“With both Bane and Nancy?” Lonney asked, wondering if she thought he was an idiot like Hub, the man from Dunn who soiled his pants three times a week.
Sam nodded sheepishly, realizing how foolish she was being. She would need a better cover story in case she ran across anyone else.
“Does your father know?” Lonney finally asked, wondering what mischief she was up to now.
Sam jerked as if he had hit her. She stared at him then suddenly burst into tears. Lonney backed away quickly, like she was Hub, with soiled pants. She cried for a good minute before calming a bit. She looked at Lonney through tear-laden eyes and would have been amused at his expression but for the grief in her heart.
“My father is dead,” she whispered, flinching as she spoke, as if saying it aloud somehow made it real.
Lonney gasped. “How?”
Sam ignored him for a moment. “And Arabelle…and Beth,” she added. “Plus they killed Wellman and Murl.”
“Who?” Lonney stammered, shocked.
“A Deutzani Executioner,” she answered drying her eyes, “yesterday.”
They both remained in stunned silence for a moment before Lonney looked up at her, sad excitement in his eyes. “My father will want to know about this,” he said. “You must come home with me and tell him what has happened.” He expected her to agree, but she just shook her head.
“No, I can’t come to your house,” she answered. “Afton Sath came to ours, and the Executioner followed. He’s after me. He will follow me, and I will not lead him to your family. He will kill them.”
Lonney frowned. He had not considered this but then suddenly his face brightened. “Are you running south?”
Sam shook her head again. “I can’t tell you,” she answered.
Lonney frowned again, feeling as if she didn’t trust him.
“You might be killed for such information,” she added, reading his face easily. He brightened again, happy that she was showing such concern for his well-being. Then he got an idea.
“Are you at least going south as far as Stanton falls?”
Sam took a moment to think. She would go past the falls as she turned southwest traveling along the Clearwater creek to where it joined the Scar at Lynndon. If she continued on this pace she would reach the falls sometime late tomorrow morning, possibly the early afternoon.
“Yes, I will be passing the falls,” she finally answered, shrugging to herself. If he guessed she would be going to the falls it wouldn’t be hard to guess she was going to Lynndon, after all it was the only place to easily ford the Scar River within thirty miles.
“I’ll bring my father,” he said, now very excited. “We will meet you there at mid-day tomorrow.”
He patted her leg then began to move off out of the woods and across the field.
“If you are not there within an hour of mid-day, I will leave,” she yelled after him, suddenly relieved that she had met him; perhaps Mr. Madres will have some idea of what she should do.
“We’ll be there,” he yelled after her, then turned and ran all out away from her.
ǂ
It took two days to coordinate the move back to Noble Island. They went by Traveler, appearing just outside the main hall. Tar Amon was waiting for them.
“Welcome back,” he said with a genuine smile for each.
Gwaynn glanced around, but no one else from Noble Island was present. Amon was with a tall, handsome older woman, with incredibly long silvery-blonde hair. She was looking at Gwaynn with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
“This is Zarina Aleecia,” Amon said. “She is the leader of the Travelers.”
“Well met, Prince Gwaynn Massi,” she said her voice smooth and deeper than he expected.
Gwaynn’s eyes went wide with surprise, but he bowed slightly at the waist. He was immediately concerned that she knew his true identity, but made no effort to deny it. He was also mildly amused that the Zarina bowed to him in return. “You’ve had an eventful year,” she added.
Gwaynn shrugged, thinking he would not have chosen those words to describe the nightmare of the past year.
“You have many enemies,” she said, “and the list is growing longer. But do not count the Travelers among them.”
“I thank you,” he finally spoke, wondering where all this was going.
“We would like to assign a Traveler to you personally, for your protection,” she explained, aware of his confusion. Gwaynn gaped at her for a moment, for this was a very rare offer. In all, there were only about a dozen or so Master Travelers. The number of acolytes was unknown to most outside the Isle of Light. To have a personal Traveler was very expensive, and as far as Gwaynn knew only the High King himself managed such a thing. Gwaynn’s father, as well as the rest of the royal families made do with Speakers, who could communicate at long distances, but not actually create the power needed to move through space. The Speakers would summon a Traveler, and then the family would pay.
Gwaynn frowned and forced himself not to look over at Nev.
“I am honored,” he said, but he was not at all sure he wanted or needed a Traveler tagging along. In fact, he was sure he did not. It would be too easy to be a spied upon, too easy for someone to track his movements if the Traveler was untrustworthy. “I will consider it,” he added.
Both Tar Amon and Zarina Aleecia frowned, but no more was said about it.
“If you have no objections,” Gwaynn said, now addressing Tar Amon. “I would like to pay my respects to Leek and his family, and if it would not be too much trouble to Master Kostek and his students. Is Vio still in the infirmary?”
“No, she’s up and about. Her arm is still in a sling and will be for another few weeks, but she insisted on running last week and has been everyday since,” Amon answered, the pride in his voice obvious to all. “Vio is here and a few others, but most of the students are still away, and will be for another two weeks before the beginning of the next training year.”
“Oh yes,” Gwaynn said, remembering that the students were given a lengthy break between training years.
“Vio is probably with Tar Kostek. You’re welcome to go and visit. I’m sure Leek’s family would be happy to have you move back in.”
Gwaynn wanted to say something, but the presence of the Zarina held him back, so instead he just nodded and took his leave. He walked quickly, his limp hardly noticeable now, and headed toward the Mele Quarter.
He saw Vio well before she was aware of him. She was sitting, watching Krys spar with Tar Kostek. Looking at her slim back, narrow shoulders and short black hair he finally came to peace with his decision to return to Massi. He could not hide any longer, could not fool himself into believing that staying on the islands would bring safety. To stay would only put those he’d grown to care about in mortal danger. Gwynn, Karl, Mille, had all met their end, plus there were the attacks on Vio and even Elise. He was a danger to them all.
Krys and Kostek were sparring with katas, and so were not aware of his approach, but when he came close enough Vio must have sensed something and turned around. She stared into his eyes for a long, startled moment, then smiled and spun around to face him. Her nose still had a slight bulge in it, but her bruises were gone. She wore a sling as Master Amon had said, and her wrist was heavily taped. Despite these injuries she jumped from the stool she had been sitting on and rushed to him. She lifted both arms and though the sling retarded her movement a good deal, managed to give him a hug, then kissed him on the cheek and stepped back to look at him.