Hessia痴 lips were a thin line. Lord Dumont 
fixed his eyes on the ancient candlebeam above the witness box, the fifty thick 
candles lit by the servants and the beam raised against the early darkness. Just 
past the doorway through which they had returned, Darzid leaned against a pillar 
with easy grace, detached amusement flickering in his dark eyes. And so was my 
last spark of hope extinguished.
Things do not look promising, my love, I thought.
It will be well, whatever they say. I知 ready for it to be over. After another 
dreadful bout of coughing, Karon sagged against the wooden rail of the prisoner痴 
dock. To make him stand up again his guards prodded him with spears until fresh 
bloodstains appeared on his filthy tunic. For the first time that day, I averted 
my eyes.
They said guilty, of course, but I had not prepared myself for the deadly 
precision of the words.
The sorcerer is to be taken to the command of Montevial at dawn on the first day 
of the week, there to be exhibited on public display. On that same day at one 
hour past midday he is to be set afire until the stain of his existence is 
removed from the paths of human history. His name is never again to be spoken in 
any of the Four Realms and is to be erased from any document or record in which 
it is written. He is to be forgotten as if he had never been.
Every possession of the sorcerer is to be destroyed by fire, including his place 
of residence, the furnishings and accouterments thereof, whether such possession 
is the rightful property of the sorcerer or the marriage portion or personal 
belonging of his wife, and any other object determined by the prosecutor or the 
priests to be polluted by his touch, especially any article of jewelry or 
stonework, or any artifact of writing, as sorcerers are known to store up 
wickedness in such things.
Because of the generous recommendation of His Most Gracious Majesty at the 
petition of her family, the sorcerer痴 wife is judged to be a wayward and deluded 
woman, rather than a conspirator. She will remain in the custody of the Crown 
until such time as she has done public penance according to the law. At that 
time she will be remanded to the physical and moral discipline of Tomas, Duke of 
Comigor, who will maintain sole sovereignty over her life, residence, property, 
and issue. She will remain on the life parole of His Majesty, King Evard, all 
rights of birth, rank, and grant to be removed from her until His Majesty may 
see fit to restore them.
Any person who has been judged by the Lord High Prosecutor to have condoned, had 
knowledge of, consented to, or failed to report any act of sorcery by this 
condemned prisoner is likewise judged guilty at this hour, and is to receive the 
maximum penalty of the law without further trial. Any other person who has, in 
any wise, been associated with the sorcerer, whether as servant, employee, or 
acquaintance, is required to report to a priest for purification within seven 
days・time. Failure to comply with this order will result in a charge of 
conspiracy to acts of sorcery, and punishment will be meted out accordingly 
without need for further trial. Thus speaks the law of Leire. All everlasting 
glory to Evard King!
展ithout trial?・I leaped to my feet, the bleak brutality of the judgment 
destroying my composure. Karon痴 case was unsalvageable, but Martin, Julia, 
Tanager, and Tennice would not even be heard. 添ou can稚 do that! Lord Hessia・ 
Lord Dumont・ I was shouting to be heard above the pandemonium. 典o execute any 
Leiran without trial is a violation・ But no one of them would look at me, and a 
guard blocked my way lest I try to get any closer. 適aron, save them,・I cried. 
How could he let them die?
But he could not have heard me. A troop of guards had dragged him from the dock 
by the chain around his neck. The shouting ruffians gathered outside the door 
battered him with fists and cudgels, pelted him with stones and refuse. The 
guards neither protected him from the blows nor shielded him from the spitting 
vehemence of the good people of Leire who laughed and jeered at his painful 
stumbling.
It was midweek. Four days. At least it would not be a long wait.
Martin and the others were executed that night. Karon was riven with grief. I 
had to listen to them die, Seri, one after the other. I致e tried・since they were 
taken, I致e tried to help・to comfort them・but at the end・/em>
泥on稚 speak of it, if you don稚 want to. Just tell me how I can help you.・I sat on 
my bed unmoving, staring dry-eyed at the coarse sheets as the weak daylight 
faded. I could not grieve. I had nothing left.
The only help is knowing that your brother will protect you and Connor. My blood 
and flesh grew hot with his outrage. What kind of man is your brother? How can 
he let them do these things to you like public penance? Oh, Seri, it is so 
hard・/em> Never had I known Karon so angry.
典he penance is nothing,・I said, numbly, trying to ignore the fear that suddenly 
came tumbling over me like an icy waterfall. 鄭s for the rest謡hatever comes悠 will 
survive it all. I swear to you I will.・The Council痴 proclamation echoed in my 
ears. My brother was to have sole right of sovereignty over her life, residence, 
property, and issue・/em> Issue. My children.
In the next days, Karon was abandoned in his darkness and pain. I believed they 
gave him only enough sustenance to keep him alive until the day of execution. I 
prayed he would die before it, and in the same thought I would will time itself 
to stand still.
Lost in pain and sickness, his mind began to wander, but I could always bring 
him back by directing my thoughts to him. Often he would speak of the word and 
the images he believed were buried in him. The images come clearer, the less 
there is of me. There is a bridge suspended over the chasm, and I see figures 
passing over it, some anxious or frightened, some joyful and full of wonder, 
some lost, looking for their way. The bridge is so fragile・made of ice, I think, 
for it痴 so cold・but glorious light・I think it sings.
My blood burns, Seri. I feel such urgency. With everything that痴 happened, our 
closeness in these days・em>such a joy that has been・em>and all the rest of it, 
good and bad together, I致e stored up so much power that I feel as if I might 
burst with it. Do you understand, love? Tell me that you understand why I 
can稚・/em>
徹f course I understand. You told me long ago how it would be.・/p> 
But as Karon wandered in his dream world, I retreated more and more behind my 
private wall. I dared not tell him what I feared about our child痴 future. He had 
already demonstrated that his convictions were unshakable預nd so I betrayed my 
son and betrayed my own soul and kept silent. It could be five or six years 
before a child showed signs of sorcery. Everything could change in that time. 
Tomas would never harm an infant.
Karon hurried time along. I知 glad it isn稚 long. I think I can manage・em>how many 
days is it?
典wo more,・I told him.
Two more. That I can do, I think. Do they treat you decently? It must be so hard 
for you to be shut in for so bng. You hate it so. I致e been afraid to ask, and 
you致e said so little of your situation・so little of anything these days. I致e 
monopolized our time with madness. No one comes here any more, even to tell me 
lies about you.
的知 as well as I can be. There痴 a mute woman named Maddy who brings my meals and 
such. It doesn稚 break my heart that they ignore me.・I prodded him to talk again. 
I was afraid of what I might say.
In the dark hours before dawn on the first day of the week, they took Karon to 
the broad commard in the heart of Montevial and chained him to the stake they 
had erected there. The weather was freezing, and they mounted a double row of 
guards around the pyre so that no misguided zealot could rob the people of their 
pleasure at his burning.
Stars of night, it痴 cold, he said to me, once they had him bound there. But I 
don稚 think I値l make any wish to be warm. Not today. That was the only reference 
he made to what was to come. He spoke of private things that morning while the 
guards came for me: of our meeting, of his family, of our talks about death and 
life and our speculations about gods who might exist somewhere behind the myths 
of the uncaring Twins. Two serving sisters removed my dress, and clothed me in a 
penitent痴 gown, a long robe of rough, undyed wool. Then they cut off my hair 
that had scarcely been touched since I was a little girl.
So passed our last time together. I let him talk, hoping it might shield him 
from the horror that seethed around him. He did not know I watched from the 
palace balcony there in the bright winter sun and freezing wind. The whole 
morning I stood with him, until an hour past midday when the bells tolled and 
drums rattled and the first wisps of smoke floated up from the pyre.
Only then did my fear and grief erupt into frenzied babbling妖emanding that he 
save our child, begging him to free himself or to grab hold of me and take me 
with him, if he could do naught else. I called him cowardly and cruel and a 
hundred vile names. But my thoughts and words were in such chaos that he claimed 
he could not distinguish them. Hush, Seri love. Please. There is too much. I 
can稚 understand you. And when I forced myself silent, he tried to comfort me, 
who had to keep breathing while he suffered. Live, my dearest love. You are the 
essence of life and beauty, and you will shine as a beacon to me long after I 
cross the Verges. Because of you, there are no demons in this darkness. No 
moment I致e spent with you do I regret, not even this. And you must have no 
regrets either. This word I致e found is a word of healing, Seri. I feel it. I 
know it. It痴 what I知 here for, and I think that if I wait until my power is at 
its greatest・from all that happens・ then perhaps I値l do what I知 here on earth to 
do. It痴 a good thing to believe.
But I could not answer. I did not believe. I closed off my mind and averted my 
eyes, and when the flames took him, I could not listen to his cry. Only much 
later, in my dreams, did I hear the word he shaped from his will, and the fire, 
and his destroyed flesh. 泥但rnath!・/p> 
CHAPTER 21
泥但rnath!・I cried out, startling myself awake, the horror of the familiar dream 
swept away in the moment of revelation.
Baglos looked up from the tiny, smokeless fire that crackled in the hut痴 
firepit. 展hat is it, woman?・/p> 
A few last golden arrows of the summer sunshine shot through the thick canopy of 
the trees and the unshuttered window of the charcoal burner痴 hut. I had fallen 
asleep in a dim corner after my return from Yurevan, only to dream of the fire 
yet again. But instead of desolation, bitterness, and self-hatred, the dream 
left me with a confusion of feeling so intense that the sunlight felt drab and 
lifeless.
典en years ago, my husband spoke that name・How could he possibly have known it? 
He hadn稚 heard your stories. Your history. Buried・hidden・inside him. Your dead 
king痴 name. A word he could imbue with all his power as he died・hoping・ 
believing・that something of meaning would come from it.・I was on my feet, pacing 
the room, flexing my fingers, pulling at my hair, stretching my arms to feel the 
sunlight as if all my appendages had been detached and were only now reconnected 
to my body, blood rushing into the dry, empty veins. 釘ut I didn稚 believe. I 
couldn稚 hope, because I didn稚 have the words.・D但rnath. The king who had built 
the Bridge between a land of magic and a land of exile・/p> 
And as if I had pulled it from the weft of life痴 weaving, a thread lay in my 
hand, drawn from the tangle of the past. The thread that connected past and 
present. A thread of enchantment and fate and purpose. I halted in mid-stride 
and stared at the Dulc・and the Prince with new eyes. 鉄tars of heaven・I know what 
he did!・/p> 
D誰atheil was carving on his birchwood and glanced up curiously. He motioned 
Baglos to his side and never took his eyes from my face as the Dulc・translated 
everything I壇 said. Tennice, who had been standing watch, walked into the hut 
just in time to hear my last outburst. 展ho did what, Seri?・/p> 
溺y dream. All these years I致e dreamed about the day Karon died. No matter what I 
did, no matter how much I willed the past to be gone, I couldn稚 rid myself of 
that one horror. But I think it was because I never listened to what it told me, 
the comfort it offered if I but knew how to hear it.・/p> 
的 don稚 understand.・/p> 
哲or did I until now. In all that pain and torment, Karon insisted on finding 
order and beauty. I never believed it. Or rather, I believed in what he found, 
but I never thought he accomplished anything. I heard no word of magic when he 
died. Our child was murdered. All of you were dead. I believed he failed, and I 
was so angry with him熔h, gods, for all these years I致e been so angry with 
him傭ecause he let it all happen for nothing. But I didn稚 know what to listen 
for. Today, when I dreamed it again, I heard him say the word.・/p> 
泥但rnath,・said Baglos, reverently.
The memories of those last dreadful days came tumbling out of me. 滴e found 
images with the word: a great chasm and a bridge. He was almost mad with pain, 
and I couldn稚 tell what was real and what was delirium. I put it all out of my 
mind, because I was convinced it had no meaning and I couldn稚 bear the thought. 
But now I know. Baglos, Karon opened your Gates, didn稚 he?・/p> 
的t could very well be, woman. I wish I could tell you it was so.・/p> 
典ell me about the day the Gates were opened.・For, of course, I had to know more. 
What result could possibly have been worth the price?
D誰atheil nodded to Baglos, and the Dulc・sat up straight, as he always did when 
telling stories of his land. 展hen the Gates are open, their fire burns white, 
and any may walk through without harm. But as they fail, the flame darkens, a 
fire that ravages first the spirit and then the flesh of any who attempt to 
pass. When the fire burns black・a fearsome sight葉he Gate is impassable, and the 
dismal reflection of that dark fire permeates our hearts and every part of our 
land. And so it had been for hundreds of years.
徹n that day the Zhid were attacking in a great fury, as if they thought that 
victory was only the next arrow away. In the fortress kitchens we were making 
hot soup to send out to those on the walls, for the cold winds were blowing off 
the Wastes. The runners thought their legs might fail from making so many trips, 
but they didn稚 complain. Too often they would go back for the empty pots and 
find the one to whom they had delivered it dead or his mind stripped away in the 
way of the Zhid that is worse than death.・/p> 
The Dulc・transitioned smoothly from Leiran to his own language and back again. 
釘ut then came a peal of thunder, and we felt a surge of power, a storm of light 
and glory as if the Veils葉he colored lights that grace the northern skies in 
summer揺ad descended on our hearts and infused us all with joy and hope. Though 
no one of us in Avonar had lived when last the Gates were open, we knew what the 
change signified, for there came a brilliance about every object from the most 
graceful tower of the palace to the least pebble underfoot, transforming the 
city with indescribable beauty. You could hear the warriors on the walls singing 
the Chant of Thanksgiving, so that your blood throbbed with it, and when night 
fell, no one could sleep for the singing and the talk of what the opening might 
mean. Would we wake to find the fire dark again? Would our young prince come to 
the Gate to walk the Bridge? With the strength and the light of the Gate 
infusing us, the Bridge strong, would we be able to push the Zhid back from the 
walls of the city? Would rain fall in the Wastes?・Baglos痴 voice cracked and 
stumbled with emotion.
的n his visions Karon saw brilliant light, and he thought the bridge was singing. 
How did you know it was the Exiles that opened the Gates?・Prove it to me, my 
skeptic痴 heart demanded. Convince me.
展hy, because even the Preceptors, as powerful as they are, cannot do it. Only 
D但rnath痴 Heirs ever had power enough to reverse the darkening of the Gate fire, 
and since the Battle of Ghezir, where we lost half of the Vales of Eidolon and 
D但rnath痴 sword, even they had not been capable. Prince D誰atheil was young and 
untrained and had shown no evidence of any power. We had seen no sign of the 
Exiles since well before the Battle of Ghezir. They had failed in their duty to 
walk the Bridge. But this had to be the Exiles for no one else could have 
accomplished it.・/p> 
For a moment, all I could envision was Karon痴 Avonar and its forest of blackened 
pyres. Bitterness leaked into my heart. 鄭ll those years, Baglos, why didn稚 your 
people come here and find out what happened to the Exiles? They were being 
slaughtered. Perhaps everything would have been different if someone had come 
here to see what was happening.・/p> 
釘ecause the Bridge was never meant to be crossed! It is not a roadway, but a 
link between our lands. It binds・Dar誰ethi power悠t must remain open. To make 
things right. Your passions有ife flows濫 All of a sudden the Dulc・was fumbling 
with words. A dozen false starts and disconnected phrases. Screwing his face in 
knots and tugging atshis black hair with his short fingers. 的知 sorry I cannot 
explain better today. If only D誰atheil could濫
He bit his tongue and glanced uneasily at the Prince before grasping at some 
thought and plunging ahead more smoothly. 適ing D但rnath could not allow the Zhid 
free passage to your lands. He sent J脱ttanne and his followers here to maintain 
the far Gate葉he Exiles・Gate預nd their part of the Bridge. Then he enchanted the 
Bridge with his strongest wards so that no one could use it to cross the Breach. 
J脱ttanne and his people could never return to Avonar nor any come here to succor 
them. It took the Dar誰ethi hundreds of years to discover D但rnath痴 secret way to 
make the passage. By that time, of course, the Gates were long closed. All was 
done for your mundane land痴 safety.・/p> 
I puzzled at these spotty explanations, but no path of reason led me anywhere 
that made sense. We had to unlock D誰atheil痴 mind. If the Bridge was only an 
enchantment, then what did Baglos mean when he talked of people crossing it? 
What chasm was so wide that people could find no other way around it?
的t痴 near sundown, Seri.・Tennice held out my cloak. 展e have an appointment. 
Perhaps more of this mystery will come clear with it. The thought that some 
higher purpose was served by all that misery・I壇 like to think it. But your 
evidence wouldn稚 stand in any court of law.・/p> 
滴e did it,・I said. 適aron opened their Gates.・No matter what the sense or 
nonsense of Baglos痴 explanations, my bones resonated with the truth of my dream. 
I had been adrift for so long. Now, perhaps, I had found an anchor.
The streets of Yurevan were full of people, hurrying through patterns of 
lamplight and shadow. I was afraid to expect too much from the meeting with 
Celine, but after the revelation of the dream, it was hard to keep myself in 
balance. What other truths might I discover, now that this one basic 
understanding was so changed? By the time the four of us entered the quiet, 
narrow street near the herb shop, my heart was racing.
The shop was closed and dark, shutters drawn, but Celine had instructed us to 
enter through her rear courtyard, where Kellea would meet us. Yellow lantern 
light and the heavy scents of herbs and flowers guided us through a dark 
alleyway, and we found Kellea waiting amid the crowded boxes and planters. But 
her greeting was not at all what we expected. In her hand was a battered, yet 
quite serious, sword. 泥on稚 think that because I知 a woman, I知 incapable of using 
this. I practice, and I知 very good.・/p> 
撤lease believe me,・I said. 展e wish no harm to either of you.・/p> 
溺y grandmother took me to a sorcerer-burning when I was a child. She said it was 
馬ecessary・for me to learn of it. And so I did. Nothing is worth the risk of such 
a death: not sorcery, not you, not princes who致e lost their minds. I care only 
for my grandmother. If you mean what you say, then go away and leave her be.・/p> 

添ou say you care for her, but it痴 clear you don稚 care enough,・I said. Kellea had 
not chosen her time well, not when the truth of the dream was so fresh in my 
mind. 添ou致e chosen your own path. Good enough. But you deprive your grandmother 
of the same dignity. Is it because she痴 old? Is she incapable? You致e listened to 
no lesson she痴 taught, if you set yourself up to make her choices for her.・/p> 
鄭h yes, the holy 埜ay of the J脱ttanne,・・said the girl, sneering. 展ell, I despise 
their Way. I will not submit to my 素ate,・and I will not let you endanger my 
grandmother. You don稚 know. You didn稚 see it.・/p> 
The arguments might have come from my own mouth. And only on this day did I have 
any reason to refute them. 釘ut I have seen it. The one I saw burn was my husband 
whom I loved beyond anything on earth, and I had to let him do it.・/p> 
Kellea shook her head. 添ou池e a fool.・/p> 
添es, I was a fool, but only because I didn稚 trust the choices he made. I could 
see only the horror and grief that would result from them. He believed there was 
more. I知 still not sure he was right用erhaps the universe does have some larger 
pattern that I just can稚 see傭ut it was not my place to judge.・/p> 
適ellea?・The dry voice floated from the window.
徹ne moment, Grandmother.・/p> 
At Celine痴 call, Kellea痴 sword point drooped only a hair痴 breadth from its ready 
position, but it was enough for D誰atheil. In a motion as quick and fluid as a 
dancer痴, he snatched the weapon and laid it on the brick paving stones beside 
Kellea痴 feet, bowing in mock courtesy. We left her fuming in the courtyard while 
the four of us walked into her kitchen and through a hallway to Celine痴 door.
鼎ome in, come in,・said the old woman. The evening breeze carried the fragrances 
from the courtyard planters through the sitting-room window, and a white china 
lamp painted with pink flowers cast rosy shadows over the walls, leaving the 
boundaries of her little domain indistinct. 擢orgive us. My granddaughter is 
headstrong.・/p> 
鉄he loves you very much,・I said.
的 wish邑ell, perhaps someday she will find joy in her talent and her life. So 
this is our mysterious pair?・/p> 
The Dulc・and the Prince stood on either side of me, while Tennice crowded the 
passageway behind us. 溺adame Celine, this is Baglos of the Dulc髞唯aglos bowed 
with great dignity, one arm behind his back, and Celine nodded graciously in 
return欄and this is D誰atheil, whom Baglos tells us is a prince of the royal house 
of Avonar.・The Prince stood stiff and expressionless. Wary, I thought. 
Uncertain. I hoped the season stayed calm.
撤lease excuse my lack of courtesy, Your Grace,・said Celine, beckoning D誰atheil 
closer, deftly ignoring his rudeness. 徹nce I知 installed in my chair, not even 
royalty can dislodge me. And I致e a serious lack of thrones here. You値l have to 
sit upon your own dignity.・She tapped one slippered foot on the floor in front 
of her.
Baglos looked slightly shocked, but translated the old woman痴 words for 
D誰atheil. The young man listened gravely, then stepped out of the shadows, sat 
himself on the bare wood at Celine痴 feet, and bestowed upon the old Healer the 
gift of his smile.
徹h, my,・she said, raising her eyebrows and laying her dry fingers on his cheek. 
展hat sorcery is this? I didn稚 doubt your words, Seri, but this・this is beyond 
your telling. Beyond wonder. Can you not see・・She glanced sharply at me. 哲o, 
perhaps not. Kellea!・/p> 
The girl appeared in the doorway, her complexion an unflattering blotchy red.
適ellea, dear one, I want you beside me tonight.・/p> 
While I settled myself on a footstool beside the door, and Tennice folded his 
long limbs onto the floor beside me, Celine rocked gently in her chair, quietly 
staring at the not-at-all-self-conscious D誰atheil. Kellea took up a position 
beside the window, standing with her back pressed against the wall and her arms 
folded tightly across her breast.
泥o you know what I知 going to do?・Celine asked D誰atheil, when we were still.
Baglos, positioned immediately behind his master, translated quietly. The Prince 
kept his attention on Celine and nodded in response. The Dulc・managed this so 
smoothly, one could almost think that D誰atheil and Celine were speaking with 
each other directly.
鄭nd you consent to it? You give me permission to enter your mind and relate to 
these people whatever I find there?・/p> 
D誰atheil nodded again.
鉄eri has told you that this may help you regain your memory. That痴 possible. If 
some physical ailment is hindering your memory or your speech, I can almost 
warrant success. I am very good at such things. But what I feel in you・There is 
much in you that is not of you.・She sipped from a porcelain teacup, and then 
returned it to the small table next her chair. 展ell, we shall see. You will know 
whatever I find. I値l reflect each image I discover. Just nod your head if it痴 
familiar, and we値l go on. When we find something that is new to you, I値l tell 
the others. If there comes a time when you wish me to stop悠 understand you 
cannot speak, but just think your intent, form it clearly in your mind預nd I値l 
hear you. Do you understand?・/p> 
Once more, the Prince agreed.
The old woman put a wrinkled hand on either side of D誰atheil痴 head. Interesting, 
I thought, as the familiar tension began to vibrate throughout the room, how 
those who feared sorcery believed it came through the eyes, while Celine, like 
Karon, closed hers to begin her work. After a while she blinked them open, and 
D誰atheil dipped his head. Another while and he nodded again. So it continued. 
Silently. Forever, it seemed, until Celine abruptly yanked her hands away. She 
shuddered, sat back in her cushioned chair, and dropped her hands into her lap, 
the wrinkles on her brow very deep indeed. 撤owers of earth, what痴 happened to 
you?・Only the rosy light gave color to the old woman痴 soft wrinkles, and her 
eyes wrapped the Prince in an embrace of sympathy and concern.
的致e found no memory he does not recognize,・she said. 典he only images in his mind 
are those you致e shared. Indeed, I can find no person here, no history, no hidden 
life. I sought out his earliest memory: fierce, biting cold and immense 
confusion, an overarching certainty of danger. The next thing he knows is your 
face, Sen, frightened, angry, in a forest near a stream預 stark, powerful image, 
as if a knife blade had pierced his head. But we know that was only a few weeks 
ago, and so I started again at the cold and reversed direction. But when I go 
backward, I find only darkness. A well of darkness. Terror, confusion, loss・holy 
goddess mother, such dreadful emptiness.・/p> 
釘ut isn稚 this what you壇 expect from one whose memory is damaged?・said Tennice, 
voicing my own question.
哲ot at all. With one whose memory is damaged, I would find traces, threads from 
the hidden life. I could follow them into the dark part of the mind and work to 
heal the injury. But not with this one. It痴 as if he were newborn from chaos at 
the time he met Seri. He is as you see him, unless迫she leaned forward again and 
laid two trembling fingers on D誰atheil痴 cheek欄unless this enchantment I sense is 
responsible. If I could unravel the enchantment, heal whatever damage it has 
done, then perhaps we could learn more.・/p> 
D誰atheil listened carefully while Baglos repeated all of this, then motioned to 
the old woman to continue.
典his will be more difficult,・Celine said to D誰atheil. 徹nce we start, we must go 
to the end of it. No stopping, no changing course.・Her expression was drawn with 
worry, and, as if to soothe herself, she stroked his hair. I was surprised he 
allowed it, but indeed, he smiled for her again.
Celine痴 eyes widened. 徹h, my son, what miracle has brought you to us? Whatever I 
find in you, it will not be all of you, I think.・She reached into the sewing 
basket that sat beside her chair and pulled out a tiny silver knife and a strip 
of white linen. 典his is the way we値l have to do it, the only way I know to heal 
this deeper hurt.・/p> 
Celine locked gazes with D誰atheil, and he held out his arm to her. Then she 
opened her arms wide, and my heart swelled as she began the J脱ttanni invocation. 
I whispered the words along with her. 鏑ife, hold. Stay your hand. Halt your foot 
ere it lays another step along the Way. Grace your daughter once more with your 
voice that whispers in the deeps, with your spirit that sings in the wind, with 
the fire that blazes in your wondrous gifts of joy and sorrow. Fill my soul with 
light, and let the darkness make no stand in this place.・/p> 
D誰atheil did not even blink when the old woman scored his muscled arm with her 
little knife. When she had done the same to her own left arm, so scarred that no 
bit of flesh remained untouched, she deftly bound her paper-skinned limb to the 
strong young one. 笛壇en encour, my son.・/p> 
Celine might have been the only person in the Prince痴 universe. Curiosity and 
urgency defined every line of his body. Celine痴 eyes were closed, her only 
motion the constant, gentle nodding of her white head. About the time I came to 
the conclusion that this attempt, too, must come to nothing, the old woman痴 eyes 
popped open in astonishment, and in my head resonated a voice and a presence 
that belonged to no one in that room.
Let your ears be opened, D誰atheil, my honored prince, my beloved son. I trust 
this message finds you well and among friends. Know that it was never my desire 
to cause you the distress and confusion that cloud your mind, though it is the 
inevitable result of what I have done to you. Small comfort, I know, since you 
cannot remember me. If we succeed in our plan, then you will know my reasons; if 
we do not, then you will be beyond the Verges, and such trivial questions will 
be moot. I do not apologize, for I had no alternatives.
I had never heard such a voice, its timbre the image of thunder and wind, 
bearing within it a complexity of love, wisdom, and monumental pride. Everyone 
in the room heard the same, I judged. A pale Tennice slammed his hands to his 
ears. Kellea opened her mouth and stared at the Prince with revulsion. Baglos 
leaped to his feet, backing away from D誰atheil and Celine, hissing, 泥assine!・/p> 

To you, friends of D誰atheil, who have found a way to unlock this message, my 
gratitude and admiration. By your deeds you bolster our last hope. Some say it 
is unwise to trust any but our own with the knowledge I give you, but our days 
grow short. Now you have come this far, I must believe that you, whom I have 
entrusted with our future, are able and willing to do what must be done next. 
And so my words are meant for you as well as D誰atheil.
The man lived in my head as truly as did my own thoughts・a cool morning・ a dove 
cooing mournfully from a garden beyond an open door・fat dripping into a cooking 
fire ・I would have sworn that I heard and smelled and felt his surroundings as 
truly as I smelled Celine痴 flowers and felt the shifting airs of the mild 
Vallorean evening.
My name is Dassine. I am a Preceptor of Gondai, and I dwell in the city of 
Avonar, from whence I have sent this D誰atheil and the Dulc・who is his Guide. 
With the release of this enchantment that I have buried inside you, my prince, 
you will know how to unlock the knowledge of the Dulc・ If you have not yet 
learned of our history, of the Catastrophe that we have wrought upon ourselves, 
of the war that threatens to throw the universe into chaos, or D但rnath痴 Bridge 
that is your singular responsibility and our lasting hope for redemption, then 
you must ask these things of the good Dulc・
Baglos stumbled backward over my knee, grabbing the door frame to steady 
himself. I paid him no mind, for I was mesmerized by the enchantment, especially 
when I believed・when I knew・the sorcerer痴 words were meant for me.
Our world is not the world you know. Gondai exists side by side with your own in 
much the same way that a reflection or a shadow exists side by side with its 
original, its subordinate nature only a matter of one痴 point of view. As the 
reflection completes the image, and the shadow defines the light, so do our two 
worlds create a balance in the universe・the power of enchantment that exists in 
Gondai and the exuberant passions that flourish in your world. When life痴 
essence flows between us as it was meant to do, we are both immeasurably 
enriched.
的 knew it!・I murmured, though no one in the room had attention to spare for me. 
Another world葉he mad idea I had not been able to articulate. The only answer to 
the puzzle of two Avonars・of gates and bridges and the exiled J脱ttanne.
For thousands of years our talents, so different from those of your people, were 
nourished by the glorious abundance and beauty of our world. We knew of your 
world, too. We wandered into it freely through the many gateways that joined us, 
but we were shy of the vigorous life you lead, never revealing ourselves and 
never staying too long.
After our Catastrophe・em>a disaster birthed of three sorcerers・ pride・em>our 
world lay in ruins. Yet we believed that our connection to your world would be 
enough to empower us, even to repair such damage as had been done. But the 
Catastrophe left a Breach between us, a chasm of chaos that destroys the reason 
of any who attempt to cross it and blocks this flow of sustenance that we need 
so desperately. Thus our king, D但rnath, conceived and built this Bridge・em>a 
link of enchantment between the worlds・em>to be our salvation, to restore the 
balance and allow life to flow between as it had ever done. He and his beloved 
brother J脱ttanne pledged their lives and those of their heirs to defend the 
Bridge and the Gates that bounded it against any challenge. Once a year they 
would pass through the Gates and walk their part of the Bridge, using the link 
as a lifeline through the chaos and spending their power to repair and 
strengthen and sustain it. Their oath is a bulwark of the Bridge, a critical 
part of the enchantment that sustains it.
The Dulc・can tell you how we have fought to keep their oath for this thousand 
years, and how often we have failed. We Dar誰ethi are much diminished since the 
days of D但rnath and J脱ttanne, and stand at the verge of losing everything we 
value within ourselves, as well as without.
You children of that other world might well say, 展hat has this to do with us? 
Why should we care that a foolish and greedy people have destroyed 
themselves?・What you must understand is that our doom is also yours. When the 
Gates are closed, your world, too, falls out of balance, disharmony and discord 
festering into wars and great wickedness. And the Lords of Zhev誰a・em>these three 
of our kind who have created this disaster・em>rejoice, for the evils of your 
world nourish their power and strength far beyond what our lore can explain. 
D但rnath and J脱ttanne knew that if the Bridge were to fall, your world would 
follow Gondai into everlasting ruin. Thus, they took upon themselves the 
responsibility for your safety, as well as ours.
For hundreds of years the Gates have been closed, the Lords growing in power 
with every rising of the sun. We fear the Bridge is near its end, either from 
the corrupting influence of the Breach it spans, or from the relentless assaults 
of the Lords on Avonar. Ten years ago, the Exiles gave us one last chance to 
repair it. We have come near squandering that chance. And so now, in our last 
hour, we have sent our prince, D但rnath痴 last Heir, to walk the Bridge once more.
What I have done to you, D誰atheil, was necessary. I had counted on time enough 
to help you discover your way, to help you learn what you must do to make the 
Bridge strong and resilient. But our luck has run out. After a thousand years of 
trying, the Lords of Zhev誰a have at last discovered how to break the power of 
D但rnath痴 oath, a secret that we ourselves do not know. You are all that stand in 
their way. I fear for your life, D誰atheil, and for your soul, and I fear for the 
Bridge. It must not fall. Our enemies don稚 know what I have done to you or how 
little we know about D但rnath痴 enchantments, and so your task is even more 
difficult than they suspect.
This is a formidable burden, and in your darkness and confusion must seem 
impossible, but you must understand, my prince・my son・that there is no one more 
worthy of our trust than are you. As you learn of yourself, you will discover 
what must be done to save us. The glory of your fathers lives within you, and, 
given time, it will blaze forth as hope for the peoples of both worlds.
I thought perhaps the message was done, but anger rumbled in my belly, and I did 
not believe it was my own.
One last truth that even the Dulc・may not know. With shame I must tell you that 
not all of our enemies have the empty eyes of the Zhid. Some who wear our own 
likeness have become so lost in their despair that they致e sold their souls to 
preserve this fragment of life we call Avonar. They think that the Lords will 
honor their word, and that they themselves can embrace life again once enough 
murder and betrayal has been done. The sword of D 鄭rnath is a mighty talisman. 
Tales say it can give our warriors strength to hold against the Zhid, perhaps to 
push them back. For more than four hundred years has the sword lain with the 
Lords in their stronghold of Zhev誰a, but now these traitors have made an 
unholy・/p> 
The crash of splintering wood and breaking glass shattered our trance, breaking 
off the message. Rhythmic pounding battered the front of the herb shop, as if 
someone were trying to kick in the door. Emitting a string of oaths that would 
make a soldier blanch, Kellea retrieved her sword. 典ake care of my 
grandmother!・she cried, as she disappeared into the passage.
鉄eri, get them away!・Tennice said, drawing his sword, and starting after her. 
的値l meet you at the horses if I can. But don稚 wait for me.・/p> 
Baglos charged into the room and dropped to his knees beside the Prince. 溺y lord 
D誰atheil! Come quickly!・But D誰atheil痴 gaze was locked on Celine.
溺adame Celine, we must go,・I said, forcing my voice calm as I crouched beside 
the old woman痴 chair and snatched up her healer痴 knife. 的 need to cut the 
binding. Please, can you hear me? I値l wait for your word.・/p> 
徹ne moment,・said the old woman softly. 的 must look deeper. I must know what he 
is.・/p> 
From the shop came a thundering crash, then shouts and the clash of swords. A 
man痴 cry of painful wounding. But around me enchantment surged, and in the midst 
of the clamor intruded a sound so at odds with all the rest, I almost could not 
name it: laughter.
Celine sat pale and fragile by her fragrant window, chuckling merrily. 鼎ut it 
now,・she said, her voice soft and hoarse. 徹h, to meet this Dassine! What 
audacious conceit! And what power to do this thing・
I cut the bloodstained linen, and Celine痴 arm dropped limply into her lap. 鉄eri, 
come here,・she whispered, falling breathless back into her cushions. 鼎ome 
close.・Even in my terrible anxiety, I could not refuse her. 添ou have to 
know,・she whispered in my ear. 鏑ook deep. It is a wonder, all濫 The old woman 
took a breath and tried to speak again, but shook her head. Then her head fell 
back, and, still smiling, she closed her eyes.
The noise from the other room grew louder. We dared not leave the old woman here 
alone. I shook her shoulder. 溺adam Celine, we must get the Prince to safety. You 
need to come with us, too. D誰atheil, you値l have to carry her.・I tried to tell 
him with知y stupid gestures and the smattering of words I knew in his tongue.
Though his face was beginning to reflect the desperate sounds from the other 
room, the Prince remained at Celine痴 feet. He took her dry, wrinkled hand and 
kissed it, and then he looked up at me, tears welling in his blue eyes. 的t痴 no 
use to take her,・he said hoarsely. 鉄he痴 dead.・/p> 
CHAPTER 22
鼎e地a davonet, sacer Vasrin,・/em> cried Baglos. The Dulc・praised his god, 
allowing himself only this moment痴 wonder at D誰atheil痴 recovery. In a succeeding 
babble of exhortation, he pushed and tugged his master to his feet, urging him 
toward the doorway, the courtyard, and escape. D誰atheil refused to move, his 
hungry gaze lingering on Celine痴 face.
She looked so peaceful. Her dry, pink cheeks were relaxed. I bent my cheek to 
her mouth that still bore the trace of her smile and felt no breath. Dead. 
Beasts of earth and sky, what had we done?
A monstrous crashing from the direction of the shop wrenched the Prince痴 
attention from the old woman. He looked up, bewildered at first, shocked as if 
someone had struck him.
溺ie giro, bence ・ Again, Baglos shoved him toward the kitchen and the outer 
door, but D誰atheil snarled, slammed him against the wall, and charged toward the 
front of the shop. 哲e, ne, mie giro!・/em> I thought the Dulc・ might tear out his 
beard. How could he imagine D誰atheil would avoid a fight? Baglos and I hurried 
after him.
The shop was in chaos. Tennice was wedged against one wall, trying to persuade a 
snarling assailant to loosen the grip on his throat by bringing down a shelf of 
jars and bottles on the man痴 head. Kellea was circling with two men at sword痴 
point. As she parried one attacker痴 sword, she used her left hand to grasp for 
whatever missile she could find預 box, a tray, a bronze measuring weight葉o hurl 
at the second man who was feinting at her with a dagger. The shop door hung in 
splinters, and a burning torch lay on the floor next to a sprawled stranger with 
a bleeding head.
Wasting no time, D誰atheil lifted Tennice痴 opponent and flung him against the far 
wall, causing another loaded shelf to crash down on him. Tennice slumped to the 
floor between two barrels, staring straight ahead, bleeding from a wound in his 
side. While I dropped to my knees and tried to revive him, wadding the tail of 
his shirt to press against the wound, D誰atheil turned to Kellea痴 fight.
敵et out of here,・Kellea yelled. 的f you care for ray grandmother as you say, take 
her out.・/p> 
The man by the doorway struggled to his feet and lunged for Kellea痴 back, while 
her other two foes moved in for the kill. D誰atheil, his handsome face 
transformed by rage, hoisted a table and slammed it into the wounded man, 
sending him back to his place on the floor. As Kellea battled the swordsman, the 
Prince pressed the dagger-wielding attacker away from her and into the wall. 
Grabbing the hand that held the weapon, he forced the dagger back on its owner, 
shoving it smoothly, inexorably into the wide-eyed man痴 throat.
Baglos shrieked and pointed toward the broken window; two more men were climbing 
into the shop. I grabbed a broken table leg, ready to defend Tennice with it if 
I could find no better weapon. But in the next instant the flames from the 
fallen torch ignited a barrel, nearly blinding me and pelting us with sparks and 
splinters. Fiery tendrils raced through the baskets, dried plants, and old 
wooden planks of the shop. Flame engulfed the front wall, quickly filling the 
room with acrid brown smoke. Kellea dropped her sword, grabbed a woven sack from 
a pile in the corner, and started beating at the flames. D誰atheil and Baglos did 
likewise. As far as I could tell through the murk, the attackers who yet lived 
had run away.
Raising one arm to shield my face from the heat and sparks, I tugged at Tennice痴 
arm. 鼎ome on,・I said. 展e need to get you out of here.・He remained limp and 
unresponsive. It was all I could do to haul him upright to lean against my 
shoulder.
Heat burst the glass jars, showering us with shards of hot glass, and flames 
consumed their contents in sweet-scented geysers of green, blue, and orange. 
Baglos tugged at D誰atheil, who was still flailing at the fire. 溺y lord, the day 
is lost! Save yourself. Please, my lord!・/p> 
Kellea slapped at her smoldering tunic. 泥amn you all,・she cried. 泥amn you 
bringing your troubles here. Where is my grandmother?・/p> 
Coughing, choking, breathless with the heat and the effort of dragging Tennice 
toward the back of the shop, I could only shake my head.
The girl stared at me in horror, then dropped her bags and ran past me toward 
Celine痴 room. No ear in Yurevan could have failed to hear her wail. 
溺urderers!・/p> 
Tennice痴 long, limp body kept sagging out of my arms. Flames licked at his 
boots, and I had to knock away a flaming bundle of dried burdock that fell from 
the ceiling, threatening to set our clothes and hair afire. Come on, come on, I 
begged silently. I won稚 leave you. My sweat-slicked hands slipped on his bare 
arms as I stumbled forward, no longer sure I was going in the right direction. 
His body slipped again, and my arms were empty. I spun around, peering through 
the smoke, panicked when I couldn稚 locate him. But a grunt just ahead of me came 
from D誰atheil who was dragging my old friend through the doorway ahead of me. A 
hand on my back was Baglos, pushing me after them.
The air in the back passage was slightly cooler. I caught a breath and wiped my 
watering eyes. Beyond the sitting room door, Kellea knelt beside her 
grandmother, her head in the old woman痴 lap, no tears softening her cold mask of 
grief. Smoke snaked through the doorway and the window.
適ellea, come away. The roof has caught.・I had to shout over the roar of the 
fire.
The girl did not acknowledge my presence.
鏑isten to me. You池e right that we致e caused her life to end, though we had no 
such intent. But I want you to know that she laughed before she died. She was 
filled with joy at what we brought her. Don稚 ruin her life痴 ending by wasting 
yours.・/p> 
敵o away. You speak of choices. Let me make my own.・Her words were shaped of 
granite.
I joined the others who waited in the firelit courtyard. Ash drifted down on us 
like unholy snow.
展here痴 the girl?・asked Baglos.
鉄he値l come,・I said. 鉄he痴 too afraid of burning to stay, but too angry to come 
with us.・/p> 
We hurried through the alley, stopping where it met the street. The fire had 
attracted a crowd. A bald giant of a man was trying to organize water buckets 
and blankets and pails of dirt, anything to keep the fire from spreading to the 
adjoining houses. 添ou can稚 go in there,・he yelled at someone in the crowd.
Outlined against the flaming shop front was a man trying to escape the hold of 
two onlookers. 鏑et me through, damn you! There痴 a woman inside.・The furious 
voice slowed my steps; it was Graeme Rowan.
溺ight be several women in there if Kellea and her granny didn稚 get out,・ 
bellowed the bald man. 釘link your eye and none of 覇m will be alive. You will be 
neither if you go in.・/p> 
I scanned the crowd for the priests. The Zhid were nowhere to be seen, but I 
recognized another face預 face I didn稚 expect to see and could never forget. My 
gorge rose. Maceron, the fish-eyed sheriff, was leaning against a fence-post, 
arms folded, unruffled, observing the frenzied mob as if the burning were a 
jongler痴 play put on for his private amusement. Ducking my face, I backed away, 
only to bump into D誰atheil. 轍uickly. Away,・I said.
鄭 moment. I値l have to carry him,・D誰atheil said in a hoarse whisper. He hoisted 
Tennice onto his shoulders, and we edged our way between the mass of onlookers 
and the dark shopfronts.
Occupants of the nearby houses were dragging trunks, bedding, and children into 
the street. A wagon filled with water barrels rumbled through the narrow lane, 
forcing the crowd to squeeze into doorways and alleys and on top of each other 
to keep from getting trampled. Despite the creeping dread that had me checking 
behind us every few steps, no one paid us any attention as we made our way 
through the crowded streets toward the city gates. Traffic thinned as we hurried 
under the gate and turned into the jumbled, stinking district of stables and 
stock pens outside the walls. Baglos paid the hostler, while the Prince handed 
me the reins of Tennice痴 horse and put Tennice up on his own mount. 鏑ead us,・he 
said, after he had gotten himself into the saddle behind Tennice.
Where to go? Tennice needed warmth and care and time for us to care for his 
injury. I dared not return to the charcoal burner痴 hut, lest we壇 been followed 
from it, yet I couldn稚 feel safe so long as we were in Yurevan. After the 
disaster I had brought down on Ferrante, Celine, and Kellea, I couldn稚 seek out 
another friend, even if I had one. But that consideration gave me sudden 
inspiration. I would seek out the friend to whom I had already brought disaster. 
釘ack to Ferrante痴 house,・I said. 典hey値l never look for us there.・/p> 
Neither D誰atheil nor Baglos questioned my judgment, though I questioned myself 
often enough as we left Yurevan behind us and raced through the dark 
countryside. But luck rode with us, for we saw no sign of pursuit. The parkland 
and orchard were silent as we slipped into Ferrante痴 stableyard, the cherry 
trees as still and somber as gravestones in the night. D誰atheil carried the 
insensible Tennice through the kitchen garden, back the way we had come only one 
long day before. The house was dark and deserted. Still no sign of Ferrante痴 
servants. I tried not to think about the professor, frozen in his death terror 
just up the stairs.
D誰atheil laid Tennice on the tidy white bed in the steward痴 bedchamber, neatly 
tucked away next to the kitchen, while I collected candles, water, brandy, and 
clean towels. Baglos set about lighting the stove, promising to put water on to 
heat as soon as he had the fire going.
When I returned to the bedchamber, D誰atheil was sitting on the bed beside 
Tennice, studying him intently, brushing the graying hair from Tennice痴 thin 
face. The wavering candlelight revealed the burdens of the day written on 
D誰atheil as clearly as the bloodstains drying on his shirt. 滴e痴 fevered.・The 
young man痴 voice was hoarse and soft.
Fever・so soon. 鏑et痴 get his shirt off.・Using Celine痴 little knife, crammed in my 
pocket and still bearing the blood of prince and healer, I cut away Tennice痴 
shirt. The wound in his side was a ragged, ugly gash, the skin around it red and 
fiercely hot, very like the injury D誰atheil had had when he first came to me. As 
I sponged the wound with brandy and water to loosen the last stiff fragments of 
linen, Tennice moaned pitifully. Worrisome to remember how ill the young, strong 
D誰atheil had been. Tennice must be past fifty and had never been robust. I 
covered the gash with a clean towel and ripped another in half to tie the first 
in place.
的 need to see if they have medicines here,・I said. 鉄toneroot or woundwort, 
willowbark for his fever. Ferrante痴 cook used herbs from Kellea痴 shop. Maybe 
they have other things.・/p> 
Baglos hovered like a worried moth at his master痴 side. 的 would seek out these 
things for you,・he said, tapping his fingertips together rapidly, 澱ut I have no 
knowledge of them today.・/p> 
D誰atheil touched the Dulc髓s shoulder. 泥etan detu, Dulc・ Find the medicines for 
the lady.・/p> 
Such a transformation came over Baglos in that instant that I could have been no 
more surprised if he had grown two heads taller. No longer hesitant, no longer 
unsure, the almond-eyed man bent his knee to D誰atheil and said with calm 
confidence, 泥etan eto, Gire D但rnath.・/em>
添ou致e remembered,・I said, as Baglos left the room.
哲ot precisely,・said D誰atheil, as he watched me wipe Tennice痴 brow with a damp 
cloth. 的 know the words to command the Dulc・ which I did not know this morning 
or yesterday, but I cannot say I remember. Nothing tells me that I ever knew 
how.・/p> 
釘ut Baglos will bring what I want?・/p> 
的f any such thing is to be found here.・/p> 
I spooned a few drops of brandy into Tennice痴 mouth, then shot another glance at 
D誰atheil, who had stepped away from the bedside, his hands clasped behind his 
back, and was examining the furnishings of the room. 泥o you know other things 
that you didn稚 before?・/p> 
哲o. Except for your language, as you see. Before tonight it was like the speech 
of animals溶othing recognizable. Only the words you taught me had meaning. 
Dassine痴 message was like a key inserted into a lock, all the tumblers falling 
into place about it. But that is not 排emembering.・・/p> 
鉄o you didn稚 learn the rest of his message or what made Celine laugh before she 
died and say・the words she said?・/p> 
的 know no more than you.・/p> 
While I cleaned blood and soot from Tennice痴 face and hands, D誰atheil leaned 
against the wall, arms folded, watching me. I urged him to have some of the 
brandy for himself, so he would not lose what little voice he had regained, but 
he shook his head, indulging in the surer remedy of silence.
Soon Baglos returned and genuflected to his master. 的t is done, my lord.・ Then 
he presented me with two paper packets. One held small heart-shaped leaves and 
was marked 吐or lacerations, scrapes, burns, festerings, mortifications.・ The 
other held strips of rough, gray bark.
典hey池e exactly what I wanted,・I said. 典hank you. Both of you.・/p> 
D誰atheil nodded. Baglos beamed, his delight dimmed only when Tennice moaned in 
his sleep.
