Forthcoming titles by Pierre Grimbert inThe Secret of Ji series:

Oath OrphanShadow of the Ancients

The Eternal Master

The characters and events depicted inthis book are fictitious.

Any similarity to real persons, living ordead, is coincidental and not intended by

the author.Text copyright (c) 1996 by Les editions

MnemosEnglish translation copyright (c) 2013 by

Matt Ross and Eric LambAll rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced,or stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise, without expresswritten permission of the publisher.The Secret of Ji: Six Heirs was firstpublished in 1996 by Les editions

Mnemos as Le Secret de Ji Volume 1:Six heritiers.

Translated from French by Matt Rossand Eric Lamb.

Published in English byAmazonCrossing in 2013.

Published by AmazonCrossingP.O. Box 400818

Las Vegas, NV 89140ISBN-13: 9781612184593

ISBN-10: 1612184596Publication Date February, 2013

CONTENTSPrologueBook I: The Road to BerceBook II: The Forgotten IslandShort Anecdotal Encyclopedia of the

Known WorldAcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorAbout the Translators

To my clan.You’re not in the story, but you’ve

always been there.

AUTHOR’S NOTEAt the end of the book, the reader will

find a “Short Anecdotal Encyclopedia ofthe Known World,” a glossary thatdefines certain terms used by thenarrator and provides supplementarydetails that don’t appear in the story,without giving the story away, of course—far from it!Therefore, the reading of the “Short

Anecdotal Encyclopedia” can be done inparallel with the story, at moments thereader finds opportune.

PROLOGUEMy name is Leti. I come from Eza, the

fifth-largest village in the southernprovince of the Kaul Matriarchy. Onehundred and eighteen years ago, anunknown man presented himself to theCouncil of Mothers, saying he carrieda message of the utmost importance. Heclaimed his name was Nol, and that hedid not come as an ambassador fromany of the known nations. However,many among the Mothers thought him aLevantine: a Wallatte, Thalitte, Solene,or some other inhabitant of the Levant.And so it was with suspicion that theyprepared to listen to him.Nol expressed himself with ease. He

observed the customs and rules of the

Council as though he had spent hiswhole life in Kaul. The Mothersreturned his respect, listening to hisspeech without interrupting him, asTradition demanded.The debates of the Council were not

recorded in that era, which is why it isdifficult to give an exact transcriptionof their words. Here is anapproximation:

“Honored Mothers, I standbefore you with good intentions.The wisdom of the Councilmembers is legendary, and I hopeto earn the honor of your trust,though I must keep secret a greatnumber of things.

I cannot say why I am here, nor

where I come from. I am bringingmy message to all of the rulers ofthe known world, and I can onlyhope to convince them to lendcredence to utterances I know tobe strange.

At last, here is my declaration:For a purpose that I cannot

make known, I ask that you chooseone person from your people, onewho is reputed to be among thewisest, and one worthy ofrepresenting you. I will meet heron the Island of Ji at dawn on theDay of the Owl, along with theemissaries from the other nations.We will be safe thereafter, so thereis no need to bring too great an

escort. They cannot accompany uson our voyage anyway.

The wise one whom you choosewill only be absent for a fewdekades. A boat shall await herreturn at the same place, on theDay of the Earth.

What will happen upon herreturn is not yet written. I can onlytell you that an important decisionwill have been made, and that theoutcome will be shared with you.

I have finished and I senseyour questions. Do not ask them invain, Honored Mothers, as Icannot answer them.”

Nol was still questioned, of course,but he maintained his silence as he had

promised. Once he had departed, theMothers discussed which action totake. Some of the younger ones, whosehusbands were still fighting alongsidethe Lorelien troops, demanded that theyhunt down the stranger, or hold himprisoner until they learned more.Others thought they had beenconfronted by a harmless madman, andthat nothing should be done in responseto the incident.

Only some of them, driven more bycuriosity than by anything else, judgedthat sending an emissary to Ji wouldnot cost much and that it would be thebest way to shed light on the mystery.They proceeded to vote, and it was thiswise proposal to send an emissary that

was finally agreed upon, under thecondition that Nol indeed transmit his“message” to the other nations.Confirmation came from the Junine

ambassador, who some days laterreported a similar encounter betweenNol and an assembly of barons from theSmall Kingdoms.Then it was time to choose the

emissary. It seemed obvious to theMothers that the wisest people of theMatriarchy were members of theCouncil. Furthermore, choosing one oftheir own allowed them to act withtotal secrecy.All of them turned respectfully toward

the Ancestress, who was the wisest ofall. Fortunately, shrewd as she was, she

knew she was too old for thisadventure. Hence, she asked forvolunteers to come forward, not thosewho called themselves Wisest, whichwould have been vain, but those whoconsidered themselves to be the mostdevoted. Four Mothers offered torepresent Kaul, and Tiramis waselected from among them.Tiramis is my ancestress; she is the

mother of the mother of the mother ofmy mother—the grandmother of mygrandmother.It was decided that a man would

accompany her for protection. Theychose Yon, who was the third son of theAncestress and who they knew to bestrong and devoted. To convince Nol to

accept the second emissary, Yon wasput forth as the representative of themasculine population of Kaul, whichcould have been true after all. As afinal measure of security, they decidedthat only one schooner would distantlyfollow the strange man and the otherSages.On the Day of the Owl, Tiramis and

Yon landed on the Island of Ji, just offthe Lorelien coast. It was a small,uninhabited land that could be circledon foot in a single day. It had very littlevegetation, only rocks upon rocks, andsand between them.Nol, looking solemn, but seemingly

satisfied by the number of people whohad come, was waiting for them on the

beach. Tiramis knew some of them bysight or reputation, and a Goranesechamberlain, a self-proclaimed masterof ceremonies, took on theresponsibility of introducing her to theothers.There was King Arkane of Junine, the

representative of the Baronies; youngPrince Vanamel of the Grand Empire ofGoran and his councilor, HisExcellence Saat the Treasurer, the twoof them representing, of course, theGrand Empire; Chief Ssa-Vez, who hadcome from the distant Jezeba; HisExcellence Rafa Derkel de Griteh;Duke Reyan Kercyan, sent by KingBondrian, of Lorelia; His ExcellenceMaz Achem, representing Ith; His

Excellence Moboq the Wise,representing King Qarbal of Arkary;and finally Their Excellencies theHonored Mother Tiramis and Yon ofKaul, representatives of theMatriarchy. Each of thesedistinguished luminaries had arrivedwith considerable pomp—especiallyPrince Vanamel—such that the onlystrip of beach free of rocks was overrunwith banners and makeshift camps,decorated with colorful pennants,which swarms of servants and soldiersin all liveries skirted or shuffled past.Nol welcomed each emissary,

thanking them for their trust, whichwas a good omen, and informed themthat he would wait until nightfall for

the arrival of the other emissaries. Heoffered no additional information.Rafa de Griteh objected to the

unequal representation of the nationspresent. To resolve thismisunderstanding, Nol asked if theGrand Empire of Goran and the KaulMatriarchy had some reason to eachsend two emissaries. Tiramis gave himthe half-truth about Yon representingthe men of Kaul, and Prince Vanamelprotested that because the GrandEmpire was much bigger than most ofthe others, it was fitting that it shouldbe represented by two people. HisExcellence Moboq the Wise, for whomthe debates had been translated,objected in his own right that Arkary

was much larger still than the GrandEmpire, and that King Qarbal shouldhave sent three or four representatives.Nol made a discouraged face and cutshort the dissension by making it clearthat a superior number of emissarieswould not give a particular advantageto any nation in any case; the limit wassimply a question of practicality. Rafade Griteh declared himself to besatisfied. At that moment, no oneseriously wanted to contradict Nol.

The stranger spoke everyone’s nativetongue with disconcerting ease. Helistened to everyone, but firmly andpolitely swept away the objections ofthese nobles who had all come torecognize him as an extraordinary

person. When he had seen the last ofthem and declared a desire to meditatealone, they all stifled their impatienceand watched respectfully as he slippedaway.

When night came, Nol regretfullydeclared that neither the Land ofBeauty nor Romine had sent anemissary, and that these two kingdomswould not be represented. Some alsoremarked that not a single Eastiandiplomat was present, but they did notknow what to conclude from that.

The stranger invited the Sages tofollow him, and set out on foot throughthe rocky labyrinth that was the Islandof Ji. After a brief moment of confusion—they had all been expecting to go by

sea—Tiramis followed him and Yon,then Duke Kercyan, then the rest, all inlockstep.

Various officials, guards, and servantsremained on the beach, unsure of whatto do. Then they hastily put severalships to sea, thinking that theemissaries might embark from the otherside of the island.

At first, the crews, who werepractically adversaries, quicklyorganized themselves to patrol theirown sectors. But no unknownembarkation point was discovered thatnight.

In the gray light of morning, armedmen were sent to the interior of theisland. The soldiers scoured the

labyrinth all day, and continuedthrough the following day, findingnothing save some grottoes used aswarehouses by nondescript Loreliensmugglers.

By the end of the fourth day they hadlost all hope of finding the emissaries’trail. One by one the delegationsregretfully left the island, eachsuspecting the other nations to haveconcealed some information about thisstrange adventure, or worse: to bebehind it all.

Four dekades passed, and no ransomwas demanded. Some had suggestedabduction, though that notion wasslowly abandoned. The Day of theEarth arrived, the boats were sent to

the island once more, and in thepalaces, those left behind began tohope for the imminent return of theirSages.

On the dawn of the Day of the Bear,one dekade and a half after the Day ofthe Earth, seven people emerged fromthe rocks, stumbling along the samepath that they had taken two moonsearlier. The soldiers who were on guardwatched incredulously as an exhaustedDuke Reyan, eyes empty of allexpression, and Rafa de Griteh, hishair burned and face blackened,carried King Arkane of Junine on amakeshift stretcher. There was a woundon his head and a red tourniquetpressed over the stump that was his left

arm. They saw His Excellence Yon ofKaul staggering as he carried anunconscious Honored Mother Tiramisin his arms. Finally, they saw TheirExcellencies Maz Achem of Ith andMoboq of Arkary limping as theyfinished the march.Prince Vanamel, Saat the Treasurer,

and Ssa-Vez of Jezeba were missingfrom the roll call.Nol the Strange did not return, either.

Ramur was a happy man, for it hadbeen a good day. Not yet the third Day ofthe Lorelien Fair and he had alreadysold more than two-thirds of his cargo ofLineh spices. And he hadn’t even neededto haggle.A full purse at his side, he headed

toward the city center with a smugswagger. He was hoping to celebrate hissuccess in a fitting manner, and maybemake one or two more sales, if theoccasion presented itself.Maybe he would go down to the less

respectable neighborhoods to see if acertain young woman he met every yearwas still generous with her charms.Of course Ramur gave a thought to

Dona, the Goddess of Pleasure andOpulence, his favorite divinity by far.He promised himself to make an offeringto her cult later, as a thank you for hisgood luck. Perhaps during the next moon,upon his return to Lineh. Or better yet, inthree moons, after the harvests. It wasbetter to honor Dona all at once, he

thought, after several good ventures, thanto waste—no, what he really meant was—than to disturb her priests withconsistent but insignificant offerings.If he were honest with himself, he knew

he wasn’t going to make an offering untilhe wound up at death’s door. That way,he could enjoy his possessions as longas possible. He also recognized that hewas loath to give his terces to therepresentatives of a cult that wouldn’thesitate to steal them.Despite the arrival of the Season of

Winds and the coming darkness, the sunshone brightly on Ramur and he gave it asmile. His smile was one of his gifts.Experience had taught him that peoplewere less inclined to haggle with

someone with a friendly face.He wasn’t very far from the city center

by now, and the mob, which had thinnedout at the edge of the fair near the oldport, began to grow thick. Out of habit,Ramur kept a hand on his purse,carefully watching everyone whocrossed his path. Thanks to hisvigilance, he had avoided pickpocketsuntil now, but it only took a fewmoments of negligence to find oneselfrelieved of a few hundred terces.Several times he had seen pockets

picked from behind his stall, but hewasn’t about to interfere. People shouldmind their own business. It wasn’t as ifsomeone would return his purse to him,if it happened to disappear.

The crowd was becoming quitesizable, and many of the onlookers hepassed seemed more frenzied than usual.He began to regret leaving his hiredhand at the door. If one of these poorsouls decided to make some money off acorpse, it could easily be his…

A man walking in the oppositedirection bumped into him. Ramurquickly turned and followed the manwith his eyes, taking a rapid inventory ofhis purse and jewelry as he did so.

The tactless man wore common priest’srobes. The hood covered his face socompletely that Ramur couldn’t see thecolor of his hair, or if he had any at all.

Ramur’s terces were still in theirplace, but the alarm had been raised, and

he regretfully gave up the simplepleasure of parading about with a fatpurse at his side. He started untying it toslip it under his clothes when he wasknocked again, only a few momentslater, this time from behind. His handsclenched the decorated cloth bag, whilea painful sting set his back aflame.

The man who ran into him this timelooked exactly like the first one. Hesimply whispered in Ramur’s ear: “Myname is Zokin. Tell it to Zuia.”

As if paralyzed, Ramur watched Zokinleave, his eyes wide open but unseeing,his hands still clutching the purse to hischest. With horror, he realized theimplications of what he had just heard.Then his vision clouded, his legs gave

way, and he collapsed.He was dead before he hit the ground.

Upon the return of the Sages, once theinitial moment of astonishment hadpassed, each delegation wanted tointerrogate its own emissary. Rafa deGriteh declared with an aggressivetone that it was out of the question toseparate them.

Not right away.He walked over to the Ithare tents,

where he locked himself away with hiscompanions and two Eurydian prieststrained in the art of healing. Thepriests dressed the wounds of theinjured in respectful silence. It wasn’tuntil Rafa had walked a few stepsoutside their retreat that he was

questioned about the missing Sages.He responded simply that they had

died, giving no other details.During the days that followed, the

survivors didn’t mingle much with thecolorful crowd of kings, barons, andother such notables who had come forthe event. They kept silent or simplyclaimed not to remember anythingwhen questioned. Eventually, it wasonly this last response that was given.

The nations in mourning—Goran andJezeba—quickly packed up theirbelongings and left the island on badterms with the others. One couldimagine that a new war between Goranand Lorelia was possible, but EmperorMazrel seemed to have held Prince

Vanamel in such low esteem that hecould not justify the reopening ofhostilities.

One by one, each of the Sagesreturned home. They were interrogatedagain separately, but responded onlywith silence. Several of their liegelords took them to have a prolongedinfluenza.

They relieved Maz Achem of all hisresponsibilities at the Grand Temple.Thereafter, he abandoned all religiousactivity and left Ith.

Rafa de Griteh was dismissed frommilitary command, which was a majorhumiliation, for he had been thepersonal strategist to the king. Hestayed in the army regardless and

served so well that in his final years histitle and honor were restored.Arkane of Junine, himself a king,

experienced only public disapprovalfrom his peers in the other Baronies.Knowing that the power of the LesserKingdoms was in their union, heprevented any disagreement byabdicating the throne in favor of hisson.Moboq the Wise returned to Arkary,

simply announcing that it would bebetter if everyone ignored what hadhappened. As he was a Sage, everyoneaccepted his decision and quicklyforgot the incident.Reyan Kercyan was most wronged.

They took away his title of Duke. They

took his land. And he was publiclydisgraced. He did not sink into adepression as one might have expected,but continued to live in Lorelia anyway,where he survived as a merchant.For her own part, Tiramis left the

Council of Mothers. She merelydeclared that the Matriarchy wasn’t indanger and that she never againwanted to be questioned on the subject.The Ancestress herself asked thateveryone respect this request; it wasuseless to revive these seeminglyterrible memories.Tiramis took Yon in Union the next

year. Yon is my ancestor, thegrandfather of my grandmother.They moved here 118 years ago, to

this same small southern provincewhere I live.

To everyone else, Nol and theemissaries are forgotten. There may bea few people who know some of thestory, but they would have troubledistinguishing between the facts andthe stories that are occasionally told.

I have not forgotten. The heirs havenot forgotten.

Something wasn’t right.Nort’ had always possessed a sort of

sixth sense that had saved him manytimes before, and this latest feeling ofalarm was clanging louder than the sixhundred bells of Leem.

Ever since the apogee, he’d felt that hewas being watched. Nort’ had always

attracted looks, generally feminine ones,with his imposing muscular frame, butthis was something else. Someone waswatching him.

Nort’ guarded the western door to theimperial gardens of Goran, standing withthe most military bearing possible, armstense at his sides, hand firm on hishalberd. He usually performed his dutywith an exceptional patience, but todayhe was ill at ease.

He examined the passersby, thenexamined the closest windows in anattempt to expose his spy. He shot aglance at his two subordinates, frozen inthe same posture, hoping that one or theother shared his fears. But theyapparently had nothing on their mind

except the changing of the guard.An old, filthy man clothed only in rags

approached them, presenting an equallysoiled cup in his wrinkled hands. Aforeigner, no doubt, he thought tohimself, maybe a Lorelien. The manbroke into a series of pleas in a mix ofIthare and Goranese when Nort’, with awave of his hand, had his subordinatesunceremoniously sweep him away.

This episode brought him back to thetask at hand and made him temporarilyforget his worries. It was hot at the endof the day, and Nort’ began to lookforward to the change. His right arm wastired, and more than anything, he wantedto drop that cursed halberd, which waskilling his shoulder. He also couldn’t

wait to walk a bit. He was a formertrooper and never really got used to theguard’s long decidays of forcedimmobility. Finally, his patience wasrewarded: he was relieved to hear thesix bells ring briefly from somewherebehind him in the palace, marking theend of the sixth deciday. The dooropened, exposing three military mendressed in thicker clothes for the nightguard. There was the necessaryorchestra of exchanging halberds, thenthe ritual salute, and the new guards tooktheir place.Nort’ decided not to mention his

feelings to the night guard. Nort’ saw noreal reason to inform them, and he wouldbe roundly mocked if he confided his

childish fears to the veteran warriors.He decided not to return immediately to

the guards’ barracks since he had somefree time. But the feeling of beingwatched stopped his long-awaited strollbefore it could really begin. He couldn’tbe at ease until this cursed foreboding,which stuck with him like a badhangover, passed.

If he had to, Nort’ was prepared to starta little skirmish with some strangers tosoothe his unease.

Yet he felt himself walking quite fast,muttering with a hand glued to the hilt ofhis broadsword, and staring down eachpasserby he came across with an evileye. He stopped, took a long breath, andbegan his walk again at a more moderate

pace.He rarely lost his composure so easily.

“By Mishra, if something must happen,then let it happen now, gods damn it!” hegrumbled.He heard an eruption of voices behind

him. Turning around, Nort’ saw a mob ofGoranese men fleeing something thatwasn’t yet recognizable. Then the humanmass split in two, making way for twoZuu killers.The Zuu killers!They didn’t need to show any

discretion here in Goran, where theirinfluence and reputation were wellknown. Nort’ saw the scarlet tunics, thevermillion headbands encircling shavedheads, the damned daggers—long and

thin as needles—gleaming in their hands.And, more than anything, their eyes.They were the eyes of fanatics, ready todo anything to achieve their end: toslaughter their prey.

They were coming his way, but thatdidn’t mean anything, as Nort’ was in themiddle of the street. He drew hisbroadsword while slowly sliding to hisleft. Then it hit him: they were there forhim.

The two killers had seen his everymove. Nort’ remembered those looksnow; they had been watching him allday, faceless until now.

They were no more than a few stepsaway from him and approaching rapidly,practically running. Nort’ saw the

glistening of the daggers, the murderouseyes, and the curious crowd thatwouldn’t interfere for all the world. Asavage hatred rose up in his chest, andhe let out a roar as he leaped toward thetwo men; his skin would come at a dearprice.

But instead, it was given freely; a thirdassassin he hadn’t seen came at him frombehind.

His cry died in his throat as thepoisoned needle shot through him, andhe silently collapsed at his murderers’feet.

Some moons after their return, thesurviving Sages felt the urge to reunite.The old King Arkane of Junine was thefirst to act on this desire by inviting all

of them to the most beautiful of theLesser Kingdoms. The chosen date wasthe Day of the Owl: as such, they wouldcommemorate the day that they had allleft in single file, following Nol theStrange.

Even though Arkane was one-handed,aging, and more or less ostracized byhis peers, he was still a powerfulindividual, and finding his old friendswasn’t difficult. Everyone responded tohis call, even Moboq, who was thefarthest away and had to travel for twodekades.

They were warmly welcomed. Theancient king, seeing them all reunitedand joyous in his personal palace,declared that there was one fortunate

outcome of their adventure, at least:friendship.

They spoke of their personal fates, ofthe events after that “voyage.” They allempathized with the others’misfortunes, particularly those of Rafa,Maz Achem, and Reyan Kercyan. But noone pitied their own situation; they allsimply stated the facts, withoutappearing to regret the mutual silencethat had caused it all.

Later, free from spying eyes, eachemissary renewed their vow to keep thesecret, no matter what happenedbeyond the suffering, dishonor, andsolitude that they had already felt.

They left each other, promising toreunite again, which they did the next

year, and two years later, thenregularly every two years. King Arkanewas not at their fourth meeting; he wasthe first among them to disappear. Butthree new people participated: Tiramisand Yon had a daughter, and MazAchem, although aging himself, hadtaken his Union with one of hisprevious students, who quickly gavehim a son. He came with his young wifeand child, and no one voiced anyobjection.

Thome of Junine, whom King Arkanehad abdicated in favor of, asked torepresent his father. He knew nothing ofthe secret, but wanted to pay homage tothe thing that had been most importantin his father’s eyes. Of course his

request was accepted.The arrival of these new characters in

the group changed the style of thegatherings; what began as ratherserious occasions eventually becamefamily celebrations. The nationsstopped sending spies to reveal thesecret, which was never brought upagain.

In their own time, Moboq the Wise,Rafa de Griteh, and Reyan Kercyan hadwives and children. The gatherings ofthe growing group became more andmore organized. Since everyone camefrom faraway lands, they decided to setthe meeting every three years in Berce,a Lorelien city, which was the closestpoint to the Island of Ji and an

approximate midpoint between all oftheir homes.Over the years, the old ones died out.

The majority of their descendantscontinued to reunite to celebrate thisevent they knew nearly nothing about.Sometimes, when the night was darkenough, the ancestors brought theoldest of the children to the island.There, they shared a part of theirknowledge, then took a solemn vow ofsilence. Perhaps they should not havedone this.A secret, can it always remain so?This year is the year of the gathering.

The Day of the Owl is only threedekades away. This will be my fifteenthyear, and they will bring me to the

island.Those who have gone come back

different, more solemn, more serious.Sadder.I don’t really want to know. But I want

to be a part of the heirs, see myadoptive cousins, uncles, and auntsagain, and pay homage to Tiramis, toYon, and to all my ancestors since them,all the way up to my own missingmother.

In three dekades, we will meet for thegathering of the heirs, and I will go tothe island.

BOOK I: THE ROAD TOBERCE

Bowbaq awoke soundlessly. He kepthis eyes shut for a few moments, thenreluctantly opened them. It was dark;morning was still far away. He broughtthe covers and pelts up to his chin andstretched out comfortably, resting hishands behind his head.Wos sounded anxious. Bowbaq heard

the animal fidgeting in his pen. Morethan likely the wolves had ventured tooclose to his humble cottage. The mandebated whether or not to get up, andeventually decided to stay under thewarm covers. Wos had always been toonervous, and the wolves too timid andclever to attack a steppe pony in full

health.Bowbaq tossed and turned in his bed;

he missed his wife. As usual, Ipsen hadleft with their two children to spend theSeason of Snows with her home clan. Atfirst, he was always happy to rediscoverhis freedom. But after a few dekades,loneliness began to weigh on him.Perhaps he could go visit his ownpeople? It was too late now to catch upto Ipsen, but his own native village wasonly a few days’ ride away.

Wos whinnied. What a pain that ponycould be! Bowbaq thought of all thosetimes when “Master” Wos acted all highand mighty, thinking himself too imperialto pull a sleigh, caring only for grand,daring rides. Yes, he was quite the

noble, adventurous steed.Letting out a sigh, Bowbaq resigned

himself to checking on his mount. Hereluctantly threw off his covers and wentover to the chimney.

The coals in the fireplace were stillred; he realized that he must have beensleeping for only a few centidays. Butstill, a biting cold had already infiltratedthe tiny cottage, and the small draftscoming through the cracks in the wallssuggested the temperature outside waseven colder.

He piled on a few logs to get the firegoing again. Then he prepared to go out,haphazardly throwing on all his furswithout fastening the ties. Finally, hegrabbed his walking stick and cracked

the door open.Immediately, he felt the biting cold on

his face. It seemed a calm nightcompared to the blizzard and the heavysnowfall of recent days. He closed thedoor carefully behind him and set outtoward the back of the cottage where thepen was. It was nearly light as day out;the moon was full and its light reflectedoff the immaculate landscape.

In spite of his large size, Bowbaq’sstep was hindered by the thick layer ofsnow that covered the ground, and ittook him several millidays to reach thefence. The pony was waiting for himthere, stamping his hooves impatiently.He began chattering to Bowbaq as soonas he was in sight.

“Stranger hunt us. Stranger come.Hunt us. Stranger. Many. Come hunt us.Stranger. Many.”

Bowbaq rubbed his eyes as he trudgedthe last few steps. Wos’s abilities weretruly amazing for a herd animal. It wasrare for a pony to communicate withsuch ease. But he lacked restraint andcalm, which gave predators theadvantage. His words invadedBowbaq’s mind with an indecipherable,buzzing disorder.

As he lifted his head, he gazed hardinto the animal’s eyes and reached forhis mind, as he often did. He spoke tohim without saying a word, directly frommind to mind, making an effort to choosesimple words and concepts that the pony

could understand.“Safety. Stranger weak. Frightened of

us.”Then he formed a mental picture of a

wolf and transferred it to the animal’smind.

“Stranger small. We big.”Wos reared and sent a few nervous

kicks into the air. Neither Bowbaq’sgentle strokes nor his simple wordsreassured the pony.

“No. No. No. Not him. Him small. Nothim. Not dangerous. No. Stranger big.Dangerous. Many. Hunt us. Come. No.Not him. Dangerous.”

The animal was visibly panic-strickenat his master’s ignorance. Despite hisgift, Wos couldn’t really tell what it was

that he feared; he only knew he wasafraid.

Bowbaq tried to reach the pony’shindbrain, but to no avail. Not wolves?What then? An insomniac bear, runningbehind on his hibernation schedule? ButWos spoke of many. Bowbaq lamentedthe fact that animals didn’t know how tocount. Many could be a whole lot.

Foxes? Anators? Maybe even a pack ofspotted lions? If Mir were there, Wos—and Bowbaq himself—would be a lotless worried. Bowbaq had raised thelion cub since birth, and he was veryproud, as was his whole clan, to befriends with a genuine adult wildcat. ButMir was serving as Ipsen’s and thechildren’s escort for their journey, and

they must have been dozens of leaguesaway from the cabin.The night wasn’t going to be as

pleasant as expected. Closing his mindto the pony’s fanatic babbling, heretraced his steps back to the house. Hewasn’t that worried. The predators musthave simply been passing through, orroaming near the house not daring toventure too close, especially once he litsome logs and took position with hisbow, on guard for any ill-intentionedcarnivores. It was still rather vexing tofind himself on a night watch, eventhough he had been careful to build hiscottage far from concentrations of knownpredators.Back inside, Bowbaq gathered all the

things he needed for his watch: a flintlighter, some kindling and a few drylogs, his bow and quiver, an ivorydagger that he slipped through his belt,and finally a bottle of fermented fruitsalong with a hardy piece of smoked ham.He wrapped it all in a thick skin that heplanned on using as a blanket later,fastened the ties of his furs, and wentback out.

As he closed the door behind him, henoticed that instead of quieting down,Wos’s whinnies had gotten louder.

Suddenly he heard a sharp snapaccompanied by a vibration near hishead.

Reflexively, he pinned himself againstthe doorway, shielding his face. Then his

eyes found the source of the noise.A crossbow bolt had pierced the

wooden doorframe, barely a foot fromhis head. Bowbaq thought he could stillsee it quivering.Dropping his makeshift bag, he threw

himself facedown on the ground just intime to dodge a second projectile, whichgrazed his hat and stuck violently in thedoor. On all fours, he scrambled behinda white mound a few yards from thehouse that he knew to be a dead stumpcovered in snow. He took cover behindit and immediately drew his ivorydagger, grasping it white-knuckled.The only audible sounds were those

made by Wos’s and Bowbaq’s ownlabored breathing. He tried hard to slow

his breath while at the same timefocusing all of his attention on hisattacker. Where was he? Who was he?How many were there?

It takes more than a few moments toreload a crossbow, which meant one oftwo possibilities: either the man had atleast two of them, or he wasn’t alone.Unfortunately, his conversation with Wostipped the scale in favor of the secondoption. Were they pillagers? Warriorsfrom an enemy clan? Wanderers?

Bowbaq’s mind was racing in alldirections. He focused his scatteredthoughts on one thing: escape.Everything else could be cleared uplater…or not.

If he managed to make it back to the

house, get the door open, and lock itbehind him, he could defend himselfbetter. There was no shortage ofweapons in the house, and he could holdoff his enemies at least until morning.Unless they set fire to the cottage. In anycase, the house seemed leagues away,and Bowbaq kicked himself for nothaving had the presence of mind to lungethrough the door right away!

Time flowed by like water in a river,and he knew that each wasted momentgave his enemies the advantage. Itwouldn’t be long before they surroundedhim, if they hadn’t already done so. If hecould at least recover his bow, maybehe’d be able to prevent an attack fromone side. But all his enemies would have

to do is sit down next to a fire with awatchman and wait a couple of decidaysuntil their prey froze to death.

Bowbaq then came to the horrificrealization that if Wos hadn’t woken himup, he would already be dead. Hisattackers showed no apparent signs ofhesitation. They surely would have takenhim by surprise and murdered him whilehe was still sleeping.

Wos. If only the pony weren’t fencedin, he could call for him and escape. Hementally retraced his steps from the pen,but the pen was even further away thanthe house. What was there to do?

Maybe…there was a wall on the southside—the other possible direction—thatran along a ditch that was used for

drainage during snow melts. It wasdefinitely filled with ice and snowduring this time of year, but the bottomwould still be at least a foot belowground level.

But it certainly wasn’t very big. Aftershedding some of his most cumbersomefurs, he had to be able to crawl throughit—for a dozen yards or so at least—andget out of range of the crossbow quicklyenough that his attackers wouldn’t havethe time to get closer.

He didn’t take the time to search foralternatives and threw off his first fewlayers of fur without even untying them.A glacial breeze bored through him rightaway, and he hoped that he wasn’t goingto escape his attackers only to freeze to

death on the way to his nearestneighbor’s.

The most difficult part was going to bethose few feet that stood between himand the ditch. He slipped his dagger intohis boot and squatted, tensing hismuscles in a spring position. He took adeep breath and leaped into the littlestrip of sunken earth that ran along thewall. His hands and knees sunk into afoot and a half of snow. He hastilybrushed himself off and scurried towardthe back of the house, expecting to feelthe painful sting of a bolt at any moment.

He wasn’t sure, but he thought he heardat least one bow snap during his leap.He didn’t stop to check if a new fletchedshaft was protruding from his cottage.

He was, however, sure that he washearing shouts. A man, who must havebeen only about thirty yards away, wasbarking orders in an unfamiliar language.

He came to the end of the little trench.His knees and elbows were drenchedand chilled to the bone, and the rest ofhis body was scarcely warmer. He liftedhis head a bit and quickly scanned allaround. Two men were rushing towardhim from different directions. One ofthem was holding a small spear and theother a curved blade. They werecovered in furs from head to toe, but theydidn’t seem at all weighed down by theexcess clothing. They wore largelatticework sifters strapped to their feet,like the ones the Tolensk Arques used,

which allowed them to run almostunhindered despite the deep snow.Bowbaq realized that his chances were

dwindling; he decided to go for it. Hebolted upright in the ditch, then dashedacross the short distance that remainedbetween him and the pen.He felt a burst of pain near his left

shoulder, where the third man’s arrowhad just lodged itself. With his last bit ofenergy, he climbed over the fence railingand let himself collapse to the ground onthe other side. He crossed the field to thestable, where he found Wos waitingimpatiently for him.Bowbaq knew that, at any moment, the

bowman was going to take another shotor one of the others was going to block

his exit. He threw open the gate andwent over to the pony to mount him.

But Wos didn’t see eye to eye with hismaster. As soon as the way was largeenough for him, Wos dashed through theopen gate, leaving Bowbaq alone andhelpless.

Incredulously, he watched as the animalgalloped away, deaf to his hopeless andfurious cries.

The idiot wasn’t even going in the rightdirection.

It looked like Wos was going to gallopright past the spearman, but then, at thelast moment, he changed directions andcharged him violently. The surprisedenemy was thrown to the ground by twoheavy blows from the giant pony’s

massive hooves. Wos diligentlytrampled him for a few more moments,then lifted his head and charged thesecond man.After a brief moment of surprise, it was

Bowbaq’s turn to spring into action. Hewent back across the field, climbed overthe fence again, and leaped knee-deepinto the snow. Then he stumbled his wayover to the body of the spearman.The second round with his next

adversary seemed harder for Wos. Thesecond man was making impressivetwirls with his sword, making itimpossible for the pony to get nearenough to be dangerous. At least Woswould keep him occupied for a while,thought Bowbaq. The third man was now

in sight and was completely focused onreloading his crossbow.

The corpse of the man with the spearwas not a pretty sight. Wos haddelivered so many blows to his face andneck that he’d nearly been decapitated.Breathing hard, Bowbaq stifled his urgeto vomit. He had almost finishedstripping the long weapon from thecorpse when a roar rang out, one that herecognized immediately.

The lion, Mir, was there. A hundredyards away, he stood proudly on theedge of the snow-covered forest like astatue.

His roar ended in a low and continuousgrowl that was audible even from such adistance. His mane was puffed out,

doubling his size, and his hair stood onend all along his spine, from hisshoulders to the tip of his tail. At themoment, his yellowish spots hadsomewhat faded, and his whole bodywas white as alabaster. The onlycontrast with the white snow were histwo fiery eyes and his muzzle, blood redand bone ivory.

Mir advanced two graceful steps. Thenhis growl went silent and, after amoment of stillness, he broke into aseries of rapid pounces toward the sceneof the battle.

Just as immediately as they had frozenat Mir’s appearance, Bowbaq and Wossnapped back into action. Wos decidedto back off and make way for Mir, who

was now heading straight for the manwith the sword. The lion pinned theswordsman to the ground. Even withoutseeing anything more, Bowbaq knewfrom the screams that he had one lessenemy.

He himself was taking large stridestoward the third man, who didn’t look tobe giving up, despite the unfavorableturn of events. Bowbaq had neverloaded a crossbow, and he wondered ifhe would have enough time to make it tohis enemy before the man shot an arrowright into his forehead.

What if Bowbaq stopped to throw hisstolen spear?

No.It was a sure shot; he could hit anything

from that distance.No. He wouldn’t kill the bowman.But it would save his life. He could see

Ipsen, his children, and his friendsagain…

No. Bowbaq had resolved to nevervoluntarily take the life of another man.He had sworn the oath.

But the time he spent lost in thought hadalready sealed his fate either way. Witha cry of joy, the man snapped the smallarrow into the groove and aimed hisweapon, his target just a few yards infront of him and running straight for him.

Bowbaq closed his eyes and lungedforward at full force. He heard the fatalsound of the crossbow loosed at thesame time that he felt the handle of the

spear collide violently with something.Stretched out on the snow, he awaited

the arrival of the pain from the crossbowbolt he must have taken. But only thefirst one, still stuck in his left shoulder,was afflicting him.

He lifted his head just in time to see hisenemy getting ready to whack him withhis now useless weapon. Bowbaq rolledover, letting out a cry of pain as hisshoulder grazed the ground, got to hisknees, and swept his spear through theair in a horizontal movement. Thewooden handle met the stranger’s head,bringing him to the ground.

Bowbaq sat up fuming and pressed thesharp spear to his attacker’s chest. Theman sitting on the ground pulled back his

hood, took off his face mask, anduncovered his bald head. He was quiteyoung—younger than Bowbaq anyway,perhaps in his thirties. He wasn’t anArque; he didn’t look like he was fromthe Upper Kingdoms either.

The man touched his aching temple andfound blood. He shot a mean look atBowbaq, who felt a little pang in hisheart as he recognized the severity of thewound that he’d given the man. If hisblow had been any stronger, he may wellhave broken his oath.

Mir came over to his side, and Bowbaqpatted the lion’s flank with one hand.The stranger stood up and, although itwasn’t a sudden movement, the lion letout a threatening growl. With a squeeze

of his hand, Bowbaq restrained the lionfrom finishing the bowman off.

“Who are you?” Bowbaq asked.The man didn’t answer and instead

rapidly removed his furs. Bowbaqrepeated his question but was ignoredonce again. When the stranger ceased hisundressing, he was left in a lightweightred tunic and a thin band of the samecolor tied around his forehead. He hadalso taken off his shoes and wasbarefoot.

“I don’t intend to kill you. I only wantto know who you are,” Bowbaq triedagain, this time in the Ithare language.

The man calmly rested his arms at hisside and lifted his head, closing his eyesas if in a contemplative state of prayer.

“Sir! Is this what you want? Do youtruly wish to die now? Here? Like this?”Suddenly, quicker than lightning, the

stranger pushed away the spear andpounced on Bowbaq, brandishing asharp dagger at least a foot long. Onceagain, Mir was quicker, and with asingle blow, his monstrous paw threwthe man five yards away. The lion wason top of him in two pounces andunceremoniously ripped out his jugular,not heeding Bowbaq’s orders.The Arque, who had always detested

violence, was wracked with emotion.He let himself fall to the ground, and satthere for a moment with his face buriedin the palms of his hands.A rough tongue licked his fingers, and

the stink of the lion’s breath filled hisnostrils. Bowbaq patted Mirabsentmindedly, with a hand still overhis eyes; images from the recent scenesinvaded his memory. He had an urge torecoil while looking upon the peacefulface of the lion, which was just a footfrom his own. His immaculate mane, hisinquisitive eyes. His muzzle drippingred with the blood of his victims.

Bowbaq stood back up. Even though hewas grateful that Mir and Wos hadintervened, even though he owed his lifeto them, he had indirectly contributed tothe death of the three men, and he didn’thave to be at peace with that.

The large lion’s words drifted into hismind: “The man be safe? The man

hurt.”Bobwaq realized that he had almost

completely forgotten about the bolt stuckin his shoulder. The pain had ebbed bythen, and the wound was bleeding muchless severely. He pulled gently at thefeathers to gauge the depth of theperforation and grimaced when his bodyprotested against the rough treatment. Itwas all the same; if he didn’t take it outquickly, it was going to be even morepainful later.

“I heal. Me happy see Mir.”The lion approved with a click of his

jaw and disappeared without anotherword into the forest. Bowbaq knew thathe had nothing to fear that night: nothingand no one would get past the lion’s

barricade. He made sure that Wos wasdoing all right and made it back to thehouse.

The heat of the fire welcomed himkindly. He carefully took off hisdrenched clothes, mindful not to brushagainst the jutting arrow. When thewound was finally bare, he put one ofhis gloves in his mouth, held his breath,and in one quick movement pulled theforeign object out.

He didn’t bite down on the glove. Hedropped it, letting out a wail. Panting,applying pressure to his wound with acloth, he stared at the bolt laid out infront of him and saw with relief that ithad come out in one piece.

Once the bleeding had slowed, he

cleaned the wound generously withalcohol and applied a compress. Then,after a moment of thought, he alsocleaned his throat generously.

He felt a lot better now that he wastreated and warmed up. At last he felt upto searching for the answers to thequestions he had been asking himselfsince he left the cabin.

Who were these men?What did they want? Besides his death,

of course.Bowbaq didn’t know a whole lot about

anything outside of central Arkary. Fromwhat he could remember, he had neverwronged anyone seriously enough to getthree assassins sent for him. Or perhapsthese men were acting on their own

behalf. But they were obviously verymisinformed, since the Arque didn’thave any riches worthy of the name.Maybe they were mad? Fanatics insearch of a sacrifice?

Or maybe…His curiosity got the better of him, and

he decided not to wait until morning toexamine the dead bodies, as he’doriginally planned. He got dressed againin dry clothes and went out.

Overcoming his misgivings, he firstdrew up on the man that Wos killed. Hisskin had whitened, and a thin layer offrost was starting to form all over him.Bowbaq slipped his hands under thebody and flipped it over. The stiff,frozen body made sickening crackling

sounds as it was torn away from itsfrozen blanket. The Arque had no desireto think about what exactly made thosesounds.

His brief search—he wanteddesperately to have it done with—wasn’t very fruitful. It didn’t seem likethe man had anything special on him,except for a red tunic and a daggersimilar to the one the bowman had.Bowbaq moved on to the bowman.

Apparently, Mir had already taken ashare of his guts. This time, the Arquewasn’t able to hold back his nausea, andhe let loose the contents of his stomach.The bowman was missing an entire arm,and most of his ribs were exposed.Bowbaq pulled himself together as best

he could and searched through thepockets of the shredded tunic, which,surprisingly, were still intact.

This time, Bowbaq found something.His hand touched a piece of parchment,which he carefully removed. It wascovered in blood, and folded in on itselfat least six times. Once it was fullyopened, there wasn’t much of anythinglegible on it. Bowbaq didn’t recognizethe few symbols that had avoided thevermillion stains, but admittedly, he didnot know how to read. He gave up andcontinued with his inspection.

