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  Mara, if she was here, would venture outside at some point. The poison would act at once, ensuring she wouldn’t suffer.

  He could give her that much.

  

  The great wings rose like a silver curtain about Mara, then beat downward as air rushed over her. She clutched the saddle with one hand and held onto Kai with the other while gripping the wingabeast with her knees and feet. The ground shrank away below as a lump rose in her throat. Flecht lifted in a graceful spiral, and then Kai turned the wingabeast south and east, toward the inn at the White Feather.

  Loath to part from Emmerich, she’d taken comfort from his promise to find her again. That would not be soon. Although he would take Lilthe back to the inn, by the time he arrived she would have left with Kai for Torindan.

  The wild lands passed below, the kaba canopy a tangle of green threaded by blue streams. The wingabeast followed the river with wind rippling through his flight feathers. The swollen flood waddled between rocky banks in deep channels before spreading to comb through rocks. They passed over an islet where flocks of croboks nested, wings glinting blue above the weilo trees that bent to wash their curling tresses in the river. Mara smiled at the familiar sight of the birds while tamping down the worry that plagued her. What sort of greeting might she receive at the inn? What kind would she give?

  The abandoned homefarm came into view, and then the cove with the inn beyond. How different this place that had been her home seemed now that she no longer belonged here. As the wingabeast spiraled downward, her heart beat faster. Hael came out of the stable and stood with his hand shielding his eyes. The great wings beat the air, and then the wingabeast’s hooves touched the ground. Hael rushed forward. “You' live!” He spoke to them both with equal wonder.

  Kai dismounted and grasped the stable man by the shoulder. “You’ve grown into a worthy youth.”

  A grin stretched Hael’s face. “I never thought to see you again. We searched and searched but finally gave you up for dead.” His smile faded. “Did you come to harm?”

  “Lof Yuel kept me.”

  Hael flicked a glance to Mara. “I see you’ve remembered you have a home.” He turned away to gather the wingabeast’s reins.

  “Hael...”

  He walked away, leading Flecht toward the stable.

  Mara sighed. “I don’t blame him for being angry.”

  Kai gave her a sympathetic look. “Perhaps you’ll find a better reception inside. No, stay put,” he warned as she moved to dismount. “It still pains you to walk.” He lifted her into his arms and strode with her toward the inn. His boots thumped on the porch steps, and he reached for the latch.

  The scarred door swung open.

  Da must have been coming to open the door but now stopped in his tracks with a thunderstruck look on his face. “You’ve come back from the dead, have you? And brought Mara along with you.”

  “Quinn.” Kai glanced into the common room, not yet filled for the evening repast. “We have much to discuss.”

  “Aye.” Da turned his head. “Heddwyn!”

  The doors from the kitchen swung open, and Mam came through with a questioning look on her face. “You’re shouting to raise the…who be this? Mara!” Mam’s face went white as she stared at Kai. She put a hand to her throat. “Not you!”

  “Seeing me comes as an unpleasant surprise, I’ll warrant.” Kai’s voice rumbled close to Mara’s ear.

  “Why do you carry Mara?” Mam asked on a rising note. “Is she harmed?”

  “Mam, it’s all right.” Mara’s spoke past tears. “I hurt my feet, but they’re healing.”

  Brynn burst through from the kitchen but stopped so abruptly the doors thumped into her. “What’s this?”

  “Never you mind.” Heddwyn snapped in a tone Mara had never heard her use.

  Brynn glared at Kai. “I thought we were rid of the likes of you.”

  How strange to hear Brynn attack someone else. She’d never been good at protecting herself from Brynn’s judgments, but remaining silent as she railed at the Kindren seemed a betrayal. “Kai is my friend.” She spoke with quiet firmness.

  Brynn stared at her in obvious shock.

  “No more of that, Brynn!” Da rounded on her. “Set aside whatever you have against the Kindren.”