展hen your water is boiling, we need to soak the bark・ I instructed Baglos on how 
to prepare willowbark tea and what I would need to make a poultice of stone-root 
leaves for the wound. An hour later the bark was steeping, and I was tying a 
bandage over the dressed wound.
的s there anything else to do for him?・Baglos asked, fussing about the sheets and 
pillows as Tennice痴 breath came harsh and uneven.
鉄omeone needs to stay with him. Give him the willowbark tea, if he settles or 
wakes. Later, when he can take it, we値l need broth or gruel to sustain him. It痴 
all I know to do.・/p> 
We agreed that I would take the first watch. The Dulc・said he would find 
ingredients for broth and start it simmering, and then get some rest until I 
called him to take my place.
I glanced around the bedchamber, orderly and spare as one would expect for the 
room of the steward of a well-run household. A clothes chest with a stack of 
clean, folded linen set on top of it, a wooden chair and footstool in the corner 
and a candle table beside溶ow littered with cups and spoons預 small desk holding a 
crisp ledger, pens, paper, and stoppered ink bottle, a washing stand set with 
comb, razor knife, and a stack of small leather boxes of the type to hold 
collars and belts, buckles and fasteners.
Rummaging in the steward痴 clothes chest, I found a clean nightshirt, soft and 
thin from years of wearing. I asked D誰atheil to help me lift Tennice and get the 
shirt on him. The young man did as I directed. As I peeled the remains of 
Tennice痴 shirt from his back, D誰atheil痴 eyes narrowed. 展hat is this on the back 
of him? He is no warrior. Nor slave, nor servant either, by his manner.・/p> 
On Tennice痴 back were the knotted, ugly telltales of my friend痴 captivity. Shy, 
scholarly, brilliant Tennice・My stomach clenched with anger and revulsion. 滴e 
was beaten,・I said. 鼎ruelly beaten, put to the sword, and left for dead. Those 
in power wanted him to betray his friends, to tell our king that my husband and 
our friend were planning to steal his throne. Tennice didn稚 want to say anything 
that would make our fate worse. He tried very hard.・/p> 
釘ut he did as this king wanted?・/p> 
添es.・/p> 
釘etrayed his comrades遥our husband, your friends?・/p> 
添es, but濫
滴e should have died in silence. With honor.・The Prince sounded as though he 
needed to scour his hands. 滴ow is it you still care for him?・His scorn was hot 
on my own back.
After we settled Tennice on the pillows, I tied the loose neck of the nightshirt 
and drew up the blanket. 的t wasn稚 Tennice痴 fault. Karon forgave it, and I know 
the others did, too.・/p> 
典o forgive such a betrayal濫
擢orgiveness has nothing to do with the offense or its consequences, only with 
the heart. They needed no proof of Tennice痴 love, and they壇 have done anything 
to spare him this. They were going to die anyway. There was no honor in any of 
it.・/p> 
添ou must hate the ones responsible for such deeds.・擢or many years I hated them, 
but now・I don稚 know.
Hatred won稚 undo what痴 been done.・D誰atheil gazed down at the sick man for a 
moment.
Then he walked out of the room.
I watched Tennice long into that night, holding him as he thrashed and moaned in 
delirium, sponging his face and hands when he sank into a feverish stupor. While 
he was quiet, I occupied my thoughts with the incredible events of the evening. 
It was impossible to grieve for Celine. She had been so full of joy in her 
going. I could not regret bringing her purpose and laughter at the end of her 
life. Kellea was a different matter. To leave her loose with the knowledge and 
anger she bore預nd so close to the Zhid謡as a risk. But the girl was surely 
capable of defending herself. We couldn稚 take her prisoner.
And Dassine・such an incredible story. Two worlds, reflections of each other. 
What had made J脱ttanne痴 people forget their duty? Corruption? Fear? Perhaps 
simply living in a world that was not their own had dulled and destroyed their 
memory. I could understand that. Perhaps they had felt what was happening to 
them, and created their stories and traditions, Av狸enat and all, in an attempt 
to remedy it. Whatever they had done, it seemed it had not been enough.
Storytelling had been such a part of Karon. How he would have relished this one. 
So much explained about his people. A tale of wonder, he would say, and his eyes 
would slip out of focus and he would lose himself in the imagining, building his 
power as he experienced every adventure for himself.
As the night slipped away, my thoughts lingered on Karon as they had not since 
the day I had walked out of Evard痴 palace. For all these years I had refused 
even to think his name, though reminders of him lurked everywhere like thorns 
waiting to draw blood: a dew-laden rose, the whisper of rain moving across the 
meadow, the morning sun at just the angle he had declared to be the most 
perfect・/p> 
The floor creaked. Startled from dreamy dozing, I almost leaped out of the chair 
I壇 pulled up to Tennice痴 bedside. The candles had gone out, and someone stood 
poised at the edge of the shadows. 的 came to see if all was well with you and 
your friend.・/p> 
添es. Thank you, D誰atheil,・I stammered, smoothing my tunic and pushing the hair 
out of my eyes. 典ennice is asleep. I must have fallen asleep, too. I need to 
fetch Baglos.・/p> 
He was already gone again. As I walked into the kitchen to wake the Dulc・ I 
shuddered slightly. The scent of roses still lingered from my dreaming.
CHAPTER 23
For more than a week, Tennice hovered between life and death. Baglos and I got 
enough tea and broth into him to sustain him through the bouts of madness that 
battered him like waves in an ocean of terror. The wound itself should have been 
well on its way to healing in a week痴 time, but it swelled and seeped black 
fluid just as D誰atheil痴 had done. Baglos swore it was tainted by Zhid poison. He 
had seen such wounds often, he said, with exactly the same symptoms. 
Unfortunately his people knew no remedy except to seek out a Healer.
Baglos seemed to take Tennice痴 illness as a personal affront, and he expended 
hours of tender care on the sick man. Over and over, as he redressed the wound, 
I would hear him murmuring indignantly, 展hy, why, why Zhid poison? Those men 
were not Zhid. They did not want him dead・
Not Zhid, no. The attackers had been ruffians with brawn enough to smash shop 
windows, but so little skill they could be outfought by one warrior, a girl of 
twenty, and an aging scholar with poor eyesight. True, Graeme Rowan, a man I 
knew to be a Zhid informant耀till a puzzle in itself揺ad been in the street 
nearby. Yet, if the attackers were Graeme Rowan痴 men, then why was Rowan so ill 
prepared for our escape? Maceron was there, too. He had hunted Karon and 
betrayed him to Darzid・Darzid who had been hunting D誰atheil. But if the 
attackers were Maceron痴 men, out to destroy a den of sorcerers at Darzid痴 
behest, then why Zhid poison on their blades? No arrangement of alliances and 
evidence made sense.
My companions were no help in clearing up my confusion. Though D誰atheil had 
found his voice, he was more aloof than ever, as if the breach in his wall of 
silence made companionship less necessary. He refused to be drawn into 
conversation with me beyond the plan for our current meal or setting the watch. 
Poor Baglos fared little better, despite his frequent attempts to engage his 
master in discussion of the future. D誰atheil would either interrupt him with a 
rude command or bolt outdoors. For either of us to see the Prince except at 
mealtime was an event worthy of remark. Strangely enough, Tennice痴 illness was 
the single thing that drew him into our company.
On our third night at Verdillon, Tennice became so violent in delirium that 
neither Baglos nor I could control him. We were struggling to keep him still, 
when his flailing hand sent Baglos sprawling. The loud crack when the Dulc髓s 
head struck a table said nothing good about the his ability to come to my aid. I 
was desperately trying to prevent Tennice from kicking over the lamp when he 
cried out in mindless terror and one of his hands smashed into my eye. 
Temporarily blinded and losing my hold, I felt hands drag me away and thrust me 
firmly into a chair.
I pushed back my hair and wiped my watering eyes to see D誰atheil sitting on the 
bed behind Tennice, wrapping his arms around my friend痴 writhing body. One by 
one the Prince captured the flailing limbs, trapping them within the confines of 
his own long arms and legs. 典assaye, tassaye,・/em> he whispered. Softly, softly. 
Before very long Tennice gave a shudder and fell still, though his haunting 
moans and terror-glazed stare yet tore at my heart. I grabbed a damp cloth and 
blotted Tennice痴 face, using the opportunity to spoon willowbark tea between his 
dry lips. Soon it seemed the worst was past.
添ou can lay him down now,・I said. 的値l tend him.・/p> 
D誰atheil shook his head. For another quarter of an hour he held the sick man. 
Only when the moaning and the racking shudders had stopped completely and 
Tennice slept did he untangle himself and slip the older man痴 body onto the 
sheets.
典hat was well done,・I said, noting several bloody scratches on his arm. 鏑et me 
take care濫
鼎all me if he is in need again.・D誰atheil hurried out of the room.
Though I chafed in frustration at D誰atheil痴 reticence, I hesitated to push him 
too much. It had been easy to patronize him when he was only a lost youth with 
an annoying temper. But now I had begun to think of him as a prince, and, though 
rank held no awe for me, his position as the last scion of a magical race from 
another world could not but separate him from the ordinary. He had a great deal 
to think about. As did I.
That Dassine meant for me to aid D誰atheil in his mysterious task seemed certain. 
Yet I was not sure I was willing. If Karon痴 dying and its mortal consequences 
had presented the Dar誰ethi with a chance to win their war, then I had already 
given all one woman could be expected to give. Perhaps it was time to get on 
with my own life and leave this brute of a prince to deal with his. Besides, he 
seemed uninterested in my help.
Baglos refused to enlighten me on any matter regarding the Prince痴 mind, 
claiming that a Dulc・Guide痴 bond with a Dar誰ethi precluded it. The link between 
them was of such an intimate nature that it demanded inordinate trust, he said. 
When a Dulc・participated in the madris, the rite of bonding, he permitted his 
knowledge, his actions, his very perception of the world to be shaped by his 
madrisson痴 command. And whenever the Dar誰ethi partner invoked his power to 
access his madrisse痴 store of information, he, in essence, left his own mind 
open and vulnerable to the Dulc髓s insatiable craving for information. Thus, when 
the madris was performed, the Dar誰ethi madrisson swore never to misuse his power 
of command, while the Dulc・madrisse vowed never to betray his master痴 privacy. 
Because D誰atheil had not commanded Baglos to tell me anything of their 
discussions, the Dulc・could not and would not do so.
All right. I could understand such an arrangement, but the subject of the future 
must be broached, whether it suited His Grace or not. On the evening of the 
fifth day since the fire, I decided the time had come. Baglos was watching 
Tennice while D誰atheil and I ate the simple supper the Dulc・had prepared. 
Perhaps if I spoke before the Prince finished eating, he wouldn稚 bolt.
I set down my cup. 泥o you believe the things this Dassine told us?・I began.
D誰atheil pushed a bit of turnip about his bowl with a chunk of bread. 的 know 
very few things, but that I can say. Dassine did not lie.・/p> 
滴ave you decided what to do?・/p> 
的 must try to accomplish what痴 needed.・/p> 
泥o you understand what that is?・/p> 
的致e had no magical insights.・His curt response seemed nothing more than the 
rudeness I had come to expect. Yet, as I searched for some reason to keep on 
caring about him, I noted how tight his skin was stretched and how long and thin 
were J;he new lines about his eyes. The shifting candlelight made him look 
deathly tired.
滴ave you been sleeping?・/p> 
鉄ome.・This declaration was in no way convincing.
展hat prevents you?・/p> 
的 watch.・He tossed the half-eaten bread into his unfinished soup and shoved the 
bowl away.
釘ut we致e all taken our turns watching. There痴 been no sign of anyone. Why濫
典he Seeking comes almost every night. Your friend痴 suffering draws it. I 
can・divert it・if I知 awake. They know we live, but they don稚 know where we are. 
It must stay that way.・/p> 
典he Seeking・ I had taken my turns walking the garden and the front courtyard. 
How could I have missed the insidious dread, the sensory horrors? But then I 
recalled D誰atheil staring into the fire back in Jonah痴 cottage, listening to 
things the rest of us could not hear. Perhaps the essence of the Zhid Seeking 
was not the alteration of light or the wafting stench. 添ou should have said 
something. We can share that watching as well as the other.・/p> 
添ou and the Dulc・care for your friend.・/p> 
展e can do both. You don稚 have to bear these burdens alone.・/p> 
He shrugged.
鄭ll the more reason we must decide what to do next,・I said. 的f the Zhid are so 
close, we need to be away from here as soon as we can move Tennice.・/p> 
釘ut I don稚 even know where to begin.・He stood up abruptly, knocking over his 
chair. I expected him to storm out of the kitchen, but instead he began to 
circle the table, words pushing and crowding themselves past his reserve like a 
sudden cloudburst on a quiet afternoon. 鄭 thousand times I致e gone over it. This 
Bridge悠 have no concept of its nature or form, no clue as to its location. No 
one knows anything of the Breach it spans, save that its horrors drive people to 
madness and 盃nbalance the universe送whatever that means. Baglos tells me that the 
Heir of D但rnath walks upon the Bridge and performs some enchantment to prevent 
its corruption by the forces of the Breach. Clearly I am expected to do this 
努alking,・but no one can tell me of the enchantment I must work, and my own 
people doubt that I am capable. Oh, yes, and these Zhid likely want me dead. The 
Dar誰ethi assume that my death upon the Bridge will destroy it.・/p> 
Astonished at this outburst, I found myself searching for something to answer 
him. 典he Gate. Start there.・/p> 
He dropped into his chair again, leaned his forehead on the heel of one hand, 
and stared at the table. 典he Dulc・says it is a wall of fire hidden in a chamber 
that only I am able to unlock・assuming I am who they claim. One passes through 
the wall of fire in one world, and after the perilous crossing of this Bridge 
which he cannot describe, one emerges in the other world濫
痘from the other Gate. They call the one in this world the Exiles・Gate.・/p> 
摘vidently, that痴 the usual way. But he says the destination can be changed 
before or during the crossing, and that痴 likely why the Dulc・and I and the Zhid 
who followed us came out at different locations.・This colorless recitation of 
facts could not obscure his doubts.
添es, Baglos says he was 巴lown・from the Gate by what he calls the 
吐racturing苧displaced abruptly from it and you by some enchantment. But if you 
are to perform some deed at the Bridge, then those who sent you would want to 
make sure you could find it.・I spoke faster as I bent my mind to the mystery. 
展hat if the destination was changed to protect you from the Zhid who had broken 
into the chamber? Perhaps only Baglos and the Zhid were removed from the 
Exiles・Gate, not you. So if you go to the place where you first set foot in this 
world濫
釘ut I remember nothing of it. You heard the old woman.・Louder. Harder. His 
control was slipping again. But he wasn稚 going to learn anything if he wallowed 
in doubt.
典hink about it. Work at it. What was the terrain? The landforms? Were there 
towns or villages nearby?・/p> 
His lips formed a stubborn line as he shook his head. 的 ran. Days and nights 
without stopping, as if I had been running forever.・/p> 
鄭nd so it appeared when you came to me. You were starving, exhausted, and sick. 
Baglos says he had been hunting for you for fourteen days when I found him. If 
you came straight to me from the Gate, then the Gate must lie ten days葉en days 
running庸rom Dunfarrie.・/p> 
添ou池e guessing.・His fingers traced the grain lines in the oak table with such 
intensity that I would not have been surprised to see smoking patterns etched 
into the wood. He had dropped these few bits of himself in my hands, but clearly 
he had no confidence that I could make sense of them.
Yet I was not discouraged溶ot with the most intriguing mystery of my life 
unfolding in front of me. I jumped up from my chair and began my own pacing. 
鄭nother conclusion we can make. It was cold. Baglos says he felt the 琶cy 
breath・of the Zhid at the crossing. Celine said that your earliest memories were 
confusion預nd bitter cold.・/p> 
鼎onfusion, certainly.・/p> 
Pieces snapped into position. 鄭h, but you see, Karon told us, too. In his 
vision. When he found the word of healing buried inside him, he said he felt 
cold. The bridge he saw was made of ice.・/p> 
釘ut it痴 summer.・His rebuttal was more a question than a protest.
摘xactly. But if you were to travel ten hard days straight west of my cottage, 
where would you be? Deep in the heart of the Dorian Wall, the highest mountains 
in the Four Realms, mountains so high that the snow never melts.・/p> 
典he royal city, Avonar, is in the mountains, so Baglos says,・said D誰atheil 
softly. His hands fell still as he looked up at ne. 鄭nd that痴 where the Gate 
exists in the other world, my world. Perhaps they built both ends of the Bridge 
in mountains.・/p> 
添es. In the mountains. They would have wanted it hidden, hard to find, hard to 
stumble onto by accident. It would have to be safe・a special place・a fortress・ 
Stars in the highest heavens・the answer lay before me as clear as my name. 
泥誰atheil, I know where it is. Or at least where to find out. There痴 a map!・/p> 
滴ow so?・/p> 
典he J脱ttanne built a stronghold called Vittoir Eirit at a place that was sacred 
to their ancestors, although they had forgotten why. One of them left a map, 
telling how to find it. We値l have to decipher the map・ I was afraid to let 
myself feel excitement. The evidence was so flimsy, the prospects so uncertain. 
Tennice had never seen the map, so his memory couldn稚 reproduce it. I would have 
to go to Montevial and gain admittance to the vaults. I could envision the exact 
place where the journal was hidden. No one would have disturbed it. I told 
D誰atheil about the journal, and the Writer, and Karon痴 and my futile attempts to 
interpret the map. 套 but with you and Baglos, it痴 possible. When Tennice is 
well, we値l go get it.・/p> 
On the next day Baglos called me into the sickroom. Tennice had wakened and 
would not quiet until he spoke with me. He was so weak that Baglos feared to 
deny him.
展here is he?・Tennice痴 eyes blinked wide open as soon as I kissed his hot 
forehead. 展here痴 Karon?・/p> 
I sat on the side of his bed and stroked his thinning hair. 滴e痴 dead, Tennice. 
Ten years dead. You remember.・/p> 
滴e stayed with me. In my head.・His eyes burned with more than fever. The 
pounding of his blood was visible through his pale skin.
添ou were his friend, and he loved you. And it helped him, too, to be with 
you.・/p> 
迭un away, Seri. Take him away from the darkness.・Tennice clutched my hand with 
no more strength than a child. 典he shadow will destroy him・enslave us all.・/p> 
展e値l leave here as soon as you池e better.・/p> 
添ou must get him away.・/p> 
滴ush, Tennice. Karon is beyond the Verges. No one can harm him any more, and all 
the shadows have fled with your dreams.・I took a cup from the Dulc髓s hand. 滴ere, 
have some soup. Baglos is a cook without peer.・After two swallows, Tennice fell 
asleep again.
Unsettled by Tennice痴 delirium, I wandered into Professor Ferrante痴 study. On 
the night of our return to Verdillon, Baglos and D誰atheil had come here to 
remove the professor痴 body, only to discover that someone had already done so. 
Baglos claimed it was not the way of the Zhid either to hide or bury their 
victims, so we assumed the household staff had done it. But we had seen no 
further sign of Ferrante痴 servants. In almost a week, neither friend nor foe had 
come to Verdillon. It was very strange.
The study was quiet and sunny, a lovely high-ceilinged room painted yellow and 
white. Leirans having no foolish notions about unquiet spirits, I was not 
uncomfortable in the room. Only my mind was tainted with the lingering aura of 
murder, not the place itself. Baglos and I had both spent a number of hours 
there in the past days, the insatiable Dulc・devouring the professor痴 books and 
maps while I poked through the records of Ferrante痴 teaching. On this afternoon 
I lost myself tracing students・names and studies, so that it seemed only a short 
time until the tall clock downstairs began to strike the hour. It struck slowly, 
reminding me both that I ought to wind it and that I was past due to relieve 
Baglos. As I left the library, a sunbeam glinted off something nestled in the 
thick carpet. I picked it up, a brass button of the type used on military coats. 
Guilty at having abandoned the Dulc・ I thought little of it and dropped it in my 
pocket.
On the next morning, just at dawn, the mystery of Ferrante痴 missing servants was 
solved. After turning my bedside duties over to Baglos, I went out to walk in 
the kitchen garden to get a breath of air. The nighttime coolness had yielded 
early to one of the few hot days of Vallorean summer.
My mind raced ahead of my feet that morning, as I considered the problem of 
getting into the storerooms of the royal antiquities collection. Habits from my 
years in Dunfarrie had me stopping every few steps to pull up a straggling clump 
of threadweed that threatened a healthy plant or to pick a precocious bean that 
had ripened earlier than its fellows. When I found a row of carrots whose tops 
bulged from the damp soil, I stooped to pull a few of them for our supper. The 
carrots were hidden behind a row of trellises draped with limp pea vines, and so 
it was through the leafy barrier that I came eye to eye with a small, 
smudge-faced girl. Both of us stepped backward in surprise. The child recovered 
quicker and streaked for the iron gate in the garden wall, but I had longer legs 
and grabbed the waif before she could make her escape.
鏑et me go!・cried the child in Vallorean. She looked to be eight or nine years 
old, with stringy hair that might have been straw-colored had it been it clean. 
展e致e leave to take bits from the garden. Master said. I知 not stealing.・Tears 
rolled out of the child痴 long-lashed eyes, streaking her grimy cheeks.
添ou can keep the vegetables.・The child clutched an onion and a tiny cucumber 
tightly in her stained apron. 笛ust tell me who you are. Come on, what痴 your 
name?・/p> 
適at.・/p> 
泥o you live nearby? On the grounds here perhaps?・/p> 
The child clamped her mouth shut.
的 promise悠 wish you no harm. Was it Professor Ferrante who gave you permission 
to take things from the garden?・/p> 
Kat nodded, her lips quivering. 釘ut he痴 dead now.・/p> 
添es・I know.・My surprise had me stumbling. 撤lease, Kat, can you tell me what 
happened here? Where are your mama and papa?・/p> 
溺um痴 dead, just like Master.・Kat nodded with a weary acceptance that had no 
place on the shoulders of a child. 鉄ame ones as killed Master did it.・/p> 
敵racious gods・did・did they kill everyone?・/p> 
鉄ome ran off to the woods. But Mum fell and got tramped on by the horses. She 
didn稚 remember me before she died, nor even her name. I don稚 want those men to 
come back.・Kat gave a big sniff and wiped her face on her sleeve, leaving the 
sleeve and the face equally smeared. 添ou池e hurting my arm.・/p> 
I loosened my grip, but did not release her. 的 didn稚 mean to hurt you, Kat. It痴 
just that I知 frightened of the wicked men, too. Are you hiding with your papa, 
then?・/p> 
She shook her head. 展ith Aunt Teriza. She was Chloe痴 helper in the kitchen.・/p> 
鄭nd the bad men didn稚 hurt her?・/p> 
展e was gone to market that day. As we come back through the fields, we saw 
everybody running and screaming. We致e been hiding in the root cellar all these 
days for not knowing what else to do. Aunt Teriza痴 terrible afraid.・/p> 
鼎an you take me to your aunt? Or perhaps you could bring her here? You could get 
more vegetables, and I could talk to her.・I laid my beans and carrots in the 
child痴 apron. 典ell her that my name is Seri and that I知 here with Master 
Tennice, the professor痴 friend.・/p> 
鉄he痴 out by the gate.・/p> 
鼎ould you bring her? Will you trust me?・/p> 
Kat nodded, and when I let her loose, she sped down the path. In only a few 
moments, a rumpled, grimy young woman approached timidly, holding the little 
girl痴 shoulders protectively.
撤lease, don稚 be afraid裕eriza, is it? My name is Seri. I知 a friend of Master 
Tennice.・/p> 
The young woman curtsied abruptly, cast her eyes down, and sat obediently on the 
bench I indicated, her hand gripping Kat痴.
適at, there痴 a pot of soup on the stove. Go on and help yourself to all you 
want.・Brightening considerably, the child ran off, leaving Teriza looking even 
more uncomfortable. 適at tells me you were cook痴 helper here.・/p> 
添es, ma誕m.・/p> 
鄭nd Kat痴 mother worked here, too?・/p> 
添es, ma誕m. Nan was chambermaid for ten years, since she was fifteen. She got me 
the place when it come up.・The woman痴 eyes filled with tears.
的知 so sorry about your sister, Teriza. Kat is lucky to have you to care for 
her.・/p> 
適at痴 a good child. Nan and I thought she might get on as scullery in a year or 
so.・/p> 
典eriza, could you tell me of the ones who did these horrible things? Did you see 
them?・/p> 
I needn稚 have worried about prying the story out of her. She poured out the tale 
as if it were burning a hole in her stomach. 的t was the awfullest sight, miss. 
We come through the fields, tripping along smartly, for the day had made out 
rainy, and Chloe was anxious for the goods for the master痴 birthday feast. When 
we come round the north paddock, we heard screaming so terrible it chilled my 
blood. I told Kat to get in the root cellar, for the commotion sounded like the 
war back when I was a girl. I thought maybe the Leiran soldiers had come back 
again.・She glanced up at me, flushing a deep scarlet.
的 crept up behind the stable, and peeked around, and saw what I hope never to 
see again in my years on this earth. Chloe and Jasper were running through the 
stableyard wailing, their eyes orange and bright like you hear about demons・ 
eyes. Chloe was tearing at her hair like it was burning her head, and it was all 
down flying wild, and her head was bloody from pulling at it. The two of them 
ran off into the woods. Then Loris come from the house, crying to Damien, the 
stable lad, 熱aster痴 been murdered!・Damien stopped her and says, 埜hat do you 
mean?・And Loris was crying and said, 乃he demons. The demons slit poor Master痴 
throat・And right then, two men揺orrible men that I couldn稚 bear to look on幼ome 
out of the house and pointed their fingers at Loris and Damien, and the two of 
粗m screamed so痴 you thought their arms and legs was being pulled off. Then they 
ran into the woods too, and Damien pulled out his knife and started cutting his 
flesh to bits as he ran.・/p> 
Silent, dignified tears dribbled down Teriza痴 smudged cheeks. 鄭ll I could think 
of was to find Nan. Sure enough, she runs out of the house into the yard, 
wailing like a cat what痴 prowling. I was going to run grab her, but I feels Kat 
up close behind me. I lay on top of the child and shushed up her questions, and 
in no more time than a fingersnap, four riders come barreling from the front of 
the house, and they see Nan・and, oh, miss, they just trompled her down. When the 
riders was gone, we run to Nan, but she looked wild, and said, 埜ho are you?・She 
didn稚 even know her own child or her own sister.・A single sob escaped the young 
woman痴 control.
撤oor Nan.・I put my arm around the girl痴 shoulders and released the flood.
鉄he died right there,・the young woman snuffled into my shoulder. 適at and I took 
her to a hole down by the stream where they dig out ice in the winter. We put 
her in, and closed up the hole, and tried to say a prayer for her, though I don稚 
know my prayers as I should. But then I didn稚 know what to do, for I thought of 
Master murdered, and I知 the only one left to tell. No one壇 believe me, and they 
might think I done it. But Master was fair and honest and I壇 never・
The stretching shadows took on a more ominous cast. I squeezed Teriza痴 shoulders 
as I gazed around the garden uneasily. 徹f course you didn稚 do it. Master Tennice 
is ill just now, but we値l get him well, and he値l advise you. Until then, you and 
Kat must stay with us in the house. My friends and I are at least a little 
protection.・/p> 
Teriza straightened her back and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. 的壇 
be most grateful, ma誕m. And most willing to do my duties or whatever might be 
needful. It痴 a blessing to be sure to hear Master Tennice is alive. We didn稚 
know but what the wicked men got him as well.・/p> 
敵ood. It痴 settled then. All I ask is that you keep private any of our 
conversation that might seem・strange. If Professor Ferrante trusted you to be 
discreet, I知 sure we can also.・/p> 
添ou can trust me, ma誕m. I promise.・/p> 
None of this made sense. Why were we still unchallenged? If the Zhid had killed 
Ferrante and the servants so easily・Perhaps D誰atheil痴 efforts were indeed 
shielding us. I considered Maceron and Rowan and the Zhid again, but I still 
could not get all the puzzle pieces to fit together.
Later, as a more cheerful Teriza washed up the dishes and wiped the table, I 
asked her again about a part of her tale. Tennice had said something similar and 
I hadn稚 thought to question it. 添ou said there were four men riding out.・/p> 
鄭ye, ma誕m.・/p> 
典ell me about them. Three of them were priests, is that right?・/p> 
鄭ye. Three of them wore robes such as priests do. And the Leiran wore a 
coat.・/p> 
鄭 Leiran?・/p> 
的 believed him so, as he spoke only Leiran. Nan was teaching me, for Master had 
guests as was Leiran, and Nan said everyone in service should speak enough of it 
to do her duty. He wore a dark coat with shiny buttons.・/p> 
鉄hiny buttons・ I reached into my pocket for the brass button I壇 found in 
Ferrante痴 library. Closer examination revealed what I hadn稚 noticed before. The 
design engraved upon the button痴 slightly tarnished surface was a dragon葉he 
dragon of Leire.
展hat was the Leiran like, Teriza? Did you get a look at him?・/p> 
哲o, ma誕m. They went by so fast. He wasn稚 so tall as the priests. Light hair. 
Looked strong. But I didn稚 see his face, as it was raining, and I was so 
scared.・/p> 
Of course, I knew a light-haired Leiran who wore a dark jacket with Leiran 
dragons on it, someone who had done business with the Zhid once before宥raeme 
Rowan, the upright sheriff.
It was a great day when Tennice was able to sit up and eat a few shaking 
spoonfuls of soup for himself. We all made a fuss over him. Even D誰atheil smiled 
and said he was pleased our patient had improved so fairly.
滴ow long has it been?・Tennice asked.
哲ine days. We were thinking you were going to sleep until winter,・I said.
典hank you all. What can I say?・/p> 
鉄ay you池e feeling better.・/p> 
He smiled weakly. 哲o question of that.・He fingered the thick bandage on his 
side. 的 don稚 understand how a stupid knife wound could have such effects. Such 
nightmares. Vile. Strange.・/p> 
釘aglos thinks it was Zhid poison. D誰atheil had a wound with similar effects.・/p> 

Tennice looked at the Prince strangely. 添ou helped me a great deal, sir. Took me 
through the worst of it. It痴 difficult to remember exactly how迫his voice 
faded欄but I thank you.・/p> 
D誰atheil tipped his head without speaking.
Kat made Tennice her special charge. She brought him food and clean linen, 
chattered to him when he was awake, and sat quietly at his side while he slept, 
solemnly feeling his brow for fever. She scolded him when he was up too long, 
demanding that D誰atheil or Baglos help him back to his bed, and she held his 
hand while he went to sleep, 都o the master won稚 have wicked dreams.・Tennice, for 
his part, was endlessly charmed and mystified by Kat痴 whimsical view of the 
world.
But with all his progress, I could not predict when Tennice would be well enough 
to travel. He must have felt my anxiety on the morning I told him of my belief 
that the path to the Exiles・Gate was the very same map Karon and I had puzzled 
over for a year.
添ou must be off to get it then.・/p> 
鄭s soon as濫
He laid a finger on my lips. 哲o. Much as I would like to have the resilience of 
a twenty-year-old, no amount of wishing will make it so. We had many a 
discussion of realism at Windham, and I remember a young woman declaring that 
she could never understand why people refused to see themselves as nature sees 
them. 念ne should rejoice in the wisdom of years,・she would say, 杷or it痴 of so 
much more value than youth痴 brute strength.・・/p> 
哲ot fair to bring up a girl痴 silly prattle.・/p> 
鉄he was right. While you are off adventuring, I will stay here. Teriza and Kat 
will spoil me unmercifully. I致e food, wine, an abundance of books and paper, and 
immense quantities of ink. How could I lack? When you settle on a destination, 
leave a message with my father. This latest brush with mortality has convinced 
me that I must visit him. Once done, I値l find you again. No god or demon will 
prevent it.・/p> 
CHAPTER 24
套 dead these ten months. Our only boy. I致e needs to tell my man. Please, Your 
Worship.・/p> 
添our husband works in the armory, you say?・The guard eyed the black ribbon tied 
around my sleeve and nodded knowingly. From the number of sleeves with black 
mourning bands I had seen, everyone in Montevial had lost a son or brother or 
father in the war.
鄭ye, sir. Journeyman, he is. Honored to serve the king. And our Tevano was a 
legionnaire溶o conscript.・I moaned and pulled my apron up to cover my face, lest 
the young guardsman look too close and unmask my charade. One of his fellows, an 
older man with a thick red beard, had been staring at me from his post on the 
far side of the squat palace gate towers.
鄭ll right. Go on then. But straight to the armory and straight out again.・/p> 
I dipped my knee and hurried through the dim passage under the gate defenses, 
taking care to avert my face from the red-bearded guard as I passed. Perhaps it 
had been foolish to enter the same gate Karon and I had used almost every day 
for two years.
Once across the outer ward, I angled away from the direction of the armory and 
headed for the workrooms Karon had taken over for the Antiquities Commission. 
For the first time in ten years, I approached the palace of the kings of Leire 
with anticipation rather than dread. Even the flying red banners that told me 
Evard was in residence could not slow my steps as I sped down the brick-paved 
roadway that separated the palace proper from the stone monoliths that were the 
royal storehouses.
The next task was to discover if anyone I knew was still employed at the 
Antiquities Commission. Everyone who had worked for Karon had respected and 
liked him, but they would have had to undergo the 菟urification・mandated at the 
trial, an expensive and humiliating ritual, so I couldn稚 summon much confidence 
that I would find someone familiar, much less sympathetic and unafraid. Matters 
looked even worse when I crossed a graveled yard to the Commission workrooms and 
found them occupied by a noisy, sweating army of leatherworkers.
展hat痴 your business?・asked a bearded workman, dropping a daunting roll of hides 
about three paces from where I stood gawking in dismay. From this dark, stifling 
den of hammering, cutting, and stitching would come the mountains of saddlery, 
harness, and boots needed for the warriors who had carried Evard痴 war into 
Iskeran.
的 was to bring a message to the secretary at the Antiquities Commission,・I said. 
鄭nd I didn稚 think to ask where it was. Last time I had to deliver something, 
this was the place.・/p> 
的t痴 been a while since you致e carried a message then, girl, or you致e got fair 
lost along your way. I致e worked here eight years.・/p> 
展here is it moved then? My mistress will beat me sure if I don稚 deliver my 
message.・/p> 
鄭ntiquities, you say?・The man scratched his greasy beard. 泥on稚 sound 
familiar.・His expression was vague. He had no idea what I was talking about.
典hey work with old things dragged in from everywhere: statues, tablets, armor, 
tools, boxes, things used to decorate tombs, and such like.・/p> 
徹h. Like loot from the war?・/p> 
添es. Yes, exactly that.・/p> 
溺aybe it痴 those fellows down to the pit.・/p> 
典he pit?・/p> 
添eah. That痴 what we call it. Buried like moles, they are. Round behind this 
building you値l find a cellar stair. Go down, and in, and down some more, and 
give a shout. Those moles might be the ones you池e looking for迫he gave me a 
good-natured, gap-toothed leer欄unless you decide you like us fellows better, up 
here where you can see and get a breath of air at the same time.・/p> 
I smiled at the sweating man. 哲ot today. But if I find the man I知 looking for, 
you致e saved my goose, and I値l not forget it.・/p> 
敵ood enough.・The man hoisted his smelly bundle onto his broad shoulders and 
staggered into the noisy workshop.
When I found the cellar stair in the weed-choked alleyway behind the 
leatherworks, the steps were littered with leaves and twigs and chunks of broken 
paving, and the door at the bottom of the stair looked as if its hinges had been 
rusted shut since the Rebellion. I made my way carefully down the crumbling 
stair, wrenched open the heavy door, and stepped inside.
I felt hollow and sick at the sight of the dark and deserted passage. No demons 
here, I thought, but wasn稚 sure I believed it. The only sound besides the empty 
reflection of my steps was a quiet, regular tapping from the far end of the 
sloping way. I tiptoed past gaping blacknesses toward the source of the noise. A 
weak pool of lamplight spilled from a doorway on my left. The tapping stopped, 
and I peered cautiously through the opening.
A dark-haired man was bent over a table littered with tools and dust and broken 
chips of stone. The rest of the small room was crowded with stacks of crates and 
old books, heaps of rolled manuscripts, and shelves crammed with bottles and 
jars and rags, paint pots and boxes of every size and shape. A mangled oil 
painting lay on the floor beside a carved wooden horse that must be at least 
eight hundred years old. From Iskeran, I knew. Horses were sacred to the Isker 
gods. The man raised a small hammer and began tapping at something on the work 
table.
摘xcuse me,・I said.
The man jerked around, dropping his hammer with a clatter. He was small and 
dark-skinned with black, curly hair just beginning to show signs of gray. His 
nose, mouth, and chin came to a point in such a fashion as to be vaguely 
reminiscent of a rat.
迭acine!・/p> 
The man squinted at me, frowning. 展ho痴 there? Step into the light, if you 
please. I can稚 see in the dark, though those who ration lamp oil must think it 
so.・/p> 
I stepped into the room and had the disconcerting experience of having someone 
collapse in a dead faint at the sight of me. Someday, I thought, as I sniffed 
Racine痴 pots and jars to see if one contained water or wine, someone will greet 
me with an ordinary, 滴ello, Seri, how are you today?・/em> I satisfied myself 
that the contents of a fat green jug were not toxic and proceeded to dump them 
in Racine痴 face. I sat down beside him on the floor while he sputtered and shook 
his head like a pup, propping himself against the foot of his table.
溺y lady! My apologies. I悠t痴 just悠 didn稚悠 thought濫 The man痴 mouth opened and 
closed like a fish痴.
的知 sorry for startling you. You needn稚 be afraid. It痴 not unlawful to speak with 
me. I知 on the king痴 parole, not a fugitive.・/p> 
哲o. No. I just assumed・
的知 not a ghost either.・/p> 
He pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket and blotted the drips running down 
his face. 笛ust surprised. Amazed. It痴 so quiet down here. No one comes. Arid it痴 
been so long. What痴 brought you here, my lady?・/p> 
的知 visiting the city, and I was curious to see what had become of the 
collection. I知 happy to find it in your care.・/p> 
His color deepened to scarlet. 徹h, my lady, to call this care! I知 the only one 
left, you see. There痴 no money to do the things we did. And the collection・ 
pffft. Waging war in Iskeran is terribly expensive, I suppose. Anything that can 
be sold has been sold. All the bronzes melted down, and the silver. What gems 
were left in their settings dug out. Even the swords and armor taken away to use 
or to melt. Paper and stone are all that痴 left, and much of that was destroyed 
after濫 His eyes darted toward me fearfully.
添es, they would have done that. But you池e still employed. Who痴 the commissioner, 
then?・/p> 
He leaned close and dropped his voice. 哲o one. None dared show interest in the 
post. I知 still secretary, but to Commissioner Nobody. I知 not sorry for that. I 
can stay down here and do what I can. They just brought this lot from Kerotea. 
All rubbish save the horse and this box.・Sitting on the workbench was a 
cube-shaped case of cracked and peeling leather, bound in corroded brass. 的知 
working to get the hinge pins out so as to get it open, careful as Master Ka葉he 
commissioner葉aught me.・/p> 
Heaving a great breath, Racine climbed to his feet, straightened his back, and 
gave me a gracious hand up off the floor. Though no longer rattled, he was not 
yet easy. He opened his mouth to begin several times, and then blurted out quite 
suddenly, 的 never thought to see you again, my lady.・/p> 
的知 sure you didn稚. I never thought to be here again.・The unexpected encounter 
with Karon痴 old assistant made me hope the fanciful story I had concocted to get 
me into the vaults might be unnecessary. Racine clearly wanted to talk. I let 
him.
As he offered me his stool that was the only seating in the tiny room, he drew 
up his brow. 的致e often thought・wished悠 could go back and change some things.・/p> 

展ho among us has not?・I perched awkwardly on the tall stool.
的 should have spoken.・He paused, his eyes unfocused as if he were looking inside 
himself, before reaching out to meet my gaze. 哲o one but you spoke for him. I 
should have done. All Reagor痴 prattling, those stupid, impossible lies about 
flying boxes and living mummies, and no one said anything to dispute him. But I 
was afraid.・/p> 
擢or good reason. It would have made no difference, Racine. You would have died 
for it.・/p> 
釘ut it wasn稚 right. At first迫he averted his eyes, his color deepening again欄I 
was glad he was found out, afraid that because I壇 been close, he壇 done something 
to me・and I hated him for that. I hated him for deceiving me and making me so 
afraid. But at the trial, I listened to what you said, and it made such plain 
sense. And I saw what they壇 done to him, and I thought how he was a good man, 
just and fair, and teaching me, trusting me. I couldn稚 believe the wicked things 
they said about him. I thought someone should speak up, but I couldn稚. All these 
years and I still haven稚 got my nerve up even to say his name here in the dark, 
where there痴 no one to hear it.・/p> 
典hank you for telling me, Racine. You mustn稚 feel guilty. The Holy Twins 
themselves could have spoken for him, and nothing would have been any different. 
But you致e just made life very much easier for me!・/p> 
Racine screwed his features into such a morosely puzzled knot that I almost 
laughed. 的 had another purpose for my visit. Regarding the collection. And I was 
afraid I壇 find no one here that I knew. Or that if there was someone I knew, 
they壇 spit on me and chase me away.・/p> 
Racine put on his most businesslike face and bowed to me. 的t has been quite a 
long time since I致e had a request that was not in the vein of 排emove this 
useless refuse from my sight,・or 租on稚 you have anything of real value.・It would 
be a pleasure to assist you, madam. And I give you my most solemn word not to 
spit.・He waved his hand to encompass his cramped domain. 埜hat is your pleasure? 
A review of all we have left? Not much. An examination of your most efficient 
cataloging directories? Out of date, but still useful. Perhaps an extensive tour 
of our workrooms that extend from this wall here all the way to that one right 
there, a whole two paces longer than my armspan?・/p> 
的 wanted to find something. Something we catalogued that I would give a great 
deal to see. If I could get into the southwest vault・
Racine痴 smile wilted, and my spirits with it. 典he southwest vault? Would it were 
another. We had to abandon the southwest vault, as it was wanted for something 
else. I moved as much of the contents as I could, but they didn稚 give me much 
time. A good deal of it was burned. What was it you were looking for?・/p> 
鄭 leather trunk. Very old. It was in one corner, buried under a pile of rolled 
carpets.・/p> 
He tapped his long fingers on his cheek. 的 don稚 know. It doesn稚 sound familiar. 
You say it was catalogued? I致e tried to mark all those things that came from the 
southwest vault with their new location.・/p> 
的t had a number, but it would not have appeared on your list.・/p> 
展ell, then, we must have a look. Most of the things I salvaged went into the 
northwest vault.・Racine rummaged among the rubble on his table until he found a 
large ring of keys and a tired brown leather ledger. He took his lamp from its 
bracket on the wall and escorted me into the passageway, locking the door 
carefully behind him. He hesitated a moment, then said, 展ould it suit you better 
if we were to be discreet about our journeying, my lady?・/p> 
鄭s a matter of fact, though everything I told you about my status is true, I 
would prefer that my visit be unnoticed. I promise you濫
He raised one hand. 哲o promises are necessary. This way.・/p> 
He led me down the sloping passage into the labyrinth of tunnels. A quarter of 
an hour痴 brisk walking brought us to an iron gate, soon opened by one of Racine痴 
keys. Faint rustling and murmuring floated from the yawning mouths of the side 
passages. I swallowed hard and kept my eyes on Racine痴 back. The lamp wasn稚 
nearly bright enough. The path angled upward toward another gate and through a 
wooden door.
To stand in the midst of the jumbled vault was like going backward in time, yet 
a single glimpse told me how depleted the collection was. The paintings, stacked 
so carefully, were of poor quality, the statuary mostly broken. A primitive idol 
in the shape of a raven-headed man looked blindly on the rest, the jewels pried 
from its eye sockets, its splendid belt, collar, and staff pockmarked by gouges 
and gaps where silver inlay and even the tiniest chips of gems had been removed. 
Racine led me to the corner where he had stored those artifacts rescued from the 
southwest vault, and we rooted through stack after stack of boxes and crates. I 
couldn稚 think what I would do if the trunk wasn稚 here. After two futile hours, I 
concluded I might have to make those plans.
Racine ran his finger down the pages of his ledger. 的 just don稚 know. If it 
wasn稚 in the original list・Where else could I have put it? You said it was under 
rolls of carpets.・He thumbed through the wrinkled pages, slowly and 
deliberately, squinting at the crabbed writing that filled each one until I 
thought I might have to grab the book from him or scream. But then he tapped his 
finger on one page, and said, 徹ne more possibility. I had them put a number of 
carpets in that niche behind the last row of pillars. It痴 a little drier there 
than most of the vault. If your trunk isn稚 there, then it must have been 
destroyed.・/p> 
I held my breath as he hung the lamp on a bracket in the niche beyond the 
pillars. On a raised floor a stack of carpets rose higher than my head. I took 
one side and Racine took the other, and we pulled one after another off the 
stack. No irregularity in the stack indicated the presence of anything so 
awkward as a trunk. Foolish to expect that workmen would have installed it here 
in the same way as they had found it. But when we had were almost to the bottom 
of the pile, Racine gave a shout. 徹uch! Serpents・feet! Excuse me・what・ My lady, 
please come.箔
I clambered over the mountain of carpets to the other side. Racine sat on a 
dusty roll of wool, nursing a great bleeding gouge in his leg. 鏑ook back 
there,・he said, pointing into the dark corner of the niche. 的 backed into 
something when we were shifting that last one out of the way.・/p> 
I held the lamp high, and there in the corner, as if patiently awaiting my 
attention, was the trunk. 典hat痴 it!・Avoiding the sharp metal edge that had 
attracted Racine痴 notice so dramatically, I pulled the trunk from the corner. 
Holding my breath, I unlatched the hasp, opened the lid, and reached down into 
the dusty contents until I felt the smooth edge of the rosewood box. I looked up 
at Racine, my face hot with excitement.
I started to speak, but the man raised his hand in caution. 撤erhaps it would be 
better if you say nothing. I think I値l go and stack up these carpets that have 
so carelessly fallen upon themselves, and when you are finished with your 
sentimental tour of the collection, we値l go. And, of course, there will be 
nothing in your hands when we depart.・/p> 
I smiled at him. 添ou are wiser than you give yourself credit for, sir. I値l look 
around a bit while you stack your carpets, and then I will be ready to leave謡ith 
nothing in my hands.・/p> 
While Racine turned his back, I opened the box and looked on the precious things 
I had last seen in Karon痴 hand. I removed the tattered journal, carefully 
wrapped it in a strip of gauzy fabric from the trunk, and slipped it into my 
pocket. Then I returned the box to the trunk and pushed the trunk back into the 
corner.
I found Racine diligently laboring to get the carpets back under his discipline, 
and I lifted one end of a heavy roll. 的致e seen all I need to see. Whenever you池e 
ready, I壇 be happy to go.・/p> 
Racine nodded and said, 鏑et痴 be off then. I remember that the dust caused you 
much distress in years gone by. I can finish this later.・/p> 
The secretary led me along his underground paths, back to the door that led into 
the sunlight. I offered him my hand. 典hank you. I値l not forget.・/p> 
鄭 small thing. Nice to have someone take an interest. Someday濫
的値l come back and tell you all.・/p> 
CHAPTER 25
If only the deciphering of the journal痴 secret could be as simple as its 
retrieval, I thought as I hurried toward the service gate. Surely D誰atheil or 
Baglos would have some insight into the puzzle of the map.
The day was warm and bright. The palace courtyards swarmed with servants and 
soldiers, carters and gardeners, bustling about to satisfy the needs and whims 
of the favored populace that resided within the walls. A few more steps and I 
would be out of the palace confines and on my way back to the small, hot room in 
the Street of Cloth Merchants, where the Prince and the Dulc・awaited me.
摘xcuse me, madam.・/p> 
I tried to ignore the well-dressed man who matched his steps to my gait. The 
journal tucked into my pocket felt heavy and obvious. My cheeks burned.
鄭 word, please, if you will.・/p> 
A quick glance confirmed that he was addressing me. The gentleman who matched 
his pace to mine, trying to bow as he walked, appeared to be about my own age, 
the very model of a lesser courtier seeking to advance himself. His elegant 
attire was expensive, but in no way ostentatious, and his grooming was 
impeccable, though his light hair was precariously scant and the body squeezed 
into the dark blue breeches, ruffled shirt, and silk waistcoat precariously 
soft.