When he shook the man’s boots out, asmall wooden flask half full of a sour-smelling liquid fell to the ground. Was ita drug?

Poison?He shivered at this idea. What if the

arrow had been poisoned?Then he would have been dead already.

Or maybe it was a slow-acting poison?Or perhaps his clothes had absorbed aportion of the fatal liquid?

Well, if he didn’t die a few days on, hewould never have an answer to thesequestions. He poured the liquid out intothe snow and piled the man’s clothes ontop of his body.

He didn’t discover much more from theexamination of the third body; he foundanother dagger and the same scarlet tunicthat the others wore. It was quiteobvious that these men belonged to somesort of organization, military group,

religious sect, or something.Reluctantly, Bowbaq finally admitted

the conclusion he had come to a whilebefore: These men had come with asingle obvious objective—to kill him.Him, and perhaps his family.

There were only two things that madeBowbaq special in any sort of way. Firstwas his ability to read animal minds. Hewas erjak. But dozens of Arques hadthis gift, and it had even been discoveredamong some foreigners.

The second thing, though certainly notthe least, was that he was a member ofthe heirs of Ji.

Bowbaq was a fourth-generationdescendant of Moboq the Wise. Once hehad brushed aside all his other theories,

that was the only one that remained.Those men had tried to kill him becausehis great-great-grandfather had takenpart in that strange adventure a centuryago, an event that had been forgotten orremained unknown to almost everyoneby now.

This was absolutely no time forhesitation: Bowbaq had to bring hisfamily to safety and warn the other heirsof the fate that surely threatened them.

He immediately set himself to thepreparations necessary before hisdeparture. He wondered how he couldrejoin Ipsen, as the glacier had closedoff the route for two dekades, at least…Then he realized that this was hardly anobstacle for Mir.

Once he finished with his packing, hegathered his courage, the bodies, andtheir belongings. He showered the pilewith oil and lit it on fire.At that moment, Mir reappeared. He

had found four ponies tied up to a treenot far from there. Bowbaq followed thelion while brooding on dark thoughtsabout the number four, but once theyreached the spot, it turned out that one ofthe animals was only a pack pony.The search through the saddlebags and

other belongings he found there turnedup dry. There was nothing but theclothing and equipment needed for a ridein a cold countryside. Bowbaq untied theponies and led them to his pen, speakingsoothing words to them the whole way to

calm the nervousness they felt at beingso close to the big lion. Then he freedthem of their loads, which he quicklysorted through. The better half of it wentinto the fire; he kept the other half, whichlacked any distinguishing markings.

Once he had put a harness on Wos, hewent over to the wildcat and gave himthese instructions: “My companion andmy little ones are in danger. I need toprotect them. But I cannot reach them.Does Mir understand?”

“Understand. The pride in danger.”“That’s it. Mir can protect them. Will

he?”“Humans with female and cubs of

Man frighten by me. Want to kill me.Ipsen say come here. Not safe to

leave.”“Mir is wise, but if he doesn’t go, the

family—the pride is dead. Mir mustgo.”

The lion spun around a couple of times,obviously confused. Bowbaq knew howdisconcerting the situation was for him.Animals don’t understand the concept ofchoice, or rather, that of the future. ThenMir let out a brief roar and spoke. Hehad made his decision.

“I leave. Protect the pride becauseMan says.”

He set off immediately. Relieved,Bowbaq saddled up and, with the fourponies behind him, headed off towardthe south, hoping he was wrong about thegravity of the situation.

But the fire that burned until morningconfirmed that he was not.

The Council meeting was shaping up tobe a very long one indeed. As wascustom, they dealt first with the simpledaily affairs. And today it seemed thateach of the twenty-eight Mothers,representing as many villages, had hershare of proposals, claims, andquestions to bring forward. Even thethree Mothers responsible for thewelfare of the capital, Kaul, who undernormal circumstances monopolized thisstage of the debates, appearedoverwhelmed.

Corenn sunk into her chair inresignation. During the nineteen yearsthat she had sat on the Council, she had

learned patience. Fifteen years ago, sheherself had ardently defended the localinterests of a small town in theMatriarchy; now she worked on behalfof the entire State.

She was the Mother charged withTradition; in other words, the guardianof institutions. For a few years now,since the death of her predecessor,Corenn’s duty had been to uphold theState’s integrity and to ensure respectfrom its citizens. Despite help from hersubordinates, she herself was often onthe road to soothe angered citizens insome village, to organize elections inanother, or to ensure the proper use ofpower elsewhere still.

Her authority in the Matriarchy was so

great that even at this very moment, righthere at the Council, she could, forexample, command silence from any ofthe elected Mothers for failure to complywith the right of seniority.

Her nomination by the Ancestress hadprompted numerous protests at that time,especially on behalf of older womenwho believed they were the ones whorightfully deserved this permanent seat.But Corenn proved her effectiveness andher unfailing wisdom in exercising thejudicial powers she commanded,managing the majority of the matters theMothers brought to her by means ofdiplomacy alone. It was in this way,little by little, that she had earned thetrust and often the friendship of her

peers, especially after the Ancestresshad placed each of the older Mothers inother important positions, such as theMothers charged with Justice, theTreasury, and Resources. After a while,everyone admitted that the Ancestresshad made the right choice.

Corenn was also entrusted with asecondary duty, which was unofficialand known only to the permanentmembers of the Council.

She was responsible for spotting,among the countless Kauliens she metduring her travels, those who seemed todemonstrate an aptitude for using magic.She herself was a mage, though sherarely called on her powers, which shedeemed rather weak.

Each time something extraordinary wasreported in one province or another,each time something seeminglyimpossible occurred, Corenn arrived onthe scene. She made inquiries, observed,and, far too rarely for her liking, foundan individual who might possess thetalent.Without revealing anything, she would

then ask the individual his, or more oftenher, opinion on magic, the Matriarchy,and the idea of starting a new life. Whenthe answers were satisfactory, whichwas generally the case, Corenn offered atrial, requesting the utmost discretion.Among the twenty individuals she hadseen, only twice were the trials crownedwith success.

In both of these cases, Corenn hadpassed on her knowledge to her recruits,both women. The Mother of GlobalRelations now employed them, needlessto say, as spies. The PermanentCouncil’s intention had been to bringtogether enough mages to restore thelegendary grandeur of former Mothers;the objective still seemed far from beingrealized.

The debates followed one after another.The Tradition Corenn guarded requiredher to attend all of the meetings. But herintervention was rarely necessary; themajority of the matters brought forthduring the Councils of Villages mainlyhad to do with food, trade, security, orother domestic themes. For fifteen years,

it was always the same problems.So she waited patiently, voting when a

consultation was asked of her, andcasting a stern look when a youngRepresentative raised her voice a littletoo much in the presence of her elders,which was usually enough to restore amore respectful attitude from the tactlessindividual. Finally, the Mother ofRecollection reread the decisions madethat particular day, and reminded theCouncil of the matters they still neededto debate. The village representativesthen left the enormous meeting room.

Only sixteen people stayed in the room:the Permanent Council, which now hadto debate the important matterspreviously brought forth, in addition to

matters concerning the whole of thecountry as well as its neighbors.

In the past, they had asked Corenn toreport on her search for magicians. For along time now, that no longer interestedmany members. And so they wentstraight to foreign affairs.

The discourse on trade, taxes, andinternational competition annoyed hereven more than the village quarrels.Unfortunately, this part was the mosttime-consuming.

Then the Mother of Global Relationsproudly announced the final ratificationof a peace treaty with Romine. Everyoneapplauded and congratulated her. Thoughfor some time now Romine had nolonger deserved its title of High

Kingdom and only had a very weakmilitary force, it was still best to ensureneighborly relations.

They then discussed an increase in porttraffic, a problem that had just beenbrought before the Council of Villagesand hadn’t been resolved. The Mothersattempted to draft a piece of legislation,but it quickly became clear that none ofthem were very knowledgeable on thesubject. They decided to carry out astudy and consult an expert, a taskentrusted to the Memory committee.They would then revisit the matter.

Since they had already made significantprogress in the day’s agenda and theprincipal matters had already beenlooked over, the Ancestress suggested

that they take up the remaining businessthe following dekade. Everyoneaccepted with relief, as they were wearyfrom the string of meetings, which hadgone from the third to the sixth deciday.

Corenn was gathering her things whenWyrmandis, the Mother of Justice,approached her.

“Do you know a Xan? He’s a sculptorfrom Partacle, I believe.”

Yes, she knew him well. He was theone in charge of organizing the upcomingmeeting of the heirs. He and Corenncorresponded regularly; she trulyadmired the gentle and thoughtful man,one of the few who didn’t consider thegift of magic a monstrous deformity, butrather a talent, a skill to be perfected.

“Yes, actually. How did you know?”“I’m sorry to inform you, but he’s

dead.”Corenn was shaken. Wyrmandis waited

a while, uncomfortably. She seemed tobe waiting impatiently for the questionsthat Corenn was inevitably going to askher.

“What happened to him?”“He was killed in his own home, along

with his wife and three children. I’msorry,” she repeated.

Ermeil too. Richa. Garolfo. And whatwas the youngest’s name again? Shecouldn’t remember anymore. Dead. Allof them were dead.

“They didn’t suffer. I believe they weresleeping when it happened. According to

the information I received from Goran,they were poisoned.”

Corenn swallowed painfully.Weakened by shock, her voice wasmerely a murmur.

“Poisoned? They were murdered?”“Yes. In fact…”Wyrmandis pulled her to the side and

lowered her voice.“It’s almost certain that it was the Zuu.

That’s why I received the information.”Corenn understood. The Zuu hadn’t set

foot in Kaul for decades, and everyonewanted it to stay that way. The Justicecommittee was responsible for keeping aclose watch on the murderers’ activities,the world over.

“But why? Why would the Zuu have

wanted to eliminate Xan and his family?Who would have wanted that?”

“I have no idea. I was hoping you couldtell me. The Goranese are also baffled.Recently the Zuu have been going after anumber of people who are nothing liketheir usual targets, which includenobility, priests, and bourgeois.”

A terrible suspicion suddenly cameover Corenn, leaving her frozen inhorror.

“Do you have the names of thesepeople? Of the unusual victims, I mean.”

“Yes, of course I do, they’re includedin my report. I can recite a few bymemory: there was a Goranese soldier, aLorelien nobleman, a Sailor from Lineh,or from Yiteh, I believe, and an herbalist

from Pont…”Corenn felt as if the ground had split

open right under her feet. She knew allof them, personally or by name. Nort’,Kercyan, Ramur, Sofi…Almost all ofthem were her friends. And all of themwere heirs of Ji.

Wyrmandis ended her morbid recitalonce she saw how pale her listener hadgone. Corenn was swaying when shecame to her senses and asked solemnly,“Please tell me, but only if you’reabsolutely certain…was a Kauliennekilled by the Zuu? A young womannamed Leti?”

“No, fortunately not one Kaulien hasbeen killed. Not as of last night, in anycase. What is it?”

The mage let out a sigh of relief,ignoring the question. Her little Leti, heronly family, the light of her life, wasunharmed. Leti was her cousin’sdaughter, but since her cousin’sdisappearance, she treated the girl as herown.

“I must leave at once. My niece is indanger, and”—she realized as she spoke—“so am I. Wyrmandis, I need that listas soon as possible. Can you have itbrought to me in my quarters?”

Wyrmandis frowned as she listened toCorenn, answering her plea with a stare.This all seemed grave.

“You think the Zuu are after you? TheZuu? I think it would be best if you toldme everything. I will do what’s

necessary to protect you.”“I can’t,” she replied, as she hurried

off. “I may not get there in time.”She turned to Wyrmandis as she walked

and said, “As for protecting us,”—sheshot a glance around the huge room,staring pointedly at the few fat-belliedsoldiers that guarded the exits, thedeserving veterans of the Matriarchy’ssmall army—“you know that’simpossible.”She practically ran through the long

hallways leading to her personalquarters in the Grand House.For the first time in a long time, the

mage was afraid.

“By all the gods and their whores!”Reyan was truly furious. He had

deployed his entire seductive arsenal forthis damsel. He had brought her to all ofthe fashionable places, he had bought hera meal, drinks, and, above all else, entryto the finest establishments in Lorelia.And the ungrateful wench had refusedhim hospitality and a little bit oftenderness for the night, flat outslamming the door in his face.

Things had looked so promising. At theend of the performance that day, he usedhis charmer’s trick once again. Insteadof the retort originally written by Barle—“I cannot because I love another,forget me!”—Reyan had declaimed, “Icannot because I love another; it isthee!” bringing some previouslyidentified girl onstage, who was alone

and certainly had an appealing physique.Barle, the head of the acting troupe, had

cried out in protest when his young actorfollowed such an inspiration for the firsttime. But he became more tolerant, giventhe comic success of this text bending.Fortunately, Barle had a good sense ofspectacle.

After the show, Reyan had, as usual,offered his prey a drink. This decisivestep taken, he showed her his caravanand presented her to each of hiscompanions, nonchalantly mentioning hisnumerous voyages and his often totallyfictional triumphs before the royalcourts. Normally, at that point, hisvictory was sealed.

Seated in front of a goblet, Reyan had

moved on to a performance of flattery,praising his companion’s beauty, noblebearing, disposition, and other real orimaginary qualities. Perhaps she was anactress? She would surely become agreat performer…

His efforts were followed, at last, by anighttime stroll, punctuated by visits tobars and taverns, until the moment whenhe finally thought himself ready toconquer the beauty’s bed.

Only this time, the evening was afailure, and he found himself walkingalone in the dark. Just to make mattersworse, a thunderstorm crackedoverhead.

He violently stomped his foot into adeep puddle, splashing water

everywhere. He was soaked anyway.He didn’t always have to use all of

these strategies. Usually his youth,charm, and a few witty words couldstorm most feminine…ramparts. He wasfrustrated to have expended such effortsin vain. The woman was simply selfish,he decided, amused at the same time byhis own bad faith. No other woman, nomatter how insensitive, would have lefthim searching for a bed like this.

“Sleeping” with a harlot was out of thequestion. His days of such debaucheryhad certainly come and gone, even if hestill had some friends in the Three-StepsGuild.

Barle had surely locked down thecaravan, and it was better for his health

to sleep out under the stars than to wakeup Barle, who was getting surlier withage. That left the inns, but Reyan knewthat he had spent enough terces for thenight. No, he had another idea in mind.

Despite their slight disagreements,Mess wouldn’t refuse his cousin somehospitality for the night. Especially if hecould be made to recall that his housewas, after all, their house, inherited inequal parts from their grandmother.Under this battering rain, he wanted justonce to be recognized as a Kercyan. Hewanted to be recognized as anything atall.

He stopped at a crossroad. Was it leftor straight? Despite having grown up inLorelia, he wasn’t completely sure

which way to go. Truth be told, he triedto take a shortcut, dipping off into thenarrow alleyways of the oldneighborhoods, and maybe he hadoverestimated his knowledge of thelargest city in the known world.

Out of instinct, he went straight andwas rewarded with the sight of theCheesemakers’ courtyard. The oldfamily home wasn’t very far, on theMoney Changer’s street, after the Small-Horse courtyard on his left.

A tremendous flash streaked across thesky, and thunder boomed shortly after.Reyan hurried his step.

Finally, he drew close to the building.It was certainly large, but ancient, veryancient. His great-great-grandfather,

whose name he carried, had acquired thehouse more than a century ago, and itwas already old in that time. For theyoung actor, it symbolized the fall of theKercyan family, a story his parents hadrepeated over and over throughout hischildhood. But tonight it represented,more than anything else, a roof over hishead and an inviting bed.The tricky part was going to be getting

in without “disturbing” Mess, whowouldn’t hesitate to turn him out, andReyan had had enough doors slammed inhis face for the night. So he wouldsimply skip asking his cousin’spermission to stay in his own house.All he had to do was use the same

entrance he had always used to sneak out

without his grandmother knowing, tovisit the brothels, seedy taverns, or otherfine establishments of the Loreliennightlife. Yes, at one time, he truly wasdepraved.

He hoisted himself onto the wall abovethe interior courtyard, accessible fromFirebrand Street. In his time, their dogBaron guarded this courtyard, and Reyanhad to remember to offer a treat to buyBaron’s silence. Now, anyone couldenter; he was a bit annoyed by Mess’scarelessness, though it made thingseasier for him.

The hardest part was to walk, as on atightrope, the whole length of the wall,which rose higher until it joined thecommon room’s little terrace. Some

metallic spikes and miniature gargoyleswere embedded in the top to discourageattempts of this type, but they typicallydid not present any true obstacles. Buttoday it had rained, and the rock wasslippery.

Reyan had fallen only once, one daywhen, on top of his habitual intoxication,he had chewed the dried roots of someplant imported from the LowerKingdoms. He woke up a little beforedawn, laid out on the cobblestones withBaron licking his face, and he’d had justenough time to slip into his room beforehis grandmother discovered him. He hadnever again smoked, breathed, oringested any dubious plant or powder,no matter what its origins.

The darkness was illuminated by alightning strike and he ducked, letting outa curse in the thunder. He could not lethimself get picked up by the watchmen;he would have a difficult time explainingwhy he was breaking into his own house.Worse yet, Mess wouldn’t necessarilyconfirm his story.

Finally, he reached the small terrace.The game was practically won; it wasdown to the final play. By gripping thedecorative reliefs, he climbed the facadeuntil he reached the little cornice twosteps above him. All this seemed moredifficult than it used to be. No doubt thiswas merely due to lack of practice.Then, once perched on the ledge, hepulled on the wooden shutter that

covered the window to the third-floorhallway, praying to all the gods and theirwhores that Mess hadn’t locked orclosed it.

The wood scraped against the rock andthe hinges creaked, but the shutteropened. Reyan hoped that the noisewould be drowned out by that of thestorm and wouldn’t wake his cousin. Hewaited for another rumble of thunderbefore slipping into the house andclosing the shutters behind him.

For a moment, he delighted in thesimple pleasure of no more rain fallingon his head. Then he listened closely forthe sound of footsteps, but all he heardwas the pitter-patter of water dropletsdripping off his clothes onto the floor.

He took off his cape and his soakedshoes and rolled them up together. Thebundle under his arm, he headed for hisold bedroom. His cousin had no doubtkept it the same as always. It had beenthat way for a century, and Mess wasattached to tradition, to their ancestor’shistoric patrimony and other drivel ofthe same sort meant to prevent movingeven a stick of furniture.

He passed in front of two doorsopening to empty rooms, and then, after afinal turn in the hallway, he arrived athis destination.

Reyan noticed a strange odor waftingthrough the air; he glanced towardMess’s bedroom across the hall.

His door wasn’t closed.

Perhaps his cousin was not at home? Itwould really be a shame to have putforth so much effort at discretion in anempty house! He wanted to know forsure, and approached the door.

The odor was immediately stronger andReyan felt uneasy; a morbid idea beganto form in his mind.

He pushed open the door with the backof his hand and reeled, pinching his noseshut.

A corpse was lying there. Mess.A flash of lightning illuminated the

room, and Reyan was certain. The odorwas awful, penetrating, and he had tomuster his courage before approachingthe bed.

There were no obvious signs pointing

to the cause of death. His face didn’tlook tense, and he was wearing hisnightclothes. Reyan could only concludethat it had happened in his sleep, and thatsomeone had touched the bodyafterwards.

Someone had laid him out on top of thecovers. Someone had pushed his legstogether, stretched his arms out, andtilted his head back slightly. Someonehad pulled his clothes over his limbs. Sowhy did they then abandon the body?

The odor became unbearable andReyan turned away.

Thunder clapped and someone was inthe doorway.

Someone, or something.Reyan would keep each detail of this

moment with him forever. A man with adagger and wearing a scarlet tunic waswatching him silently. He was bald andhis face was painted: black eye sockets,black nose, black ears, all set againstwhite face paint. Altogether, it had themorbid appearance of a human skull. Amonstrous, expressionless skull, lifelessexcept for two blazing flames: the eyesof a demon.

The actor was well traveled and couldrecognize what stood before him. One ofthe messengers of Zuia, a furiousmadman, a cursed Zu killer.

In the flash of light, the thing spoke. Hisvoice was guttural and his pronunciationof Lorelien very odd. Reyan wondered,while reproaching himself for the

detachment he felt now, at the hour of hisdemise, if this was part of the usualassassin mise-en-scene.

“Are you ready to appear beforeZuia?”

The actor didn’t waste any timeanswering and charged at the intruder,throwing his cape and shoes at his face.He kicked the disoriented assassin andran down the hallway.

His dagger. His poison dagger.Did he touch it? No, he didn’t think so.He ran past his grandmother’s old

bedroom and then hurtled down thestairs to the second floor. The Zu wasalready on his heels, just three stepsbehind, maybe fewer. Reyan expected tofeel that lethal steel penetrate his flesh at

any moment, and the mental image gavehim speed. He ran the length of thehallway in ten strides, came to the top ofthe staircase that would lead him to theground floor, then threw himself down.

The Zu stumbled heavily over his bodyand flew right down the stairs. Reyandidn’t waste any time perusing the resultand stood up to run toward the otherstairway, which he leaped halfwaydown. He jumped over the rail andlanded on the ground as the Zu wasgetting up, apparently unscathed. The Zustarted down the rest of the stairs, nodoubt grumbling threats and insults allthe way.

The actor was already making for adistant door, which he threw open and

ran through. The library—there wereweapons in the library. He pulled downthe first one he saw, and the Zu chargedinto the room, barely sidestepping an axblow that Reyan had delivered too early.The two men faced one another, each

studying the other with the hope ofsurprising him in the darkness separatingtwo lightning strikes. In normal combat,Reyan would have had the advantagewith his weapon, but right now, with thehelp of the poison, the Zu would onlyhave to touch him once to strike himdown.The actor never had much practice with

weapons; he didn’t even carry one. Thetraining he received in his youth waslimited to the classic swords of the

Lorelien nobility: thirty-five-poundblades anyone would struggle to handle.This skill only came in handy during aperformance.

Before playing with Barle, he was alsoa member of a little circus troupe, forwhich he performed a number—apathetic one, at that—that involvedthrowing knives. But the weaponshanging on the walls here had nothing incommon with the perfectly balancedknives from the circus. Maybe he couldstill try?

A flash revealed that the Zu had shiftedto his left, and Reyan, surprised, reeledback with a cry. Luckily, thethunderstorm was at its peak, and theflashes followed each other quickly

enough that the adversaries didn’t losesight of each other for very long.

Be that as it may, in this little game theassassin would have the upper handsooner or later.

The room went dark again and the actorrandomly struck in all directions, as hehad been doing up until now, hoping toinjure the Zu—or at least prevent himfrom coming closer. The scene was litup, then hidden again.

The killer seemed to be enjoying thescene, teasing the actor left and right,closer and closer each time. Reyanrealized suddenly that he was nothing butanonymous prey for the Zu, and thishorrified him.

He made his decision and immediately

put his plan into action.The glow of a lightning strike gone, he

launched his axe in what he supposedwas the direction of the Zu and flunghimself toward the wall. His fingersgrabbed at a metallic object; he pulled itdown immediately and found himselfwith a bastard sword in hand.

A clap of thunder filled the room: hedidn’t hear a cry or the fall of an axe.Calm restored, he listened, breathless inthe fading light.

The intervals were getting longer, andthis silent wait seemed to last aneternity.

The light returned to reveal a corpse.The axe had struck the Zu square in theforehead. Reyan drew near and

mercilessly stabbed the point of thesword in the Zu’s throat, just in case.

Armed with a crossbow, he wentthrough the house cautiously, lockingevery door and checking every darkcorner. Reassured, he came back to theassassin’s body and searched him fromhead to toe.

He found a skeleton key, which hequickly slipped into his own pocket, alittle wooden flask, a spool of thread, alittle box containing a moist brownpaste, a red headband, and, mostimportantly, a parchment. The little flaskand the box must contain the poison andthe antidote…or the antidote and thepoison. He would figure that out later.The rest was insignificant, except for the

paper, which he unfolded with care.As he feared, he couldn’t decipher it.

Reyan knew and read several languages,but this one was not Lorelien, nor Ithare,nor Goranese, much less Romine. It wasmost likely Ramzu, given the bearer’snationality.

He recognized some words, however,which were always written the sameway as long as the Ithare alphabet wasused.

Mess KercyanReyan KercyanAnd names of other people Reyan knew

of, along with their presumed addresses.He knew their commonality right away.

First, they were all Lorelien.Second, they were all the damned heirs

of that damned island, Ji.It seemed he wasn’t through with the

story that was ruining his life. Allthrough his childhood, he had been toldabout Reyan the Elder, who preferred tolose everything rather than break an oath.But Reyan had never asked for that! Wasthe family truly happier being modest yethonorable?

Now someone was organizing a hunt.Had he asked to be the prey?

He kicked the body twice. It waspointless, but it made him feel better.

He pondered this for a bit longer andcame to a decision.

If these Zuu wanted him dead, his onlychance was to fade into the wild. Toexile himself for a few years, just until

things settled down. To the OldCountries, maybe.“Curses!”He kicked the body again, and read

through the parchment once more.He vaguely knew some of these people.

He had met them when his grandmotherdragged him and Mess to one of thoseridiculous gatherings. Presumably theywere all in danger, or already dead.But that wasn’t his problem; it was

theirs!He let out a heavy sigh. He’d had better

days. And his conscience wasn’t donetormenting him…He gathered up his battle trophies, then

moved from room to room puttingtogether a small pack. He brought

everything upstairs to the second-floorwindow and prepared to go back outinto the night; better to avoid the frontdoor, which could be watched.

He changed his mind, came back to thelibrary and chose two knives. One heslipped into his boot, the other in hisbelt. Then he retrieved the Zu’s daggerand the bloody sword, for which hegrabbed a scabbard. Loaded with thesetools, he was glancing over the room onelast time when a final idea came to him.He returned to the corpse and removedhis clothes. An official Zuu outfit couldsurely be useful for something.

And Reyan didn’t know what the futuremight bring.

The Day of the Falcon began that

morning.The Day of the Promise was only a

dekade away: the dekade of the Unsure.Yan, fifteen years old and a modest

fisherman from a small Kaulien village,realized that these ten days would earntheir name as they never had before.

Though he had considered the problemfrom every angle, he didn’t yet knowhow to strike up the courage to ask forLeti’s hand.

He had seen enough celebrations of thePromise to know what was expected.The suitors seeking a Union had toobtain their loved one’s agreementbefore nightfall, when the whole villagewould celebrate the engagements.

Of course, you could exchange vows at

whatever time of the year you wished,but Yan knew how tied Leti was totraditions and that she would mostcertainly be infuriated if he dared toeven discuss the subject on any day otherthan the ones set forth by the cult ofEurydis.

No, he really had to gather his courage.He had to ask for Leti’s hand in the nextdekade. Otherwise he would have todelay his plan until the following year.

Curses, curses…He had never realized that these rituals,

which amused him under normalcircumstances, became so restrictivewhen one was actually faced with them.Proposal, Promise, Witness, Union—there were so many steps to complete,

and in front of the whole village, just sohe could live with Leti! Not to mentionthe mockery and bawdy sarcasm thatcame along with the Day of the Virgin,the Day of the Mushroom, and the Day ofChildren, which couldn’t help butincrease Yan’s apprehension.

The dekade of the Unsure…No, he wassure that he wanted a Union with Leti,but he was just as sure that he didn’twant to face all those trying moments!

And still, these problems were nothingcompared to the biggest anxiety that ateat him: Would she accept?

It’s true that since they were kidseveryone had always considered thempromised to one another. Leti’s mother,Norine, had taken Yan in as an orphan

and raised him until he was deemed tooold to live in decency with the twowomen. He then returned to live in hisparents’ small house, but he still spentmost of his time with his adoptivefamily, fishing for them, working forthem, even preferring to maintain theirhouse rather than his own, which fellinto ruins a little more each day. WhenNorine had disappeared, he took care ofLeti, who had taken ill, and nursed herback to health. Now they were bothorphans. Yes, in everyone’s eyes, theywere already promised to one another.

In everyone’s eyes, but in her eyes?Yan knew himself to be a rather

mediocre fisherman of little wealth, andhe didn’t think himself particularly

handsome or charming. He didn’t haveany special talents, perhaps with theexception of knowing how to read alittle, he had no family to rely on, and toothers he came off as a somewhat lazydreamer.

For him, Leti was the most beautifulwoman in the world. He loved herstrong will, her laugh, and her zest forlife. Several women in her family hadbecome Mothers; her aunt was a memberof the Permanent Council, and it waslikely that she too would be elected as aMother in a few years. She lived in thebiggest house in the village, which wasfurnished more lavishly than all theothers combined. Yes, Leti was certainlytoo good for him.

Yan would have done anything to bemore handsome, funnier, richer, moretalented, and more interesting.

For instance, he had tried to improvethe traditional methods for dive fishingby using the framework of an oldcrossbow to build a better harpoon. Buthe never perfected the weapon’s use,and the villagers were uninterested,deeming it too dangerous and suitableonly for lazy people.

He had also spent several days with alearned traveler, eagerly drinking in hisknowledge of marine birds whileserving as the traveler’s guide to themore interesting coves and beaches. Butwhen he told Leti that corioles migrateas far as Northern Arkary at the

beginning of the Season of Fire, sheasked him how knowing that couldpossibly benefit him. He was stillsearching for an answer.He stopped fishing for a while and

successively became the apprentice tothe blacksmith, the carpenter, a farmer,the miller, and even the brewer. But hewas forced to give up each time, awareof the mounting irritation from eachmaster artisan that was caused by hissuggestions. His only aim, according tothem, was to do the least amount of workpossible. The priest was the only personleft in the village who was willing totake him on, but Yan politely declinedhis offer. He respected Eurydis andBrosda, but he was far from devoting his

life to them.In short, he now found himself with no

prospects for his future, other than totake Leti in Union.His life would be different then.

Perhaps they would move to a newvillage or, at the very least, travel.Above all, he could finally accompanyher to that mysterious gathering sheattended every year with her mother andaunt. That alone would be an excitingexperience—see new places, meetstrangers and, better than that,foreigners! It really would be amazing.Well, it would be amazing if he found

the courage to propose and she accepted.Yan decided that he had worried

himself sufficiently for one day and

stood up. Given the position of the sun, itmust have already been a deciday that hehad been lying on the beach brooding,and it was time he thought about thepresent: what were they going to eat fordinner?

He went to inspect the holes that he haddug in the sand that morning, where hehad placed a basket woven in the shapeof a labyrinth. The tide had risen andfallen, leaving behind a few crabs andshells in the trap. Over time, he likedcrab less and less, but he would have tosettle for it since he hadn’t gone out withthe fishermen. Besides, Leti had surelythought to prepare some dish herself.

He placed his catch into a basket andtook the path back to the village.

Although he had sought solitude, hehadn’t gone very far and had just over ahalf league to cover.

He had only been gone since morning,but he still couldn’t wait to see Letiagain. He had never realized, beforethinking about it, how much she meant tohim. For as long as he could remember,they had never spent more than a fewdays apart.

He had this on his mind when he gotcloser to the hamlet. A gang of childrenrushed toward him as soon as he was inview. He greeted them with a smile,which soon faded.

“Leti’s gone! Leti’s gone!”The children surrounded him, tugging

on his clothing; every one of them

wanted to reveal a secret, but eachsecret was the same.

“Leti’s gone! Leti’s gone!”Something roared in Yan’s ears. Gone?

How could she have left? Sure, until thisevening, maybe. She couldn’t havereally left.

He spotted the village Mother slowlymaking her way toward him. He wasbeside her in an instant. She talked tohim in an artificially reassuring tone, butwith a sincerely sympathetic hand on hisshoulder.

“She left at the apogee. She looked foryou everywhere to warn you, but no oneknew where you were. It was her aunt,the one from the Council, who came forher. She arrived in the morning. I have

the feeling it was something veryserious, because they left in such ahurry.”“Leti was crying!” exclaimed one of

the kids, innocently.“Where did they go?”“My boy, Corenn requested that no one

follow them, and it’s most certainly wiseadvice. It’s better that way, for—”“Which way did Leti go?” he asked one

of the children.Fifteen fingers pointed toward the east

while a chorus echoed, “That way!” and“Leti went that way!”“Yan, wait!” the Mother commanded.But he was already out of earshot, in a

sprint toward his house. He dumped outa canvas bag and rummaged through its

contents for a waterskin, two tunics, aline and a few hooks, his old fishingknife, and some dried fruit. He picked upa harpoon, then was gone as fast as hecame, running in the direction where thekids had pointed.“It’s useless, you’ll never catch them!

They left at the apogee, and they’re onhorseback!” the Mother cried after him.Yan was already beyond the bounds of

the village.

Leti refused to believe it, though sheknew it all was true. All her friends, allthe heirs, her adopted cousins, uncles,aunts, grandmothers, grandfathers, theywere all dead. She remembered all oftheir names, seeing each face in her mindas she did, and grew even sadder

thinking that she would never haveenough tears for them all.Her aunt Corenn seemed just as shaken,

though a bit more reserved. She hadn’tsaid a word since they left. Leti knewthat her aunt hadn’t slept the nightbefore, riding all night to reach herniece. She must be tired; anyone couldsee it in her face.They both walked slowly, leading their

horses by the reins. The two animalswere also exhausted; they hadn’t restedsince the night before either.Leti forced herself to ask, “How far do

we have to go?”Corenn seemed to snap out of it a little.

Her gaze left the ground to move towardthe horizon. She cleared her throat

before responding.“I’m not sure. As far as we can,

anyway. We’ll leave the path to sleep fora bit soon, but I want to get a littlefurther.”She turned toward her niece, forcing a

smile.“Is that all right?”“Yes, yes,” Leti assured her.The more she thought about it, the more

she preferred to keep on walking, towalk forever. It made her feel like shewas escaping her sadness. She knew thatwhen they stopped, all her tormentswould catch up with her. Maybe it wasthe same for her aunt?Mixed with the grief of all the

disappearances, the image of Yan

repeatedly came back to haunt her. Sheregretted not being able to speak to him.What if she never saw him again?

A fresh stream of tears flooded her faceand she let the sadness overtake hercompletely. She was so happy, justyesterday. Why? Why was all of thishappening?

They progressed in silence, each ofthem lost in her own thoughts.

By the time they heard the horsesapproaching, it was too late. Panicked,Corenn shoved her niece and theirhorses toward the bushes at the edge ofthe path, as she had several times before,but she was not fast enough to escape theeyes of the three men who suddenlyappeared from around a bend in the trail.

They slowed down their rapid pace inperfect unison, then came to a stopbefore meeting the two women with asilent stare. Leti immediatelyunderstood, without knowing why, thatthe men approaching her were theassassins. Her aunt knew, too; Corenn’shand gripped her shoulder. Then Corennstepped in front of her niece, andresolutely faced the strangers.

They were all wearing the same red-colored tunic and had shaved heads.They could have easily been mistakenfor young, innocent priests of someharmless cult. So, here they were, thefamous Zuu killers. They didn’t seem soterrible at first glance. They wouldn’t,so long as you ignored the horrible

reputation that preceded them and theirfanatical stare. And if you also ignoredthe various weapons that hung here andthere on the sides of their horses, and thenotorious daggers resting in theirsheaths.

The tallest of the three pointed towardthem, barking a quick order. His acolytesquickly jumped off their horses. Leti,incredulous and helpless, saw them grabtheir blades and calmly approach, onedirectly, the other moving at an angle tocut off any escape.

This wasn’t happening. She wasn’tgoing to die here, right here, right now,like this, stabbed on a dirt road. Itwasn’t possible.

She wanted to run, but her legs were

paralyzed, as was the rest of her body.She wanted her aunt to flee, but sheknew Corenn was too tired. This couldnot be happening. Not like this. Theycouldn’t die like this.The tall one gasped suddenly, and Leti

found enough energy to lift her eyestoward him.Blood ran from his mouth. An

arrowhead stuck out of his chest.The man grabbed at it clumsily, as if

drunk. A second arrow emerged from hisbody as if by magic, a half foot abovethe other. The Zu’s eyes rolled back andhe slid off his horse.Thirty yards away, a man in black lifted

his bow. The two remaining killersimmediately reacted and rushed for the

bushes. One of them wasn’t fast enoughand let out a gurgle as an arrow passedthrough his throat. He collapsed,drowning in his own blood.The two women hadn’t moved an inch.

Leti felt incapable of moving. Her eyeswent from the man in black to the twocorpses, from the corpses to the man inblack, and she couldn’t do anything butwatch, transfixed by the battle thatunfolded before her.The stranger grabbed his sword and

stuck it in the ground. Calmly, deftly, heaimed his bow toward the bushes infront of him. The Zu charged with fury,running straight at him; the arrow flewtwo fingers above his head. The strangerdropped the now useless weapon and

hurriedly seized his blade. The two menfaced each other, the assassin ready topounce, his knees bent and his handclenching his dagger, the man in blackholding him off with his sword extended.Then, it happened in an instant.The Zu launched himself so quickly that

even though Leti was waiting for it, shewas surprised. But the stranger reactedjust as quickly, as if he had known whathis adversary would try. His bladegleamed, and the Zu’s hand was slicedand his stomach opened in a swift danceof steel. Leti saw the man’s guts gush outonto his legs and the ground, despite hisdesperate efforts to hold them in with abloody arm.Her will gave way and she fainted in a

heap.

Yan felt his hope dwindling by themoment. It had been dark for a whilenow, and cutting through the scrubland ofSouthern Kaul no longer seemed like agood idea.He had made a mistake. The light of the

moon wasn’t bright enough to illuminatethe way; it couldn’t break through thethick layer of foliage that hung abovehim most of the time. His legs, arms, andface were irritated, scratched, and evencut in areas by the brambles and theother plants that formed the dense mazeof shrubbery, and he had fallen severaltimes. He was only a few decidays intohis trek, and he was already hurting allover, he was covered in mud, his clothes

were torn to shreds, and his hairdisheveled.

The worst was that he was beginning todoubt his bearings. Was he still headedin the right direction? Or was he lost?

On two separate occasions he had thefeeling of passing the same spot twice.Navigate using the stars, sure. It was alot easier when you could see them! Inaddition to the foliage, which was quitedense at times and reduced his field ofvision, a haze had recently fallen,suggesting a heavy fog was on the way.

His foot caught on a root and he nearlyfell again, but he just barely caughthimself on a low-hanging branch that hishand happened to meet. This time he waslucky: it wasn’t a thorny branch.

A family of margolins scurried away afew steps ahead. That had to have beenthe sixth time. The critters really had tobe deaf not to hear him approaching.And to think of all the trouble henormally had trapping one!

Yan cursed himself for not thinking tobring the things necessary to build a fire.That should have been a priority duringhis rushed preparations, instead of thefruit or the fishing line. Everyone wasright; he really was a good-for-nothingdreamer.

It was just what he needed now, to findhimself face-to-face with a bear or astray wolf. He would look really fiercewith his fishing knife and his rustyharpoon.

He should have first gone to theneighboring village and got his hands ona horse. He should have found a weaponworthy of being called so. He shouldhave taken the time to think, like he sooften told others to do.

Leti must be far away. Perhaps evendead.

He delivered a furious blow with hisharpoon to a wall of seda shrub that wasblocking his way. A swarm of hugesilvery flies took to the air, buzzing. Abat swooped in, gliding toward them,ready to make a dinner of them. Yanchased him off by waving his armsaround like a madman. It was unfair, butthe bat had frightened him.

He allowed himself a short break. In

spite of the situation, a funny thought ranthrough his head: maybe Leti had alreadygone back to the village, and she wasnow worrying about him. If it were true,he would really be the King of Fools.But this idea was pleasant, since itimplied a return to normal life.Unfortunately, for now the only thing he

could do was to carry on and try to findthe trail.He found it two centidays later, on the

other side of a thick grove of broad-leaved trees. Relieved, he immediatelyscanned the horizon in both directions,hoping to make out the shapes of ridersin the misty twilight. But, of course, hedidn’t see anything.He was now faced with a decision.

Either head back toward the village,praying that they hadn’t yet made it thisfar, or continue east, hoping they hadalready stopped for the night. If theyveered off the path before he caught upto them, it was likely he would never seethem again.This idea made his blood run cold, and

he quickly set off toward the Lorelienborder. The exhaustion of the strenuoustrek was beginning to take a mercilesstoll on him, but he forced himself toignore it. Besides, covering groundwithout stumbling on roots or trudgingthrough thorny bushes made it muchmore tolerable.The only challenge was to not lose the

trail.

Rarely traveled, the trail wasn’t alwayseasy to make out. With the fog, Yansometimes had a hard time telling thetrail from the scrub. At one point, heconvinced himself he had lost it again.He ended up focusing his attention just

a few steps ahead, walking with his gazepractically stuck to his feet.He continued on that way for almost a

league, when a detail, which he hadnearly passed by, snapped him out of hisdaze.He was just about to step on a fresh

print left by a horse’s hoof.The surprising part wasn’t the print

itself, of course, on a road frequented byriders, but its direction.He soon found others, quite a few even,

leaving no doubt: two horses, maybethree, had recently pulled off the roadinto the thick scrub.Taken by a wave of hope, Yan lunged

down this new path, keeping his eye outfor more clues hinting at a recentpassage of animals. It was harder than hehad thought, and several times he had toretrace his steps to correct his course,the darkness hardly helping matters.During one of these moments, he

realized that he might have made amistake.A low-hanging branch like any other,

which he had brushed aside just as hehad done so many times that night, didn’tstraighten back into its place, but fell.A living plant that size doesn’t just

break.When he examined it up close, he

discovered a thin string tied to one end,more or less taut, which vanished intothe bushes.

Genius. The other end of the string musthave activated some sort of alarm. Yanhad made enough hunting traps himselfthat he didn’t need it spelled out.