  “Hmpfh!” Brynn turned on her heel and thrust back into the kitchen, leaving the doors swinging angrily behind her.

  Mam’s face pinked. “Brynn can be…thoughtless. Of course, we thank you for bringing our daughter home.”

  Kai stiffened. “She’s not your daughter, and well you know it.”

  Mam’s gaze flew to Mara. “Have a care what you say.”

  Da gestured toward the door leading to the family’s quarters at the rear of the inn. “Let’s keep this matter dark.”

  In the small parlor reserved for the family, Kai lowered Mara onto a bench and pulled up a stool beside her. With his nearness bracing her, she could speak her mind. “Mam, you told me the truth yourself, although you didn’t know it. I overheard you talking about me with Aunt Brynn the morning I left home.”

  “Is that why you ran away?” Mam’s eyes filled with tears.

  “That and the fear of marrying Rohan.”

  Da sat next to her on the bench. “But you had only to refuse him.”

  “It did not seem so.” Did he really not know how he and Mam had pressured her?

  “T’was my fault.” Mam’s voice shook with the force of her sobs. “I pressed you to wed Rohan, telling myself I meant to keep you near for your sake when t’was for my own.”

  Mara forced words past the tears clogging her throat. “I shouldn’t have gone off the way I did.”

  “Whsst now!” Da slid his arms around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “That be the past.”

  Mam stood watching while twisting her hands together. Mara flung herself into her arms. “I’m sorry.”

  Mam stroked her hair. “Never mind, child.”

  Kai stirred. “I intend to escort her to Elcon.”

  Da turned a wary gaze his way. “How do we know you will keep our daughter safe?”

  “You are bold to claim Elcon’s child as your own.”

  Da opened his mouth but closed it again.

  “Never mind, Quinn,” Mam stepped away from Mara. “We both know I’m to blame for this.”

  “Nay, Heddwyn—“

  “Please!” Mam’s outcry silenced Da. Mara sank to the bench as Mam went on. “At least now I can free myself from guilt. I thought to take what life would not give—a child of my own. After Mara’s nurse died, I went against my husband’s wishes and kept her for myself.”

  “Don’t say any more, Heddwyn—“ Da protested.

  Mam shook her head. “Nay, don’t stop me when you know it’s true. ’T’was a bit more complicated than that in the living, but I persuaded myself I was the best person to watch over the babe. With the Kindren at war, how could I think of giving her up? Elcon couldn’t save her mother’s life, and he’d driven his own people to rebellion. Why should I think he could protect my wee bairn?”

  “That choice was not yours.” Kai’s words throbbed through the chamber.

  Mam drew a ragged breath. “It didn’t seem so then. My only ties to Mara were those of the heart, ’tis true, but I counted them as stronger.”

  “And yet, living apart from her father, she remains at risk.”

  Mam’s brows drew together in a frown. “We told none her secret.”

  Kai lifted an eyebrow. “If Freaer learns Elcon’s daughter lives, he will stop at nothing to take her life. Are you certain no one knows her identity?”

  Mam nodded, but Da cleared his throat.

  “None save Brynn.”

  9

  ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

  Kai quaffed cider while waiting for his meal to arrive. The inn’s common room was only just beginning to fill, a fact that well suited him. Mara had refused to join him, wishing to avoid questions about her disappear
ance from those who made the inn their gathering place. Her reluctance spared him the dangers of sharing a table among the Elder with one who did not show her Kindren blood.

  He sat with his back to the wall in a corner where the light from the lanthorn did not reach, thus avoiding suspicious glances from those seated at other tables. Although Brynn did not serve his food but waited upon others, whenever her gaze swung his way it hardened to a glare. He sighed. Some things had not changed.

  It would not be wise to linger. After the journey and with an early start on the morrow, he could use an early night anyway. The thought of flying over the route across Maegrad Ceid he’d followed when he’d vanished, made his skin crawl. Delivering both Syl Marinda and Emmerich’s warning to Elcon by the fastest means possible demanded he retrace it. He would ask Lof Yuel to guide their flight.

