"Where's Wynn?" he asked.
"Probably at the door, looking for Chap," Magiere answered, and pulled the bath curtain fully aside. "She won't be satisfied until…"
Magiere looked about the empty room, lips still parted in unfinished words. Her breath drew in sharply before she snapped, "That little idiot!"
Leesil headed straight for the outer doorway. He swatted the curtain aside and looked out. There was no one on guard. Or had Osha gone with Wynn to look for Chap?
Magiere stepped past him as he looked off through the domicile trees. Then he glanced down toward the distant dockside bazaar. Among the structures there, from canvas tents entwined in briar and roses to the rising platforms in one wide walnut tree, there was no sign of Wynn or Chap.
Leesil heard footfalls coming his way.
Osha walked along with a soft smile as he studied an open cloth in his palm. Nestled in the cloth were small brown and cream lumps. He picked one and popped it in his mouth, not even looking up.
Leesil ignored the young elf and called out, "Wynn…Chap?"
Only then did Osha raise startled eyes.
"Stop!" he said, quickening his pace. "Stay. No leave."
"Where were you?" Leesil snapped.
Stunned at the demand, Osha quickly closed the distance to Leesil.
"I bring sweets," he began, stumbling over his Belaskian. "Honey cooked on nuts… for to give comfort. All you will like."
Leesil wanted to slap the nuts from the witless elf's hand. While this young whelp abandoned his post for dessert, Wynn had slipped off after Chap… wherever that dog had gone now.
"Get Sgaile," Magiere growled at Osha. "Wynn is gone… get him now!"
Osha shoved Leesil aside and peered into the tree. He turned about, panic-stricken, and pointed at Leesil as he backed away.
"Stay," he said, then turned at a run.
Leesil noticed lights all about him, spilling from doorways as curtains were pulled aside. Here and there, elves peered out at the noise. One or two even stepped from their homes.
Magiere wasn't looking at them, and Leesil saw her irises blacken. She shook visibly, though it wasn't cold, even for night. She was letting her dham-pir naturerise enough to widen her night sight and search between the settlement's trees and brush.
"We have to find Wynn," she whispered, "before any of these people catch her wandering about."
"Just wait," Leesil warned. "We're no better off if we do the same as her."
"And what if she followed Chap into the forest?"
"Again, we're no better off," Leesil argued. "Even I have to think hard not to lose my way out there."
"I don't," she snapped at him.
The harsh reminder made him wonder over her strange symptoms of late.
"That's where she is," Magiere said, lifting her chin toward the open forest beyond the domicile trees. "She followed Chap… out there."
"She's not that stupid," Leesil replied. "Curious to a fault, maybe, but she knows she'd just get lost."
"Not if she caught Chap quickly enough." Magiere's anger intensified in her features. "He went looking for the pack… yes, and she just had to see the majay-hi for herself. I could kick that curiosity right out of her skull!"
A tall form came running through the wide trees.
Sgaile sprinted up, wearing a long white gown to his bare feet. Deep green oak leaf patterns were stitched around the split collar. His hair hung loose and wild around his long face, as if he'd just risen from bed. Osha came behind him, looking again like he was in serious trouble.
Accompanying them were two anmaglahk Leesil hadn't seen before, both in the full dress of their caste.
"Do you know where your companion might have gone?" Sgaile asked immediately.
"We're not sure, but-" Leesil began.
"Get my weapons," Magiere cut in. "She's out there… in the forest."
Sgaile ignored her demand. "Why? A human would not last long, alone in our land. She will lose her way immediately."
All this delay frustrated Leesil. "She may have gone after Chap… if she thought he was headed for the other majay-hi."
Sgaile's lingering patience broke. "A pack will not tolerate a lone human wandering out there."
For an instant, Leesil was speechless.
"I kept your supervision to a minimum, wishing not to make you feel like prisoners." Sgaile glanced once at Osha, who flinched. "I trusted that all of you would have sense enough to follow my instructions. That is now finished."
Sgaile whipped about, growling at the two anmaglahk. He turned on
Osha again as the pair stepped around him, one toward Leesil and the other closing on Magiere.
"Tashghealhi En’nish!" he snapped. "Me feumasij foras aiche ayagea."
Osha took off running.
"What about En’nish?" Leesil asked.
Her name was the only word he picked out. The anmaglahk closest to him shoved him back toward the tree's doorway, and Leesil set his footing in resistance.
"I merely wish to know her whereabouts," Sgaile answered. "Go inside and stay there!"
The instant Sgaile's other companion reached for Magiere, and the only warning Leesil got out was "Don't-"
She slammed her fist into the elf's face with such speed that he lurched over backward, one foot slipping up from the ground. As his back struck the earth, he rolled away in retreat, coming up unsteady and so shaken he nearly lost his footing again. Blood ran from one narrow nostril and the side of his mouth.
The one near Leesil shifted his weight, a stiletto already in his hand.
"We're going after Wynn," Magiere said to Sgaile, her breath coming long and hard."With you… without you… through you. What's your word worth now?"
Leesil didn't like how she was handling this, but it was too late to stop her. All he could do was back her up. If En’nish was loose and heard about Wynn, what might she do for vengeance if she couldn't get to him?
"You should've watched that murderous bitch," Magiere warned. "If she gets anywhere near Wynn…"
"It'll end any hope of agreement with your patriarch," Leesil added. "I'll have no part of the search for his dissidents."
Sgaile's attention shifted instantly to Leesil-in open confusion. Could it be that he didn't know of the bargain Most Aged Father tried to strike? Was he even aware his own caste wasn't as unified as he believed?
"We can get on with it," Leesil continued, "or we can have it out right here. But it'll cost you to keep us back… if you can."
Sgaile stood in angry indecision, eyes shifting between Leesil and Magiere.
Leesil slowly reached for Magiere's arm. She jerked away but settled back, waiting. He just hoped she kept her self-control, as he had one more thing to attend to.
He ducked inside and retrieved the chest containing his father's and grandmother's remains. He slipped into its rope harness and returned with it mounted on his back.
Sgaile hissed something at the bloodied anmaglahk facing Magiere, and the man trotted off into the night.
Leesil caught two of Sgaile's words, but his thought was interrupted as Sgaile spun back and stared at the chest.
"I'm not leaving it out of my sight," Leesil said. "I won't have anyone touching them while I'm gone."
Another flash of tension rippled across Sgaile's features. Even Magiere grew quiet and still.
Of the words Sgaile had spoken to Magiere's opponent, one was Urhkar's full elven name, who still held Leesil and Magiere's weapons. At least that much had been settled, and it appeared Sgaile had sent for their arms.