He ran a few paces and hid. Who couldpossibly have put such a setup in placebesides thieves? Besides people whodidn’t have good intentions? It wasn’tLeti, or Corenn, in any case. So whowas it?

Yan decided that he could live happilywithout knowing the answer, and beganto cautiously make a wide loop back to

the trail. He concentrated all hisattention on being silent as he movedforward, frequently looking behind him.

Suddenly, he felt a shiver race downhis spine. What if they had beenattacked? Kidnapped? By those withevil intentions?

He needed reassurance. He had comethis far for at least that.

After taking his knife out, he hid his bagunder a branch. He also left behind hisharpoon, which was too cumbersome.Then he went back to the string andbegan following it to its other end,cautiously keeping a bit of distance fromit.

He continued for fifteen paces or so.The people at the other end had set

themselves up rather far away; this didnothing but confirm his theory. As hemoved forward, he heard more and moredistinctly the characteristic crackling ofa fire.

He abandoned the string’s path andslipped away toward the camp. Hecovered the remaining distancepractically at a crawl, with only onething in mind: don’t make a sound,whatever you do, don’t make a sound.

The fire was burning at the bottom of adepression in the ground. It wassurrounded so well by shrubs and sedabushes that it was impossible to see iteven from twenty yards away. Threehorses were tied up nearby, and twofigures were lying on the ground, their

backs facing Yan.His heart leaped in his chest. He

wasn’t sure, but…yes, that body, there…It was Leti!

Something cold pressed against histhroat. Out of the corner of his eye, hecould make out the dull gleam of a bladeclenched in a man’s hand.

“Drop your knife. Put your hands up.Slowly,” a calm voice whispered in hisear.

Yan complied, cursing himself. Howdid he always manage to mess things up?

The blade left his throat. For an instanthe wondered if he should make a move.Not easy, in this position…

Something hit him on the back of thehead and everything went black.

“Maz Lana? Are you well?”The priestess lifted her head. It was

Rimon, the young novice, who hadkindly come to comfort her. He hadalways been her best student as well asa loyal friend, and Lana knew she wouldpass on her title of Maz to him one dayor another, if Eurydis allowed it.“Yes, yes. Thank you.”“Is there anything I can do for you?”“No, thank you. Not right now. I just

need to be alone for a moment. Toreflect.”“All right. I’ll be outside your door.

Don’t hesitate to call for me if you needanything.”At the doorway, he added: “The

Temple has sent a few officers. They’re

placing a guard around the building. Youare safe.”“Very well, you can go now.”Rimon obeyed her meekly, with one

last pitying look at his teacher.Sometimes Lana asked herself if she sawmore than respect, more than friendshipin the eyes of the young novice. But theyboth knew things would never go anyfurther.She stood and paced across the little

cell that served as her home. Eventhough it was austere, modestlydecorated, and only functionallyfurnished, her bedroom had always feltvery comfortable. Its main appeal wasthe magnificent view from the window.The midday sun shimmered off the Alt’s

flowing waters, glistening on the HolyCity’s myriad domes and temples,warming the foothills before the highmountains of the Curtain range. It wassuch a beautiful city. Peaceful, pacifist,spared from the barbarism of the rest ofthe known world.Lana closed her eyes to say a silent

prayer. Wise Eurydis, why this newhardship? Hadn’t she suffered enoughfrom these recent struggles?The morning’s events invaded her

memory despite her efforts to forget. Shehad just begun leading her disciples in areflection on the vanity of wealth, asubject that she held particularly dear;such corruption is difficult to resist evenfor the wisest of the wise. They

convened, as was their habit, in thegardens at the foot of Mount Fleuri, andpeacefully debated the numerousreferences to vanity found in religiousliterature.This type of teaching was open to

anyone; it wasn’t uncommon to seestrangers sit in the circle with theorder’s members, out of intellectualinterest or mere curiosity. So no onemade any objection when a young manwithout a mask and wearing the commonrobe of a novice joined them.The stranger kept silent, but avidly

listened to each of the speakers,particularly the women. This hadn’tescaped Lana who, having merely beenintrigued at the time, understood

perfectly well now.When the stranger was sure he knew

who was leading the class, he jumped tohis feet like a cat and leaped,brandishing a dagger.

Toward her.Lana didn’t make any movement to

defend herself, and would neverunderstand why. She saw the assassinapproach her, very clearly, as if time hadslowed down. And she simply toldherself her earthly life was about to end.

Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately,some of her disciples reacted quicklyenough to save her.

Finally, she allowed the tears to come,feeling them run down her cheeks. Noone, no one, deserved such a sacrifice.

Four were killed, simply grazed by thathorrible dagger. Four young people whohad always condemned violence. Fourchildren who only aspired to serveEurydis their whole lives.

Lopan, Vascal, Durenn.Orphaelle…Lana let the pain overwhelm her. Poor

Orphaelle. So young, so innocent.Tragically, the assassin realized his

failure an instant after stabbing the youngnovice who had jumped in his path.

Halted, seized by several pairs ofhands, he stabbed the terrifying weapon,which they were trying to wrest fromhim, straight into his own heart.

Lana had woken up in her cell, Rimonat her side. She didn’t even remember

fainting. He had told her the few thingshe knew: the Temple’s officers haddispersed the curious crowd and thenescorted those involved in the affair totheir homes. Each of them would bequestioned and placed under protectionfor a while.

They took justice very seriously in Ith.Three knocks sounded at her door, and

Lana went to open it, forcing herself torecover a dignified bearing. Self-pitywas far from being a valued virtue in theEurydis cult.

An old man looked at hercompassionately. Short, thin, without amask, dressed in a plain robe, andbarefoot. Emaz Drekin.

“Your Excellence,” she said, inviting

him in.“Come now, Lana. This is no time for

protocol,” he scolded gently, taking herin his delicate arms.She returned his embrace, sobbing, her

dignity ceding to emotion.They released each other after a

moment, and Lana closed the doorbehind them.“Do you want an infusion?” she

offered, trying to sound natural again.“Another time, my child, another time.

Before anything else, we must speakabout important matters.”Lana agreed and went to sit at the small

bench in front of her table, inviting theEmaz to do the same. She had a feelingthat Drekin came not only as a friend, but

also as a high-ranking leader of theTemple.He sighed for a moment, searching for

words, then launched into a discussionthat, despite his calm tone, was nothingshort of an interrogation.“Lana, did you know this man?”“No. Not at all.”Lana was making an effort not to burst

into tears.“Had you ever seen him before?”“No, I don’t think so. Not in my class,

anyhow. Unless he was wearing a mask,of course.”The Emaz let the silence linger. He was

still hesitant to speak about certainthings.“Do you know what the Zuu are?” he

asked her, finally.Lana’s eyes widened in fright. Yes, of

course she knew. A sect of murdererswho committed their crimes in the nameof a judiciary goddess, that’s who theywere. In previous centuries, the Zuu hadsystematically massacred all theEurydians who disembarked on theirisland. How could she not know that, shewho had studied the history of Ith?“You think that…?”She didn’t finish her sentence.“Sadly, yes. The officers found your

name in a note on his body, and otherdetails about you. It was written inRamzu.”Lana let it sink in. She thought she had

simply come across a demon. She

understood now that the attempt waspremeditated.And that she was far from out of

danger.“Lana, what I ask of you now is very

important. The Temple cannot allow forrenewed opposition with the Zuu, newmartyrs, a new crusade. So, tell me whythey are after you.”Lana thought for a moment, which

seemed to be an eternity to the Emaz.“Unfortunately, I do not know. I have no

idea.”The old man looked disappointed.“Ah, well. We couldn’t have changed

their minds anyhow, but we might haveknown how to protect you.”“What you’re saying is awful! This

means that they will try and try againuntil they succeed!”

“Perhaps not, my child, perhaps not.This is the other thing I must speak withyou about. The Temple can arrange toshelter you, but at the price of a largesacrifice, one that you are not obliged toaccept.”

Lana prepared herself for the worst.“Go on.”“Except for the young Rimon, all of

your disciples are still wonderingwhether you’ve survived. The Templehas kept this information secret up untilnow…”

Lana was horrified.“You aren’t about to suggest that…”“It’s the best thing to do, my child.

Consider it. Unfortunately, the youngOrphaelle perished in the attack. Don’tlet her sacrifice be in vain by dying inthe next dekade.”

Lana wondered how the Emaz couldthink such a thing. To take advantage ofthe young girl’s misfortune.

“The witnesses will be unable to saywho was killed,” the Grand Priestcontinued. “For them, there was at leastone masked woman among the victims. Ifwe announce you are deceased, wewon’t need anything else to trick theZuu.”

“I understand perfectly well, YourExcellence. I just need some time tothink. This strategy will force me toleave Ith, won’t it?”

“Unfortunately, for some time. Yoursalvation depends on it.”

“My salvation.”Lana stood up and admired the

landscape from her window with neweyes. It seemed to her already that it wasthe last time she would enjoy it.

“Because it is necessary, I willabandon everything I have. Everythingthat makes up my life. May Eurydis giveme strength.”

“Wise words,” concluded the relievedEmaz, standing up. “It would hurt meimmeasurably to lose you. We willfigure out the details later; until then, Iwill make the arrangements I must for…for what we have decided.”

He took his leave, briefly embracing

her again.Alone again, Lana argued with her

conscience. She had lied to an Emaz.Blatantly. She knew why the Zuu werelooking for her. At least, she knew thebasic cause.Her ancestor Maz Achem, and his

mysterious voyage to a small Lorelienisland. The Island of Ji.The Zuu had only started her on a

journey she had been planning for years.But the Grand Temple couldn’t know

anything about that.

Yan slowly emerged from darkness,struggling with the throbbing pain in theback of his skull that was trying to draghim back down. He was lying on hisback, and opening his eyes, all he could

see was pale morning sky through thebranches hanging above.“He’s waking up,” announced a

quavering voice. Yan’s heart leaped inhis chest: it was Leti’s, unmistakably. Hesat up too abruptly, bringing back thepain, and immediately passed out again.When he came to, the sun was higher in

the sky; it must have been the start of thethird deciday. Yan propped himself upon his elbows, cautiously this time.To his relief, he realized that he was

not mistaken: Leti was sitting nearby,and she appeared to be in good health,with the exception of her eyes, reddenedwith tears. Her aunt was there too andstared at him disapprovingly. There wasalso a stranger dressed in black, facing

him with an openly hostile expression onhis face.Even though he hadn’t met many, Yan

was almost certain that the stranger wasa native of the Lower Kingdoms. He wasrather short—shorter than him, at least—but the first adjective that came to mindlooking at him was “imposing.”The second, definitely, was

“dangerous.”He must have been in his forties, at

least. That’s what his appearancesuggested: his leathery skin, already fullof small wrinkles, his profound, sombergaze, and the gray strands among hisdark head of hair. A thick mustache andan ugly scar drew crisscrossing lines onhis face. He was quite obviously

dressed for battle: pieces of leathersolidly attached to one another, withflashes of metal here and there, fromhead to toe. This handmade outfit wasn’tbrand new anymore; it was worn at thejoints, scuffed everywhere, and patchedup in some places. The man carried,rather comfortably, a bare curved bladeand a dagger at his waist. Yan thought tohimself that he must handle thoseweapons just as naturally as he slippedon his tunic in the morning. And thisimposing and dangerous man was staringright at him with a fiery look.“You were told to stay in your village?

Were you not?” he scolded.His strong accent was typical of the

Lower Kingdoms.

Still in shock, Yan looked at Leti andher aunt with the hope of finding somesupport. But Leti was sobbing, her faceburied in her palms, while her auntseemed to be in agreement with thestranger. His head felt heavy. Heworried that he might faint again.

“Who are you?” he managed. His throatwas dry and his own speech soundedstrange to his ears.

“This is Grigan,” Corenn answered forthe man in black. “He’s…a cousin ofmine. A very distant cousin.”

Yan looked back at the strange man,who was nervously pacing as he strokedhis mustache. This man was related toLeti?

“If it weren’t for him, we would be

dead by now,” continued Corenn in aconciliatory tone. “He saved our livesyesterday. He won’t harm you,” sheconcluded loudly, turning to the warrior.

“We’ll have to see about that,” hegrunted. “Are you alone? Does anyoneknow where you were headed? Wereyou followed?”

Yan’s mind was clouded by the pain,and it took him some time to process allof the questions and to answer, whichappeared to annoy the man—apparentlycalled Grigan—even further.

“No, I’m alone, and I wasn’t followed.I went through the scrubland. What’sgoing on?”

The man in black stared at him for amoment.

“Are you sure?”“If he says so, it’s true. That’s it. Yan

isn’t the type to lie, and he has no reasonto.”

Yan shot an appreciative look atCorenn for the unexpected intervention.But the man in black wasn’t going tosettle for that.

“How did you find us?”“I spotted hoofprints at the edge of the

trail. Because of the fog, I practicallyhad my nose in the dirt.”

“I think that’s enough, Grigan.”“All right, all right. In any case, we

can’t waste any more time. We need toget back on the road as soon as possible.Which means now.”

He made as if to retrieve the horses.

“And what about me, what am I to do?”Yan wasn’t at all happy with what the

warrior had implied in his last comment.“You? You can rest up if you wish, then

you’ll return to your village. You won’tspeak of this to anyone. Understood?”It wasn’t really a question.Yan looked at Leti, who was sobbing

silently. The Day of the Promise wasnear. This man had saved their life? Whywere they in danger in the first place?“No, I’m staying. I’m coming with

you,” he answered, in a voice he wishedwere louder.Grigan let out a sigh of exasperation

and took a few steps away from him.Yan was well aware that if it weren’t forthe presence of the two women, the

warrior wouldn’t waste his time with aboy who dared to argue with him, andwould resort to more persuasivemeasures.“Yan, I know you very well,” attempted

Corenn. “Perhaps better than you think.I’ve watched you grow up all theseyears, along with Leti. And I knowyou’re doing this for her.”He remained silent, but avidly watched

for Leti’s reaction.She didn’t appear to react at all, apart

from a sob that might have been louderthan the others. Leti seemed to be incomplete shock, overwhelmed, utterlyclosed off to her surroundings. Yan hadseen her like this before, when Norinedisappeared.

“By staying with us, you’ll be puttingher in danger,” continued Corenn, softly.“As well as me, and Grigan, and otherswhom you don’t know, whose survivalisn’t at all guaranteed and depends, inpart, on ours. Not to mention, you’d putyour own life in danger. Do you realizethat you could have gotten yourselfkilled by Grigan last night? Do you see?Leti cries enough as it is, don’t youthink?”The arguments were irrefutable, but

Yan didn’t want to admit it. He felt that,being the important diplomat she was,Corenn was trying to trick him like shewould a child. The pain in his skull wasthrobbing more intensely, disturbing histhinking, and he got stuck on one idea:

stay with Leti, stay with Leti.“I have to come with you. I’m sorry,”

he added, with less resolve.Corenn frowned, disappointed, and

searched for something to say. Despitehis strong will, Yan knew that in the endhe would yield to reason. Or force. Hehad to find a way to convince them,rather than force himself in.“The men who are after you don’t know

who I am. They don’t even know that I’mwith you. Surely, I can help you. I’mcoming.”A moment of silence followed Yan’s

response. Then Grigan stepped awayfrom the tree he was leaning against andquickly approached. Yan had a burningimpulse to protect his face to avoid a

potential blow, but that was definitelythe last thing he should do if he reallywanted to go with them.

The warrior squatted down next to him,stared him right in the eyes, and pointedan index finger at him. “All right, youcan come. But make one false step,disobey me just once, and I’ll make youregret it. And I hope you won’t stickaround too long.”

Yan wondered whether that last remarkwas in reference to the likely dangers ofthe trip or to the promised punishment. Itdidn’t matter; he was staying with Leti.

He agreed, completely sincere, andGrigan released him from his oppressivestare to have a word with Corenn.

Leti still hadn’t moved and had kept on

sobbing, her face buried in her hands.Last time this happened—when hermother disappeared—she had stayedlike this for over a dekade. The next fewdays were shaping up to be justwonderful.

He realized that he hadn’t spoken aword to her yet. He got up very slowly,staggered over to her, and half fell, halfsat next to her. She appeared to rousefrom her daze a little, threw her armsaround his neck, and cried on hisshoulder. He held her close to him. He’dearned that much at least.

“You will ride with her,” Grigan cameover to tell him. “We’ll buy anotherhorse as soon as possible.”

“All right.”

Yan had only ridden a horse twice inhis life but didn’t want to be a burdenalready.

“We must leave right away. We have tomake it through Benelia beforetomorrow evening.”

Leti stood and began gathering herthings. Corenn did the same. It botheredhim a little to see a Mother of thePermanent Council, one of the highestauthorities in all of Kaul, obey thisrather frightening stranger withoutquestion. He felt that she should be theone leading the group. But perhaps shesimply shared his opinion, or maybe shewas too tired to take charge.

Yan stood up then and found his ownbag, his harpoon, and his fishing knife at

the base of a tree. He rememberedhaving left his things in the bushesbefore approaching the camp. Griganmust have been following him the wholetime. He really had failed as a spy in allrespects.He went over to the horses and waited

patiently for someone to tell him what todo. The man in black, busy balancing theloads, took Yan’s pack and pulled out thesix-foot-long harpoon.“You have to leave this behind if

you’re coming. It’s too cumbersome, tooconspicuous, and it’s useless.”He held the object out to him. Yan took

it and obediently ditched it in a thornybush. Grigan looked satisfied. Heunstrapped one of the two bows he was

carrying on his horse and held it out tothe fisherman.“Do you know how to use it?”“Yes,” Yan lied.He had never held one before. But if

lying would reassure the warrior…andwith such a weapon, he could actuallyprotect Leti.“Good. Here are the arrows. Only

shoot if I ask you to. And keep yourdistance. Never approach your target.Got it?”“Yes.”Yan tried to appear comfortable, the

quiver in one hand, the bow in the other.Curses! It was heavier than he’d thought.Could he really use it?“Have you ever killed someone?”

“No.”By Eurydis, no, never! Did this man

imagine he spent his time skeweringpeople with his harpoon? Yan couldn’tlie this time. He had never even been ina fight.“Alright.”It seemed like Grigan had made up his

mind. He turned around to load the lastof the bags.“I want a weapon too.”Leti stood in front of them with her

arms crossed. She wasn’t cryinganymore, but her reddened face and eyesgave her a crazed look.Grigan turned his back to her. He didn’t

seem inclined to give in to her demands.“Women don’t fight,” he answered

shortly and firmly.Leti remained motionless in disbelief.

Yan felt that she was on the verge oftears again; he held out his fishing knife.“Here, just in case. But stay out of

battle.”The man in black stared at them for a

moment. Leti took the blade before hecould intercept it and walked away. Yanwondered if he might have alreadybrought an end to his career as aguardian knight, but the warrior nodded,turned back around, and led the horsesaway by the reins.Corenn sent off the two young Kauliens

behind Grigan, swept the camp with onelast glance to make sure they hadn’tforgotten anything, and followed the

others toward the main trail.She had the unmistakable feeling that it

was the beginning of a very long journey.

A fat, somewhat reckless margolin wastrying to squeeze his way into Bowbaq’sreserve provisions. Bowbaq, feigning anap, had spotted him a while ago.

It wasn’t until the little glutton jumpedon the pack, frantically tearing at thecanvas with his teeth and claws thatBowbaq decided to intervene.

“Ho! What if I did the same to yourden?”

The rodent stiffened and froze, thenbolted faster than if he had beensurrounded by a pack of wolves. There’sno way he could have understood muchfrom the threat, but the intrusion into his

mind had driven him to panic.That’s how it always went the first

time. Bowbaq remembered Mir’sintensely aggressive reaction to his firstattempt. Luckily, he had taken theprecaution of tying her up first.

As for Wos, that was a different story.Bowbaq had been able to reach his mindbefore he had even come into the world.After that, the bond was much easier tomaintain.

Poor Wos. Bowbaq was forced toabandon him around Cyr Heights. Thegiant pony, so at ease in the vast frozenexpanse of Central Arkary, was alreadysuffering cruelly in the mild climate ofNorthern Lorelia. He never would havemade it to Berce.

Bowbaq had sent him back to Arquecountry, explaining that he would rejoinhim soon, which had been no small featsince the animal only understood futurein the immediate sense. So he had to lie,inventing something like: “If Wos goesthere, he see Bowbaq.” For the pony’speculiar perception of time, it wouldmake little difference if he were thereright away or a moon later.

So the erjak had been on foot since hecrossed the Lorelien border. It didn’treally bother him. He had often walkedlike this; his large size and proportionateweight prevented him from riding acommon horse. And it was true he fearedthe ridicule he’d be in for at the sight ofa man his size riding such a small

animal.The Day of the Owl was approaching;

Bowbaq figured it would come eightnights after his departure. By the BigBear—assuming he hadn’t made amistake in his calculations!—it wouldeasily take him six days to reach hisdestination, and the possibility ofarriving too late haunted him. Once in awhile, the worry nagged him so muchthat he would break into a long run withhis massive strides. He only slowedwhen he came across other people.

Although he made a point of taking onlythe smallest trails, the barely discerniblepaths, the trails made more by animalsthan by humans, Bowbaq met far toomany strangers for his taste. True, he

was in the Upper Kingdoms, and heshould have anticipated seeing a lotmore people than in Arkary, where hisclosest neighbor lived at least sixleagues away. But more than the obviousneed for discretion that made him seeksolitude, Bowbaq hated crowds. Forhim, meeting more than five strangers inone day was an extremely tryingexperience. It took a lot for him to joinall the gatherings of the heirs of Ji.He had even overcome a sort of crisis.

The night before, he’d come to theoutskirts of Lermian, which he took awide detour around, of course. But themere proximity of the Lorelien city andthe congregation of travelers near itwere enough to unsettle him for a while.

He experienced a moment of hesitation,asking himself what he was doing there.Dekades away from Ipsen and the kids,and likely running straight into danger.Fortunately it passed as quickly as it

came, his sense of duty having won out.He had to see the heirs, to warn them.They were his only friends.He packed up his things, checked the

straps on his bags, and ran.

Yan couldn’t help but feel awkwardand unconfident with Leti as hispassenger; after all, he had only mounteda horse twice in his whole life. Corennnoticed and gave him some advice tohelp him get properly situated, whileGrigan, exasperated, made his horsestamp impatiently. He practically lived

on horseback and was an accomplishedrider. He had a hard time understandinghow someone could be so clumsy.They set off at a slow, steady trot. As

they moved along, the man in blackfrequently rode out ahead of the group toscout the horizon from the top of anysignificant rise in the trail. Leti restedher cheek against her friend’s back andeventually nodded off. Yan felt a pridethat he knew was childish andundeserved, to be traveling with hisbeloved in unknown lands, like a valiantknight with his princess.But it was far from being a pleasure

ride; there was more than one shadow inthe picture.He began a conversation with Corenn,

in a low voice.“You said that Grigan saved your lives,

didn’t you? What happened?”Corenn sighed and reflected before

answering.“There are men who want to kill us.

Not just some isolated clan, but anorganized group. They’re called the Zuukillers. Have you heard of them?”“No.”“They’re part of a religious sect, the

Hand of Zuia. Have you heard of Zuia?”Yan remembered reading something

that sounded similar, in one of the fewbooks that passed through his hands, buthe hadn’t been sure how to pronounce it.“It’s an island in the Sea of Fire, isn’t

it?”

“That’s right. And it’s also the name ofthe inhabitants’ chief goddess. She’s ajudiciary goddess, whom you mustappear before once her messengers havedelivered her sentence…”

Corenn broke off, her eyes troubled.She must have recalled some verypainful events. Yan was prepared toleave her to her reverie, but shecontinued with her explanation, making avisible effort to control herself.

“In reality, the messengers are nothingmore than assassins that anyone can hireby making an offering to the cult. But theZuu explain it by invoking predestinationand divine will: if someone pays for thedeath of another, Zuia is the one whocondemns the second through the voice

of the first. I swear, they’re completelyconvinced.”

Yan remained pensive for a momentbefore responding. “Why wouldsomeone want to kill Leti? And you, Imean?”

“We’re unsure of the real reason. Allwe know is it appears that someone istrying to eliminate all of the heirs.”

Yan didn’t say anything.“You know who the heirs are, don’t

you? Leti must have spoken to you aboutthem?”

“To be honest, we never talk about it.The secret is sacred to her. All I know isthat it has something to do with yourancestors.”

“In light of the circumstances, I think

it’s best that you know everything.”Corenn told him the story of Nol and

the emissaries, their descendants, thegatherings on the Day of the Owl, and ofthe lingering mystery surrounding theadventure, forgotten by almost everyone.It did her some good to share thesethings that she hardly ever spoke aboutwith strangers.

Yan, fascinated by the tale, nowunderstood Leti and her respect fortradition much better. He felt even closerto her, but at the same time more distant.He wasn’t one of the famous heirs.

Corenn ended her story with the newsof her friends’ brutal deaths, her franticride to Eza, and their journey up untiltheir encounter with Grigan and the

assassins.“Grigan is a descendant of Rafa

Derkel. The three Zuu that attacked uswere initially after him, in Benelia. Butthey didn’t find him, and in the end hewas the one who followed them to theirnext target.”Corenn went silent.“We would have died yesterday.”It seemed that she wanted to draw the

conversation to a close. Yan waitedpatiently at her side in silence for amoment, and then rode ahead to thewarrior.“Corenn just told me what happened.

How did you manage to escape the Zuuin Benelia?”Grigan stared at him curiously, making

Yan feel awkward.“Do you suspect me of something?”“No, of course not!” he exclaimed.

“I’m just curious.”The warrior paused to gauge the

fisherman’s sincerity.“The Zuu aren’t the only ones who

want my hide. If I didn’t constantlywatch my back, I would have been deadlong ago.”He left Yan there, and took his horse off

at a gallop toward the crest of the nexthill.He really was an odd character. They

were lucky to have him, Yan thought.Corenn caught back up to him, smiling.

“I don’t know what you said to him, butremember, if you annoy him, he’ll hurt

you!” she said, pulling a face andimitating Grigan’s accent.Yan returned her smile. Fortunately, not

all of his companions were like thetaciturn warrior. Otherwise their ridewould seem a lot longer.It suddenly dawned on him that he

didn’t even know where they wereheaded.“Are we fleeing aimlessly, or do we

actually have a destination?”“No, we’re not on the run. If we were,

we would be going the other way,” saidthe Mother, pointing west. “We have totry to meet up with the other heirs.Maybe one of them has some importantinformation. And we’ll go from there.”“How will we find the others?”

He guessed as soon as he asked.“Of course. Berce. Your usual meeting

spot. That’s where all the survivors willgo.”Corenn nodded.Yan continued, “I suppose you’ve

already thought of this, but if the killersare as well-informed and effective asyou say, won’t they also come to thesame conclusion and be waiting for usthere?”“Yes, certainly. Unfortunately, it’s the

best solution we have. We’ll make itwork.”Yan’s expression went grim. There was

bound to be a lot of making things workover the next few days. It’s not that hewas against a little bit of adventure, but

he was hardly thrilled at the prospect ofheading straight into the lion’s den.

“Do you think we’ll manage to meet upwith many others?”

“I hope so. I would hate to discoverthat we’re the only three left. But lookingover my list…”

She didn’t finish her sentence. Theyjust stared at each other in silence.

“How many of you are there? I mean,how many of you were there before?”

“I don’t know exactly. Maybe seventyor eighty, but there must have been somebirths over the past three years. And noteveryone came to the gatherings, farfrom it. I can’t place a face to nearly halfof them. Furthermore, I’m sure some areeven ignorant of their entire history. Xan

had hoped to bring everyone togetherthis year, something that hasn’t beendone in a long time.”

Yan made a quick mental calculation.“There still aren’t too many of you. If

you estimate two children pergeneration, for a little more than acentury, there can hardly be more than ahundred of you.”

“Yes, that’s true. Perhaps it’s better thatway, given the circumstances.”

“And how many are dead?”“According to my list, thirty-one adults

and children.”Corenn swallowed painfully, then

turned away.“But it is certainly incomplete.”Yan didn’t question her further. In spite

of her efforts to control herself, it wasobvious that the Mother was again on theverge of tears.

And he too took some time tocontemplate the weight of thecircumstances.

They stopped for lunch at the top of ahill, where they could survey thecomings and goings of riders on theroad. Grigan isolated himself from thegroup, sitting under the trees, and spentthe whole time scanning the horizon. Letilooked much better; a bit of sleep, evenon horseback, had done her good. Theyexchanged few words and were soonback on the road, Grigan’s anxietyhaving infected them all.

Leti rode with Corenn. Even though he

could handle his horse more easily now,Yan regretted the absence of his belovedleaning against his back. But they had toalternate, in order to keep both mountsfresh.The rest of the day was going to be

monotonous; Yan was completely sure ofit after they’d covered a few leagueswith no trouble. Since none of hiscompanions were speaking—all of themlost in thought—Yan decided to stifle hisimpatience and observe the landscape.But he quickly grew weary of the manyplants covering the horizon, ones thatcould easily be found close to Eza. So italmost pleased him to see Grigan returnsomewhat agitated from one of hisreconnaissance patrols.

“A horseman’s catching up to us, at aswift gallop. He’s wearing a priest’srobe.”“A red robe?” Leti asked in an acid

tone.“No. But that doesn’t mean anything.”“Do you think it’s a Zu?”“No, I don’t think so. They travel in

groups, most of the time. But I wouldn’tbet my life on it.”“Are you certain that the three who

attacked you yesterday are dead?” Yaninterjected.“Deader than the kings of Lermian,”

responded the warrior with a frighteninggrin. “Even if I’m never the first toattack, I don’t leave my enemies alive.It’s a basic rule of survival.”

Yan had a vision of Grigan sadisticallycutting the throats of dying men, as theypleaded and screamed. He banished thethought, horrified. He certainly wantedto believe that he would strike to kill ina battle.“What do you suggest we do?” Corenn

asked.“We hide. One should always avoid

combat when one can.”“So, we have to hide like this every

time we see somebody?”Three surprised faces turned toward

Leti. Her tone had been almost angry.“No, of course not,” her aunt responded

in a soothing tone. “But, for now, it’s thebest thing to do. There’s no need to takeany risks, our lives are at stake, after all.

You understand, don’t you?”“It’s just a passing horseman,” Leti

retorted, sulking. “Even if he is a Zu,he’s alone. Grigan could kill himeasily.”“Do you even know what you’re

saying?”The young girl didn’t answer. Perhaps

she really had gone too far.Grigan shook his head while leading

the group to take cover in the trees,where they dismounted. Corenn tried tomake her niece think more sensiblyabout the situation.“The trail we’re on is the fastest way to

get from Kaul to Lorelia; actually, it’sjust about the only one. The Zuu willinevitably patrol it, if they suspect we’re

headed for Berce, don’t you see?”“Yes, yes,” blurted the young girl,

exasperated but not convinced.“We’re not going to have to hide all the

time; we’re only doing so now becausethere’s a distinct possibility that thehorseman is one of the assassins huntingus. Once we’ve passed Benelia, we’llbe able to breath a lot easier. They can’tkeep a watch on all the Lorelien routes,at least not without using hundreds ofmen.”

“Lady Corenn, you’ve understood thesituation perfectly. Of course, I expectednothing less from you.”

“Thank you, Master Grigan.”Yan kept out of the conversation, and

certainly didn’t allow himself to take

sides. The last thing he needed was toget mixed up in an argument.Unfortunately, he was sure that one orthe other was going to ask his opinion onthe matter.

“Take your bow and follow me,”Grigan said. “Leti, if you’ve finishedyour tantrum, try to calm this horsedown, please.”

“Where are you going? I want to comewith you.”

The warrior didn’t respond as heturned toward the trail. Yan shot anapologetic and resigned glance towardLeti and followed Grigan.

Leti had never been so humiliated. Shewas filled with so much rage, she felt asthough she could tear down a tree with

her bare hands.She went to see the rebellious horse

and silenced it with just a look. Thepoor animal had the good sense to obey.

Leti paced about for a while, and thencouldn’t take it anymore, letting heranger course through her.

“Aunt Corenn! I respect Grigan, I’mhappy to have him with us, and I knowthat we owe our lives to him. But doesthat give him the right to treat us likeincompetent, useless fools?”

She paused for a moment beforecontinuing.

“How can you stand him? You, awoman, a Mother of the PermanentCouncil?”

She regretted this final retort before

even having finished it. But it was toolate: Corenn, always levelheaded, thequeen of diplomacy, capable offorgiving many things, fixed Leti with astern look. Then came the sermon.“Leti, have you ever been hunted

before?”“No,” responded the young girl,

embarrassed.“Have you ever taken on the

responsibility of protecting peoples’lives?”“No. No.”“What do you know about hiding? What

experience do you have with danger? Doyou even know how to fight?”“No, I don’t know how to fight, I’ve

never killed anyone, and I’ve never

eaten raw jellyfish either. So there!”“Grigan, unfortunately for him, has

experienced and still experiences all ofthose horrors. Furthermore, heinvariably acts in the interest of ourwell-being, and we must trust him.”“I’m not saying otherwise! It’s just,

why did he ask Yan to help him and notme?”“That has nothing to do with you. It’s

due to his education, his convictions.For him, as for any native of the LowerKingdoms, women should not fight. Andif I were you, I would immediately giveup any effort to change his mind.”“But that’s stupid! There are women in

the Matriarchy’s army with the sametitles as men, who do just as well as

them!”“You think so? There are some female

captains, sure, maybe even a goodnumber of female warriors. But are theyreally as effective?”Leti was appalled. All of her education

was based on equality between thesexes, even a certain femininesuperiority. And here the Guardian ofTraditions herself was telling her theopposite.“You agree with him.” Leti finally

understood.“In some ways. I have known Grigan

for a long time, and I trust him. I’mhappy to give him responsibility for oursafety.”But Leti wasn’t done yet.

“Well, I think he’s wrong. A womancan certainly do just as well as a man forwhat amounts to stupidly swingingswords around.”Corenn preferred to drop the subject.

The conversation was taking a turn thatshe didn’t like at all. She definitelydidn’t need the only remaining memberof her family to get it in her head that itwas a good idea to face professionalassassins one-on-one.

Yan and Grigan took up position at theedge of the forest, where they had anexcellent view of the trail. The riderwas closing in and would be gallopingpast them soon.He was a middle-aged man, dressed in

modest priest’s clothes. Besides his

haste, nothing about his behavior wasparticularly suspicious. Yan was sure hewasn’t after them.

“Nock an arrow and be ready.”Grigan had stuck his curved blade in

the ground in front of him and wasstraining to draw a bow that was evenbigger than Yan’s. The fisherman wouldhave liked to wait and watch thewarrior, but he didn’t want to givehimself away. He pulled an arrow fromhis quiver, laid flat on his stomach, andtried his best to nock it.

The man in black watched him indisbelief.

“Not on the ground! What are youdoing!”

Yan quickly jumped to his feet and tried

to play it off nonchalantly. He couldn’tlet Grigan realize that he had never useda bow before.

He studied his companion out of thecorner of his eye and did his best toimitate him. Hold the arrow betweentwo fingers, keep a straight arm…Itlooked easy enough.

“Only shoot if I do. Then reloadimmediately and wait for my orders.”

Grigan followed the rider with hisarrow for at least 120 yards, until hedisappeared from view around a bend inthe path. But it wasn’t until the poundingof the hooves was nearly inaudible thathe released the tension in his bow. Yandid exactly the same.

“There, to the left, shoot!” the warrior

yelled, practically in his ear.Yan pivoted while drawing the bow,

searched for his target, and thinking hefound it, released the arrow. Thebowstring scraped the length of his innerarm while the arrow slid comicallystraight to the ground. He feverishlydarted his gaze here and there among thebushes, not seeing anything.

On the other hand, he clearly felt astrong whack on his noggin from Grigan.

“You’ve never touched a bow in yourlife, have you? Just try to tell meotherwise!”

Yan straightened, angry and upset. Hefelt his face redden like a lubilee fruit,all the more upset at being so easy toread.

“You’re crazy! You scared me! Thatwas dangerous, you know. I could havekilled someone!”“It isn’t dangerous if you know how to

handle your weapon,” argued thewarrior, unruffled. “You shouldn’t havelied to me.”Grigan’s calm tone and logical

argument melted Yan’s anger like snowin the sun. But not his shame. He felt likea small child caught lying to his mother.“I would much rather like to know

where we actually stand. If we reallyhad needed to defend ourselves, itwould have been dangerous for you, forme, and the others.”“All right, all right. I admit I was

wrong.”

“Good. I consider the conversationfinished. Now, let’s see what can bedone with you.”He went to retrieve the arrow and

explained in a few sentences the properarcher’s position and followed it upwith a practical demonstration. Yanlistened attentively, then shot again at thewarrior’s request.The result was satisfactory: the arrow

flew straight, without the string burninghis arm.“Good. That’s it. Now all you need to

do is learn to aim, and for that, I’m of nouse to you.”“I’m going to train so diligently you

won’t even have to worry about drawingyour bow,” Yan joked, displaying his

eagerness.They returned to their little makeshift

camp. Yan still felt somewhat foolishand ashamed, but his trust in Grigan hadgrown. In the end, the aloof warrior hadonly one concern: to keep them out ofharm’s way.Leti shouted violently at them upon

their return.“You were gone quite a while! What

happened?”“Nothing, everything’s fine.”The warrior had no wish to waste time

with unnecessary explanations.“Grigan showed me how to draw a

bow. It’s more difficult than I thought,but it’s not too bad once you’ve got thehang of it.”

“Glad to hear it. I hope you have funwith your man’s toy.”She left him standing there.Yan was dumbfounded. He had gotten

into arguments with Leti before, but upuntil then he always knew why. Whathad gotten into her?Perhaps she was angry because he had

taken an interest in a weapon? An objectmade to kill. That must be it; she scornedmen because they only had a mind fordestroying one another.No, that didn’t add up. Earlier, she was

the one who suggested Grigan rid themof the rider without further ado.He went to go after her, to talk, but

decided against it. What could he tellher? When she was in this state, all

attempts at reconciliation were useless.It was best to wait for things to settledown. Leti was still in emotional shockfrom the recent events, and she wasn’tthinking clearly.

He could only hope that she would getover it as soon as possible.

“Rey! Hey, Rey, is tha’ you? Rey!”Reyan muttered one of his vilest curses.

Now that he had successfully gotten outof Lorelia without causing a stir, nowthat he had followed the entire length ofthe Gisland River all the way to Pont,now that he had almost left the kingdomwith complete discretion, now someidiot screamed his name at the top of hislungs in the middle of the street.

Reyan waved discreetly and went to

meet him. Since someone had alreadyspotted him, best to avoid drawing moreattention to himself by reacting strangely,like feigning deafness or running away.

It really bothered him that he wasrecognized so easily. He had spent a fairamount of time conceiving aninconspicuous disguise, using all hisactor’s talents to choose clothing thatmade him appear older, taller, and lessLorelien. Well, it’s true he hadn’t goneall the way and used makeup, nohairpiece or shading could hold for thewhole trip. He would do better nexttime.

He was happy enough to be able to takethese old rags. When he awoke Barle,three nights earlier, Reyan was scared

for a moment that his troupe leaderwould finish the job started by the Zu.But after a long critique on the good-for-nothing troublemakers, the entertainers,the jokers, the revelers, whom Barle hadsworn he would never allow to join hiscaravan, all of this in a voice muchlouder than usual, Barle had agreed tohelp the young actor. He had given himclothing, food, and without Reyan evenasking—he hadn’t yet been paid—a fullpurse filled with gold terces, under thesole condition that he return one day toperform with them and, of course, toreimburse him.

Barle and the rest of the troupeimmediately began packing up andheaded for Partacle, hoping to lure

Reyan’s potential—even likely—pursuers.

But all these efforts would be fruitlessif he got himself caught thanks to somemoron who kept wildly waving his armsat him. What was his name again? Tiric?Iryc? Rey hurried over to him.

“Do you really need to yell my name inthe street like that? I’m not deaf,” hesaid, trying to hide his anger.

“Ye’ need to lay low, eh? I git ya.”Rey stared at him without saying

anything. The man was visibly verysatisfied with the impression he made.He offered Rey a mocking smile,revealing a set of yellowish, rotten teeth.His clothes were filthy, his hair dirty,and his breath suggested a weakness for

cheap wine, drunk by the goblet.How did he know him again? Rey

remembered drinking with him and afew other drunkards, but couldn’tremember on which occasion—meaningin which pub—he had met him the firsttime. If he were being honest, Rey knewhundreds of names and thousands offaces just like his. What did this one dofor a living again?The hideous man waddled back and

forth, looking ridiculous but very sure ofhimself, hands in his pockets.“Old chum, I don’ know wha’ you did,

but you’re definitely most sought after‘round here,” he continued. “The Guild’sofferin’ two hundred terces for ye’ head.But ye’ knew tha’ already, didn’ ye’?”

The Guild. That meant he really wasdone for. If the Zuu were ready to hirethe services of organized crime to findhim, he really had to leave the kingdomas soon as possible. He wouldn’t be safeanywhere in Lorelia.“Darlane had even said tha’ if we didn’

find ye’ before Safrost’s men, there’d besome blood between the gangs. The guysare whisperin’ that Darlane’s so scaredto botch this contract that he’s evenready to say to hell with the Grand Guildagreements. Old chum, there’re somepeople who want ye’ dead, that’s forsure.”Salfrost? Rey had heard of him before.

Wasn’t he the alleged chief of theGoranese Guild?