Cursing my ill luck, I dipped my knee and cast my eyes to the gravel path. 的s it 
me you want, my lord?・/p> 
的ndeed, my lady. Lady Seriana of Comigor, is it not?・A practiced eye assessed 
everything from my short ragged hair to my heavy, shapeless boots, even as he 
ducked his head.
泥o I look to be one with such a lofty title, sir?・/p> 
添ou were recognized when you entered the gates, my lady, and I was sent to await 
your return here. Your brother would have a word with you.・/p> 
的 make no claim to any brother.・/p> 
撤lease, please, madam迫he fluttered his eyelids and raised a deprecating hand欄I 
am acquainted with your reputation for verbal agility, and I will cheerfully 
concede you victory from the beginning. I dislike games of all kinds, almost as 
much as I dislike coercion. I would much rather you come freely. The duke would 
very much like to see you and will not permit me to accept a refusal.・His eager 
courtesy set my teeth grinding.
I started toward the gates again. No point in further pretense. 典o what method 
of coercion will you so regrettably resort when I say I have no intention of 
calling on the murderous son of my parents? Rope? Chains? Your oh-so-tastefully 
modest sword? Or perhaps you will just call for guards?・/p> 
The man kept pace with me, entirely unruffled, his hands clasped behind his 
back. We might have been conversing about an upcoming dinner party. 的 make no 
claim to understand the depth of estrangement between you and the duke, madam. I 
am new to his service. But it is my impression that His Grace痴 request, though 
insistent, does not stem from animosity. He says that once you hear him out, you 
may be on your way. Will you not take a moment to alleviate your own curiosity, 
if not to satisfy His Grace痴 wish?・/p> 
An insightful gentleman indeed. Not at all like Tomas痴 usual associates. No 
sardonic glint in his eye as there would have been in Darzid痴. Where was that 
snake?
My companion nicked a finger, and three guards in bright red livery appeared, 
hovering about us like bright hummingbirds around a particularly succulent 
flower. They kept a discreet distance, but they blocked every direction save the 
one in which my companion gestured. 典his way, madam.・/p> 
鉄o you choose the last of my scenarios. The cowardly one.・/p> 
撤ragmatic. Better for all. My name, by the way, is Garlos.・/p> 
When I stepped through the palace door, the years and the walls closed in on me. 
I wished fervently to close my eyes and transport myself to the hard, splintered 
bench in front of Jonah痴 cottage. How much better to breathe the sweet air of 
the valley, rather than the stifling, three-hundred-year-old deadness of this 
place.
Garlos led me through the echoing warren of bare walls, steep stairs, and 
creaking floorboards that were the servants・passages. A quarter of an hour 
later, we stepped through a discreetly placed door into long, wide gallery. The 
paneled walls were hung with weaponry: a shield of burnished bronze as tall as a 
man, blazoned with the rising sun of Annadis, a saber with a ruby-studded hilt, 
halberds, pikes, and a wicked-looking pick-like ax with a long head set square 
to the haft, curved and blunt on its top edge, pointed on its outer edge and 
sharp as a dagger on its lower. The lamplit alcoves sheltered heroic statuary 
and gem-studded armor. A turning led us into a portrait gallery in which twenty 
generations of princes and queens, kings and generals simpered, frowned, or 
stared from the walls, enough gold in each man-high frame to ransom a city. 
Thick red carpet muted the sound of our passing.
We stopped before an elaborately carved door, and while I cooled my heels beside 
the statue of a naked warrior, Garlos tapped quietly and slipped in. I pretended 
to study the statue. The stares of passing courtiers and servants were more 
intimately humiliating than my yearly appearance in the Great Hall. The interval 
until Garlos opened the door and summoned me inside seemed far longer than it 
was.
It was the custom for the king to present his champion with an expensive gift 
each time the swordsman took a challenge for him and returned victorious. From 
the look of it, Evard had not lacked for challenges, nor Tom as for victories.
Upon a hectare of priceless Isker carpet stood a wide desk of the rarest 
gaonwood, the sheen of its finish displaying the intricate perfection of its 
twisting grain. A mantelpiece of rosy Syllean marble was a fitting centerpiece 
to an impeccably selected collection of ancient swords. Fine leather chairs were 
grouped about the hearth. Another wall housed a library worthy of the University 
itself, the diamond-paned doors of the bookcases displaying what must have been 
a thousand volumes bound in perfectly matched red leather, tooled with gold. Not 
one of the books looked as if it had ever been opened.
To complete the decor was the Duke of Comigor himself, a masterpiece of 
skin-tight, dark blue breeches and full-sleeved blue satin doublet, trimmed 
liberally in gold lace and belted with a jewel-studded green sash. He stood with 
his back to me, gazing out of the glass-paned doors that led onto his private 
balcony. So favored an apartment would surely overlook the royal family痴 private 
gardens.
The door closed behind my escorts, leaving the two of us alone, but Tomas did 
not acknowledge my presence. Well, two could play. I stood unspeaking just where 
Garlos had left me, my hands folded primly.
But when Tomas turned around at last, the face I saw was not the one I expected. 
Pride was there, but no hatred.
His eyes were not scornful, but cloudy and troubled. 展hat are you doing here?・he 
said.
Perhaps I was mistaken. 哲one of your business.・/p> 
泥on稚 start this again, Seri.・/p> 
撤ardon me, Your Grace. I am here because the Duke of Comigor, the Champion of 
Leire, has summoned me. I was given no choice in the matter.・/p> 
He clenched his fists. 滴and of Annadis, why can we not hold a reasonable 
conversation? You pride yourself so on rational behavior.・/p> 
典ell me, Your Grace, how does one hold a rational conversation with a murderer? 
It痴 a behavior I was never taught. Must I curtsy or is complete obeisance 
proper?・/p> 
Tomas reddened. 的 saved your life濫 Before the words left his tongue, he tried to 
recall them. 徹h, confound it all. We can稚 get bogged down in the past. Let痴 
start again and try to be civil.・He took a breath. 展ill you sit down? Can I send 
for wine? Something to eat?・/p> 
的値l stand, if you please. And I値l take nothing from you.・/p> 
擢ine.・He fingered a pen that had been carelessly dropped onto the desk, 
disturbing its sterile order. 展hen I heard you were on the grounds, I decided it 
was time I spoke with you about this. It痴 been on my mind for a long time, but 
there痴 been no opportunity.・/p> 
添ou know where I live, Tomas, and you well know where I can be found on the 
first day of autumn in each and every year.・/p> 
My brother clenched his jaw and snapped the pen, throwing it on the floor. I 
told myself to resist further goading for I was, indeed, immensely curious, and 
the J脱ttanni journal weighed heavy in my pocket. My brother stepped close, so 
stiff I wondered he could walk. I folded my arms. Feeble enough protection. But 
nothing would have prepared me for his words.
鉄eri, I want you to come home.・He rushed ahead, giving me no time to recover 
from my astonishment. 的致e gotten you a full pardon from Evard. Your parole will 
be satisfied. You値l never have to do that・thing・again, if you値l come back to 
Comigor.・/p> 
添ou池e mad.・It was the only explanation.
的t痴 not right, your living the way you do.・/p> 
滴ow dare you pass judgment on me! You know nothing of my life. You致e never 
understood the least thing about me. Do you see my circumstances as yet another 
untidy blot upon your honor?・/p> 
哲o! It痴 not that. Look at yourself, Serf. How long has it been since last you 
looked?・Before I could protest, he grabbed my shoulders and propelled me to an 
ornately framed glass that hung among his displays.
It had been a very long time. I had to blink and sort out the image at first, 
for I had never realized how much Tomas and I resembled each other. But there 
was a world of difference, too. I could still see traces of the girl I had been, 
but my red-brown hair was dull, my complexion roughened by years in sun and 
wind, and my eyes had lines at the corners and knowledge in their depths that 
had never been reflected in my mirror at Comigor. And I was very shabby. My 
white shift was frayed at the neck and wrists, my tunic threadbare, my brown 
skirt faded, wrinkled, and not terribly clean. I looked altogether straggly and 
tired, like a garden gone wild.
泥oes it offend you more that I知 poor, Tomas, or that I知 thirty-five?・/p> 
He didn稚 answer, and I looked again at my brother痴 reflection, seeing in his 
brown eyes something I壇 not seen in them for years. Sarcasm and anger lost their 
purpose, leaving only the dregs of years and bitterness and too much sorrow. 展hy 
ever would you believe that I would care what you think of me, or how I live, or 
what I do? Is it shameful that I eat only what I can grow or barter for or that 
I wear the same skirt every day of the year? And do you think those things 
should bother me enough that I would share a roof with my son痴 murderer?・/p> 
He turned and walked away from me, rubbing the back of his neck with his long, 
powerful hand. 哲o. Those things have nothing to do with anything. So stupid to 
think I could do this without going back・ In a voice so soft I had to work to 
hear it, he said, 的 dream, Seri. Bloody nightmares that have not left me since 
that day. Desolation and ruin. Fire. And sorcery. I see you with that knife in 
your back・and the child・oh, holy Annadis, the child・The dreams eat away at me 
until I feel I知 living in that horror, and my waking life is the dream.・He spun 
about and held up his hand, his eyes closed. 泥on稚 say anything yet.・/p> 
He took a breath and continued. 添ou may never believe me, Seri, but I was 
convinced預bsolutely葉hat what I did was right. That all of it was for the best・ 
for the family・for you. I致e thought that the dreams haunted me because I was 
weak, not because I did anything wrong. But in the last few days, my dreams have 
gone away, vanished as if they壇 never been. A mercy it seemed. But instead・ It痴 
as if I致e had no clear thought in fifteen years, and only now can I even begin 
to see what happened to us. To you. And now, if the dreams should return, I don稚 
know what I値l do, for only the conviction that I was right kept them at bay. 
Then, on top of it all, I hear you池e at the gates today, and it痴 like a madness 
in me that I can稚 let you leave.・/p> 
I started to speak, but he interrupted again. 哲o. Not yet. Hear me out, for I 
don稚 know what痴 opened my eyes or loosened my tongue. I leave the city in three 
days. There痴 been a challenge, a serious one, from some rebel chieftain in the 
west. I知 to take care of it, of course. It痴 a strange and nasty situation, but I 
thought nothing of it until this other business came up. But now・
His tongue would not form the words, but he was my brother・as close as a twin. I 
could read in him the thing he could not say. 添ou池e afraid, Tomas. Why?・/p> 
的 have a son, ten years old. I知 often away from Comigor for months at a time, 
and I致e never thought twice about it. It is my duty. But this time・ He paced the 
length of the room before he could go on. 溺aybe this is what happens when a 
soldier痴 luck runs out耀ome say they know beforetime. The only thing that comes 
into my mind is to get you to Comigor to be with him, and then I could be 
easy.・He ended his pacing by the balcony doors and slammed his fist into the 
lintel so hard that it rattled the glass. 泥amnation! I知 a lunatic.・/p> 
Magpies screeched in the invisible garden. A fountain splattered and gurgled. 
Fingering the telltale bulge in my pocket, I considered my brother痴 incredible 
confession. I did not believe that he was mad.
典omas, where is Darzid?・/p> 
My brother turned, gaping at me as if I had asked him the price of fish in the 
market. 展hy?・/p> 
笛ust answer me.・/p> 
滴e痴 gone off to Valleor on urgent business庸amily business謡ith some old friend, 
or cousin, or something.・/p> 
鄭nd did the change in your dreams happen before he left?・/p> 
哲o. What are you getting at?・/p> 
鄭fter he left, then.・/p> 
哲o謡ell, not exactly. It was only when I came back here from Comigor. Darzid had 
been down near Fensbridge shopping for a new horse when he got called away. He 
has nothing to do with any of this. He壇 tell me I was a fool to speak with 
you.・/p> 
Shopping for a new horse. Not hunting a missing groom. One by one I placed 
Tomas痴 words into the puzzle written in my head, but I could not yet read the 
answer. 泥id he know you were coming to Montevial?・/p> 
哲o. My business here came up suddenly. Seri濫
泥on稚 interrupt. Has he ever left you for so long before?・/p> 
撤erhaps once or twice. He is the most faithful and loyal of lieutenants.・/p> 
釘ut would it be correct to say that, since Darzid was appointed as your aide, 
you have never, until this week, been in a place he didn稚 know you to be?・/p> 
典hat痴 stupid.・/p> 
鄭m I right?・/p> 
溺ost likely that痴 true, but濫
哲ow answer me this. Who made the 播iscovery・that Martin had sheltered a sorcerer? 
Who unearthed those incredibly ridiculous witnesses? It was Darzid, was it 
not?・/p> 
Tomas looked as if someone was twisting a knife in his belly. 的t痴 the kind of 
thing I pay him to do. To gather information.・/p> 
鄭nd who first told you about Karon?・/p> 
泥arzid, of course, but he濫
展ho convinced you that only you, of all the bastards in Evard痴 multitudes, had 
to murder my son?・/p> 
鉄eri濫
鄭nswer me!・/p> 
泥arzid said that濫
徹f course,・I murmured. Darzid who had come to me with an improbable tale of old 
hatreds, who believed he was not living his own life, who felt that something 
had changed in the world when Karon died and had demanded・no, begged me to tell 
him of sorcery・典urn over any slime-covered stone in this kingdom, and it is 
Darzid that slithers away.・/p> 
展hat do you mean?・/p> 
鉄omething a very wise man told me years ago. Perhaps it was truer than even he 
knew.・Somehow I knew that Darzid was not just hunting sorcerers. 典ell me, Tomas, 
did you meet Darzid痴 friend, the one who accompanied him to Valleor?・/p> 
Tomas threw up his hands. 鼎learly there痴 nothing more to discuss. You wanted to 
leave. I値l call Garlos, and you can take yourself to perdition as you will.・He 
had closed himself off again.
添ou may have your scribes record this momentous event, brother. For once in our 
lives we are in agreement. We have nothing more to discuss. And I値l not go to 
Comigor except as your prisoner.・/p> 
鉄o be it.・Tomas pulled the bell and turned his back.
I was not about to tell my brother of my own business, but as I watched his 
stiff back, I recalled what I had seen in the mirror. We were flesh and blood. I 
moved close behind him and said, quietly, 的 understand what it took for you to 
speak to me in the way you have, Tomas. Unfortunately you致e credited me with a 
more generous nature than I possess. But in return, I値l tell you this. I fear 
Darzid. I fear him more than I fear you and more than I fear Evard. If I were 
you, I would look into the eyes of Darzid痴 friend, and if they池e as empty as I 
believe you値l find them, I would hide my wife and my son and tell no one in the 
world where they can be found.・/p> 
He didn稚 answer. I didn稚 know if he had even heard.
Garlos led me back through the palace, looking pleased with himself. 添ou see? It 
was just as I predicted,・he said. 添ou are free to be on your way.・/p> 
鄭s you predicted,・I said. 典ell me about yourself, Garlos. Is our friend Captain 
Darzid so tired of playing nursemaid to a spoiled brat that he leaves you in 
charge of my brother now?・/p> 
The man痴 face lost its smiling aspect. 的 am not privileged to be one of Captain 
Darzid痴 staff. His Grace decided to come to Montevial very suddenly. I知 a member 
of the administrative staff of the Guard, and was asked by His Grace to perform 
the duties of his aide while he is in residence here.・/p> 
的知 sure you understand that discretion is, above all, a virtue that my brother 
prizes.・/p> 
The man was very eager. 的 believe I have few rivals in that department.・/p> 
擢or example, this whole business with me・family business・
的致e not been given leave to discuss it with anyone.・/p> 
鄭nd that would be anyone, no matter how close to the duke.・/p> 
徹f course.・/p> 
摘xcellent. You値l go far.・/p> 
As I disappeared into the crowds outside the service gates, I imagined Garlos 
staring after me, wondering at himself listening to political advice from one 
who looked as if she should be scrubbing the palace floors.
CHAPTER 26
Hot, sticky, my head jangling with the unaccustomed noise of the city, I shoved 
my way through the crowded Street of the Cloth Merchants. The sultry air was 
thick with the acrid stink of simmering dyepots, and everyone had moved out of 
the stifling shops in search of a breeze. Multicolored awnings stretched across 
the street like a paint-streaked sky. While sweating tradesmen tossed and 
stacked bags of fleece and bolts of cloth of every conceivable color and weave, 
hawkers screamed out the virtues of their threads and yarns, buttons and 
ribbons.
I wasn稚 sure what to make of Tomas痴 story. Guilt was known to haunt and terrify, 
and Tomas had earned his own particular nightmares. Now I was back in the 
daylight world, my creeping fancy that Darzid was somehow connected to the world 
called Gondai seemed ludicrous. He had been Tomas痴 aide for sixteen years and 
served Evard and King Gevron before that. I had no evidence that Darzid or his 
villainous henchman Maceron were guilty of anything but doing their sworn duty 
to exterminate sorcerers. Perhaps the Zhid were simply attracted to the most 
despicable residents of any world. But my brother痴 testimony had only 
strengthened my irrational conviction. Why would Tomas痴 dreams stop so abruptly 
with his separation from Darzid?
鉄eri, girl!・/p> 
I whirled about to see a fluttering red kerchief waved by a white-haired man 
elbowing his way through the mob toward me. 笛aco, what are you doing here?・/p> 
He mopped his forehead with the kerchief. His grin seemed to wilt in the heat. 
釘arrels. You致e heard me tell of my old friend Roger the Ox, the fish-seller? He 
sent word last week that he was short of barrels. I had the lot from the wreck 
of the Mind, so・ He shrugged his wide shoulders. 釘ut yourself, girl. What致e you 
been about? Have you learned more about our young fool and his business? Has he 
found his tongue yet? Did you know that Graeme痴 in the city?・/p> 
迭owan痴 here?・Though we had seen no evidence of pursuit on our journey from 
Valleor, D誰atheil had sensed that we were being followed. He wasn稚 sure whether 
it was the sheriff or the Zhid priests・or both together.
鄭ye, he痴 about, and you壇 best stay clear of him. He was like to split his gut 
when he came back from Grenatte and found you gone. Said you壇 best be back 
before Sufferance Day, and how he壇 a few things to ask you himself this year. He 
was after me to tell what you壇 been up to.・/p> 
添ou mustn稚 tell him anything. That痴 why I can稚 let you濫
Jaco痴 face bloomed as red as his kerchief. 泥on稚 say it! Dunfarrie has been 
wicked dull since you ran off. Made me see what an old fossil I致e become. 
Dry-docked, I致e been, but no more. I値l feed the horses or polish the boy痴 boots 
or whatever you like, but I値l not be left out of your adventure.・/p> 
典his is far too dangerous, Jaco.・/p> 
的知 not doddering yet.・/p> 
Would all of my words come back to haunt me? Tennice would have a good laugh. 
Mustn稚 Jacopo have the right to choose his danger, he壇 ask, just like everyone 
else? 徹f course you池e not doddering. I never meant to imply it.・/p> 
Jaco patted my arm and maneuvered me out of the way of a mule team pulling a 
wool cart much too fast through the crowded street. 典hen tell me, where are you 
bound? What did you learn in Yurevan? Sailors have friends all over用eople who 
could likely help you, if you値l just tell me what you need.・/p> 
哲ot now. I致e an errand that can稚 wait, and we mustn稚 be seen together.・ With 
Rowan close, I dared not take Jaco near D誰atheil. But perhaps shutting him out 
was wrong. If the Dulc・and the Prince failed to translate the map, an 
experienced navigator or his friends who knew of maps might be valuable. 
典omorrow, Jaco. Get your business done. At midday tomorrow, I値l tell you 
everything・
We made plans to meet at an ale shop he knew of just inside the west gates. He 
seemed satisfied, and I waved as he hurried away. I began to make my way through 
the street again, wandering in and out of the shops and market stalls, watching 
for any sign of observers as I progressed toward the far end where Bagios and 
D誰atheil would be waiting.
I had just stepped into the shade of a bright blue awning when a bull of a man 
carrying two giant bags of fleece hurried past, forcing everyone to move aside. 
No sooner had I stepped closer to the shop front than I was knocked off balance 
by three small boys careening through the crowd, trailing a rainbow of shining 
ribbons pilfered from an outraged ribbon-seller. When a firm hand gripped my 
arm, I thought some kindly passerby was helping steady me. But instead of 
finding myself upright and on my way, I was dragged into a dark alleyway between 
two buildings.
And before I could utter a word of protest, a hand clamped over my mouth from 
behind.
鄭t last!・said a man痴 voice, not unfamiliar. 的 thought I壇 have to chase you 
across all of the Four Realms just to have a simple word with you.・/p> 
So much for caution. I struggled and kicked, but Graeme Rowan was a good deal 
stronger than I and determined to hold on. He propelled me deep into the alley, 
deftly dodging the cats who snarled and raised their hackles at this invasion of 
their private feasting ground. I bit his fingers hard enough to draw blood. With 
a curse he yanked his hand away, and I spat out the blood, yelling as loud as I 
could, 滴elp me!・/p> 
Rowan immediately slapped his bleeding hand across my mouth and tightened his 
grip. 鼎urse it all, are you mad?・He shoved me into a corner of the gloomy 
alleyway and spun me around to face him. His grim face was flushed, his green 
eyes glittering. 撤romise me you値l be quiet and listen, and I値l let go. Do you 
promise?・/p> 
I nodded, almost twisting my eyes in their sockets in an attempt to glimpse the 
brass buttons on his coat, wild to see if one was missing. But he stood too 
close. Tentatively he removed his hand, ready to clamp down again if I made a 
move to scream. When I stayed quiet, he relaxed his grip on my arm a bit, but 
not yet enough for me to break away. 的知 sorry if I frightened you,・he said, 澱ut 
after the miracle of finding you in this hellish city, I値l not let you get away 
again.・/p> 
滴ow did you find me?・/p> 
的 have a friend with an extraordinary gift for following people.・/p> 
Ah, yes. His friends. I could not allow myself to be deceived by his aggrieved 
sincerity. I was in no position to run, but I did wrench my arm from his grasp. 
鄭re you going to arrest me? Where are your 杷riends・・/p> 
的致e no intention of arresting you. Now I致e come out ahead on our little game of 
chase-the-cat, the only spoil of victory I ask is two moments without argument. 
Would that be at all possible?・/p> 
的 don稚 see that I have much choice in the matter.・But I was certainly puzzled. 
He was a sheriff. No one would take him to task for questioning me. Why lurk in 
an alleyway?
He pulled a kerchief from his pocket and twisted it about his bleeding fingers. 
添ou池e acting the fool,・he said in quiet vehemence. 添ou think you池e so clever 
sneaking and hiding with your strange friends who do such extraordinary things. 
But you池e not deceiving anyone. I知 not the only one after you.・/p> 
My flip retort died unspoken as I watched the subtle changes in his features. 
The sheriff痴 unremarkable face with its weather lines and scar had never 
revealed much of his inner life. But on the few occasions I壇 seen him express 
strong feeling謡hether anger, disgust, anxiety, or anything else揺is every action 
had proclaimed his face a true mirror of his sentiments. And on this hot 
afternoon, his face told me that he was worried and afraid.
展hat do you want with me?・I said.
典his is about Jacopo.・/p> 
My hackles rose, along with a rush of guilt at the thought of my recent promise 
to my old friend. 笛acopo is not involved in my business. Leave him be.・/p> 
的知 neither a fool nor blind,・snapped the sheriff. 的 saw him talking with you not 
a half-hour since. I just want to know if he understands what he痴 doing. Is this 
some kind of playacting like you did in Grenatte or is he in need of my 
help?・/p> 
Despite my efforts to dismiss Graeme Rowan and his worries, the day shifted 
uneasily. 笛aco is in Montevial to sell barrels,・I said. 典hat痴 the truth.・ Tell 
me if you know something more. 笛aco often comes to Montevial to trade.・/p> 
泥on稚 lie to me about this. You oughtn稚 put him in this kind of danger. As if his 
keeping such company wasn稚 bad enough・ Rowan stepped back a bit and rubbed one 
elbow. 的知 out of my depth, as you well know, but you壇 best not be ignorant of 
the risks you take. It痴 naught of a secret that the odd little man was in 
Dunfarrie those weeks ago, seeking his servant with the bad temper. But do you 
know who else come hunting the two of them on that day, swearing me silent and 
claiming the whole business to be some matter of spies? It was your brother痴 
man, my lady・and with him those damnable priests.・/p> 
There it was! Darzid and the priests葉he improbable connection, joined in the 
hunt for D誰atheil and Baglos. But if it were true・Dared I believe Rowan just 
because his tale matched my instincts?
典his doesn稚 surprise you?・he said, wrinkling his brow.
徹nly that you would tell me・ But the evidence was stronger than Graeme Rowan痴 
word or my instinct. Three riders had stayed back at the edge of the meadow when 
Darzid came hunting・and I felt again my inexplicable shudders when I壇 noticed 
them. The priests・the Zhid・/p> 
Unimpeded by any argument from me, Rowan rushed onward. 典hey each went their own 
way after questioning me葉he captain and the priests傭ut I saw them together again 
in Grenatte. And now the priests are after you and your friends・and I see Jacopo 
helping them along the way, first at your place and then at the house in 
Valleor. Blessed Annadis, do you have any idea what they did to your friend痴 
servants?・/p> 
笛aco help the devil priests? You池e mad!・Why was I allowing Rowan to lure me into 
his snare? Gods, he was a sheriff! Our lives were forfeit if he uncovered proof 
of what D誰atheil was, and here I was with explanations on the edge of my tongue. 
Jaco, the kindest, dearest person on the blasted earth・ Rowan痴 accusation made a 
lie of everything he壇 said already, serving only to remind me of his other 
secrets and lies.
滴ow can I believe you, Sheriff? Perhaps your story might be more trustworthy if 
you had let me witness this great conspiracy for myself. You were quite anxious 
to get me out of Grenatte, as I recall. One might think you didn稚 want me to see 
the meetings that took place there.・/p> 
A movement behind the sheriff caught my attention, but I quickly averted my 
gaze. Rowan had not sensed the tall figure gliding silently down the shadowed 
alley.
的 knew enough to guess that your presence in Grenatte was a violation of your 
parole,・he said. 添ou couldn稚 afford to be anywhere near those people.・/p> 
鄭nd so you successfully defended the law from my depredations, while allowing 
Giano to go on his way預nd yes, I heard what they did to the professor and his 
servants.・/p> 
敵iano had committed no crime. Not then. You had. Or were about to.・/p> 
鄭nd so I知 to be grateful to the one who saves me from my own perverse wickedness 
and points the finger of blame everywhere but at himself.・Anger consumed all my 
uncertainty, making my limbs and voice tremble庸ury at a murderer who could come 
so near convincing me of his honesty and at myself for listening to him. 的知 to 
confess all my crimes to my generous savior, the upright servant of the law, one 
who protects us all by exterminating children and scholars. Who else have you 
murdered, Sheriff? Tell me the names of all your victims.・/p> 
Graeme Rowan flushed the same scarlet as the flaming emblem on his coat, but 
before he could say more, something large and heavy crashed down on his head. I 
drew back into the corner of the wall as he toppled into the dirt. Even in the 
sudden quiet, the street noise seemed as remote as my own woodland, allowing my 
own doubts and accusations to scream warnings.
Expressionless, D誰atheil gazed down at the fallen sheriff. Slowly he pressed the 
tip of his sword into Rowan痴 neck, first dimpling, then pricking the tanned 
skin, blood quickly outlining the steel. I remembered the way he had pressed the 
dagger into the attacker at Kellea痴 shop・smoothly, inexorably, relishing his own 
lethal prowess. My stomach and spirit rebelled, and I laid my hand on his arm.
The startled Prince jerked his head around. After a long, defiant glare, he 
withdrew his blade and slammed it into its sheath.
I dropped to my knees and rolled the flaccid Rowan onto his back. Blood and dirt 
covered his left temple. Truth glared up at me from his blue coat. Third from 
the bottom was a wider space than between the other brass buttons and a dark 
thread broken off. The remaining buttons were identical to the one I drew from 
my pocket.
鉄omeone痴 coming.・The Prince pulled me to my feet and gestured me deeper into the 
alley, glancing over his shoulder at the street. Rowan痴 吐riend・was after us 
again, no doubt.
Shudders crept up and down my spine as we hurried through the shadowy maze of 
alleys, past stomach-curdling heaps of refuse, dodging a ragged, toothless woman 
tending a smoky fire, kicking aside chickens and feral dogs. D誰atheil halted 
abruptly where the lane opened into a small, weedy courtyard surrounded on all 
sides by tall warehouses. Beyond a clutter of stained dye vats, splintered 
crates of empty spools, and a skeletal apparatus that I realized was a broken 
loom standing on end, was a wooden stair, clinging precariously to one of the 
buildings. After a moment痴 watching, the Prince led me through the courtyard and 
up the stairs. He tapped three times on the dark-painted door at the top of the 
stair. A bolt slid, and the Dulc・let us in.
Mountains of mouse-chewed scraps of yarn and cloth lay about the huge, dim 
attic, layered thickly with gray dust and a century痴 worth of dead flies, moths, 
and beetles. An entire civilization of spiders had abandoned their webs under 
the rafters, especially in the low space where the steeply pitched roof met the 
front and back walls. This was not the same room where I壇 left my friends that 
morning.
D誰atheil, crouching so as not to knock his head on the downsloping roof, 
positioned himself by a window with a broken shutter that looked out over the 
street below. Before I could say a word, he burst out, 添ou were gone a very long 
time. Very long.・/p> 
展ell, it痴 been quite a day,・I snapped. 釘ut I would have eliminated a few of the 
more unpleasant encounters, if I壇 known they would annoy you.・I was too tired, 
too hot, and too disturbed to put up with a rude prince, however talented at 
rescuing he might be.
He glanced at me briefly, his expression cold, then turned his attention back to 
the street. 釘ut you池e well.・He wasn稚 asking. He was telling me.
添our arrival was timely. How did you happen to be there?・/p> 
添ou were in need.・He offered no more, and I looked at Baglos for further 
explanation.
The Dulc・had rebolted the door and was shoving a pile of broken crates up 
against it. 摘arlier today, as we were returning from the market, we heard men 
making inquiries up and down the streets of this district, asking after a woman 
and two men, one man short and dark, one tall and strongly made. So we did not 
return to the other room, but found this place instead. I waited for you all 
morning by the palace gates, but you didn稚 come, so we met here to think how to 
find you. After only a short time, D誰atheil ran out the door, saying, 粘he calls. 
She is taken!・・/p> 
的 was careless. Jacopo is in the city on business. He wants to help us, and, 
like an oaf, I stood in the middle of the street talking to him. The sheriff was 
watching. When he saw me with Jaco, he pounced.・What game was Rowan playing? Why 
induce me to mistrust Jacopo? I thought they were friends. I rolled the brass 
button over in my palm, shock and anger tainted by profound unease. 迭owan wasn稚 
dead?・I hadn稚 even checked.
哲o.・It was winter in the corner where the Prince sat peering out of the window. 
Was he angry that I壇 kept him from killing the sheriff?
I chided myself for lack of resolution. Rowan had been a part of the horror at 
Ferrante痴. In his blind adherence to the law he had allowed himself to be 
seduced and corrupted by the very thing he claimed to hate. He was our enemy and 
deserved to die. But for a moment, he had been very convincing・/p> 
哲ow that you are safely with us again, was fortune kind?・said Baglos. 泥id you 
acquire the object of your search?・/p> 
I had almost forgotten the journal. 添es, I found it.・I pulled the bundle from my 
pocket and peeled away its threadbare covering. Even the Prince was drawn to 
see. The three of us gathered around an old crate, the only thing in the room 
that would serve for a table. All my irritation, all my fears, and all my 
questions fled in anticipation of revelation.
溺y husband worked for over a year translating this. He got through most of it, 
though there were some entries he was never certain of, where the meaning of a 
few words could change the whole sense. We had to destroy his translation, but I 
suppose the two of you can read this easily.・/p> 
D誰atheil ran his fingers down one page, but yanked his hand away as if it had 
burned him. 的 cannot read the ancient tongue,・he said, curtly, and stood up 
again.
Baglos turned a page, examining it closely. 的f you command me so, my lord 
prince, I could translate the entire work.・/p> 
D誰atheil looked at me. 的s that what you want?・/p> 
典he critical part is the map.・Trying not to let anxiety make me heavy-handed, I 
thumbed through the fragile pages until I found the one where the Writer had 
sketched the elusive puzzle. D誰atheil returned to the makeshift table and 
crouched down beside Baglos. As the two of them examined the page, I studied 
their faces, eager to see the first sign of understanding. It did not come. 
First one and then the other shook his head.
典hese symbols have no meaning for me,・said D誰atheil.
哲or for me,・said Baglos, scratching his beard.
D誰atheil wandered back to the window. 泥etan detu Dulc・・he said. 典ranslate the 
symbols in the diagram.・/p> 
泥etan eto, Gire D但rnath.・/em> Baglos ducked his head in D誰atheil痴 direction and 
proceeded to study the crude drawing further.
As the sky over Montevial blazed orange, then cooled into evening blue, the 
clamor from the street quieted, and the odors of supper庸rying fish, boiling 
cabbage, baking bread揺ung on the air. D誰atheil sat with his back against the 
wall, his arms resting on his drawn-up knees as he stared through the irregular 
hole left by the broken shutter. I fidgeted. The Dulc・pored over the page, 
turning it this way and that, covering parts of it with his hand, scratching 
symbols and lines on the splintered crate with a rusted nail, until I thought 
that the only activity left for him was to stand on his head. Then he began to 
leaf through the journal, reading, it appeared, but at a pace ten times the 
ordinary. But at the last he carefully closed the journal, placed it in my 
hands, and bent his head to D誰atheil. 的t is not in me, my lord.・/p> 
展hat conclusion do you draw from it?・The Prince spoke from his corner.
徹nly this, my lord. It is not a map. Or better to say, it is not a map as we 
understand maps. The symbols do not match any set of landmarks or roads in the 
area of the Dorian Wall. There is some other meaning here to which I have not 
been given the key.・/p> 
展ell done, Dulc・・/p> 
Baglos bent his head again.
展hat do you mean, it痴 not a map?・I grumbled, staring at the dilapidated little 
volume. 典he Writer says it on the page just previous. He was upset at how the 
local J脱ttanni lord had used Av狸enat to terrorize his subjects, and so he痴 
gotten the map to the stronghold. He didn稚 trust his memory, so he wrote it 
down. He wrote everything down.・/p> 
的 cannot say what he did with what he learned, my lady,・said Baglos. 釘ut he did 
not draw a map.・/p> 
滴ow can you know? I still don稚 understand why it is that D誰atheil can command 
you to read an ancient language and you can do it, but he can command you to 
translate this・diagram・and you cannot.・These two and their magics and their 
moods and their condescending explanations pricked at my patience like 
woodpeckers at dawn.
D誰atheil stretched his legs out straight and deigned to look at me. 溺aster 
Dassine has given me this understanding. A Dulc・can know those things that have 
been instilled in him by his own study or experience or by transference from 
other minds. My command as his madrisson enables him to search through himself 
for anything related to my desire. If he has acquired sufficient knowledge then 
he can tell me what I wish to know or use what is in him to find it out. He 
knows enough to state that this is not a map, but he has not the necessary 
information to know what it might be instead. It is not a fault in him.・/p> 
的t would have been helpful if he could have told us this an hour ago.・/p> 
典his is the gift of the Dulc驟 and their burden. To acquire knowledge and 
dispense it and to obey the commands of his joined madrisson to the very limits 
of his life耀uch is the service of a Dulc・who accepts the madris.・He shifted his 
blue gaze to Baglos, quite serious. 典o take a Dulc・as Guide must be a rare 
privilege, I think.・/p> 
Baglos flushed and ducked his head.
I remembered the Dulc髓s unceasing questions during our travels and how he had 
worked his way so voraciously through Ferrante痴 library. 鉄o it must be that 
Baglos has encountered nothing in your world or ours that tells him where the 
Gate can be found or what the symbols in the Writer痴 journal might mean.・/p> 
典o the best of my understanding, that is the case.・/p> 
鉄o we致e come to the end of another road.・Disappointment hit me like a bludgeon, 
bringing with it the effects of constant worry and long traveling, lack of 
sleep, and the high emotions of the day. What in the name of sense were we going 
to do now? I could not even begin to consider it.
D誰atheil stretched out his long limbs on the filthy floor, yawned, and stuffed 
his cloak under his head for a pillow. 添ou値l think of something.・/p> 
Before I could make a proper retort, he was snoring.
Baglos shared cheese and raspberries he壇 bought in the market that morning, and 
then, before the light was completely gone, he curled up by the door and fell 
asleep as quickly as had his master. I, though still unsettled and confused, 
churning inside about Tomas痴 dreams and Graeme Rowan痴 accusations, was only a 
breath behind.
Shouts and screams and the shattering of glass yanked me from the depths of 
sleep. D誰atheil crouched beside the window, his back flattened against the wall. 
I hurried to join him, heeding his gesture of caution as I ducked under the 
sloping roof and dropped to my knees beside him. Baglos stood by the bolted 
door, his short sword drawn and ready.
I peered out onto a scene of chaos. The bright colored awnings were in shreds, 
and cloth, fleece, and spools of yarn were scattered and trampled in the muddy 
street. At least three people lay unmoving in the street muck, while foot 
soldiers flailed whips at the pressing, shouting crowd. Two soldiers dragged a 
young man from the dye shop across the lane toward a mounted troop of heavily 
armed soldiers guarding a roped cluster of men. A young woman clutching an 
infant ran out after them. A whip cut cruelly across her face, and she fell to 
her knees screaming. Several women surrounded the fallen girl and her child, 
restraining her while the soldiers kicked and slapped the struggling man, 
shoving him into the cluster of captives and fastening his roped hands to the 
others.
鄭 conscript gang,・I said. I had known of forced military service all my life, 
believing it an unfortunate necessity of Leiran dominance. Karon had been the 
first to tell me of its cruelty and of the poverty and desperation left in its 
wake. I had never witnessed a conscription for myself. Soldiers didn稚 come for 
men in the streets where I had lived.
典hey feed.・D誰atheil was pale. Revolted. 典his that we see. They feed on it, on 
the fear, on the wrongness of it.・/p> 
It took me a moment to grasp his meaning. 典he Zhid feed on it? Is that what you 
mean?・/p> 
哲ot the Zhid. Their masters. I致e felt the masters・hunger through all our 
travels預t the professor痴 house, and again on the night of the fire. I just didn稚 
understand what it was. But seeing this, hearing it, feeling it, today I know. 
The masters devour the cries and the anger, the fear and the pain, and it makes 
them powerful. And their power creates and nurtures the Zhid.・The Prince痴 voice 
overflowed with loathing.
The masters・the Lords of Zhev誰a, Baglos had called them. Merely thinking the 
name seemed to darken the day.
With the crack of a lash and the snarls and curses of the soldiers, the 
途ecruits・were herded away. The wails of the bereaved echoed through the 
near-deserted street, mourning both the living and the dead. Little difference 
between the two葉he living and the dead悠 thought, for there was little chance the 
conscripts would ever come home. Even if the poor bastards survived their five 
years of service, they would likely be released somewhere hundreds of leagues 
from these streets where they壇 spent their whole lives. They might spend the 
rest of their days trying to find their way home.
Never had I felt so small in the world, so alone in a hostile universe. Home. 
Somehow at that moment, the need to go home swept through me, a hollow craving 
so powerful, so physically real, that I had to press my hand tight across my 
mouth to keep from crying it aloud. For all the love and kindness that had 
blessed me there, Jonah痴 cottage was not home. I had never belonged there or in 
Dunfarrie. Nor was home the place of my childhood, the ancient keep where Tomas 
believed I could somehow protect his child from his nightmares. My home was in 
ashes, and I was alone, more even than the Writer, the itinerant Healer who 
always found his way home・/p> 
滴ome迫an idea flitted past like dandelion fluff on the wind of useless 
sentiment欄he always went home・ I whirled about abruptly. 典ell me Baglos, where 
was the Writer when he drew the diagram?・/p> 
Baglos lowered his small sword, puzzling over the question. 的t is my impression 
that he was at his residence. In this village called濫
痘Tryglevie,・I said.
添es. In a very small house with a wife and six children要ery noisy and 
undisciplined預nd a pig, and a goat, and sixteen chickens, and a cat that 
wandered in from time to time.・/p> 
適aron and I looked at a number of maps of Leire and Valleor, but found no 
mention of Tryglevie. But doesn稚 it make sense that his route to the stronghold 
would begin at his home? Baglos, is it possible that you know something of 
Tryglevie?・/p> 
Baglos looked at D誰atheil, and the Prince gave him the proper command. After a 
moment of meditation, the Dulc・looked up in amazement. 的ndeed, woman, I can 
guide you there!・/p> 
CHAPTER 27
展e must go south of this city, but north and far to the west of your home, to a 
countryside of rocks and hills and fields. No forest there, no trees.・So Baglos 
described the way to Tryglevie. 典he village has changed its name through the 
years and is now called Yennet. It is very small and appears on no map, but 
there is a ruin nearby擁t was in a description of the ruin in the professor痴 
library that I learned of this village. I can tell you no more at present.・/p> 
We set off within the hour. I left a message at the ale shop by the west gate, 
telling Jacopo that we had found a lead and were off to chase it. I also warned 
him stay clear of Graeme Rowan, who had accused him of treachery. He was my 
friend. I could not leave him exposed.
Close onto midday, I rode into a village to buy supplies and fill our water 
flasks, leaving Baglos and D誰atheil waiting under a tree. When I returned, the 
road was deserted, the dust of my passing the only movement. But mingled with 
the buzz of locusts came a hiss from a blackberry thicket which led me to a 
cowering Baglos.
展e were followed,・whispered the foolish Dulc・ as if any watcher would not have 
noticed me holding back the prickling vines to speak to him. 泥誰atheil sensed the 
enchantment. He has led them south, away from our course, toward your village. 
We are to proceed on our way, and he値l meet us tonight west of the river at 
Fensbridge.・/p> 
Baglos and I gave our horses free rein to gallop westward in the dusty heat, 
crossing the narrow arch of Fensbridge in late afternoon. The sunset had 
transformed the sluggish, weed-choked Dun into a river of molten gold. On the 
far side of the river we found a clearing where we could observe the bridge and 
the roads from the west, as well as the forest track that followed the river痴 
west bank葉he route we ourselves had taken up from Dunfarrie a month before. As 
we waited for D誰atheil, we built a small fire.
I sat, chin in hand, watching the day痴 last travelers straggle in from the 
western roads and cross the bridge into the town, seeking beds for the night. 
Without me or the Dulc・to slow him, the Prince should be able to evade any 
ordinary pursuit. The extraordinary, too, I hoped.
Baglos pulled the Writer痴 journal from his pack and sat down beside me. He had 
said he wanted to study it further, that he hoped to find some insight we had 
missed. He turned it over in his small hands several times. 典ell me, woman, what 
happened to the Exiles? You致e said so little of them. Only that they were hunted 
and executed. Perhaps if I knew more, I could understand these writings better. 
Would you tell me of your husband?・His almond eyes glowed in the waning light. 
He was waiting to consume Karon痴 life as he had consumed Ferrante痴 maps.
No reason to refuse the Dulc髓s request葉o tell Karon痴 stories, to share the past 
that had spread itself so vividly across my mind痴 landscape since D誰atheil had 
invaded my life. I picked up a long stick and poked it in the fire, rearranging 
the coals as I cracked open the door of waking memory and peered backward. But a 
dull ache settled in my stomach and spread quickly to my chest. Even my newfound 
acceptance葉his admission that some greater purpose might have been served by our 
personal horror・could not ease it. The fire popped, shooting sparks upward into 
the night. Suddenly nauseated, I threw down the stick and turned my back to the 
flames. 哲o, Baglos. Not tonight.・Not ever. Some things were too difficult. I 
slammed the door shut once more.
Just at dusk a party of hunters, three young nobles decked out in velvet 
doublets with voluminous sleeves trailing silken ribbons, came dashing down the 
road toward the bridge. With great whoops and shouts, they paused at our 
clearing, circling on their quivering mounts. 滴ey, you, woman,・shouted a young 
man with an eagle feather in his cap. 典ell us where is the nearest public house. 
We have a thirst that is the desert.・/p> 
典he desert in summer,・chimed in one of the others.
典he most frightful noontime desert in summer,・drawled a third, prompting the 
other two to break into giddy laughter entirely out of proportion to the wit 
displayed.
展ell, goodwife, speak up,・demanded the man with the feather, his excited horse 
prancing closer to Baglos and me.
笛ust over the bridge is a tavern that might suit,・I said. 鄭nd I believe you値l 
find at least four more between the river and the Montevial road, so you needn稚 
take a dry step.・/p> 
Two of the men dashed off with raucous bellowing, but the man with the feather 
stayed behind. 鄭re we not a bit lacking in proper respect, woman? I hear no 
courtesy of address and see no attitude of humility before your betters.・/p> 
Quickly and awkwardly I dipped my knee and cast my eyes to the trampled grass. 
溺y apologies, Your Honor, sir. My eyesight is none too good in the dark 
time.・/p> 
The rider nudged his horse close enough that I could feel the beast痴 warm 
breath, and then he used the end of his riding crop to lift my chin. His long, 
straight nose, full lips, and receding chin reminded me of a number of young 
aristocrats I had known葉he type it would be wise to approach with caution. 展hy 
do I think your heart does not support your tongue, goodwife? You need a good 
beating. Is this your man who cowers so cravenly by the fire?・He rode closer to 
Baglos, his horse churning dust and ashes into our eyes. 鄭nd what痴 this? A book? 
Have our peasants got themselves learning? Here, give it over. Let me see what 
tract amuses you.・His pale fingers were banded with jewels.
典his is certainly not my husband, sir,・I said, crowding in between Baglos and 
the horse. How stupid of me to let things get so dangerously out of hand. 滴e is 
but my companion in service. Our master痴 fallen ill with plague and, as his wife 
is already dead and needs no service, he sends us to Montevial to serve out our 
bond in his brother痴 house. We left the town just before they sealed the gate. 
We池e mortally afeared of highwaymen, sir. Perhaps we could join with your party 
and serve you on the way, so to earn your protection from thieves.・/p> 
At the mention of plague, the rider backed away hastily, his voice but a thready 
echo of his sneering command. 展e致e no need of company or service. Our own 
servants follow us. You, man, tell your new master to beat this woman twice a 
day until she has a softer tongue.・/p> 
鄭ye, lordship,・said Baglos, bowing and touching his forehead as I had told him 
was the custom when addressing a 澱etter.・/p> 
The man spurred his mount viciously and raced away after his friends.
的 did not like him,・said Baglos, gravely, as he watched him go.
哲or I,・I said with a shivering laugh, vowing to bridle my shrewish tongue.
A short time later, a party of three heavily laden servants plodded into view. 
They asked after the hunting party, and I directed them across the bridge. 
Trailing slightly behind them was a lone rider, his head drooped on his chest, 
his horse walking slowly as if he had all the time in the world. He seemed to 
melt into the gray light. One had to look twice to make sure he was not some 
mind痴 contrivance of limb and leaf and shadow. Only when his horse meandered 
into our clearing did I realize he was D誰atheil. The Prince dropped from the 
saddle.
展e should go at once,・he said, as he drained a waterskin Baglos had ready for 
him.
鄭re you still followed, then?・/p> 
D誰atheil wrinkled his brow, glancing over his shoulder toward the junction of 
the road and the dark path through the trees. 的 shook off the two who trailed us 
from the city.・/p> 
典hey were Zhid?・/p> 
He shrugged. 典hey were constant, like a hound, but never close enough to 
identify. I was able to elude their enchantments a short way from your 
village.・/p> 
釘ut something still worries you.・/p> 
的 rode from the village up to your dwelling so I could find my way back to this 
path. Ever since, I致e felt someone else following me. But I知 not sure. It痴 not 
so powerful a presence as the two洋ore like a flea than a hound. And no sorcery. 
We should go on. I値l catch him up.・/p> 
The damnable sheriff, no doubt. I should have let D誰atheil kill him.
As we struck out west into the trees, the full moon beamed through the 
overhanging branches, transforming the road into a grillwork of light and shade. 
We rode fast and without conversation, as if now that the peripheral matters 
were taken care of, the true urgency of our mission could take hold.