  Guests entered the inn and seated themselves at a long table. That they bore no packs or trunks marked them as locals. An apple-cheeked man with dark brown hair springing from his head struck up a lively melody on his lute, to the delight of all.

  A cloaked figure crept toward the door behind them but paused to glance back. The light picked out tawny hair not quite hidden beneath a hood and fell across a face that stirred Kai’s memory. How came this Kindren to the inn and where was he going carrying a laden saddlebag? He looked much like the servant, Chaeldra, who had vanished after taking Lof Raelein Maeven’s life.

  Kai sprang to his feet and followed the figure into the inn yard. “Wait!”

  At his call, the other Kindren spun about.

  Kai searched for words. “I am glad to find another Kindren among so many Elder. Will you not stop to talk?”

  The Kindren shifted into the balanced posture Kai knew well from his own training, the stance of a warrior ready to defend himself. “I’m sorry, but I was just leaving.”

  “I won’t keep you except to introduce myself, then. I am Kai of Whellein.”

  “Well met.” The other Kindren moved off without giving his name.

  “Which road takes you on a journey this night?” Kai called after him.

  The stranger half-turned. “A lonely one.” He continued toward the stable.

  “Do you go to Torindan?” Kai called after him.

  The stranger gave no response.

  Within a few paces, Kai stepped in front of him. “I asked you a question.” He didn’t bother to hide his suspicion.

  The stranger lifted his brows. “State your interest.”

  “You are acting oddly, I think,” Kai challenged him. “Have you something to hide?”

  “My affairs are no concern of yours.”

  “I’m making them mine.”

  The stranger’s eyes narrowed. “By what right?”

  “As a guardian of Rivenn.” Kai held his ground.

  The stranger swept Kai with a glance as if taking his measure. “Kindren rule does not extend to Norwood. However, I will answer your curiosity. My homeland is in the east of Elderland where most Kindren travel by night to avoid welkes.”

  His story made sense, on the surface. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  The stranger smiled. “You did not inspire my trust in the asking, I’m afraid.”

  The stranger’s change in manner didn’t entirely convince Kai of his innocence. “You also withheld your name.”

  “I’m not sure why you want it, but I am Reinwald of Graelinn.”

  Kai relaxed a little. His zeal to protect Mara might be making him overprotective. One question remained, however. “What brought you to the Whitefeather Inn?”

  “The need to break the journey from Torindan. And to save you another question, I visited a cousin there.”

  “Name this cousin,” Kai rapped out the demand.

  The stranger dropped his gaze then slanted a look upward. “Faelric of Rivenn.”

  Kai did not recognize the name but his knowledge of Torindan was not current. He stepped back. “Safe journeys.”

  

  Mara took another footstep and her skirts swayed around her ankles. Hammer blows rang out from the stables, telling her she’d find Hael there. She hobbled onward on the dark path, ignoring the pain from her bound feet, driven by the need to beg Hael’s forgiveness. He’d only ever treated her with kindness. In turn, she’d lied to him and left him to worry about her. She reached the stable doorway at last, and found him mending the gate in one of the stalls by lanthorn light.

  The hammering stopped, and he lifted his head. “On your feet, are you, and walking about by evening?”

  “This seemed important.”

  “This?” He folded his arms across his chest.

  “Saying goodbye. I…missed doing that before.”

  His jaw set. “You leave on the morrow, as I am told. Where are you bound?”

  “I’m not to say where.”

  “Such mystery.” He gazed lingered on her face.

  She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Hael.”

  “Save it.” He turned back to his task.

  “Wait!” Her voice shook.

  He paused but didn’t turn.

  “That night…I should have told you the truth.”

  “Never mind. I’m nothing but a stable hand.” He started hammering again.

  She sucked in a breath and raised her voice to be heard. “Don’t speak so. Surely you know what you mean to me.”

  He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Maybe I don’t.”