“But really, don’ worry, we’re friends,like brothers. It’s not me who’ll dropye’, even fer all tha’ gold. Ye’ knowme.”Not that well, actually. I hardly know

you at all, rat face. You work for theGuild.Rey glanced around. It didn’t seem as

though someone were going to sneak upbehind him to stab him in the back. Still,best not to try his luck much longer.“Well, you understand I must leave you

now. Thanks for the information. Maybewe’ll see each other again someday,”Reyan said, hoping to rid himself of Iryc.“Wait! Maybe I can ‘elp ye’. Tell me

where ye’re goin’, I’ll tell ‘em you wentthe other way.”

“I’m going to Romine. Try to send themtoward Goran. And if you really want todo me a favor…”He grabbed a dozen terces from his

bag.“It would be really helpful if you could

buy me a horse and a little food. Nowthat I know all this, I can’t allow myselfto be spotted. All you have to do is bringeverything to me at the Pont Inn, youknow where that is? I’ll be waiting foryou there, tonight.”Iryc smiled from ear to ear, pocketing

the money.“I’m good for it. See ye’ t’night.”“That’s right, see you tonight.”They separated and Rey went down an

alley, quickly split down another one,

then yet another. He stopped around thecorner and waited for a good while,dagger in hand, muscles tense. But noone had followed him. The terces earnedthe brute’s trust.

There’s no way he would be at that inntonight. If Iryc pocketed the money andkept quiet, all the better. If he camethrough for the meeting, well, then hewould have earned himself a horse. Andif he were a dirty traitor, his bosseswould make him pay for his stupidity intheir own way.

No matter what happened, Rey neededto devise a new plan: there was nolonger any point in trying to lay low, nomatter where he was. The Zuu and theGrand Guild combined, that made far too

many enemies for him alone.He had to find the other heirs.He got on the road to Berce that same

day.

“We must not be far from Jerval. We’llhave to take some precautionarymeasures.”

Yan regarded the warrior from theLower Kingdoms curiously. If Griganwanted to take precautions, that couldonly mean major changes to the smallgroup’s ride, which until then had beenuneventful.

“What’s Jerval like? A big city?”“Not really, no. It’s quite the opposite,

actually, compared to the royal Loreliencities. But we’d better not take anychances.”

“We need a fourth horse,” Corennreminded them. “I think it would be amistake to go around the village.”

“I absolutely agree, especially sincethe detour would cause a useless delay.”

“So, what do you have in mind?”“We’re going to separate. Temporarily,

of course,” added the warrior, noting hiscompanions’ surprised looks.

“Well, what do you have in mind?”“You, Lady Corenn, along with your

niece, will go through the village first. Iwill follow you, one hundred yardsbehind. Don’t go too quickly, I don’twant to lose sight of you. Pass throughtown without making it look as thoughyou’re in a hurry, simple as that. Answerif you are spoken to, but don’t strike up

any conversations.”“And me? What do I do?” asked Yan.“You’ll give your horse to Leti. Wait

until we’re out of sight, then follow usinto town on foot and buy another horse.If things turn sour for us, clear outimmediately. Otherwise, everythingshould be fine, since the Zuu don’t knowwho you are.”“I could be wrong, but if the goal of all

this scheming is to pass by unnoticed, itwon’t work. When a rider goes throughour village, he can act however he likes,but everyone will still stare him downregardless. He’d be the only topic ofconversation that day.”“Not in Jerval. It’s the first little town

in Lorelia after crossing the Kaulien

border. Riders go through daily, like theone we saw earlier, for example. Afterall, Benelia is only a day’s ride away;the villagers aren’t going to raise theirheads every time someone passesthrough.”“What should we do if we’re

attacked?” asked Leti, challengingly.“Gallop on without turning back. I’ll

catch up to you after taking care of thesuicidal maniacs who dared to put me ina bad mood. Clear?”Leti didn’t answer. Yes, it was clear,

Grigan didn’t allow his orders to bequestioned.The warrior gave some terces to Yan.“You’re from a farm not far away.

You’ve only come to buy a horse for

your father and you must returnimmediately and be back beforenightfall. Barter a little, to mislead them,but don’t take more than a deciday.”“How much does a horse usually sell

for?”“Seven or eight silver terces, in

general. Agree to nine and your man willhave no problem believing you’re astupid farm boy. You think you’ll be ableto play the role?” added the warrior,ironically.Yan looked up and stared at him, a little

miffed. By Eurydis! Grigan wasgrinning! So he could be a little humanon occasion.Yan smiled back. The joke was a bit

harsh, but the warrior was making an

effort for once.“Buy something to eat too,” Corenn

requested. “Cheese, bread, some meat. Aproper meal will do us good.”“All right.”“Try to buy everything from one place.

There’s no use letting the whole villagememorize your face.”“Yes.”“And catch up to us quickly.”“Yes. Is that all? This all seems rather

complicated for going through such adangerous village.”“This is serious, Yan. We may all end

up dead within the next centiday. Try notto forget that.”“Thanks for the encouragement.”They stopped shortly after, to let Leti

mount Yan’s horse. Then she and heraunt set off. Grigan was just about toleave, too, when Yan stopped him.

“Hey…if all this turns out to be someplot to get rid of me, I won’t think it’sfunny at all.”

The warrior turned to him, lookinghonestly offended.

“I said you could come with us, soyou’re coming. I’m not in the habit ofgoing back on my word.”

He urged his horse to a slow trot, thenturned over his shoulder with a smileand shouted, “In any case, you’re the onebringing the food!”

Yan was more than reassured.Apparently, Grigan had fully acceptedhim as part of the group.

He set out at a quick pace toward thelittle village. He missed his companionsalready.

Despite strong motivation, it took Yanquite a while to get to Jerval. It was alittle too late now, but they should haveseparated much closer to the littlevillage. He could have at least avoidedanother forced march.

Relieved, he saw that everythinglooked calm; he could tell from thedistant silhouettes that the others hadpassed through with no problem.Luckily.

For the first time in his life, Yan wasn’tin the Matriarchy. Interested, his eyessearched in all directions trying tocommit this new landscape to memory.

But it turned out that Jerval was a lotlike Eza, and he was fairly disappointed.The inhabitants were dressed in adifferent way, and the architecture wasdifferent. That was all.

In fact, all the Upper Kingdom’svillages must look alike, and after all,this one was only a two-day ride fromhis own. Benelia, Lorelia—the big citieswould be a real change.

He approached a group of childrenwho were playing with wooden swordsand asked them where he could buy ahorse. They stared at him blankly.Curses, he had spoken in Kauli withoutrealizing it. He asked the question againin Ithare, hoping that these kids hadreceived their education from the

Eurydian priests.Their faces lit up, and they dragged him

to an alley where there was a paddock.A bald, portly man came to meet him andstarted a conversation with him in abusinesslike tone.The deal was quick. Yan chose a horse,

his only criterion being its color;unfortunately, he wasn’t an expert on thesubject. Then he bargained a little toagree on a price of nine terces for theanimal and a basic harness. The youngman didn’t even have to use his preparedlies; the breeder couldn’t care less whathe was going to do with his horse.Yan asked the oldest child who was

still following him to go fetch the othergoods he needed. He gave him three

silver terces and a promise to leave hima share. The boy left running, with therest of the group behind him.The breeder brought out the chosen

harness and let the horse out of thepaddock. Yan turned the straps everywhich way, trying awkwardly to attachthem to the animal, which shook them offeach time. The merchant finally gave hima hand, shaking his head with anexasperated look.Finally the horse was ready, and Yan

stroked its neck while waiting for thekids. They were taking quite a while. Hemoved toward the end of the alley andlooked down the main road. A little onebolted when he saw Yan.All right. He had learned something

today: Lorelien children were notnecessarily honest.He bought his own goods with the

money he had left, loaded up his horse,and climbed on. He was relieved that itlet him. Then he directed his new horsetoward the village.Laughter came from a side street. Yan

leaned over to look down the street andsaw some of the kids pointing at him,bent double with laughter. He squintedand pointed right back at them, making asnake hiss, as if he were casting someterrible curse on them. The kids’ eyesgrew wide and they scattered. Yan waspleasantly surprised at how effective itwas.He rejoined Grigan, Corenn, and Leti

less than a half league outside thevillage.“Well, apparently everything went

well,” Grigan commented.“Are you kidding? I was attacked by a

gang of young ogres who would haveeaten me alive if I hadn’t used mycourage and wit to escape.”“Right, that’s it.”“There were at least twenty of them,

armed with knives a foot long, and drooldripped from their poisonous teeth andfoul-smelling mouths.”“Sure. Come on, let’s go.”“Their bloodshot eyes glared at me

with murderous intent, and I reallythought my time had come, whensuddenly the one who must have been

their leader raised his arm to the sky andbroke into song. The others joined insoon after: The crab and the lobster gotwo by two, the crab and the lobsternever feel blue…”

“Isn’t that a nursery rhyme?”“Yeah, I didn’t get why they were

singing it either.”Even Leti, who was intent on

continuing her moping, laughed alongwith them.

Grigan didn’t decide to stop until afterthe sixth deciday, almost nightfall. Asusual, he guided the small caravan offthe path, toward a little forest that theyhad happened upon. They crossed aclearing, continued on to a second, and itwasn’t until they came to a third that the

warrior gave the go-ahead to set upcamp, only after first scouting thesurroundings.

They ate before anything else, ashunger was gnawing at their stomachs.By the time they finished eating, they allfelt lethargic, exhaustion from their rideand the poor sleep from the night beforemaking themselves known.

Yan had started putting together arudimentary bed for the night whenGrigan interrupted.

“We’d better pitch a tent for tonight. Idon’t trust the color in the sky. Iwouldn’t be surprised if we get rainedon.”

“Cursed, I’m cursed. First ogres, andnow rain.”

Gathering his strength, he took it onhimself to set up the two tents they had:Grigan’s and Corenn’s. He was going tosleep with the man in black; undernormal circumstances, that might haveannoyed him a little, but tonight he didn’tgive a margolin’s ass about it, as long ashe could sleep.

Soon, everyone was in bed except forGrigan, who said he wanted to keep anight watch for a while and attend to thehorses. Yan wondered if he ever tired.He admitted to himself again that it wasreassuring to have Grigan there. As forYan, he fell asleep immediately.

He awoke a few decidays later, in themiddle of the night. The warrior lay byhis side, and silently turned over in his

sleep. Yan hadn’t even heard him comein.A scattered rain was falling on the

outer canvas, and a light wind flutteredthe fabric, slack in areas.Yan shifted onto his back and tried to

fall back asleep. The pain in the nape ofhis neck, where Grigan had hit him thenight before, had returned. He massagedit a bit, which didn’t bring much relief.Since the pain was keeping him fromdozing off, he let his thoughts wander, ashe was wont to do.At that time just the night before, he

was struggling his way through the thickbrush of the Kaulien shrubland. Now hewas in Lorelia, sharing a tent with astranger who had almost killed him.

Where would he be tomorrow? Andafter that?Although the circumstances hardly lent

themselves to happiness, he was gladthat these events had disrupted hisroutine life. But it was also true that hehadn’t yet encountered any real dangers,unlike Leti, Corenn, and Grigan.Were there really people out to kill

them? Despite his companions’ accounts,he had a hard time believing it. Whatcould these Zuu killers be like? Basedon the description Corenn gave, heimagined them as being very tall andstrong, with sadistic eyes, dressed inplain tunics stained with blood. And, ofcourse, all of them were armed withpoisoned daggers, injecting venom into

their pleading victims, like a cold-hearted snake.He could now picture a man dressed in

red leather perfectly. All he could seewas his back, then very slowly, heturned around. Horrified, the young manrecognized his face: the Zu was noneother than Grigan!Yan awoke with a start.He had managed to get back to sleep

after all. But what a nightmare…The back of his neck hurt more than

ever and he felt a little feverish. Anxiety,due to the realistic aspects of his dream,surely.He decided to go out for a little walk.

He cautiously rose to his knees andslowly made for the tent flap.

A hand clasped his calf, and hecouldn’t contain a yelp of surprise.“Where are you going?”The warrior’s voice didn’t even sound

sleepy. Yan tried hard to regain his calm.“I can’t sleep. I’m just going out for

some fresh air.”“Don’t go far,” Grigan ordered as he

released the boy. “And don’t light afire.”“No, no, of course not,” Yan answered,

annoyed.The warrior had really startled him.The cool night air and the drizzle

calmed him down. He massaged his neckagain, then paced about at random,ending up near the horses. Grigan hadbuilt a makeshift shelter for the animals

out of a few branches and had alsogathered some feed. Yan hadn’t eventhought of that. He had so much to learn:look after the horses, use a bow andarrow, develop a sense of direction, andlots of other things. He, who had alwayswanted to travel, was beginning torealize he’d never get very far on hisown.

Even though he was anxious to learn touse a bow and arrow, he hoped hewould never really have to shootsomeone.

However, if someone went after Leti…That reminded him. What day was it?

Yan was far from knowing his calendarby heart, and he imagined the same wentfor his companions. But that was fine,

after all. The name of the day didn’tmatter that much, so long as he didn’tforget that it was the ninth day before theDay of the Promise.

Up until now, things hadn’t been goingso well. Leti was really shaken by recentevents, and Yan hoped she would feelbetter soon. He was apprehensiveenough before all of this, but now he’dnever be able to ask her if her mooddidn’t improve.

The rain began to penetrate his clothes,and he quickly made his way back to thetent. He had to force himself to sleep alittle: the coming days were likely to beexhausting.

Maz Lana held her breath as she pushedopen the front door to the little isolated

farmhouse. She knew it had beenuninhabited for several dekades, butstill, she was more or less expecting tocome face-to-face with one of its formerresidents. Or the former resident’scorpse.

The house belonged to the Rominebranch of her family, which she hadnever known, descendants of the sameMaz Achem as she.

She had been looking for them since theday after she arrived at the Mestebetemple, and with patience she haddiscovered the place where the wiseemissary had spent his final years.

She wasn’t surprised to learn that herdistant cousins had recently beenassassinated for no apparent reason.

Surprised, no. Saddened, yes. Thetragedy merely confirmed her fears.The door was blocked; locked, maybe.

Lana circled the house, hoping to findanother entry, but there was none, unlessperhaps through the roof.The priestess quickly rejected this

idea, unable to imagine herself scaling awall. There was only one thing to do.She grabbed a heavy stone and began

hammering away at the wood, praying toEurydis that no one would catch her. Nofool, she had been sure to keep herrelationship to the victims a secret andhad no wish to blow her cover by beingcaught breaking in.The lock finally gave, and Lana broke

the door open, splitting the stile close to

the lock with a few of the strongestshoulder blows she could deliver—which wasn’t much.Breathless, she examined the house. It

was all dark. Hideously, horribly dark.Under normal circumstances, she wouldnever have entered.But these weren’t normal

circumstances.She mustered her courage and walked

in with determination. She headedstraight for a sealed-up skylight and setabout removing the boards the same wayshe had opened the door. Her crashingblows echoed violently within the stonewalls, and she began bashing faster andharder, allowing panic to overwhelmher.

Once the skylight was cleared, theroom became sufficiently lit.Lana gave herself some time to rest and

think. What she was looking for certainlywasn’t in this room, which served asboth a living and dining room. But shecouldn’t lose hope. The few pieces offurniture still in the room were in a sorrystate. The aftermath of a looting,perhaps? Or a fight between her cousinsand the Zuu. Or both.Lana felt the anguish and tears

returning. Ith was so far away! And morethan that, she was so alone, facing eventsshe didn’t understand, facing situationstoo dangerous for her, facing violence…She went back outside to collect her

thoughts. The house’s morbid

atmosphere was getting to her. After ashort prayer for strength andencouragement, she felt a little better andresumed her investigation.She was looking for something,

something very important. Somethingvital. It was certainly worth a bit ofsuffering.So she searched the cottage inside and

out, clearing the boarded-up windows ineach room she entered. As she searched,she tried her best not to think of thesecousins she didn’t know. To avoid, forexample, thinking about whom those toysbelonged to, or who had bought them.She didn’t want to imagine them livingtheir daily lives, and to admit, finally,that she regretted not having known her

own family.As time went by, she felt her hopes

diminishing. Reluctantly, she finallyconcluded that the object was not here.No longer here.

If it even existed. Which she stilldoubted.

There was only one way to know forsure. To know everything.

She abandoned the small cottage aftershe prayed to Eurydis for her cousins’rest. Then she shook most of the dust offher clothes, and mounted her horse toreturn to Mestebe.

The things she planned to do to uncoverthe truth demanded a lot of preparation,both physical and spiritual.

After all, she could end up dead.

Yan awoke shortly before dawn.Grigan was already up. Again, the youngman hadn’t even heard him; it wasalmost irritating.

He threw on some plain clothes and leftthe tent. The sky was gray and overcast:it was going to be a rainy day.

The warrior was nowhere in sight, butthat certainly wasn’t a reason to worry.Corenn and Leti’s tent was still closedup. After the emotional night before, Yanhoped they had managed to get a goodnight’s sleep.

He usually went for a swim in themorning if it was nice out, or if not, hewould just rinse himself off using thewater basin in the house. Then he wouldjoin Leti for a small breakfast before

tending to his daily tasks.As for washing up, things didn’t look

promising. At least he would probablybe able to find something for breakfast.To his delight, only a few yards into thewoods, he happened upon a younglubilee tree whose fruit, though a littlesparse, would be just the thing. Letiloved these sweet, nourishing oblongfruits, from which Norine used to make adelicious liqueur.

Not long after, he stumbled across anabandoned vorvan nest that stillharbored three eggs. Two others hadbeen cracked open and sucked dry,perhaps by a scavenging blackbird,which would explain the nest beingdeserted. Yan collected the eggs, hoping

Grigan would allow him to light a smallfire. Raw eggs weren’t his favorite.

Finally, he found a hazelnut tree, whosebranches he picked bare. No one wouldeat any for breakfast, but he had neverbeen able to pass by a hazelnut treewithout collecting a sackful.

As he returned to camp, he noticed theLorelien forest’s richness. A walk inSouthern Kaul’s brushland would havebeen far less fruitful.

Grigan was back as well. He was busysealing the waterskins he had left outovernight. They were now full ofrainwater.

I should have thought of that, Yan saidto himself. There were two wells in Eza,which provided far more water than the

two hundred or so villagers required, soit hadn’t even occurred to him that theycould be in need of water, despite thefact that he himself had installed a littlerainwater collection system in Norine’shome.

The warrior had also gone out to lookfor food, even though they still had someprovisions left from the day before. Hehad collected a bunch of pitted fruits andshot a sea pheasant. Yan was a littledisappointed that he wasn’t the only onewho thought to search for food. Heplaced his findings with the others andwent over to Grigan.

“Good morning.”The warrior looked at him, somewhat

surprised.

“Good morning to you.”“Did you sleep well?”“Yes. Thanks.”A silence fell over them. It was clear

that Grigan preferred to busy himselfwith the waterskins than to share inpolite conversation. Yan left him alone,and then, taken by a sudden wave ofinspiration, rushed over to the tent. Hecame out with the bow and arrow Griganhad entrusted to him.

He wandered away from the camp sohe wouldn’t have to endure the warrior’scritical eye and his inevitable scoffing.He stopped after a hundred or so yardsand chose a target: an odd marking, likea knot, in the bark of a distant tree.

It took him at least a milliday to draw

the bow properly and take aim. At lasthe released the string, dreading pain, theimmediate punishment for a poor shot.

The arrow flew straight, but missed thetarget by two yards, flying off into thebushes. Yan saw that he was going tolose all his arrows practicing that way.He recovered the arrow and decided ona new target: a tight cluster of young treetrunks that would stop even his worstshots.

He shot about twenty times, his greatestsuccess being an arrow that came withina foot of the target. His arm was growingtired and he was beginning to getdiscouraged. This was going to beharder than he’d thought.

“Can I try?”

Leti stood several feet behind him. Shemust have been watching his last fewshots. Yan didn’t exactly feel brilliant,especially since Leti apparently didn’ttake to the idea of him using a bow.

But on the other hand, why then wouldshe ask to try?

“By all means.”He handed the weapon over to Leti,

whose face lit up. Of course! He’d beenso stupid: she was feeling excluded bythe two men. He should have seen itsooner; Leti wasn’t the type to let herselfbe coddled.

He did his best to pass on the adviceGrigan gave him, and she took position.

“What were you aiming for?”“The slightly curved trunk, that one in

front. But it won’t stop moving,” headded with a chuckle.

Leti smiled and slowly pulled back thestring. It really was difficult. Her facetensed up, she gritted her teeth, andflexed her muscles with all her strength.But still, the bow didn’t bend much. Herstrength exhausted, she released thearrow, and it made a small leap to landflat on the ground, a dozen yards ahead.

“That’s all right,” Yan saidimmediately, to console her. “It’sbecause it’s too taut, that’s all. Weshould be able to find bows that aren’tso rigid.”

He reached out his hand to rid her ofthe weapon.

“Wait. Give me another arrow, please.”

Yan complied. In his opinion, it waspointless: she had already worn out herarm drawing the first arrow and couldonly do worse with the second.

Leti nocked the arrow, took position,and drew. Then she aimed her bow up,with the arrow practically pointingtoward the treetops. Yan thought shewasn’t strong enough and moved to helpher, but she released the arrow before hecould.

The arrow followed a curvedtrajectory and hit the targeted trunk deadon, sticking into the wood for a briefmoment before falling to the ground.

Yan stood agape, his eyes glued to thenick made by the arrow. Leti let out awild cry of joy and turned to him.

“Did you see that? I did it, Yan! I did it.I’m no worse than any man. I did it!”

As for him, the fisherman felt a lotworse. Leti really had all the talent andhe had none.

He didn’t feel jealousy, but rathergenuine admiration for the woman he sooften felt unworthy of. He examined herperfect face, her head of lush brownhair, her sparkling eyes that glowed witha zest for life, and her mouth that openedto reveal a joyful smile. She mustalways be so. Yan promised himself hewould do anything so that she would bethat way forever.

Leti went to get the arrow, which shehanded over to him with the bow.

“Here. I don’t want to start off the

morning arguing with Grigan the Grump.I have my answer, let’s go eat.”

Yan wondered what answer she wastalking about, and more importantly, towhat question. But he didn’t ask; hethought it best to try and keep her in agood mood. Besides, he didn’t want tobecome another target for her nicknames.

They enjoyed the fare they hadcollected that morning and someleftovers from the evening before.Corenn also looked better; she, who hadremained reserved all evening yesterday,was now leading the conversation andteasing the two men about their culinarytalents, which according to her werelimited to “picking something off abranch.”

Yan protested a little as a matter ofform, and even Grigan shot back one ortwo deliberately aggressive replies. Butno one took any of it seriously, and soonthey took to the road for a new day oftraveling.

A drizzling but insistent rain began tofall midmorning, near the end of thesecond deciday. They all coveredthemselves as best they could, hoping therain would stop soon. Which it did. Onlyto start again, and this time even harder.

Little by little, the trail became a roadas other trails crossed and joined it.When they came to one of the largerforks in the road, Grigan guided histroop onto the path that turned north.

“I thought Benelia was right in front of

us,” said Corenn, surprised.“True, it is. But I’d rather take a detour

and reduce the chances that the Zuu willfind us. If they’re still looking for us.They can’t possibly already know aboutthe deaths of the three others.”

“What did you do with the bodies?”Yan asked, it suddenly occurring to him.

“Left them there. If you want to live along life, never linger over a corpse.Especially in the Upper Kingdoms,”added the warrior with an enigmaticsmile.

“Did you search them?”Grigan squinted.“Why should I have searched them?”“I don’t know, maybe you could have

found a clue, or at least some items we

could have used. You weren’t tempted totake their purse, for example?” Yanfinally dared.Grigan stared at him sternly. Even

through the curtain of rain, the young mancould feel his intense gaze. Curses, hehad yet again offended the warrior’sstrange sensibilities.“That’s what you would have done?

Robbed a corpse?”Yan only had to think for a moment.“No, I don’t think so. No. Of course

not,” he declared sincerely, after amoment of thought.“Good.”Grigan looked serious. Yan promised

himself he would learn to hold histongue. He glanced over at the two

Kaulien women. Corenn was wearing aslightly amused smile, and Leti seemedannoyed, by the rain perhaps.Whatever they thought, he felt as though

he had been chastised like a little boy infront of his friends. And that hadhappened far too often recently. So,somewhat stupidly, he continued theargument, “Still, I would have searchedtheir corpses. You should have, in myopinion.”“Should we go back, then?”Sensing an argument on the horizon,

Corenn intervened.“We left the path immediately

afterwards so we wouldn’t be spotted.We couldn’t have done anything eitherway. So it’s useless to fight over it.”

“Lady Corenn, I greatly appreciate yourintelligence,” responded the warrior.“And you know what a compliment thatis, coming from a narrow-minded oldbachelor like me.”“I do understand and thank you, Master

Grigan. I hope you remember it later,when we have a difference of opinion,”she answered with a mischievous smile.“May such a day never come, for it

would see the sacrifice of my freedomfor a woman, Lady Corenn. I prefer to bewrong with you than to be right againstyou.”Yan couldn’t believe his ears. Corenn

and Grigan had completely forgottenabout him. And why were they talkinglike that? He turned to Leti to see her

reaction. The young woman waswatching her aunt and “uncle” with awide smile; he couldn’t understand why.Very well, since everyone was ignoringhim, he would ignore everyone.He didn’t last long. His good nature

kept him from pouting for very long, hisgood sense warned him against suchridiculous behavior, and, of course, noone was paying him any more attentionthan before.The little group passed a trio of

horsemen about a league after they’dturned north. Grigan didn’t give theorder to take cover; in fact, he wasn’tscouting ahead anymore either. Yansupposed they must be safer, now thatthey were on one of the many side roads.

They moved along in silence for a fewleagues, passing or being passed by anumber of pedestrians and riders. Theyeven saw an ornate wagon, pulled by sixhorses, with two uniformed men bearingan arrogant expression copied from theirpassenger—apparently a Lorelien noble.Yan followed the carriage with his eyesfor as long as he could. One never sawand would never see such splendor inKaul. Could he one day travel in such afashion?

They traveled through two villagesmuch like Jerval or Eza. Yan didn’t evenask for their names. At the end of thethird deciday, which marked the apogee,and when they were passing through yetanother village, Corenn stopped her

mount in front of a rather large building.“Grigan, what do you say we stop at

this inn? So much water’s fallen on myhead this morning that I think it will takea hundred years to dry out.”

“Lady Corenn, I’d love to indulge you,and I admit that I wouldn’t be against agoblet of wine and a hot meal in front ofa nice fire. But caution prevents me;even if we can ride safely, I fear wemust wait until Benelia before we canexpose ourselves to so many strangefaces.”

“Of course, you’re right,” Corennrecognized. “Watch over us, MasterGrigan, or I would quickly let my fatigueoverrun my good sense.”

“I doubt that could ever happen, Lady

Corenn. But it will be a great pleasure tolook after you.”

They got themselves back on the roadat a slow trot. Leti approached Yanquietly.

“Did you see that? They’re courtingone another.”

Yan hiccupped with surprise. Suddenly,the urge to laugh came over him, but itflamed out under Leti’s serious gaze.

“They aren’t courting! They’re justtalking…”

“Of course they are. Did you see howthey spoke to one another?”

Leti looked thoroughly convinced, andvery pleased to boot. Yet again, Yan felta bit stupid. What, he had to call her“Lady Leti” to make her happy? He

wasn’t against trying, if she didn’t laughin his face, as she probably would.Something escaped him. For a whilenow, a lot of things had been escapinghim.

He examined the warrior and theMother, the combatant and the diplomat,the lawless man and the Law. No, theyhad nothing in common, except their age.How could they get together? Did Letithink that Grigan was going to askCorenn for her hand on the Day of thePromise, like a shy young man asking ahesitant young woman?

The idea made Yan want to laugh again.He could imagine that fateful day withslightly less apprehension. He resolvedto think of the same thing every time the

subject tormented him. In other words,practically all the time.

They came across more and morepeople the closer they got to the river.Farmers, horsemen, merchants and theircaravans. Yan scrutinized each one ofthese unique characters with an avidcuriosity.

One of them was leading a pack ofstrange animals, a sort of cross betweena dog and a sheep. Another carried abizarre weapon, like a sword with twoblades, one on either side of the handle.And there was another leading a donkeyloaded with baskets of pink-coloredfruits. There was a group walking insingle file, their heads down, chanting afew unintelligible words—followers of

some unknown cult. A man wasencouraging his six wives to pick up thepace to avoid losing sight of his horse. Acouple of others were arguing in astrange language. That woman overthere…

“Don’t stare at people like that, Yan,”Corenn told him.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” he mumbled,“but they’re all so…strange!”

“You seem just as strange to them.Everyone seems strange through the eyesof another. But courtesy demands that weoverlook these details.”

“It’s not just a question of politeness,”Grigan added. “One of those men mighttry to start a fight with you.”

“Just because I’m looking at him?

Come on!”“Keep it up, and you’ll see. I bet before

dark you’ll hear a few insults or get apunch thrown your way.”

Yan decided not to answer. Doubtinghimself, he now watched a bit morediscreetly.

They came to the Gisland shortlybefore nightfall. There, a crowd ofseveral dozen awaited the barge thatwould take them to the other bank. Theriver was wide, and surely deep, whichexplained why no one was trying to fordit. They dismounted their horses andstretched their legs.

“It’s a little different than the Meche,”Yan told Leti.

“Pff,” Grigan condescended. “The

Meche is hardly a river at all. And eventhe Gisland here is nothing. You shouldsee the Alt.”

“I would love to,” replied the Kaulienin a distant tone. “Someday, if I can.”

Corenn called the two young ones overto her.

“Look, there, to the south. You seethose little lights? That’s Benelia.”

“It’s a lot more beautiful from here,”said Leti. “All I can remember is thestench and the filthy streets. Nothing likeKaul!”

“How would you get to Berce before?”asked Yan. “I mean, if you didn’t take thebarge?”

“We simply took a boat from Lorelia toBenelia,” answered the Mother. “But not

everyone could afford the crossing,especially if they had baggage. You haveto pay the royal tax twice on allmerchandise: once in each city. And thesmall-scale merchants would rather go alittle further upstream and take a barge,here or even a few leagues further. Fromthere, you travel by land to the VelaneseRiver, cross, and then take another roadto Lorelia. Which is what we’re going todo.”

“It must be a lot longer that way.”“It’s also a lot less risky,” interrupted

the warrior. “If I were one of the Zuu, Iwould camp out on one of the Benelianwharves and wait patiently for theopportunity to nab us. But they can’tmonitor all the comings and goings of

every barge.”The boat they were waiting for was

only halfway across, and it would be awhile before it arrived. Yan decided totake advantage of the wait and explorethe surroundings, but Grigan stopped himas soon as he turned to go.

“Where are you going?”“Just for a walk.”“Not a chance. You’re staying here.”Yan froze, undecided. He had agreed to

obey the warrior, but still, the man waspushing his luck a bit.

“I’m going too,” Leti announceddefiantly.

“Perhaps that’s not such a good idea,”said Corenn. “These people here aren’tyour friendly Kaulien villagers. I would

be happier if you stayed.”Put that way, Yan was prepared to give

in. But Leti sensed that Yan waswavering and grabbed him by his armbefore he could say another word.

“We’re just going for a little walk! Whydon’t you learn to trust us a little?”

For a moment, Grigan and Corennsimply stood and watched as theywalked away, unsure of what to do.

“In your opinion, would it be‘undiplomatic’ for me to drag their assesback here?”

“I’m sure they would think so, MasterGrigan. Perhaps it would be best to turna blind eye on this little whim and saveour authority for truly dangeroussituations?”

“All right, I agree. But part of mealmost hopes that something bad happensto them, just to put them in their place!”The warrior couldn’t stand still, pacing

as he stroked his mustache, apparently anervous tic.“Would you mind if I left you here

alone for a moment with the horses?” hefinally said. “I’m at least going to keepan eye on our charges, just to make sureeverything’s all right.”“Go, my friend,” she replied with a

smile. “I’d expect nothing less fromyou.”Grigan mumbled a thank you and

hurried after the young ones.How was it that he kept losing control

of the situation like this?

Except for the inn a few hundred yardsfrom the pier, a handful of boutiquesspread out along the bank was the onlyattraction in the area. Leti, who simplywanted to prove her own freedom, washappy simply walking aimlessly, untilYan guided her toward the little marketthat had caught his attention. Thoughhardly interested at first, the youngwoman eventually had a great deal offun.Apart from the vegetables, fruits, fish,

cheeses, breads, and diverse drinks,which were already strange enough andof questionable quality, there were alsoesoteric or religious talismans for sale;maps of the known and unknown world;peculiar objects whose forms, origins,

and uses Yan and Leti didn’t recognize;diverse herbs and salves; smallweapons…Leti stopped in front of the weapons

stand and examined each item withobvious desire. Yan waited silently ather side, hoping she wouldn’t try to buysomething here. He was already worriedenough about what Grigan would do tothem when they got back.The young woman took an interest in

one item in particular. Yan realized thatit was a bow. Curses, he was going toget in such trouble…An old woman dressed in rags garbled

something at them.“I don’t understand,” Leti answered in

a clear voice.

The crone raised her arms and eyes tothe sky in a gesture of thanks. She wasjust as dirty as Old Vosder, Yan thought.He didn’t think that was possible.“Some Kauls!” she mumbled in broken

Kauli. “Some Kauls, I be sure of it.”“We say Kauliens,” Leti responded

dryly. “And ‘I am sure of it.’Furthermore, we didn’t ask you foranything.”Leti turned her back to the woman

abruptly and directed her attention backto the market stall. Yan was going to dothe same, but the old woman spoke tohim directly, grabbing insistently at hissleeve.“Do you want to know your future? For

three tices, I give you all of tomorrow.”

Yan tried to break free as best he could.This woman had quite a grip. Why didthis kind of thing always happen to him?

“No, thank you. That sort of thingdoesn’t interest me.”

“But yes, Kaulien. It interest you.Everyone care for tomorrow.”

Leti curtly turned to face the pesky oldwoman. It seemed as though everyonewas trying to order them around thisevening. If it weren’t for her respect forelders, thanks to her education in theMatriarchy, she would already have toldthis pest exactly what she thought of her.

Yan tried in vain to brush her offwithout being impolite.

“No, no, really. Tomorrow doesn’tinterest me.”

He realized that what he was sayingwas actually nonsense.

“But yes, Kaulien. Tomorrow isimportant for you. Give me three tices,and I will tell you your fortunes andmisfortunes. When you be rich and whenyou will have your Union. When youhave children and how long you willlive.”

Yan thought about it for just an instant.He still had Grigan’s money; he took itout and began sorting it in hisoutstretched palm, when the old womanquickly grabbed three coins. He wasn’tsure, but didn’t she grab one coin thatwas a size larger than the others?

Leti shook her head, disapprovingly.The young man knew what she was

thinking. Even so, the old woman hadsaid something that actually did interesthim: when you will have your Union.

“Good, good. Hand me object. One youcarry often. One you have for long time.”

Yan considered it. What could he giveher? At home, he had a pile of souvenirsand keepsakes, from his parents, Leti,and Norine, or ones he acquired on hisown. Like his crossbow harpoon, forexample. But here?

He made a mental list of all the thingshe had on him. And finally remembered.Hanging around his neck underneath histunic, Leti’s seashell. The one she’dgiven him when they were only eightyears old; the one he’d never been apartfrom since. The little blue queen moon

that she’d given him as a token, perhapsnothing more than a kids’ game, but onehe had always taken seriously.

Of course, he had changed the leatherlace a few times, but since Leti gave himthe shell, he had never let a day passwithout it around his neck. It had becomeso natural he never even thought about it.Yes, if he had to pick an importantobject, it was that one.

He took it off from underneath his tunic,hesitant at first, but he handed it overquickly to avoid ridicule. Leti shot him alook that he couldn’t decipher. Was sheirritated that he took it off? Or maybeshe thought it was stupid to have keptthis little trinket for all these years? Ormaybe she didn’t even remember giving

it to him? He preferred to not think aboutit and focused all of his attention on theold woman.

She held it tightly in her hands, aftertaking a moment to examine it. Her eyesclosed, and almost as if possessed byspirits, her head began to turn slowlyback and forth in exaggeratedmovements. Yan realized how ridiculousthe situation was, but it was too late toturn back now. And, in spite of it all, hewas curious to hear what story shewould tell him, false though it might be.

The crone emitted a long quaveringmoan that sounded either like she wassuffering deeply or its opposite, asthough she were letting out a sigh ofrelief. Then she opened her eyes.

“You be fisherman.”Yan waited for her next revelation,

before realizing that she was waiting forhis confirmation. He nodded.

She smiled, all the while spinning herhead around in circles like a carriagewheel.

“You want to do something. You don’twant to be…only a fisherman.”

Yan, not knowing what else to do,nodded again. The old woman let out asort of strangled guffaw.

“You want woman badly, young man.Eh?”

The young Kaulien didn’t move aninch. He wanted to say yes, but he wasafraid of Leti’s reaction.

The old fortune-teller sneered, almost

mockingly.“Now, I give you tomorrow.”She closed her eyes, sighed, and began

speaking in a deep, monotone voice.“You marry the woman you want next

year. She be village chief. You neverfisherman. Travel a lot. Then you havemany money. Very happy. Then two sons.Very strong. You be strong. Very happy.You live long time with woman. Youwant to know when you die?”

“No, not at all!”Yan didn’t really want to know the

possible date of his death, whether it betrue or false. The old woman nodded.

“You are right. Not be good to knowtoo strong things about tomorrow.”

She handed him back his queen moon.

Then she turned and walked away withsmall steps, leaving Yan to unravel hisfeelings.

What nerve, to leave like that! “Not begood to know too strong things abouttomorrow.” All right, then why did thisold woman go around predictingpeople’s futures?

“That went well, you’re lucky.”Yan turned toward Leti. Was she

mocking him? No, she looked sincere.They left the weapons stall.

“Why do you say that?”“She could have given you bad news,

misfortune, sickness, death…She couldhave even put a date on everything. Butshe only talked about the good things,while staying vague. So you are lucky.”

“I didn’t think you believed in that sortof thing.”

“Oh yes, I certainly do…The heirs ofJi, my aunt…You know, it all makes mewonder if the impossible may bepossible. But, in my opinion, weshouldn’t try to know our future. And shelooked more like a beggar than adivinity.”

“What does your aunt have to do withthe impossible?”

“Don’t worry about it. Maybe I’ll tellyou someday.”

Yan frowned. For his part, he waslargely disappointed with the fortune-teller, and he kept discovering that Letiand Corenn were hiding things from him.For now, he preferred not to dwell on it,

knowing that it would only upset him.“Do you think what she told me will

come true? You think that my life willunfold like that?”

“Perhaps. It’s not too bad, as far asdestinies go, right?”

“I’m not sure.”“If only you could see your face right

now! I was right, it’s better not toknow.”

He kept quiet for a while. Seeing theserious look on her friend’s face, Letipicked up the conversation.

“Wouldn’t you be pleased with twosons? To travel? To be rich? Live a long,full life? Were you hoping she would tellyou ‘You will be king, you willcommand armies, you are the savior

from some forgotten prophecy, you willlive a life full of adventures, and blah,blah, blah’? We aren’t living in a fairytale.”Despite her sarcastic remarks, Yan

noticed that she had omitted hispredicted Union for the coming year—probably on purpose.“Of course, that would all be very

nice…But I think she made it all up.What she said about the present, anyonecould guess, and the rest, it’s just herimagination. And it makes me think that Iwould in fact be very lucky if it all turnsout like that.”They both dove back into their own

thoughts. Curses, and what was more, hewas making Leti sad. She really didn’t

need that right now; he was beingfoolish.They joined up with Corenn in silence,

dragging their feet.“And here we are, Aunt. See? There

was no reason to worry.”“It is only after the dog bites that you

know it is rabid. I’m glad that it wentwell, but you should realize that thingscould have gone otherwise.”“All right, perhaps. If you think so.”“You shouldn’t use today’s experience

as an argument for next time. Do youunderstand?”“Yes, yes,” Leti admitted against her

will. Her aunt always had something toadd. Reasoning, giving in to secondarypoints, avoiding thorny subjects, but

always having the last word, even if itwas just to end up right back at the statusquo. She could do all of this withoutlying, pressing, or even raising hervoice. Leti knew this talent of her aunt’squite well; she had seen it used manytimes while accompanying the Mother onher travels throughout Kaul. But still,even she was sometimes the victim ofher aunt’s machinations, and herpowerlessness to resist vexed her.Sometimes, she asked herself if her auntwasn’t using her magic powers to swaythe minds of her listeners. But that wasunlikely.“Where’s Grigan?”“He shouldn’t be long now.”Indeed, the warrior rejoined them

quickly thereafter. He didn’t say a word.

The ferry was close to shore now, andtravelers crowded the dock, guarded bythree tall, burly men. Grigan led thesmall group to the waiting line. The ferrydocked and the passengers spilled out,pushing their way through the crowdtoward the inn or the road. Finally, theybegan boarding.Watching each step of the process, Yan

realized that you had to pay to cross theriver. To think that with his own boat hewould be on the other side with a fewoar strokes! Then again, they would stillhave the problem of the horses…“Master Grigan?”The warrior and Corenn couldn’t help

but smile at Yan’s use of this title.

Yan disregarded this and continued.“I still have the money that belongs to

you. Of course I’ll pay you back in full,but I’m afraid I don’t have enough to payfor the crossing.”

Corenn reassured him.“Don’t worry. I have enough to take us

all the way to Goran, if it came to that.”“I’m pretty sure it would take me quite

a while to pay back such a largeamount.”

“We’ll work it out later.”As a member of the Permanent Council,

Corenn received one of the highestsalaries in the Matriarchy. She couldn’timagine herself running a young, honestfisherman into debt, especially one whowould no doubt become a part of her

family someday. It was simplyinconceivable.