Sometime near midnight, D誰atheil pulled up, motioning Baglos and me to ride on 
ahead. 典he flea,・he said softly, and then he melted into the dappled shadows at 
the side of the road. The Dulc・and I continued on our way without changing the 
cadence of our passing. After some quarter of an hour, we heard the brisk clop 
of hooves on the road behind us. Two horses. We reined in and held wary at the 
side of the road.
D誰atheil rode into view, leading a riderless horse. He halted beside us, and 
from a strange, elongated bundle thrown across the saddle in front of him issued 
a muffled string of curses that would have made Jacopo痴 sailor comrades blush. 
典he flea,・he said, dismounting. He dragged the bundle off the chestnut and set 
it down on a pair of bare feet that protruded from one end. A tousled head 
popped out of the other end.
撤aulo!・/p> 
Most of the boy was lost in the folds of an enormous cloak. D誰atheil took a firm 
grip on Paulo痴 ear, transforming the boy痴 scowl of freckled ferocity itno a 
forlorn wince.
徹w!・/p> 
Much to the consternation of both prisoner and captor, I started laughing, 
laughter such as only those who have lived at the edge of danger for days on end 
can produce.
典he most excellent ferocious boy!・said Baglos, and with only a momentary glance 
of apology at his grim master, broke into a lively chuckling that rang through 
the moonlit forest.
泥on稚 see what痴 so blasted funny,・the boy mumbled.
D誰atheil had remained unremittingly somber since seeing the conscript gang. But 
as the disgruntled Paulo hitched up his oversized garment, a glint of amusement 
danced about the edges of the Prince痴 eyes. And then, as if the spark had 
touched fuel, he burst into a convulsion of merriment. I had never heard him 
laugh. Deep and musical, it seemed to come from the same deep-buried reservoir 
of joy as his rare smile. It might have been the sun piercing the ciouds after a 
year of storms.
I could not keep my eyes from him, for somewhere in the resonance of his good 
humor was a note which made my blood burn as it had not in ages of the world. 
Thus even as I enjoyed the mournful resignation on Paulo痴 dirty face, I mocked 
myself for 努idow痴 lust.・I laughed until tears came.
徹h, Paulo,・I said, once I could articulate a word. 展hat in the stars are you 
doing here?・/p> 
哲othin・better to be at,・he said sullenly.
典han running away from home again and chasing us into the wilderness? Surely 
there are a thousand things better for you to be about. Your gram will be 
frantic.・/p> 
鉄he痴 dead.・/p> 
徹h, no!・And so did the world swallow up our good humor.
撤ut away one too many a tankard while I was off to Grenatte. Dead drunk she was. 
Then just dead.・/p> 
的知 sorry.・/p> 
哲ot as sorry as her, I guess.・/p> 
展ho痴 to care for you, then?・/p> 
泥on稚 nobody want to. Well, Sheriff had said・But he痴 gone off and not come back. 
Dirk Crowley said as Loopy Lucy might take me, but I didn稚 want no part of an 
old crow like her. I can do for myself.・D誰atheil had released the boy痴 ear, and 
Paulo squirmed a bit to untwist the voluminous cloak. 敵asso said he壇 trade me 
this horse for my two silver pieces and whatever was in Gram痴 room, and I 
thought that was fine, so痴 I took the deal and rode up to your place. Thought I 
could watch it for you till Sheriff come back. Didn稚 steal nothin・ Just ate what 
was goin・to rot. And today I saw this地 come through and look about.・He jerked 
his head toward D誰atheil.
鄭nd you decided to follow him?・/p> 
哲othin・better to be at. He痴 a sight more interesting than Loopy Lucy. Got a 
sword and all.・/p> 
添ou were welcome to the food. Was everything all right at the cottage?・/p> 
迭ight enough. Those men葉he priests what scragged the highwaymen葉hey searched 
right through it, but didn稚 take nothin・as I could see.・/p> 
添ou saw the three priests search the cottage?賠 they were up at your place・/em> 
The echo of Graeme Rowan痴 report sent a shiver through me.
典hey left it all careful like, so痴 you couldn稚 tell nobody had been there.・/p> 
鉄o they came to my house straight from Grenatte, then?・/p> 
哲ope.・He hesitated for a moment. 展ent to the village first.・/p> 
典o Dunfarrie? Whatever for?・/p> 
典alked to somebody. Askin・about you・who you were and where壇 you come from and 
was anyone with you.・/p> 
滴ow did they find my cottage, Paulo? It痴 very important. How did they know where 
to go?・/p> 
The boy dug a toe into the dirt and kept his eyes away from me. 鉄omebody told 覇m 
where it was when they first come from Grenatte. Somebody took 粗m up there.・With 
every answer, the words came slower and quieter. 祢t was the same person what 
told 兎m everything about you, and about the Prince, and about where you壇 gone 
with him・off to Valleor.・The boy kicked a rock so hard it flew into the trees, 
flushing out three deer who leaped across the road through the moonlight.
I laid my hand on the boy痴 shoulder. 撤aulo, sometimes we can be mistaken about 
people, and it hurts very much when we find out they池e not as honorable as we 
believed. But the truth is important, especially when lives depend on knowing 
whom we can trust. Was it a friend of yours that told them?・/p> 
Paulo nodded, and he mumbled so softly I almost could not hear him. 笛acopo done 
it. Sheriff said they must致e made him.・/p> 
No. That wasn稚 right. Rowan was the betrayer, not Jacopo. The sheriff had met 
the Zhid in Grenatte, talked and laughed with them. They said he壇 been of great 
service. And there was the button, of course, and Teriza痴 story of the Leiran in 
the dark jacket with shiny buttons, his pursuit through the forest, his presence 
in Yurevan・/p> 
展ho told them?・I grabbed Paulo痴 chin and forced him to look me in the eye, 
daring him to say it again, ready to yell at him that he was misguided at best, 
a tool of evildoers at worst, refusing to credit him, even as my heart and soul 
understood that he spoke truth.
的t was Jacopo.・The boy痴 gaze did not waver, as if he knew that his best 
testimony was himself. His thin, freckled face displayed only sorrow and simple 
truth, forcing me to accept how dreadfully I had erred.
I had determinedly ignored ten years of observation that demonstrated nothing 
but Rowan痴 unremitting honesty. No strength of evidence had convinced me of his 
guilt悠 could have come up with a hundred different explanations of buttons and 
light-haired Leirans. But I had listened only to my personal humiliation and 
seen only the hateful emblem on his coat. Even his 鍍hreat・to be wary of Paulo痴 
and Jacopo痴 life was certainly a willfully misinterpreted warning. #
Everything was so clear, now I was forced to look: the night of our feast in the 
meadow, the night the Seeking of the Zhid had come upon us like a summer 
hurricane. Jacopo痴 leg had been hurting him, and I could imagine him sitting and 
smoking a pipe on one of the stone fences between the edge of the forest and 
Dunfarrie. Away from the trees. Away from the house. It was on the next morning 
that he壇 changed his mind about warning Graeme Rowan. He had denied the reality 
of our experiences on the ridge and insisted on knowing who I was going to see, 
even wanting the name窯uestions to which he had no need for answers. How had he 
known I was in Montevial? How had he come to be in the Street of the Cloth 
Merchants? I squeezed my eyes shut as if I could hide the truth again, but all I 
saw was Jacopo痴 old sea coat, dark blue with brass buttons葉he jacket he壇 worn 
every day since he壇 come home from the sea.
D誰atheil led us to a clearing a safe distance from the road, and as we settled 
in for the rest of the night, I remembered the message I had sent to Jacopo 
earlier in the day. Not only had I revealed our departure from Montevial, but I 
had told him that Rowan had accused him of connection with the murderers. Would 
the Zhid have any use for Jacopo if he壇 been discovered? Would they allow Rowan 
to roam freely with his knowledge of their wickedness? My detestable pride had 
likely murdered Jacopo and Rowan together.
Over our tea and bacon the next morning, Paulo, not Jacopo, was the first topic 
of conversation. Baglos told the boy that we had no use for him, and so he 
should take himself somewhere else.
I wouldn稚 hear of it. Fear and self-reproach and hard earth had made for a long 
restless night, leaving me snappish and out of patience. 展e must either take him 
back to Dunfarrie where there are people who will see to his welfare, or we must 
keep him with us. A boy on the road alone・ While a mournful Paulo saddled the 
horses and strapped our loaded packs on them, I explained to D誰atheil and Baglos 
what happened to children who had no one to care what happened to them. An 
indenture agreement would be signed by a local magistrate, and it would 
stipulate that the child was to be given his keep in exchange for his labor 
until he turned sixteen. In other words, it was free labor for as long as you 
could squeeze out a day痴 work, and, as the master had no interest in the 
children after age sixteen, he could starve them or give them tasks that would 
cripple them. Most were dead by sixteen. A less than perfect boy like Paulo 
would have no chance at all.
展e致e no time to take him back to his village,・said Baglos. 展e must find the 
Gate.・/p> 
哲o. Going back would be very dangerous.・I wasn稚 yet ready to explain the extent 
of my rock-headed stupidity.
典hen the boy must stay with us,・said D誰atheil simply, leaving Baglos with no 
argument and me relieved.
When I told Paulo that he was to accompany us on our travels until such time as 
we could return him to Dunfarrie, he stood at least a hand痴 breadth taller. 釘ut 
you値l have to earn your keep,・I said, 殿nd obey any one of us without 
question.・/p> 
展hatever you want, miss. I promise.・/p> 
典his won稚 be the safest road, but you致e shown yourself resourceful in the past, 
and we値l expect nothing less of you now. And most importantly, you値l hear and 
see many things you can稚 tell anyone, now or ever. Our lives and yours will 
depend on your silence. I think you know what I mean. Are you willing?・/p> 
Paulo grinned and ducked his head, probably the nearest he壇 ever come to saying 
thank you.
典o start,・I said, 的 think you値l have to care for the horses. Baglos dislikes it 
very much, and I know you池e good at it.・/p> 
While I told Baglos what I壇 said to Paulo, the boy flung his arms about the neck 
of my little roan and buried his face in the beast痴 ruddy coat. Perhaps some 
good had resulted from all this.
* * *
By the time we were two days on the road to Tryglevie, the four animals were 
fast friends with Paulo. They nosed his neck and his pockets and his thin brown 
hands at every opportunity, and he had but to click his tongue and they stood 
ready for whatever he wished of them. I soon came to believe the boy was able to 
read the beasts・minds as clearly as any J脱ttanne. On the third morning of the 
journey, as the boy gave me a leg up, I grumbled that the roan didn稚 seem to be 
learning my commands very well. Paulo asked why I didn稚 use my horse痴 name, as 
that would make him listen better. When I said that I didn稚 know the beast痴 name 
and hadn稚 had the time to think of one, the boy stared at me in scornful 
disbelief. 哲ame痴 Firethorn,・he said. 泥on稚 know why you never figured it out.・/p> 

鄭nd what of the Prince痴 horse?・/p> 
滴e don稚 want a name just yet. He痴 thinkin・on it.・I wasn稚 sure whether Paulo 
meant D誰atheil or the horse. 乃he other one, now, he痴 Polestar.・ Appropriate for 
the horse of the Guide.
鄭nd yours?・/p> 
Paulo flushed and gently stroked his horse痴 neck. 溺olly. She痴 naught but a 
broke-down mare, you know. Just right for me.・/p> 
We rode onward into the west.
CHAPTER 28
Three days・hard riding brought us out of the great forest and into the rocky 
foothills of western Leire. It was harsh country, afflicted with wild extremes 
of weather and dotted with poor settlements, suitable for little but grazing 
sheep. I could well believe such a place was the Writer痴 home.
In his journal he had forever lamented the unpredictable weather and rocky soil 
that made it so hard to feed his family, he was forced to sell the talent he 
would rather give freely.
As soon as we left the forest, we began to inquire at every house and village as 
to the whereabouts of Yennet and the ruins that lay nearby. Villages the size of 
Yennet rarely appeared on any map, and even those who had heard of the place 
were vague about its location. One said it was directly northwest. Another said 
it lay just east of the great bend where the Glenaven met the Dun. Another said 
it was no ruined castle, but a nobleman痴 quarry that adjoined the village. A 
traveling tinker we met at a roadside well seemed the most reliable source. He 
claimed to have visited Yennet. 典wo years ago, that was. Wasn稚 hardly anyone 
living there. Folks too poor even to have a kettle needed mending.・But he drew 
us a map showing Yennet about halfway in between something he marked as Pell痴 
Hill and a ruined castle from the times before Leire had a king. Pell痴 Hill was 
likely an ancient barrow known as Pell痴 Mound, a site Karon had always hoped to 
excavate.
We set out on the tinker痴 route, still with no sign of pursuit. About twelve 
leagues west we were to watch for a fork in the road, the rightmost continuing 
west and north to join the main route that ran from Montevial all the way west 
to Vanesta. The less-traveled left fork, hardly a road at all, would bear 
slightly southeast to skirt Pell痴 Mound, then angle straight south to Yennet.
The second day from the tinker痴 well dawned overcast, and the thickening clouds 
glowered and grumbled as the morning progressed. Thunder rolled across the rocky 
fields, and at midmorning the black sky erupted into chaos.
Baglos was in the lead, hunched down in the saddle, his gray cloak pulled up 
tight against the lashing rain. Paulo on his Molly followed behind the Dulc・ 
Sometime near midday, the boy reversed direction and stopped, blocking the road 
and forcing me to stop in my turn. I yelled at him in irritation. 適eep moving, 
Paulo. We致e no wish to be out in this any longer than need be.・/p> 
The boy had his huge cloak draped over him and his horse, like Isker women who 
rode to war behind their husbands, forbidden to expose anything but their eyes. 
Without poking so much as his nose outside his shroud, Paulo gestured toward a 
muddy rut that led off to our left into the rainswept meadows. The soggy 
landscape was dotted with sparse clumps of pine and birch trees, and massive, 
oddly shaped piles of granite poked out of the ground like the debris of a giant 
rock-boring mole. The rut was straight enough, one could imagine it might be a 
path.
敵ood eyes, Paulo,・I shouted over the roar of the storm. 鼎atch Baglos and tell 
him we致e found the turning. I値l wait for the Prince.・/p> 
D誰atheil had lagged behind us all day. Indeed, from our first night out of 
Montevial, he had withdrawn almost completely from our society. He rarely spoke, 
and when we camped, he ate little and slept less, patrolling the nearby ground 
while Baglos or I was on watch, and taking the late watches alone when the rest 
of us were asleep.
More than half an hour passed until he came into view. Irritated at having to 
wait so long in the cold rain, I didn稚 wait for him to join me, but waved and 
rode on up the muddy track, hurrying to catch up with Baglos and Paulo. With 
every step away from the main road, the track looked less like a road and more 
like a stream. The wind ripped and tangled my cloak, ensuring that no patch of 
clothing or skin stayed dry, and the gusts felt as if they壇 come straight off of 
the snow-capped mountains to the southwest, making a mockery of my summer 
clothing. Soon the water and mud flowed from everywhere, and I was losing all 
sense of direction. As a girl I had delighted in watching storms rumble across 
the barren hills beyond Comigor. But turbulent weather lost a great deal of its 
charm when one had no three-foot-thick walls or six-hundred-year-old roof to 
keep it out.
Baglos halted in the middle of the open downs, Paulo beside him. Sheets of rain 
and lowering cloud obscured the view in every direction. 的 can no longer assure 
you that we are on the path,・said the Dulc・when I joined the two. 的 don稚 know 
what to do.・/p> 
My hair stuck to my face and dribbled cold rivulets into my eyes, and my teeth 
were chattering so I could hardly answer. 滴ow far is it from the fork to the 
village?・/p> 
典he tinker said half a day, but that would be in fair weather. And if we致e 
strayed・
的 suppose we値l have to wait for D誰atheil and see if he can tell us more.・/p> 
The Prince had fallen behind again. We had another long, wet wait until he came 
into view. About the time D誰atheil emerged from the curtain of rain, the hairs 
on my neck rose, and, not fifty paces from where we waited, a lightning bolt 
struck a pine tree, exploding it in thunderous fire. I had to haul sharply on 
the reins to control Firethorn, and Baglos clung to the neck of his mount.
鼎an you not guide us, Dulc・・asked the Prince as soon as our beasts were under 
control. His mount had stayed quiet under the simple pressure of his hand.
哲o, my lord. To my devastation it is not possible just now. I have no reference 
in the storm.・/p> 
典hen head for those boulders to our right. I値l be along.・D誰atheil seemed 
agitated and distracted.
添es, my lord.・Baglos turned his jittery horse.
The Dulc・led us toward a huge slab of granite that, in some long-past time, had 
split and shifted, leaving a great seam down its middle. The split was a boon 
for drenched travelers, for the two pieces leaned together at the top as if 
trying to rejoin, creating a deep, but narrow and blessedly dry niche at the 
base.
Paulo tethered the horses in the lee of the outcropping, and the three of us 
crowded into the niche. I huddled to one side, sinking to the damp ground and 
pulling my wet cloak about me tightly. Dribbles of water splattered from the 
edge of the rock onto the Dulc髓s pinched face as he hunched beside the opening, 
peering into the gray downpour to watch for D誰atheil. Paulo curled up in the 
farthest recess of the crack and promptly fell asleep. The boy seemed capable of 
sleep in any circumstance. I envied him.
A bedraggled D誰atheil soon appeared from out of the storm, leading his horse. In 
his arms were sticks of soggy wood and some dripping brush. Baglos took the 
Prince痴 horse and settled it with the others, while D誰atheil threw his bundle 
down in front of me. Crouching down beside it, he blew softly across his palm 
and passed his hand over the sodden pile. This time the sensation was not 
lightning.
A tiny flame curled up from the pile, and, in moments, a sizable fire was 
blazing.
I crowded close and relished the moment that my bones began to thaw. 添ou did 
that very well,・I said, as soon as my teeth stopped chattering. 的 don稚 know what 
I壇 have done without it.・/p> 
D誰atheil stared into the growing flames. 鉄urvived.・/p> 
The word took me aback揺e was so grimly serious. 撤robably so. It never seems 
likely at the time, though. And this is far better.・/p> 
展ould that the Preceptors could see it,・Baglos mumbled to no one in particular, 
as he passed around his silver flask of sweet, potent wine that always seemed to 
appear when there was most need.
Thunder rumbled. The rain pounded harder, causing spits of moisture to bounce 
through the opening in the rock and hiss as they pelted the fire. 釘aglos, tell 
us about the Preceptors・about this Dassine,・I said. 泥o you know him well?・/p> 
As always when I asked a question about the other world, Baglos deferred to the 
Prince. 展ould you have me answer, my lord?・/p> 
滴ave you learned nothing, fool of a Dulc・ Clearly this woman is inextricably 
entwined in our fate. Without her assistance and counsel, we would have been 
defeated long ago, and so whatever instruction you致e been given about 
circumspection should not and will not apply to her. Is that clear?・/p> 
鄭s you will, Gire D但rnath.・/em> Baglos quickly bowed his head, hunching his 
narrow shoulders.
But for once the Prince痴 annoyance bore no more weighty consequence than the 
reprimand. D誰atheil痴 mind was somewhere else altogether. Though his eyes were on 
Baglos, he was not truly looking at the dark head lowered so humbly before him. 
添ou must follow her lead, Dulc・・His voice had fallen so quiet, I could scarcely 
hear him. 鄭nswer her questions. Do as she commands you whatever the 
circumstance.・/p> 
添es, my lord. As you say.・As always when D誰atheil issued a command, the Dulc髓s 
face went blank for an instant before resuming its normal animation. I wondered 
if that moment was when he retrieved his scattered knowledge and brought it to 
the fore, but the question seemed too intimate to ask.
And so, as D誰atheil痴 fire burned brightly, its enchanted fuel as inexhaustible 
as the dreary downpour, the Dulc・told us of the voice from the other world.
典he Preceptors are seven men and women who are considered the most wise and 
powerful among the Dar誰ethi, appointed by the Heir to aid him in his work of 
teaching and guiding the Dar誰ethi in the Way and opposing the Lords of Zhev誰a. 
They serve until they die or withdraw from service or are asked by the Heir to 
step down葉his last a rare occasion. Master Dassine is a Healer, first named to 
the Preceptorate by D誰atheil痴 grandfather. He is frequently at odds with the 
other Preceptors, as I have told you, and often refuses to consult with them 
when he ought. He has studied the lore of the Bridge and championed our duty to 
preserve it at all costs, until many accuse him of being more concerned with 
mundanes and this world of yours than with our own.・/p> 
展hat is Dassine痴 disagreement with the other Preceptors? Was it only the 
decision to send D誰atheil onto the Bridge when he was twelve?・I asked.
典he conflict centers on the conduct of the war. Many years ago when D誰atheil was 
a child, Master Dassine was chosen to venture into the Wastes to learn more of 
the Lords and the Zhid. He was gone for three years. Everyone assumed he was 
slain or enslaved, which are much the same. But to our astonishment he returned 
to Avonar, crippled in one leg and asserting that he had escaped from slavery. 
No one has ever managed such a thing葉he slave collars of Zhev誰a prevent any use 
of Dar誰ethi power・and Master Dassine refused to say how he had accomplished it. 
Even before he was fully recovered from his ordeal, he called a meeting of the 
Preceptorate that resulted in much argument and strife.・/p> 
Baglos shifted closer to the fire, and his speech took on a greater urgency, as 
if the heat that warmed his flesh inflamed his story as well.
添ou must understand our situation. The Catastrophe was an enchantment gone awry. 
It sucked our rivers dry, burned our meadows and forests, and left most of our 
world a reeking ruin. Those Dar誰ethi who stood in its path were likewise 
devastated, the fortunate killed outright, the others become Zhid. But in the 
years when the Heirs of D但rnath and J脱ttanne preserved the Gates and walked the 
Bridge, the Wastes began to heal, and the power of the Lords and the Zhid 
declined. But when J脱ttanne痴 people failed us, no longer walking the Bridge as 
they were sworn to do, and D但rnath痴 Heir tried to maintain the Bridge alone, 
this progress was reversed.
鄭s the Zhid grew stronger again, the Dar誰ethi were forced to become warriors, 
the Heir first among them, so as to uphold his oath to preserve and defend the 
Bridge. In his pronouncements to the Preceptorate, Dassine claimed that the 
Lords were more terrible and the Zhid more numerous than anyone had ever 
suspected, and that the Dar誰ethi must reverse their thinking on how to contain 
them. The argument was never explained to me, but many called Dassine a traitor. 
Master Dassine has often been heard saying he might not have gone to the trouble 
of his journey for all the good it did.・/p> 
Bagios glanced at D誰atheil and reddened a little as he continued. 典he matter of 
the young prince compounded their disagreements. It was while Master Dassine was 
away from Avonar that D誰atheil was named Heir and Master Exeget appointed as his 
mentor. Master Dassine proclaimed that Master Exeget was the greatest fool who 
was not Zhid and that he had done his best to destroy our last hope. He had no 
right to speak of Master Exeget so. Master Exeget is the head of the 
Preceptorate, a man of great talent and the highest influence. The terrible 
mistake of D誰atheil痴 too-early encounter with the Bridge grieved him 
greatly.・/p> 
添ou don稚 like Dassine,・I said.
典he Dulc・serve all as our gifts permit.・/p> 
添ou were surprised when Celine released his message.・He had stumbled out of the 
room when Dassine痴 message was unfolding in our heads.
的 was not told of Dassine痴 enchantment揺is message, or the locking and unlocking 
of the Prince痴 voice, or this harm to his memory that Master Dassine must have 
caused as well. Master Exeget did not know of these things, or he would have 
told me.・Baglos flushed. He took a hurried sip and stowed the silver flask away 
in his pack. 典here are many things I wasn稚 told.・/p> 
I could sympathize with that. 滴ow could Dassine know me, Baglos? I致e wondered 
about it since that day. How did he know to send D誰atheil to me?.・/p> 
的 don稚 know,・said the Dulc・ 溺y preparation was so hurried. I heard no mention of 
a mundane woman. Since his return from the Wastes, Master Dassine had speculated 
that the Exiles were all dead. He was proven wrong when they opened the Gates, 
as I have told you. But Master Exeget did not believe we could expect help from 
the Exiles on this journey. My master knew no one that could help・no one・ His 
voice trailed off.
添our master・this Exeget was your master, then. You were his Guide?・/p> 
Baglos shifted uneasily, glancing up at D誰atheil, but the Prince was not 
listening any more. He stood in the opening of the niche with his back to us, 
staring out into the rain. So the Dulc・answered me as he had been commanded. 的 
was Master Exeget痴 madrisse for eight years. I accompanied him to D誰atheil痴 
crossing. When Bendal was wounded by the Zhid, Master Exeget commanded me to 
take the madris with D誰atheil.・/p> 
And so Baglos, sworn to obey his linked madrisson, had been given little choice 
in the matter of this journey.
Water poured from the heavy clouds. Baglos was reluctant to continue his story 
without the Prince痴 attention, and so our conversation moved back to the Writer痴 
diagram. I didn稚 even have to look at the journal any more, but traced the 
familiar lines and symbols in the damp earth while we considered the land we 
traveled. Could Pell痴 Mound be one of the marks on the diagram? Or the ruined 
castle or the Glenaven River? Was there significance in the names? Baglos 
maintained his position that the diagram made no sense as a map. It was 
discouraging to feel we were on the brink of what we needed to know, yet were no 
closer to deciphering it than Karon and I had been ten years previous.
My head grew heavy, the warmth and smoke sapping my energy and making it 
increasingly difficult to think. I had the sleepy impression of the Dulc・ 
snoring, and D誰atheil disappearing through the cleft in the rock, back into the 
storm. I wondered vaguely if the man ever slept.
When I woke to watery sunlight and birdsong, it took me a moment to sort out 
where I was. So many different sleeping accommodations in the past weeks, so 
many varieties of discomfort. The quiet was disconcerting until I realized it 
meant only that the storm was past. A small grove of birch trees fronted our 
refuge, and a breeze rustled the gold-rimmed leaves, sprinkling a last shower of 
sparkling droplets on the grass. Baglos was snoring, slumped against the rock. 
D誰atheil痴 fire still burned, its fuel not at all diminished. Paulo sat close to 
the fire, his chin on his knees, his eyes fixed on me intently, as if he were 
trying to will me awake.
I stood up from the damp ground and stretched my cramped muscles. Noting the 
hollow growl in my stomach, I thought I might understand Paulo痴 unspoken 
message. 鄭re you hungry?・/p> 
He nodded eagerly.
鉄et some stones to hold our pot, and we値l make something hot. We値l surprise 
Baglos.・/p> 
I wrestled with the sodden leather pack attached to my saddle, pulling out pot 
and provisions. As I filled the pot with water, Paulo was peering idly at the 
lines and symbols I had drawn in the dirt.
撤aulo, if you can unravel that little puzzle, I値l keep your stomach full until 
you池e twenty,・I said, as I crouched by the fire and set the pot on the three 
stones the boy had found to hold it.
的 was never no good at the riddle game,・he said. 摘verybody always I said was too 
stupid to play.・/p> 
I almost poured the water into the fire. 展hat do you mean葉he riddle game?・/p> 
Paulo poked his bare toe at the diagram. 鏑ooks like it. You know.・/p> 
哲o, I don稚. Tell me.・/p> 
撤icture tells what riddle has to come first. What one next. Stupid game.・/p> 
I tried to contain my hopes. 的致e never played. Could you tell me how?・/p> 
展ell, everybody makes up pictures, and one draws the lines in between to tell 
which picture comes first, which next. This foot means the one who plays first 
has got to tell a riddle about a foot. And if nobody guesses it right, then the 
same person gets to tell the next one about・well, whatever that thing is・and 
then about the face, and so on. If somebody gets it right, then that person gets 
to tell the next riddle. The one who fools the last, wins. I wasn稚 no good at 
riddling.・/p> 
Riddles・Riddles that would tell us where to go. The Writer痴 children had played 
all sorts of games. He was always telling of them. One of his daughters had a 
special talent for riddling.
釘aglos! Baglos, wake up!・I shook the sleeping Dulc・ not caring if I frightened 
him out of a year of his life.
展hat is it?・/p> 
敵et the journal, Baglos. Hurry! Paulo has solved the mystery.・/p> 
Baglos shook off his sleep and dug deep in his pack to retrieve the book, 
mumbling to himself. 典he boy solved the puzzle? Surely not.・/p> 
I hovered at his shoulder, while Paulo gave me such a look as to say that adults 
were not quite sensible when they would abandon cooking for the riddle game.
的t痴 a children痴 game,・I said, willing Baglos to hurry. 展e must find where he 
writes of his daughter and her talent for riddles. The entry comes only a few 
days before he drew the diagram. We never had a reason to make the 
connection.・/p> 
Baglos turned the pages to the familiar one, then leafed backwards until he 
found the passage I named. In his musical voice, he read the Writer痴 words.
Lilith hath taken herself to riddling, and a clever wit she is at it. Mori and I 
wonder if it be the girl will show herself a Word Winder or mayhap even a 
Speaker. I must inquire of Siddhe when next I work the fen country and have her 
tell me the signs. Mori says that Lilith yet be too young to show her gift, but 
JonThe and C誰etha of Isfan were no more than eleven, and C誰etha a Word Winder 
herself. Regretful, too, would I be, if the need for mentoring were to take my 
bright Lilith so far from her home, but such is the Way. Mori doth not prod the 
girls to show, as she doth for Tekko and Garnath. I must admonish her, for the 
girls must make their way in the world every bit as much as their brothers. Well 
should Mori know, for were not she the strong woman she is, how ever could I 
take this endless road that calls me?
But enough. Lilith riddling. Before I journeyed this day, we sat and played at 
it. I must record her tally for when she is a Speaker, to prove that she came 
forth when only ten.
Karon had not bothered to decipher the little girl痴 riddles, thinking the 
barriers of time, language, and culture would make the task impossible. We had 
prized the passage for its revelation of the Writer痴 life, and his love for his 
family and his calling, but never had we made the connection with the diagram.
I hung over Baglos痴 shoulder and pointed to the page. 鏑ook. You see, he痴 added 
these lines. The pages are so worn, and he was forever adding notes, or marking 
things out, or changing them. You wouldn稚 notice, unless you knew to look. He 
would always leave space between his text, so he could go back and add things he 
had forgotten. See how close these lines are, and some were written with a pen 
having a wider tip. Paulo, you池e marvelous. You致e really done it.・/p> 
There followed a whole page of short puzzles, but I had no trouble picking out 
the ones that had been added later. There were five of them, just as there were 
five symbols in the diagram, and a short additional passage written at the same 
time.
It is the lesser brother痴 portion that brings the greatest wealth, and the 
lesser passage that finds its destination.
Though he cannot see it, the hunter knows his prey, for it speaks to his heart 
whether he turns right or left.
When the wall births the flood, it is wiser to be the rabbit than the fish or 
the goat.
A journey begins on the road that never sleeps and whose travelers have no feet.
When one ascends the ancient face that weeps, one sees that it brings forth the 
fruits of youth from its decrepit pores.
Is the child not a marvel? The day will come when men will cry out the name of 
our race, and it is my Lilith that will shine in their memory.
鉄o we might solve these puzzles to find our way?・said Baglos.
典he Writer says that this diagram is his map to the stronghold. Paulo says that 
the pictures in the riddle game tell the player what the riddle must be about, 
and the lines between tell the order in which to solve them. So if we can match 
the riddles with the pictures in the diagram we should have a list of clues to 
get us to the stronghold. Then we just have to solve the riddles. First, the one 
about the foot.・/p> 
鄭 journey begins on the road that never sleeps and whose travelers have no 
feet.・Baglos crinkled his face as if seeing only part of the words might make 
them clearer. 典hat is the only one of the texts that talks about a foot. I hope 
you池e skilled at solving riddles, for this is as big a mystery to me as the 
other.・/p> 
徹h, yes. I致e done my share. I致e been told I知 very good at riddles. But I never 
played as a child, never this way.・/p> 
Paulo sat by the fire, mournfully watching the pot boil dry, his hopes for 
supper drifting away on the vapors, not even a good smell left behind. 滴ere is 
our hero starving,・I said, 殿nd I致e promised to fill his stomach until he痴 
twenty.・/p> 
的 will take on that duty proudly,・said Baglos. 典he most excellent ferocious boy 
will not starve!・/p> 
While Baglos stirred up the pot, I wandered out past the birch grove seeking 
D誰atheil to tell him the good news. But the Prince was nowhere in sight, and the 
chestnut stallion was gone. By the time we ate the hot porridge and packed up 
everything again, D誰atheil had not yet returned. Excitement faded into concern 
as the afternoon hours waned. Baglos began to fidget. I told myself that 
D誰atheil was scouting ahead, finding the direction to take us back to the road, 
perhaps solving the mystery of Yennet.
I tried to concentrate on the riddles, but as the pale sun faded and night crept 
over the downs, I feared that something terrible had happened. And when 
D誰atheil痴 fire went out, I was convinced that the Heir of D但rnath was not coming 
back.
CHAPTER 29
I was confounded. Be rational, Seri, I told myself. Don稚 panic. I stood outside 
the cleft in the rock and listened, but only the cry of a hunting owl 
interrupted the soft rustling of birch leaves in the moonless night. 
Alternatives. Think.
Had he been taken by the Zhid? If so, he was most likely dead by now熔r victim to 
whatever they planned for him預nd it didn稚 matter what we did. I looked down at 
the cold ashes of his fire. A last spark flared bright orange, then dulled to 
gray. That alternative was unacceptable.
What else then? Had he been injured in some ordinary mishap預 fall, an accident, 
bandits? If so, we壇 not help him by hiding in the crevice of a rock. The rain 
had stopped about the same time as he had disappeared. As soon as there was 
daylight, we could follow his tracks.
Could he have decided that companions were unnecessary? That didn稚 seem likely. 
He had welcomed my help, expressed confidence in me, and he valued Baglos. Why 
would he leave us behind?
That left only the uncomfortable speculation that he had abandoned his mission 
altogether. Since the day of the fire he had carried the burden of two worlds on 
his shoulders, with very little to aid him. No memory. No understanding of 
himself. Asked to risk his life and what remained of his reason for a world he 
could not remember, for duty and loyalty he could not feel. Celine had said 
there was no person inside him. What must it be like to live with such 
emptiness? Many people would run away from such a burden. Yet even that could 
not be the whole of it, for when I壇 managed to involve him in the investigation, 
he was willing, and he壇 done what he could to keep us safe on our way.
The night passed slowly. Boiling clouds laced with pink and green lightning 
erased the midnight stars and doused us with a quick frenzy of rain. Even after 
I turned the watch over to Paulo in the midnight hour, I could not sleep. I 
stood by the entrance to the cleft, my damp blanket wrapped about my shoulders, 
and I fretted over the muddy hoofprints that would now be washed away.
Morning arrived. As I feared, the nighttime rain had erased any trace of 
D誰atheil痴 passing. A quick survey in the dawn light revealed that our refuge 
helped form the base of a grassy knob that dominated the rolling sea of grass 
and rocks葉he mysterious Pell痴 Mound, I guessed, a matter that might have been of 
some interest were not our immediate concerns so critical. Karon had believed 
the hill to be a tribal holy place from which our ancestors洋y ancestors揺ad 
worshipped the mountains. Indeed the peaks of the Dorian Wall loomed large, as 
if they had used the cover of the storm to creep up on us. And somewhere in the 
desolate country between the Wall and Pell痴 Mound lay the Glenaven River and the 
village of Yennet, once known as Tryglevie.
I could see no hint of D誰atheil痴 fate, no evidence of a mishap, no place that 
looked more worth searching than another. Baglos suggested that the three of us 
ride in different directions for an hour, then circle right and return to Pell痴 
Mound by mid-morning. He sounded hopeless as he had not since he壇 been reunited 
with his master. 典he treacherous liars have taken him,・he said. 典hey値l destroy 
him, shed his blood on the Bridge・Avonar is lost.・/p> 
My search was fruitless. I saw more grassy undulations, one little different 
from the other, and more granite monoliths protruding from the damp earth as if 
the roots of the mountains were beginning to sprout. When we came together again 
at Pell痴 Mound, it took no words to share the result. Baglos led us silently to 
the road. We would go on to Yennet. If D誰atheil were able and willing, he would 
meet us there.
As the last of the morning haze burned away, we reached the outlying ruins of a 
dying village, piles of rubble that had once been neatly laid stone fences or 
low-roofed dwellings snug enough to hold back the bitter winter that would howl 
down from the Dorian Wall. The road was a sticky bog, with protruding islands of 
rock so exasperating to negotiate that we dismounted and led the horses rather 
than risk their injury in some unseen hole. What structures still remained in 
the village proper were cracked, crumbled, and overgrown with weeds. A pig 
rooted hungrily in the mud. The place was a squalid contrast to the mountain 
vista that lay so close behind it, as if set there solely to demonstrate that 
the works of man were but a corruption of the works of nature.
A hollow-cheeked man peered out of the door of a crumbling house. When I greeted 
him, he clucked to a dog that cowered between his legs and slammed the door. A 
little further along the way, a woman stood in the middle of a rock-bordered 
garden, watching our approach, three ragged children clinging to her skirts. Her 
garden, while not lush, was better tended than anything in sight. A slight move 
of her hand had the children scattering into the cluster of stone houses and 
broken walls.
I called out to her from a good distance. 滴ealth and prosperity be yours this 
day, goodwife; may your hold flourish.・/p> 
鄭nd your road be smooth,・said the woman. Her wispy braids were streaked with 
gray, her face lined, though she could well be younger than I. Her bare arms 
were ridged with sinew, and she gripped a rusty hoe, but did not lean on it.
展e池e travelers from Montevial,・I said.
展e see few strangers in Yennet. Why would you come here?・/p> 
The air was crisp and sweet, the sky a deep and brilliant blue behind the sheer 
white peaks. 典o pay homage to the beauties of nature,・I said, unable to think of 
any more plausible answer.
To my surprise, the woman nodded solemnly. ・Tis the only reason to be sure. The 
Wall is worth a day痴 rising.・/p> 
滴ave you seen any other strangers about today? One of our company was separated 
from us in the storm. A young man of・some thirty years he appears. Tall. 
Cleanshaven. Blue eyes; light hair. Strongly made and riding a spirited chestnut 
of sixteen hands.・/p> 
的致e seen no one like. Mayhap he took the road to Vanesta or got turned about and 
is halfway to Montevial once more. You壇 best be after him.・The woman痴 fingers 
shifted on her hoe.
撤erhaps.・No other villagers had made an appearance. I saw only one other person, 
a slim young man sitting on a fence far down the road. Tales said that untaxed 
grain often found its way into Valleor through the foothills of the Dorian Wall. 
Smugglers were rightly shy of company. 的s there somewhere in your village where 
we could stay the night? We hope our friend will make his way here.・/p> 
The woman痴 glance darted toward her house. 的 don稚 know. We池e but poor 
sheepherders. Most everyone is out with the flocks.・/p> 
From the corner of my eye I caught a movement in the shadowed doorway. I stood 
my ground. No use to run. To move my hand toward the knife beneath my skirt was 
to invite unfortunate consequences. 展e have our own provisions. We just need a 
roof and a dry floor. I promise you we池e interested in naught but finding our 
friend.・/p> 
釘ut濫
A body separated itself from the shadows. 展hat Marika is trying not to say is 
that she has already sheltered a refugee from the storm. One who asked her to be 
discreet.・/p> 
鉄heriff!・/p> 
Graeme Rowan looked about cautiously before approaching me. His left temple was 
mottled purple and green, swollen and marked by an ugly scab. In the center of 
his forehead was a faint gray smudge of earth. His god had sent him on another 
journey because of me.
How do you apologize to a man you despise? Honor demanded it, but my back 
bristled. Why couldn稚 it be enough that we hadn稚 killed him? 鉄heriff, I濫
溺adam, I壇 be grateful if we could leave off any talk of my profession. I致e had 
to swear on my life that I am not here as a representative of the law. Perhaps 
that vow might ease your own worry.・/p> 
My cheeks felt like a smith痴 furnace. 的知 glad to see we did no lasting 
damage.・/p> 
It was his turn to be surprised.
滴ow did you find us here?・I said.
的t was my impression that you found me, but for the sake of avoiding an argument 
so early in our meeting, I値l tell you again, I have a new friend who is very 
good at tracking.・/p> 
釘ut it痴 not Pere Giano?・/p> 
Rowan痴 quiet explosion of laughter was as unstudied as his manner. 的s that what 
you think? That I・ Holy Annadis, you believe that the one you致e scorned for ten 
years as the willful scourge of a corrupt law預 man happy to murder children to 
prove his worth擁s in league with these vile, sorcerous・whatever they are? How in 
perdition did you come to that fancy?・/p> 
I did not share his good humor. 撤erhaps we could sit down and discuss this, 
rather than interrupting this good woman痴 work.・/p> 
Paulo had sidled up to the sheriff with a crooked grin. 的値l show this young 
renegade where to put your horses,・said Rowan, tugging at the boy痴 unkempt hair. 
撤erhaps then we might have a word.・/p> 
Marika, appearing relieved at the amiable result of our confrontation, invited 
us inside. A large, well-swept hearth, its chimney blackened by countless years 
of burning fir and tar bush branches, was the heart of the single room. In the 
center of the floor stood a thick table and six stools. A pile of sheepskins in 
one corner were the family bedding, and two grain bins in another corner served 
for the pantry. A basket held a spindle and a pile of brown wool. A few pegs and 
a wooden shelf along one wall held the sum of their material wealth that was not 
sheep: five cups that Marika set out on her table, a chipped flask with a narrow 
neck that likely contained oil, some wooden bowls, and a few tins, one of which 
held dried herbs that the woman spooned sparingly into the cups before pouring 
hot water from the blackened pot hanging over her coals. An ax with a splinted 
handle hung by the fireplace along with a coiled rope, a fishing net, and two 
pair of snowshoes. This made my cottage look like a palace.
添ou are very kind to have us, Marika.・/p> 
的t痴 good to see a new face, perhaps to hear news of the world.・A red-cheeked boy 
carried a crock to the table and then sped back outdoors. Marika spooned milk 
into the heavy cups.
哲ot much news worth hearing, I知 afraid. War or the fruits of war.・/p> 
典he tales we hear say mayhap our life is not so bad as one might think,・ said 
Marika, handing cups to Baglos and me, while pausing over the third and peering 
out the door. Her boy had joined the other children who stood in an admiring 
circle around Paulo, treating him with the awe due a bold adventurer, rather 
than Donkey, the stupid boy with the twisted leg.
典o make a life in such a place must be very difficult.・/p> 
徹ur families have been in Yennet for five generations. Once we sent wool carts 
by the dozen to Montevial, Vanesta, and Yurevan, but now we池e lucky to send 
three a year. Our flocks have not flourished nor our people. But times will 
change if we work hard enough.・/p> 
的 hope they will.・/p> 
I hoped. What would happen if D誰atheil could not do what was needed? There was 
little enough hope in the world. Baglos was the very image of despair, leaning 
heavily on the table and staring into his cup, unspeaking. I likely could have 
pricked him with a needle and elicited no reaction.
Marika poured the third cup of tea, dropped a tiny pinch of sugar in it, added 
two spoons of milk, and then laid a rag on the top. 迭ilia!・she called, and a 
tiny, curly haired girl ran to the doorway. 典ake this to Old Ghouro and see he 
drinks it.・/p> 
鄭ye,・said the child, in a whisper, her dark eyes fixed on Baglos and me.
展e have to watch the old man,・said Marika. 滴e don稚 want to eat. Took his flock 
too far into the mountains two years ago. When he didn稚 come back before 
snowfall, we thought him dead. But didn稚 he wander into the village in the 
middle of winter, half starved and off his head? I hope your friend don稚 come to 
the same.・She finished pouring and returned the tins of tea and sugar to the 
shelf. 的 got to get back to my work now. You can spread your wet things out back 
if you want or poke up the fire.・/p> 
典hank you again for the tea.・/p> 
Rowan joined us as Marika left. He picked up his cup of tea and drank, looking 
at me as if expecting another bash on the head. I didn稚 know what to say. He had 
fought at Avonar.
鉄o the mysterious 敗ervant・has gone missing again,・he said, at last. 禰ave the 
priests taken him?・/p> 
的 don稚 know. He would not go willingly, but we致e no evidence that he痴 been 
forced.・/p> 
Rowan had left his laughter behind. 展hy did you think me allied with the 
villains? I thought we understood the same thing about what they are.・/p> 
So I detailed the case I had built up against him: his meeting with the Zhid in 
Grenatte after pretending not to know them, his appearance at Kellea痴 shop on 
the night of the fire, the brass button in the dead professor痴 library, and, of 
course, Teriza痴 testimony about the Leiran wearing a dark coat with shiny 
buttons. 添ou池e right that I despise you,・I said. 典o my mind, you have willingly 
participated in acts that are beyond forgiveness. So I refused to believe you. 
Then, two days ago, Paulo very simply and innocently confirmed everything you壇 
said.・I told him how I壇 sent Jacopo a warning of Rowan痴 accusations. 套 and so, 
because of me, they know you were trying to warn me. I知 afraid I致e put both you 
and Jaco in more danger than before.・/p> 
As the sheriff considered what I had told him, his fingers nudged the button I壇 
laid on the table. His response, when it came, was wholly without rancor. 的f a 
petitioner had brought me such a case, I壇 have needed no trial to pass judgment 
either, especially with what you know of・my past.・His skin was as red as his 
hair. 的知 grateful to Paulo for being such a good witness. As for Jacopo悠 don稚 
think there痴 anything you could have done that would put him in more danger than 
he痴 in already.・/p> 
I couldn稚 bear thinking of Jaco. My determination to spite Darzid had made me 
reckless, dragging my only friend into this horror and leaving him in the path 
of these murderous Zhid. And now I had given the Zhid reason to believe he was 
of no more use to them. Yet self-recrimination would not help him. Defeating the 
Zhid might. 典ell me what really happened, Sheriff. Why didn稚 you say you knew 
the priests? And how do you come to be here?・/p> 
典he reason I didn稚 say that those you壇 seen in During Forest were the same who 
had come to Dunfarrie hunting for the two strangers was simply that, until I 
looked through the doorway into Bartolome痴 common room, I didn稚 know it. They 
weren稚 dressed as priests when Captain Darzid brought them to me, talking of 
Isker spies. I overheard the captain say he would meet them in Grenatte. It 
sounded as if the whole world was traveling to Grenatte, and I was damnably 
curious. When I saw you there, I knew the matter had nothing to do with spies. 
Only sorcery could have drawn you out. If Captain Darzid caught sight of you, 
you were going to be arrested.・/p> 
And Graeme Rowan had saved me from it. A hard truth. 添ou rushed me away.・/p> 
展hen you confronted the priests so recklessly, I guessed you didn稚 know about 
the captain痴 dealings with them濫
痘and I wouldn稚 listen.・/p> 
典o me? It痴 certainly not your custom.・Grim amusement touched his features, 
fading as he continued. 敵iano was full peeved that you three had escaped him, 
and when Jacopo told him that you壇 taken the fugitives off to Yurevan, they were 
riding out after you before I could spit. I thought it odd they didn稚 capture 
your friends on the road. You were easy enough to track at the beginning, but I 
never saw the priests behind you. They must have ridden straight through to 
Yurevan. When I lost you after Glyenna, I did the same, hoping to intercept you 
before you ran into them. I must have reached the house just as your servant 
girl was watching from the other side. It was just as she said.・His eyes 
clouded. 的致e been a soldier. I致e seen men do things・shared in things・no thinking 
creature should be capable of預s you well know傭ut that・ There are no words to 
speak of it.・/p> 
笛aco was there?・/p> 
添es.・Rowan cast a sidelong glance at me, grimaced, and rubbed the back of his 
neck. 釘efore I could go into the house to see if anyone was left alive, your 
gentleman friend rode in. He appeared to belong in the place, so I left matters 
to him. It was only later that I discovered that he was a man the law of Leire 
believes to be dead.・/p> 
Blood rushed to my face. 添ou won稚濫
擢ather Arot and his sons do not grant us life beyond death,・he said without 
changing expression. 滴ow could an ignorant village sheriff contradict the 
gods?・/p> 
I breathed again, and he continued. 的 wandered in circles for half a day, hoping 
to warn you, but I ended up back at the house. When I let myself in, I found 
only the dead man. I couldn稚 leave him like that, so I buried him in the 
orchard. That痴 probably when I lost the button・the damning evidence.・/p> 
And then he had followed us to Yurevan and tried to save us from the fire. 滴ow 
did you know we survived the fire, and how did you follow us here?・/p> 
添ou致e not guessed it?・He stepped to the door and waved his hand. The slim young 
man I had seen sitting on the fence sauntered down the road toward us. Only it 
wasn稚 a young man; it was a young woman who could find any herb, no matter how 
rare由owan痴 friend with a knack for following people. Kellea.
