"Yes," he said, refusing to flinch from her gaze. "I can do it with magic, or with a knife, or with my bare hands, if you prefer. But I will do it."
"I don't believe you." But there was doubt in her voice, and in her dark eyes.
"Actually, I think you do. I think you understand just how serious I am. And if I'm wrong, if you really are foolish enough to try conjuring again, you'll realize, in the moment before you die, what a terrible mistake you've made."
Her eyes held his for a moment longer, her expression now more sullen than menacing. Then she looked away and rubbed the back of her head.
"It hurts here," she said.
Besh hesitated, trying to keep up with her ever-shifting moods. "Would you like me to heal you?" he asked her.
Lici nodded, more child than demon, at least for the moment.
Besh glanced at Sirj and shrugged. Then he cut himself again, mixed his blood with a bit of dirt, and placed his hand over the lump that had formed on the back of Lici's head. Now that he understood how to wield it, he found that he liked healing magic. Within just a short while, the lump had vanished. Lici touched the back of her head again and smiled.
"Is that better?" Besh asked.
"Yes."
That was all. She didn't thank him; perhaps she remembered that he had dealt her the injury to begin with. The two men stood and helped Lici to her feet. They led her back to the cart and soon were on their way again, angling southwestward into the heart of Fal'Borna land.
The rest of their day passed without incident. Lici asked them to stop once, again to relieve herself. Besh and Sirj were reluctant to do so, but they relented. Amazingly, Lici saw to her needs and immediately returned to the cart; the entire stop delayed them for only a few moments.
Besh wondered if he had actually scared the woman when he spoke of killing her. It had been a ploy born of desperation; he'd had little hope that it would actually change anything. But with Lici suddenly so compliant, he had to reconsider. He said nothing to Sirj, fearing that the old witch would overhear. Still, as they resumed their travels Sirj glanced at Besh, his eyebrows raised in surprise and the hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
They ate a small supper before making ready for sleep. As usual, Besh slept first, while Sirj kept watch on Lici. In the middle of the night Sirj woke him, and Besh watched the woman until daybreak. Lici appeared to sleep through the night, though she cried out in her slumber two or three times.
With their breakfast that next morning, they finished most of their remaining food. There were small copses scattered across the plain along streambeds and in shallow dales where they might find roots and harvest berries. Sirj had brought a snare with him, so they could hunt for small game. Before long, though, they would need to find a sept and buy some food; the sooner the better.
Lici seemed unusually quiet this morning. She hardly looked at either man, but from what Besh could tell she wasn't actually avoiding eye contact with them. She simply appeared withdrawn. She ate what they handed to her; he and Sirj had no trouble getting her into the cart. Once again, Besh wondered if his threats of the day before had reached her, and he decided to use this new docility of hers to his advantage.
As they started out from their camp, Lici riding in the cart and Besh walking just beside it, he asked her how she was feeling.
"I'm fine," she said quietly. "A little sore."
"Where are you sore?"
"All over."
He nodded. She had taken a hard fall the day before. It made sense, really.
"My head especially."
Besh glanced at her and saw just a hint of her old malice in those dark eyes. But as suddenly as it appeared it vanished again, leaving her looking old and weary.
"Lici, I'm wondering if you remember anything more about the merchant who bought your baskets."
"The merchant?"
He frowned, unsure, as usual, as to how much of her forgetfulness was genuine and how much she put on simply to frustrate him. "Yes. You met him in Sentaya and he bought the rest of your baskets from you. He was supposed to sell them to the Y'Qatt, but instead he took them into Fal'Borna land. If
"He lied to me."
"Yes, Lici, he lied. What else do you remember about him?"
"I remember everything."
Besh shot her a look, but Lici kept her eyes trained on the road before. He glanced at Sirj, who walked ahead of them, leading the cart horse. The younger man was watching them over his shoulder and he nodded encouragement to Besh.
"What did he look like, Lici?"
"Tall, a bit fat, even for an Eandi. He had red hair."
"What else?" Besh asked, eager now that she was talking.
"He told me which one of the sovereignties he came from." She shook her head. "I don't remember now."
"Try."
She frowned, her brow furrowing. After a time she shook her head a second time. "I can't"
"Was it Aelea? Stelpana? Tordjanne? Qo-?"
"Tordjanne!" she said, her eyes wide. She actually smiled, looking happier than Besh had ever seen her. "It was Tordjanne!"
"Good, Lici," he said. "Is there anything more you can remember? Anything at all?"
"His name," she whispered. "He told me his name."
This was almost too much for Besh to believe. "What was it?" he asked, his voice dropping too, as if he feared scaring the recollection away.
"H-" she said. And then again, "H-" Her eyes darted from side to side, giving her a wild, insane look. "Hed… Hed… HedF… arren! HedFarren! That's it! Brint HedFarren!"
"You're certain?" Besh asked.
She nodded and cackled. "Brint HedFarren! Brint HedFarren!"
"Well done, Lici! Well done!" Besh cast a quick smile at Sirj, who was beaming as well. "We'll find him now for certain. I know we will."
She didn't answer, but she was smiling still, repeating the name to herself again and again. "Brint HedFarren. Brint HedFarren."
"Can you tell me something else?" he asked her. "Do you know how to defeat your curse? Do you know how to stop it?"
No response.
"Lici? Can you tell me how to stop it?" He tried to look her in the eye, but she avoided his gaze, all the while repeating the merchant's name. "Very well," he finally said. "Maybe later."
He hurried forward and fell in step beside Sirj.
"How did you manage to do that?" the younger man asked.
"I'm not sure. She's been behaving differently since yesterday. I thought I might as well try."
"Well, it was brilliant."
Besh dismissed the compliment with a wave of his hand. "It means nothing if we can't stop her curse from spreading, but at least now we have a better chance of finding the merchant and her baskets. We need a settlement of some sort. I'll stay with Lici. You go in, buy us some food, and ask around a bit. With any luck at all, Brint HedFarren has come this way."
Besh's spirits were higher than they had been at any time since he'd left his home in Kirayde. Nven if they didn't find a sept, this had already been their most successful day of the journey. And yet, it seemed that their good fortune was just beginning. Before midday, they came within sight of a small settlement that fronted what must have been a tributary to the Thraedes.
They steered the cart into a small wooded hollow, where it would be hidden from view. However cooperative Lici had become in the last day, they weren't ready to take her into a village of any sort, and if they left the cart out in the open while Sirj walked into the sept, it would arouse suspicions. They were Eandi-Mettai, no less-in Fal'Borna land. Even these precautions seemed inadequate.