The line moved quickly, and it wassoon their turn. Corenn exchanged a fewwords in Lorelien with one of the threedock guards, a few coins changed hands,and finally the little group could boardthe sizable barge.

Three crew members were bustlingabout carefully arranging packs,passengers, and goods, paying closeattention to balance the load andguarantee stability. A fourth man wasbusy lighting oil lamps that hung frompoles at each corner of the boat, as wellas at random points along the deck.

“To my knowledge, this is the onlyferry that makes night crossings,”

announced Grigan. “Also, I think it’s oneof the largest.”

Leti answered the man in black in ahushed voice.

“Doesn’t that make it all the moredangerous to take this one? I mean,won’t that make it easier for them to spotus?”

“No, no. There are thirty or so ferriesfor every three-or four-league stretch ofwater along the Gisland. Each onemakes at least five or six crossings aday, I think. It would be impossible tomonitor all the arrivals and departures,unless they had an army. The Zuu won’teven try.”

“But that’s just a guess.”“Yes. Do you have a better idea?”

“Unbelievable! You’re so insensitive,do you know that?”

“I don’t tolerate criticism, that’s all,”Grigan answered calmly.

That could very well be the warrior’smotto, Yan thought to himself.

Once all the travelers had boarded thebarge and spread out on the deck, theferrymen untied the mooring lines andpushed the boat away from shore byinches, using long wooden poles. Aresounding “plop” brought the maneuverto a halt. A rather drunken passenger hadlost his balance and gone for a swim inthe cold river. Everyone roared withlaughter, except for the captain, whodelivered a lecture to his men and thesuddenly sober victim, who was being

helped back on board. Then theylaunched a second time.

“It’s almost a tradition for theferrymen,” said Grigan. “I’ve even heardthat now and then they organize somesecret splash competition. I’ll bet theymade a point of putting that fellow nearthe edge.”

“The Loreliens have some oddpastimes!” Yan exclaimed.

“Am I wrong, or don’t Kauliens amusethemselves by diving off of cliffs? Thatdoesn’t seem much smarter to me.”

“That’s different. No one is forced todo it.”

“Oh, come on, Yan, I heard you laughtoo,” Leti interrupted gleefully. “Itwasn’t all that cruel.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Grigan wenton. “There’s a popular prank in Rominewhere you release a red pig in heatinside a friend’s house. After blockingoff all the exits, if possible…Needlessto say, if the victim doesn’t give theprankster a real thrashing, he’s a truefriend.”

“I’ll believe it. What’s a red pig?”“What! You’ve never seen one, Yan?

And you, Leti?” asked Corenn, shocked.“No.”“I can’t believe it. They look like a mix

of a boar and a pig, except they’recompletely red. They travel in packs offifty or sixty, but people have seenhordes of more than three hundred.They’re incredibly destructive. Romine

is infested with them. A few years ago,we had to organize hunts just west ofKaul because they were beginning tospread throughout the Matriarchy.”

“This is the first I’ve ever heard ofthem. Anyhow, Master Grigan, whatdoes a red pig do when it’s in heat?”

“It grunts, it squeals, it bites, it racesabout, it charges at anything that moves.Well, everything, for that matter. Butworst of all, it stinks. They say that evenwith all the willpower in the world, youstill couldn’t stay within ten yards of amale in such a state.”

“Actually,” Leti guffawed, “that soundslike Yan when he comes home afterfishing for vase eels!”

“Very funny. Remind me to bring some

back for you next time.”“Eels are delicious,” noted Corenn.“Do you want to come along? I’ll

gladly take you. You’ll see how muchfun it is.”

Yan’s mood was improving. He hadforgotten his worries about the future.Right now, he needed to enjoy today.

The barge glided silently along thecalm river, disturbed only by themovement of the wooden poles pushinginto the depths and fish jumping atswarms of insects. The soft light of thelamps and the crescent moon didn’tdispel the already thick darkness, but itwas soothing. Benelia’s distant lights tothe south didn’t shine as brightly as thefireflies fluttering in the vast darkness.

Buildings on the banks lit up to signalpiers and nearby inns…a promise ofimminent comfort. The temperature haddropped, and Yan wrapped himself up inhis tunic the best he could. It occurred tohim to check on Leti’s well-being, but hedidn’t dare break the calm spell cast bythe croaking of frogs, the murmur ofpassengers, and the sound of the waves.She thanked him with a smile. If onlythings could always be that way betweenthem.

He wrapped his arms around her, andLeti rested her head on his shoulder.They remained silent and still, hiddentogether in the darkness, surrendered totheir feelings.

Corenn gently pulled the two young

Kauliens from their reveries; the ferrywas about to dock. Yan hadn’t evennoticed. He released Leti regretfully andfollowed everyone else, guiding hishorse by the bridle.

Once everyone had disembarked,Grigan steered them toward a nearbyinn. In every way, this side of the riverlooked just like the other: the dock, theguards who collected the toll, thetravelers waiting for the ferry, the small,deserted shops.

Above the entry to the inn hung a signthat seemed excessively large comparedto the front door. In Ithare, the sign readThe Ferry Inn. Clearly, the ownerwasn’t too original.

“Have you been here before?” Yan

asked Grigan.“Three times, I think. Or maybe four.

But my last stay must have been at leastsix years ago. There is little chance thatthey’ll recognize me.”

“No, that’s not why I was asking.” Yanhesitated, hoping not to make himselflook stupid once again. “It’s just that…well, I’ve never been inside an innbefore. I don’t even think there are anynear Eza. Is there something special Imust do? Or things not to do?”

His three companions laughed heartily.“As long as you pay for the damage,

you can pretty much do anything youlike,” the warrior answered with a grin.“Except, maybe, kill the innkeeper, orstart something with the customers.

Think you’ll be able to controlyourself?”“The customers might be a problem,”

Yan said through gritted teeth.“Fine. I’m still going to see if they can

accommodate us.”The warrior opened the little door and

bent forward to avoid hitting themonstrous sign. As Grigan entered,voices, the scent of warm food, and agentle warmth emerged to subtly caressthe Kauliens’ senses. He returned just asquickly as he’d gone, accompanied by ayoung man who led their horses to thestable after all the baggage had beenunloaded.A man ripe with age came forward to

greet them when they finally entered the

tavern. The entryway overlooked themain room from the top of a little three-step stairway. A dozen or so thickwooden tables surrounded by benchesfilled most of the room.An enormous pile of logs—more like

tree trunks cut in half—covered an entirewall. An imposing fireplace sat closeby, the flames dancing four feet high. Yancould feel its heat, even from theentryway. Several doors and stairwaysallowed access to the kitchen, the cellar,other floors, and guesthouses. Indeed,the inn was quite large.Thirty pairs of eyes glanced up at the

new arrivals, before their attention wasquickly diverted back to the food andpitchers that covered the tables. The

clientele was made up mostly of men,alone or in small groups. Farmers,artisans, merchants—travelers, in short.The host greeted them in Lorelien and

led them to an open table, where they satdown. After a few brief exchanges,Corenn gave several coins to theinnkeeper, who slipped away toward thekitchen.The young man from the stable soon

brought them, in several trips and out oforder, fresh bread, a warm loaf of meat,a vegetable stew, a huge hunk of cheese,forks and knives, goblets, a pitcher ofbeer, and, per Corenn’s request, apitcher of water. They ate with relishwhile chatting about the differencesbetween Lorelien and Kaulien cuisine,

but without ever deciding—for lack ofreally trying—which was the best.“Are all inns like this?” Yan asked.“No, far from it,” answered Grigan.

“Only people passing through stop here,people who just want a hot meal and agood night’s sleep. The hovels that youcan find in the big cities don’t reallyhave the same clientele…”“Actually, what I meant was, are all

inns this big? You could feed the entirepopulation of Eza at these tables!”“If you think so, there are still plenty of

surprises in store for you. I’ve seendozens of places bigger than this one, inthe Upper Kingdoms. Taverns and innslarger than palaces.”“It makes me wonder if you think I’m

some sort of niab or if you’re serious.”“I’m serious. In Lermian, I once spent

the night in a hotel with six hundredrooms. And at least two-thirds wereoccupied.”

Yan still wasn’t convinced, but he gaveGrigan the benefit of the doubt. Why not,after all?

By all counts, the warrior had spenthalf his life traveling, and the other halfpreparing for it. He had traveled acrossall the kingdoms, stayed in all the mightycities, met hundreds of people,experienced thousands of things Yancouldn’t begin to imagine.

Yan realized that the veteran who hadbeen protecting them for the last fewdays, with his curved blade and his

black garb, his mysterious past, and hisstrong personality, completely fascinatedhim.

The warrior seemed more open todiscussion tonight. More relaxed, nowthat they had made it out of theMatriarchy. The pitcher of beer, whichhe practically finished himself, mighthave helped a little as well. If Yanwanted to get to know him, it was nowor never.

“You’re from the Lower Kingdoms,right? At least, that’s what it sounds like,given your accent.”

“What of it?”“Nothing, just a bit curious, that’s all.”“You, you aren’t just curious, you’re a

snoop.”

“That’s what the Ancestress of myvillage always says,” Yan answered,smiling. “She ended up teaching me toread so that I could find answers on myown to the questions I pestered her withall the time. But since she only ownsthree books in all, I kept bugging heruntil she finally told me one day that shedidn’t have the answers to all myquestions. Like all children, that hadnever occurred to me.”

“It’s good you know how to read,”Corenn commented.

“Only a little, and in Ithare.”Leti interrupted, a smile on her lips.“Once, I saw him spend the whole day

trying to interpret a parchment he hadfound at Old Vosder’s house. He was so

disappointed that he couldn’t figure itout that I went to find the Ancestress soshe could reason with him. It was hardto stop myself from laughing, seeing hisface, when she explained to him that itwas in Goranese.”

“How was I supposed to know? Theyuse the same marks,” Yan said, pouting.

“So Yan traveled all the way toAssiora,” Leti continued, “to havesomeone translate the parchment. A fullday’s walk in one direction. All of thatjust to look at some old words.”

Yan, blushing with irritation and shame,chose not to answer.

“Do you know how to read, Leti?”Corenn asked innocently.

She knew the answer; she’d asked the

question with the aim of encouraging herniece to show a little more respect forher friend’s efforts to improve himself.

“No, I don’t know how. But I’mconvinced that it’s useless,” the youngwoman answered, not giving in.

“You’re wrong,” Grigan interrupted.“I’ve often thought the same, but I’vemore often regretted thinking that way.”

“It’s never too late, Master Grigan.”“That’s what they say, Lady Corenn,

that’s what they say. But I don’t think Ican change now. The years left in my lifewill be like the ones behind me.”

An awkward silence followed this laststatement. Yan was the first to fill it.

“Where were you born exactly, then?”The warrior let a moment drift by, as if

he were sifting through distantmemories, or he were hesitating to openup.

“In Griteh. Then the happiest of theLower Kingdoms, forty-two years ago.But I haven’t been back there for a longtime.”

Yan paused, uncertain if he shouldcontinue, but curiosity won out.

“Why?” He finally dared to ask.Grigan let out a sigh.“Because I’m no longer welcome there.

And there’s nothing left for me thereanyway.”

His friends could tell immediately thathe wasn’t being truthful. The warriorwas incapable of lying about hisfeelings. Probably one of the reasons for

his habit of silence.“What happened to you?”Yan pointed out that Leti was hanging

on Grigan’s every word, and like Yan,she was waiting for him to let hismemories surface. But time passed, thesilence getting longer and longer, andthey finally had to concede that thewarrior wasn’t going to answer.

“Tell them, Grigan,” Corenn said in asweet voice. “As long as they don’tknow, they’ll badger you with questions.And you’ll either tell them or hit the roofsomeday.”

The warrior’s only reaction was tostare at Corenn, as if he were seeing herfor the first time.

“Tell them and accept it, or stay silent

and forget the story forever. But stoptormenting yourself,” she added with aneven gentler tone.

Grigan looked distraught for a briefinstant, and then he made up his mind,still unsure whether he made the rightdecision.

“Don’t think I’m complaining, andplease don’t take pity on me. Above allelse, don’t do that. Know that I’m tellingyou this story so you can learn from myexperiences.”

“Yes, yes,” the young Kauliensanswered in unison.

They would agree to anything to gethim to talk.

“Good.”The warrior drank a final swig,

perhaps to give himself some courage. Itwas as though he were more afraid tospeak than to attack three Zuu killers,Leti thought.

“Have you heard of Aleb I, Aleb theConqueror, or, more to my taste, Alebthe Violent?”

“No,” Leti replied.Yan thought he had heard the name, but

he wasn’t sure. He preferred to playdumb, to get a fully detailed version ofGrigan’s story.

Grigan continued, “He was my leader.At the time, he was still only PrinceAleb. I fought by his side in the warswith the neighboring kingdoms of Griteh:Irzas, Quesraba, Tarul, and even Yitehfor a while. Do you understand? We

were at war. Against warriors.”Yan and Leti met each other’s eyes

briefly, then rushed to agree. They didn’treally understand, but they soon would.

“For many decades, Griteh had been asecond-order kingdom whose bordersany army could cross as they pleased.Thanks to our victories, peace andsecurity had at last returned to thecountry. But it had lasted only a fewyears when Aleb called the tribestogether again. And so I went to fight byhis side, to defend my loved ones, as didevery honorable man. But I wonderedwhat reasons he had for rallying adefense, since no army had been spottedat our borders.”

Grigan stopped. The young Kauliens

waited impatiently, fidgeting for a fewmoments, until Leti couldn’t bear it anylonger.“And then what? Then what

happened?”“I should have known from the start.

Aleb spoke to us at length, and withwords that went straight to the heart.Little by little, he whipped the men intoa fury against Quesraba, recalling ourpast conflicts, Quesraba’s betrayals ofour rare alliances, and the lost battlesthat demanded revenge. At the end of hisspeech, he even presented Quesraba as apart of our kingdom, but occupied byenemies. He spoke of true things, thingsthat were less true, and dreadful things—things that would even make a

Rominian shepherd angry. But nothing hesaid can excuse what happened next.”Grigan paused.“Go on!” Leti urged rudely.“All the men followed his orders and

launched an assault on Quesraba, and Iwasn’t the last one. It took us a day toreach the border, but our zeal and angerhadn’t subsided, fueled by Aleb and hiscaptains, who were now fully devoted tohis cause. At last we came upon the first‘enemy’ village. I ordered my riders toskirt around the village and head straightfor the capital to meet the army, as wascustom, but Aleb the Cursed had otherplans.”Grigan downed another swig.“He ordered us to attack the village.

Hundreds of people died that night.People who weren’t even armed. Peoplewho didn’t care about frontier politics.People like you, people like…”He took a short pause, and then

continued the story.“And I did nothing.”He gazed deeply into the bottom of his

goblet; the warrior regretted once againhis inability to get himself drunk. Nomatter how hard he tried, he alwaysremained perfectly sober. He remainedresponsible for his actions.“I could have tried to reason with

Aleb. I could have tried to reason withthe warriors. I could even have orderedmy men to attack the murderers. But Ididn’t do any of that. I just stood there

and watched the atrocities beingcommitted right in front of me. I sawchildren bludgeoned by maces andelders burned alive in their homes. I sawwomen raped right before their dyingmen’s eyes. I saw animals suffer theworst kinds of torture, and not justthem…”“Grigan…” said Corenn, softly.She felt it was time to put an end to this

morbid litany. The warrior stared at herfor a moment, sighed, and went on.“I know that it’s difficult to hear. But

that’s what happened. To think that at thebeginning of the ‘battle,’ I nearly threwmyself into the madness…”He was silent, wearing a troubled look.

No tears fell from his eyes, but all the

sadness and regret in the world weighedupon his shoulders.

The Kauliens respected his pain. Noone wanted to ask him any morequestions; in fact, they would have left itthere if Grigan hadn’t continued, thistime in a steadier voice.

“At first, I looked for enemies. ‘Wherewere they? Why wasn’t anyoneattacking? Was it a trap?’ Then I began tohope that it was a trap. The Ramgriths,my brothers, couldn’t really be in themidst of massacring harmless villagers.No, there had to be something else.Surely enemy warriors were hidingsomewhere nearby, or among thefarmers, and Aleb had given thecommand to attack to thwart the ruse,

because he was a good leader.”“I clung to my delusion all through the

night, and I willingly ignored theslaughter that was unfolding before me.At dawn, I finally admitted that I had lostmy honor, even my humanity. I fled fromthat cursed land and retreated to myhomeland. I needed to be alone, to thinkon how I was going to put an end to mydays.”

Yan and Leti looked at each otheruncomfortably. Grigan took a deepbreath and carried on.

“I couldn’t go through with it. It seemedlike yet more proof of my cowardice, butat the same time, I felt weak for notdoing it. I sat, tormented by indecision,for a dekade. In the end, I chose to live

to take action, rather than die for failingto.”

“I went to Griteh and requested toappear before King Coroman, who washappy to receive me. My familyserves…served his since Rafa theStrategist’s father’s father. Coroman wasan unyielding man, sometimes harsh andinsensitive, but he tried to be just. Icouldn’t believe that he had authorizedthe massacre in Quesraba, and the othersthat had immediately followed.”

“I gave him my version of whathappened, the only true one. His ownson had dishonored the crown of Griteh,the kingdom, and all of its subjects,indulging in a bloody slaughter followedby looting, like a horde of ruthless

bandits.”“Coroman’s first reaction was as I had

hoped. He immediately summoned hisson to confront him about our exchange.Aleb flat out denied everything, andgave a detailed report of the imaginarybattle against the Quesrabian troops.Then he provided proof, bringing forthhis captains as witnesses and presentingthe enemies’ uniforms and weapons,‘war trophies’ that must have dated backto a past conflict. Then the king turned tome, waiting for an answer.”

“What could I say? As I had just cometo understand, no one would speak outagainst the prince. I’m merely a warrior;plotting and treachery are not my strongsuit, so I didn’t see how I could

contradict him.”“I suddenly felt a strong urge to have it

out with Aleb the Liar. The only thing Icould think about was stopping the thugfrom doing harm once and for all. So Ichallenged him publicly to a duel ofhonor.”

“It took place the next day. I couldn’tsleep at all that night, although anassassination would have confirmed myadversary’s vile nature.”

“We faced each other in accordancewith the rules, before the king and thetribal chiefs, given the official nature ofour duel. Even today, Aleb is reputed tobe the best fighter in all the LowerKingdoms. But I had truth on my side…and anger too. He cut my hand and face;

I wounded his leg and took out an eye.”“Coroman called the duel to a halt, as

he had the right to do. Perhaps to protecthis son who had already lost an eye, orperhaps because he had seen enough.”

“He granted me the honor of victory,but Aleb was still alive. The king simplyrescinded Aleb’s claim to the throne,which he transferred to Aleb’s youngerbrother. And in the end, I was banishedfrom the kingdom for disobeying mycaptain’s orders.”

The warrior uttered these last wordswith hate and disgust.

Yan’s spirits were dampened. Indeed,everyone was now in a more serious,melancholic, and far-from-pleasantmood. He tried to change the subject.

“Is that where your scar came from?”“No. That’s another story. An acchor

did that to me. I’ll tell you about itanother time, if you behave and listen toLady Corenn,” Grigan added with a grin.

Yan smiled back. He had no idea whatan acchor was, and once again hiscuriosity was stirred, but he had thegood sense to keep it to himself.

“You haven’t returned since then?”asked Leti.

“No, never. A short while after I left,Aleb murdered his father and brotherwith his own hands. Then he ascended tothe throne and ordered mass executions.Finally, he initiated a conquest—itwould be more accurate to call itdestruction—of all of the northern

Lower Kingdoms. It sickens me to seehow successful he was…”

“Why don’t the other kings ally againsthim?” It seemed like a logical outcometo Yan.

“Some of them tried, but Aleb hiredentire armies of mercenaries: Jez,Pledens, Ramgriths, and even Goranese.He lets them sack and pillage all of theconquered lands to their greedy hearts’content. He’s not interested in makingGriteh richer; he’s more concerned withextending his own power. He took overThe Hacque as his capital, which isn’teven a Ramgrith city! Furthermore, hisarmy is surely made up of more thantwice as many Yussa as Ramgriths.”

“Who are the Yussa?”

“Mercenaries. Or just men who areunder Aleb’s command, as one out ofevery three ‘battles’ is really just apillage.”

“Mother Eurydis, may they never getthe notion to cross the sea!” said Leti.

“Oh, not to worry. Aleb despises theUpper Kingdoms. It’s a pastime of his toregularly send assassins after me, to geteven for his lost eye. Until one of themsucceeds. Unless the Zuu rob him of thepleasure. Or perhaps he’s the one who’ssent them, who knows?”

“You see what your poor character hasgotten you into,” joked Corenn.

“It’s just the way I am,” Grigananswered sincerely.

“How long has it been since you left?”

Leti cut in.“Fifteen years, at least…” The warrior

reflected for a moment. “No. It’s alreadybeen nineteen years,” he said, with a hintof dread.

“And this man is still trying to kill you,twenty years later? You’ve been huntedfor twenty years?”

“I’ve already met two men who havedevoted their entire lives to revenge.Human will knows no limits, and neitherdoes our folly.”

“For someone who claims to not bevery fond of reflection, I admire thedepth of your thoughts, Master Grigan.”

“Actually, those words belong to afriend of mine from the Land of Beauty.But their truth resonates with me; he was

able to explain in one sentenceeverything I’d learned in twenty years oftraveling the known world.”

“I would really like to meet thisperceptive man who has the honor ofbeing called your friend.”

“I hope that you’ll have the chancesomeday, Lady Corenn. If we make it outof this terrible adventure alive.”

They remained silent for a moment.“Have you ever thought about returning

to confront Aleb?”Yan had been dying to ask the question

for a while, and it took at least as longfor the warrior to answer.

“I think about it all the time,” headmitted, finally. “But I would no doubtend up dead. Before I even reached

him.” After a moment he added, “In anycase, I’m banished. I don’t have the rightto return.”The young Kauliens spent a long

moment wondering whether this remarkwas merely a joke or a seriousobjection.Silence took hold, and seemed to last

an eternity.“I’m going to see if our rooms are

ready,” said Grigan finally, arising. Heneeded to be alone.After a few moments had gone by,

Corenn shared her thoughts with theyoung ones.“I thought I knew Grigan better than

anyone. But I never would have thoughtthat you would gain his trust so quickly.”

“I didn’t think he was capable of doingso much talking,” Leti said.“He won’t ask you, and I know that you

will in any case, but please, respect hismemories. He must either forget oraccept them. Don’t talk to him about itunless he brings it up himself. And, ofcourse, don’t speak to anyone else aboutit. Do you understand why?”“Of course,” they agreed together.Yan understood that the warrior saw

his confession as a weakness andalready regretted it. But he had alsoguessed something else.“Lady Corenn…”“Yes?”“Don’t you get the impression that he’s

trying to hide something? That he didn’t

tell us everything?”The Mother stared solemnly at the

young, ignorant fisherman, whose mindwas nevertheless astute. Then she turnedher gaze to the taciturn warrior, who wasreturning.“I hope that he’ll tell us someday,” she

whispered. “When he’s at peace.”

BOOK II: THEFORGOTTEN ISLAND

It had already been four days sinceYan, Grigan, Leti, and Corenn left thebanks of the Gisland River. Along withhundreds of other travelers, they crossedKolomine County, and forded theVelanese River at a shallow crossingthat had been used for decades.Afterwards, they headed south towardLorelia, veering east just before theyreached the outskirts of the city. At last,they were less than a day’s journey fromBerce.Yan hadn’t really been enjoying himself

these past few days. Besides the nonstoprain that followed them most of the time,slowing their pace and shortening their

patience, he had to endure Grigan’sgrowing anxiety and Corenn’s apparentcalm indifference, which was just asirritating. And worst of all, Leti’s hotand cold remarks about the merits of hisperpetual questions, his tendency toavoid taking charge, his niab character,and many other things that he preferredto forget.

He was smart enough to not respond toher jabs, counting them as part of thecrisis of spirit his friend was goingthrough.

The other evening was the first andonly time she admitted to wonderingwho among her friends had been able toescape the Zuu, if any at all. No onewanted to make any guesses, and the

subject hadn’t been brought up again.All the same, the Day of the Promise

was the day after tomorrow, and Yanwould have preferred to be on the bestof terms with his beloved in the finalmoments before proposing. Again, afeeling of apprehension tortured him.Would he have the courage?

Oh, but it wasn’t a question of braveryor cowardice. If Leti asked him to jumpfrom the highest cliff in Eza, to dive intothe middle of a school of orzos, or tochallenge one of the red-cloaked killers,he would do it in a heartbeat—if therewere a valid reason, of course. But to goup to her and propose? No!

He acknowledged bitterly that if shewere in his place, she wouldn’t hesitate

for an instant. When she wanted to dosomething, she did it, simple as that. Itwould be great if she wanted him, too.

He shook his head, as if to chase thesethoughts from his mind. The last thing heneeded was to start obsessing aboutwhat Leti thought. He would know soonenough, and might regret it.

It would have been easier to propose ifthey had ever discussed the subjectbefore. But no, throughout all those yearsof living at each other’s side, all theirconversations, all the time spent gettingto know one another, they had neverbrought up the idea of a Union betweenthem.

He regretted it bitterly.Of course, everyone else had decided

the Union for them, and they themselveshad talked more than once, each in turn,about their ideal companion. Handsome,protective, and loving for Leti.Beautiful, mysterious, and joyful forYan. But it was just a game; the youngKaulien’s dream woman was, withouthesitation, his lifelong friend.

Did he match up to Leti’s ideal? Heshook his head again, harder this time.He had to stop thinking about this.

“Are you all right, Yan?”Corenn looked at him strangely. She

must have been watching him for awhile. Yan realized he must be quite thesight to see as he rattled his head aroundlike a madman.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you. I’m just a

little tired.” Come on, Yan, that’snonsense, he thought to himself.

“We’ll make a short stop,” Grigan said.“No, really, it’s not worth the trouble,

I’ll be fine.”A bunch of nonsense.They took a break anyway, a few

hundred yards from the path as usual.While everyone stretched their legs,rubbed their backs, and tried to dry offtheir soaking clothes as best they could,Grigan came and went, stiffening whenhe heard anything suspicious nearby,stealthily approaching the apparentorigin of the sound with his hand on hissword hilt.

Pretty soon he had passed his anxietyon to the others. Overcome with

curiosity, Corenn tried to distract thewarrior from his watch.

“Do you think we’re in danger?”“To tell you the truth, no,” he answered

without looking at her. “But we couldbe. I wouldn’t bet our lives on a meregut feeling.”

“It’s been rather easy going until now,hasn’t it?” commented Leti.

“Yes. But the Zuu had lost our trail.Whereas now, we’re going directlywhere they’ll be expecting us. And thatmakes me nervous.”

“If they’re already waiting for us there,they’re not going to keep watch on theroads, too, right?” she pointed out.

“Would you bet our lives on it?”Leti kept silent. Of course she

wouldn’t. She was only making acomment. Mother Eurydis, the man wasso touchy!

“Think about it,” Grigan went on. “Whydidn’t the Zuu just wait for the heirs toreunite in Berce on the Day of the Owland murder us all at once?”

“Grigan!” Corenn scolded.It would take more than that to make

Leti back down.“Do you think I haven’t thought of that?

Maybe they were worried about lettingsome of us get away, or sending awarning to those absent? Maybe theywere afraid of a defeat? Or maybe theyjust wanted to be discreet?”

“Or maybe,” responded the warriorquietly, “the Zuu want to keep us from

getting to the island. Perhaps they don’twant the heirs to come together thisyear.”

Grigan wanted to make this last retortan effective one, and he succeeded.

Leti silently admitted that she hadn’tthought of that.

Obviously, in that case, they were stillin danger. More than ever, actually.

With a black look, Corenn showed herdisapproval of these revelations, whichwere premature for her taste. Her niecewas still far too emotionally fragile forthese disturbing theories about a grandconspiracy.

Everyone retreated into silence then,enjoying the simple pleasure of a well-deserved rest. Yan would have been

ready to set up camp for the night, but itwas obvious that Grigan, as usual,wanted everyone to put aside theirtiredness and carry on a little further.

Indeed, a moment later he asked themto get moving again. Everyone followedright behind him, accustomed as theywere to obeying him now.

To their great surprise, he wasn’tleading them back to the path, but deeperinto the forest.

He was nice enough to grunt a fewwords of explanation, but they hadalready guessed why, once their initialshock subsided—discretion was vital asthey got closer to Berce.

That didn’t, however, make their walkany more enjoyable. Yan found it even

more tiring than his night in the Kaulienscrubland. The ground was muddy,slippery, and spotted with puddles; therain pooled on the leaves above and fellin droplets, which seemed to take awicked pleasure in slipping under theirclothes; and the horses’ exhaustion madeit difficult to tug them along.

Also, Grigan frequently commandedinstant silence and stillness from hiscompanions, with an imperious wave ofhis hand. He would remain motionlessfor a moment, listening, sometimesfurtively scouting the surroundings, andthen set the line back in motion again.None of it relieved the feeling of tensionthat had little by little taken hold of thegroup.

Upon returning from his fifth patrol,which was a lot longer than the others,the warrior didn’t give the signal tocontinue on. With gestures, he orderedthem to keep quiet, then led them on alarge detour that took longer than acentiday. Finally, he relaxed a little andwhispered a few words to Corenn. Yandidn’t hear everything, but he understoodthat the warrior had seen three mensetting up a camp, that they weren’tnecessarily dangerous, but he wouldn’tbet his life on it.Apparently, Grigan wasn’t much of a

gambler. Deep down, it was ratherreassuring.They moved onward for an entire

deciday, even after the sun had gone

down. Yan wondered how the warriorknew where he was going. He himselfwas completely disoriented and wouldhave even had trouble saying which waywas north.“How are you able to guide us? You

can’t see the stars, and we don’t haveeven the trace of a path to follow, nor theslightest landmark to help.”“Magic,” he answered, without batting

an eye.“What?”“It’s magic. I focus very intently on my

destination and the path appears in mymind. All Ramgrith men have thispower.”Yan was dumbfounded. Was Grigan

making fun of him?

“All right, fine, it’s not magic. It’ssimply thanks to this object. You see thearrow? Once it’s stopped moving, italways points north.”Yan examined in amazement the crafted

ivory object Grigan held out to him.After a few moments, the little metalarrow became still, pointing more orless to his left. If it wasn’t just anotherjoke, Yan was ready to believe it wasmagic after all.“Where did you get that from?” he

asked, handing it back to Grigan.“I purchased it for a fortune from a

Rominian sailor. It’s largely thanks tothese kinds of inventions that the OldCountry was able to dominate the knownworld for centuries. And that’s also why

they still jealously guard their secrets.”“How does it work? It isn’t really

magic, is it?”“Honestly?”“Yes!”“I don’t know. It works, that’s it.

Maybe it’s magic, maybe it’s divine,maybe it’s mundane. I don’t know,” herepeated.“It most certainly is not magic,” Corenn

interrupted.“Why not?”“I’ve seen plenty of needles like that

before. In my opinion, there’s nothingspecial about them. They simply fall intothe same category as other naturalphenomena, like the tides, for example,or the seasons, or the phases of the

moon.”“In the Lower Kingdoms, and even

elsewhere,” Grigan commented, “I’vecome across cultures that consider eachone of those phenomena a divine work.”

“I suppose it depends on one’s point ofview. Why not, after all? One man’sfolly is another man’s truth,” Corennconcluded mysteriously.

Yan was far from satisfied. What Letihad said, or rather hadn’t said, about heraunt and the supernatural came back tohim. What could it be? What were thewomen hiding from him?

Thinking on it…this whole story aboutthe wise emissaries who disappearedfrom an island, only to reappear twomoons later…up until now, he hadn’t

really believed it. But as they neared theplace in question and after spending afew days with the heirs, who werecompletely convinced of its truthfulness,he was beginning to have serious doubts.

Could it really be that this old legendwas true?

His mind was buzzing with curiositylike never before. The impossible.Magic. Legends.

Yan was prepared to do anything to beat their side, even if for a short whileand at a distance. When he was just achild, he eagerly listened as theAncestress told all the stories, from theunderwater kingdom of Xefalis to thetragedy of the speaking dolphin, Quyl’sendless quest, and the legend of the mage

Guessardi, not to mention the religiousfables about Brosda, Eurydis, and Odrel.Any confrontation with something out ofthese ancient tales, however minor,seemed to him some of the most valuableexperiences imaginable.

All of a sudden, Yan had forgotten histiredness and even, momentarily, hisapprehension about the Day of thePromise. What were they waiting for?

Unfortunately, he had to put a damperon his enthusiasm soon after, when thegroup met back up with the road. Griganmade everyone turn back then to anabandoned hut they had passed, where atlast he “suggested” they stop for thenight.

As was his custom, Grigan made a

detailed inspection of the surroundingsbefore loosening up a bit. They had aquick bite to eat before tackling theduties they had tacitly assumed out ofhabit: Grigan took care of the horses,Yan was responsible for the heavy liftingrequired to set up camp—reduced, thistime, to clearing out the hovel—andCorenn and Leti handled the generalsettling in.

“I think it would be best if someonekept watch tonight,” said Grigan. “Yan,are you feeling up to it?”

“Of course. I’m too wound up to go tosleep right now anyway.”

“Good. Just wake me when you feeltired.”

“What about me?” Leti interjected.

“When will it be my turn?”“Never, so long as we can avoid it. It’s

more dangerous than you think.”“So what? I’m not scared, if that’s what

you mean. Will you let me help, or not?”“No.”Leti rolled her eyes in frustration,

feeling powerless against the warrior’swill.

“I’ll do it without your permission. I’llstay awake all night if I want.”

“It’s up to you,” he said simply.After struggling for a few moments to

come up with a retort, Leti began poutingagain.

“I’ll miss these special, happy momentslater,” announced Corenn ironically.

Yan was the only one who got the joke.

Once everyone was in bed, he took hispost at the spot Grigan had indicated,bow and arrow in hand.

As he sat alone in the cold night,listening and watching the darkness, heexperienced a strange, somewhat savagejoy that he had never known before.

It was the first time the warrior hadgiven him his complete trust.

It was also the first time he was trulywatching over Leti. As if they were inUnion.

The next morning Yan felt less heroic.He had struggled to keep his eyes openuntil the darkest of the night, thenregretfully woke up Grigan. He wouldhave liked to have let the warrior rest,but felt the fatigue slowly overtake him.

Worse, even though he did wakeGrigan, and it was already late in themorning, he still felt tired enough tosleep another deciday.

Despite this, he was pleasantlysurprised when he left their little shackand saw a cloudless sky. The sun wasalready heating the Lorelien soil,promising better weather. A light breezerustled the leaves still hanging on thenearby trees, while hundreds of birdscelebrated this welcome break from theSeason of Wind with song.

Leti wasn’t there, nor Grigan. Since nohorses were missing, Yan didn’t worry.

He walked over to Corenn, who washuddled near a small fire. She greetedhim and handed him a hot, aromatic

infusion.“What is it?”“Some coze. It’s a plant imported from

Mestebe. It has an odd taste, but it’ssupposed to shake off sleep for even themost tired travelers. None of theMothers attend a full meeting withoutdrinking a bowl or two.”

Yan smiled at the reference and sippedthe brew. He found it pretty tasty.

“You hide many talents from us, LadyCorenn,” he said, unthinkingly.

“I wonder how I should take that,” sheanswered, feigning vexation.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant, I—”“I know, I am kidding. Some people

who know me well would say that youare entirely correct,” she told him

mysteriously.Yan considered this response for a

moment, but didn’t know what to makeof it. So he moved on.

“What will the council do? About you,I mean?”

“Since I didn’t officially retire, myassistant should stand in for me until myreturn. But if my absence continues, theAncestress will nominate someone elseto take my place when she thinks it best.Same procedure as if I were dead,actually.”

“How does that make you feel?”“Of course I regret it, but what can we

do? As long as the Zuu are after us, ouronly chance at survival, paradoxically,is to feign death. In Kaul, only the

Mother responsible for Justice knowsour situation. But that’s already oneperson too many; if our enemies captureher, she herself will be in danger. Andwe will be even worse off given theinformation that they can get out of her.”

Yan nodded his head. If he hadn’t yetunderstood the gravity of the situation,Corenn was quickly remedying thatoversight.

“Why doesn’t Grigan talk to us aboutthese things? It might help Letiunderstand; it could make things easierbetween them.”

“Do you think Leti needs to hear thisright now?”

Yes, actually. She was already shockedenough by her friends’ assassinations,

and the one she had escaped.“So, why are you sharing it with me?”“Because I know you are smart. And

that you will need this information ifGrigan follows through with his plans.”Yan was going to ask for more

information, when the missing membersof their band returned to the camp. Theyboth looked very unhappy, particularlyGrigan. As soon as they arrived, theyturned their backs to one another. It wasshaping up to be a great day.“What happened?” Yan asked his

friend.“It’s the crank’s fault. He was going to

kill a standing sleeper,” she said. “I kepthim from shooting, and he got mad.”Yan understood. Leti had a

semidomesticated standing sleeper forseveral years. Above all, it wasimportant not to call the little creatures“game animals” in her presence.“How did you do it?”“I yelled as loud as I could. The

standing sleeper woke up and ran away.You didn’t hear it?”“No, maybe I was still inside.”Yan tried to imagine Grigan’s

expression at the moment Leti screamedin his ears. That wasn’t the sort of thingto put him in a good mood. He wasalways worried about their discretion.The grumbling warrior armed himself

from head to foot, and quickly left thecamp, mumbling something like, “Haveto go patrol, thanks to that stupid, willful

little girl,” to Corenn.Yan wouldn’t want to be in Leti’s shoes

just then.It seemed like they were going to get a

very late start today. After Yan hadwashed his face, packed his bags, tookcare of the horses, and finished otherdaily chores, Grigan still hadn’treturned. Yan decided to get in a littleshooting practice. He left the camp withhis bow and arrows.Leti quickly followed suit. They took

turns practicing, the young womangetting the best results by far in terms ofprecision, but still having plenty oftrouble putting power behind her shot.They had a lot of fun; Yan relished the

simple joy of one-on-one time with the

woman he loved. Joy great enough todistract him from worrying about Griganfinding them.When Leti started to show signs of

fatigue, they headed back towardCorenn, who sat on a blanket spread outat the foot of a tree, writing in a smallbook. Yan was burning with questions,but stronger yet was his respect for herpersonal time and his fear of being rude.So he just let himself sneak a glance ather from time to time.Finally Grigan came back. He seemed

calmer, his anger mastered. He broughtback some game, and no standingsleepers—thankfully—in the bunch. Bychance or choice? No one asked.The warrior set down the new rations

and began to pluck the feathers from apair of sea pheasants he had shot.Because it was so rare for Grigan toslow them down, the young Kaulienswere surprised he seemed to be takinghis time. After finishing with the birds,he spread out all his blades in front ofhim—an impressive sight—and startedsharpening and oiling one after the other.

Leti approached and watched patientlyfor a moment.

“Are you still mad?” she asked.The warrior didn’t even look up.“No, no, of course not, I’m just

thinking, that’s all.”And he went on sharpening. He seemed

embarrassed, almost ashamed.“I think I understand, you know,” Yan

interrupted.Grigan stared at him, wondering.“We can’t all go to Berce and plunge

into the lion’s den. You don’t want to goalone and leave us unprotected. The bestsolution is that I go, since the Zuu don’tknow me. But you can’t make up yourmind.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to stare atYan, waiting for him to finish.

“You’d better get used to it, becauseI’m going to Berce today.”

“It could be dangerous.”Yan stuck out his chest, a bit stupidly.“I’m not planning on taking any risks.

And we didn’t come all this way to justgive up.”

“Good,” the warrior concluded

cheerfully.He started to put away his weapons,

while explaining to the Kaulien boywhat he wanted him to do.

“Berce is less than a half day’s ride tothe east. You will take the trail…”

“Really? Yan is going to get himselfkilled!”

Leti couldn’t believe that they weretaking this seriously.

“Not if he’s careful, and he will be; Itrust him.”

Yan couldn’t be happier. Leti, his love,was worried about him, and Grigan theUnbending just complimented him.Where was that army of killers? Bringthem on!

The warrior interrupted his daydream,

“It’s not like he’s going off on a crusade,after all. All I want is for him to observeand report back to us. All in one Kaulienpiece, if possible.”

Yan answered with a twisted smile.“There is an inn on the sea road, almost

at the end of town. I forget the name…”“The Wine Merchant,” said Corenn,

who had kept silent until then.“That’s it, that’s where most of the

heirs stay during the gatherings. Get aroom there and watch.”

“Am I going to sleep there?” Yanblurted out.

“You don’t have much choice. Even ifyou left right now, you couldn’t get thereand back tonight. What’s bothering you?”

“No, it’s just that…nothing,” Yan

muttered.But something still nagged at him. The

Day of the Promise was tomorrow. Hehad to be with Leti on that day.

Grigan exchanged looks with Corenn,then continued.

“You will rejoin us tomorrow, or thenext day, whenever you think it best. Justmake sure you aren’t being followed.”

Yan nodded again. The day aftertomorrow, not a chance! He already hadmade the firm decision to return atsunrise, if possible.

“Speak with as few people as you can.Say that you came for the Day of thePromise, that you are from a Kaulienvillage, anywhere but Eza, of course.That you’re hoping to find someone.

That will explain, at least in part, whyyou’re nosing around everywhere.”

Yan cringed at the mention of thePromise and searched for Leti’sreaction. But the young woman was lostin her thoughts. Had she even heard?