典his must be worth a story,・I said.
Kellea offered no greeting when she stepped through the door, nor would she sit 
when Rowan pulled out a stool for her. He remained standing as well.
Rowan glanced over at Baglos. The Dulc・had looked up when Kellea walked in and 
then quickly returned to his own thoughts, eyes fixed on his cup, though it was 
long drained. 的 wasn稚 sure what was happening in that house,・said the sheriff, 
登r even whether the ones who attacked were your friends or enemies, but I saw 
the girl creeping out of an alleyway down the road from the burning house, 
covered in soot and blood, and decided to ask her. She had no more use for me 
than you ever did. I foolishly tried to persuade her that I was a friend of 
yours.・/p> 
鄭nd that did you no good,・I said. Kellea痴 sour look told me nothing had changed 
on that score.
鉄he insisted that she壇 as soon kill you as look at you, which pleased me in a 
way, since it told me you were still alive. She got away from me, and for a most 
of a week she led me a merry chase over half of Valleor. When I finally caught 
her, it took several days of disagreement for us to come to a truce. I told her 
what I壇 seen, and why I thought we needed to help you fight these priests. She 
knew your friend, the professor. Eventually, she took pity on my ignorance and 
told me your guests・story, and something of the history her grandmother had 
taught her, and how it all fits together. I don稚 understand it all, but the 
business got stranger yet again when I tried to figure out where you壇 got off to 
after the fire. She hadn稚 bothered to mention that she was herself one of・these 
sorcerers・and she let me spend three days chasing my own tail before telling me 
that she could find anyone if given enough to go on. She just needed to be in a 
place where you壇 been. So I took her to that charcoal burner痴濫
添ou knew about that?・/p> 
的 followed you there from Yurevan the afternoon before the fire. Your sturdy 
friend never left off his watch long enough for me to speak to you. I thought it 
odd he spent the whole night making fires and letting them go out again. It was 
several hours of watching before I realized he had no flint・ Rowan痴 expression 
was subtle as always. Awe might rob him of words, but it left only a crease in 
his brow and a slight shake of his head to reveal its depth.
Outside the open door children squealed with laughter. Something預 rock or a 
ball葉humped against the side of the house, and Marika痴 quiet command shooed the 
giggling group farther away. So much to consider. I mouthed some feeble apology 
for Rowan痴 injury and my misjudgment of his motives. To say more would be to 
acknowledge that somehow the honor of a man sworn to exterminate a race was 
worthy of respect. I could not yet bring myself to do that. But he had surely 
earned my gratitude. His dogged pursuit had brought me exactly what I needed.
適ellea, we need your help.・/p> 
的t seems a permanent condition. Who will die this time?・The girl dared me to 
make her care.
添our grandmother and Professor Ferrante believed the stakes were worth the 
risk.・I did not blink.
Kellea stood in the doorway, her shoulders square, her back as stiff and angular 
as the granite peaks outlined against the sky. 敵o on.・/p> 
添esterday in the storm, D誰atheil left our shelter and never returned. Can you 
find him?・/p> 
填nless he痴 worked some sorcery, I can. I would need something of his, something 
personal. I致e been following the group. Without something that belongs to him 
alone, I might lead you back on your own tracks.・/p> 
Shirts, weapons, even his own cup・D誰atheil had taken everything with him. 的 don稚 
know・
溺y lord痴 woodcarving.・I was startled when Baglos spoke up. 滴e left it out two 
nights ago, and he痴 not wanted it these two days.・Rummaging in the pack at his 
feet, he pulled out the chip of birchwood.
A sober grief had enveloped the Dulc・since D誰atheil had gone missing. All day 
his dark eyes had been luminous with unshed tears, his endless chatter and 
questioning stilled. And now his short, warm fingers spoke eloquently of his 
sorrow yet again, holding tight to the carving even as he laid it in my hand. I 
could not understand his reluctance to yield the wood・until I looked at it.
The face of the smooth square was half covered with a fine tracery of lines. 
Flowers預 veritable garden of miniature blooms of infinite variety and simple 
grace, delicately traced in the white wood. As I ran my finger over the fine 
work, the images took on new depth, subtle shadings, and a velvety texture. The 
scent that rose from them was not that of newly carved wood, but of a spring 
garden. Such enchantment. Such artistry. I glanced up at Baglos, but he had 
turned away. I held the piece a long while before offering it to Kellea. 展hat 
you do won稚 damage it?・/p> 
展hat I do has nothing to do with its substance. I only look for him in it.・/p> 
Kellea held the wood with both hands and closed her eyes. After a few moments 
she set the carving on the table and wandered across the room, arms folded. She 
stepped out of the door and stood alone for a long time, head bowed.
Rowan leaned across the table. 的t takes a while for it to happen,・he said, his 
voice quiet, filled with wonder.
鉄he says she痴 not very good at it.・His eyes were fixed on the girl.
鉄he never had a mentor. A 杯hird parent・they called them, one who would teach her 
how to use her gift, and how to hide it, the ethics of it, how to bear its 
burdens.・/p> 
的t痴 hard to get used to the idea.・/p> 
釘ut you池e not afraid?・Not ready to arrest her or bind her to a stake and set her 
afire・/p> 
的致e spent ten years learning not to fear those things I don稚 understand. Though 
the tutor had no such intent, I知 grateful for the lessons. But I can never go 
back濫 He broke off, his lined face bleak and honest, speaking things a soldier 
was never taught to say.
I shoved our empty mugs to the center of the table. 笛aco always told me I should 
trust you.・/p> 
The corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. 滴e always told me that you 
were pigheaded, but that eventually you壇 see the error of your ways.・/p> 
Before I could formulate a proper retort, Kellea reappeared in the doorway. 滴e痴 
not far.・/p> 
CHAPTER 30
We found him in the ruined castle, half a league south of Yennet. Kellea had led 
us down a narrow track that wandered across the green hills toward the 
mountains. The bronze sun was low over the western peaks when the crumbled ruin 
came into view at the crest of a rise. Kellea pulled up and waited for us, 
pointing at the hilltop. 的値l go on alone,・I said. 的 will go,・said Baglos. 的 am 
his Guide.・滴e commanded you to follow my lead,・I said. 添ou値l wait.・ The Dulc・ 
more like himself again, went into a pout, but I trusted it would last only 
until his worry got the best of him. He didn稚 hold tempers long.
Rowan didn稚 like the idea of my going alone, either, but I refused his company 
as well. 的f I知 not back in an hour, you may ride to my rescue,・I said. 釘ut 
carefully, please.・We had seen no signs of a fight. No guards. No hoofprints or 
corpses or blood to hint at hunters or sorcerer-priests. Whatever had brought 
D誰atheil to this place, I didn稚 think swords were going to repair it.
A warren of collapsed stone crowned the green hilltop. The exaggeration of 
evening shadows evoked a ghostly remembrance of the round towers and thick walls 
that had once dominated the countryside. Only one end of the ancient keep 
remained intact, three walls and a few sagging roof beams that created a shadowy 
shelter. The wind, heavy with the scents of damp earth and verdure, had picked 
up with the cooling hour and rustled the tall grass from behind me, and as I 
tethered Firethorn to a shrub that had sprung out of the rubble, an uneasy flock 
of sparrows swarmed upward in a fluttering mass. I picked my way carefully 
through the silent ruin. It didn稚 seem proper to call out in such a place.
A quick survey from atop a ruined wall told me that D誰atheil must be inside the 
keep if he was here. Neither he nor his horse was anywhere to be seen. I climbed 
over a fallen beam and up a crude staircase of stone blocks to a raised remnant 
of stone flooring. This would have been the great hall of the long-dead lord. 
Here had stood the huge hearth, back in the days when the fire would blaze 
through the night while the lord痴 soldiers and courtiers, children, cousins, and 
dogs ate, drank, and bedded down on the rush-strewn floor. Had I believed in 
ghosts I could have found them in the sun-drenched stones or, at the least, 
conjured the remnants of old songs and drunken jests and good fellowship.
The end of the keep where the roof still held seemed as deserted as the rest of 
the ruin. Disappointed, I was on the verge of turning back, when I caught a 
slight movement in the deepest shadows of the farthest corner. He was huddled 
against the wall like a child in disgrace, his head buried in his arms.
泥誰atheil,・I called softly. 溺y lord prince.・/p> 
He didn稚 move. I approached quietly and knelt beside him, relieved to feel the 
warmth of life still pulsing from him.
泥誰atheil, tell me that you live. We池e afraid for you.・/p> 
敵o away from here,・he whispered. 擢ar away.・/p> 
I released my breath. 展hy should I?・/p> 
撤lease.・He spoke with his jaw clenched, as if to keep himself from screaming.
的致e never heard you say please in all these weeks, and if my going would 
encourage it, I might consider the matter. But I also do nothing without a 
reason. Why should I leave you?・/p> 
的 can稚 hold them back any longer.・He drew in a shuddering breath.
典he Zhid, you mean? The Seeking? Are they after you again?・/p> 
填nceasing.・A wrenching groan slipped through his control, and he shrank further 
into his corner, as if driven by the lash of an invisible taskmaster.
Unceasing. 鄭nd you致e been shielding us from it.・/p> 
典hey池e coming for me.・He raised his head. His eyes were pits of blackness, his 
skin stretched across the bones of his face. Exhausted. 添ou must be far 
away.・/p> 
展e won稚 let them take you. Baglos would give his life for you. And we池e two more 
now. Graeme Rowan and Kellea have offered their help. If we池e together, we can 
protect each other, find a house, a forest濫
哲umbers, houses, forests. Those things don稚 matter if I invite them. They force 
me to look into my mind before the running, and I can稚 do it without madness. 
They致e promised to give me back my life.・He shook his head. 添ou mustn稚 be here 
when they come.・/p> 
典hey do not give life. You致e known that since the beginning,・I said. 添ou 
demonstrated it for me with two blades of grass. You池e a warrior. So fight.・/p> 
典here is nothing in me.・The haunted ruins around us were not half so bleak as 
his words. No lingering ghosts of joy or pleasure walked D誰atheil痴 mind. No 
grace of evening sunlight bathed the stones of his being. His pain was palpable 
in the dimness.
Walk away, I told myself, rebellion prompting me to my feet. Leading him on a 
journey is one thing. Using your intelligence and experience to set him on the 
road to his destiny is only right. But this ・To draw a soul from despair is such 
an intimate thing. I would need to know more of him than Baglos痴 meager tales. 
Something of his dreams or desires. Something of the person hidden behind the 
changing seasons. How could one forge such a link with something that didn稚 
exist? Impossible. Walk away.
But irksome tethers of responsibility and caring bound my feet. Perhaps all I 
needed to do was wake him up. Make him think. I stood straight and raised my 
voice. 滴ow dare you dismiss these weeks since you came to me? I致e worked hard to 
teach you a thing or two. Perhaps it痴 not been a life a prince might expect. But 
you came to me a despicable bully, and now you give of yourself: to Tennice, to 
Paulo, to me, even to Baglos. That would not be possible if there were nothing 
in you. These voices of shadow fear you, D誰atheil, and despair is their ally. 
What kind of warrior would allow them to succeed with such a paltry weapon?・/p> 
He ground the heels of his hands into his eyes. 的 tried. I知 still trying, but I 
am not enough.・/p> 
泥idn稚 you hear Dassine? You told me he spoke only truth, and, if so, then you 
cannot discount the things he said of you nor the voice with which he said them. 
He loves you as a son and says you are worthy of our trust. Whatever he痴 done to 
you, I cannot believe he would send you forth with no resources to fight this 
battle.・/p> 
滴e sent me to you・ His eyes were as stark as northern winter.
鉄o he did.・/p> 
套 but I cannot・will not・bring you harm. Go away.・He was half pleading, half 
commanding.
The sunlight beckoned beyond the broken walls. I didn稚 want to be here. I had 
not asked for this. Why had Dassine sent D誰atheil to me? Was it only that I knew 
the words to understand his needs? Was it only that I had knowledge to help 
unravel the puzzle of his destination, to find what was left of the Exiles to 
unlock his message, to keep him safe in my world? D誰atheil had isolated himself 
to protect us, and his mind had become a prison in which his tormentors could do 
whatever they willed with him. Indeed I should leave him. I had no weapon to 
repel this kind of assault.
A prison ・As I watched the Prince huddle alone in his anguish, harsh truth 
ripped my soul like the first blast of winter. I had been here before・and I had 
walked away. Had Karon felt me abandon him as he shivered alone in the cold 
wind, awaiting the first touch of flame? Had he heard my pleading and 
accusations and condemnation there at the end, only pretending confused hearing? 
He had believed his soul was the price of our safety, and I had cursed him for 
not paying it. And because I could not forgive him, I had turned my back on him, 
refusing the only thing he had ever asked of me. Live, my dearest love. You are 
the essence of life. ・I had walled myself up in my own prison and allowed my 
life to wither away.
Forgiveness cannot change what has gone before. Were Karon standing in front of 
me in this ruin, he would hold to his conviction that he could not use his power 
in corrupt ways just to save us. And I would argue until my last breath that a 
man of honor, a man who loved, could not allow his child and his friends to be 
murdered. But forgiveness is not a matter of repayment or surrender or 
forgetting, of winning or losing. It is a transformation of the heart. Yes, I 
knew of prisons and torment. That was why my feet wanted so badly to walk away・ 
and why, in the end, I could not. Not this time.
I sat down on the rough ground in front of D誰atheil, pushing aside the broken 
paving stones that poked through my skirt. 鏑isten to me迫he had buried his head 
again with another shuddering breath欄and look at me. I want to tell you a story. 
Baglos told us of your childhood, a childhood blighted by war in a city that 
should have known only peace, but I知 going to tell you of a childhood of peace, 
among people who fought a battle that was much the same as yours. It should have 
been your childhood, too, if your people had not forgotten how to make it so・
I told him Karon痴 stories of growing up in Avonar with the descendants of 
J脱ttanne, where the children always had an uncle or an aunt to listen to their 
troubles, where they waited anxiously for their talents to emerge, even though 
use of them brought only danger and risk, where they listened wide-eyed to the 
magical stories of Av狸enat and dreamed of one day sharing in such a celebration. 
I told him of Celine, and all I could remember of the exploits of Eduardo the 
Horse Tamer, and Gaillard the Builder, who stayed late every night after his 
workmen went home and sang to his bricks until they nestled smooth in their 
mortar. When his workmen would return the next morning, Gaillard would laugh 
merrily as the men stood and marveled at their own prowess, boasting that 
nowhere in the Four Realms were there such skilled bridge builders as in Avonar.
For hour after hour I forced D誰atheil to listen and to look me in the eye as I 
spoke. I did not stop when I heard Rowan walk across the stone paving, stand 
behind me for a few moments, and then leave again when it became clear there was 
no rescuing to be done. And I did not stop when D誰atheil cried out in anguish as 
the light beyond the sagging roof failed, and it looked as if everything we had 
gained was lost again. Instead, I touched his cold hand and felt the quivering 
tension as he fought to hold back the darkness・and as I held fast, the darkness 
enveloped me as well・/p> 
Come, Lord Prince, freedom and power await・/em> The whispers crawled up my back 
and between my shoulders, twining about my neck and ears, sending threads 
through my hair and wrapping cold fingers about my belly・pricking my flesh and 
bone・pricks that became barbs that became spikes・We can give you back what you 
have lost・come do us homage・/em> Streaks of red, and green, and purple・mammoth 
dark-clad figures, seated on huge thrones of black stone・their massive heads 
turning to examine my soul・I was lost if they saw me. They had no faces・only 
streaks of light・ruby, emerald, amethyst・glittering facets・lurid light 
reflecting in a sea of black glass・nauseating light in a roiling, smoke-filled 
blackness・a storm of choking ash・else you are left as nothing, condemned to look 
back at all you are・/em> And the void gaped before me like the maw of a monster, 
like the sky when the last star winks out・/p> 
My head was cracking, my skin charring with a blazing heat, my stomach rebelling 
at the formless emptiness. 哲o!・I growled. Forcing my tongue to answer my 
command, forcing my eyes to stay open, I wrenched mind and tongue back to the 
stories・to life・to beauty・The darkness receded, and it was only night, reality 
comprised of our linked hands and my voice, telling of laughter and sadness and 
courage and hope, like the tale of Errail the Gardener, who made his flowers 
bloom only one day longer each year, until after thirty years the other 
gardeners of Valleor feared their plants were failing, because they bloomed a 
full month less than those of Avonar. And so on through the night・/p> 
About the time I thought my voice and my supply of tales must fail, D誰atheil痴 
hand grew warm, the suppressed trembling faded away, and his breath began to 
flow soft and even. Careful not to break his hold lest it wake him, I stretched 
my cramped legs and eased around to rest my aching back against the stone wall.
How many hours had I racked my brain for every scrap I could remember, so there 
would be no crack in the armor I built for him? The words could have been about 
things other than Avonar and the J脱ttanne, but I thought Karon痴 stories might 
have the most meaning.
The wind whispered about the hilltop. In the distance a night bird screeched. 
Impossible to sleep. I remembered my father returning to Comigor after a long 
campaign, day after day of riding, fighting, poor food, no sleep, so tired he 
couldn稚 even lift up my tiny mother and twirl her about as was his custom. My 
mother would urge him to go straight to bed and could never understand why he 
would sit up late in his study, drinking brandy and smoking his pipe and talking 
to any who would listen, saying he was too tired to sleep. Karon had been the 
same. Whenever he returned from one of his secret journeys, he would sit up late 
in the library or the garden, staring into the fire or the sky, saying he could 
not sleep until he had rested a while. Now I understood. I was beginning to 
understand so many things.
The sounds of horses and muted voices told me that Rowan had brought the others 
up the hill to be close. And before very long came footsteps and a quiet 
question. 泥o you need anything?・It was Rowan.
的 would kiss the ground for a drink of anything,・I whispered, 殿nd my cloak or 
blanket would not be unacceptable. One for him, too.・/p> 
的致e had to sit on the little fellow to keep him away. Should he come?・/p> 
哲o. If you値l濫
的値l take care of it.・The sheriff soon returned with two blankets and a wineskin. 
I had rarely tasted anything quite so delicious as Rowan痴 sour wine.
典hank you, Sheriff. Tell Baglos that the Prince sleeps and that I believe all 
will be well with him.・/p> 
泥one.・/p> 
When the morning sun penetrated the ruined keep, I woke hearing lingering echoes 
of Karon痴 voice from my dreams. Seri love, he had called, let me in. My arm had 
burned, and I had felt his life flow through my veins as it had on the terrible 
day of his arrest, filling me, enriching me, forgiving me as I had at last 
forgiven him. My response to the dream had been quite vivid. When I Tealized I 
still clung to the Prince痴 hand, my cheeks grew hot, as if, even in sleep, he 
might somehow have shared this most intimate of stories.
D誰atheil slept peacefully, sprawled under the blanket Graeme Rowan had thrown 
over him. I hated to wake him, but events could not wait. We could not know how 
long the road to the Bridge might remain open. And, of course, I had to see if 
what I壇 done had been enough. I carefully extracted my hand and climbed to my 
feet. 展ell, my lord prince, are you going to sleep all day? You致e led us a merry 
chase.・/p> 
He stirred slowly, and after a few moments, mumbled, 展hat? I didn稚濫 He sat up, 
rubbed his head, and peered about his desolate refuge. When his gaze came to me, 
it was filled with questions. 的 don稚 remember coming here.・/p> 
展hat do you remember?・/p> 
典he rain. Fire. I don稚 know. A jumble of things. Nothing clear.・His face was 
troubled.
鼎ome, let痴 find the others.・/p> 
While we walked the length of the ancient hall, I told him briefly what had 
happened. 套 and so you left us during the storm in an attempt to draw the danger 
of the Zhid away from us. You thought you couldn稚 hold out against them, but you 
did.・/p> 
釘ecause of you, I think.・/p> 
的致e told you several times that such things are easier together. If your mentors 
taught you that in ail of history there has been any battle won by one man 
alone, then they know no more of history than does Paulo. I suppose they taught 
you, too, that women are weak and must be constantly coddled and protected. 
Perhaps you should have taken lessons from your friends, the soldiers on the 
walls of Avonar. My father always said that a soldier痴 wife could make soup from 
sticks and swords from stones and could hold a citadel long after the warriors 
had given it up. Women make the・ But I never told him, because my voice trailed 
off into a prolonged coughing fit from the irritation of my throat.
撤erhaps you should give your voice a rest,・said the Prince, as he gave me a hand 
over the fallen roof beam. 徹r you値l find yourself being dragged about by 
argumentative, flame-haired women, unable to say a word to deter them from 
having their way with you.・/p> 
I stopped and stared at him as he continued across the littered ruin toward the 
sounds of our friends. After a few steps he looked back and smiled at me as he 
had not smiled for many days. The beauty of his face brought joy to my heart, 
though in the morning light I could not fail to notice that he壇 aged a good five 
years in the past two days. Strands of gray threaded his fair hair. The stubble 
on his face could not hide the deepening lines. Baglos would not be able to deny 
the change this time. What did it mean? Shoving aside a sudden disquiet, I 
hurried after him.
The others were camped just beyond the fallen guard tower. Baglos caught sight 
of us first, raced to D誰atheil, and bent his knee. 徹h, my lord, forgive me for 
my absence from your side. My duty called me, but these・our friends・ called upon 
the command that you laid upon me to be led by迫he took a deep and wounded 
breath・鍍his mundane woman. And I did follow it. But I respectfully ask if that 
was your intent?・/p> 
的 redouble my command, Dulc・ and I致e placed it on myself as well. You are my 
madrisse, who can lead me on the proper road and answer whatever I ask of you. 
But the Lady Seriana is my counselor, who must tell me what road to take and 
what questions I must ask.・/p> 
By the time I dealt with two more bouts of coughing, D誰atheil was eating his 
second bowl of Baglos痴 porridge. I wanted a drink of something hot to soothe my 
throat and was forced to resort to gestures to let the Dulc・know.
Graeme Rowan sat a short distance away on a remnant of a fallen wall, munching a 
hard biscuit. Kellea was sitting halfway down the hill with her back to the 
company. Gratefully, I took a cup of hot wine from Baglos and perched next to 
the sheriff.
敵ood morning,・I said, croaking a bit.
敵ood morning, madam.・/p> 
笛ust Seri will do.・/p> 
鄭s you wish.・He cocked his head toward the Prince. 鉄o, do I kneel to him?・/p> 
滴e does not expect it.・/p> 
的t was awkward enough with you for so long. To know who you were and what you 
were accused of. And then Kellea, a sorcerer in the flesh. But she tells me that 
this one is a prince, and that he and his odd friend come from a land預 world葉hat 
is not this one we walk. Is it true?・/p> 
添es.・/p> 
滴and of Annadis・ The hand that held his biscuit fell into his lap. For Rowan, I 
had learned, such a reaction was the equivalent of an earthquake.
典hat realization was not much easier for me. Paulo is the only one who takes all 
of it in stride.・/p> 
The sheriff grimaced. 撤aulo痴 life is naught but irrational events. And he talks 
with horses. Why would anything amaze him? He tells me you chose to keep him, 
rather than shove him off to a magistrate. I thank you for that.・/p> 
添ou know I could never濫
的 thank you anyway. Folk busy saving the world oft-times fail to note illiterate 
boys.・He lifted the biscuit to his mouth again, pausing only long enough to add, 
溺ay I ask what was last night?・/p> 
My throat soothed with Baglos痴 wine, I told Rowan about the Seeking of the Zhid, 
and how D誰atheil thought he had to fight it alone so as not to endanger the rest 
of us. 展hat I did, just talking to him long enough, enabled him to grab an 
anchor in a world in which he was at sea. He used his own strength to deflect 
the attack. I thank you for your discretion.・/p> 
的 vow never to interfere where this sorcery business is involved.・/p> 
添ou may find it less terrifying than you think.・/p> 
滴mmph.・A skeptical grunt. 鉄o, what now?・/p> 
展e must get him to the place they call the Gate, as Kellea told you, so he can 
do whatever he was sent here to do, avoiding the traps the Zhid and the traitors 
among his own people have set for him.・/p> 
鄭nd do you know the way?・/p> 
展e have clues.・I told him of the journal, and the Writer, and the riddles.
添ou池e wagering the future of two worlds on four-hundred-fifty-year-old riddles 
written by a ten-year-old girl?・Rowan痴 sandy eyebrows looked to fly off his 
face.
鉄he only gave her father the idea. He wrote his clues interspersed with her 
riddles, then left the key to them in the form of a children痴 game.・/p> 
鉄till sounds like hunting a bear with a stick.・/p> 
Rowan finished his biscuit and I my wine, watching Baglos bustling happily about 
with food and fire and pots. After a while Rowan said. 鉄o the little one is his 
servant. He seems very devoted. Obedient・trustworthy.・/p> 
典heir relationship is much deeper than master and servant預 magical link of the 
mind. Baglos would have difficulty disobeying his commands, even if he wanted 
to. What about it?・/p> 
溺mm・no matter. I just wasn稚 sure. Back in Yurevan濫 He waved his last bite of 
biscuit in dismissal. 哲aught, then.・/p> 
My cup empty, I was anxious to get on with the day. 典hen let me introduce you, 
and we値l be off.・/p> 
The Prince was still eating voraciously. Paulo was attempting to match him bite 
for bite, but was falling behind.
泥誰atheil, I must introduce you to one whose honesty I致e much maligned. He was 
pursuing us with only good intent. This is Graeme Rowan, whom I induced you to 
bash on the head out of my mistaken interpretation of events.・/p> 
The Prince looked up.
鉄heriff, this is D誰atheil溶o, more properly His Grace D誰atheil, Prince of Avonar, 
Sovereign of Gondai, Heir of D但rnath.・D誰atheil was still dressed in the clothing 
of a dead farmer, the same shabby shirt and breeches I had rifled from Jacopo痴 
bins, but when he nodded his head, Rowan bowed to him, though I believed he had 
come to the meeting with no such intent.
添ou池e not a wicked villain, then?・asked the Prince solemnly, as he motioned 
Baglos to empty the last dregs of breakfast into his bowl, even while scooping 
the last bite into his mouth. 哲ot a heinous, hide-bound slave of corruption that 
parades under the name of the law?・/p> 
鄭 servant of justice and order, but no slave, and neither heinous nor 
hide-bound, I trust,・said Rowan, just as solemnly.
釘ut at least a surly, knavish rascal who cannot abide the possibility of 
rational discourse from a female, and who could likely not even recognize such a 
thing were it to pop up from a tankard of ale?・/p> 
Rowan shook his head emphatically. 的致e learned my lesson on that score from 
several sources.・/p> 
I looked from one to the other and felt my cheeks grow hot. 展hat is this 
conspiracy, gentlemen? I lead this expedition, and I値l have no pompous men 
having secret understandings and uncivil attitudes. You致e just met. How can you 
be conspiring already?・I threw up my hands and busied myself with smothering the 
fire, pointedly ignoring the two who burst out laughing at my discomfiture. But 
I felt a smile bubble up from deep inside me・from a place I had believed barren.
Baglos packed the last of his pots and bags and went with Paulo to collect the 
horses. Moments later, Baglos came running to D誰atheil in great agitation. 溺y 
lord, we cannot find your horse! We致e had no luck at all in summoning him. 
Unless you can do something・
滴e値l come.・D誰atheil closed his eyes, flicked his fingers in a small gesture, and 
whispered a word I couldn稚 hear. But I felt it. Most definitely. The sheriff 
felt it, too, and watched the Prince intently. When I heard the distant pounding 
of hooves and saw the chestnut appear on the next hilltop, I was not surprised. 
D誰atheil looked satisfied as the graceful animal galloped into our camp and 
stopped within reach of his master痴 hand.
Paulo grinned. 添ou must致e learned his name.・/p> 
D誰atheil stroked the horse痴 head. 的ndeed I did.・/p> 
鄭nd what is it, then?・I asked.
滴e is called Sunlight.・/p> 
A relieved Baglos finished the loading, while I pulled out the journal and 
showed Rowan and D誰atheil its secrets.
典he first riddle is obvious,・I said, tapping lightly on the page. 鄭 river is a 
road that never sleeps, and its travelers have no feet傭oats and fish and such, 
of course. And we know we池e going to the mountains, so we must head upriver. But 
how far? When do we look for the next clue? The chest is the next, and it must 
indicate this one, 祢t is the lesser brother痴 portion that brings the greatest 
wealth and the lesser passage that finds its destination.・・/p> 
的t would imply a decision point,・said D誰atheil. 鄭 fork in the road or some such, 
and we would take the inferior way.・/p> 
展e値l have to trust that we値l recognize it.・/p> 
In a short time all was ready. The sheriff knelt at the top of the hill, raising 
a dirty thumb to his brow, as stubborn in his piety as in all else. And so we 
set off in the sparkling morning, leaving the mournful ruin to the wind and the 
sparrows. With six of us together, and D誰atheil yanked back from the brink of 
despair, I felt more confident than I had in many days. But after only an hour痴 
riding on the little used path that paralleled the restless Glenaven, D誰atheil 
pulled up and looked back the way we had come. 展e壇 best ride hard,・ he said, 
taking a deep breath. 鉄omeone痴 close behind.・/p> 
CHAPTER 31
The day flew by in a blur of grass and rocks and scattered trees. As we galloped 
toward the soaring majesty of the Dorian Wall, the gently sloping hillsides to 
the east and west of the river yielded to rougher country. Craggy knobs 
appeared, at first one here, one there, and then on every side. The meandering 
Glenaven moved faster here, darting restlessly between the rocks that threatened 
to stay its progress. Nowhere did I see any choice to be made as to our course.
We stopped briefly at midday to rest the horses. The hills and knobs had finally 
formed a continuous barricade on either side of the river, creating a narrow 
valley sparsely scattered with pine and fir. The air was hot and sultry, the 
breezes of the open country blocked by the encroaching walls. Though it seemed a 
year since Midsummer痴 Day, little more than six weeks had passed. The land 
remained awash in summer.
We did not resume the morning痴 banter at our stop. D誰atheil痴 eyes flicked 
frequently back the way we had come. Half an hour and we were on our way again, 
Baglos in the lead. Rowan and Kellea rode side by side just behind the Dulc・ 
Paulo stayed close at their heels, and D誰atheil and I brought up the rear. I was 
not about to let the Prince lag behind as he had on the day of the storm.
泥o the Zhid still call to you?・I asked, as we wound our way up the narrowing 
gorge.
添es. But it痴 easier now. I try to concentrate on everything you told me, on your 
stories.・/p> 
典he J脱ttanne were your people every bit as much as those in your Avonar. That痴 
why I chose those things to talk about.・/p> 
添ou池e an exceptional storyteller. They seem far more real than anything Baglos 
speaks of.・/p> 
鼎an you remember nothing of your years with Dassine? Ten years it would have 
been.・/p> 
He shrugged. 的 keep thinking that if I work at it hard enough, I知 bound to see. 
But the memories stay just out of reach.・/p> 
展hy would Dassine have taken your memory and your voice before sending you? What 
circumstance could force him to do that? He said he had no alternative.・/p> 
撤erhaps he thought I wouldn稚 do what was needed. Because of the person I am. It痴 
likely I don稚 want to know what痴 hidden.・Winter had touched his voice, and he 
dug his heels into Sunlight痴 flank. 鼎ome, we must move faster.・/p> 
The Prince rode ahead to where Graeme Rowan was picking his way across the swift 
water. The track ahead of us on the east side of the river was tangled with tree 
roots and underbrush, for the water had eaten away at the bank, leaving it 
narrow and steep-sided. The track on the west side of the river was still 
unobstructed. I considered briefly that the east side might be the 斗esser 
passage・of the riddle, but a few moments・observation convinced me it had been 
more than four hundred and fifty years since the east bank had been passable.
I needn稚 have worried. The Writer had buried his instructions so cleverly that 
he hadn稚 felt the need to make them true riddles. The way was very clear.
Half an hour or so after the river crossing, we heard a considerable rush of 
water ahead預 swirling pool of icy blue-green, the turbulent confluence of two 
healthy streams that formed the Glenaven. The stream on the right flowed from a 
broad grassy valley that angled almost directly west, funneling the afternoon 
sunshine straight into our eyes. The stream leaped and bounded its way through 
thick grass, dotted with clumps of yellow, blue, and white flowers.
The left branch flowed from a passage of very different character, a gloomy, 
narrow slot that at first glance appeared to have no path at all. Everything in 
my nature beckoned me to follow the sunlit valley, but I assumed that the darker 
way was ours.
典he lesser brother?・asked Rowan.
的t痴 the first likely thing,・I said. 的f there痴 a path・
的値l take a look. If we go a little west where the water痴 slower, we can cross 
easily.・In moments Rowan was on the spit of rocks and sand between the two 
forks. Then he splashed through the stream, rode into the shadowed mouth of the 
narrower passage, and disappeared.
D誰atheil kept glancing over his shoulder while we waited. After a time that 
likely seemed far longer than it was, the sheriff rejoined us. 典here痴 a path. 
Narrow. But I went in fairly deep, and it continued as far as I could see.・/p> 
滴urry,・said D誰atheil. 鼎hoose.・/p> 
展e go left,・I said.
鉄ome will go left,・said Rowan. 適ellea and I have decided that it痴 impossible for 
all of us to outrun a determined pursuer in these conditions. And it looks to 
get worse. But if the two of us were to go west, while the rest of you take the 
opposite way, then, unless the fellows on our tail have Kellea痴 talent, we might 
fool them. She says that it might be possible to mislead even one like her, if 
we take something with us that belongs to each of you. That may give you time 
enough.・/p> 
的 hate splitting up,・I said, though I knew that he was absolutely right.
展e値l loop back if we can. Kellea can find you.・/p> 
I pulled off the scarf I used to tie back my hair. Baglos produced a kerchief of 
his own and D誰atheil痴 discarded sandals. Paulo had nothing to give, but Kellea 
startled him by riding up close and yanking a hair from his shaggy mop. 徹w!・ 
Paulo slapped his hand to his head.
展e値l see you again before we池e done!・called the sheriff. Kellea was already 
galloping into the sunlight, and Rowan痴 great black horse shot after her.
敵o with your gods, Graeme Rowan. And you, Kellea,・I called.
D誰atheil and Baglos were almost halfway across the water, and I was right on 
their heels, glancing back to make sure Paulo followed. But the boy sat at the 
joining of the water, looking back and forth between the two parties. Before I 
could call out to him, he clucked at Molly and bolted westward after Graeme 
Rowan. I couldn稚 worry about his safety. There were no assurances along either 
route.
I disliked the eastern passage from my first step into it. The path Rowan had 
seen was scarcely worthy of the name預 narrow band of damp sand along the west 
side of the river. The walls of the gorge became steeper and rockier the farther 
we rode, and, in some places, the river widened until it reached almost from one 
wall to the other. Once, the track disappeared completely, and we had to ford 
the shallow water to pick it up again on the other side.
Another hour and the walls had become sheer rock faces, and the bottom of the 
rift grew darker, musty and close in the warm evening. Stomach in a knot, I 
glanced up frequently to prove to myself that there was no roof to cave in on 
me. The sky held the deep blue of evening, but in the flat-bottomed gorge it was 
already dusk, forcing us to slow our pace. The path varied a great deal in 
width, drips and trickles in every direction warning of side streams waiting to 
trip us up. And early spring waterfalls had bored out deep pools in the 
streambed, abandoning them as traps for the unwary traveler now that summer had 
quenched the falls. When the first stars winked into life overhead, we had found 
no spot suitable to stop for the night. I had to trust Firethorn to find safe 
footing.
We proceeded without incident until a soft word from the Prince signaled a halt. 
We dismounted, unsaddled the horses, and pulled out food and blankets, fumbling 
our way about in the dark. Baglos dragged brush from the steep banks and piled 
it up between us. 溺y lord, the only fuel hereabouts is damp and green. I値l never 
get it lit. Hot food and warmth would restore us all. If you could help, as you 
did in the storm・
的 think not,・said the Prince. 鉄ince we split off from the others, I can稚 feel 
the pursuit behind us. Every time they致e caught up with us again, I致e just 
worked some sorcery. I知 beginning to think that the more I do such things, the 
easier I am to find.・/p> 
His theory made sense. And as for me, I was too tired to regret the lack of 
comforts. I was long past hungry and could think of nothing but rolling up in my 
blanket and stretching my tired muscles on the damp earth. I told my companions 
to wake me when it was my turn to watch. 套 or if there痴 need, I値l watch with 
you,・I told D誰atheil.
典his night is not so dark as the last,・he said from somewhere in the murk. 
哲othing to fear.・/p> 
As I drifted off to sleep, I felt vaguely as though I were forgetting something 
important, but I was much too tired to dredge it up.
Baglos woke me while the strip of sky above us was still crowded with stars. 
典here痴 been no disturbance,・he said, as I tried to clear my groggy head. 展hen 
the Prince turned the watch to me, he said our pursuers have not yet discovered 
us. He sleeps.・/p> 
It didn稚 take Baglos long to join D誰atheil. Soon I heard the soft snoring I壇 
come to recognize as his. I leaned against the cliff face behind me and to my 
disgust found my back soaked almost immediately. Groping about in the dark 
revealed no dry spot. It would be a mistake to lie down again and expect to stay 
awake, so I had either to sit up without support or try to walk a few steps here 
and there without stepping on my companions or falling into the river. The hours 
until dawn stretched very long.
Morning came to the sky much earlier than it came to the bottom of the gorge, 
but even in the gray light, I found both the source of the dripping noises and 
the reason I could find no dry spot to lean on. I壇 never seen anything like it. 
Moisture was leaking from the pores of the rock wall. If the sky had not been 
cloudless, one might have thought rain was falling high above the cliff tops. 
Thick moss, tiny red flowers, and slender vines of deep green laden with 
miniature purple berries burrowed their roots into the wet rock face, creating a 
colorful vertical garden. The sight changed my whole perception of the rift.
典he ancient face that weeps.・/p> 
I jumped. D誰atheil stood just behind me. 徹f course! The third clue. 埜hen one 
ascends the ancient face that weeps・ ・I peered into the blue-gray haze up the 
gorge. 釘ut how does one ascend it? The walls go straight up and crumble in your 
hand. And why would they send us this way, if we needed to be on top? Surely 
there would be an easier path.・/p> 
的 suppose it will come clear like the other clues.・/p> 
Not half a league up the gorge, the river made good on the previous day痴 threat. 
The path vanished, and the water spanned the breadth of the rift. For a while 
the going was easy, the clear water only hoof-deep, the stony bottom easy to 
see. But then I followed D誰atheil around a sharp bend and saw the water lapping 
almost to his knees. 鉄tay to the right,・he called back to me, as I felt the icy 
water seep into my boots. Repeating the warning over my shoulder for Baglos, I 
fixed one eye on the Prince and one eye on Fire-thorn痴 footing to make sure we 
followed his lead exactly.
For a long hour we had no relief from the frigid water that varied from ankle to 
knee in depth. My feet were numb, and I patted and soothed Firethorn, promising 
him a winter of dry oats and hay if he would carry me through safely. I did not 
see Polestar step into the pool or Baglos slip from his saddle into the water. I 
only heard a great splash and a cry for help behind me.
泥誰atheil!・I yelled, coaxing Firethorn back toward Baglos, who flailed the water 
in panic. The Prince was just disappearing beyond the next turn.
D誰atheil quickly reversed direction and dived into the river from the back of 
his horse, swimming with powerful strokes toward the floundering Dulc・ Catching 
him around his chest, D誰atheil dragged Baglos back across the pool, swimming 
until he could get a foothold and then wading through chest-high water until he 
could haul himself and his soggy servant across the saddle of the patiently 
waiting chestnut. The wild-eyed Polestar found his way back to the shallower 
water. I maneuvered myself so I could grab the jittery beast痴 reins before he 
could bolt back down the gorge. The incident was over in moments, and I was 
relieved to see the chestnut lunge out of the water onto a mostly dry shore 
after one more turning of the path.
Soon the three of us were pouring water from our boots and stretching the cramps 
from numb legs and feet. The drenched Baglos was shivering, for the morning 
shadows held none of the previous day痴 warmth. 的 don稚 know what happened, my 
lord,・he said. 溺y vision grew blurry, the beast stepped off into the deeps, and 
everything was topsy-turvy.・/p> 
D誰atheil looked at me. 的 should make a fire for him.・/p> 
哲o, look,・I said, pointing to the rift wall. The timing of the rescue was 
perfect. The rays of the morning sun that had shone so tantalizingly on the west 
wall finally swept the shadows from the floor. 敵o over by the rocks, Baglos. 
Wring yourself out and sit in the sun, and D誰atheil won稚 have to risk an 
enchantment to warm you.・/p> 
The Dulc・was indignant. 的 would never ask my lord to endanger himself for me,・he 
said through chattering teeth.
徹f course not. I didn稚 mean to imply it.・/p> 
As I tethered the horses to a willow sprouted from the weeping wall, I noticed 
Baglos痴 leather bag hung over Polestar痴 saddle. Thinking to make a peace 
offering for my ill-considered remark, I pulled out the Dulc髓s silver wine flask 
and took it to him. 溺ight this help?・/p> 
Baglos snatched the flask from my hand and jumped up. 哲o, woman, not this one! 
This is not裕his one is only for the most dire circumstances. The other is the 
one to use.・He crammed the flask back in the leather bag and pulled out a 
different, plainer one. He took a sip and offered it around.
We wiped down the horse, wrung out our clothes and each found a spot in the 
sunbeams. D誰atheil groaned in pleasure as he stretched out next to the cliff 
wall and closed his eyes. I sat with my back propped against the wall and my 
face to the sun and watched the steam rise from my soggy boots. 徹ne blessing of 
this experience,・I said, 妬s its close resemblance to a bath. Just a bit wanner 
water, and I might have dived into it myself.・/p> 
釘athing!・said Baglos in disgust, as he dabbed at his damp tunic with the only 
dry corner of his blanket. 的mmersion is an unhealthy habit. Just feel the chill. 
I cannot understand those who promote such practices. My uncle Balzir said that 
bathing can reduce one痴 height by a full measure. The Dulc・do not hold with 
it.・/p> 
泥assine must have approved of bathing,・said D誰atheil drowsily. 鉄omeone was 
forever hounding me about it.・/p> 
Baglos and I looked at each other with eyebrows raised. The Prince did not even 
seem to realize what he was saying.
滴e most likely hounded you about many things if you were the wicked boy Baglos 
describes,・I said.
溺any things: don稚 run, don稚 argue, don稚 fight me, don稚 tell. Be careful. Let me 
show you. Read・think・fifty generations. We池e wrong・the answer is there to be 
found. Our enemies do not sleep. Look deep, beyond the surface・
I motioned the excited Baglos to silence and said, softly, 釘ut he was kind to 
you. He didn稚 beat you like the other Preceptor勇xeget妖id?・/p> 
添es and no. His voice was kindness. And wisdom・like my father. Wicked humor, but 
so hard・unrelenting. Always it was 敗omeday蒼優誰atheil痴 mumbling slowed濫someday all 
will be clear. Someday, your gift・make all the difference. But it was so long 
waiting痘the words were a long sigh濫so long in the dark. Why so long, Dassine? 
Let me go. For the love of heaven, let me・ah・
D誰atheil jerked upright, startled awake by his own cry. A flush of embarrassment 
suffused his face. 的 must have fallen asleep. Fires of night・ He rubbed his head 
vigorously. 滴ave you dried out, Dulc・ We must get on.・/p> 
的 am ready at your command, my lord.・/p> 
The lingering echoes of D誰atheil痴 anguish made ordinary conversation seem too 
trivial to pursue. I wondered if his memory was truly returning or if his 
rambling had been some dream-wrought confusion of all he壇 heard from me and 
Baglos and Dassine. What did you dream when you had no person within you?
The next bend in the river shoved all thought of D誰atheil痴 memories out of mind, 
for the Writer痴 third clue lay revealed in awesome clarity. The path we traveled 
extended into the haze as far as we could see, but not fifty paces from the 
bend, another track branched off from it and angled steeply up the eastern wall. 
From somewhere in the distance, beyond our farthest view, we heard a muted 
rumbling of wind or water.
鄭scend the ancient face that weeps,・said Baglos in wonder.
I took a deep breath. Heights did not terrify me as did confinement in the dark, 
but I壇 never done anything quite like this. I wondered if there would be room to 
dismount if we had need. 的値l have to trust you once more,・I whispered to 
Firethorn, stroking his neck.
We took it slowly, speaking calmly and continually to our horses. The trail, a 
great seam in the tilted strata of the rock, was wider than it looked from 
below擁n a few spots even enough to turn the horse around傭ut not so wide as to 
tempt me to linger one moment more than necessary. I would not have been 
surprised to find it dwindle away into nothing at the first angle in the cliff. 
Truly, I believed my worst fears confirmed when we approached a jutting corner 
where a huge boulder hung out over the trail, only air visible beyond it.
D誰atheil went first, crouching low in the saddle to clear the overhang, then 
disappearing on the other side. I was next. I huddled down into Firethorn痴 ruddy 
mane and prayed the beast had sense enough to stay as close to the wall as the 
jutting boulder would permit.
Once I rounded the corner, the rumbling that had grown louder at each step of 
the ascent became a roar, and even the fearsome aspect of the ledge path faded 
into insignificance when I beheld the source of the noise. At the end of the 
gorge was a towering cliff of red and gray, the granite base of the ice 
pinnacles that stretched as far as I could see in every direction, so close that 
I felt I could reach out and grab a handful of snow from each one of them. From 
a seam in the cliff sprang a waterfall that dived in thundering splendor to the 
valley floor so far below us that the river was but a narrow ribbon. The 
afternoon sun sparkled on the spray that wreathed the falls, bridging the end of 
the gorge with a perfect double rainbow.
D誰atheil was stopped a few paces ahead of me. 的t has to be there, does it 
not?・/p> 
的 believe so,・I said. His words eerily reflected my own thoughts. No J脱ttanne 
could have resisted the call of such beauty.
撤erhaps I was sent just for this. I致e never seen the like.・Behind his wonder 
echoed such lonely sadness as would soften stone.
泥emon-spirited beast! Black-hearted wretch!・The cries came from behind us. 
Baglos stood just on our side of the overhang, looking back through the 
treacherous corner and waving his hands. Polestar was nowhere to be seen.
釘aglos, what痴 happened?・I called.
典he wicked son of a Zhid is most likely halfway back to Yennet.・The Dulc・ 
trudged up the steep path toward us. 典he turning at the boulder was fearsome. I 
dismounted so as to walk, and the beast shied. Pulled the reins right out of my 
hand. Oh, my lord prince, what an incompetent fool they have sent you as 
Guide.・/p> 
I could not disagree. One look at the long, steep track that lay in front of us 
told how near impossible was our position. Even if D誰atheil or I were to take 
Baglos up to ride double, almost all of our food was on its way to Yennet. Right 
into the arms of the Zhid. Everything・釘aglos, was the journal still in your 
pack?・/p> 
The Dulc・looked as if he were going to be sick.
溺ost unfortunate,・said D誰atheil.
溺ore than unfortunate,・I said. 的 can remember the clues and the map, but what if 
there痴 more we need from it? What if we致e made the wrong interpretation and must 
begin again?・The stupid, clumsy fool.
的 know only one way to get it back quickly,・said D誰atheil.
Sorcery, of course. Calling Polestar back to us. 的 can稚 tell you to take such a 
risk.・/p> 
典he journal must not fall into the hands of those behind us. Even if by some 
chance what I do doesn稚 bring them down on us, they would eventually decipher 
it. It might tell them what we would not.・/p> 
Baglos was silent and anxious through all of this, clutching his hands to his 
breast, his dark eyes flicking from the Prince to me.
As he had on the hillside next to the ruined castle, D誰atheil closed his eyes, 
made a small movement of his fingers, and whispered the horse痴 name. Then he sat 
down on the trail to wait, drinking from his waterskin and dangling his feet 
over the stomach-churning drop to the rift floor. I was more comfortable close 
by the cliff wall and was too unsettled to sit down anyway.