  Heat rose into her cheeks. “You will always be my dearest friend.”

  He laid his hammer down and came to stand before her. “That will have to be enough, I suppose.”

  “I’m sorry.” She spoke just above a whisper.

  He drew a quick breath. “Give it no more thought.” Without warning, he swung her into his arms. “I’ll take you back.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured.

  “For carrying you? It would pain me to watch you suffer.”

  She shook her head. “For forgiving me.”

  “Ah, well. I’ve been a fool a time or two, myself.”

  “I suppose you think that a kind thing to say.”

  “More honest than kind.”

  She touched a hand to his shoulder. “I wish…” It was no use. She couldn’t go on.

  He glanced down at her, then away. “I have wishes, too, not that you want to hear them.”

  She could make no reply, for he spoke the truth.

  He bypassed the front porch and set her down at the back door. “Promise you’ll take more care with yourself.” He touched her cheek with the back of his hand.

  “I will try, Hael, but I seem given to mistakes.”

  “Hence my request.” He stepped away from her. “Do you know anything about the Kindren who left tonight?”

  “What? Kai wouldn’t leave without me.”

  “Not him. I meant the Kindren you spoke with in the inn yard the morning you…left the inn. He stayed over last night. I helped him saddle his horse right before you came out. He seemed in a hurry to leave.”

  “Rand?” She stared at him, shaken to the core. “I didn’t know he was here.”

  “You seem to know him well.” Jealousy crept into his voice.

  If only she did. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “Mara…” He touched her arm. “Should you ever have need of me, you have only to ask..”

  

  Mara’s dreams peeled away, layer by layer. Where am I? She sat up in alarm. The reassuring shapes of the furniture in her chamber stood out in the slatted moonlight filtering through the window shutters. Home. Relief left her weak, and she sank back into her bed. She could almost let herself believe that everything that had happened since she’d left the inn had been nothing but a horrible nightmare.

  If only she could stay here but that no longer seemed possible. Freaer wanted to kill her. What if he succeeded and also harmed those she loved? Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes and ran into her hair. She had to leave to guard their s
afety.

  Softness feathered at the edges of her mind, the merest brush of another soul. It withdrew at once.

  She peered into the shadows at the corners of the room, almost expecting to find someone there.

  The unseen presence called to her, drawing her into a yearning embrace.

  She shrank away, her heart pounding.

  The presence did not press her.

  Curiosity tugged at her. She reached out on her own…and found Rand waiting at the edge of her mind.

  

  Rand released his grip on Mara as her soul withdrew from his, the loss of her leaving him more lonely than before. He’d made his bed within the abandoned homefarm, in the part without a roof. Tonight, shadows held more terror for him than moonlight. He rolled onto his back and flung an arm across his brow. The moon rode a cold sky frothing with stars. A nightbird lamented, summoning an answering ache within him.

  Life had taught him little of tenderness, except for that bestowed on him by his mother. Confusion had guided him to the inn, but a glimpse of Mara from the attic window had shown him what he should have known all along. He loved Mara beyond reason and could never bring himself to kill her, not to spare his mother, not even to save her from a harsher death. Now an errand of his own drove him back to Pilaer with the faithfulness of a lover. A mere scratch from his poisoned blade would end his father’s wretched life, save Mara, and spare his mother.

  10

  JOURNEY

  The wingabeast tilted beneath Mara as she clutched Kai’s surcoat while wind whistled in her ear and tugged strands of hair from her plait. Her legs ached from a day spent in the saddle. They’d set out in early morning and rested little during the journey over snow-flanked passes that gave onto valleys where waterfalls fell in bright ribbons and flowers dotted new grasses.

  With the sun hovering above the horizon, the gentler lands falling away behind, and rocky profiles pointing skyward, they must surely near Torindan, the mountain fortress of Rivenn and high hold of all Faeraven.

  What would she find there? The thought of meeting the father she’d never known made her stomach twist.