“Dozens of isolated peasants from thearea come to Berce for such occasions.As in your own village, I’m sure. Youshould pass through unnoticed. Lastly,don’t trust a soul. All right?”

“Not a soul,” Yan repeated in anunsteady voice.

Now all of this seemed a lot less fun.“Good. Are you still sure?”Yan stifled his conflicted feelings.“Of course. It’s going to be as easy as

falling off a log. And I’ll be back

tomorrow,” he said, looking at Leti.She stepped a few feet away.Yan could have sworn he heard her

crying.

He came within sight of Berce shortlyafter the apogee. In a rush to completehis task and return to his loved one, hedidn’t give his horse a rest and wasgoing to arrive sooner than Grigan hadestimated.

After a departure marked by Corenn’sencouraging words, Grigan’s last bit ofadvice, and more than anything, Leti’spainfully tearful, “See you tomorrow,”he’d led his horse to the trail they hit thenight before, which he followed until hegot to a wider road.

The apprehension he felt for the first

couple of leagues had slowly subsided,mainly because he didn’t see anyone.But it was coming back even strongernow and taking hold of his body, tyingknots in his stomach, stiffening his armsand legs, and shortening his breath. Yanknew the cause well enough: fear.

In spite of his slightly niab characterand the occasional verbal floggings heendured, he was far from being an idiot.If even a fraction of what hiscompanions told him were true, whichhad to be the case, Berce was going tobe a genuine snake’s nest, a hunting trapthe size of an entire village, set by apowerful organization of fanaticalassassins.

Upon reflection, he didn’t really see

how he could discover anythingimportant, besides confirming it wasbest for his companions to avoid theplace. He couldn’t recognize any of theother heirs if he saw them and couldn’teven trust anyone claiming to be one.

Oh well, he was just going to do thebest he could, and return straight back toLeti the next day. Best to hold on to thatthought.

Berce was a citadel, or moreaccurately, a town surrounded by a wallabout nine feet tall. It was much largerthan Eza. In fact, Berce was already asmall city. The front gate was open, butYan counted four men near the opening,lounging about carelessly, sitting againstthe wall or sprawled out on the grass,

nevertheless vigilant enough to keep Yanfrom passing by unnoticed.

He studied them closely as he camenear. They hardly seemed like standardcity guards. In addition to their mostunmilitary attitude, they weren’t wearinguniforms or anything close to them, anddidn’t demonstrate the slightest care forhygiene.

All four of them were even dirtier thanOld Vosder: unkempt beards, grimyfaces, black hands, clothes that hadn’tbeen changed for several dekades…

One of them rose to his feet at Yan’sarrival. Yan preferred to bring his mountto a halt and wait patiently for the“soldier” to come over to him, thinkingit better to keep a distance from the other

three.The filthy man spoke a few

interrogative words to him, meanwhilegrabbing hold of his horse’s reins. Yantook note of the gesture but didn’tunderstand a word of what he said. Wasit a Lorelien slang?

“I don’t understand,” he said in Ithare.One of the other soldiers came over to

them. Yan fought the impulse to tear thereins away and gallop at full speed backto his friends. The new arrivaladdressed him in Ithare.

“Yer not Lorelien?”“Nope,” he answered in a defiant tone.

He continued, more calmly, “No. I’mfrom Assiora, a village in the center ofthe Matriarchy.”

The two hideous men stared at him insilence.“Kaul!” Yan added. “The Kaul

Matriarchy! It’s not even a dekade’s rideaway!”The second man’s face finally lit up

with recognition. He smiled, then burstout laughing before translating for hiscounterpart, who caught on and laughedin turn.“So ye come from wom’n country?”“Women country?”“Yeah! There’s jist women o’er there:

women-men and men-women!” helaughed even harder.Yan didn’t quite get the joke but was

sure that he didn’t like it. He reallywanted to respond in kind, attacking the

apparently liberal Lorelien standards ofhygiene, but he was able to controlhimself and grit his teeth as he waitedfor the degenerates, who were now allgathered around him, to stop laughingidiotically.It was a long wait, but they finally

showed an interest in him again.“So, wha’ cha here for?”“For the Day of the Promise.”The guard translated for his pals, and

the brutes’ potbellies shook with anotherexplosion of laughter. Yan suddenlyrealized the potential benefit of havingclothes like Grigan’s. He would havebeen treated differently had he comedressed in leather armor, with a four-foot-long blade at his waist. Instead he

wore a stupid beige tunic belonging toLeti, and a headband Corenn had tiedaround his forehead—“A finishing touchfor your bachelor look.” Ridiculous!“So can I enter or not?” he asked,

annoyed.“Yeah, yeah,” the soldier answered,

wiping away tears of laughter. “Goodluck, friend!”Yan ignored the new tempest of hilarity

that broke out behind him as he passedthrough the outer wall. Danger, heroism—yeah right! He was sure he was goingto hear more of the same over the nextcouple days.He swallowed his anger and shame,

and observed his surroundings. That’swhat he had come for, so the sooner it

was done, the sooner he could return toLeti.The little city was in quite a stir, surely

due in large part to the preparations andexcitement surrounding tomorrow’sfestival.Berce looked like a nice city. The

houses, stables, artisan’s workshops,and other buildings appeared to besomewhat old, but that gave them acertain charm. He noted that a lot ofthem were several stories tall, incontrast to the traditional Kaulienarchitecture.He walked up what must have been the

main street. He passed many busypeople on his way, the majority of whombarely glanced at him. Good, at least he

would pass through unnoticed. The onlyexceptions were those who stopped andstared at him in amusement. At first Yantried to remain indifferent, but then hecouldn’t stop himself from respondingwith dirty looks. He ended up ripping offhis headband and undoing his tunicaltogether.

Children of all ages scampered aboutin groups around the streets. Bitter, hepromised himself he would keep a closeeye on the purse Corenn gave him. Hewasn’t about to be fooled twice; he hadlearned his lesson in Jerval.

He passed another horseman travelingin the opposite direction. Yan noticed hewas leading his horse by the bridle. Hefigured he might draw fewer looks if he

did the same. He dismounted andcontinued on foot.

He came upon what must have been thecentral square. As it was Loreliencustom to avoid work as much aspossible on festival days, preparationsfor the following day were already wellunder way.

Citizens had set up various tables,collected from the community, and anequally dissimilar assortment ofbenches, chairs, and stools. Animpressive pile of wood and a fireplacebuilt specifically for the occasion sat ashort distance from all the furniture.

But what struck and alarmed Yan themost was the platform. Were thepromised couples expected to go up

there together, in front of everyone? Orworse, was it that the men had to standup there alone and propose? It waspossible, after all, that the procedure forthe ceremony in Lorelia was verydifferent than in Kaul.

Yan was standing there as if hypnotizedby the whole scene, his imaginationpainting the most terrible scenarios,when a face sprung up right in front ofhis own.

He had neither seen nor heard the manapproaching. The man had slithered hisway in front of Yan like a snake, andnow stared at him insistently.

Yan briefly returned his fierce stare.The man was shorter than him and worea common priest’s cloak with the hood

pulled up. He must have been in histhirties, but his clean-shaven face andbald head made him look younger. Hekept his hands hidden, but that wasn’twhat was most alarming.

A shark. His eyes reminded one of ashark. Yan had only seen one once, at theend of a long fishing expedition with agroup of fellow villagers. But he wouldnever forget those cold eyes, devoid ofall feeling.

Of course, then it had only been achild’s simple interpretation, made at thesight of a dead animal. Now the sharkwas alive and seemed to be relishing itsprey’s fear.

“Excuse me.”Yan turned around as calmly as

possible to avoid starting somethinghe’d have to finish, even though he hadonly one desire: run away at top speed.

He met another shark behind him.The second man was less than a yard

behind him. He hadn’t made any morenoise than the first, and was dressed thesame, and had the same hungry look.

Yan froze in terror. For just an instant,he thought he saw a flash of metal in oneof the man’s hands. Then the handdisappeared in the folds of the cloak.

Yan continued forward, calmly, withoutturning back around. He expected to takea dagger in the back at any moment. Heled his horse in such a way as to situateit diagonally behind him. Even then, hecould feel their eyes burning into the

back of his neck.He stopped at the other side of the

square, where a pub offered patioseating, calmly tied up his horse next toanother, and chose a seat from where hecould observe the frightening men.

They were no longer there. Yan lookedover the whole square, but in vain. Hecouldn’t stop himself from whippingaround to make sure they weren’t sittingbehind him. But the sharks had fled thesewaters.

A high-pitched nasal voice made himjump in his seat. He tried as best hecould to slow the beating of his heart,and realized that a woman in her fiftieshad been questioning him since he satdown.

“Wine!” he answered shakily in Ithare.For a moment he was afraid he’d

mistaken the sense of the question, butthe woman nodded her head and shortlyafter brought him a full goblet, whichYan paid for, letting out a sigh of relief.He hated wine and had answeredimpulsively. However, given the recentrush of emotions, he found the drink hada particularly cheering flavor andmildness.

He turned around again, falselyrelaxed. He thought of Grigan. Did thewarrior always live that way? Alwayswatching his back?

Would his personal experience beenough to get them out of this mess?

He thought back to the fleeting flash of

metal he saw. Beyond a doubt, it was theZuu. Had they planned to kill him?

No, he would already be dead if thatwere the case…

In his place, an heir wouldn’t have hadthe slightest chance.

Yan didn’t give a margolin’s ass howthey were able to distinguish betweenheirs and nonheirs. The important thingnow was to avoid making a blunder thatwould cause them to change their mind.

As his eyes scanned the crowd, henoticed that, on the whole, Loreliensweren’t any dirtier than Kauliens. Sowhat were those four hairy apes doingguarding the gates to the city? Were theyeven from here?

He had to be constantly on alert.

He finished his goblet, stood up, andstarted walking toward The WineMerchant, which the matron hadindicated.

He crossed the entire southern end ofthe little city, almost as far as the gatethat opened onto the sea road, beforearriving at his destination. He almostpassed it by without noticing. Unlike TheFerry Inn, this one had only a tiny littlesign.

A beggar sat not far from the door,holding out a small cup with a few sadcoins in the bottom. Yan opted not toabandon his horse in the street and,hollering through the open door, askedthe innkeeper to point him toward thestable. The round, ruddy, pleasant-

looking man in the door did him onebetter, taking charge of the horse himselfand inviting Yan inside the inn so hecould be taken care of.

Yan agreed, but followed the innkeeperwith his eyes until the man reached abuilding close by. It was possible that hewould need to fetch his horse on shortnotice, and he wanted to know where itwas stabled.

“A small coin t’eat, sir,” the beggarasked with difficulty, in a quaveringvoice.

He looked just like any other oldbeggar that he had come across up untilnow: dirty, hairy, grimy, dressed inclothes washed only by the rain.

It was possible that this guy was

working for the Zuu. Or simplyunfortunate…He looked more like asickly fellow than he did a drunkard.Yan reached into his purse and tossed acoin into the little cup. Curses, the manstunk! Undoubtedly, he must have rolledin his own filth. The beggar backedaway as soon as possible.“Thank you, sir. Thank you, thank you,”

he said, effusively.He had hardly even glanced at the coin.

Yan shrugged his shoulders and enteredthe inn.The hall was empty this early in the

evening. The innkeeper rejoined himinside soon.“You don’t have anyone to look after

horses for you?” Yan began.

“Yes, yes I do, my older son. But it’sthe Day of the Promise for himtomorrow, too. It would really be cruelof me to make him work today.”Yan took an immediate liking to the

man. It wasn’t surprising that the heirshad stayed here. Provided that thecuisine was as good as Corenn had said.Yan told him he wanted to stay two

nights, and paid in advance, even thoughhe wasn’t asked. He then took advantageof the man’s obvious thirst forconversation to get some information.“The men at the gates? No, they’re not

from here. Well, except for Nuguel, andBertan’s son. No one knows where theothers are from; perhaps the city. Onething’s for certain: they’re not the kind of

people you want to associate with. Theyhaven’t harmed anyone, for the momentat least. So no one says anything. If youwant my opinion, they’re looking forsomeone. And I wouldn’t want to be inthat someone’s place if he decided toshow his face around here. Mind you,he’s probably just another good-for-nothing thief or cutthroat, the kind whowouldn’t think twice about ransackingmy place. What do you think? For thatmatter, why do you ask? Did they giveyou trouble?”Yan took a moment to digest the whole

speech. His throat felt sore just listeningto the innkeeper.“No, no, they just made fun of me a

little, that’s all. Are there a lot more of

them waiting for this someone?”“Now, that I couldn’t say. With all the

young people like yourself and theirfamilies coming in from the countrysidefor the Promise, there are twice as manypeople in the village as usual. Andthere’s also a sort of large family thatorganizes a festival here every threeyears, and it falls on this year. Some ofthem might also be part of the crowd.”Yan wondered if it would be

suspicious to ask, but the opportunitywas simply too perfect and the answertoo important.“Have you seen any of them?”“You mean people from the big

family?”“Yes, uh…”

He desperately searched for a reasonwhy he might be asking. He didn’t findone, and was going to change the subjectwhen the innkeeper answered him.

“No. Not yet. But it’s still early.Perhaps in a couple days. They alwayscome here, you know. They nearly takeup the entire inn. At the moment, the onlypeople here are you, a couple fromLermian, and a group of five priests whoonly took two rooms! Can you believeit? Two rooms for five! I’m veryrespectful of priests, I am, so I told them,‘If it’s a question of money, go ahead andtake one room each for the same price,since they’re available.’ But theyrefused. Don’t you find that a littleodd?”

“Yes, very.”Very strange. Frightening, even. He was

going to spend the night next to five Zuu.And if he made one false move, he

wouldn’t see daybreak.

It took Yan some time before he gotback to the city center. Mostly thanks tothe garrulous innkeeper, who had kepthim a long time by trapping him in anendless chat. Then it was the beggar’sturn, who had the nerve to demand almsfrom Yan again. He looked a lot lesssick this time. Some people have a verystrange sense of humor.

Without his bow to defend himself, andwithout his horse to flee, Yan felt veryvulnerable. All he had on him wasGrigan’s borrowed dagger, to replace

the knife he had given to Leti. Not themost helpful thing, but on the other hand,even with a giant sword, he didn’t seehow he could get the upper hand onthose seasoned assassins.

So it was with fear in his stomach andhis mind racing that Yan arrived at thelocation where they were preparing thefestival. A detailed examinationrevealed that not a single Zu was there,or more accurately, none were visible.Yan wondered which was better.

The workday coming to an end, moreand more people gathered around theplaza. Apparently, the Lorelienscelebrated the Promise on its eve aswell. He noticed that a good number ofyoung people—his exact age, actually—

waited around excitedly, in any placestheir elders left to them. They were allgrouped together, but always of the samegender: boys with boys, girls with girls.Yan casually leaned against a wall, nextto two young Loreliens who completelyignored him, captivated as they were bythe fairer sex adorned in their finestregalia.

As for Yan, he scrutinized theforeigners. Maybe some of them wereheirs? Others working on the Zuu’s darkplans? Who was who?

Leti, Corenn, and Grigan had done theirbest to describe some of their friends,but the list grew rapidly, and it didn’ttake long for Yan to jumble up all oftheir descriptions. Besides, his

companions had warned him about thereliability of their own memories. Evenmore so because all the details camefrom three-year-old memories, so theycouldn’t rely on them, anyway.

He realized with dread that the beggarfrom the inn was watching him, and musthave been for a while. Did he just avoidmaking eye contact? Was he followinghim?

Yan told himself he had better steerclear of the squalid character during hisstay in Berce. To protect his purse, ifnothing else.

“Hello.”Two young blonde girls, standing

quietly in front of him with their handson their hips, were smiling insistently at

him. He blushed up to his ears when hesaw them. They wore skirts that weremuch shorter than was permitted in Kaul.

“Uhh, hello,” he answered lamely.“Is it true you come from Kaul?” the

taller one asked innocently, a smile stillplastered on her face.

Yan frowned. Could they see it on hisface or what? If he couldn’t even passthrough unnoticed by two village girls, itwas useless to try to trick his enemies!

“How did you know, miladies?” hecouldn’t keep from sounding formal.

“My uncle told me. He hangs out withNuguel’s cousins and they saw you at theLorelien gate today. Nuguel told all ofhis friends about you coming for thePromise, to give them a laugh.”

Seeing Yan’s face turn pale, she quicklyadded, “But I don’t think it’s funny. Ithink it’s charming.”

Yan turned an even brighter shade ofred. Completely stupid, he wascompletely stupid.

“Oh. Really?” was his only answer.She persisted, “Kauliens are so

romantic. Is it true you don’t let yourwives work? That you prefer to givethem everything?”

Yan gave a strangled hiccup. Was shemessing with him? Or did the rest of theworld actually say such things aboutKauliens?

“That’s a bit exaggerated…” Yanbegan.

“Any way you look at it, it must be

better than here. All the men I know arejust fishermen without any real future,who only want to marry so they canmake babies. As for me, I want toexperience a real love story. I wouldreally, I mean really, like to be promisedto a Kaulien…”

The minx winked at him, making herdesires even more obvious, before sheturned her back and walked away withher silent friend. Yan watched them walkaway like they were dancing on animaginary tightrope.

He didn’t have any worries about theenterprising Lorelien girl’s future. Howwould Leti have taken this? He didn’thave the slightest idea. He’d like toimagine that she would be jealous. But

that would have ended with a fight,either verbal or physical, between thetwo women. Leti wasn’t the type to justlet things like that go.

A clamor pulled him out of his musings.A few members of the crowd werepointing in one direction, where Yanturned his gaze. Two or three leaguesoutside town, from a very distinct spot inthe surrounding hills, something wassending up flashes of light.

A group of ten horsemen pushedthemselves through the crowd toward thegates. Fear rising in his chest, Yanrecognized at least three Zuu in the party;the others were only scoundrels likethose guarding the gates.

The assassins had reacted very quickly.

If the man who had made the signals wasan heir, he didn’t have much chance ofescaping, unless he fled immediately.

Maybe Yan could warn him, if hehopped in the saddle. But he would haveto pass the others without being seen. Hewasn’t a good enough horseman for that.Also, he would have to first make itback to the inn, which would slow himdown even more.

But surely there was something hecould do. He had to do something. Heknew it was important.

He grabbed a clump of dirt andvigorously rubbed it on his cheeks. Nowdirtied up, he ran across a good numberof streets before stumbling upon the typeof vendor he needed. Feigning anger,

Yan cursed himself for his clumsiness atgetting himself so grimy on such animportant day. The merchant laughed atthe poor young man’s misfortune, andsold him a glass mirror so that he couldclean himself up.

As soon as he left, Yan began lookingfor a suitable location for his plan. Hesoon found it in the form of anabandoned house, which he enteredthrough a window after first assuringhimself that no one was watching—looking out specifically for the beggarfrom the inn.

His heart threatened to beat through hischest. He was really in danger now.Even if the least dangerous of hisenemies saw him, that would be the end.

He climbed along the banister of anunsteady and fractured stairway, tryingto avoid the steps, which were in aneven worse state than the handrails.Then he cautiously climbed a rottenladder before opening a trapdoorcovered in dust.He finally was on top of the house,

panting and breathless, his templespounding. Someone was still makinglight signals, ignorant of the dangergalloping toward him. Yan lifted themirror as high as possible and twisted itaround in every direction. Would that beenough to send the rays of the sun so far?Would he get himself caught and die

today?On the hillside, the flashes

disappeared. Then there were three shortones, like three knocks at a door. Theywere the last ones.Yan stopped moving his mirror. That

must have been a response. He hadsucceeded!A huge smile bloomed on his face. He

had succeeded at something, maybesaved a life, maybe only given a little bitof hope to the man at the other end of thesignals. An heir…definitely an heir.Hopefully this idiot wouldn’t get the

idea to come all the way to Berce now.He chased this dark idea out of his

head; he needed to worry about his ownwell-being. After cleaning his face, hewrapped the mirror in a piece of fabriche found in the house and threw the

whole package onto a roof two housesover. He proceeded with an acrobaticdescent along the exterior wall, worriedabout exposing himself by passingthrough the house again.He who makes himself a sheep will be

eaten by the wolf…He never wouldhave believed himself capable of suchthings!Did Grigan really live like this all the

time? Yan asked himself again, jumpingto the ground.

By the time the horsemen returned itwas late in the evening and the festivalwas already well under way. To Yan’srelief, he noticed they didn’t bring backany bodies or prisoners with them. Nordid they have the proud and arrogant

look of victors. Fortunately, the strangerhad gotten away.He shot only a fleeting glance at the

three “priests,” afraid that a longer lookwould draw their attention. But it waslong enough for one of them to meet hiseyes. Again, Yan was frozen in terror atseeing those predatory eyes. Luckily, theZu continued on his way, observingeveryone indifferently.Was he the only one who was scared?

The others must not have noticed. Hewondered how the locals would react ifthey found out a group of murderous Zuuhad taken root in their own village.Surely the town would be deserted thefollowing deciday.The horsemen separated, the three

assassins heading for The WineMerchant. Yan made up his mind tofollow them, desperate to gather anyadditional information for the night.There was little chance that the peoplereveling in drink, those dancing to airsplayed on vigolas and moon lutes, andespecially those who were courtingwould be of any interest to Grigan. Ontop of that, the young Lorelienne whohad approached him earlier wouldn’tstop signaling to him; it was obvious thatbefore long she would come up to talk tohim again. Maybe even suggest a dance!It was best to avoid anotherembarrassment.

He gave a limp wave in response toone of her gestures, and then took

advantage of a surge in the crowd to slipaway unnoticed. It was hardly civilized,sure, but he couldn’t find a bettersolution. And since others might havehad their eyes on him…

He briskly walked back to the inn.Away from the large fireplace in thesquare, the night became bitterly cold.

No meal had been served at thefestival. Tortured by hunger, Yan hadeaten bread and forcemeat at the inn. Henow congratulated himself. If he had todine alone with the Zuu as tablemates atthe inn, he wouldn’t have been able toswallow a bite.

He soon reached his destination. Thebeggar was no longer sitting across fromthe entrance. Several times throughout

the evening, Yan had thought he’d caughta glimpse of him in various placesaround the festivities. He was happy notto run into him again.

With a quick glance in through thewindow, Yan made sure the inn wasempty. He pushed open the door, whichhad the immediate effect of summoningthe innkeeper, who without delay triedunsuccessfully to strike up aconversation. Yan simply took thecandleholder he handed to him, politelywished him a good night, and fledupstairs. He couldn’t handle anotherdeciday of ceaseless babble.

He silently walked past the two roomswhere the Zuu were staying, the tworooms closest to the staircase, situated

across from one another. The tirelesshost had pointed them out earlier in theday, after showing him his room. Thepriests had insisted on staying in theserooms: a most strategic placement, Yannoticed. No one could go up or downwithout them knowing.

The door on the left was cracked open.One of them was on watch, or at leastkeeping an open ear. Yan continuedforward calmly. The last thing he wantedwas to arouse suspicion. An idea cameto him just before he reached his room,and he pretended to drunkenly stumbleas he neared the end of the hall. Thatmight throw them off.

Yan clumsily slipped the key into thelock of the door to his room, struggling

with it for a moment. He didn’t evenhave to pretend: it truly was difficult. Hefinally managed to turn the lock, entered,and closed the door behind him with asigh. He felt like he was in a snake pit,or rather, a pool of sharks.

One night, he only had to hold on forone night, and he could return to Leti.The news he would bring wasn’t good—the entire village was under surveillanceby their enemies, and the hope of findingother heirs hung from a few flashes oflight from a stranger, who might havehad nothing to do with their business.

The only thing he had left to do waswait. He resigned himself to his fate andthought about how he would get throughthe night.

His room had a roof hatch, rathersmall, but big enough for a slender man,or more simply, a crossbow bolt, to slipthrough. He made sure that it was closedtight and even reinforced the latch with athin rope. It wouldn’t make a bigdifference for a determined individual,but it was better than doing nothing atall.

He wasn’t going to fall asleep tonight.Not right away, at least. Despite thelateness, he didn’t feel tired in theslightest; the cold and the anticipationkept him wide awake.

He resolved to get his clothes togetherfor the next day. He refused to put on thatstupid tunic meant for girls.

That’s when he noticed that someone

had gone through his things.He took a quick inventory—they hadn’t

stolen anything. Furthermore, he didn’tsee that he owned anything attractiveenough to justify a robbery.

Of course, the aim wasn’t robbery. Forthat matter, they’d made a conscious andcareful effort to put everything back asthey found it, and it was merecoincidence Yan noticed at all.

He checked his lock. It appeared to bein good condition, stiffness aside. Unlessthat had actually been caused by thebreak-in.

Now he definitely wasn’t going to getany sleep that night. He even felt readyto start the return trip immediately…butthat would have been too dangerous, too

suspect.He sat down resolutely on a stool in

front of the door, dagger in hand. Allright, the first person to come throughthis door is going to get it. As for thesecond…he didn’t know how he wouldhold him off.

To think that a few days before he hadfound it all so exciting! Given his currentsituation, he far preferred his life frombefore—monotonous and uneventful.

In the end, he managed to nod off—fora short while at a time, anyway—despitehis uncomfortable position. Hardly adeciday went by, but he felt like it lastedtwo.

Voices in the hall.It took him a few moments to realize

that they were in fact real, not justsomething from his troubled sleep. Thenthey became all too concrete.

Two or three men, maybe more, weretalking among themselves, or with theassassins, at the top of the stairs. Yanglued his ear to the door, but he stillcouldn’t hear the conversation. All heunderstood was, “I…fifty, no less.” Therest, said in a lower tone, wasunintelligible.

He decided to risk it and open the door,since a discussion so late in the nightcould only be truly important. He hid hiscandle under the stool covered by ablanket, and then turned the key in thedoor ever so slowly. Finally, he gentlycracked the door open.

The hinges creaked, very faintly, but toYan’s ears it sounded louder than avorvan’s cry. He waited motionless afew moments, his hand gripping hisdagger, but no one came. The men werestill talking and seemed not to haveheard anything.

“No, no,” proclaimed the loudestvoice. “I want fifty silver terces, no less.And furthermore, I want them before Ileave.”

“Fifty, that’s quite a sum,” said a calmvoice. “Do you truly believe yourknowledge to be worth that much? That ahalf day of your time deserves two goldterces?”

“If you find someone else, go ahead,hire them. But I’m telling you, it’s just

me. And without me, you’ll never findthe guy with the mirror. You have to readthe signs, and despite your holiness andall that, you don’t know how to do that.So, I want fifty.”“Are you very familiar with the

goddess Zuia?” asked the smooth voice.Silence.“Zuia is the Goddess of Justice. Take

careful note of how I didn’t say agoddess but the Goddess of Justice.Other gods are just weaklings, they onlyjudge humans after their deaths. Zuia isthe only one who carries out hersentences immediately. She’s the onlyone who wields a real power, the onlytrue goddess.”Another silence. Yan could easily

imagine the loud voice losing itsconfidence.“My brothers and I are Zuia’s

messengers. If you refuse to help us, youwill be siding with those alreadycondemned. And Zuia will judge you forthat.”At least it was unequivocal, thought

Yan.“So,” the smooth voice resumed, “are

you going to lead us to them?”The loudmouth apologized profusely,

mumbling that it didn’t occur to him thatthey were dealing with a sacred missionand that, of course, he was completely attheir disposal. For free! The smoothvoice concluded with a simple, “Good,”and they set a meeting for the following

day at the square when the third decidaysounded. They then turned and left downthe stairs.Yan waited for all to go quiet again

before closing the door with infinitecare, placing a piece of clothing on oneof the hinges. The noise was muffledenough to be unnoticeable.Locked safely in his room again, his

mind was racing. What to do? Whatcould he do? What would Grigan do inhis position?If he stayed put, the man with the mirror

was going to die the next morning. If hemoved, he too would perish that verynight, unless he thought of something. Butwhat?He had no means by which to warn the

stranger. He believed he could find theplace in the hills by memory, but only inbroad daylight. By night, it wasimpossible. Not to mention this talkabout “reading the signs”…What wouldGrigan do in his position? He wouldneed to ask him.Even if it was going to be risky to slip

away from Berce and ride at night, hefigured it was best to rejoin his friends.Perhaps the warrior would have a bettersolution?His decision made, Yan began

addressing the practical concerns. Oneglance out the opened roof hatchconfirmed that he couldn’t plan onmaking his exit that way. The slope ofthe roof was far too steep and looked

right over a busy street. Not the mostdiscreet exit.

So the door remained the only solution.What if he were to just walk outforthright, without acting like he wastrying to hide something?

Either way, he should wait a bit. Itwould be too obvious to leave rightnow, just after that conversation.

He rubbed his face as he sat pondering.Here he was, forced to think like afugitive, an outlaw, a convict, while hewas the victim. His life really hadchanged.

It was better to leave his belongings inthe room, he decided. To abandon them,actually, since he didn’t see how hecould come back for them afterwards. If

the Zuu on watch saw him walk by withhis whole pack, no doubt they would besuspicious.

So, he quickly sorted what heabsolutely had to take from the rest. Tohis eyes, Leti’s beige tunic was the onlything of value, because it didn’t belongto him. He resigned himself to leavingthe rest behind.

When he judged that enough time hadgone by, he left the room without lockingit, carrying only the candleholder.

He consciously made little effort to besecretive, sure that he was being spiedon anyway. To his great relief, hemanaged to make it to the other end ofthe hall, pass in front of the killers’rooms, and descend the staircase without

being bothered.On the ground floor, a boy his age slept

soundly with his folded arms resting onthe counter. Yan went around the boywithout waking him, set the candleholderon a table, and went out.

Step one, accomplished. The next onewas going to be a lot trickier: how washe going to exit the city on horseback,this late at night, with guards at thegates? Because they most certainly werestill there.

He made his way to the stable, stillhashing it out. He couldn’t see anysolution other than just charging through.He lacked the energy to invent some sortof story believable enough for theuncouth soldiers who’d made a

laughingstock of him.Curses! The door to the stable was

fitted with a lock. That was unexpected.After a few unsuccessful attempts withhis dagger to break it open, he resolvedto smash it with the blows of a rock.Luckily, the lock quickly gave way.

He wanted to close the door behindhim while he readied his horse, but itwas so dark inside, he left it ajar. Hemore or less groped his way forward,using the animals’ breathing and thesound of their hooves to guide him.Finally, he found his horse. A badfeeling had been niggling at him since heleft the inn, and he had almost expectedto find the stable emptied of horses butfilled with enemies.

He rapidly saddled the horse and madefor the door.

A man was blocking the way.Due to the poor lighting, Yan couldn’t

see his face, but his stature and clothingwere telling enough. He wasn’t a Zu,Yan saw with relief. His features moreclosely resembled one of those crasssoldiers who seemed to be working forthe Zuu. He wondered if the man hadfollowed him, or if he had already beenin the stable.

“Who are you?” Yan asked.He wondered if it wouldn’t be too

aggressive to stab the man with hisdagger immediately. But that could startwhat he wanted to avoid at all costs: afight.

“A friend,” answered the stranger. “I’mone of the heirs, and so are you, no?”

Yan remained uncertain for a fewinstants. Grigan had ordered him to nottrust a soul, and he took the advice toheart. If this man was a friend, why washe blocking the way? Why didn’t heclose the door? Unless he wasn’t beingcareful himself.

“And what is this friend’s name?”Yan never would have thought himself

capable of such impoliteness.“Reyan. Reyan Kercyan. I’m from

Lorelia. You’re one of the heirs, aren’tyou?”

This friend’s tone of voice wasn’tfriendly. But that could also beexplained by this so-called Reyan’s own

distrust. Should he believe him? Yanremembered hearing Corenn cite hisname at least once. Was he one of thosedead or alive?

“I’m not one of the heirs,” heanswered, decisively. “But some of themare my friends.”

“Are they here? In the city?” he askedeagerly.

Yan had no desire to provide theLorelien with that kind of information.He didn’t move away from the door. Yannoticed that one of the man’s hands washidden from view. He didn’t like that atall. Could he hop in the saddle andtrample the man before he had time toreact?

“Well? Are they in the city, or not?

You’re slow to answer. Don’t you trustme?”

Yan suddenly became convinced that heshould not, in fact, trust this man. Hewas getting ready to jump onto his horse,when he saw, with horror, another manappear in the doorway. This one herecognized right away—he was thebeggar from the inn. Certainly the otherman’s accomplice. The situation wasgoing from bad to worse.

“Don’t be so difficult, it’s no use,” thefirst man continued. “You’ll end uptelling anyway, whether it’s me or thosenutcases in red. It’s simply a matter oftime and pain.”

Yan was frozen with fear. Was this guythreatening him with torture? Did he not

just admit loud and clear hisinvolvement with the Zuu? Yan clenchedhis dagger and held it in front of him, histhumb on the blade, like Grigan hadshown him. It must not have had asimpressive an effect as intended,because the first man burst out laughing.As for the beggar, he just continuedinching his way toward his companion.

Why so slowly?“All right, you want to play?” said the

other, as he pulled a curved blade outfrom underneath his cloak. “With pleasu—”

The beggar, who was now right behindthe louse, violently raised the otherman’s chin with one hand. With a daggerheld in his other hand, he traced a dark

groove across his throat, which quicklygushed forth blood as it widened. Thewounded man let out a few sickeninggurgles and collapsed.

The murderer leaned down and wipedhis blade with his victim’s clothes.

“Even when they’re dying, they’rerevolting. These fellows really have nostyle. Except for pretending to be me, ofcourse.”

Yan kept hold of his dagger. What wasgoing on here?

“Oh! I hope you aren’t too upset withme, depriving you the pleasure ofridding us of this fat heap. Anopportunity presented itself, so…”

Yan stared blankly at the beggar, whohad by now put away his dagger and

stared back at him with his hands on hiships.“I mean, I hope you aren’t too upset

with me for saving your life and all.”“Um…Thanks,” mumbled Yan.He couldn’t dispel the image of this

man coldly killing the other. It was goingto be just as hard to grant his trust to thisnewcomer.“Who are you?” he asked, with a

feeling of deja vu.“Rey Kercyan, the original. And it’s

just Rey, not Reyan. This guy shouldhave known that I don’t let anyone callme Reyan. That’s way too fourteentheon. And you, Mr. Horse Thief?”“Yan. And this horse belongs to me!”“The door too? As well as the lock?”

The Kaulien remained silent.“Come on, I’m kidding. Let’s not hang

around.”The so-called Rey leaned over the

body again, from which he pulled out adirty purse that he weighed in his hand, adisdainful look on his face. Shocked,Yan didn’t want anything to do with thisimmoral man. This reeking man had tobe aiming for some sort of reward hedidn’t want to share with anyone, whichis why he killed his accomplice. Hecertainly wasn’t an heir!“I must leave you,” attempted Yan.

“Thanks again.”“Wait!”It wasn’t an order, and no sudden

movement was made to stop him, so Yan

decided to hear him out, for a fewmoments at least.“I heard what you said earlier.

Everything you said. Since I got here adekade ago, it’s the first bit of goodnews I’ve received. You don’t have tobelieve me, of course, but I’m also partof the family. To my misfortune,” headded, in a low voice.Yan didn’t know what to think. His tone

seemed sincere, but the stakes were toohigh. It could merely have been part ofsome scheme to locate Yan’s friends.“I can’t take you to them. I don’t even

know you.”“I know, I wouldn’t have thought

otherwise. So, go find them and tell themI’m alive. I’ve grown up a little since

they last saw me, but surely they’llremember this: tell them I’m the boywho lit the tent on fire a few years ago.They can’t have forgotten that,” he addedwith a smile.Yan nodded. He didn’t understand

everything, but he did know that Reydidn’t have any immediate ill intentionstoward him. That was enough for him.“Then what? If that’s enough to

convince them?”“Come find me. Oh, not here,” he

added, noticing the fear in Yan’s eyes. “Idon’t plan on sticking around here either.Let’s say tomorrow at the apogee, on thebeach where we held the oldgatherings.”“I guarantee it’s being patrolled,”

objected Yan.“It’s not. I checked. At least it isn’t yet.

By the time the Day of the Owl comes, itwill be.”

Yan accepted. He would have liked tosuggest another meeting point, but hewasn’t familiar with the region. Griganwould decide the best course of actionlater.

“One last thing. Warn them that theGrand Guild is also after us.”

“The Grand Guild?”“Do you not know what it is, or do you

not believe me?” asked Rey in surprise.“I don’t know what it is,” admitted Yan

in all seriousness.“Great. Good thing I’ve found some

help,” he said to himself, ironically.

“I’m going to share your criticismswith someone I know,” Yan retorted. “Ibet he’ll have a lot to say on thesubject.”

They let a moment of silence go by.“Touchy, huh?” Rey continued,

breaking the silence.“Less touchy than you are cynical,” Yan

answered, with the same frankness.They faced each other for a few

moments, with knowing smiles. ThenRey calmly took Yan by the arm and ledhim outside.

“Let’s get going! The sun will soon beup and we’ll still be pestering oneanother, sitting over this dead body. Canyou imagine how that’d look? Tell me,how did you plan on making it out of

here with your horse?”

A whistle rose up in the night.Nuguel, the only man posted by the Zuu

at the Leem gateway, wasn’t in the moodfor games. All his friends, or at leastmost of them, had been sleeping for awhile, or were out carousing with girls,and on girls. Whereas he had to standguard all night at a gate that no one everused anyway.

So that little moron who was whistlinglike an idiot was going to feel real painif he didn’t quit it soon.

Nuguel would have already solved theproblem, if he could only figure outwhere the whistles were coming from.But that high-pitched sound traveled farin the silent night, and the imbecile could

be in any of the alleyways he faced.It wasn’t just some simpleton happily

passing by. Someone was really messingwith his head. The whistler stopped andstarted, over and over, as he movedbetween the alleys in front of the gate.Nuguel would have given anything towork out his frustration on him. Or onone of those people they were lookingfor. Or on anyone, so long as he couldhurt him.

“When I’ve caugh’ ya, I’ll make ya eatyer tongue,” he mumbled under hisbreath.

“If you can catch me, I’ll eat it myself,”someone answered loudly.

Nuguel ran toward the alley he heardthe voice coming from, thrilling with

fierce joy at the prospect of finding thewhistler.

The only thing he saw—but from tooclose—was a thick beam that brutallysmashed into his forehead.

Rey wondered if he should kill the nowunconscious guard. But as he hadn’t,after all, raised the alarm, had fallen forthe trap, let Yan pass right behind him,and, finally, collapsed without a sound,Rey decided that he had played his roleperfectly and Rey would spare his life.Plus a nice bump on his head and minusa purse.

He didn’t wait around by the bodylying on the ground, which he simplydragged a little further into the shadows.Then he exited the Leem gateway

himself.The young Kaulien was no longer

visible, but Rey could still hear hishorse’s gallop. It was best that he make aquick getaway as well, so he hastenedhis step.

The first thing he thought of, afterputting some distance between himselfand Berce, was to wash up. Even aftermore than a dekade, he wasn’taccustomed to the distinctly strong odorthat was part of his disguise. And ithadn’t improved over time. From time totime, the stench would overwhelm him,as if the rot he had rolled in was stillfresh. He had struggled to not be sick.But the idea was a good one: no one hadspoken to him in a very long time.

Well, at least until the young Kaulienarrived.

He suddenly realized that he hadn’teven thought to ask how many heirs wereleft, and who they were. The young manwouldn’t have given him an answer,anyway, but he still must have come offas pretty self-absorbed.

He’d worry about that later; he haddone his best. If they didn’t show up,well, he would just figure it out on hisown, as always.

In the meantime, he would gather histhings, hidden a half league away, andabove all else, wash up.

After all, he was going to meet hisfamily.

Time was of the essence. Thanks to the

beggar, Yan was able to leave the citywithout difficulty, but he had to exitthrough the east gate and he needed to gowest.

So he traced a long detour to skirtaround Berce without being spotted bythe guards posted at the other gates, andto avoid sowing curiosity among anypotential onlookers. And, of course, hegot lost for a moment. On foot, hebelieved he could maintain his bearingsanywhere, even in unfamiliar places. Buton a horse…did this animal understandthe simple concept of going straight? Hehad his doubts. Fortunately, he ended upfinding the road again and he sensed hewas getting close now.

Ultimately, a lot of things had happened

in Berce, and he was anxious to tell allabout it, especially those parts thatconcerned the stranger in the hills andthe beggar. Of course, he no longerbelieved he was a genuine beggar.

Yan had also been granted theopportunity to taste the real danger theyfaced. He had now become a target aswell. It only scared him a little; he’dexpected to be implicated sooner orlater. Strangely enough, he was evenhappy about it, because he could share itwith Leti.

What worried him the most was theapparent lack of solutions to theirproblem. The Zuu seemed more thandetermined and appeared to havesignificant resources at their disposal.

He had started to realize that it would bedifficult for him and his friends toresume a normal life someday, if theyever could.

So, he might as well take advantage ofthe present. Not much longer and hewould see his dear Leti. In a fewdecidays, the sun would come up togreet the Day of the Promise. Themoment he had been awaiting for solong. He thought it better to keep hismind on that.

He finally reached the fork in the roadwhere he had to penetrate the thickshrubbery. He uttered a short prayer toBrosda in which he pleaded not to getlost, as he kept doing. The god must haveheard him, because he quickly came

upon the small, ramshackle house theyhad established as their camp theevening before last.

Something wasn’t right.The place seemed deserted.Upon inspection, he was completely

certain: the place was empty. There wasno remaining trace of his friends: nohorses, no bags, not even warm ashes.Nor a message, or any sign at all.

Yan sat down on a moist stump andlistened to the sounds of the night. Hefelt very tired.

