"And what about Leshil…Leesil?" Wynn asked. "What happens to him for killing one of yours? It was self-defense."
The young one eyed Brot'an'duive with a studied interest that left him wary.
"I will bear witness in Leshil's favor," he answered. "I know the truth of it, should it come to that."
"Truth?" Leesil spit."In your mouth? Have any more sick jokes?"
"That, and the safe passage of humans in our land, is why the elders gather in Crijheaiche.Now Frethfare will give them something of greater concern to my people."
Brot'an'duive turned his eyes upon Magiere.
Magiere hurt for Leesil, despite her own pain. For all the trouble Wynn had caused, finding Nein'a had done little good.
She had lost control in front of their enemies, revealing her nature. They didn't truly understand what she was-but an explanation wouldn't gain her much. The child of a vampire would be viewed as little better than an un-dead.
Even worse, after all of Leesil's efforts, the loss and bloodshed, Nein'a wouldn't even speak to him.
Magiere avoided looking at the trees. Every time she did, they conjured images of the blotched dead marks her own touch had left on the birch. The ones no one else seemed to have noticed. Her vision of undead slaughtering an encampment still plagued her.
Elves, short and stoutdwarves, and humans had fought side by side as allies, though it didn't seem possible.Certainly not in any part of her world. Wynn spoke at times of elves near her homelandwho were far different from those here.
If it were real-if it had happened-then where and when? And how and why had she seen it upon touching the birch?
Wynn shivered in the cooling air and clutched at Chap for warmth. Even Leesil huddled up as if chilled.
"We should start a fire," Magiere said. "Brot'an… help me find firewood."
"I'll go," Leesil demanded, though he kept his eyes down, unwilling to look at Brot'an. "You need rest."
Brot'an seemed about to object to either option. Magiere shook her head slightly at him, and then tilted it toward Leesil. Brot'an remained silent in puzzlement.
"Stay here," she told Leesil. "Have Wynn tell you about trying to walk Nein'a out of the clearing. Maybe there's something we've missed."
She got up and started off, and Brot'an followed. When they were far enough away not to be heard, he spoke up first.
"What is on your mind?"
"You saw me change when we fought in the crypt, but you didn't tell your… kind about me?"
After a pause, he replied, "It was not their concern."
"Does anyone else know that Leesil killed Darmouth?"
He stopped walking, forcing her to face him. "I reported my purpose as complete. No questions were asked, so I did not elaborate."
"Yet you did tell them he killed Groyt?"
"A body does require explanation," Brot'an replied passively. "I returned Groyt'ashia to his family and kin. He was Anmaglahk, and his throat had been slashed open. Only the truth… only another trained in our way, was a believable explanation."
Magiere hated it when any of these butchers referred to Leesil as one of them.
"Whatever you want from Leesil, forget it," she warned. "We're leaving, and-one way or another-we're taking Leesil's mother. Your people have put him through enough. He'll live as he chooses, and I'll see to that. Understand?"
A strange weariness, or maybe sadness, washed over Brot'an's scarred face. "You have mated with Leshil."
Magiere was so taken aback that she lost her voice for an instant. "Don't try meddling in my life. What's between Leesil and me is none of your con-cern.
"It is his concern, more than he may know," Brot'an answered. "I understand your intention, but you do not understand all that is involved… because of Leshil's heritage."
Magiere flinched at this, though she didn't understand all that Brot'an implied. Except perhaps that her connection to Leesil might be one more weight upon him in the coming days. She changed tactics.
"Then do me one favor," she said.
"If I am able."
"I need to speak with Nein'a alone… just for a few moments."
The wary Brot'an reappeared, and he shook his head.
"The others won't see or know," she went on. "I have questions for her before I decide what to do next.And I… I will owe you in return."
Being indebted to this man was almost more than Magiere could stomach, but she had to know what Leesil risked his future for. If she could go back in time and save her own mother, she would at any price. Magelia was worth the cost-but was Nein'a?
"Do not think for a moment," Brot'an warned, "that Frethfire will forget what she saw this day."
Brot'an's steady gaze made Magiere's persistent quiver all the more unsettling. He headed for the barrier woods, and she followed. When he stopped before the passage through those tangled trees, he held her off a moment longer.
"Remember your debt the next time I must have Leshil's cooperation for his own sake."
Magiere nodded, though it made her flush with resentment. She hoped Leesil would remain distracted by Wynn for a little while longer.
The passage through the woods had grown as dark as dusk beneath the clouded sky. As Magiere pushed aside the tall ferns and stepped into the open clearing, she wasn't certain how she would handle this meeting. She ended up waiting, lost in thought, until Nein'a appeared from around the domicile tree.
Nein'a carried the saffron cushion left beside the brook and headed toward her home. She stopped at the sight of Magiere, dropped the cushion beside the tree, and stood waiting.
As Magiere approached, Nein'a studiedthe two majay-hi still present. One lapped at the brook's water while the other curled upon the moss to wash. The sight seemed to bring the tall elven woman satisfaction.
"You risk the moment of peace Brot'an'duive created, but Sgailsheilleache will be the one to pay if your absence is discovered."
Magiere had bargained blindly for this meeting, and now her tongue was tied as she looked upon this apparition of Leesils past.Lovely, deadly Nein'a. Brot'an's hint at Magiere's intimacy with Leesil suddenly left her uncertain in facing Leesil's mother. Magiere wondered-out of all others, why had Leesil chosen her?
Magiere wore her emotions on her face. She had no wiles and no ways with feminine mystery.
"Don't you miss him?" she asked quietly. "Aren't you glad to see him?"
It wasn't what she'd planned to say.But if anyone had taken Leesil from her, had parted them for eight years, the sight of him again wouldVe broken her into tears.
"You are… his?" Nein'a asked, though it wasn't really a question.
Neither insulting nor as bitterly sad as Brot'an's statement, and yet it intimidated Magiere.
"Yes. We own a tavern… in the town ofMiiska on the Belaskian coast. But he has wanted to find you ever since Sgaile came at him in Bela and hinted that you might still be alive." Magiere found a touch of her own bitterness. "Even after everything you've done to him."
Nein'a stared directly into her eyes. "And what have I done to him?"
Magiere's hesitant bitterness became anger again. "You trained him-used him-forced him to murder in your footsteps. He drank himself to sleep every night just to forget the things you taught him to do."
"And would he have survived in your company without his training?" Nein'a asked.
"Survival, of course," Magiere hissed. "That is why you trained him.How unselfish!"
It was cruel, rather than just her usual bluntness. But did Nein'a bear any real love for her son?
"I know nothing of you," Nein'a returned. "Less even than you know of Leshil, who may yet serve a necessary purpose, and not just to my people alone. Only time will see if that comes to pass, and in part, I hope it does not. He must leave this land and get beyond Most Aged Father's reach. If you care for him, take him from this place."