Before very long, the black horse emerged sedately from the shadowed overhang, 
as if sauntering from the pasture into the stable for his evening oats. As we 
mounted up to be on our way, D誰atheil痴 shoulders sagged.
鄭re you well?・I asked.
He shook his head, leaning on the horse for a moment before wearily pulling 
himself into the saddle. 展e池e being followed again.・/p> 
Though D誰atheil laid no word of reproach on him, Baglos said very little. He 
rode stiffly, eyes forward, his volatile emotions for once held close.
As the afternoon sun baked the weeping cliff wall, it was difficult to recall 
our shivering of the morning. The ascent seemed painfully slow, especially now 
the enemy was on our trail again.
Late in the afternoon we came to the waterfall, the last steep ascent leveling 
off into a wide shelf that extended to the very brink of the thundering cascade. 
I slumped down in the shade, reveling in the cold spray. Baglos, his black hair 
and beard dusted with the droplets, shouted to be heard above the roar. 展hat 
now? Have we come the wrong way? I see no further path.・/p> 
的t must be that way,・said D誰atheil, pointing to a rocky chute that led to the 
cliff tops far above us. The chute was even steeper than the last bit we had 
just done and was slick with the spray of the falls. In no wise could the horses 
negotiate it. It would be treacherous enough for human hands and feet.
鉄hould not the next clue point our way?・asked Baglos. When the wall births the 
flood, it is wiser to be the rabbit than the fish or the goat. 展hat could it 
mean? It seems to fit預t least the part about the wall birthing the flood.・/p> 
的 see no choice of directions here,・said D誰atheil. 典he divided way must be above 
us, where we would have the opportunity to cross the river like a fish, or climb 
again like a goat, or take some other way. The 排abbit・way, whatever that is.・/p> 

I could not imagine the J脱ttanne using the path up that steep chute. They would 
have wanted the fortress approaches secure, yes. Secret, yes. Secluded, yes. But 
not impossible. Examination of the shelf revealed no evidence of a bridge to the 
other side of the gorge, where there looked to be easier ways up.
Baglos was already fussing about the packs and mumbling to himself about what we 
would need to carry, and what must be left behind with the horses, and was it 
not ironic that so soon after bringing on danger by recalling Polestar, we must 
abandon the beasts and send them back down the path. When he pulled out the 
journal, I snatched it from his small hand and stuffed it in my pocket. I would 
not risk losing it again.
Discouraged, I sat by the wall munching a piece of dry bread. D誰atheil sat 
beside me, his gaze following an eagle that soared on the warm updrafts over the 
falls. 撤erhaps it痴 time I went on alone,・he said quietly.
泥on稚 you dare濫
擢oolish, I know, to think you壇 allow it. You壇 throw your horse at me before 
riding him down that hill, wouldn稚 you?・/p> 
The nicker of amusement in the Prince痴 face rapidly doused my indignation. 
摘xactly right.・/p> 
的 most sincerely do not like dragging you into this・whatever it is that will 
happen. And not because you are female or incompetent. On the contrary迫his eyes 
traced the lines of my face欄I think this world would lose much of its richness 
if you were not a part of it.・He reddened a little and shifted his gaze back to 
the waterfall.
典hank you,・I said. A stupid, priggish response, but I could think of none other. 
I should laugh and dismiss it by teasing him預nd teasing myself even more. Only a 
few weeks had passed since I was trying to decide how to be rid of him. Only 
days since I had admitted that anything about him sparked feelings beyond 
annoyance or pity. He changed so rapidly, as if every day the previous day痴 
persona was sloughed off like an unwanted skin to reveal a new character and 
manner.
As we sat there, D誰atheil in embarrassment and I in confusion, a rock-mouse 
scurried from some unseen crevice near the edge of the falls and picked up a 
crumb that had fallen from my bread. When I shifted my leg to let it come 
closer, it skittered off to the brink of the falls and disappeared into the 
spray. I berated myself for my clumsy movement, sure the tiny creature had been 
swept away in its hasty flight, but in moments it was back, damp but undaunted, 
searching for another treasure to add to its horde.
展here did you come from?・I said, as it scuttered back the way it had come. 
Curious, I crawled toward the curtain of water.
滴ave a care, woman,・said Baglos, an anxious edge to his voice.
But I needed no warning. The shelf did not end abruptly at the edge of the falls 
as it appeared, but extended well past it. As I peered closer, the rock-mouse 
zipped between my feet and into the shower of droplets. 的f you can go there, can 
we?・Hugging the wall, I stood up and stepped into the spray. Beyond a thin 
curtain of water was a sheltered overhang, as dry and calm as the eye of a 
storm. And at the center of the dry niche was a hole in the wall, twice the 
height of a man and almost as wide. A hole. A rabbit hole.
CHAPTER 32
After all that had happened in my life, how could walking into a hole in a wall 
be so excruciatingly difficult? Every hardship of our journey paled in 
comparison to the first step into the cave behind the falls, but I told myself 
I壇 be Evard痴 whore before I壇 give D誰atheil an excuse to leave me behind. 滴ave we 
anything to use for a light?・I asked, taking pride in my matter-of-fact 
demeanor.
的 think I can provide that,・said the Prince, snugging the ties that held our 
waterskins to the saddles.
哲o, you mustn稚濫
的t makes no difference now. They池e coming, and we値l be able to go faster.・ He 
peered into the mouth of the cave. 的 have no love for darkness.・/p> 
I did let D誰atheil go in first. I wasn稚 a fool. A pale yellow light took 
flickering shape from his left hand, and then settled into a steady white glow. 
I took a deep breath and stepped through the opening after him. There痴 plenty of 
air, I told myself. Plenty of room. Annadis preserve D誰atheil and his light. I 
was not in the habit of invoking the Twin who controlled fire and lightning with 
his sword, but if he was interested, I would not turn down his help.
We had to lead our horses, as the ceiling soon became too low for riding. 
Baglos, who had been unusually quiet since the near disasters of the day, 
followed Firethorn. The path tilted slightly upwards, and the damp walls and 
floors were worn smooth by uncounted years of flowing water. The rumble of the 
waterfall was deadened by the mountain痴 foundation, soon fading away into heavy 
silence, broken only by the ring of hooves on stone. Occasionally we walked past 
pockets of cooler air, unrelieved blackness where the soft light made no 
inroads. I tried not to look at them; they made my chest hurt.
Rather I focused my eyes on D誰atheil痴 light, wondering what was the source of 
the radiance庸ingers, palm? Anything to take my mind off of the oppressive stone, 
and its associated images of tombs・dungeons・Xerema collapsing around its people 
after the earthquake. I tried to start a conversation with Baglos, but the three 
of us were separated by the bulk of the horses. And whenever I managed to get 
the Prince痴 attention, his light would fade. So I stayed quiet. How far could it 
be to travel under a mountain? Keep breathing, Seri. There痴 plenty of air.
We walked, stopped to rest, and walked more. Hours passed.
滴old!・D誰atheil痴 voice echoed through the stone passage.
展hat is it?・I asked, squeezing past the chestnut to where D誰atheil stood 
frowning. He held up his hand, and my stomach constricted. Our way was blocked 
by a pile of rubble. 徹h.・/p> 
的 think I went wrong back where the path bent to the right. It was hard to guess 
which was the side passage and which the main. We don稚 have a clue to tell us, I 
suppose?・/p> 
I tried to keep my breathing steady. 展e致e only one more riddle. I致e assumed that 
it tells the final destination.・/p> 
Somewhere water dripped slowly. The soles of my feet throbbed.
展e値l have to go back then. Only a few hundred paces. I can switch places with 
the Dulc・・The Prince smiled at me in the glow of his enchantment. 釘aglos and I 
will find our way, will we not, Dulc・・Baglos did not answer. As we got the 
horses turned around, it was quite obvious why. Neither Baglos nor Polestar was 
anywhere in sight.
釘aglos!・/p> 
泥ulce!・/p> 
We called out together. Only our own echoes answered.
的 don稚 think I quite believe this horrid day,・I said. 滴ow could they have sent 
you such a dolt for a Guide?・/p> 
The Prince peered into the blackness beyond his circle of light. 展hen did you 
last mark him?・/p> 
的致e not been paying attention. It must have been when we stopped to adjust his 
boot.・/p> 
擢ires of night, that was half a league back!・D誰atheil shook his head. 釘aglos has 
a good heart. But I値l confess, I don稚 understand him at all.・/p> 
We tied the chestnut痴 halter to Firethorn痴 saddle and started back the way we 
had come, a task easier set than accomplished. We壇 had few choices of direction 
along the way, but looking backward was a different matter. There seemed to be 
passages everywhere and no distinction to be made between them.
典his is where I went wrong,・said D誰atheil, pointing around a sharp corner. 展hen 
we find the Dulc・and return here, we値l need to go left. Easy to see now that it痴 
the main passage.・/p> 
展e should mark it,・I said. 的 should have thought of that from the 
beginning.・Stupid. Stupid. Perhaps the dark would be less fearsome if you kept 
hold of some sense.
I pulled out my knife to scratch a mark on the stone, but the Prince stayed my 
hand. 撤erhaps there痴 an easier way.・He let out a slow breath, as if to settle 
himself, and then he rubbed a finger on the stone. A glowing green mark 
appeared. 的致e no idea if it will last as long as we need. I hope so.・/p> 
典his is an immensely opportune time for your talents to manifest themselves. I 
don稚 suppose you can search for Baglos as Kellea does?・/p> 
He laughed a bit. 填nfortunately not. We値l have to hunt for him in the usual 
way.・/p> 
Carefully, always marking our path before losing sight of the previous mark, we 
picked our way back through the warren. At every opening we called for Baglos, 
but heard no reply save our own voices bouncing around in the hollow spaces. One 
hour, two hours we searched. D誰atheil痴 light faded to a sickly yellow.
When we reached the place we壇 last seen the Dulc・ I leaned my back against the 
wall and massaged one tired ankle. 撤erhaps he stayed on the main route after we 
went wrong. He痴 most likely on the other side by now, worrying about us.・/em>
的 hope you池e right,・said the Prince. 的 don稚 think it would be wise to search 
beyond the main passage.・/p> 
He got no argument from me. I eyed his hand and the shrinking circle of light 
radiating from it. 撤erhaps we should go all the way back to the ledge to spend 
the night. Try the passage again in the morning・when we池e rested.・/p> 
釘etter not. The ledge will be closer to our pursuers, and the tunnel will be 
safer in the dark.・/p> 
撤robably so.・/p> 
We reversed direction and started up the path, proceeding slowly through the 
closing blackness toward the green mark, taking turns calling out for Baglos. 
Soon the Prince痴 light encompassed no more than a single footstep. I dared not 
blink lest I lose sight of his hand.
的知 sorry I can稚 hold the light for you,・he said, as the last glimmer faded. 的知 
not practiced at the art. We値l follow the marks as long as we can manage, and 
then rest for a while. Tell me when you can no longer bear the dark, and I値l try 
the light again.・/p> 
的値l be all right,・I said. Despite this boastful claim, doubts gnawed at me.
We passed the first green mark. 的 should remove it,・said the Prince, pausing for 
a moment. 的t will aid our pursuers. But if the Dulc・is lost・ He left it.
I was not so gracious. I would have abandoned the incompetent little fool to 
fend for himself.
To my surprise, I endured the next few hours quite readily. We returned to our 
missed turning with no sign of the Dulc・ but by that time I had to stop for 
other reasons. One blistered heel was raw, my ankles were wobbly, and my neck 
felt as if someone had hung me from a meat hook. 典his isn稚 a place I壇 choose to 
spend a night,・I said, 澱ut my feet will not move another step.・/p> 
We unsaddled the horses, pulled out our blankets, and shared some bits of 
cheese. The horses whuffled softly as the Prince gave them each a handful of 
oats from our emergency stores. 的値l take these two and go a little farther down 
the passage,・he said.
撤lease stay close,・I said. 撤roprieties are long past.・/p> 
鄭s you wish.・His voice was clear and comforting in the darkness.
It never came morning, of course. The absolute blackness was only relieved when 
D誰atheil spoke his word of magic. With his other hand he passed me a hard 
biscuit. 展e must hurry,・he said. Even with no light to reveal the strain on his 
face, I could have felt the tension in him. 的 don稚 think our pursuers slept.・/p> 

I hadn稚 slept much either. The stone passage was hard and cold, and my tangled 
thoughts and worries would not stop spinning and permit any decent rest. We were 
off in moments, on a tedious repetition of the previous day痴 journey. After two 
hours we stopped to rest and drink. Fortune was with us, for if we hadn稚 stopped 
in just that place, the sound of the horses・hooves might have masked the faint 
moaning. We heard it at the same time, and D誰atheil strengthened his light so we 
could see into the side passage.
Baglos lay in a crumpled heap at the base of a sizable step down from the main 
passageway. The Prince jumped down and knelt beside him, listening for breath, 
examining the Dulc髓s limbs. Soon he rolled the Dulc・to his back, revealing a 
bloody scrape on his forehead. 鉄eems he痴 only knocked his head a bit.・/p> 
I tossed the Prince a wineskin and a rag to clean the injury, and then clambered 
down beside him. No sooner had I knelt beside Baglos and dribbled a little wine 
on his lips than his dark eyes popped open, darting quickly from my face to that 
of the Prince.
展hat have you done to yourself, Dulc・・said D誰atheil.
I poured a little wine on the rag and began sponging the wound.
鄭h, my lord・ Baglos snatched the cloth from me, pressing it to his head as he 
pushed himself up to sitting. 撤lease, woman, I can take care of this. I am good 
for little else, it seems, but causing delay.・/p> 
展e feared you were lost,・said the Prince.
的・was feeling ill. The incident of the morning in the river, the long climb in 
the heat. Ah, my lord, I was shamed and I could not邑ell, I wished to maintain 
some dignity before you. So I held back until I had recovered, believing there 
would be no divided way until we emerged from the tunnel. I assumed I could 
follow your light, but I could not catch up with you no matter how fast I 
traveled. I came dizzy once more and thought to myself that I ought to wait 
until I had more sense about me before proceeding. But like the fool I am, I 
stumbled down this step・/p> 
添ou池e fortunate that it wasn稚 one of the pits we致e seen in some of these side 
passages,・said D誰atheil. 鄭nd we池e fortunate also,・he added, before the 
Dulc・could reply.
釘less you, my lord. You should leave me. I致e caused nothing but difficulty.・/p> 
的 don稚 think the Heir can proceed without his Guide.・D誰atheil displayed 
remarkable patience. 添ou will fulfill your mission, Dulc・・/p> 
Baglos bowed his head, but not before I noted that his expression was quite at 
odds with his demeanor. His shame and apology sounded quite sincere, but he was 
not at all flustered. His almond-shaped eyes were sharp, and his face filled 
with determination and sorrow. I had always considered the Dulc・a simple, 
shallow man who wore his feelings and beliefs quite openly, one whose oddly 
constrained intelligence obscured nothing but a good heart. Yet in that moment 
his expression carried such conflicting stories that I began to think that 
perhaps he was more complex than he seemed. Though determined to continue this 
journey, he was afraid of its ending.
Well, so was I, I thought, as I watched the Prince help Baglos to his feet and 
boost him over the tall step in the rock. More so by the day. How could a man 
change so rapidly as D誰atheil? I could no more envision the Prince striking 
Baglos as he had once done than I could imagine myself embracing Evard.
Polestar was nowhere to be found. The Prince tried to summon him as he had the 
previous day, but after a quarter of an hour with no sign of the beast, we dared 
wait no longer. He insisted that Baglos ride the chestnut. Baglos protested, 
vowing unending humiliation. After what I壇 seen of his private feelings, I 
wondered at his true sentiments.
Two more hours of slow progress and I felt a slight movement in the dead air. I 
lifted my face and hurried my steps. In a few moments more, the Prince allowed 
his light to die, and ten steps later we stood on the southern doorstep of Mount 
Kassarain, inhaling cool, thin air. We laughed and made jests about adventurers 
who feared caves or made wrong turns or stumbled off steps. Pursuit and 
uncertain destiny were momentarily forgotten in our delight at being in the 
open.
We stood high on the mountainside, overlooking a lush meadow of rocks and 
flowers, laced with tumbling streams, a green gem set into the harsh framework 
of the mountains. At the meadow痴 eastern end the streams converged into fretting 
rapids that vanished into a bottomless, blue-white vista of gentle forested 
hillsides. To the west a faint track traversed a grassy slope and led deeper 
into the heart of the rugged peaks. But on every other side the grass yielded to 
boulder-strewn slopes and barren cliffs that offered no passage. We let the 
horses graze for a while.
Soon, D誰atheil was ready to press on. Urgency and excitement burned in his eyes 
as he peered into the west. 的t痴 there, ahead of us. I feel it.・/p> 
I climbed onto Firethorn. Baglos mounted the chestnut behind D誰atheil. The path 
led us from our high perch down through the flowered meadow, where blue, yellow 
and white blooms stood higher than the horses・knees, and then across the velvet 
slope that funneled us into a narrow, grass-floored valley. Though easy and 
pleasant at first, the valley trail quickly became so steep and rocky it was 
difficult to pick out a good path.
Banners of wind-driven snow flew from the highest mountaintops, filmy white 
trailers against the intense blue of the sky. The air grew colder and thinner. 
By early afternoon the cold wind gusting in our faces made it impossible to 
distinguish the swirling banners from the clouds gathering over the icy peaks.
Another hour and D誰atheil halted in front of a short wall of massive boulders 
that stretched the width of the gorge. 展e値l have to leave the horses,・he said. 鄭 
foot trail hugs the wall on the right, but the beasts won稚 be able to manage 
it.・/p> 
I didn稚 ask him how he knew. His movements and words were abrupt, and I found 
myself looking over my shoulder, expecting to see our empty-eyed pursuers 
bearing down on us. If Baglos and I didn稚 hurry, the Prince would go on without 
us. I dismounted, pulled my cloak tight about me, and made sure the journal was 
in my pocket.
展hat should we carry with us, my lord?・asked Baglos. He, too, was anxious.
泥on稚 burden yourself heavily, Dulc・ Food and drink for a day. I don稚 think it 
will be a concern beyond that.・/p> 
The Prince rubbed Sunlight痴 head and spoke to him softly. When I declared myself 
ready and Baglos had shouldered a small pack, D誰atheil slapped the horse痴 rump 
and the beast trotted back the way we壇 come, Firethorn close behind. 典hey値l go 
back to the grass and wait for you,・said D誰atheil.
撤aulo isn稚 the only one who communicates with horses,・I mumbled as we started up 
the steep rock stair. I couldn稚 say why I felt so resentful.
An hour痴 difficult walking brought us out of the gorge onto open, gently sloping 
tundra, surrounded by spires of ice and rock. It was as if we had stepped back a 
season. Everything was huddled to the windswept earth. No trees. No growth of 
any kind stood taller than a finger痴 height. The afternoon had turned gray and 
bitterly cold. We came to the crest of the modestly rising ground, and before us 
lay an ice-bound lake, ringed with sheer cliffs. There was no going any farther.
A gust of wind billowed D誰atheil痴 cloak as he looked out over the gray lake. He 
said only, 的 think we have arrived.・/p> 
CHAPTER 33
No hint of green could be seen in that ice-bound vale. Rather a thousand shades 
of gray and white lay one upon the other, as if the artist who had painted that 
particular canvas had forgotten to dip his brush in any other region of his 
palette. Massive stones lay jumbled about the water痴 edge, and behind them 
steep, ice-clad slopes of crumbled rock footed jagged cliffs that soared 
straight into the iron-hued sky. A faint tread wound from where we stood through 
soggy tussocks to the lake shore, skirting granite slabs that stood two and 
three times D誰atheil痴 height. It was hard to imagine anyone, man or beast, 
coming willingly to such a desolate spot. How could it be the refuge of the 
J脱ttanne? No life existed here, only rock and ice, dead water and silence.
The fifth clue was the most obscure of all. Though he cannot see it, the hunter 
knows his prey, for it speaks to his heart whether he turns right or left.
Nothing in that landscape spoke to the heart; nothing beckoned or charmed or 
seduced. The wind off the lake whined through the boulders, nosing at our cloaks 
like a mournful dog. I wrapped the scratchy wool close about my face and tried 
to remember it was summer.
Willing my blistered feet to take a few more steps, I joined D誰atheil and Baglos 
on the rubble-strewn edge of the lake. There was nowhere else to go. No passage, 
no trail. Nothing but cliffs and rocks. Journey痴 end. I was so tired that I 
could not rejoice in the stopping, and so uncertain that I could take no 
satisfaction in the accomplishment. 展here could we have gone wrong?・/p> 
展e池e not wrong,・said D誰atheil, his voice hungry. 鼎an稚 you feel it? It痴 like the 
heat shimmer that rises from the desert.・/p> 
I felt nothing but my feet. 鄭re you saying that what we see isn稚 real?・/p> 
哲ot at all. It痴 just there痴 much more than substance here様ayer upon layer hidden 
behind what we see. I致e never felt such a concentration of life.・Was it 
anticipation or dread that dropped his voice to a whisper and colored his skin 
like burnished copper?
I wrenched my eyes away, sank to the ground in the lee of a rock, and wrapped 
the damp tail of my cloak about my freezing ankles. 的 still don稚 understand the 
fifth clue.・/p> 
的t痴 doesn稚 matter. The Gate is here.・/p> 
He was right, of course. And the fifth clue was no more obscure than the others. 
From somewhere high in the encircling crags a white-tailed hawk screeched the 
doom of an unlucky rock-mouse, the lonely call reflected once, and then again, 
and then again from the rocks, a perfect triple echo. Then, from somewhere 
beyond the three reflections of the hawk痴 cry, a thousand other birdsongs teased 
at the edge of our hearing, the songs of birds that had never known this pocket 
of ice and snow: flamboyant birds of deserts and jungles, sweet singing birds of 
deep forests, majestic birds of the ocean痴 edge, larks and pipits and magpies 
and loons. Indeed, enchantment existed here. And abundant life.
Hardly had the eerie music faded when I discovered the tiny yellow and white 
flowers, each no bigger than the head of a pin, packed together tightly in a 
rocky crevice just beside my hand. When I rubbed a finger across the miniature 
garden, I was enveloped by the scent of lilacs, roses, jasmine, and a hundred 
varieties of flowers that could no more live in the thin, cold air than those 
tiny jewels could live in lowland heat.
I was going to call D誰atheil to come and see, when I was startled by a booming, 
滴ello!・rolling across the lake.
He was standing on the lake shore, and he turned to me, his eyes piercingly 
bright. 泥o you hear them?・/p> 
滴ello・hello・hello,・rang through the air, accompanied by a chorus of innumerable 
voices: cries of greeting, of joy, of farewell. Voices without bodies. Memories 
of life.
添es. Yes, I hear them.・/p> 
典he Gate must be somewhere beside the lake,・he said. 鼎ome on.・He set off along 
the narrow shoreline, his steps as vigorous as if he were just beginning the 
journey.
展hat of pursuers, my lord?・asked Baglos anxiously, hurrying to match his short 
steps with D誰atheil痴 long stride.
典hey池e holding back. They should have been on us by mid-morning.・/p> 
Waiting, I thought, as I hobbled after them. They池e waiting for you to show them 
the Gate. The Zhid didn稚 know the way. I shivered, but not from the frigid wind. 
These Zhid were not heedless, hotheaded bullies, rushing after us ready to 
pounce and fight. I thought back to Montevial, to the forest, to Tryglevie. Even 
back to Ferrante痴 house. They had stayed just close enough to follow, to prevent 
our escape, pushing us・herding us・to the ending. Much more dangerous. And yet we 
could not stop. Not now.
We examined every slab and boulder around the lake shore for a passage or 
entrance. Hundreds of people would have lived in the stronghold during the 
Rebellion: women, children, old people. No matter what destruction had overtaken 
them, there had to be some remnant of the space where they had slept and 
sheltered from the harsh winter that would settle here for all but a few weeks 
of the year. But in many places the ice extended right down to the water, 
leaving treacherous footing, or the way was blocked by boulders from ancient 
landslides and we had to clamber over them or slog through the icy water. 
Halfway around the lake from our observation spot was a long, narrow strip of 
sand fronting an expanse of barren cliff face, but we found no breach in the 
rock.
When we returned to our starting point, D誰atheil picked up a rock and slung it 
into the water, breaking the gray wind-ripples. 展e池e missing something.・/p> 
擢our hundred and fifty years,・said Baglos. 撤erhaps there痴 nothing left.・/p> 
哲o, it痴 here. I知 sure of it. I致e been here before・ D誰atheil痴 voice trailed off, 
as if he weren稚 quite sure what he was saying. 鄭s far as this wooden head of 
mine can tell me, I was born on the shores of this lake. Here I began running, 
from terror and confusion and because I was so cold, I thought I would die 
before I had a clear thought. My clothes had been torn off me in a violent 
storm・darkness, lightning, fire, screaming・and I had only the knife in my hand. 
I dared not stop迫he dragged the words out of himself欄and then sometime, though 
not at first as we believed, but later, in the lowlands, past the end of the 
meadow with the flowers, I knew I was pursued by servants of・I didn稚 know what 
it was・this shadow that wants me. I believed that if the pursuers caught me, I壇 
never find what I was looking for.・His bleak face yearned for answers. 的 was 
looking for you.・/p> 
I wanted very much to give him what he needed. But I was a plodding mundane, as 
Baglos had told me so often. 鏑et痴 look at the journal again. As you said, we池e 
missing something.・I pulled the fragile volume from my pocket, trying to shelter 
it from the blustering wind. Baglos huddled beside me, while D誰atheil leaned 
against a boulder and stared at the lake. The page with the diagram held nothing 
new, and the following entry was a long description of the Writer痴 difficulties 
with spring planting.
典urn back to the riddles,・I said. 溺aybe we missed one.・Baglos and I pored over 
the page in the gray light, searching for any that might have been written later 
than the original description of the little girl痴 game. The later entries were 
written with a pen slightly wider at the tip than the originals. Still only 
five, plus the additional phrase the Writer had inserted with the telltale pen. 
Not phrased as a riddle, it had never seemed significant. 展hat is this again, 
Baglos? He asks if his daughter is not a marvel, but I don稚 remember the exact 
words.・/p> 
The Dulc・read, 典he day will come when men proudly cry out the name of our race, 
and it is my Lilith that will shine in their memory.・/p> 
鼎ry out the name of our race・ My gaze met D誰atheil痴. With a trace of a smile, he 
bowed and returned to the edge of the lake.
Baglos whispered to me anxiously. 展ill the name of the Dar誰ethi show us the 
Gate, then?・/p> 
哲o. Not Dar誰ethi. ・ Would D誰atheil think of it?
The Prince stood for a moment, eyes closed, the wind ruffling his light hair and 
the shabby cloak that could not obscure the truth of him. Then he opened his 
arms wide and cried out in a voice that thundered through the desolation, 
笛脱ttanne!・ And as his voice called back to him through the thin, cold air, I 
felt a great release, as if the very stones had let go a monumental sigh at the 
command to share their long-held secret. Whispers and murmurings were all about 
us just beyond the range of hearing, quiet laughter, tears, whispers of 
pleasure, of love, of sorrow and grief and prayerful wonder, buzzing unseen like 
tiny insects about our ears, chaos existing in tandem with the wintry silence. 
But any expression of amazement was stilled in deeper awe of the doorway that 
now stood open in the stone cliff across the lake, an opening no less than fifty 
paces wide and three stories in height.
Without speaking, we repeated our journey around the lake, never taking our eyes 
from the incredible sight, never giving thought to pursuit or danger or anything 
beyond our moment痴 wonder. The twin columns supporting the massive stone lintel 
were covered with the most graceful and intricate carvings: birds, beasts, 
flowers, all so perfectly worked that one could feel the life of them as they 
crowded the white stone. In the center of the rectangular lintel was carved an 
arched triangle, with a floweret in each sector it scribed.
The Prince stepped first through the gaping expanse. It was only right. The 
stronghold was part of his realm, marked with the emblem of his family. Baglos 
and I followed close behind. It was dark inside, but the Prince whispered the 
word illudie and torches blazed on every wall. I caught my breath as the great 
cavern came to life. Never had I seen a space of such beauty.
The cavern was so enormous, we could not see the roof of it. It was as if the 
whole mountain had been hollowed out and the stone walls polished smooth, 
displaying the mountain痴 embedded treasury of tourmaline and jasper and lapis as 
magnificent waves of rich blues and greens, dazzling murals no human artist 
could replicate. Shining veins of quartz glittered in the torchlight like 
faceted gems, and a wide staircase with no visible supports twisted its way up 
through the center of the gleaming air to reach at least four levels of columned 
galleries carved from the cavern walls. The stairway and the galleries were 
connected to each other with a series of arched bridges, so delicate and 
graceful they could have been spun by a magical spider. And the bitter wind of 
the iron-gray lake was left behind, the air inside the cavern fresh and 
pleasantly warm.
A raw and desperate longing scribed D誰atheil痴 face, even as he turned to the 
task in hand. 的 need to explore the place a bit. A wall of fire shouldn稚 be 
difficult to find.・/p> 
的値l stand guard, my lord,・said the somber Dulc・ drawing his sword and taking a 
position near the gaping doorway to the outside. 泥o as you need.・With his 
ferocious glower, he looked quite small and foolish.
The Prince nodded graciously. 典hank you, Dulc・ We shouldn稚 need your warding for 
long,・he said. 的f I can稚 do what I致e come for within the hour, I don稚 think it 
will matter.・/p> 
Then, like a desert-bred child visiting his first garden, he began to wander. 
All my own weariness was forgotten as I trailed after him into room after room 
of marvels: an amphitheater whose dark-painted ceiling was inlaid with bits of 
faceted quartz, so that the flickering torchlight gave the illusion one stood 
under star-scattered skies; an immense refectory, its gigantic wooden tables 
perfectly free of dust, crockery bowls and neatly laid spoons awaiting the next 
feast; the kitchens, huge stone hearths and chimneys bored into the mountain痴 
heart. We explored workrooms, granaries, storerooms of all kinds, sewing rooms, 
map rooms, a library with so many shelves of books and scrolls that 
wooden-railed walkways spiraled up six men痴 height or more in front of 
us容verything needed to support a population of many hundreds.
Climbing the wide staircase took us to rooms of all sizes, sleeping chambers, I 
guessed, though all were empty of furnishings. On the uppermost level, the 
gallery that overlooked the central cavern did not make a full circuit of the 
walls as did those at the lower levels, but instead opened into a long, narrow 
passage that delved deep into the back wall of the cavern. The torches were 
smaller there, and the walls rough-hewn and very much older. Promising. While 
D誰atheil was still opening doors off the main gallery, I explored the narrow 
passage. A hundred paces in, the passage ended in a wall of rock.
Disappointed, I started back, only to find D誰atheil just coming into the 
passage. 哲othing here,・I said.
But he shook his head, and I followed his gaze over my shoulder back toward the 
aborted way. The light nickered and the rock・shifted・and a pair of massive 
wooden doors stood in the center of the wall that had appeared to be solid stone 
only moments before. The doors were smooth and undecorated and dark with age. I 
could easily believe that no one had touched them since the days of J脱ttanne 
himself. No handle or latch was visible, but at the Prince痴 first touch they 
swung open, silently and easily as if the hinges had been oiled just the 
previous day.
The passageway beyond the doors was chilly, and the light emanating from the 
arched opening at the far end was an odd bluish-gray. Another hundred paces and 
we entered an immense chamber, its walls, ceiling, and floor colorless and 
obscured by swirling, icy fog. A constant low-pitched rumble, unlike anything I壇 
ever heard, caused my hands to clench and my jaw to tighten. And so instantly 
confused were my senses of perspective and direction, only the stone beneath my 
feet gave me anchor. I felt as if I had stepped off the edge of the world.
But the moment痴 sensory uncertainty vanished when we walked a few steps farther 
into the chamber and saw the curtain of flame that reached from the colorless 
floor all the way to the murky heights. Flame was the only name I could put to 
it, though its color was a bruised blue, darker than the coldest heart of a 
dying hearthfire.
典he Gate,・I said, raising my voice a little so as to be heard over the 
deep-pitched rumble.
添es.・D誰atheil痴 voice was scarcely audible.
鄭nd the Bridge?・/p> 
笛ust beyond the wall of light.・/p> 
典hen we致e truly reached the end of our journey.・/p> 
The Prince gazed upwards, face shadowed by the dark magnificence. 展hen we first 
entered the cavern, the image of a city passed through my mind預 glorious city of 
graceful towers, of gardens and forested parkland, encircled by mountains 
sculpted of green and gold light. Here will that city, that world, and all that 
exists in it live or die.・/p> 
鉄o what must you do?・/p> 
的 don稚 know.・His grief was wrenching. 展ere you to offer me the entire wealth of 
the universe or a thousand lives to fill my empty head, I could not tell 
you.・/p> 
典hat痴 why it痴 time for those who know such things to take charge of this most 
delicate venture, is it not?・/p> 
We whirled about, as five men with drawn swords stepped out of the fog and 
quickly surrounded us. Three were brawny, well-armed fighters. The fourth, the 
sneering speaker, was Maceron, the fish-eyed sheriff. But it was the fifth, the 
one who held an unwavering swordpoint at my belly, that caused my soul to 
freeze. The fifth was Baglos.
泥ulce?・D誰atheil痴 query was quiet.
的 am most abjectly sorry, my lord Prince. There is no other way.・/p> 
泥id you never learn to look under your bed for snakes or in your boots for 
spiders, oh, Prince of Fools?・said the gloating Maceron.
The fish-eyed man might not have existed for all the notice D誰atheil paid him. 
展hat means this, Dulc・・No anger marred the Prince痴 speech, only questioning and 
sorrow.
的t means the salvation of Avonar, my lord. If you could remember its beauties, 
you would agree.・/p> 
滴ow do betrayal and treachery become the salvation of beauty?・/p> 
鄭 bargain has been made, my lord. You値l see. You are to be given exactly what 
you desire葉he chance to save your people with honor and grace.・/p> 
泥o you understand who these people are, Baglos?・I asked, dismay swelling to 
outrage at his choice of conspirators. 典his devil has done his best to 
exterminate the descendants of J脱ttanne. And now he痴 serving the Zhid.・Giano, 
Darzid, Maceron・my certainties were unproven, but certainties nonetheless.
Maceron bowed mockingly to me. 哲ot at all a polite introduction, my lady, but 
what can we expect from one who has such a dangerous habit of involving herself 
with perverse wickedness? I thought you壇 learned your lesson ten years ago.・/p> 
添ou made the mistake of leaving me alive. Were you working for these same 
soulless villains even then?・/p> 
溺y master is no devil sorcerer, but a noble warrior who works to rid this world 
of these perverted creatures who would enslave us and the traitorous scum like 
you who welcome them. He works with the priests of Annadis. That痴 good enough 
for me.・/p> 
His master・dared I say the name I was so sure of? My tongue stubbornly refused 
to pronounce it, as if the very word were some evil incantation that would 
precipitate our doom. And the priests・添ou池e a fool,・I said.
Baglos frowned, looking from me to Maceron. 滴ow is it you know this woman?・/p> 
的t痴 many years past and has nothing to do with our present transaction. You致e 
done well, ensuring the priests kept on your trail. Now, we must ensure that 
your prince will not disrupt the smooth completion of our business.・/p> 
The three men moved in, and D誰atheil at last paid them a full measure of 
attention. The Prince grabbed one of the brutes by his sword arm and neck and 
slammed him into a second man. The two crashed to the floor in a tangle as 
D誰atheil tried to wrest the weapon from his remaining attacker. He spun the man 
about and pressed him to his chest, the screaming villain痴 arm bent into an 
unmaintainable angle.
When Maceron raised his sword above the Prince痴 head, I yelled and reached for 
the sheriffs arm. But one of the fallen men stumbled up from the floor and 
crushed me to the wall. While I fought to get a breath, he shoved Baglos and his 
sword at me. The Duke痴 sword tip pricked the flesh under my breast. I dared not 
move. His small face was frightened, but his hand was steady. Determined.
Maceron slammed the hilt of his wide, heavy blade into the Prince痴 head. 
D誰atheil staggered, tightening his grip on his opponent, but the disputed sword 
clattered to the floor. Seizing their opportunity, Maceron痴 two shaken henchmen 
pounced and wrestled the Prince to the floor, freeing their fellow and pinning 
D誰atheil on his face. Roaring in pain and fury as he clutched one arm to his 
side, the Prince痴 freed opponent ground his thick boot into D誰atheil痴 neck. A 
comrade stomped on the Prince痴 right forearm and stabbed the point of his sword 
into the Prince痴 outflung wrist, pushing down slowly until blood flowed freely 
from the wound. D誰atheil continued to writhe, lashing out with his feet and 
twisting his torso to get free. But the third ruffian kicked him in the side, 
leaving him flat and gasping.
Maceron grabbed my arm so tightly that his fingers bruised the bone, and he 
growled into my ear. 的 would recommend, my lady, that you inform your testy 
friend of what we do to sorcerers. I致e heard he can稚 do much in the way of 
sorcerer痴 magics, but I値l cut off his hands if he so much as waggles a finger 
and remove his tongue if he utters a whisper. You remember. The priests prefer 
him undamaged, but they do most certainly want him. I値l take no chance溶o chance 
at all熔f his escape. We池e going to destroy all of this.・He jerked his head 
toward the fiery Gate.
添ou see, Baglos,・I said bitterly, as the men continued to kick the Prince in the 
side and the legs and the head. 典his is the devil with whom you致e made your 
bargain.・/p> 
的t is necessary,・said the Duke, refusing to look at what was going on behind 
him, even as he flinched with every thudding blow. 的 do not wish it to be this 
way.・/p> 
When D誰atheil at last lay still, Maceron put me in the custody of the man with 
the damaged arm, a snarling brute with a drooping mustache and broken teeth. 添ou 
and the little vermin take the woman, while we get the sorcerer properly 
restrained. Have Kivor make sure she is secure.・/p> 
Disappointment and self-recrimination were lead weights in my boots as Maceron痴 
thug shoved me down the passageway toward the cavern. I stumbled and Baglos 
reached out as if to steady me. I jerked my arm away.
添ou cannot understand, my lady.・/p> 
的 thought you loved him. I thought you were sworn to his service. The honor of 
the Dulc・and all that. Where痴 the honor in betraying him to his enemies・em>your 
enemies?・We started down the circular stair, the ruffian痴 knife pricking my 
back. Baglos walked beside me, his short legs hurrying to keep up.
泥誰atheil does not know the things necessary to save Avonar,・said the Dulc・ 的t is 
not his fault. He was never meant to be the Heir and was not suited to it, 
especially after his injury. But on this day he will accomplish that duty 
anyway, because those who are wiser than we have devised this plan. His duty is 
more important than anything. He must understand that. We have no other 
hope.・/p> 
添ou致e given him to the Zhid・you池e risking the destruction of the Bridge・ for 
what?・/p> 
笛ust before we stepped through the Gate, our Preceptors took possession of 
D但rnath痴 sword and knife, held by the Lords in Zhev誰a since the Battle of 
Ghezir. As long as the Dar誰ethi hold the sword, Avonar cannot be defeated. The 
knife should have remained with the Preceptors, too, but the sword alone is 
enough. I was commanded by my bound master to complete the bargain by delivering 
D誰atheil as soon as we came to the Gate.・/p> 
添ou池e not stupid, Baglos. They池e going to kill your prince and destroy the 
Bridge. How can good come from that?・/p> 
Baglos averted his eyes. 鄭vonar will live. If D誰atheil is to die, then that is 
his destiny.・He hurried down the steps ahead of me.
And he would die. I was complicit in the murder. In my confidence, in my 
everlasting pride, I had ignored every warning, sure that no evil would befall 
because I willed it so, sure that we would unravel the puzzle successfully 
because my intelligence and determination would allow no other outcome蓉nlike the 
last time. And now, for a paltry piece of sharpened steel, D誰atheil was to be 
given to the Zhid. He would be dead. My reawakened soul shriveled at the 
understanding. My veins felt parched. Who would ever have believed that I would 
care so much?
We descended into the main cavern. The enchanted flares had gone out, leaving a 
few mundane torches as the only light. The yellow flames illuminated a circle of 
cracked stone flooring, tracked with mud and littered with packs and saddles. 
The lovely walls and bridges and staircase were lost in the darkness.
Maceron痴 men bound me to a slender column just beyond the pool of torchlight. A 
sallow-faced young man with a shaven head, bright, darting eyes, and bloodless 
lips ran his bony ringers over my arms to check my bindings. I shuddered at his 
touch. He grinned, making his head look even more like a skull. But even his 
presence was benign beside the three robed figures who now walked into the 
circle of yellow light. Giano痴 voice was an icy claw scraping steel. 添ou have 
what we want?・/p> 
Maceron had arrived at the same time. 展e致e got him. You are quite trusting of 
this little vermin.・/p> 
添ou needn稚 worry. A Dulc髓s bound service is quite reliable. We can afford to be 
trusting.・/p> 
Giano strolled over to Baglos standing stiffly between two of Maceron痴 men. The 
Dulc・would not look at the Zhid, who stared at him with his empty, unblinking 
eyes. 典hough we still have a portion of our contract to fulfill. Somehow the 
lesser talisman was left with the Prince. The Dulc・will have to risk the Bridge 
passage to return it to his masters,・said Giano. 展ho would ever have thought 
these little oddities would take such a large part in great affairs?・/p> 
Baglos flushed. 釘ut the Preceptors have the sword.・/p> 
的ndeed, D但rnath痴 holy weapon will likely serve the sad Dar誰ethi better than 
D但rnath痴 Heir ever did. We have no objection to the pitiful little city 
continuing to exist for a while, if the talisman holds the power you believe. We 
may even find it amusing. The prize is ours. The victory is ours.・Giano spun on 
his heel. 的t痴 time I examined our prize. I致e heard his mind is damaged, and I値l 
not be generous if it痴 too much.・His cool manner failed to disguise his lust.
Maceron snapped his fingers, and the sallow-faced young man disappeared into the 
gloom. 的 was told that some damage was done 蚤t the crossing,・whatever that 
means. But he痴 all of a piece, more or less.・/p> 
鄭nd the woman?・asked the Zhid.
Maceron swept his hand toward me. 典he lady awaits your pleasure.・/p> 
The cool smile fell away from Giano痴 face as he sought me out in my shadowy 
niche. The Zhid stood close enough to breathe on me, and quicker than I could 
see, his murderous knife appeared in his hand. Ever so delicately, he traced a 
line across my neck with the knife point. I shrank back against the cold pillar. 
徹h, madam, it is most tempting to make a permanent end to your meddling. Rarely 
have I been thwarted in so blatant a fashion, and I do not care for it・
His gray eyes seemed to grow larger, sucking away reason and breath. The stench 
of decay, of burning flesh, of hot blood on stone filled my senses. I was 
drowning, suffocating in horror. It took every bit of will I possessed to pull 
my eyes away from his, and even as I accomplished it, I was not sure whether it 
was my own act or Giano痴 consent that released me.
套 but your life is of interest to someone of importance. I値l have to be content 
that your interference is at an end, as is that of your rustic allies. I致e 
brought you a fond remembrance of one of them.・He motioned to one of his 
gray-robed companions, who brought him a dark-stained bag of burlap. With a 
mirthless grin, Giano reached into the bag and pulled out a severed human head. 
The hair was white and wispy, the wide brown eyes staring. Terrified. Jacopo.
I closed my eyes and bit my lip until I tasted the salty blood, withholding the 
cry of grief and horror and outrage that would feed Giano痴 pleasure.
The Zhid痴 thin lips widened into a grin. 典he other three who led us astray so 
briefly have met a similar fate. A pitiful crew they were.・/p> 
哲o,・I moaned, as the chill of death crept from my feet to my wobbling knees to 
my hollow belly, paralyzing my heart. Not all of them. Not again.
The torchlight glittered on Giano痴 gold earring, and his cold fingers stroked my 
jaw, as he whispered his morbid litany. 徹h, yes, we left them quite dead on the 
rocks of Mount Kassarain. The vultures have most likely picked their bones clean 
by now. Unfortunate in a way. The Dar・Nethi girl could have been amusing. But 
the noble sheriff had become annoying, and the cripple is no loss to anyone.・The 
cold fingers on my face then brushed my mind, galling・filthy・ 
detestable・depraved・No matter how I twisted in my bonds, I could not escape his 
touch.
展ell, enough of that,・he said, removing his touch abruptly, leaving me limp and 
numb, sagging in my bindings. 展e致e a few surprises yet in store. I hope you 
enjoy the culmination of your adventure.・He leaned toward me, so close I could 
not escape him, and pressed his cold lips to mine, his tongue licking away the 
blood where I had bitten them. I fought not to vomit.
Giano痴 attention was diverted by the return of the sallow-faced man and another 
guard, pushing D誰atheil ahead of them into the circle of light. The Prince was 
gagged and blindfolded, his feet close-hobbled, his arms and hands twisted 
awkwardly behind his back, wrists fastened so tightly to a loop of rope about 
his neck that lowering either head or arms would strangle him. His shoulders 
bulged with the strain. The left side of his face was mottled with blood and 
bruises.
Maceron gestured to Giano. 添ou may inspect the merchandise.・/p> 
迭emove its coverings,・said Giano harshly. 鄭ll of them. I will see what lives in 
this body.・/p> 
One of the gray-robed Zhid removed the Prince痴 blindfold and gag, warning him 
not to speak unless he wanted a knife in his tongue. D誰atheil coughed and 
shuddered when the wadded cloth was yanked from his mouth. While one guard held 
the knife point to his neck, another cut away his clothes, until the Prince 
stood bound and naked, his body covered with darkening bruises. I stared at his 
face. The light was so poor. The brow, the jaw. What was it that made me tremble 
so? He could not have seen me in the shadows, for his eyes were only slits, 
blinded by his captors・torches.
Giano walked around D誰atheil, inspecting him like a prize horse. 鉄o, it痴 come at 
last. After a thousand years, the Heir of D但rnath confronts his enemies face to 
face. Did you ever think it would be you, or that you would be the last of them? 
Has the little seed of doubt begun to sprout in your starveling brain, the most 
minute scrap of understanding that the faith your wretched kingdom has lavished 
on your family is soon to be put to the test, and that you are quite 
inadequate?・He stroked the Prince痴 straining arm, and as D誰atheil tried to jerk 
away, growling in fury, the guards tightened their hold. 展hat a pitiful end to a 
line of such great promise, no better than any other naked slave. And yet迫he 
stopped and stared into the Prince痴 face, cold and haughty even in his 
captivity・都omething is distinctly odd about you. Dassine, the wily bastard, what 
has he done? You have so little mind as it is, why would he bother to mask it? 
It痴 made you very difficult to follow; I値l give him that. You are not the same 
as you were half a year ago and not even as you were when you made the 
crossing.・Giano put his hands on the sides of D誰atheil痴 head. 鉄o, one closer 
look to be sure, then we can send these bloodthirsty mundanes on their way.・/p> 
The light of the torches dimmed, and a cold wind swept through the cavern, 
bearing a hideous certainty of death and desolation, cruelty and loathing, 
unending pain without hope. Even the impassive Maceron looked wan and sickly. 
His men held their heads and moaned. I shivered uncontrollably.
All color drained from D誰atheil痴 face, sweat beading his forehead. His stance 
wobbled briefly, but he clenched his jaw and held・and in a moment痴 breath, the 
shadow was gone, the air clear again. Giano snatched his hands from D誰atheil as 
if they壇 been burnt, his smirk erased. The Prince痴 eyes flew open, bright and 
disdainful.
滴e is the one,・snapped Giano. 鏑et us proceed. You have his knife?・/p> 
Maceron handed D誰atheil痴 silver dagger to Giano. The Zhid held it to the light 
and examined its markings. 典he lesser talisman,・he said. 展ith this and the 
sword, the Dar誰ethi believe they have ensured their future, abandoning this 
useless prince and this Bridge that has brought them nothing but grief.・He 
tossed the knife into the air and caught the spinning weapon by its hilt. 展ith 
the return of this dagger is our bargain done. The Gate fire yet burns, and, 
now, before we quench it forever, we will allow you to venture its dangers and 
return to your masters. Is that your wish, Dulc・・He presented the knife, laid 
across his palms, as if he were a servant delivering a favored dish to his 
master.