Leti felt as if she had abandoned herfriend. Shortly after Yan left for Berce,Grigan had ordered them to pack upcamp. Infuriated, she had protested,hurling insults and menacing remarks,

prepared to force them to come aroundto her point of view, until she finallylistened to the warrior’s explanations.Grigan simply wanted to move the

camp just in case someone followed Yanon the way back, or made him talk. Itstill took a lot of argument and promisesfrom Corenn and Grigan before shefinally gave in.So they left the abandoned hut and

moved a bit closer to Berce, and set up anew camp at a spot chosen by Grigan.Leti, calmer now, was a bit ashamed

about the things she had said to thewarrior under the sway of her anger.Thinking that they were abandoning Yan,she had called him a liar, a callous oldman, a traitor, and other names, many of

which Leti regretted. If her aunt had notintervened, they would have surely cometo blows; that was how much her furyhad deafened her to the warrior’sexplanations.Still, he sure had a way of putting

things. And this habit of never askinganybody anything, giving orders as if itwere only natural. Just because he had abow and a scimitar? Perhaps thatimpressed the others, but not her.She had had enough, more than enough

actually, of simply submitting to whathappened to them. All those people sheloved, dead. Herself, Yan, Corenn,threatened. Worse, hunted. And theyexpected her to do nothing, to serenelyawait Grigan’s good favor? Didn’t she

have a say in this?And the first thing to do was to arm

herself. She wouldn’t let herself becaught powerless in front of adetermined assassin as she had been onthe road from Eza. She could stillremember the supreme calm of the threemen, their simultaneously cruel anddetached expressions, and the way theysurrounded her and Corenn, slowlytightening like a vise.Never again. Never again would she

put herself at the mercy of someone else.Never again would she stand thereparalyzed, waiting for the fatal blow.She wanted to fight.She pulled out the fishing knife that Yan

gave her and began diligently training

herself by throwing it at a dead tree.Corenn and Grigan, who were talking

some distance away, stopped to watchher.“Cursed Zuu,” the warrior said under

his breath. “The poor girl is in an utterstate of shock. It will take some time forher to get over it; and I know of what Ispeak.”Corenn responded solemnly, “It’s

sadder than just that, do you see? Shehas lost her innocence, her peace, heryouthful ignorance. She has lost herchildhood dreams. She has lost her self-respect. Cursed Zuu, she’s an adultnow.”They contemplated it for a moment.“You knew it would happen someday,”

Grigan said in a consoling tone.“Of course, but not so brutally. She has

changed dramatically in just a few days.I have lost my Leti.”

The warrior felt uneasy. He hated tosee Corenn so sad, and would havepreferred taking a physical blow. Helooked for something to distract her.

“You know, she isn’t doing too bad.”Corenn couldn’t hold back a smile.“Now I have really seen it all,” she

concluded, a little mysteriously to adisconcerted Grigan.

Yan settled into the abandoned housefor the rest of the night, but couldn’t getto sleep. His thoughts invaded hisdreams, flashing a frightening jumble ofimages in his mind: Leti, Grigan, the

beggar, the murdered man, the flirtyLorelienne, Leti again, the Zuu, theinnkeeper, the flashes on the hill…

He was awake more often than asleep,mulling over, as best he could in thisdreamy state, what he might do. Hefigured the best thing to do was to stayput for a day or two, hoping to see hiscompanions return. But pessimism waswinning out, and he began to imaginethem taken by the Zuu, dead. He slippedinto a brief moment of drowsiness,which quickly threw him into anightmare where his fears becamereality. He jerked awake and pondered itover again, still indecisive.

Which is why when he heard Grigan’svoice calling him from outside, at first

he believed it was another phantomemerging from his sleep. All the more sobecause it was dark. But the callrepeated, again and again, and Yanawoke completely. He leaped from hisbed, and noisily threw the door open.

There was the warrior, a few yardsaway, a drawn bow in his hands, whichhe lowered at the sight of the youngKaulien.

“What happened? Where’s Leti?” Yanasked, approaching him.

“All is well. All is well. They’re notfar from here.”

Yan closed his eyes as he let out a greatsigh of relief. My, was it good to bealive!

He opened his eyes to the warrior

standing before him, busy scrutinizingthe surroundings.

“For your sake, I hope you have a goodexplanation,” Yan said, in a voice full ofimplication.

“We moved the camp for safetyreasons. I came here this morning to waitfor you.”

“Uh huh.”Yan wanted to argue a little bit with the

warrior to make him pay for thetorturous night that he had just endured,but he was too good-hearted for that.Furthermore, he was far too relieved bythe happy ending to provoke a quarrel.

“What happened? You aren’t supposedto be here for at least another deciday orso. What if I hadn’t come earlier?”

So now Grigan was the one gettingangry all on his own.

“I came looking for you. I have a lot totell you, but we need to hurry.”

“Did you see any other heirs?”“Yes. Well, maybe. But I’ll tell you

about it when everyone’s listening.”Needless to say, it was with great haste

that the warrior led Yan to their newcamp. Leti and Corenn rose and came togreet them as soon as they finished tyingup the horses.

“Yan, oh, you look awful!”It was the first thing Leti could find to

say. She had worried so much about himthat to see the bags under his eyes andthe exhaustion on his face was like aconfirmation of her fears. She realized

her insensitivity afterward, and cameover to him to plant a kiss on his cheek,adding, “But we’re still very happy tosee you.”

The kiss dispelled all of Yan’s fatigue;he now felt ready to face an entire armyof Zuu killers. Soon, the sun would riseon the Day of the Promise. Soon, Leti…

“So?”Grigan was pacing around impatiently.

It was understandable. Yan cleared histhroat and began, “For the moment, themost important thing I have to say is thatsomeone was sending signals from thehills behind Berce. I’m sure it was oneof your own, because a group of Zuurushed off in search of him immediatelyafterward.”

“There are Zuu in the village?”interrupted Leti.

“Several. At least five, maybe more.”“They didn’t catch him?”“No. I’m nearly sure of it, after seeing

the Zuu come back with suchdisappointed looks on their faces.”

“What were these signals like?”“Uh…Not natural. Steady. There were

two kinds: a strong one, and a weakerone.”

Grigan and Corenn exchanged a look.“A cyclops,” said the warrior.“A what?”“A cyclops. It’s a sort of complex

instrument, about a foot long, fitted withtwo mirrors and a lens. It’s used duringlarge hunts in Arkary.”

“Bowbaq?” suggested Leti, hopefully.“It’s definitely him,” answered Corenn,

smiling. “Mother Eurydis, may it pleasebe him!”

“Who is he?” Yan inquired.“A very, very good friend. The nicest

man in the known world,” answeredCorenn. “And the rest, I’m sure.”

“You know, he’s the one who knowshow to talk to animals!” added Leti.

Of course. Several times, she had toldhim the story of this tall, bearded manwho charmed a standing sleeper duringone of the heirs’ meetings.

Yan had always thought it was just aprank pulled on a gullible little girl, buthad never said anything. Either way,everyone seemed to like him, so he had

to be a nice person.“Whoever it is, he’s going to be in

serious danger if we don’t act extremelyquickly.”

He told them about how he respondedto the signals, and then about theconversation he overheard from hisbedroom. He was quite pleased with theadmiring looks Leti gave him when hegot to the most dangerous parts.

“Bowbaq certainly isn’t waiting rightnext to the spot where he made thesigns,” Grigan said, having given it somethought. “Knowing him, he must have lefta trail leading to him.”

“A trail? Just an ordinary trail, that’sall?”

“A trail of Arque signs. They form a

genuine language. For the most part,they’re composed of combinations ofabout ten elements: rocks, pebbles,branches, bark, bones, fabric, nuts, and Ican’t remember what else. You can, forexample, indicate the direction anddistance to a given village, as well aswhose clan it belongs to, the size of itspopulation—everything with one singlesign.”

“What should we do? We’re alreadytoo late if we can’t outpace the Zuu!”

“I know the main signs,” Griganreplied casually, as he stood. “All right,we’d better get going quickly.”

“Where did you learn the signs?”Yan knew that the warrior hated

questions, but he couldn’t help it.

“I spent two years traveling acrossArkary,” he answered simply. “Bowbaqhimself took me in for several dekades.If it’s him on that hill, the Zuu won’t takehim without getting a taste of my steel.”The warrior never ceased to surprise

him. How many things had he done andseen over the course of his existence?Everyone was bustling about now,

packing up camp. Yan still had plenty ofthings to recount, but it would have towait.They set off, deciding to risk the road

in order to move swiftly. Grigan gavethem a formal order to remain silent,since voices carried further than themuffled sound of horse hooves on wetground. So, for a long time they were

quiet. However, not long after sunrise,Leti couldn’t refrain from questioningYan.“Why are you looking at me so

strangely?”Yan blushed all the way to the roots of

his hair. Here they were, finally, on theDay of the Promise, and the first thing hedid was embarrass them both.“No, no, I’m just thinking, staring off

into space, that’s all.”He spent a good part of their ride trying

to decide if, when, and how he wasgoing to propose to Leti, causing him tobreak into a cold sweat. He didn’t evendare look at her anymore.One moment, he would decide the

circumstances hardly lent themselves to

that sort of thing. Then a moment later,he could recall the demonic look in theZuu’s eyes and decide to make the mostof his life, and live it to the fullest.When Grigan asked him to take the lead

and guide them to the spot where theflashes came from, he obeyed withrelief. He absolutely had to focus onsomething other than the proposal.In no time, their enemies would be

following this same trail, stronger, morenumerous, and more determined.Somewhere ahead of them, their allydidn’t suspect a thing. They were hisonly hope, and they had to act quickly.He devoted all his attention to locating

the spot, racking his memory, which,fortunately, was very good. It was harder

than he thought it would be. Thelandscape wasn’t the same as seen fromBerce, and he had few reference points,since all the wooded hills resembledone another.Wooded hills…Of course! This

Bowbaq must have made the signs fromthe top of a tree, he was almost sure ofit!All they needed to do was locate the

tallest tree in the area. Obviously,Bowbaq would have thought to mark thebeginning of his trail with a sign thatwas easy to find.Yan explained his idea to Grigan in a

few words; the warrior recognized itsmerits. Galvanized by the support of thewarrior, Yan hopped off his horse and

began scaling a tree whose weakestbranches were collapsing under theweight of its sweet fruits. He reached thetop in a few moments.

The landscape was magnificent fromthis vantage point. Beyond Berce to thesouth sprawled the immense andpeaceful Median Sea.

In all other directions, the landscapewas covered with trees shaded by themagic of the Season of Wind in a paletteof green, brown, and ocher.

It had been almost a dekade since Yanhad seen the sea. He, who hadpractically spent his whole life on theshore, didn’t realize how much he’dmissed it.

Grigan “asked” him to hurry up. With a

sigh, Yan finally began the search for histree. It didn’t take long to find it; in fact,it was less than three hundred yardsdistant.

But something else he saw preventedhim from declaring victory.

He let himself slide down the length ofthe trunk. Leti and Corenn observed himwith a surprised expression. Grigangripped his blade and shot sweepingglances around them.

“The Zuu,” whispered Yan, pointing.“They’re over there.”

Grigan dismounted his horse and cameover next to the boy, without taking hiseyes away from where Yan had pointed.

“How many are there?”“I don’t know, at least seven or eight.

Well, they’re not all Zuu, actually, butthe others work for them.”

“Are they far? Did they see you?”“No, I don’t think so. They’ve all got

their eyes glued to the ground. They mustbe looking for Bowbaq’s trail. They’reabout four hundred yards out.Fortunately, they’re moving away fromus.”

Grigan paced back and forth, strokinghis mustache, a sure sign of agitation.Then he took his turn scaling the fruittree.

“They must have changed their plansfollowing my escape last night,” Yanmurmured, saying aloud what everyoneelse had concluded.

But he hadn’t told them everything. He

went on. “One of theirs was killed whenI went to retrieve my horse.”

“Was it you who killed him?” askedCorenn, worried, while Grigandescended the tree as quickly as the boyhad.

“No, someone else, a beggar, perhapsone of yours. He said his name was ReyKerfian, or something like that.”

“He said Rey? Not Mess?”“No, no, Rey. It even seemed

particularly important to him.”“Do you think it’s possible?” Corenn

asked Grigan.“We’ll see later,” he grumbled. “So,

Yan, are there still a lot of things wedon’t know?”

“I was going to tell you afterwards,” he

answered, a little annoyed. “I think themost urgent matter is to save your Arquefriend, right?”

“It’s not looking good,” Leti pointedout.

They went quiet for a few moments,during which Grigan began pacing again,juggling his blade in the air. He didn’teven seem to be aware of his own skill.

“Well,” he simply said, stopping.Then he immediately launched back

into pacing back and forth. Yan noticedthey were all waiting on the warrior’sdecision, as if they couldn’t act on theirown. He decided to relieve him of someof his exhausting burden.

“Master Grigan, what would you do ifyou were alone?”

The warrior finally halted, staring atYan with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“I would follow the trail. There mightbe some way to overtake the Zuu.”

“So, go on then. Do it.”“Three chances out of four that I’ll end

up dead. But you’re the ones I’mworried about. I hate the idea of leavingyou alone, just as I hate the idea ofleaving them to massacre Bowbaqwithout doing anything about it. You canunderstand.”

“And if I come with you? Would thateven the odds?”

Grigan stared at him for a fewmoments, undecided. The warriorwasn’t used to asking for help, he, whoconstantly offered his own.

“You make more racket than a red pigin heat.”

“I’ve come a long way,” Yan repliedthrough gritted teeth. “If you want toknow the truth, last night I heard youcoming before you even started calling.”

He was lying, of course.The warrior stroked his mustache

again, with an absent expression. Hewas uncomfortable. Then he let out aloud sigh, having finally made hisdecision.

“All right, let’s go,” he said, as heretrieved his bow and quiver from hishorse.

Yan did the same without a word,fearing that Grigan would change hismind. His heart beat wildly. This time, it

really was dangerous. There was noguarantee he would return. He turned toLeti to forever etch her image into hismind.

He was horrified. Leti had dismountedher horse and was intently examining thefishing knife he’d given her.

“What are you doing?” he asked withdifficulty.

She faced him with an expression ofresolve.

“Can’t you tell? I’m coming with you.”Yan’s thoughts whirled and smashed

together like giant waves in a monstroussquall. He was prepared to die himself,but not to see Leti die. She had to live.She had to because he loved her. Heloved her more than anything in the

world. He had seen enough death upclose since yesterday to become fullyaware of how valuable life was. Letihad to live.

“No,” he heard himself saying, as if ina dream. “No, you’re not coming withus.”

“Yes, I am.”It was the first time Yan had disagreed

with her. She was saddened all the more,but too bad. It would pass. What countednow was to go and fight. To no longer bepowerless in the face of danger; toavenge her friends. That’s what she’dsaid: avenge. Make those murderers paywith their own blood. Even if it meantdying to kill only one of them.

“No, you’re not.”

Yan noticed he’d just raised his voice,which was out of character for him. Oh,well, it might help Leti come to reason.Why did she talk back to him like astupid child? Didn’t she understand hewas doing it for her?

“I say I’m coming with you. It’s not upto you to decide,” she continued, on theverge of tears. “No one can decide forme,” she finished, nearly shouting.

“You’re staying here, that’s it!Understood? End of discussion!”

Yan was seeing red now. Curses, shehad to realize it, didn’t she? And, byEurydis, did it infuriate him to watch herfidget with that stupid fishing knife! Hehad the urge to rip it away from her, butthat would have only made things worse.

She was truly crying now. Ashamedand furious with himself as much as hewas with her, Yan searched forsomething comforting to say. The wordsdidn’t come, and it annoyed him evenmore. Ugh! As long as she stayed there,out of harm’s way, all was well.

He adjusted the laces of his boots andturned away from her toward Grigan,who was waiting impatiently.

Corenn dismounted and wrapped herniece in her arms. She was very carefulnot to intervene in the discussion, butwould have done so had the outcomebeen different.

It seemed like all the children in thegroup were becoming adults.

It didn’t take them very long to find the

giant tree, a Lirel tree that was hundredsof years old. Despite the precautionsthey needed to take, they had tacitlydecided to move quickly in an attempt topass the Zuu.Grigan soon found a use for Yan; he

sent him thirty or so yards out ahead, butstill within sight. This way they couldcover each other with their bows if theyneeded to.Yan feared that the Zuu left someone

close to the Lirel tree, but luckily therewas no one nearby. He was alsorelieved when he passed in front of thetree and saw that he was right: sureenough, there was a sign in between theroots. He continued to advance until hewas almost out of Grigan’s field of

vision, and concentrated his efforts onkeeping a lookout, while Grigandeciphered the man-made pile of rocksand plants.Time passed and Grigan, standing in

front of the sign, still hadn’t moved. Yanstarted to worry. Curses, did he notunderstand it, or what? If that were thecase, their only solution would be tofollow the Zuu all the way to Bowbaq,hoping to bend the circumstances in theirfavor at the last second. In other words,they would have much less than a one-in-four chance of making it out alive.The warrior finally emerged from his

contemplation and signaled Yan to joinhim, which Yan hastened to do, filledwith curiosity.

“You see the stick with the threenotches? Grouped with those four rocks,on the left side, they indicate a pointsomewhere to the east, three thousandyards away. Three for the notches, athousand, a four-digit number: as manyas there are rocks.”“And?”Yan wondered where the warrior was

going with this. It wasn’t his usual habitto provide explanations; there must besome other reason.“The knotted branch in the form of a

triangle represents a human. The stoneplaced outside the triangle, in front ofthe point, indicates a man in a temporarycamp. If the stone had been on the inside,it would indicate a full household; if

there were many stones, a community:family, village, city, depending on thecase.”Yan nodded. This all made sense with

Bowbaq. He still didn’t get whereGrigan was going with this.“What’s more interesting is the little

coriole’s skull. This bird’s beak is thesymbol of Bowbaq’s native clan; whywould he provide proof of his family’sclan here?”Yan shrugged his shoulders. Maybe

there was nothing to it? If they were evergoing to find out, they should hurry up…“I might have an idea,” the warrior

continued. “Have a look at this.”He removed the little skull from the

pile. Beneath it was a plain black stone.

“I once heard, in Crevasse, the story ofa clan that modified their signs to tricktheir enemies. I would have neverguessed that it could have beenBowbaq’s clan. Or that the big, timidfellow would be bold enough to use thetrick himself.”

Yan still didn’t have all the informationhe needed, but the faint smile creepingover Grigan’s face was encouraging.

“Ah yes: if I am not mistaken, we haveto interpret all the directions of thesesigns in reverse.”

The two men smiled broadly. If Griganwere right, they could avoid a whole lotof trouble.

“We should hurry anyway. The Zuu willturn around when they realize their

mistake.”The warrior carefully replaced the

small skull. Not before, however,chucking the little black rock behindthem.

Yan remarked, “Seriously, he mighthave been a little too cautious. If youdidn’t already know about the cyclopssignals, if you hadn’t made it all the wayhere, and finally, if you hadn’t thoughtof…of this trickery, he could havewaited a long time!”

“It isn’t over yet,” Grigan cautioned. “Icould be wrong. These signs are socomplicated…I’ve always hatedpuzzles.”

Yan quieted himself. It was the firsttime he had seen the warrior doubt

himself. He shifted his focus to the littleRominian compass and the approximatecount of their strides.

They walked quickly for a while,anxious to arrive at the sign’sdestination. After a while, Yansuccumbed to his worries.

“Does it make sense that we haven’tseen another sign yet? The ones I knoware usually repeated regularly.”

“If I’m right, yes, it makes sense. Noneed to lie about a sign just so you canreveal yourself with another one a fewdozen yards away. If not, then I’mwrong, and Bowbaq is in the otherdirection. With the Zuu.”

Yan didn’t add anything. For him, anentire trail filled with false signs didn’t

seem impossible. But the warrior wasalready worried enough.

So they continued, compromisingbetween the compass’s directions andthe natural contours of the terrain. Yanthought that they should have warnedLeti and her aunt, maybe even havebrought them. After all, what they weredoing now wasn’t that dangerous.

He brooded about all the things he hadsaid to Leti. How could he get her toforgive him?

He stopped suddenly, as if struck bylightning.

How could he propose today?Grigan shot him an inquisitive glance.

Yan signaled that all was well andstarted walking again.

How could he even propose, ever?Right now, she was probably cursing hisname for being so disrespectful. Worse,he had humiliated her. He had humiliatedthe woman he loved.

In the best case, she would ignore himfor a couple of days. Worst case…despise him? Avoid his company, yell athim, and just quarrel with him? Forever?

Flooded in the cold rain of his thoughts,he took at least ten strides beforenoticing that Grigan had stopped.Dragging his feet, the boy rejoined him.The warrior was examining a newassemblage of rocks, stones, andbranches that must have been anothersign from Bowbaq.

“Apparently, you were right,” Yan

commented listlessly.“Maybe, maybe not. To tell you the

truth, I don’t understand anything aboutthis sign.”

He went quiet for a moment to think onit.

“If I translate it as is, it means‘temporary camp of a man no yardsaway.’ But there is a less complicatedsign that marks a camp, so that can’t beit. Maybe there’s something missing.”

Yan was going to make a suggestion,but something happened that preventedhim.

There was a frightful clamor asbranches were forcefully smashedagainst each other in the tree abovethem, followed by the loud sounds of

someone falling behind them.Yan turned around, trying feverishly to

grab an arrow from his quiver. Despitehis quick reflex, he had enough time tocurse himself for not keeping one nockedand ready.

Grigan had been faster and was alreadyaiming at the new arrival. He didn’t fire.

The first time Yan had seen the warrior,he was impressed. The man in blackseemed—and was—formidable,seasoned, experienced, pitiless.

He was just as impressed standing infront of Bowbaq.

This man was gigantic.He was at least two heads taller than

Yan. But one saw people of this heightevery once in a while; Yan had already

seen some in Kaul. No, it was theproportions of his body that were moststriking.

Two men could fit inside the vest thathardly stretched around Bowbaq’s chest.His arms looked stronger than a bear’s,his legs more powerful than the tides.His excessively large hands seemed tohave their own lives, for such fistscouldn’t simply, stupidly, depend on justone being.

The man was wearing immense bootslaced up to his knees, various skins andfurs, an enormous metal bracelet, and hecarried a frighteningly large bag in onesingle hand. Given how the sac was fullto bursting, and its metallicreinforcement, Yan knew he couldn’t

even lift such a mass off the ground.The man had a head of thick, dark hair

and a beard just as thick; his face,hidden underneath a hat, didn’t showmuch emotion. So, this was Bowbaq?the boy asked himself.

The giant dropped his sack and rushedtoward Grigan, who lowered his bowwith amused resignation. Bowbaqhugged him almost brutally, even liftinghim up and spinning him around.

Yan was only slightly reassured. Nextto the Arque, Grigan seemed so small,so vulnerable. The giant only had tosqueeze his arms a little harder topermanently smother the warrior todeath in a bear hug.

Luckily, that didn’t seem to be his

intention. He finally let his “victim” gowhile continuing to laugh warmly.

“My friend! My friend!” he managed toget out between two thunderous roars oflaughter, his eyes locked with Grigan’s.Then he couldn’t help himself, anddragged him about again in a veryphysical, circular dance.

The warrior made a halfhearted effortto reason with his admirer, but withoutmuch hope. Grigan shared in the giant’sjoy, although much more moderately.

“If you only knew! If you knew! It’sbeen more than a moon since I’vespoken to anyone! My friend, myfriend!”

Yan patiently waited for them toremember he was there, which they did

shortly thereafter, when Bowbaq finallyput Grigan down and let him regain hisbalance.“I’m pleased as well, Bowbaq. Very

pleased.”“Who’s this young man?”“This is Yan. Leti’s promised one.”The giant’s face lit up again, while Yan

recovered from the shock. Is that whatGrigan thought? How? When?He didn’t have much time to think about

it. Bowbaq had bounded toward him,and Yan took his turn being twirledaround in an embrace. Curses, the manwas strong! The giant lifted him two feetin the air as if it were nothing.“My friend! Leti’s promised one,”

Bowbaq repeated, laughing, twirling the

poor Kaulien around to get a good lookat him.His good mood was contagious, and

Yan couldn’t help but find this giant verynice, simple, and good-natured. Hispresence in the group might restore a bitof joy.The Northerner finally put down his

new friend and turned toward Grigan,who took a step back, scared of a freshdisplay of affection.“There’s only two of you?” he asked in

a more serious tone.“There’s also Leti and Corenn. They’re

waiting for us a few leagues from here.”“Leti and Corenn! Good! All my

friends! And the others?”“The others, we don’t know.

Actually…for some, we know,” Griganconcluded gravely, gripping theNortherner’s shoulder.They only exchanged a glance, but it

was long enough. Bowbaq lost his smile.“Etolon? Jasporan? Humeline?”“We don’t know about Humeline.”After a few moments, the giant asked

with hope “And Xan?”Grigan shook his head sadly. Bowbaq’s

face darkened.“We are unsure about many.”The warrior was about to add

something else. It wasn’t like him to lieand give false hope. Then he asked, “IsIpsen all right? And Prad, and Iulane?”Bowbaq lifted his head a little. He still

had his family.

“Yes, as far as I know. Ipsen is inRowk, with her clan and the kids. Mir iswith them. They should be safe for a fewmoons.”“That’s good.” Grigan didn’t know

what else to add.Yan filled the silence; he also was

worried about his loved ones.“Well…what do you say we go meet up

with the others now?”Bowbaq’s smile returned.“Yes! I need to embrace my little

Kauliennes!”They were immediately on their way.Even though Yan was filled with

apprehension at the thought of agathering with his beloved, he couldn’thelp but laugh in advance at the idea of

the giant noisily twirling a pouting andrebellious Leti.

Leti was bored to death. It had beenover a deciday since Yan and Griganleft, and she didn’t know how to keepherself busy. Sitting stupidly against atree made her crazy, and when she stoodup and made as if to walk off, howevershort a distance away, Corenn was theone who went crazy, only with worry.

She admitted, only to herself, though,that she had acted without thinking. Ofcourse she couldn’t have gone with themen—she used the word as a slur—andleft her aunt alone. It was also out of thequestion that all four of them should goand abandon the horses, or to imposesuch a march on Corenn, who wasn’t

used to that.Yet all that didn’t excuse Yan’s

behavior. He, who was supposed toknow her better than anyone, from whomshe expected help and support, treatedher like a mere capricious child. And no,she didn’t think she deserved that.

If that was the kind of influence Griganhad over them, well, then it was harmful.Despite everything they owed him,certain things couldn’t be ignored orforgiven. His arrogance and contempt,for example.

Before, she would have confided in heraunt about her feelings. But MasterGrigan had become a taboo subject ofconversation for them: Corenn, so atease with the art of diplomacy, admitted

she felt completely overwhelmed byproblems relating to war, and joyfullyleft this responsibility to her old friend.She would undoubtedly side with him.

Furthermore, Leti knew there was nopossibility of getting the last word in adiscussion with her aunt. Not for her orfor anyone else, for that matter. Shepreferred to avoid diving headfirst intocertain defeat.

There was no solution to her problem.All she wanted was to be useful. And allshe needed to do was convince Grigan,since whether she liked it or not,everything depended on him. But thegrump was as thickheaded as a block ofwood, hidebound and stubborn, with amind no wider than a fishing line.

She stood up again to take a few steps.Following the warrior’s directions, theyhad put several leagues between themand their point of departure. But Corennhad overdone it, and they’d gone furtherthan expected. Maybe the men had gottenlost?

She began hoping that was all it was.Corenn also showed signs of worry.

She, who was usually so patient, wasconstantly on the lookout for theircompanions’ return and startled at everysuspicious sound. She was now pacingas well.

Leti felt her anger subside bit by bit astime went by, and now she was leftfeeling frustrated, with a hint of anxiety.

What if something had happened to

them? Something serious?

“No, no, and no! Really, it’s not a goodidea. I mean, Bowbaq, you shouldunderstand how dangerous it is.”

“I know,” the giant apologized,embarrassed. “But it’s wrong to leavebehind useless signs. You should alwaysdo your best to erase them.”

“It’s wrong? And getting yourselfstabbed over and over with a dagger,that sounds right to you? You could havedated your signs, if it bothers you somuch!”

“I didn’t find enough fangs. And it’s notthe same. A sign, even an old one, evenwith a date, should be trustworthy.That’s why it’s wrong.”

“No. Please humor me and forget it. If

you want, I can come by here and pickthem up someday. I promise you.”

“Thank you, my friend,” the giant saidsimply, giving the warrior a thump.

Yan noticed that the warrior took histime giving explanations to Bowbaq.Doubtless because they knew each otherwell. Maybe there was hope of softeningthe warrior up yet.

Finally, after a long walk through theLorelien forest, they found Leti andCorenn, whose worries were instantlyswept away.

Leti ran to the giant and threw her armsaround his neck, to Yan’sdisappointment. He had hoped forsomething for himself, without knowingexactly what.

The gathering between Corenn, Leti,and Bowbaq was just as acrobatic as theone with Grigan. The young womandidn’t protest against this somewhatviolent form of greeting, but actuallyseemed to enjoy it.

When Leti was back on the ground, Yangathered his courage to attempt areconciliation.

“Everything go all right?” he said in hiskindest voice.

She responded sharply, “Obviously.What did you think would happen?”

She had stopped smiling when sheturned toward him. That hurt him evenmore than her acid tone. Curses, curses,curses! It would be dekades before Letiwould forgive him.

The idea crossed his mind, only for aninstant, to stand up to her and argueabout it. Frightened, he shoved thethought out of his head. Once wasenough. He had done enough damagealready.

The compliments and polite exchangescontinued. Bowbaq raved about Leti’sbeauty, and teased her at the same time,regretting that she had grown up so fast.Corenn inquired about the Northerner’sfamily, and rejoiced at the good news.

Grigan politely waited until everyonehad calmed down a little before heasked them to pack up camp. Theyheaded out on foot, since Bowbaq didn’thave a horse. It would only be a slightexaggeration to say that it would have

been easier for Bowbaq to carry thehorse than vice versa.

Bowbaq told them all about his trek,from the frozen plains of Arkary to theLorelien scrubland, making sure toinclude his last few days of waiting.

“Someone responded to my cyclops inBerce. Was it you?”

“It was me,” Yan told him proudly.“Alone?”“Of course, alone. Do I really seem that

incompetent?” Yan joked.“No, what I meant was that two people

responded. From two different places.”They all thought about this second sign

for a moment, then Grigan suggested,“That could have been a trap from theZuu.”

“The what?”“The Zuu, the people who are hunting

us! Clearly we have a lot to tell you.”“It could have been Yan’s beggar,” Leti

suggested.Yan smacked his hand on his forehead

and looked at the sun’s position. Caughtup in his problems with Leti, he hadforgotten about everything else.

“We’re supposed to meet him at theapogee. Today!”

They all looked at the sun’s position.Grigan remarked, “So you mean right

about now. Where is he?”“He told me to meet him on the beach

where the gatherings used to take place.I guess he means the beach behindBerce.”

“Well, at least it’s not that far away.What happened exactly?”And Yan told them about their

dangerous first encounter in the stable,Rey’s decisive intervention, and how theyoung man had helped Yan get out oftown without a hitch.Grigan didn’t know what to think.“I don’t know that particular Kercyan.

Zatelle, yes, and her grandson, Mess.But not Rey.”Corenn interrupted, “Yes you do.

Zatelle had another grandson that shebrought one or two times.”“That’s true, I remember,” Bowbaq

added.“But no one knows him as an adult.

Anybody could be trying to impersonate

him, without us knowing the difference.”“He said that he set the tent on fire,”

Yan interjected curiously.His friends exchanged knowing looks.“It’s true, he’s definitely the one who

pulled that stupid prank.”Grigan confirmed Corenn’s memory. “I

remember it too. And the well-deservedpunishment Zatelle gave him. I alsoremember that I was the one whodragged him out of his hiding place,while everyone else was wondering ifhe hadn’t been burned up.”“I feel sorry for the poor fellow,” Leti

said half-jokingly. “That must have beenenough to turn him off to life as an heir.”Grigan didn’t respond to her comment.“So, you think it’s him?” Yan asked

Corenn.“I can’t see why not. Zatelle told me

once that he had become an actor.Sounds like he would be the type todisguise himself as a beggar.”Yan agreed. He figured the jokester,

with his cynicism and taste for drama,must be an artistic type. Or a depravedthief.“One last thing. He wanted to warn you

that the Grand Guild is also in on thehunt. What is that anyway?”Grigan stopped as if frozen.“Are you sure?”“That’s what he said. So what does it

mean?”The warrior and Corenn exchanged a

dark, foreboding look. No one else

understood.“The Grand Guild,” Corenn began

joylessly, “is the organizedconsolidation of virtually all the largestcriminal bands. Simply put, it means thatthe Zuu have an army at their disposal.Several hundreds of men, eventhousands.”Yan understood better. Grigan could

congratulate himself for having been soextraordinarily cautious on their trip toBerce. All the roads, all the towns, musthave been watched by the same type ofcrooks that he had met at the gates.“How does he know?” the warrior

asked, stroking his mustache.“I’m not sure. That’s all he said.”Grigan and Corenn seemed deeply

affected by this news. The Zuu reallyweren’t taking any chances.

The warrior drew the discussion to aclose. “We have to go. This Rey mightbe one of ours. Yan?”

The boy cringed. He didn’t realize thatGrigan would need his help again, but hewas the only one who could recognizelast night’s savior. A shame. He wouldhave really liked to spend some moretime with Leti, in hopes of making upwith her before the end of the day.

Leti! Hopefully she wouldn’t try andjoin them again. He would oppose heronce again anyhow, but didn’t relish theidea of a new fight.

Grigan told the others to meet at thelittle abandoned house where they had

stayed two nights before. Apparently,Leti didn’t have any objection. Shocked,Yan saw that Bowbaq wasn’t comingwith them.

He watched the three of them as theygrew distant in the woods. Bowbaq’spresence was definitely one of thereasons for Leti’s new docility, but allthe same, someone of such strength couldbe a valuable asset.

Grigan jumped into the saddle and Yanfollowed suit, still surprised.

“Why don’t we bring Bowbaq?”“He doesn’t like to fight. Let’s go.”“Neither do I! And he’s so strong.”“He has sworn to never kill anyone.”“What? But why?”Yan was going from surprise to

surprise. It was the first time he hadheard of such a thing.

Grigan responded a little brusquely,“I’ve never asked him, so he’s nevertold me. That’s the whole story. Nowlet’s go, or we’ll never make it on time.”

Rey was starting to get nervous. Notonly did he feel the minor apprehensionhe experienced before everyperformance, it was genuine worry: hewondered if he would remember hislines, if his performance would be good,if the audience would like him.

That was the main question today:would his audience like him?

Not that he absolutely needed to makethe heirs like him. In fact, he more orless didn’t give a margolin’s ass what

they thought, and even scoffed at theseridiculous traditionalists and theirstories from the last century. But heneeded their help, and their information.

He’d seen the Zuu. He’d witnessed theGrand Guild’s omnipresence. And he’dcome to this conclusion: if there wereany chance of salvation, it wasn’t infleeing, but in direct confrontation.

The surviving heirs had to join forcesin order to find out who hadcommissioned the assassins. And takecare of the problem, one way or another.

His only hope was to find attentive earsand minds not too sluggish. If not, well,then he would make do on his own, asusual.

He stood up from the comfortable bank

of fine sand he was lying on and walkedaround a bit, keeping his eyes on theedge of the forest. The apogee hadalready passed, and it wouldn’t be longbefore he had visitors. At least, hemight.

He came back to the sand dune and satdown, patiently accepting his situation.He was awarded for his patience shortlythereafter, when the young Kaulien fromthe night before finally emerged from theforest.

Rey breathed a sigh of relief, waving tohim. Despite his own resourcefulness, hedidn’t want to keep fighting alone formuch longer.

Yan stopped his horse a few dozen feetaway. Rey didn’t move.

“You’re not alone, I imagine? Tell themto come here, this isn’t a trap.”

“You must first lay down your arms,”Yan announced in an apologetic tone.

Rey expected nothing less. He detachedthe sword hanging on his back, then theknife he wore at his waist. For goodmeasure, he pulled out the dagger he hadconcealed on his ankle.

“There. Go on now, tell them to come, Ifeel naked like this. I could catch acold.”

Yan smiled at the joke and signaledtoward the forest, where Griganappeared on foot with his bow drawn.

“My! He looks like an intimidatingfellow,” Rey laughed. “Ha! I know him,he’s the guy who doesn’t like

pyromaniac children. That’s just myluck!”

Yan smiled again. With both the actorand Bowbaq, the group would soon be alot more lively.

“There aren’t just two of you, arethere?” Rey continued. “All right, he hasa bow, but that just might prove to be abit insufficient for taking on Zuia and theGrand Guild.”

“There are three others, and one ofthem has a knife,” Yan replied, laughingloudly.

“Oh good, we’ll be fine. For a momentthere, I was worried.”

Grigan finally joined them. He wasn’tat all in the same joking mood as theother two.

“Is it him?” the warrior asked Yan.“It’s him. Suffice it to say, I really had

to look at him up close to be sure, butit’s him. Speaking of that, these clothessuit you much better than the others—they were in dire need of a goodwashing.”

“Thank you,” Rey answered, with aslight bow.

“I don’t recognize you,” Griganinterjected with a serious tone. “Whoare you?”

“You know, you don’t have to threatenme with an arrow to get an answer.”

“Well?”Rey gave his real name, and convinced

Grigan by giving him a plethora ofdetails about his grandmother, Zatelle,

and his cousin, Mess, and a few snippetsof memories from the gatherings. Thewarrior finally lowered his bow.

“Do you still have the urge to lightfires?” he asked, in a tone he meant to bejocular.

“No one ever understood that it was anaccident. That’s the story of my life,”Rey pretended to complain. “All right,so we’re good, you believe me now?”

“I believe you.”“Good. I’ll warn you, no sudden moves

please, I have to pick something up.”Rey didn’t move toward his weapons,

as could be expected, but leaned overand cautiously lifted up a loadedcrossbow, just barely hidden underneatha layer of sand.

“You can never be too careful, don’tyou agree?”

Grigan didn’t answer. Yan, who wasgetting to know Grigan quite well, knewthat the warrior was going to consider ita defeat. Too bad, Rey seemed like aresourceful guy.

“You only could have shot one of us,”Grigan said finally.

“You’re right. Who, do you think?”The warrior stared the actor down for a

moment. Rey didn’t even notice, busy ashe was rearming himself from head totoe. Then, Grigan turned to go back tothe forest.

Yan waited for Rey to get ready toleave, letting his eyes wander over thehorizon. Only an eight-day journey away,

and the sea was a different one fromEza’s. The same water, the same waves,but a different sea.

“Is that Ji out there?” he asked Rey.“That’s it. Say, you wouldn’t happen to

know a god who wouldn’t charge toomuch to sink it into the depths of the sea,along with its curse, would you?”

“Its curse?”“It’s a hunch that I have. That I’ve had

for twenty-six years,” he added. “Ji is ajinx, you know.”

Yan watched the small patch ofdarkness amid the blue-gray water. Itlooked like nothing more than a rockyisland.

“Have you been there before?”Rey, now equipped with his weapons

and the bags he’d retrieved from nearby,shot him one last look.“No. But something tells me this

dreadful shortcoming will soon berectified.”

Despite his lack of respect for theactor, Grigan decided to strike up aconversation. He needed some answers.“What’s your story?”He didn’t want to sound so

confrontational, but too late now, it wasdone. A hint of a smile spread acrossRey’s face, and he let some time passbefore he responded.“I don’t mean to offend you, Grigan, but

I would just as well like to wait untileveryone is here. We need to talk about alot of things, and despite my taste for

telling stories, I would rather not have totell mine twice in the same day.”

Grigan let out a solitary “All right,”that sounded more like a crotchety growlthan any human language. Yan hurried tointerrupt a potential argument.

“Have you been in Berce for a longtime?”

“For more than a dekade. I was startingto wonder if I were the last one alive.”

“You didn’t see a single heir?”“No, I mean, I didn’t recognize anyone,

but that doesn’t mean anything. Someoneon the hills signaled Berce with flashesfrom a mirror, for a couple of days. Buthe kept moving around, and neither I northe Zuu could find him.”

“So we’re more clever than you,”

Grigan interrupted in a cynical tone.“You found him?” Rey said,

unsurprised. “Did you run into him byaccident or something?”

Yan answered smiling, “Running intohim would be an accident. Maybe youremember him? His name is Bowbaq.”

“That name must mean something toyou, I guess, but for me it means about asmuch as my tenth harlot.”

Yan explained, “Since everyone elseseemed to know who he is, I figured…He’s an Arque, a giant. They say he cantalk to animals, maybe that will help youremember?”

“Oh, I see now. He must be verypopular with some of you.”

“With that kind of attitude, you

certainly won’t be,” said Grigan, whohad understood the allusion and didn’tmuch appreciate it.

Then he stood directly in front of theactor and continued.

“Our group is currently stable, andmade up of only good company. I willpersonally hunt down the first whodecides to sow discord in our group, orwho puts us in danger. Heir or not. Youunderstand?”

“If you’re thinking of me, have no fear,”Rey responded just as seriously. “Iwon’t mix myself up with you any longerthan required to fix our little problem,maybe even just the time it takes to talkabout it.”

“Excellent.”

Grigan finished the conversation thesame way he always did, by turning hisback and storming off. He moved so fasthis horse could barely keep up.

“Do you think he would get mad if I tellhim that his accent is thicker than aMestebe sailor’s?”

The Kaulien, frozen with fear at themere thought, responded, “If I were you,I would hold off on that…He isn’tkidding, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sure of it. That’s why it’s sofunny.”