的t is.・Baglos, his hands trembling, his complexion jaundiced, took the weapon, 
quickly bundled it in a cloth, and shoved it into the pack he carried on his 
shoulder. 典he bargain is complete.・/p> 
泥o you recognize these bindings, my lord?・Giano ran a finger along the silvery 
cord that circled the Prince痴 neck. 泥olemar is far stronger than rope or chains. 
As you may have noticed already, it gets tighter as you struggle, and the least 
touch of sorcery will cause it to burn. Too much and your flesh will turn black, 
and you will beg us to sever your limbs.・/p> 
He hissed a word that made the firelight dim and tweaked the cord that attached 
the Prince痴 wrists to his neck. Though he made no sound, D誰atheil arched his 
back as if the binding had been pulled tighter.
Giano smiled. 滴appily, you値l wear your bonds only a short time. At dawn tomorrow 
the line of D但rnath will end. The Bridge was created with D但rnath痴 blood and 
sweat, and the last of D但rnath痴 blood will destroy it. Simple, is it not? 
Ridiculous that it took a thousand years to discover that it takes only your 
life痴 essence葉he blood of D但rnath痴 anointed Heir耀prinkled in the Gate fire to 
finish this matter.・There could have been no words more filled with hate since 
the world began.
Giano beckoned his two Zhid companions. 撤ut him away until morning.・/p> 
As two Zhid grabbed D誰atheil痴 strained arms, Baglos turned to Giano and bowed 
stiffly. 釘efore I go,・he said, 的 would request one consideration. My master has 
neither eaten nor drunk anything for near a full day. It was part of the 
agreement that, although confined, he would not be cruelly treated before he 
discharged his duty. May I, as a last service, offer him food and drink?・/p> 
Giano laughed. 的f you think he値l take anything from you, Dulc・ then by all means 
proceed. We must wait until morning for the last chapter in this saga, and I壇 
not wish his strength compromised. D但rnath痴 Heir must champion his people with 
his full capabilities. I would have him know what it is he does.・/p> 
Baglos reached into his leather bag, genuflected before the naked prince, and 
extended his silver wine flask. 的 beg your forgiveness, my lord prince. I did 
not know you when we began. In these past days・your kindness・You are not the 
person of whom I was told. Though it has not shaken my belief in the necessity 
of my course, our companionship has made my grief the weightier. Would that it 
could be different.・Tears rolled down the Dulc髓s round cheeks. 鼎e地a davonet, 
Gire D但rnath.・/em>
I understood the words, as I had not when Baglos first greeted D誰atheil with 
them. All honor to you, Heir of D但rnath. And I remembered D誰atheil inspecting 
the scars on Tennice痴 back, struggling to comprehend the relationships of honor 
and treachery and forgiveness. Perhaps the Prince believed Baglos had been given 
no more choice in his treachery than had Tennice, for in a movement that was 
scarcely more than a blink of his eye, he nodded. Baglos stood and raised the 
flask to his master痴 lips. The silver glinted in the yellow torchlight.
The flask・What was it? It was not the same as the Dulc・had shared with us along 
the journey. This was the other one, the ornate one that was only for dire 
circumstances, and yet the Dulc髓s own near drowning had not been dire enough. 
Baglos痴 duplicity was so hard to accept. Now that I knew, I could recognize so 
many signs I壇 missed. Yet, Baglos honored D誰atheil様oved him. I could not doubt 
that, for I had seen his grieving when he didn稚 know I watched. I looked at the 
weeping Dulc・and the flask in his shaking hands, and in an instant I was filled 
with horrific certainty.
哲o!・I screamed. 泥誰atheil! My lord prince! Don稚! Oh, gods, don稚 drink it!・/p> 
D誰atheil looked up in shock. He couldn稚 have even known I was there, hidden in 
the shadows.
Baglos did not turn, but held the flask to the Prince痴 lips. 撤lease, master, I 
beg you・before it is too late・
But the silver flask clattered to the paving when Giano yanked Baglos away from 
D誰atheil. Giano shoved the Dulc・to the ground, then motioned to the gray-robed 
Zhid to take the Prince away. The two Zhid quickly wrapped the blindfold about 
D誰atheil痴 straining eyes and 3ragged him into the darkness.
擢oolish, mundane woman!・cried Baglos. 哲ow they will use him to destroy the 
Bridge. We could have prevented it. You致e ruined it all. I am forever 
cursed.・/p> 
徹h, Baglos, was betrayal not enough?・I said. No matter how hopeless the day, I 
could not keep silent and watch murder done.
Baglos could not reply. Giano had turned his impassive gaze on him, and with no 
more feeling than a man crushing a gnat, flicked his knife across the Dulc髓s 
throat. The blood of the Guide soaked quickly into the dry stones.
CHAPTER 34
Once Giano had followed his prisoner into the darkness, Maceron and his men 
settled for the night in the cavern, rolling out blankets, passing food around, 
and setting the watch. The sallow-faced young man who had been charged with my 
security loosened my bonds enough for me to sit on the floor. An eager smile 
played over his bony face; his tongue licked his full lips. As he refastened the 
ropes and knots, his tight little fingers brushed my arms, and soon his hands 
were wandering freely. I almost wept in relief when Maceron called him away.
I told myself to sleep. There was nothing else to do but mourn, and too much of 
that even to begin. Rowan, Kellea, Paulo, Jacopo・I could not bear thinking of 
them. And the cursed, foolish Baglos. Earth and sky, how blind I had been. Bound 
by his Dulc髓s vows to a master who, by Baglos痴 own account, had come near 
destroying the Prince once before. Loyal to Dar誰ethi traitors willing to 
sacrifice the prince they had damaged預nd my own 杜undane・world擁n a scheme to save 
their precious city. Baglos must have been terrified that Dassine痴 message would 
expose him. Had he called in Maceron痴 henchmen to attack the herb shop, causing 
Celine痴 death and Tennice痴 injury? He had run out of the room during Dassine痴 
message and been dismayed at finding Zhid poison in Tennice痴 wound. I grieved 
that Baglos was dead, for I wanted to rip out his traitorous heart.
But my anger waned quickly. What was the point? Perhaps I should have allowed 
Baglos to carry out his plot. Perhaps D誰atheil would be better dead at the hand 
of his servant than at the hand of his enemy. This time tomorrow none of it 
would matter. And the Bridge would fall.
Beyond grief and mystery lay the tale of enchantment and corruption from another 
world. Did I believe the disembodied voice that swore the doom of Gondai was the 
doom of my world, too? And if I believed it, did I care? For so long, I had 
cared about nothing and no one on this earth. But when I closed my eyes I saw 
Paulo embracing a nuzzling horse, and Kellea痴 head on her dead grandmother痴 lap, 
and Graeme Rowan痴 eyes opening in wonder while grieving for his past, and Jacopo 
laughing as he helped me tend my garden and paying too much for people痴 bits and 
pieces because they needed his silver more than he did himself・so much goodness 
in this world・and I knew I did care. Only now it was too late.
At some time in the night, torchlight, voices, and the bustling of horses and 
men announced another party of travelers. The activity took place far across the 
cavern mouth from where I sat, and the oppressive darkness swallowed up the new 
arrivals before I saw or heard anything to identify them. Baglos痴 body lay in a 
forlorn heap not ten paces from me until two of Maceron痴 men decided it was in 
the way, dragged it off, and dumped it under the colonnade.
The horrid night dragged on.
An hour had passed since the last change of the watch, and most of the torches 
had burned out. Rumbling snores echoed through the cavern, but sleep eluded me. 
When I closed my eyes, I would see Jacopo痴 staring head, and Baglos weeping, and 
D誰atheil straining to catch sight of me as he was dragged into the darkness. My 
arms and shoulders were cramped from their awkward position bent backward and 
wrapped around the stone column, and the muscles in my stomach and chest ached 
and burned so that it was hard to get a decent breath. My fingers had gone numb, 
too, so when someone started fumbling at the ropes that bound my hands, it took 
me a few moments to notice it.
Certain that it was the sallow-faced man come to continue his loathsome 
caresses, I tried to scream, but a thin, cold hand clamped over my mouth. When 
my hands fell loose, I twisted around, grabbing and scratching the hands that 
kept such firm hold of me. All my anger and grief was channeled into that 
battle, but my cramped limbs had no strength, and my small and wiry captor 
seemed to have four hands. Soon I realized there were two of the bastards, one 
wrapping a bony arm about my throat and grasping a painful handful of my hair, 
the accomplice capturing my flailing hands and helping to drag me through the 
darkness and down a dark flight of steps.
展ould you stop?・The angry whisper hissed in my ear. 添ou池e going to bring the 
whole place down on us! If you promise to be quiet, we値l let you go. Will you 
promise?・I nodded my head vigorously. But the attacker was no fool. I had barely 
opened my mouth to yell, when the hand smothered my mouth again, and the villain 
twisted one arm behind my back until I thought my shoulder would pop out of its 
socket. I was shoved through a stone passageway and into a room that smelled 
faintly of horses. A door fell shut behind me, and I spun about and backed away 
from it into the dark.
敵ive us a light, boy,・said the person just in front of me預 woman, breathing 
rapidly. 鉄he壇 best see who痴 here before she sets up a holler.・/p> 
The darkness parted to reveal a yellowish light・a sputtering lantern with a dark 
cloth being pulled off it. A flushed Kellea leaned against the wall in front of 
me, casually brushed her disheveled hair from her face, and massaged the hand 
that I had bitten three times over. Paulo squatted by the lantern, grinning 
despite an angry scratch on one cheek. And slumped in the corner on a pile of 
ancient straw was a wan, smiling Graeme Rowan. His shirt dangled from one 
shoulder, and blood-soaked rags were tied about his middle.
I was without words.
鉄he was determined not to be helped,・said Kellea. 的 thought I might have to 
stick her a bit to shut her up. A good thing the boy was with me.・/p> 
釘ut I thought濫 I felt a thorough fool. 徹ne of the men up there雄ou were all濫
的 think I知 altogether more cooperative when being rescued.・The girl ignored my 
stammering.
的ndeed you are,・said Rowan in a whisper. 典he best thing I ever did.・He shifted 
his position uncomfortably, and Paulo scrambled to support his shoulders.
典hey told me you were dead,・I said. Forcing aside the first tears I壇 shed in a 
lifetime, I squeezed Kellea痴 small, hard hand, and then hurried across the room 
and ruffled a blushing Paulo痴 hair. Then I knelt beside Graeme Rowan and gripped 
his hand and pressed it to my brow, giddy with relief that the three were not 
illusions. 滴ow did you get here?・I said. 展hat happened to you?・/p> 
展e were going to be dead, but she濫
的値l tell the story, if you don稚 mind,・said Kellea, interrupting Rowan. 添ou値l 
never get yourself together again if you don稚 shut your mouth and be still. I 
can do only so much.・/p> 
Rowan smiled weakly, shrugged his shoulders, and began coughing. Paulo grabbed a 
waterskin and helped the sheriff to a drink.
展e felt them coming up behind us just at nightfall,・said the girl. 展icked, 
creeping悠 thought I had spiders in my head. The boy told us what the little man 
had said, and we stuck to the trees as much as we could. But the valley narrowed 
and the going was slow in the dark, so we decided to go up the side of the 
valley where the way was easier. Well, I decided. Graeme thought it was risky, 
but we climbed up. Straight into their arms. The boy was clever and ducked into 
the rocks before they noticed him, but I got myself royally captured. Graeme was 
a fool and tried to fight them off alone. Got himself skewered for his trouble. 
They believed he was dead, and I did, too,迫Kellea looked at Rowan with fire in 
her eyes欄but he was stubborn and prideful and refused to die as any sensible man 
would. Just before dawn, when the villain priests finally left off trying to 
crack my skull from the inside out, he and Paulo came rescuing. Graeme could 
scarcely sit his horse.・/p> 
Kellea twined the string ties of a palm-sized cloth bag about her fingers. 展e 
couldn稚 go far with him so hurt, so we hid in the rocks. The devils were so 
anxious to find your prince that I thought we might be left alone. At first 
light I went off looking for herbs to dress Graeme痴 wound, but didn稚 I see them 
scouring the hillside for us. And so・There痴 a plant I know of預stemia. If you 
chew its roots, it slows the heart enough to simulate death. Wouldn稚 have 
thought of it, except I壇 seen the plant while hunting the others I needed. So I 
made Graeme and the boy take the astemia, smeared Graeme痴 blood over us all, and 
then chewed some of it myself. By the time it wore off, the cursed priests were 
gone, and we were still alive.・/p> 
鄭nd so you followed us here. You might better have gone another direction.・/p> 
典hat man out there葉hat sheriff揺e痴 the one that fired the shop and killed my 
grandmother. And Graeme told me he壇 seen this Baglos talking to him just before 
the attack. Since you壇 said he was bound to obey the Prince, Graeme figured the 
Prince must know of it. But seeing the sheriff coming after you with the 
priests, we decided that the little bastard was up to no good, and we壇 best come 
warn you. I guess we were too late for that. Is the Prince dead?・/p> 
鼎aptive,・I said. 典he Zhid are planning something for the morning.・/p> 
Rowan leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. 鉄orry I知 not much 
help tonight,・he said, gasping. His halting breathing揺olding every breath and 
releasing it only when he had no choice揺inted at the severity of his injury. 鄭 
few hours sleep, and Kellea will have me up. We値l get him free.・/p> 
Kellea crouched in front of the sheriff and slapped his cheek lightly容nough to 
force his eyes back open. 泥on稚 you dare go to sleep until I give you more of 
this.・She took three or four small leaves from her little bag and crushed them 
in her fingers, telling Paulo to pour a sip of wine into a cup. She stirred the 
leaves into the wine and made Rowan drink it. He dozed off almost immediately.
滴e痴 not doing well,・I said. Rowan痴 hands were cool and clammy.
的 told him he壇 be no help to anybody if he was dead.・Kellea doused a rag with 
water and blotted Rowan痴 brow. 釘ut he thought you might have need of us, and 
he値l not keep sensible where you池e concerned. And he believes I have some stupid 
sentiment about saving my people.・/p> 
泥assine said the consequences would be dreadful if we let the Bridge be 
destroyed. Do you think that痴 true?・I badly needed Kellea痴 help.
的 just want to get out of here and be left alone.・The girl stuffed the herb bag 
back into the pocket of her leather breeches. She nodded her head at Paulo, and 
the two of them carefully lowered Rowan to the straw. Paulo pushed a rolled-up 
cloak under the man痴 head.
展e致e got to free him, Kellea. They池e going to kill him. Even if you don稚 care 
about that, he might be able to help Rowan. I don稚 know what all his talents 
are, but he痴 a sorcerer who痴 growing more powerful by the day. We should濫
的値l help you, no matter,・said the girl, standing up and adjusting her sword 
belt. 展e致e come this far and are like to get no farther if we池e not smart about 
it. Pardon me if I don稚 trust our safety to you.・/p> 
鄭ll right, then.・I climbed to my feet, weariness forgotten. 展e値l need to take 
him some clothes, and whatever weapons we can get together・
We set out with three knives, two swords, and Rowan痴 black cloak. Kellea left 
her bag of herbs with Paulo and told him what to do if the sheriff woke in pain 
or fever. 的値l bet the Prince can fix him,・said the boy.
展e値l take care of him,・said Kellea, laying her own cloak over the sleeping man. 
泥ouse the light now, until we池e off.・/p> 
Once our eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Kellea and I slipped out of the 
storeroom and up the steps that led back to the cavern.
擢inding the Prince would be easier if I had something of his, you know,・ Kellea 
whispered.
的f no one痴 taken it, I致e got something・ We crept through the dark colonnade 
until we encountered Baglos痴 body. The Dulc髓s leather pack had been thrown on 
top of him. I rummaged inside. No one had bothered to retrieve D但rnath痴 silver 
dagger.
I gave Kellea the weapon, chewing my lip as she worked her magic with it. When 
she handed the knife back to me and pointed toward the winding stair, I shoved 
it into my knife sheath, keeping Rowan痴 more ordinary knife in my hand. The Zhid 
had confiscated my own blade.
Kellea glided through the dark cavern and up the stairway. At each landing, she 
paused for a moment before continuing upward. I followed close. A faint steady 
light shone from one end of the third-level walkway. Quiet voices came from the 
nearby shadows. Kellea drew me toward the opposite end of the span, and we 
approached the light by skirting the cavern wall through the gallery. One man 
sat on the floor beside the lantern; two darker forms stood on either side of a 
closed door. We crept close and crouched in a shadowed doorway, a few rooms away 
from the men.
套 don稚 trust nobody won稚 show his face,・murmured a man with a gravelly voice.
徹rders is orders,・snapped a second. 展e致e been in stranger company.・/p> 
泥on稚 know when. This place gives me the cold sweats. Did you look at that 
priest, the one that does show his face? I thought I was a dead man when he 
looked at me・or maybe he was.・/p> 
溺e, too,・said a third voice, younger, jittery. The soft lantern glow outlined a 
youthful profile. 鄭nd I keep hearing things. Like voices, but nobody痴 there. 
When we come past that lake・all the birds. I never liked birds, specially ones 
you can稚 see. Did you see any birds, Dirk?・/p> 
笛ust do your duty, both of you,・said the second man. 溺outh shut, eyes open, and 
opinions to yourself. I don稚 trust those animals downstairs any farther than I 
can spit.・/p> 
So these were the newcomers. Not Maceron痴 men.
展ho is this prisoner that痴 got everybody so wrought up?・asked the gravel-voiced 
man.
的t痴 not ours to know. His lordship says they致e got him fair trussed. If we keep 
him tight, we値l be out of here tomorrow.・/p> 
His lordship・/em>
Kellea pulled my ear to her mouth. 滴e痴 in the chamber just past these three. I値l 
get the bastards away. If you can稚 free him in a quarter of an hour, leave him 
be, and we値l think of something else.・/p> 
I squeezed her arm in acknowledgment, and she slipped away into the darkness. 
Whispers and murmurings floated through the air. I flattened myself into the 
niche. Moments later, a faint green light twirled and streaked through the air 
above the walkway.
鼎ripes, what痴 that?・said the gravel-voiced man.
敵o check it out.・/p> 
Scarcely had the running footsteps disappeared along with the green light when a 
new voice rang out in the darkness. 泥irk! Downstairs at once! His lordship痴 
orders.・The voice was male, but it was impossible to tell from what direction it 
came. I had underestimated Kellea痴 talents.
The leader spewed out curses. 添ou値l have to hold here, Rigo. Don稚 budge now. 
Anything happens to this prisoner, we池e maggot fodder.・He hurried across the 
walkway and galloped unevenly down the stairs.
The edgy young soldier didn稚 have a chance. A handful of pebbles bounced across 
the gallery floor, then his shrouded lantern was snuffed out by a gust of wind.
展ho痴 there?・said the shaking voice. He sounded no older than Paulo.
A faint laugh, another shower of pebbles, then light footsteps tripped down the 
gallery. The young soldier hesitated only briefly before running after them.
The moment he was away, I jumped up and pushed open the heavy door. The walls of 
the barren chamber gleamed faintly of their own light. Against the far wall hung 
the Prince, his feet spread apart and fastened with the silver cord to bolts 
newly set into the stone. His hands were lashed to a wooden beam high above his 
head, leaving him to support his weight on the balls of his feet. The silver 
loop about his neck was tethered securely to another hook in the wall. He was 
very still, scarcely even breathing. Only a slight tremor in his legs hinted he 
was alive.
Seri・/em>
I could have sworn I heard someone say my name. But the rag was still in place 
about the Prince痴 mouth. 鉄tay quiet,・I whispered. 的致e come to get you.・I freed 
his mouth, untied the blindfold, and slipped the loop at the end of his neck 
tether from its hook. While he was still blinking and swallowing, I bent to 
examine the bonds on his ankles.
Stifling a cough, he whispered hoarsely, 泥on稚 you get tired of riding to my 
rescue?・/p> 
展e致e come this far. If we can get you away, you値l have time to think about what 
you need to do here. You can come back when you池e ready.・I could not look at his 
face. I told myself that I didn稚 want to shame him because of his nakedness, and 
that it was only fear of someone catching us that made my hands shake so 
wretchedly as I worked. But there was more. Enchantment was all about him, 
stronger than I壇 ever felt before.
鼎an I cut this cord?・I asked. The silver cord had bitten deep into his flesh, 
leaving oozing blisters and raw, ugly patches. His legs, stretched so awkwardly, 
were trembling with the strain of his position as he tried not to make things 
worse by moving.
鄭s long as it痴 an ordinary knife, not enchanted. I tried several ways to get 
loose, with sorcery and not, and wished I hadn稚.・/p> 
It was nearly impossible to wedge Rowan痴 heavy blade under the bindings, and I 
knew the pain must be excruciating as I sawed away at the cord. 的知 sorry to hurt 
you.・/p> 
的値l not complain. Honestly.・But his voice was very tight, and he mumbled a curse 
when I had sliced through the first one and peeled the cord away, a strip of 
blackened skin attached. With a grunt, he drew his freed foot under him, 
supporting his weight less precariously.
The other ankle was even more difficult. His foot was dark and swollen, and I 
could feel the cord tightening as I worked at it. This was taking too long, and 
his hands were still bound. Stupid, why didn稚 you do his hands first? Where were 
the guards? There! Ankles free.
I could scarcely reach his hands. They壇 put five turns of cord around his wrists 
and the beam. Five knots, so that each turn had to be cut individually. I jerked 
violently, almost slicing his flesh, when I thought I heard someone outside the 
door. But the pounding was only my heart. Three turns done. A quarter of an 
hour, Kellea had said. Who could tell how long it had been? Another layer cut. 
Then the last.
After we wrestled the loop of silver cord from his neck, I gave him Rowan痴 
cloak, unbuckled the sheriff痴 heavy sword belt from around my waist, and held it 
ready. 溺aybe this time you値l keep your clothes on,・I said.
的 promise I won稚 throw them back at you tonight,・he said, shaking the blood back 
into his hands. He stuck his arms through the side-slits in the cloak, pulled 
the garment tight around his middle, and buckled the sword belt over it. Then I 
gave him his own dagger優但rnath痴 blade.
As we slipped into the deserted gallery I felt fortunate, and when we reached 
the stairway unchallenged, I allowed myself the beginnings of hope. But as I 
took the first step downward, the Prince caught my hands and stopped me.
的 can稚 go with you,・he said. The darkness hid his face. 典hough everything in me 
wants to follow you, I must go up instead.・/p> 
哲o. Surely, you need濫
He put a finger on my lips. 典here are no words to thank you for all you致e done. 
You致e fed me, clothed me, nursed and healed me in countless ways, taught me of 
this world and how to live in it, and given me a part of yourself that I値l carry 
with me always. But now it痴 time for me to stand on my own. I had time to think 
tonight. Once I figured out that I壇 best not even move if I valued my limbs, I悠 
don稚 know how to explain it洋y mind took itself away from my body濫
My neck prickled. 添ou don稚 have to explain it.・/p> 
敵iano has said over and over that my death on the Bridge will destroy it, but I 
think perhaps it痴 only if I let them bind and slaughter me like some stupid 
sheep. The answer is so simple, I can稚 think why it seemed so difficult. 
Someone痴 come to fight me, set me a challenge. If I fail to meet a challenge to 
the Bridge, D但rnath痴 oath is violated耀o the Zhid want me captive・or to run away. 
It痴 not my death will cause the Bridge to fall, I think, but my failure. No one 
thinks I知 capable or willing or clever enough to see their trick. I have to be 
there, and I have to fight. That has to be enough. It痴 all I know how to do.・/p> 

鉄o you池e going to the Gate to wait for them.・/p> 
添ou致e given me the chance.・/p> 
Nothing more could be said. It was his Bridge, his battle, his choice. Berating 
him that he needed more than some wild supposition before tangling himself in 
mortal enchantments would only bring the others down on us. I had done all I 
could to bring him to this point, and the fact that I could not bear the thought 
of leaving him had no relevance to the matter at all. 滴ave a care, D誰atheil.・I 
could scarcely form the words.
鄭nd you, my lady.・And then he kissed my hand, there in the midnight of Vittoir 
Eirit. 典here are no demons in this darkness,・he said. 哲o need to be afraid. Such 
beauty lies within you, such light. You致e pushed away the shadows and given me 
life.・/p> 
I didn稚 hear him walk away. But my hand stung with fire, and his words hung in 
the air like the tail of a comet. ・no demons in this darkness・/em> Where had he 
found those words? Words extraordinary only in their familiar composition and 
the fact that they壇 been spoken in another time, by another voice, comforting me 
when I was afraid. How did he know of my terror of dark places? I壇 never told 
him of it, and yet, in the tunnels under Mount Kassarain, in the darkness of the 
rift valley・/p> 
My boots moved downward to the next step of the curving staircase. It was as if 
the burning of my hand and the tale of his words had penetrated the barriers of 
reason and uncovered a jumble of questions I壇 stored away there as too odd, too 
difficult, too inexplicable to think about.
What did Celine mean when she asked what miracle had brought this man to me? 
What had made the old Healer laugh with delight at the moment of her death? What 
had made Tennice cling to D誰atheil in the madness of his fever? Why had the 
Prince come to me・as a storm-wracked ship will follow a beacon to safe and 
familiar harbor?
You will shine as a beacon to me・/em>
My body trembled with the thoughts that blossomed within it like bonfires at a 
midsummer痴 fair. My mind refused to give credence to the absurd speculation 
taking shape from its confusion. Impossible. Inconceivable. Lunacy.
A heavy hand fell on my shoulder. 鄭re you mad?・Kellea whispered fiercely in my 
ear. 添ou池e a fool. Any one of these bastards could see you standing here. Let痴 
go some place safer, if you don稚 mind.・/p> 
I let Kellea lead me. I couldn稚 have said where we were.
泥id the soldiers come back before you got him loose?
Is he still prisoner?・Kellea asked, when we reached the second-level gallery.
哲o, it worked wonderfully well.・I could not focus on Kellea痴 words for the chaos 
inside me and the fire that lingered on my hand.
展here is he then?・/p> 
典he Gate. He went to the Gate to wait for them・ I crushed her hands in mine, 
knowing what I had to do. 適ellea, you致e got to put me back.・Now I dragged her 
down the stairs.
We reached the next turn of the stair, and she balked. 展hat are you saying?・/p> 
典hey致e not discovered I知 gone. The ropes are still there. Put me back.・/p> 
I tugged at her again, but she held her ground. 的n the name of reason, why?・/p> 
釘ecause I have to know. I can稚 explain. I must be at the Gate in the morning, 
and there痴 nowhere to hide in the chamber. So, Giano wants an audience for his 
triumph. He値l take me. Please, Kellea. Put me back.・/p> 
添ou池e mad.・/p> 
I yanked free of her and glided downward on airborne feet. Kellea followed me 
around the dark perimeter of the cavern until we reached the column where I had 
been held prisoner. A few moments fumbling and I found the lengths of rope. I 
pressed the bindings into Kellea痴 hands.
鄭re you sure?・/p> 
鄭bsolutely sure. Perhaps this will keep you three safe, too. If you stay hidden 
until we win or lose, they won稚 suspect you池e here. Do it quickly. Please.・/p> 
I stretched my arms around the column, paying no attention to the ache of my 
shoulders or the pull of the bindings or the scratch of the ropes about my 
abraded wrists. Oh, holy, blessed gods・/em>
的 hope you know what you池e doing,・whispered Kellea as she tied the last knot.
釘e safe, Kellea.・/p> 
The Dar誰ethi girl laid a hand on my shoulder, and then slipped silently into the 
darkness.
In the next hours, I relived every moment that had passed since Midsummer痴 Day. 
When had I first felt it?
At Ferrante痴 when he came out of the shadows to check that all was well with me? 
I had caught the scent of roses and thought I was dreaming. In the forest out of 
Fensbridge, when his laughter set my blood afire? I had called myself a lustful 
fool. As far back as the day he threw the knife at the rock and I felt the touch 
of enchantment? Tennice had seen it in his illness, and I had called it 
delirium. Stars of heaven, he had even named the great chestnut Sunlight. The 
Vallorean word for sunlight was karylis, and only one horse in my memory shared 
the name of the Vallorean mountain that sheltered the lost city of Avonar.
No wonder the stories I壇 told him in the ruined castle seemed more like his own 
memories than any Baglos had provided. I could not shake the implausible, 
impossible, lunatic conviction that they were his own memories. In some way 
beyond all rational understanding, the man who had appeared out of nowhere on 
Poacher痴 Ridge, the man who sat upstairs in the chamber of fire, setting himself 
ready to prevent the doom of the world, was Karon.
CHAPTER 35
Dawn crept over the lake outside the cavern. Muddled with unchecked 
speculations, incoherent plotting, and unsettling half-dreams of disembodied 
faces, I scrabbled my way out of the long night. I had not wanted to sleep. I 
had wanted to do nothing but ponder on how it was possible that Karon could 
live. Only a madwoman could even consider it.
Baglos still lay under the colonnade like a discarded boot. As I shifted my 
cramped shoulders and stiff neck, I wondered if the Duke had known anything of 
what had been done to D誰atheil. D誰atheil・If this inconceivable fantasy were 
true, then what had become of the true prince? The man who had come to me in the 
woods on Poacher痴 Ridge did not know himself. His body and spirit were alien to 
each other. I had seen that from the first, but hadn稚 understood it. How did a 
soul exist in a body that was not its own? A constant struggle of emotion and 
instinct, untempered by experience or memory. Even his appearance had been in 
flux. Was that, too, the result of this inner combat? Dassine said that 
D誰atheil痴 clouded mind was the inevitable result of what he had done to the 
Prince. What had he done? What I wouldn稚 give for a few moments・conversation 
with Dassine!
With the daylight came doubts about all that had been so convincing in the 
darkness. And even if my mad beliefs were true, his circumstances were so 
desperate that I might not see him again. Yet somehow my spirits were no longer 
bound by rational thinking or the limits of possibility.
As the pearly preamble to the day gave way to bold pinks and reds, Maceron痴 men 
stirred and began the usual rituals of morning: rummaging in packs for food, 
relieving themselves under the colonnade, saddling horses, grumbling, bawling 
orders, curses, and insults. An hour passed and Giano did not come. Had he 
already found the Prince by the Gate? I craned my neck in a futile attempt to 
see. Where were they?
Maceron strolled across the mud-tracked paving. He gnawed on a leathery piece of 
jack, wiping the grease from his unshaven face with the back of one hand. 鉄o 
you池e still here,・he said, grinning.
鄭nd where else would I be?・I snapped, finding it easy to reclaim a combative 
spirit on this singular morning. 展hy would I wish to be anywhere but here with 
my arms bent so charmingly about this stone tree? Have the villains finished 
their murderous doings?・I didn稚 have to force the tremor into my speech.
He tweaked the rope binding my hands. 的t seems our prisoner has escaped his 
guards.・/p> 
摘scaped?・/p> 
添ou needn稚 get your hopes up. He値l not evade the priest. Can稚 say I壇 be sorry to 
see this Giano humbled. Though if I thought the devil sorcerer had the least 
chance to escape, I壇 hunt him down myself and to perdition with all business 
arrangements. But the priest hates him more than I do.・He drew his knife and 
twirled it through his fingers as soldiers will do to amaze small boys.
I shrank back against the pillar, away from the flashing edge. 添ou claim to hate 
sorcerers, and then you help them with their murders. It makes no sense.・/p> 
Maceron shrugged. 典he priests say our world will be free of sorcerers when 
they池e done. My master believes them, and who am I to question?・He sliced 
through my bonds, yanked me to my feet, and propelled me through the cavern, 
relinquishing custody to the gray-hooded Zhid waiting at the foot of the 
stairway. 泥on稚 think I値l lose track of you, madam,・he called, as the hooded Zhid 
herded me up the steps. 添ou will reap your proper reward!・/p> 
On another day, I would have devised a proper retort for the vile sheriff, but 
my mind was far ahead of my feet, reaching into the chamber of blue fire. Is it 
you? Tell me. Give me a sign.
Giano awaited us at the first landing. His usually colorless face was flushed 
and his empty eyes gleamed hungrily in the torchlight. 的 almost came to visit 
you last night,・he said, smiling. 釘ut I wonder if I would have found you where I 
left you?・/p> 
的 am very proficient at releasing myself from captivity and reattaching myself 
to stone pillars,・I said. 的t痴 always such a lark.・/p> 
溺mm・I wonder.・The Zhid wagged a dark-stained fragment of silver cord. 典his 
doesn稚 look like sorcery to me, and I don稚 think the Dulc・has waked from his 
slumbers to perform yet another service for his prince.・/p> 
泥on稚 blame me for your incompetence,・I said. 的 might have thought of something 
better to do with a knife than freeing this infantile prince. The whole lot of 
you・Dar誰ethi, J脱ttanne, Dulc・ whatever you are耀hould leap off of this ledge and 
good riddance to you.・/p> 
Giano laid cold fingertips on my cheek, and I was almost sick with the dead feel 
of them. 展ords are worth nothing. You are a mistress of words, but look at where 
they致e gotten you: your friends dead, yourself on the way to your long-delayed 
execution, your grand mission in shambles.
No matter what your activities of the night, my lady, I cannot find myself 
unhappy with you.・Indeed the Zhid seemed almost serene, not at all like a man 
whose prized prisoner has gotten the upper hand. 祢 especially want you to 
witness the precision of well-laid plans coming to fruition.・The Zhid waved me 
up the stairs. 任ome, now, my lady. Great events to witness this day. A thousand 
years of history will come to an end. In truth, all of history will be made 
obsolete. Your little world will at last have its umbilical severed.・/p> 
鄭nd, of course, as the good Maceron believes, none of your kind will remain in 
the Four Realms,・I said. 釘ut you致e no need to stay, have you? The Lords of 
Zhev誰a feed on our sorrows all the way from their wasteland濫
泥o not speak of those you cannot comprehend,・snapped Giano. 的f you mundanes rip 
each other痴 flesh, that is your own doing, not ours.・/p> 
Just outside the doors into the passageway, Giano and his companions discarded 
their priest痴 robes. All three were attired in long, belted shirts of purple or 
gray, tight black hose, and supple black boots that reached above their knees. 
Each wore a single gold earring and carried a quite serious-looking sword. One 
of Giano痴 henchmen was a burly man with reddish hair, thick forearms, and a gray 
cast to his skin. To my astonishment the other was a woman, tall, angular, and 
severe, arms like a plowman and iron-gray hair twisted into a knot atop her 
head. Her eyes held no more human feeling than did those of her companions.
鄭nd now, madam・ said Giano, motioning me to precede him.
The blue-gray frostlight of the Gate flooded the passage. As I walked into the 
chamber, flanked by the two Zhid, my breath was visible in the frigid air. It 
took me a heart-searing moment to find the one that waited. He sat by the fiery 
wall, his arms wrapped about his knees, his head bowed as if he were asleep. I 
tried to shout a warning, but my tongue would not obey, no matter how I tried. 
Even so, the Prince痴 head came up quickly, his face awash with unhappy surprise.
It痴 all right, I thought. I chose to be here. To stay with you. Gods, how I 
wished he could hear me. Indeed, no answering words sounded in my mind, but on 
his face biossomed a smile of such brilliance, one might think all the beauty 
and joy of the universe had been gathered into his soul. Karon痴 smile. I was 
right. Oh, holy gods, how was it possible?
A quick movement to my left was Giano, his gaze snapping from the Prince to me 
and back again. The Zhid痴 eyes narrowed briefly, picking at my soul before he 
moved on to his business. 展e stand at this artifice of enslavement called 
D但rnath痴 Bridge,・he said, focusing sober attention on the man seated in front of 
him. 展ho speaks for the dead despot?・/p> 
And so the challenge was opened.
的 speak for D但rnath, the father of my fathers,・answered the Prince, remaining 
seated, though shifting his full attention to the Zhid. 展ho intrudes on this 
holy place?・/p> 
典hose who deny D但rnath and his whelps any place in the worlds that have 
repudiated them. We refute your claim to these objects you so pompously declare 
to be holy. This bndge and its devices unlawfully bind the power of your own 
people. And the residents of this sad world迫he swept his hand wide欄have long 
declared they want no part of Dar誰ethi magics.・/p> 
的値l take on any challenge. I値l not lie down and die for you, Zhid.・/p> 
Giano smiled. 的 never intended you should.・/p> 
The Prince sat relaxed. Waiting. 展ho has appointed you champion for this world, 
Giano?・/p> 
溺uch as I desire to be the sole bearer of this challenge, D誰atheil, and to lick 
the last drops of D但rnath痴 blood from my sword, this battle is properly fought 
by all concerned.・He snapped his fingers, and the Zhid woman left the room. 的t 
is time for your family痴 unique brand of slavery to end. Unlike your 
self-important ancestors, we do not assume the right to speak for these mundanes 
or declare what痴 best for their future. We致e only shown them how D但rnath and 
J脱ttanne have contrived to keep their world in bondage to Avonar, that dying 
crone who sucks the lifeblood of a child to extend her life one moment longer. 
No. This world has provided its own proper opponent, one who carries the honor 
of these lands and their sovereign on his sword.・/p> 
I caught my breath. The connection I hadn稚 seen. Giano did not need to name his 
champion, the lord who had arrived in the middle of the night, the same lord who 
had been sent to answer the challenge of a 途ebel chieftain・in the west. The 
burly Zhid had pulled me to the fog-shrouded periphery of the chamber, so Tomas 
did not see me as he strode through the doorway behind the Zhid woman. How 
magnificent he looked, dressed in red silk, fine leather, and the ruby-studded 
tabard that was only worn by the king痴 defender, carrying the ancient sword of 
the Champion of Leire. Perfectly balanced, exactingly forged and tempered, there 
was no finer blade in the Four Realms. Now, where was his companion, Maceron痴 
master, the sardonic snake who slithered out from under every vile stone in the 
Four Realms? For the moment, at least, Tomas stood alone.
My brother seemed scarcely to note his strange surroundings, but saved his 
attention for the Prince. He snorted when D誰atheil rose to face him. 典his is my 
opponent, my liege痴 challenger?・/p> 
Though the two were equal in stature, the Prince looked shabby in comparison: 
barefoot, his face bruised, wrists and ankles raw and ringed with dried blood, 
Rowan痴 tired black cloak held about him with the sword belt. D誰atheil looked 
puzzled as he examined Tomas, and only after a long scrutiny of my brother痴 face 
and red-brown hair did understanding dawn. 的s this some jest, Zhid? I致e no 
dispute with this man.・/p> 
Tomas interrupted the smirking Giano before the Zhid could answer. 的 am no one痴 
jest. I stand champion for Evard, King of Leire and Valleor, Protector of 
Kerotea and Iskeran. No one challenges the sovereignty of my liege without 
answer from me.・/p> 
的 make no challenge to your king,・said the Prince. 溺y argument is with this 
Giano and his masters who have laid waste to my own land, who have devastated my 
people beyond your understanding, who have murdered my father and my brothers, 
and whose intent is to slay me before I can remedy the wickedness they致e 
done.・/p> 
的 care nothing for your personal disputes,・spat Tomas. 釘ut sorcerers of your 
race have lived in Leire uninvited, defying our laws and customs. You proclaim 
yourself sovereign of a neighboring realm, yet you do not treat with our king as 
would a legitimate brother. Instead you sneak about the Four Realms, committing 
murder and spying out our defenses. And this strange portal妖o you not claim it 
as your rightful property, and is it not possible for your warriors to invade 
our lands through some secret avenue that lurks behind it?・/p> 
Someone had tutored him very well.
添ou don稚 understand what you致e been brought into,・said D誰atheil. 的値l not fight 
you. I honor your house, and I acknowledge your king.・/p> 
Tomas drew his longsword葉he light, flexible, perfectly edged blade of the 
Champion of Leire, rubies glittering in its hilt. 的 understand enough. Fail to 
fight, and you値l die at my hand. By our law, you should rightly burn. But 
because you致e come from another land, I offer you a warrior痴 death.・He stepped 
closer to the Prince. D誰atheil stood motionless, hands loose and relaxed at his 
sides, sword sheathed. I tried again to call out, to stop the wickedness that 
was about to happen. But Giano smiled at my struggle. His binding on my tongue 
was as firm as the Zhid warrior痴 hold on my arm. I could not make a sound, and 
my brother could not see me.
With the wickedly tapered tip of his sword, Tomas ripped a long slit in 
D誰atheil痴 collar.
The Prince did not move. 的 have no dispute with you, sir.・/p> 
Another tweak at his breast left a ragged tear in the black cloak. Tomas was 
proud and preferred a fight, but he took his duty to Evard very seriously. If he 
was convinced of the danger D誰atheil posed, he would take off the Prince痴 head 
without compunction. A third move left a bloody scratch on D誰atheil痴 cheek, and 
with a movement so swift as to be unseen, Rowan痴 sword, heavy and old-fashioned, 
scratched and nicked in a hundred places, appeared in the Prince痴 hand. Giano 
licked his lips. Was he still expecting the Prince to run?
With no further hesitation, Tomas attacked. I had not seen my brother fight 
since he壇 come into his prime. He was a master of fluid power, the flash and 
speed of his youth replaced by intelligence and perception. It was as if he knew 
to an exactitude where D誰atheil痴 blade would be at any moment, and he scarcely 
had to shift his position to counter any move the Prince made. His king did not 
deserve such perfection.
D誰atheil began slowly, as if he were reluctant, or the weapon were too heavy, or 
he couldn稚 remember the moves. But as Tomas lunged and struck, the ringing 
swords sending blue-white sparks flying through the icy fog, the Prince shed his 
hesitation. Thrust, parry, counter, attack・spinning, circling・faster, smoother, 
more powerful by the moment, a new level of skill demonstrated with every 
closure.
Tomas痴 jaw was sculpted in iron, his lips a thin line. As far as I knew he had 
not lost a match since he was seventeen. A barrage of slashing blows from the 
Prince had Tomas almost in my lap, but my brother ducked and spun and twisted 
away, and then his weapon was slicing downward toward D誰atheil痴 shoulder. But 
the Prince spun, too, and his blade halted Tomas痴 stroke with a bone-shattering 
block.
After a while I wondered if D誰atheil even knew whom he fought or why. His face 
had settled into an expressionless mask. Every step, every stroke, every attack, 
slash, spin, and parry seemed to take him farther away from himself, as if there 
were no real dispute with rights or wrongs or consequences, no war, no meaning 
outside his actions, only the unthinking, unending, glorious abstraction of 
combat. He was lost in passionless exaltation, his grace making Tomas look 
heavy-footed, his speed and strength making Tomas look old. Whatever the truth 
of his soul, the body that battled my brother that day was D誰atheil, the Heir of 
D但rnath.
A ringing blow and the Champion痴 sword clattered across the colorless paving 
stones. Tomas was on one knee, flushed, panting, and bleeding from a deep gash 
in his thigh.
D誰atheil held Rowan痴 blade high over his shoulder, its edge on a line for Tomas痴 
neck. The Prince痴 face was cold and deadly, and I felt that the very universe 
must be weeping silent tears.
No. No. No. I ached to cry out, to alter D誰atheil痴 expression of uncaring 
inevitability. Tomas was my brother. Flesh of my flesh. I could not forget his 
eyes reflected in the glass back in his palace chambers傭ewildered, 
guilt-wracked幼raving forgiveness that he could not ask, knowing that I could not 
give.
Moments passed. The Prince did not strike. Slowly, he lowered his weapon and 
said, huskily, 敵o. This is not your fight.・/p> 
泥o not dismiss me!・Tomas痴 face was scarlet. 擢inish me with honor or give me back 
my sword.・/p> 
The Prince shook his head. 的値l not fight you. Those who chose you chose well, 
but I will not slay the Duke of Comigor, son of the Lord Gervaise.・He stuck his 
sword tip under Tomas痴 blade and with a twist of his wrist flipped the gleaming 
weapon into the air, so that it came down hilt-first into its owner痴 hand.
Tomas痴 anger was supplanted by surprise and curiosity. 滴ow do you know me?・ 
D誰atheil glanced over my brother痴 shoulder and tipped his head. Tomas痴 eyes 
followed his. 鉄eri!・/p> 
The world paused in its turning.
添es, your traitorous sister is here, Lord Tomas,・said Giano, breaking his long 
silence and drawing Tomas痴 gaze away from me. 鉄he has betrayed you once again, 
Your Grace, betrayed your king, violated the sacred honor of your house by 
consorting with this sorcerer prince. She exemplifies the corruption he brings, 
mocking you, and prostituting your son痴 heritage. I知 prepared to turn her over 
to you as soon as you discharge your duty to your king.・/p> 
Tomas stood up slowly and waved his sword point from Giano to me. 鏑et her 
go.・/p> 
典he sorcerer disdains you,・said Giano. 鼎an you not see the scorn in which he 
holds your king, your people? He thinks to make you impotent by flaunting his 
rape of your sister痴 mind, this ultimate violation begun by that other of his 
kind. You remember・the one you so prudently removed from this world, the one who 
sought to pollute your very bloodlines with his foul seed.・/p> 
添ou were right, Seri,・said my brother, staring at Giano. 填ntil this moment, I壇 
forgotten your warning about the one with the empty eyes.・He sheathed his sword 
and folded his arms across his breast. 的値l fight no more until I understand 
what痴 happening here.・Without taking his eyes from the Zhid, he said, 典his is 
his friend. Darzid痴 friend.・/p> 
But in the moment he uttered Darzid痴 name, Tomas was lost. A leaden shutter 
dropped across his face, and like a wooden doll jerked onto the stage by its 
puppetmaster, he snarled and whirled to face D誰atheil. And before I could 
connect his altered behavior with Giano痴 upraised fist, my brother drew his 
sword, roared a curse, and attacked. The startled Prince could do nothing but 
counter, and Tomas, in his madness, could not adjust to his opponent痴 lightning 
response. D誰atheil痴 sword was driven deep by the force of Tomas痴 charge.
Tomas sagged, and when the Prince withdrew his blade, my brother slumped to the 
floor. Then the Zhid warrior released me and, together with the Zhid woman, drew 
his weapon and fell upon the Prince before D誰atheil could even see what he壇 
done.
I ran to Tomas and dragged him away from the combat. Blood poured from the 
gaping wound in his side. With his knife, I hacked a strip from my skirt and 
bound the folded rag in place around him with my cloth belt. Not fair. Not fair. 
Did the saving of the world require this blood, too? I clutched my brother in my 
arms and wished that I could pray.
A sword skittered across the paving, coming to rest beside the curtain of fire. 
The burly Zhid was down, leaving a smeared trail of blood as he crawled toward 
his dropped weapon. The woman was fading fast under D誰atheil痴 relentless 
assault. I assumed Giano would be the next to attack, but the smiling Zhid 
commander leaned his shoulder against the wall and watched.
The fallen Zhid reached for his sword, but the battle raged close, and D誰atheil 
kicked the weapon past the Gate fire. The Zhid warrior lurched after it, 
reaching through the curtain of dark flame, then screamed murderously as he 
pulled back, half his body blackened and smoldering.
When would Giano move? The Prince痴 victory seemed close. Tremors shook the 
foundation of the chamber, and the cold gnawed at my bones. The Gate fire burned 
blue-black. I should be rejoicing in D誰atheil痴 skill, yet I was foundering in a 
sea of dread. The Prince was furious and determined, his face void of everything 
but battle. The Zhid woman was staggering, bleeding from uncountable wounds. 
Then she was down, D誰atheil kneeling beside her with a knife in his hand, his 
own silver dagger with the emblem of D但rnath engraved upon it.
What was the horror that filled me as I watched him, so grim and implacable, 
raising his dagger to finish his enemy? Giano smiled and did nothing. The Gate 
fire was the same bruised color as the storm that had driven us to Pell痴 Mound.
This was wrong. All wrong.
Dassine痴 message of love and trust resounded in my memory. He believed Karon 
should be here, not D誰atheil. Why? There had to be a reason. There is that in 
D誰atheil that will tell him what must be done. But Dassine had meant in the 
D誰atheil he had sent, not in the prince who had grown up in Avonar, the one who 
knew only of fighting and death. Why Karon?
As the Prince痴 dagger fell through the pregnant air, I lunged for his arm, 
deflecting his blow. D誰atheil shoved me away in cold fury. 展hy? Why must I stop? 
What do you mean, this is not the way?・/p> 
Though I had uttered no sound, clearly he had heard the plea I was screaming in 
my thoughts. As a snarling Giano grabbed my shoulder and wrenched me backward, I 
tried desperately to focus my words. Look at the Gate fire, how dark. Dassine 
took your memories because you had been trained in the wrong way. All these 
years, the Dar誰ethi have fought and lost. You must find a different way to 
accomplish your task.
Giano shoved me against the wall. 的nterfering whore. Do you think I can稚 hear 
your maudlin pleas? I should have disposed of you long ago.・His hatred bored 
into my head like a hot poker, but I would not allow him in. I had not forgotten 
how to create a barrier in my mind.
The Prince痴 silver dagger was again raised to finish the Zhid. I closed my eyes 
and fought to keep my head clear of everything but what was most important. When 
I looked again the dagger had not fallen, and D誰atheil痴 gaze shifted frantically 
from one to the other of his victims.
敵iano has planned all this,・I told him, surprised to find the torrent of words 
bursting free of Giano痴 silencing. 的t痴 why we were able to free you so easily 
last night. He let us do it. Just as he let us go at Ferrante痴, and in Yurevan, 
and again in Montevial. They never wanted to capture you. I was so stupid to 
think we had outsmarted them again and again. It was always too easy. Did you 
hear him? When you said you wouldn稚 lie down and die for him, he said he never 
intended that you should. He brought Tomas, knowing well he could never defeat 
you. Giano wants you to kill them all.・/p> 
典hen tell me what I must do!・said the Prince, throwing his knife to the floor, 
his mouth tight with anger.
I had to follow Dassine痴 lead. Instruction could・not give the Prince the power 
he needed. 悩ou must find the answer inside yourself. Dassine believed you could. 
I believe it. I know you, D誰atheil. You are worthy・so very worthy・of our 
trust.・/p> 
鉄o the Prince of Fools has become a slave to a woman,・said Giano, stepping 
forward. Perhaps I only imagined the note of anxiety in his sneering. 的ronic, is 
it not, that by sending you to this woman, Dassine has robbed you of your only 
virtue? The Dulc・was right. She is a curse.・/p> 
But the Prince was not listening to Giano. He took up his knife again, brushing 
his fingers along the blade and staring at the burned Zhid who lay moaning in 
wordless agony. D誰atheil痴 stony visage softened to puzzled curiosity as he 
touched the dying warrior痴 mutilated arm.
Giano stiffened and hissed, and without warning he wrapped his arms about me and 
yanked me to his breast. The dagger that had taken Baglos痴 life and that of the 
highwaymen in During Forest was poised at my heart, and one by one my senses 
burst into flame, until I believed that the Gate fire must be burning beneath my 
very skin. But the Prince did not look up, and I refused to cry out. He needed 
time to see his way.
My captor dragged me toward the wall of fire, the blue-black curtain soaring in 
vicious exhilaration into the murky heights, and the Zhid began to laugh with 
such triumphant wickedness that D誰atheil was drawn to look. When the Prince saw 
what was happening, all softness fled from his face. He leaped up, grabbing his 
sword, and my heart shriveled. Giano痴 fire had grown so fierce that I could not 
bear it, and I began to sob.
鏑et go of the woman,・said the Prince, cold and angry. 的 am the one you want.・/p> 

鉄o you are, but I will have you on my terms. We must rid ourselves of this 
meddlesome female before she saps all your resolve.・And with wicked laughter 
that rang through the stone chamber, Giano shoved me through the wall of black 
fire.
CHAPTER 36
I was not dead. Either the Zhid was wrong that the passage of the barrier would 
destroy me or he didn稚 truly want me dead. But the place where I existed had no 
relationship to any world I knew. Bolts of lightning slashed through purple-gray 
clouds above a desolation of skeletal trees and naked crags. Though lurid and 
grotesque, such a view would have been almost comprehensible if it had been the 
entirety of the landscape. But from the corners of my eyes I glimpsed entirely 
different scenes: on one side a field of garishly colored flowers that budded 
and bloomed and withered in moments under a livid sun, and, on the other, a 
slow-moving river of filth that was a crush of emaciated men and women, clawing 
and trampling each other so as to drink from a lake of blood. When I turned my 
head to either hand, the scene would vanish, and only the alien landscape 
remain. A bitter wind lacerated my skin, leaving bloody tracks, and the 
tumultuous roar of the Gate fire・now deafening in its volume謡as riven with a 
hideous, howling chorus of despair. Hellish pandemonium. My flesh did not burn 
like that of the Zhid who had touched the fire. But my being vibrated like a 
violin string out of tune, and great cracks exploded through my reason so that I 
could not hold the fragments of myself together. Visions・or memories・yet not 
memories・nothing of beauty or sweetness・displayed themselves against the mad 
backdrop: my drunken father vomiting over Tomas痴 dying body, Martin laughing as 
he stripped the skin from a screaming Tennice痴 back, and my mother, my lovely, 
delicate mother, mating in a sweating frenzy with Evard. One after the other, 
such twisted visions supplanted each memory I treasured, severing every link to 
love, joy, pride, or accomplishment until only horror was real.
Perhaps this is death, after all. If so, then let it be done with. The dark void 
proclaimed by Leiran priests, the absolute ending I had always dreaded, would be 
far better.
Though my mind was chaos, my feet stood on solid ground. I was no longer held 
captive by the hand that had plunged me into the tumult, but he was close, a 
solid, malevolent companion to the monstrous apparitions assailing me from every 
side. He laughed as a pair of green, slavering jaws gaped before me in the 
darkness, and when I turned away in panic, a river of molten lava blocked my 
path. Another turn and a hideous beast with two heads and razor-sharp claws the 
size of my arm loomed over me out of the murk.
Cry out to him all you wish, woman. His nature betrays him. You致e led him to his 
doom.
The words meant nothing to me.
鉄eri!・Ever so faintly I heard the call through the thunder, but I could pay it 
no heed. Something was approaching from behind me, something more awful than 
anything I壇 yet seen. It had no name, but I had to run before it showed itself, 
and the only path open led away from the beckoning voice.
Move, fool! I cried. Ignore the hissing cobra the size of a tree that raises its 
hood, wrapping you in a gaze so malevolent it could steal your soul away. A 
rotting cadaver extended its bony fingers, leaving great smudges of unnamable 
disgust on your arms. Concentrate on the path beneath your feet.
鉄eri!・The insistent call came again. But it was only another voice in the 
cacophony of lamentation, the growls and wails and screams・screams that might be 
my own for all I knew.
I ran. But chaos has no direction, and my flight brought me only to the place I 
had been before. The two that battled in that place, swords glinting with the 
lightnings from the raging storm, were not apparitions. Both were in black, the 
one with thin lips and pale eyes that reflected nothing, and the other with 
broad shoulders and blue eyes that flashed with fire and steel. Real blood 
flowed from their wounds, and I should care. I should speak a name, but I could 
not bring it to my lips.
Frantic, I backed away from the combatants and fled once more. I ran along a 
perilous track so narrow I could not put my feet side by side. If I stopped, I 
would topple into the bottomless nightmare that gaped on either side of me. My 
throat burned. My blood pounded. The nameless thing was close behind.
鉄eri!・The summoning rang out once more, and like a thread pulled from the weft, 
I was drawn inexorably to the place of battle. The two combatants were bathed in 
blood and sweat, so that one might think it was the battle for the doom of the 
world. But I cackled in my madness, for I knew the doom of the world was just 
behind me, and whatever the result of this duel, it could make no difference.
I had to get away. My path led through mud that sucked at my feet and rain that 
scalded my face. I could not run in the mud, only slog through it, pushing aside 
the half-rotted corpses that rose to the surface like flotsam in a morbid sea. 
My heart pounded with the effort, but soon the mud was up to my knees. The path 
led into a cave. Beasts of heaven, not a cave! Even the ghastly lightnings were 
swallowed by that pit. No glimmer, no spark, no dim ray, no pale reflection 
relieved the nightmare darkness. The hot mud was to my waist, but I could see 
nothing, and I dared not reach out for the walls lest I find them closing in on 
me. And the demons, too, were waiting・/p> 
鉄eri! Stay close!・Weaker, yet enough to pull me back again. Next time. Next time 
I would escape his tether, leave him to his bloody combat, to his ending.
The two who battled were on the ground now, weapons thrown aside. Grunting, 
twisting until the blue-eyed one lay atop the other. The pale one痴 arm 
outstretched was all that stayed the deadly stroke of the shining dagger.
Now, woman, witness the changing of the world. And as I watched, the pale one, 
the one with the empty eyes, broke into wild laughter and with a crow of triumph 
snatched his hand away. All the force of the battle was focused in the silver 
dagger that plunged into his own heart. So much blood! A fountain of it, washed 
into a red river by the scalding rain. The pale one痴 bestial exultation did not 
fade with his surrender. His echoing laughter was the essence of horror, and the 
evil thing was upon me.
哲o!・I sobbed, and I crouched down in the river of blood and covered my head so I 
could not see the end of the world. The wind howled and the thunder roared; the 
hot rain fell on my back. The ground beneath me writhed and groaned. When I felt 
hands on my arms, I flinched and cried out.
But the hands that gathered me in were not the hands of a monster, nor of 
madness, but were gentle and strong. The voice that spoke in my mind was not 
foul, but comforting and dear. Go back through the Gate. I cannot protect you 
any longer and do what I must do. I understand now, but there痴 little time, and 
I値l need everything I can muster. Do you understand?
I looked up at the blue eyes, but I could not comprehend his meaning and could 
not answer.
The strong hands guided me to a veil of pulsing blackness. Step through and wait 
for me, beloved. Wait for me.
He gave me a gentle push, and I stumbled into a circular chamber of stone filled 
with clouds of ice and the stench of blood and death. Three lives were leaking 
away on the stone floor, two men and a woman. I could not say who they were.
My cold, wet knuckles pressed to my mouth, I sank to the floor among the fallen, 
no less wounded than they, though I did not bleed. Beyond the black veil of 
fire, my rescuer knelt by the empty-eyed one he had slain and yanked the dagger 
from the dead man痴 chest. But he did not sheath the bloody weapon as I expected, 
or wipe it clean, or plunge it in again to make sure of his evil opponent as I 
wanted him to do. Instead he turned the knife on himself.
泥on稚! Please don稚!・I needed someone left living to tell me my name.
He did not answer, but neither did he slay himself. Rather he drew the dagger 
across his muscled left arm with a sure and steady hand. Then he did the same to 
the fallen warrior, took a worn belt of woven string from his waist, and bound 
his arm to that of the dead man.
Numb, understanding nothing of what was happening, I whispered an echo of the 
words that rang clearly through the wall of fire. 鏑ife, hold! Stay your hand. 
Halt your foot ere it lays another step along the Way. Grace your son once more 
with your voice that whispers in the deeps, with your spirit that sings in the 
wind, with the fire that blazes in your wondrous gifts of joy and sorrow. Fill 
my soul with light, and let the darkness make no stand in this place.・The words 
became my anchor. Wait for me, he had said.
It seemed an eternity that I shivered in the chamber of the Gate, watching the 
strange drama play out, but I had nowhere to go and could not think what else to 
do. Beside me lay a man grievously wounded. He was ashen and sweating, each 
breath an agony. The rag bound to his side was soaked in blood, and I felt a 
great swell of grief as I gazed on him. Tomas. My brother, Tomas. I hugged my 
knees and rocked back and forth.
At last my rescuer untied the binding and stood up, lifting the pale man in his 
arms. He stepped through the veil of fire and laid the man on the stone paving, 
next to the others. The hot rain must have washed away the blood, for there was 
none to be seen on the one who slept so peacefully, chest rising and falling 
easily, rhythmically. Then the blue-eyed one came to me and laid his warm hand 
on my cold, wet face in a touch of such sweetness that I cried out when he took 
it away. He knelt beside my wounded brother and drew his silver knife across his 
arm once more, leaving a great bloody gash just next to a scar that shone pale 
against his tanned flesh. He did the same to Tomas痴 arm, and bound them 
together, and again spoke the words. 鏑ife, hold・j壇en encour, my brother.・/p> 
For a long time he knelt there, eyes closed, head bowed.
When he finally loosened the woven belt, it was slowly, and his hands trembled a 
bit. 的致e done all I can do for him,・he whispered. 哲ot enough. I知 sorry.・Then he 
moved to the moaning woman in black, the Zhid woman, and began again.
The clouds of terror and madness drifted away in the soft breath of healing, and 
before very long I understood what it was I saw. Tears rolled down my face, and 
I eased my brother痴 head into my lap, while the blue-eyed sorcerer worked to 
heal the two Zhid warriors.
鉄eri.・The word was more like a sigh than speech. Tomas痴 eyes had fluttered open. 
His breathing was easier, but he was still very pale, and his hands were like 
ice.
的知 here, Tomas.・/p> 
展hat happened?・/p> 
添ou致e been wounded in a match.・/p> 
溺ore than a match, I think, but I can稚 remember.・His voice was so very weak.
泥on稚 try. It can come later.・I stroked his damp hair.
典here will be no later. He told me when he was inside me. Too much damage to 
heal.・/p> 
添ou値l be fine, Tomas. I値l take you home.・/p> 
He wrinkled his brow. 哲o, it must be now. Your pardon・Garlos has it. Find him 
and you値l be free. I知 so sorry, Seri, sorry for all of濫
的t wasn稚 your fault.・I kissed his cold hand and held it to my breast.
His eyes were heavy, but I felt his urgency. 溺y son・he痴 fair. Has our looks. 
Intelligent like you. Stubborn. Opinionated.・A faint smile graced his colorless 
lips. 的 wanted to tell him濫 His words stopped, and, for that moment, his hand 
crushed my fingers, as if he were grasping life itself.
展hat, Tomas? What did you want to tell him?・/p> 
痘what a fine lad he is. A fine son・so proud・
滴e値l hear it. I swear to you he will. And he値l know of his father痴 honor and the 
glory of his house.・/p> 
Tomas allowed his eyelids to close and nodded his head slightly. His hand 
relaxed as he drifted away, his last breath soft and easy.
釘e at peace, brother,・I whispered, gathering him to my breast and rocking him 
gently as one would a sleeping child. The Prince had bound himself to the last 
of his fallen enemies, the Gate fire burned white, and the very air sang.
Once the last of the wounded Zhid lay in peaceful sleep, the Prince did not move 
again. He remained huddled over his knees in the center of the chamber, 
silhouetted against the brilliance of the Gate fire. I could not think of what 
to say. After a long while, he raised his head, his eyes glazed with exhaustion, 
and said, 的 know you.・/p> 
添es.・/p> 
展hen I can think again・
典here痴 no hurry.・/p> 
His chin drooped onto his chest. I could not see if he was asleep.
The white fire had burned away the shadows. The frost clouds sparkled with the 
brilliance of diamonds, as if the sun played hide-and-seek behind them. The 
walls of the Gate chamber no longer appeared somber gray, but displayed polished 
veins of rose quartz and green malachite, and the floor was tiled with intricate 
patterns of rose and pearl.
I laid Tomas out with the dignity the Champion of Leire deserved, straightening 
his limbs, smoothing his hair, and arranging his fine clothes to hide the 
terrible bloodstains. No wound was visible anywhere on his body. I placed the 
Champion痴 sword on his breast and folded his hands across the ruby-studded hilt. 
My father had been laid out so a lifetime ago, the gentle windings of death 
masking the ravages of drunken grief in the same way they now erased the 
remnants of Tomas痴 madness. From the passage I fetched the gray robes discarded 
by the Zhid and covered him.
These duties done, I was at a loss. I dared not leave the Prince. In his current 
state, a child with a wooden sword could take him down, and death and dangers 
still threatened from every side. That something marvelous had happened in this 
place was indisputable, but it seemed a fragile victory.
釘last and perdition, what痴 gone on here?・Kellea stood in the arched doorway, 
staring at the white fire, the four prostrate forms, the unmoving Prince, and 
the bloodstains that streaked the lovely tiles like some macabre child痴 artwork. 
鉄eri, are you all right?・/p> 
I must have looked wretched: soggy, bedraggled, and spattered with mud and 
blood. 的 don稚 know.・I had experienced every possible emotion in the past hours 
and could no longer tell one from the other.
的 felt・well, I could tell something had happened, so I had to come up.・ Kellea 
moved from one body to the next, peering into their still faces. A longer look 
at the Prince. 展here痴 the boy? He was determined to help. I couldn稚 keep him 
back.・/p> 
撤aulo・ I peered through the fog, the knot in my belly eased almost as quickly as 
it formed. A slight body was huddled against the outer wall. The mist drifted 
by, revealing a thin, freckled face, a portrait of wonder as the boy stared up 
at the fiery Gate.・/p> 
添ou池e all right, boy?・Kellea and I both breathed easier at his wordless nod.
展hat happened here?・She turned her attention to the still forms around us. 鄭re 
they dead?・/p> 
I tried to gather words. 典his one迫I laid my hand on Tomas痴 still form-欄is the 
champion brought by the Zhid to be slain洋y brother. They drove him to madness. 
To his death. The Prince couldn稚 save him. The three who were Zhid live, and I 
believe that when they wake they値l no longer be Zhid.・The soaring fire filled my 
heart and dried my tears. 滴e healed them. And somehow the power of his 
enchantment揺is healing gift葉urned the Gate fire white・so he must have 
strengthened the Bridge, too, I think. He gave everything・and I don稚 know what 
the consequence of that might be. He may not have enough life left in him to 
wake again.・/p> 
滴e will awaken if I have anything to say in the matter. And if there is a breath 
of life left in him, he will remember you, Lady Seriana.・/p> 
I would not have wagered an empty box that I had enough strength left to move, 
but when the voice boomed at us from the direction of the Gate, I grabbed the 
Prince痴 abandoned dagger and leaped up from the floor, standing between the 
unmoving D誰atheil and the intruder who limped out of the curtain of white fire, 
leaning on a wooden staff. He was a short, muscular man dressed in a shabby 
brown robe that gaped open to reveal a wrinkled white tunic belted over scuffed 
brown breeches. His curly hair and beard were brown, streaked with gray, but a 
youthful visage made his age quite unguessable. Nothing was at all remarkable 
about the man, save for his intensely blue eyes and the incredible voice that 
rang with wind, thunder, poetry, and wickedly prideful self-confidence. I 
dropped my weapon. No mistaking him. 泥assine.・/p> 
CHAPTER 37
的ndeed, I am he that you name,・said the man who walked out of the wall of fire. 
He bowed to Kellea and me, but his eyes were only for D誰atheil. 的f you will 
excuse me・ He limped across the chamber and tenderly lifted the Prince痴 haggard 
face, examining it intensely. D誰atheil痴 eyes were open, but whatever he saw was 
far distant from that room. He demonstrated no awareness of Dassine, or me, or 
anything around us. 徹h, my dear son,・murmured the sorcerer. 鄭ll I believed of 
you・How right I was.・He pulled off his brown robe and laid it around the Prince痴 
shoulders. 迭est now, and we値l care for you as you deserve.・/p> 
He stood up slowly and leaned on his staff. 的t will be some time before he can 
do anything but maintain his own existence, but I believe he will be fine.・/p> 
鄭nd he will know who he is?・I said.
哲ot today迫Dassine heaved a great sigh欄nor tomorrow. Not for a goodly time. But 
he値l know. One day he will laugh, and ride his great horse, and grow enchanted 
roses for you in the middle of winter. As I told you.・/p> 
典hen I知 right. He is・ I could not pronounce the name aloud, lest by the single 
word my hope would shatter itself on the bulwark of impossibility.
徹h, yes. In this body lives the soul you know as Karon Lifegiver. It is neither 
dream nor self-delusion.・/p> 
I could not speak.
鉄ome remnant of D誰atheil will always remain with him, but eventually it will 
seem neither strange nor uncomfortable. He will never look like himself, of 
course. His body is D誰atheil痴 and that will not change though it appears he has 
taken on something closer to his own span of years.・Dassine laid a hand on the 
fair hair threaded with gray.
滴ow is this possible?・/p> 
溺ostly because of Karon himself揺is strength and will and unparalleled love for 
life. His is a prodigious gift. Luck, too, has played its part, as have I預nd 
you.・/p> 
典ell me.・/p> 
的t痴 a long story.・/p> 
的 can稚 stay for stories,・said Kellea, who stood stiffly next the doorway. 
敵raeme濫
滴eaven and earth, the sheriff!・I said, guilty that my own desire had displaced 
thoughts of the injured Graeme Rowan. 溺aster Dassine, our good friend lies 
injured downstairs・
鄭nd what has that to do with me?・/p> 
添ou池e a Healer, are you not?・/p> 
的知 the most gifted Healer that lives, but I do not spend my talent lightly.・/p> 
His arrogance pricked like a thorn in the shoe. 的知 well aware of the cost of 
healing,・I said. 鄭nd I don稚 ask lightly. A friend is dying from fighting your 
war.・/p> 
滴mmph.・The sorcerer wrinkled his brow. 的 suppose I must look at him.・/p> 
滴e値l want no help given unwilling,・said Kellea, snarling. 的値l care for him 
myself.・/p> 
哲o, no, you misunderstand.・Dassine waved one hand dismissively. 的 don稚 begrudge 
the man. But it痴 been my practice never to spend my power on minor matters, and 
I致e no strength to spare today. But if your friend is so desperate a case, I知 
quite willing to see to him. I値l warn you, though, young woman, that this cursed 
leg makes me damnably bad at dodging pursuers.・/p> 
的 think I can get you there safely,・said Kellea, choking on her fury. 典here are 
only three frightened Leiran soldiers wandering about the cavern.・/p> 
的値l go then. You値l watch over him?・said Dassine to me.
的 will.・/p> 
With every moment I spent near the Gate fire, I felt stronger, as if my blood 
drew sustenance from its glory. It was good that Karon was here.
At least an hour had passed by the time Dassine limped back into the room. 典he 
good sheriff is resting. He will be healthier than he ever was and will very 
likely never appreciate it properly. The girl has stayed with him, and the 
ragamuffin boy.・With tenderness that belied his grumbling pomposity, he felt the 
Prince痴 wrist, laid a hand on his temple, and peered into his vacant eyes. 的t 
will still be a while until he can move. You want to know how it was done, I 
suppose.・/p> 
的 want to know everything.・/p> 
Dassine traced a circle in the air with his walking stick, and then, 
astonishingly, unfolded the ordinary looking limb of wood into a stool with a 
woven seat. He plopped himself onto it with a sigh. He didn稚 explain his bit of 
magic nor offer me any comparable accommodation.
的 was in the Chamber of the Gate on the day your husband died,・he began. 典he 
glory of that day was unimaginable, beyond hope, and the monstrous stupidity 
that followed was nearly our undoing. I think Exeget sent young D誰atheil to the 
Bridge early to destroy the evidence of his own monumental failure.
典he boy had been wild and incorrigible from the day of his birth, but 
intelligent, certainly, and strong-willed and courageous beyond his years. When 
his father and brothers died, he suddenly had demands on him: to act like a 
prince, to understand the war, to do those things you call magic. In their blind 
stupidity, the Preceptors could not see the worth of him and use his strength to 
encourage his best nature. As a result, D誰atheil excelled at swordplay and hand 
combat, but no heart developed alongside them. No wisdom or grace. Humility is a 
virtue we prize in our princes; Exeget, the pompous traitor, tried to beat it 
into him as if it was his fault he had received no teaching. When I first saw 
D誰atheil after my return from the Wastes, he had been forced to live out of 
doors for three days, unclothed in the most terrible winter weather, for 
refusing to bow to Exeget.・Dassine痴 discourse was very like the spring storms 
that roll one after the other across the northern marches, each phrase a roiling 
intensity of disgust or bitterness or sorrow.
He glanced at me sharply. 添ou know of Exeget?・/p> 
I nodded.
典he boy preferred to shiver in his nakedness than to grovel before a fool. He 
hungered for war. By the time he was ten, some on the Council believed he was 
already a tool of the Zhid. Whatever the truth of that, the Bridge destroyed 
D誰atheil. When I carried him away from it, there was no soul left in him. An 
hour痴 examination told me that the last Heir of D但rnath was never going to save 
his people.・/p> 
釘ut if this was after Karon died, then how・・/p> 
撤atience, madam!・said Dassine, rapping his staff on the floor in front of me. 
典he people were not told what their foolish Preceptors had done. While Avonar 
yet sang the triumph of the Exiles and the opening of the Gates, I sat by 
D誰atheil痴 bedside and mourned the noble line of D但rnath, and with him, our 
future and yours. You see, as a result of the long years of war, we Dar誰ethi had 
lost ourselves. Our princes had been trained more and more strenuously in the 
art of war, yet the Gates had remained closed and the Bridge had grown weaker. 
If only the Heir was like the one who had opened the Gate, I thought. All of us 
had felt the power of his enchantment葉he will, the glory of his life痴 essence. 
As I gazed on the deadness in D誰atheil痴 eyes, I wondered how those eyes would 
appear if the light of such a life was reflected there.・/p> 
適aron had not yet crossed the Verges,・I said, dragging at the traces of the old 
man痴 story.
Dassine smiled crookedly. 的t had only been three hours, three hours from 
exultation to despair. I was beside myself with anger, and so, there in my 
study, with D誰atheil half dead and the brave songs still echoing through the 
falling darkness, I sought through the ether for the one who had given 
everything to save us. Such souls do not cross the Verges quickly.・/p> 
鄭nd you found him.・The wonder of it was almost unbearable.
的t wasn稚 difficult to identify his among the souls that traveled that night. I 
summoned him and told him what I wanted葉o return him to life in our prince. He 
refused. As long as there was life in the boy, he could not supplant it, he 
said. And L探iere beckoned, as it will for any who have left their physical being 
behind. But I bound him to an artifact of power and told him that I would do my 
best to heal D誰atheil. If I was successful, then I would release Karon to go 
beyond the Verges. But if the Heir had been irreparably damaged as I feared, 
then he, Karon, must live again as the Heir of D但rnath.・/p> 
Dassine痴 eyes glistened with tears, and he drew a clenched fist to his breast, 
lost in his storytelling. 鄭t first he would beg me to let him go. The agony of 
his death was real to him at every moment of every day. I chided myself that in 
prolonging his torment, I had come to be no better than our enemies. But I could 
not release him; we had no one else. And so we waited. Ten years濫
I was overwhelmed with horror. 典en years? You made him wait for ten years 
between life and death?・Ten years with no body溶o light, no scent, no sound, no 
touch of wind or rain or human hand. Only the fire. How could any man do such a 
thing to another?
Dassine reached out his hand for me. I recoiled, but his piercing blue eyes held 
me, insisting I accept his truth. 添ou must believe that he came to accept this 
half-life I gave him. As we grew to know each other, he became involved in my 
work and the pain of his existence receded. Karon became an extension of my 
mind, and, had I not come to love him as my own son, I could have been tempted 
to enslave him in such a way forever. We could have rivaled the Lords of Zhev誰a 
in our combined power. But, instead, I learned of this world and of you, and in 
the plan that evolved in my head, I knew you had to play a part.
的 was ready to bring him into D誰atheil after only a year. The boy could eat, and 
speak, and fight as he always had, but there was no thought in his speech, no 
moral grounding to his combat. Even so, Karon would not consider it while 
D誰atheil yet lived, though it would have meant release from his own 
captivity.・/p> 
Dassine was no longer telling the story, but reliving it: the challenge, the awe 
at his own audacity and skill. 典o pour the life essence of one man into the body 
of another is a deed of tremendous complexity, with immense risks and 
unfathomable implications. As the years passed, I devised the plan to take away 
all memory, so that the minimal functioning mind and the physical body could 
learn to work together. Over a period of months, I would carefully awaken each 
memory and do whatever was necessary to guide him through the difficulties of 
the joining. Karon consented, though I think the prospect of giving up his 
memories frightened him more than anything. It was you, you see. With all his 
being he desired to carry his memory of you beyond the Verges, and if I failed, 
he would be left with nothing. I promised that if we ever made the attempt, the 
first memory I returned would be something of you.・/p> 
Dassine dropped his voice, and I had to lean closer to hear him over the flames. 
鉄ix weeks ago events caught us up. Avonar was nearing its end. D誰atheil raged at 
the wards that bound him to my house. Given his freedom, he would not fail to be 
in the thick of battle. So I released the boy to his war. I stayed close, 
watched, and knew I was right. He stood tall and beautiful and soulless, and he 
slew fifty Zhid without thought, risking death without care. He turned the tide 
of that night痴 battle, but not until he met a crafty Zhid who used a 
mind-destroying poison on his knife and left D誰atheil among the dying. I knew 
that poison・as I knew the Zhid who wielded it.・/p> 
添ou murdered him!・/p> 
Dassine did not flinch at the word. 鉄ome would say it. But I would not change 
the choice I made. Karon could refuse me no longer. Had he known what I壇 
done・well, I didn稚 tell him. At the moment D誰atheil breathed his last, I brought 
Karon back in his place, erasing every memory of both minds at the same moment. 
Then did I receive due retribution for my sin. On that same morning of new hope, 
a Dulc・named Bendal came to me with the story of the traitors・ bargain with the 
Lords of Zhev誰a・to trade the Heir for D但rnath痴 lost weapons. They had decided 
that your world was not worth saving, and that ours could survive even without 
the Bridge, if we but had a royal talisman to protect Avonar. Traitorous 
fools.・/p> 
鉄o you sent him onto the Bridge before he was ready, before he even knew who he 
was.・/p> 
的 had to send him. Not to do so was to concede defeat. The Zhid were on the 
verge of closing the Gates, and I had no assurance we would ever be able to open 
them again. I could not accompany him, for if he failed, the last battle would 
be fought in Avonar, and my duty lay there. But I did not believe he would fail. 
You still lived. Karon taught me that the gift of the Dar誰ethi・ the power for 
sorcery that lives in us・is life itself. He said that you were・ are・and ever 
will be・the very essence of his magic.・/p> 
典hat痴 why you said the answer was in him.・/p> 
典hat had to be it. How else could he have opened the Gates as he did? We needed 
a Healer to restore the Bridge, one who would give everything. Look at what he痴 
done・ He waved at the three Zhid sleeping quietly on the floor beside the 
curtain of white fire. 典hese three have souls again.・/p> 
展hy didn稚 you tell us what you壇 done and why? If I壇 known it was Karon濫
展hat would you have done differently? I know you better than anyone in the two 
worlds, better even than Karon who is blinded by his affection for you. Though I 
trusted you to do all you could do, you had parted from him in bitterness遥es, I 
recognized it in his story. And Karon痴 tasks were difficult enough without 
knowing he had two missing lives instead of only one and an angry wife he 
couldn稚 remember.・/p> 
展ill he ever remember all of it?・/p> 
Dassine stood, picked up his stool, and, with a twist of his wrist, transformed 
it into his walking stick again. 的t痴 why he must come back with me now. I will 
take him back to the beginning again and help him open the doors to his missing 
lives. He must understand that D誰atheil will always be a part of him and what 
that might mean. He must know that he was dead and that the longing he feels for 
L探iere is natural and not some morbid perversion. And, too, he is truly the Heir 
of D但rnath, as well as the man you know. He must learn his place in both worlds. 
Zhid have crossed D但rnath痴 Bridge for the first time in a thousand years. Our 
battles are not over, and whatever life he chooses, he must be a part of our 
struggle. We have no one else to walk the Bridge.・/p> 
Dassine brushed the fair hair from Karon痴 forehead and unbuckled the sword belt 
from his waist.
滴ow long?・/p> 
鄭 few months, a year・I cannot say. But he will come back to you, my lady, and he 
will know everything of the life you shared. I promised him.・/p> 
的 don稚 know whether to bless you or curse you, Dassine.・/p> 
滴e lives. You will bless me.・He handed me Rowan痴 sword belt.
鼎an I come with you?・/p> 
Dassine shook his head. 的mpossible. Even in the presence of the Heir, the 
passage of the Bridge is fraught with peril. To protect Karon as he is now will 
take everything I can muster, and once we are in Avonar, I値l not dare leave 
him.・The old man paused for a moment, looking at Karon with sympathy. 鄭nd too・ 
these coming days will be difficult. I must lay him open like a gutted fish as I 
give him back himself. He will have no defenses, and I値l not expose him so 
completely to anyone, not even you. But from time to time when I think he痴 able, 
I値l bring him to you. If you follow my instructions, I think you could be of 
some assistance in his recovery.・/p> 
的 suppose I must entrust him to you, then.・/p> 
鄭s I entrusted him預nd everything葉o you.・Dassine took my hand in his, and when he 
let it go again, I held a polished bit of rose quartz about the size and shape 
of a robin痴 egg. The stone was unnaturally cold. 適eep this with you. When it 
grows warm and glows of its own light, we will come with the next day痴 sunrise 
to whatever place you are. You will make sure the place is secure. If it痴 not, 
throw the stone into a fire, and I値l be warned.・/p> 
的値l be waiting.・/p> 
的 have no doubt of it.・He gestured toward my lap and held out his hand, and I 
relinquished the Heir痴 dagger that still lay in the folds of my skirt. Sticking 
the weapon in his own belt, he turned back to Karon who still knelt on the cold 
stone paving, unmoving and unseeing. 鼎ome, my friend. It痴 time we took you 
home.・Dassine placed his hand under Karon痴 arm, lifting him easily. Karon 
towered over the sorcerer, but any observer could see which one supported the 
other. 擢arewell, Lady Seriana. You致e done well.・/p> 
典ake care of him.・/p> 
Dassine nodded and led Karon through the veil of fire.
笛壇en encour, my love,・I whispered as the dark outlines faded into the white 
flame. I fingered the cold, pale stone. I would wait and be ready.
CHAPTER 38
As Karon and Dassine disappeared beyond the curtain of fire, I felt as if I had 
fallen into a well of solitude. The wall of flame still rumbled, but no other 
sound intruded. It was a time suspended, a time between worlds, between lives. 
For that moment, I had no past and no future, no place to go, no puzzle to 
decipher, no question to ask, no thought, no memory, no joy, no pain, nothing to 
hear but the quiet pulse of life that remains when the world痴 tide has fallen 
beyond its lowest ebb.
溺adam, if you please,・whispered a man痴 voice. The tide roared back again with 
the hesitant pluck of my sleeve.
My heart shriveled when I turned to see the narrow face, thin lips, and gray 
eyes so close behind me. Though Giano痴 face now displayed confusion, fear, and 
unending curiosity instead of inhuman malice, I stepped backward. My hand 
slipped through my pocket and fumbled at my empty knife sheath. Dassine would 
not have left me in danger. He壇 said these people were no longer Zhid. But that 
was very difficult to comprehend.
的 profoundly apologize for your discomforting, madam.・His voice was soft and 
tentative. 典hese other two and I・What place is this? And what season? I cannot 
remember past seedling time, and the others say they lost their way in high 
summer, but our skin tells us that winter rules here.・/p> 
典he story is very complicated迫revulsion left my tones frosty欄and I don稚 know how 
long is your part of it. It痴 unlikely the seasons are quite the same in our 
countries. You池e a long way from home.・/p> 
The man痴 long face drooped mournfully. 展e guessed as much.・/p> 
Had Karon truly returned this man痴 soul? 展hat is your true name?・/p> 
溺arcus. Swordmaster and Thane of Sillimar.・My skin crawled as the long fingers 
that had murdered so deftly twisted themselves together in agitation. 鼎an you 
tell us then, madam・what has happened to us?・/p> 
I could summon no delicacy of feeling. 溺arcus, do you know of the Zhid?・/p> 
鄭ye. Of course, we all know of the Lords・demon warriors. They slaughtered my 
cousin and my wife痴 brother and left my own dear mother a madwoman, she who 
guarded all of Sillimar with her weavings.・/p> 
添ou were taken by the Zhid, Marcus. You and the others. Only in this hour has 
the Heir of D但rnath freed you from your enslavement.・/p> 
典aken・freed・You mean I have been Zhid? Soulless?・I thought the man was going to 
be sick. I tried not to feel pleasure at his shock and horror. Pale as ivory, he 
reached to his right ear and felt the gold earring and then stretched his thin 
hands in front of him as if to judge for himself the evidence of their works. 釘y 
the stars, can it be true? No one ever returns to themselves after being Zhid, 
yet truly I feel myself, though strangely confused. To be freed, restored by our 
Prince・such unimportant ones as we: a swordwoman, a blacksmith, and a thane of 
such a small hold as Sillimar. Such a blessing and a marvel. Surely it means 
we致e done no lasting evil.・His gray eyes looked up at me, asking・begging・/p> 
His poignant hope pried open a corner of my heart. Nothing could witness more 
clearly to his Dar誰ethi heritage. 的t is indeed a blessing and a wonder, Marcus. 
Unfortunately, I don稚 know what we池e to do with you now. The Prince cannot help 
you for a while, and I致e no idea how to get you home.・Why hadn稚 I asked Dassine 
what to do with them?
鄭ye. That would be a boon. To go home, that is. My wife must be a pot fearful, 
left for who knows how long. If she thinks me Zhid・ah, Vasrin, guide me on this 
path・ The man closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands for one moment. 
When he had composed himself, he dropped his hands to his sides and bowed 
respectfully. 的f it please, madam, I must tell my companions of your words.・/p> 
I watched the same range of emotions play out on the faces of the bewildered man 
and woman as Marcus spoke to them. A short time later Marcus returned, his face 
gray and his fingers knotted again. His speech stumbled and faltered. 徹ne more 
question, madam, if you please. The Heir謡e think we must be confused. Please to 
tell me what is the name and lineage of the Heir who has saved us?・/p> 
泥誰atheil, third son of D樽arte, sixty-third Heir of D但rnath.・/p> 
Marcus expelled a sharp breath, then ducked his head and returned to his 
companions. A moment later, they all came to me.
典hese are Nemyra and T担ero,・said Marcus, a thin layer of composure regained, as 
he presented the tall angular woman and the broad-shouldered man. 的s there aught 
we can do for you, madam? If your facts be true, then the matter of our return 
to our homes is not important. Those who would welcome us have long ago made 
their way to LTiere. I was taken in the time of Z但nder, the twenty-seventh Heir, 
and these two in the time of Nikasto, the thirty-fourth Heir. Our time is long 
past. But if we could aid you in some way, or some other who serves our blessed 
prince・
What to do with them? Their lives were irretrievable. But I, of all people, 
should understand their need to give their loss some meaning. 的 suppose・you must 
learn the ways of this world, so you can be ready to serve the Prince when he痴 
able to return. I await him, also. I can teach you what you need to know. But, 
for now・I致e things to do. Come along. You might want to look around the place. 
See a part of your history.・/p> 
As I smoothed Tomas痴 covering, the three removed their gold earrings and threw 
them into the fire, each small missile causing an eruption of gold flame as it 
vanished beyond the Gate. Then they helped me carry my brother out of the 
chamber of the Gate. The wooden doors swung shut behind us and vanished into the 
stone.
I broke the news of Tomas痴 death to his three anxious soldiers, telling them 
that, because of the intervention of the mysterious prisoner and the strange 
conversion of the three priests, the challenge to Leire and King Evard had been 
successfully countered anyway. Thanks to my family resemblance to Tomas, they 
accepted what I said. Or perhaps they would have accepted anything to remove 
themselves from the haunting quiet of the cavern. But they were kind and offered 
Marcus and the others a share in their provisions. Then I enlisted their help in 
the sad duties that remained.
While the soldiers set to digging at the place I selected by the lake, I sought 
out Kellea, Paulo, and Graeme Rowan. The sheriff was awake with easy breath and 
good color, and no sign of his wounds save his bloody clothing. Even the scar 
from D誰atheil痴 ill-judged blow to his head had vanished.
At sunset we laid Tomas in the frozen tundra by the lake. Before we covered him 
over, I took his signet ring and a lock of his hair, and I replaced his sword 
with a lesser one, wrapping the Champion痴 sword in a cloth so it could be 
returned to its proper owner. Tomas痴 soldiers built a cairn over the shallow 
grave so that wolves could not disturb it. At his feet we buried Baglos, face 
down as was the custom for traitors. In a small third grave, I placed the 
dark-stained burlap bag that had been tossed aside by the Zhid. The soldiers 
were curious, but I had used the last of my strength to bring the grisly bundle 
and lay it in the ground. I wept for my dear old friend, but I could not speak 
of him.
On the next morning we set out on the long journey home. I was the last to leave 
the cavern. The enchanted torches faded behind me, and when I reached the far 
side of the lake and turned for a final look, only a bare cliff face stood where 
the doorway had been. I followed the others past Tomas痴 resting place and down 
the sloping tundra.
Three days after leaving Vittoir Eirit, we camped at the ruined castle south of 
Yennet. On that night Dirk, the older man who commanded Tomas痴 soldiers, said 
that he and his men would leave us on the next morning. They planned to report 
the tragic result of the 田hieftain痴・challenge to the duke痴 aide, Captain Darzid, 
and give him the Champion痴 sword so it could be returned to King Evard.
In the quiet travel of the preceding days, I had thought a great deal about 
Darzid, the mysterious spider lurking at the edge of my life痴 web. Was he a pawn 
like Maceron, a victim like Jacopo, or some vile transformation more like these 
three poor Dar誰ethi had been? Was he pursuing sorcerers to rid our lands of 
them, as Maceron claimed, or was he an ally of the Zhid? None of those things 
seemed to fit. My instincts told me he was something different yet.
的値l return my brother痴 sword to the king myself,・I told Dirk. 添our duty is at 
Comigor. The young duke must be protected when word goes out of his father痴 
death, and it is the faithful Comigor retainers like you, not the・ outsiders・who 
must see to his safety. Inform the Lady Philomena that I shall come to pay my 
respects to her and her son as soon as I致e spoken to King Evard.・/p> 
The old soldier touched his forelock, approving my concern for Tomas痴 son. When 
I awoke the next morning, he and his men were gone.
At Fensbridge, Graeme Rowan, Kellea, and Paulo turned south, accompanied by 
Marcus, T担ero, and Nemyra. The three Dar誰ethi would stay in my cottage until 
someone came to take them back across the Bridge to Avonar. Rowan and Kellea 
promised to see to their welfare.
Graeme Rowan hung back for a moment as the others rode away. 添ou池e not coining 
back to Dunfarrie, are you?・/p> 
的 don稚 belong there.・/p> 
擢or ten years you did. You made a place for yourself.・/p> 
典hat wasn稚 me.・/p> 
展here then?・/p> 
的知 not sure. It depends on the pardon. If it痴 real, there are several 
possibilities. I once had dreams of the University. I might be able to live 
better on my knowledge of history, philosophy, and languages than I ever could 
on my skills at farming.・/p> 
Rowan laughed with me, but we soon fell silent, thinking of Jacopo, who had made 
it possible for me to live in Dunfarrie.
的値l send word of my plans,・I said, then clasped his hand briefly and rode north 
toward Montevial.
A fortnight after the opening of the Gate, I sat in the royal palace in 
Montevial, awaiting word that the king would see me. My hair was clean, my 
fingernails free of dirt, and I was dressed in a new gown of dark green, simple 
but well made, bought with silver from Baglos痴 purse. I felt more myself than I 
had in ten years. The guards had demanded to see what was wrapped in the long 
bundle of red silk I carried, but I told them it belonged to His Majesty, and 
none could look on it without his leave. The king would either give his 
permission for me to enter with the wrapped bundle, or I would await a time when 
he would.
Eventually a footman escorted me into a gaudy little sitting room. Evard sat by 
a blazing fire despite the warmth of the late summer day. On a footstool beside 
him perched a dainty, fair-haired girl of eleven or twelve in a heavily 
embroidered red satin gown with a white ruff about the neck. As I made my 
curtsy, she looked up at Evard and closed her book. But he laid a hand on the 
child痴 shoulder. 典his won稚 take long, my treasure.・His eyes rested on me. 鏑ady 
Seriana, my daughter, the Princess Roxanne.・/p> 
I understood the trace of gloating in the introduction. His daughter was a 
princess, and she could have been mine. Yet of far more importance to me was the 
fact that he had a living daughter, whereas I had no living son. Perhaps he 
understood that, too, and that痴 why his eyes darted away so quickly. I curtsied 
to the girl, who condescended to tip her head.
哲ow what is it that my guards are not allowed to view? You would not slay me 
before my child, I think.・His laugh had a decidedly anxious edge.
的致e brought you that which properly belongs to the King of Leire. Since there is 
no other king, it must be returned to you. I trust you will find meaning beyond 
the artifact itself.・I laid the bundle on a polished table and unwrapped the red 
silk. With reverence and care, I lifted the sword in my hands and presented it 
to Evard.
Slowly, reluctantly, he took it from me, scanning my face for the whole of my 
ill tidings. When he finally spoke, his voice was quietly harsh. 滴ow did you 
come by this, lady? I know of no challenge to me, and who would dare challenge 
him directly?・/p> 
So he didn稚 know. And his grief for Tomas was real. I had believed it would be 
so. Evard possessed little enough of love or grace, but I had never doubted his 
affection for my brother. My multitude of offenses had never altered it. It had 
produced the unconditional pardon that Tomas had requested in his desire to have 
me return to Comigor and that I had carried in my sleeve since my meeting with a 
curious Garlos an hour before. It had preserved my life, for which I had never 
been grateful until I saw the reflection of Karon痴 soul in D誰atheil痴 eyes.
的f Your Majesty please, I値l tell you a story,・I said. 的t痴 quite a long story, 
and much of it will defy reason. You may accept it or dismiss it as the fantasy 
of a deluded woman, as you have judged me. But if you accept it as truth, then 
you will learn of a danger to your kingdom that is more insidious than any Isker 
spy, and you will learn how your friend and champion was used and then murdered 
in an attempt to destroy us all・
Three hours later I left the king痴 chambers. I could not tell whether or not 
Evard gave credence to anything I壇 told him. My tale was alien to everything he 
believed of the world. But he had neither ridiculed me nor had me arrested. My 
voice had always carried weight with him. That was the reason for his 
unrelenting fury at my rejection of him. Evard would never stop hating me, but 
he might listen and be wary.
On that same evening, it was proclaimed throughout the kingdom that the Duke of 
Comigor, the Champion of Leire, was dead, having been lured into an ambush by 
unknown traitors. He had died as he had lived, with honor, defending his king 
with his mighty sword. A day of mourning was set.
Two notes were added to the proclamation, though rarely were they announced 
publicly, being minor matters as they were. In gratitude for the late duke痴 long 
service to the crown, his sister, the Lady Seriana Marguerite, was restored to 
full citizenship, all rights and privileges of rank restored to her under a full 
pardon for all crimes with which she had been charged. The second note stated 
that an investigation into the slaying was to be carried out by His Grace痴 
military aide, Captain Darzid of the Royal Guard. The captain was to produce an 
explanation of the death of the Champion six months from this day. The 
appointment had been my suggestion, and Evard had promised to inform me of 
whatever story Darzid might produce.
Our world lay mired in misery; my husband had been brutalized, my child 
murdered, and my brother痴 life twisted into horror and ended too early. 
Somewhere in a desert fortress, three corrupted sorcerers who called themselves 
the Lords of Zhev誰a sat on thrones of black stone and feasted on our grieving, 
and I prayed that fate or gods or destiny would give me a role to play in their 
ruin.
One more duty awaited me before I could settle myself to listen for Dassine痴 
call. I bore a message for my ten-year-old nephew. And so, a few days later, my 
carriage rattled over the ancient cobbles that fronted sprawling, thick-walled 
Comigor Keep.
Midsummer was three months gone. The angle of the morning sun and the touches of 
gold on the barren green hills that stretched in every direction from the 
windswept hilltop already spoke the waning of the year. The morning air bit 
sharply through my light cloak, whispering of storm and blizzard and the 
elemental purity of northern winter.
Thirteen years had gone by since I had left Comigor to attend Martin痴 judgment 
before the Council of Lords, thirteen years since Karon had revealed his secret 
in the study at Windham and I had chosen the course that had barred me from the 
home of my childhood and led me into love and mystery and grief. The seasons 
pass. As my driver rang the bell and waited for someone to answer it, I rubbed 
the rose-colored stone that lay cool and secret in my pocket, and I breathed 
deep of the sweet morning.



About the Author
Though Carol Berg calls Colorado her home, her roots are in Texas, in a family 
of teachers, musicians, and railroad men. She has a degree in mathematics from 
Rice University and one in computer science from the University of Colorado, but 
managed to squeeze in minors in English and art history along the way. She has 
combined a career as a software engineer with her writing, while also raising 
three sons. She lives with her husband at the foot of the Colorado mountains.