Yan figured these next few days weregoing to be full of emotions. Between hisown dispute with Leti and the obviousantipathy between the actor and thewarrior, Corenn was going to have to

deploy all of her diplomatic talents tokeep the peace.

“Master Rey, was it you whoresponded to Bowbaq’s signs?”

“By the gods! Stop being so formalwith me! Do I look old or uptight enoughto deserve that?”

“No, no…”“Anyway, to answer your question, yes,

it was me who responded to his signals.For three days. But I could never findthis Bowbaq. I’m curious to see what thefellow looks like.”

“Master Rey…uh, I mean, Rey, youmight be surprised.”

“All right, you’re getting better! Nowsay the same thing but with a curse wordthrown in for good measure.”

Yan looked at him, not getting the joke.“I’m just kidding. You’re too gullible,

you know? I have a feeling we’re goingto get along. Actually, which one of ourancestors has the honor of having you asa descendant? Is it possible we’recousins?”

“No, I’m not one of yours. Just twodekades ago I hardly knew a thing aboutthe whole story.”

“Lucky man! So are you here just out ofcuriosity?”

“I wanted to accompany my friends. Itwas going pretty well until a certaincorpse was abandoned in a certainstable in Berce…”

“That’s funny! The same thinghappened to me just last night. That

means we already have something incommon!”

Yan smiled. It was a bit hard for him tofollow the Lorelien’s conversation, butonce he understood his sense of humor,he enjoyed it.

Hopefully the others would agree.

Corenn filled Bowbaq in on everythinghe needed to know about the Zuu. Thegiant’s good mood progressively fadedas she spoke, and completely vanishedwhen the Mother listed the victims’names. It wasn’t her intention to hurthim, but it was her duty to tell him thetruth.

After a few comforting words, Corennleft the giant alone to reflect in silence,dragging Leti along to give him space.

Poor man. He had abandoned his family,traveled for several dekades, enduredloneliness, hoping to warn a few friendsof the danger that threatened them, eventhough it was already too late.Leti’s morale also took a hit. Listening

to the tragic recital of their lost friends’names affected them all. But it was notime for mourning.Corenn forced herself to remain

composed. She was a Mother, and it washer duty to represent safety, tranquility,and authority in every Kaulien’s mind.“I’m going to need you, Leti. We’re

going to prepare a feast so delectablethat all these men will wonder whatthey’re good for on this journey.”The young woman agreed, happy to fix

her mind on other things. Plus, Corennhad carefully chosen just the rightwords.

“After all,” she continued, “this is sortof the heir’s reunion, isn’t it? We’regoing to celebrate accordingly.”

The women first took an inventory oftheir provisions before choosing a menu.Next, Corenn sent Bowbaq off in searchof certain vegetables, roots, herbs,mushrooms, and whatever else theywere missing, and even some things theyweren’t. The important thing was to keepthe giant from mulling over his darkthoughts, sitting with his back against atree and his head between his hands.

It was a good thing that Grigan had shota decent amount of game during his

reconnaissance excursions the nightbefore. Corenn knew the Northerner wasincapable, for moral reasons, of killinganything other than fish.Everyone got to work. When Grigan,

Yan, and Rey arrived at the camp atnightfall, they were welcomed by thepleasant aroma of roasted meat.With great delicacy, Corenn, Bowbaq,

and Leti had prepared three roasted seapheasants and several corioles. Theyhad also roasted various mushrooms andwild vegetables, whose smells were justas mouthwatering. Finally, using a fewplanks salvaged from the abandonedhouse, Bowbaq had managed to set up avery satisfactory table equipped withbenches. Leti took care of decorating it

all with a few candles and a smallbouquet. She was in the middle ofarranging a basket of freshly picked fruitwhen Yan, Grigan, and the strangershowed up.

“Welcome, heirs!” Corenn exclaimed, alot more cheerfully than she ordinarilywould.

She wanted to prevent any potentialobjection from Grigan about thenumerous fires they’d started. Thewarrior wouldn’t dare be a killjoy.

“Thank you for your hospitality, but I’mafraid I’ve come alone,” Rey joked,making his entrance.

“Well, I hope you’re hungry, Mr. Alone.So this is Zatelle’s grandson?”

“And you must be Corenn. My

grandmother had a lot of respect for you,and if I trust my nose, I can bet it wasdeserved,” he concluded, with a littlebow.

“Why, thank you. I must say, I picturedLorelien beggars a bit differently,” shesaid, laughing.

“Let’s hope you won’t change yourmind after seeing me eat, my lady. Well,well, who’s this young woman, whoseexistence has been kept secret from meuntil now? May you be so kind as tointroduce us?” Corenn complied with asmile.

“I have the pleasure of introducing youto Leti, the only daughter of my latecousin Norine. Leti, this is ReyanKercyan the Younger, the apparent

descendant of the wise man whose namehe bears.”

“I have the weakness of preferring Reyover Reyan,” he interrupted. “By all thegods, if I had known about the presenceof such charming individuals among theheirs, I would have never missed asingle gathering. Please, tell me youhaven’t already taken someone inUnion?”

Yan experienced something like astrangled hiccup. While he had beenstruggling for years to win over Leti,while his greatest anxiety was to bringup the subject of the Promise beforeEurydis, this newcomer Rey the Boldwas making advances at their very firstmeeting. Yan awaited her response with

bated breath.Leti was spellbound. She had taken

notice of the actor’s good looks from thevery start. The unsettling gaze of hisdeep blue eyes, his rebellious mane oflong sandy blond hair, his confidentmovements, and his unique clothing,which looked as luxurious as it didcomfortable. Like his immaculate shirt,for example, made of unquestionablyrich fabric, but which he wore as if itwere a simple work tunic. Or his finelycrafted boots that seemed custom-made.Maybe they were.

The character also had a strange, oreccentric, side to him as well. The bandin his hair, his cape made of fine hide,and an unassuming ring, for example, all

lent him a mysterious air. The sword hewore on his back and the daggers at hiswaist made him look like a protector.And last, but not least, his gracefulmanners, his education, and his humormade him very charming.

Leti was spellbound indeed.“I’m not in Union with anyone, my lord.

In fact, my Promise has yet to berequested.”

She was only telling the truth, but forsome reason she had the odd feeling shewas lying. Except for Rey, her responseseemed to bother everyone else, too.

“I can’t believe it!” the actor said.“Unless men are too struck by yourbeauty to even dare speak to you. Ah,that must be it.”

Leti thanked him with a smile but didn’tadd anything more. It was certainly thefirst time in her life she’d received somany compliments, and whatcompliments they were! Rey hadsucceeded in putting the young womanoff balance.

As for Yan, he wondered if the actorwas always so perceptive. How couldhe have guessed that Leti intimidated hersuitors? Or rather, intimidated him?

Corenn finished the introductions withBowbaq, who, not going so far as totwirl him in the air, greeted the Lorelienwith a clumsy hug.

“I don’t know if you remember,” thegiant said with a smile, “but we wereclose friends when you were younger.”

“I hope we still are. I would hate foryou to be angry with me,” the actoradded, evaluating the Northerner’simposing muscular mass.

“I have a hard time imagining ourBowbaq angry,” Grigan teased.

“Actually, I do remember you now. Youdidn’t have a beard back then, and youspent the whole time at the gatheringsplaying with the kids, didn’t you?”

“Of course. And you couldn’t keepyourself from cheating. There must havebeen at least a few times that I didn’tcatch you!”

“A few? Dozens!”They laughed heartily. Rey was

pleasantly surprised. He was afraid hewould end up in the middle of a gang of

imbeciles who almost religiouslyworshipped people who, although a partof their family, weren’t any less deadthan they were a century ago. And nowhe found himself among good people, allof them readily welcoming him withopen arms. Well, almost all of them, hethought, thinking back on Grigan’ssermon.

“I suggest we take a seat at the tableright away. The meal is nearly finished,and I’m sure you’re dying of hunger,”Corenn announced.

“With pleasure,” answered Rey. “Ihaven’t eaten anything since dawn, and Iintend to do right by each one of yourdishes.”

He got rid of his bags and hastily

offered to help Leti remove the variousgame and other food from the flames.

Yan and Grigan, exchanging a grimlook ripe with undertones, tied up theirhorses and dragged their feet as theycame to join the others at the table.

The warrior was afraid of losing hisauthority over the group, and as a result,putting its members in danger. Thefisherman was afraid of losing Leti, andas a result, everything he had built hislife around until now.

He wasn’t angry with anyone. Letiwasn’t tied down in any way, and sowas free to respond to the advances ofwhomever she pleased. And Rey, whoquite naturally found her pleasing, wasonly wrong in his audacity.

Yan only had himself to blame. Heshould have declared his love a longtime ago. Now it was too late. Hecouldn’t possibly imagine defeating theactor in a competition for Leti’saffection.

The only thing he could do was praythat such a thing wouldn’t come to pass.

The meal prepared by Corenn, Leti,and Bowbaq was unanimously declareda delicious success. Rey was full ofpraise for the corioles stuffed withplons, while Grigan raved about themushrooms grilled over the embers.

Bowbaq pulled a canteen practicallyfull of liquor out of his pouch, offeringeveryone a generous swig. Then it wasRey’s turn, who shared a rich bottle of

green wine from Junine. He didn’texplain how or why he had it in hispossession.Only Yan, though he hadn’t eaten a

thing all day, didn’t share in hiscompanions’ enthusiasm. He couldn’thelp but watch Leti and Rey, and thattook away all of his appetite. It wasobvious that she was swayed by theactor’s charm. And he, poor fisherman,didn’t know what to do.The needling, cruel voice of his

conscience whispered to him: if you hadproposed earlier…if you had spoken toher…And he couldn’t shut the voice up.Everything he ate tasted like regret. Hefinally gave up eating and was temptedto drink instead, but quickly abandoned

the idea. Normally, alcohol didn’t suithim very well, and it certainly wouldn’thelp him right now. He really didn’t feellike celebrating, so he listened to hisfriends’ conversation, without reallypaying any attention.

“For me, after being alone for so long,”Bowbaq was saying, “I swear, it surefeels good to talk to someone.”

Corenn agreed, “Of course, and nowthere are six of us.”

“Do you think there any other heirs inBerce?”

“I do not think so. If any show up now,it will be on the Day of the Owl. Theothers are in hiding, like Ipsen and yourchildren, if not…”

Grigan finished for her, “If not, they’re

dead. There’s no use in denying it. Andif we’re here, it’s only because we werelucky.”“Lucky to be hunted by the Zuu,” Rey

interrupted. “Lucky to have lost mycousin. I’d gladly give up that kind ofluck.”“Be thankful, first. Think what would

have happened if you had come inthrough the front door, instead of thewindow. Or if Bowbaq hadn’t woken upbefore they got to his house. Or ifCorenn hadn’t guessed the true dangerwhen she learned about Xan’s death.”“All said and done, Master Derkel, you

are the only one who has just yourself tothank for your own survival.”“Maybe, Kercyan. And it will stay that

way as long as you don’t stick anyspokes in our wheels.”

“Well,” Corenn said firmly to cut shortthe conversation, which was heating up.“I think the problem that concerns us iselsewhere. We should all concentrateour thinking on the future more than thepast. Am I right?”

“I share your opinion entirely,” Reyresponded.

“Sure,” Grigan simply said.“We should take advantage of being

reunited to share our ideas. We’re facedwith three main questions: who is theone who started all this, why do theycare about the heirs, and finally—andmost importantly—how will we put anend to it? I am convinced we only need

to know one of these things in order todeduce the other two. Everyone inagreement?”

Of course, everyone nodded. If, up untilnow, Corenn had let herself fade behindGrigan, she was clearly determined tocontrol the debates, which was perfectlywithin her capabilities. It seemed likethe group would have two leaders, one awarrior, the other a diplomat.

“Before we propose any theories, weshould gather and compare ourinformation. Everyone has briefly toldtheir story, but I want you to reallysearch your memory. Did any of the Zuuthat you met say, do, or even suggestanything that might point us in the rightdirection?”

The interrogation was mostly directedat Rey and Bowbaq, and just as much atYan, who still hadn’t had much time toprocess everything he saw in Berce.

“Mine shot me a good series ofinsults,” the actor joked. “I would like torepeat them to you, but I doubt thatwould be very useful!”

“The ones who attacked me didn’t saymuch, and I didn’t understand theirlanguage. I might have been able tointerrogate one of them, but Mir killedhim too quickly…”

Rey chimed in, “Mir, that’s your snowlion, right? Isn’t that what you saidearlier? You sticking with that?”

“Of course,” the Northerner respondedinnocently. “I mean, he’s not my lion, but

a lion. No one owns Mir.”“He’s sticking with it. Either you are

more susceptible to wine than you look,or you will have to show me how totrain animals one day.”

“It’s not training. It’s a dialogue. Frommind to mind.”

“You’ll have to show me, then.”“We are getting off topic,” Corenn

reminded them.Yan rummaged through his memory, but

couldn’t find anything to add. All that hehad to say about the Zuu, the others knewalready. He preferred to keep quiet andto let himself wallow in the pain of histhwarted love.

“I found a piece of parchment on one ofthem,” Bowbaq announced, after

thinking about it for a while. “But it wasall tattered and unreadable, so Idestroyed it. Maybe I shouldn’t have,”he finished, lowering his head.

“Too bad,” commented Grigan.“I also found one. And it’s in perfect

condition.”Rey went over to his bags, from which

he pulled out a paper and somethingrolled up in a piece of fabric.

“What’s that?” Leti asked him, whileCorenn leaned toward the parchment.

Rey, smiling, handed over the object.He couldn’t look at her without smiling,Yan noticed with a pang of jealousy.

“Be careful not to hurt yourself. Thesmallest scratch would be fatal.”

Leti delicately pulled out the item. A

dagger. A long, thin, horrible dagger,whose point was stuck in a piece ofwood.

“A Zuu dagger?” she asked, disgusted.“Indeed. As genuine as they come. But

its old owner is no longer with us toverify that.”

“So much the better,” Leti noted in adark tone.

She firmly gripped the weapon’shandle and observed it in the fire’sdancing light. It was just such a bladethat had killed her friends. It was such ablade that these men were trying toplunge into her heart. Almost as thin as aneedle.

“I would just as well that you put thatdown,” Grigan asked.

Leti acted like she didn’t hear anything,even daring to remove the piece of woodthat covered the point. Ignoring thewarrior’s repeated request, she took asalted apple from a basket and carefullystabbed the steel into it. The fruit’s peelwithered and blackened, as if it had beenburnt.

“Leti, put that horrible thing down,”Corenn ordered in a harsh tone Yandidn’t expect from her.

Rey held out his hand, and Leti putdown the dagger and the fabric withresignation. The actor then passed on theobject to Bowbaq, who just gave it anauseated look, then to Yan, who set itdown in front of himself to examine indetail.

Bowbaq said, “I wonder how theymanage to avoid injuring themselves.”

“Oh, I’m sure it happens, just as withanyone. But the Zuu have a bigadvantage over their victims. Anantidote.”

Rey pulled a little box out of hispocket. Inside was a slightly damp,dark-colored paste, which he showed tohis companions.

“Careful, I’m not sure about it. I alsofound a little vial, which apparentlycontains the poison, judging from theodor on the dagger. But it could veryeasily be the reverse; just as this pastecould have nothing to do with thedagger.”

“I found the same things,” Bowbaq

said. “I was stupid to not keep them. Ibeg your forgiveness—”

“Stop torturing yourself!” Griganexclaimed. “You’re alive, your wife andyour kids are safe, that’s all you can askfor.”

“Thank you, my friend.”“It looks like there are some sort of

notches on the handle,” Yan pointed out.“I saw them as well. They’re some sort

of eye-shaped carvings.”“How many are there?” Grigan asked

without batting an eye.Yan leaned in again to get a close look.“Seventeen.”“Reyan, in killing this Zu, you have

avenged the deaths of seventeen of hisvictims. At least. They only tally their

‘official’ murders. Their contracts, if youprefer.”

Revolted, Yan pushed away the dagger.The dagger no longer fascinated him at

all. It was simply repulsive.“Aunt Corenn, are you all right?”The Mother hadn’t said anything for a

while, immersed as she was in readingthe parchment.

“I’m all right,” she responded with asigh. “I was lost in my thoughts.Apparently, this piece of paper is just alist. An appalling list: all the heirs livingin or near Lorelia. A dozen or so people.And there is a cross next to each name,except for Rey’s.”

They all understood what that meant.“It’s tragic, but at least we will know

the fate of some of our friends,”declared Grigan. “Lady Corenn, wouldyou mind reading them to us?”

She gathered up her courage and began,pronouncing each name with gravity,despite the fact that she desperatelywanted to finish the reading.

“Jalandre, Rebastide, Mess, Humeline,Tomah, Braquin, Neceandre, Tido,Rydell, Lonic, Salandra, Darie, andEffene…”

“Poor Humeline,” Bowbaq murmuredafter a long moment of silence. “Poor allof them.”

His pain was sincere, as was the painof Corenn, Grigan, and Leti. But at thesame time, they were freed from thepainful uncertainty that had gnawed at

them until now. They weren’t any lesstortured than before; all had sensed theterrible news for some time.

“The parchment that you found musthave been the same type of list,” Griganremarked. “But you and your childrenare the only Arque heirs, right?”

“Yes. The family had another branch,but they died out with my grandfather’sbrother.”

“How did the Zuu make these lists?”Leti asked.

“Excellent question. That brings usback to one of the three we brought upearlier.Who started all of this?”

“Corenn, I’m sure you have an answeryou want to suggest,” said Rey.

“Maybe. But I would like to hear your

opinions first. If I tell you now, thatmight influence your judgment.”“All right. I suggest we immediately

eliminate the idea that the Zuu are solelyresponsible. They never act on theirown.”“That’s not true,” objected Grigan.

“History is full of exceptions. The Zuuhave always used their…influence topreserve and expand their territory.”“Yes, I’ve heard of the Kurdalene story

too. Don’t forget that I’m Lorelien. Butthe heirs never planned on annihilatingZuia’s cult, at least not that I know of.Nor invading their island!”“That’s true. I didn’t even know that

they existed two moons ago,” Bowbaqadded.

“You, no,” Corenn said in a serioustone. “But another heir? Or several?”

“Do you think it could be one of ourown?” Leti said, surprised.

“I don’t know. It’s possible. Thatwould explain the precise lists, at least.”

“The Guild might have found the namesand addresses,” Rey proposed. “Just alittle bit of research, two or three‘hands-on’ interrogations, and the Zuuwould have all the necessaryinformation.”

“That’s a possible explanation. Theother, more frightful one requires theculpability, or at least the complicity, ofan heir.”

Leti observed seriously, “Unless itreally is their goddess who is judging

us.”A silence spread over the group, no one

wanting to react to the idea, too fantasticand horrifying.“Well,” Corenn began again, “think.

What could bring someone to unleash allthis?”“I want to say greed, because that’s

often the right answer,” Rey said. “But Idon’t see how that could be true in ourcase.”“Vengeance,” Grigan said with

confidence, “I know you don’t agreewith me, Corenn, but I am almost sureI’m right. Only revenge could bringsomeone to carry out such horrors.”“Who would want vengeance upon

us?” Bowbaq asked.

“And why?” Leti asked, incredulous.“Lots of people, maybe. The nobles

who still grieve their emissaries, like inGoran or Jezeba. A descendant of Nolthe Strange. An heir, unhappy with hislot in life.”

“None of these reasons seem to justifythe assassinations of eighty or a hundredpeople,” Rey objected.

“You really think so? I will give you anexample: your own, actually. We allknow that Reyan the Elder carried theenviable title of Duke Kercyan. A titlethat should have been passed on to you,as well as the land, the castle, and thefamily’s wealth. On returning from theisland, everything was taken from him.And you received nothing. Is it really

inconceivable to think that you, or anyone of the heirs whose ancestors weredisgraced, could develop over the yearsan unrelenting blind hatred, tinged withmadness?”

“That sounds so real coming out ofyour mouth, I’m starting to wonder how Ihaven’t considered it before,” Reyjested, wincing. “All right, fine, a pointfor you. Your explanation still has oneflaw. Since I have nothing, how could Ihave hired and paid the Zuu?”

“Someone as mad and determined as Idescribed could very easily hide awayhis riches for years. And I wasn’taccusing you, either.”

“Oh, really? I was starting to doubt myown innocence.”

“Grigan, according to your theory, whywouldn’t this man, thirsty for vengeance,just wait until we were all reunited onthe island? Why would the Zuu insteaddo everything they could to prevent usfrom meeting up?”

“Precisely to prevent us from doingwhat we’re doing right now: finding theone responsible. I’m sure we must knowhim. We just have to search among thosewho are still alive.”

“The culprit could easily fake his owndeath,” objected Yan, who was forcinghimself to forget his own worries toparticipate in the communal reflection.

“We will never find him,” Bowbaqsaid in despair. “We don’t know who itis, we don’t know what he wants—”

“We will find him,” Corenn declaredfirmly. “Our only chance of getting out ofthis mess is to have a conversation withhim. A candid conversation.”

Rey threw in, “I’m pleased to see thateveryone here realizes how futile fleeingwould be. Beyond living on the summitof some inaccessible mountain, or in themiddle of some desert, sooner or laterwe’d be flushed out one by one by theZuu and the Grand Guild.”

“Thanks, Rey, I really neededsomething to cheer me up,” Yan said.

“Aunt Corenn, we aren’t gettinganywhere. Tell us what you think.”

Five attentive faces turned toward theMother, who took her time collecting herthoughts.

“Well, I don’t think that the Zuu startedthis either. That would mean they areacting solely out of religious fanaticism,and nothing, to our knowledge, haspushed them to do that. So they werehired.”

No one interrupted her, waitingimpatiently for her to continue.

“Maybe it is a bit naive on my part, butI do not think that vengeance could makesomeone, even someone who had gonemad, assassinate children they did notknow and never could know. Especiallysince the victims more or less share hismisfortune, and certainly aren’tresponsible for it.”

Grigan couldn’t help but add, “Youknow what I think about vengeance and

madness.”“Yes, I know. But in my opinion,

someone as deranged as you havedescribed could not organize somethingthat requires so much preparation. And itseems to me that his behavior wouldhave given us reason to begin suspectingsomething years ago.”

“Maybe. But not all the heirs came tothe gatherings.”

“Logically, those who did not comewere either uninterested or completelyignorant about Ji and of their ancestor’spast. So they would not have muchreason to hate us so vehemently.”

Grigan didn’t offer any moreobjections. He remained unconvinced,but had no more arguments left.

“I think, in spite of everything, and ashorrible as it sounds, it is one of ourown. The Zuu are too well-informedabout our history and our traditions.How many people in the world knowabout the Day of the Bear? One hundred?One hundred fifty? Not much more. Andhow many have been to the island?”

“You think it has something to do withthe island?” Bowbaq asked.

“I am sure of it. There’s only oneinteresting thing about the heirs—what’son that island.”

“I don’t see how that would make ustargets. We don’t even know what it is,”Grigan disagreed.

“Sorry to interrupt you,” Rey said, “butcould someone tell me what there is on

the island?”Corenn and Grigan exchanged a look,

but their decision had already beenmade.

“I am sorry, but we cannot speak of it,”Corenn declared. “We have already gonetoo far…”

“Wait, wait—I am, myself, an heir. Iwould appreciate it if you kept that inmind, so I can get something out of it foronce.”

“I’ve never been to Ji either, youknow,” Bowbaq said to the actor. “It’snot so important, it’s not an obligation.”

“We made a solemn oath,” grumbledGrigan, “as did our ancestors before us.No one has ever broken it. We aren’tgoing to start for you.”

“That’s a shame, I thought I’d foundsome open-minded people—”

Corenn cut him off. “Your curiositywill soon be satisfied anyway. We aregoing to the island on the Day of theOwl. As we have always done.”

Yan, Bowbaq, and Leti froze. Thisstatement was heavy with meaning.

“That’s only a few days away. A littleearlier, a little later, what’s thedifference?”

Grigan responded clearly. “We aren’tallowed to talk about it, except whenwe’re on Ji. That’s all there is to it.”

Rey gave up on trying to change theirminds, and signaled to Corenn tocontinue.

“Right. As I was saying, in my opinion

the only thing that could interest anyonein the heirs is the secret on the island.”

“Well, now I’m going to have troublefollowing!” the actor complained.

“That’s why,” Corenn continued, “I amalmost sure that it must be one of theheirs. Only the heirs know about it.”

“And so?” Rey interrupted.“Corenn, I’m curious to hear how

you’re going to explain the connectionbetween the assassins and Ji,” saidGrigan.

“Only two things can be the cause.Only two things, since we have alreadydismissed vengeance as a motive, candrive a man to such acts. Ideology andself-interest.”

“Now I’m the one who’s completely

lost,” Leti said. “What’s ideology?”“The convictions and beliefs, moral,

political, philosophical, religious, orotherwise, that an individual or a grouphold to be true. Simply put, theiropinions on a subject.”

“I don’t see how the heirs’ gatheringscould go against someone’s beliefs,”Grigan said. “Or we’d be talking aboutmadness again.”

“I do not think it is about ideologyeither. I am more inclined toward self-interest.”

“I should have stuck with my answerfrom earlier,” Rey joked. “Is theretreasure there?”

“I wish. At least that would makeeverything clear,” Grigan answered.

“What kind of self-interest? Wanting tokeep anyone from finding out about thesecret?”

“Something like that. I think the manbehind all of this knows a lot more thanus about the island’s mysteries.”

Corenn let some time pass, enough forher words to sink in.

“Maybe he has always known about it,or maybe he recently discovered it. Butit’s obvious that there is somethingfabulous on that island. Riches, limitlesspower, supreme knowledge. You know,it could be any number of things likethat.”

Grigan nodded. Corenn’s theory wasvery reasonable.

“Whatever it is, he doesn’t want us to

discover it. Something very peculiar hashappened, or will happen, on Ji. That’swhy our enemy did everything he couldto keep us from getting there. And that’swhy we need to go.”They stayed silent, impressed by

Corenn’s ability to reason, and morethan that, by her conclusions, soweighted with implications.“Who do you think it is?” Bowbaq

finally asked.“Unfortunately, I don’t have any names

to propose. Given the evidence, it mustbe someone who has considerablewealth…”“But the only rich heirs are the

descendants of Arkane of Junine,”Grigan said. “Who never came to the

gatherings, Thome excepted.”“And the Arkane lineage is coming to

an end,” Corenn added. “The queenSehane will die without children; thebarons are already arguing over thethrone.”

“Remember when I said that Ji wasnothing more than a curse?” Reycommented. “But this queen has to beour main suspect?”

“In theory, yes,” Corenn responded,“but I already had the chance to meether, and she didn’t seem all that devious.She is an elderly woman who cultivateskindness and politeness, while thebarons display only condescension.Moreover, she doesn’t know the secret.”

“Since I’m missing a piece, you could

say a very significant one at that, youwill have to excuse me for notunderstanding right away,” Reycomplained again. “Do we at least knowif she’s still alive?”“She is not on my list, which leaves us

some hope.”“Maybe we could ask her for help?”

Yan suggested. “She would do it, foryour ancestors.”“And what kind of help do you want

from her? We won’t be any safer in theBaronies than here,” Grigan answered.“Actually, I was thinking, since she’s a

queen, she could more easily find tracesof the other heirs.”“That’s a good idea,” Corenn

announced, upon consideration. “Maybe

that is what we will do, if we do notlearn anything on the island.”

“I have something else to propose,”Rey responded. “The Small PalaceMarket.”

“In Lorelia?” Grigan asked. “What doyou want us to do there?”

“Meet the Zuu. And buy informationfrom them. That’s what I was planning todo before I met up with you.”

“Refresh my memory,” Corenn asked.“I know I have already heard about it,but the details escape me.”

“Once a dekade, in the old RoyalCommerce Commissioner’s palace, theyhost a market that is a bit special. There,anyone can sell any type of merchandise,even illegal. Especially illegal, actually,

as that is what is exchanged there mostoften. And the Zuu are there…howshould I put it? Permanently.”

“You want us to bargain with them?”Grigan protested.

“Why not? If they gave me the option tobuy back my life, you better believe Iwouldn’t hesitate.”

“Just walking up to the Zuu doesn’tseem safe,” Corenn objected.

“The Small Palace is a truce zone. TheCrown uses it as a method to keep aneye on all the traffic, and the place isoverflowing with spies. The officerswatch the entryways and guaranteesafety. To my knowledge, everything’salways gone smoothly.”

“I’m warning you, Corenn, I refuse to

haggle for my life with assassins.”“The idea repulses me, too, but maybe

we should try that avenue, if Ji doesn’tdeliver a solution.”

The warrior didn’t add anything. Hefigured he would make himself heardwhen it mattered.

“Well, either way, the best we can dofor now is wait for the Bear. That leavesus two days to think it over,” heconcluded, standing up from the table.

His companions soon did the same,then they all attended to their nightlychores, except for Leti, who approachedthe warrior. “There are three days left,right?”

“Two. You’ve counted wrong.”Leti froze.

“That’s impossible! That means thattoday was…”

She couldn’t finish her thought, whichdied in a sob.

Feeling awkward, Grigan waitedhopelessly for someone to come helphim, but no one had paid any attention totheir conversation.

“It was the Day of the Promise, yes,”he finally said. “I thought you knew,everyone thought you knew…”

She turned around and observed eachof her friends. Yan seemed to be sulking.

“I’m going to go for a walk,” she saidto Corenn, tearfully, before running off.

Four inquisitive faces turned towardGrigan, who mumbled, “I didn’t doanything. I can’t fix all our problems.”

He refused to offer any otherexplanation. Yan wanted to go andcomfort Leti, but he couldn’t bringhimself to.

Surely, she would prefer it if Rey werethe one to go.

For everyone, it was an extremely longwait for that fateful day. Curiositygnawed at each of them, as did anxiety atthe thought of exploring Ji and itsmysteries. Needless to say, theprevailing tension in the group didn’timprove the atmosphere.

Rey and Grigan stuck to haughtilyignoring one another, except when theactor made a joke behind the warrior’sback, which happened often enough, andconsistently triggered a more acerbic

verbal spat.Leti didn’t know how to act toward

Yan, and he didn’t know what to think orhow to react. From time to time, theyoung woman would make an attempt atreconciliation, but was it out of pity?She also spent a lot of time with Rey. Inthe end, Yan decided he wouldn’t makeany decisive moves until things becameclearer. Leti soon made the samedecision, and so things between themremained unchanged.

Grigan spent most of his time patrollingthe area surrounding their camp andkeeping a close watch on the island. Hedidn’t come back to camp until nightfall,when it became impossible to discern aboat landing on the small island. His

biggest fear was that they would fallright into a trap set by the Zuu on Ji, andeven if they didn’t talk about it, everyoneelse feared the same thing.

From the start they considered thequestion of how they would cross thesea to the island, but the problem wassoon resolved. The fishermen of Berce,like plenty of other fishermen, simplyleft their boats on the beach. So all theyneeded to do was “borrow” one. Griganhad already picked out a craft, equippedwith a sail, whose owner lived outsidethe village. The skiff, separated from therest by a few hundred yards, mightescape the Zuu’s likely surveillance.

The rest of their preparations didn’tamount to much. The warrior asked them

to make a few torches and suggested thatthey take advantage of their forcedinactivity by gathering provisions of allvarieties. As usual, Grigan took chargeof hunting and brought back plenty ofgame.

But, at the end of the day, they werestill left with a lot of free time, whichthey filled as best they could. Rey triedto give his companions lessons indifferent Ithare dice games, but noneamong them was a very good player,whereas the actor was very experiencedand won almost every round.

They thought for a moment to beentertained by a demonstration ofBowbaq’s powers; he could not say noto Leti’s urgings. But the results were far

from spectacular. The horse that servedas a guinea pig simply charged andwhinnied, as if it had gone crazy.Worried about maintaining their lowprofile, Grigan asked that they stop theexperiment, to the great disappointmentof Leti, Yan, and Rey.

The young woman, now carried awayby the idea of seeing a spectacle, thenbegged her aunt to provide them with ademonstration of her own mysterioustalents. She quickly abandoned the ideaafter getting a scolding look from heraunt as her sole response. No one daredto ask questions.

Corenn took advantage of the free timeby studying the lists of heirs, which sheupdated. Based on their collective

memory, she drew and completed, asbest she could, the genealogical trees ofthe seven Sages who survived thejourney. She counted seventy-oneindividuals over three generations.

Of the seventy-one, she knew the fate ofat least forty-nine: herself, Leti, Grigan,Bowbaq, and Rey were—by the grace ofEurydis—still alive. Forty-four others,according to Rey’s list and her own, hadbeen assassinated by the Zuu.

That left the fate of only twenty-twoheirs uncertain, a number that grewslightly after accounting for a fewindividuals overlooked by her initialcensus. It certainly didn’t leave themwith much hope for growth.

Logic told her that their enemy was one

of those twenty-two or so names, but herintuition told her otherwise. Corenn wasmore anxious than any of hercompanions to land on the forgottenisland.

“How can you navigate? It’s a crescentmoon and there isn’t even a star in thesky!”

Even though Bowbaq spoke in awhisper, they could hear the anxiety inhis voice. Yan, on the other hand, feltperfectly at ease: the sea was calm, thenight still, and soon enough his curiositywould be satisfied, finally putting an endto these three long days spent waiting.

“It’s magic,” Grigan answered for theyoung man, who was at the helm. “I thinkof a place, and the path simply appears

in my mind.”“What?”“All right, it isn’t magic. I owe it to this

object: a Rominian compass. I haven’tshown it to you already?”

The warrior explained the principle ofthe instrument briefly; Bowbaq wasn’treassured in the slightest.

“Are you sure it works? We’ve been onthe water for a while now, and we stillcan’t see the island!”

“That’s good. That means the Zuu can’tsee us either.”

“Don’t worry,” Rey added. “We aren’tgoing to get lost at sea. Look at thosedistant lights over there. You see them?”

“Zelanos and his children. Lorelia’slighthouses, in other words. As long as

we can see them, we know where thecoast is.”“That’s at least a day’s sail away,” Yan

commented.“A day!” wailed the Northerner,

terrified. “A day! We’re so far!”“Is it your first time on a boat or

something?” jibed the actor. “One mightthink it’s the first time you’ve seen thesea your whole life.”“That’s not far from the truth, in fact,”

Bowbaq explained. “You’re going tothink it’s silly, but I have a dreadful fearof water. Especially now. You can’t seea thing!”“Is that why you’ve never been to Ji

before? And here I thought you justwanted to stay with the kids,” Corenn

gently teased.“Yes, that was part of it,” he mumbled.“Then how do you explain the hundreds

of pounds of fish you catch every year?Don’t they come from the water?”

“That’s not the same, my friend. Youcan trust a creek, a stream, or even ariver. You’re never more than a fewyards from shore, a few oar strokes andyou’re there. Here, there’s no land insight.”

“Mind you, you might be able to touchthe bottom,” joked Rey. “Thirty feet,forty feet, what’s that to a big guy likeyou?”

“Forty feet! Forty feet deep!” the giantexclaimed, before resolutely sittingdown on the floor of the boat.

Leti sat down next to him. She couldn’tfind the right words to reassure him, butshe didn’t like seeing her kind friend insuch a state.They floated onward in silence for

some time. Finally, Grigan pointedtoward a point in the darkness.“There,” he said simply.As they had planned, Leti silently

lowered the sail while Yan, Rey, andGrigan took position with their bows;the others lay on the floor of the boat.They slowly drifted across the remainingdistance.The island emerged out of the darkness,

at first a mass just a bit darker than thewater; as they got closer, its contoursbecame progressively more defined. The

silence was complete, disturbed only bya playful colony of marine frogs.

“It looks quiet,” murmured the actor.“Maybe,” Grigan answered tersely.Yan couldn’t help adding, “But he

wouldn’t bet his life on in it.”He had long waited to pull that joke out

of his comedic reserve. The warriorresponded with nothing more than animpassive look out of the corner of hiseye, whereas Leti, squeezed betweenCorenn and Bowbaq, burst out laughing,joined by Bowbaq and Corenn.

The boat scraped the sandy bottombefore coming to a complete halt. Griganwaited a moment before giving Yan thesignal. The boy responded by crawlingoverboard and wading toward the beach,

covered by his friends’ bows. Reyfollowed and took position opposite Yanon the beach.

Finally, it was Grigan’s turn; he slippedright past them, penetrating further intothe rocky landscape. He came back soonafter, reassured, at least for the moment.

“All clear,” he instructed. “You cancome ashore. Light the torches.”

Not a moment later, Bowbaq hoppedinto the water and dragged the massiveboat to the beach, pulling Leti andCorenn along with it. He didn’t evenseem to notice the incredible feat he hadaccomplished.

“Ground! At last, solid ground!” heexclaimed, relieved. “Are you sure wecan’t wait until dawn to make the return

trip?”“Positive. We would be too visible

from the coast.”“Too bad.”The giant walked off and placed his

palms on a rock, as if to reassure himselfof its solidity. He preferred even thisdreary landscape to the sea.

Yan had been told that the island wassomewhat austere, but he didn’t expectthis. Apart from the small, bare beachthey stood on, the landscape was nothingmore than enormous blocks of rock. Itwas as if a somewhat lazy god hadsimply piled them on top of one anotherto create a new land.

It was quite small. A walk all the wayaround wouldn’t take more than four or

five decidays. Assuming the entirecoastline was passable, of course, whichwasn’t the case.

“No one has touched the torches we lefthere on our last visit,” Grigan said,leaning to look behind a pile of rocks.“Do you think that’s a good sign, LadyCorenn?”

“Unfortunately, we can’t conclude awhole lot from it. Aside from thosepresent, it appears that nothing haschanged for three years.”

“Say, that’s the entrance to the famouslabyrinth, isn’t it?” Rey pointed to asandy passage between two largeboulders.

“How did you guess?” asked Corenn.“Grigan’s footprints. He scouted ahead

before coming back to join us on thebeach.”

“Good deduction,” grunted the warrior.“And according to you, which wayshould we go next?”

“You’re the guide. Guide us. I suggestwe get this over with as quickly aspossible. I’m anxious to finally knowthis stupid secret that ruined my family.”

“You mustn’t say that,” scolded Leti.More than the others, she found a

certain charm in the actor. She thoughthis cheerful disposition and hischaracter made him very likable. Exceptwhen he spoke like that about the Sagesand the ancestors. In her eyes, they weresacred, especially now that the majorityof them were dead. To disrespect their

legacy was like…like insulting andforswearing Eurydis. It was wrong.

“All right,” began Corenn. “I think it’stime.”

Everyone gathered before her andGrigan, attentive and impatient.

“First of all, although I trust each andevery one of you, you are going to haveto swear an oath.”

“Come on now,” moaned Rey. “Is thiswhole ceremony really necessary? Can’twe just go see what’s going on instead?We might miss it.”

“We still have time,” Grigan grunted.“And anyone who doesn’t accept theoath won’t come. Period.”

“All right, then. I promise to respectand assume all obligations, restraints,

duties, and responsibilities you wish,”he muttered insolently. “Can we gonow?”

Corenn answered calmly for Grigan,“Reyan, that’s not what we’re asking ofyou. The oath doesn’t have any value inand of itself, since we’ll have no meansto guarantee that it will be upheld. It’sjust a brief moment of seriousnessbefore the coming excitement, a momentof reflection to help you realize thegravity of the situation, and theimportance of your silence. Do youunderstand?”

The actor reflected in silence for amoment.

“Corenn, my grandmother didn’t lie tome about you,” he declared. “You have a

gift for getting what you want frompeople which would make a Lorelienjeweler green with envy. You’ve got me.I’ll listen.”

Corenn nodded with a smile. Then, shebegan her “oath,” in a serious anddidactic tone.

“The things we’re going to show youare unknown to most people, and it mustremain that way, as ordained by the willof our ancestors. Since them, for over acentury, each generation has kept thesecret, and it will be up to you to do thesame in the years to come.”

“Excuse me for interrupting, Corenn,”Bowbaq said, “but there’s somethingI’ve never understood and I think now’sthe time to ask. If it’s a secret, why

didn’t it die with our ancestors? Why areyou, in turn, passing it on to us?”

She reflected for a moment beforeanswering.

“Because it’s too heavy for ourshoulders. As it was for our ancestors.They judged it advisable to share part ofit with their family members, as I amnow doing with Leti. Personally, I alsobelieve that, in some respect, we’vebecome the guardians of the secret of Ji,even if we don’t fully grasp all of itsimplications. Do you understand?”

“I have an objection,” Rey chimed in.“Though it’s far, very far, from myintention to exclude our friend Yan, heisn’t one of us. Does that mean you’rebreaking your oath?”

“I trust him more than I do some othershere,” said Grigan, acidly.

“Yan is, or will someday be, part of thefamily,” appended Corenn. “This isn’t aproblem. But we can take a vote—”

“It isn’t worth the trouble,” Reyinterrupted. “It was just a theoreticalquestion.”

Yan intentionally kept himself out of it.He was dying to satisfy his curiosity, andtherefore was very happy to hear thevarious statements his friends made onhis behalf. Especially Corenn’s. Was shethinking of a Union between him andLeti? Or was he imagining things again?

Corenn continued. “You must promiseto keep silent about what you’re about tosee. Even in the face of suffering,

dishonor, loneliness. Death. You willonly talk of it with very close familymembers or other heirs. Take the time toconsider, and if you agree, simply sayso.”“I agree to everything,” Rey said

immediately.Yan did as he was asked, closing his

eyes, and reflecting in silence onCorenn’s words and their implications.“I agree,” he said finally.Everyone turned to Leti, who remained

silent.The young woman was terrified. She

had been waiting impatiently for thismoment since she was a young girl. Allher life, she had wanted to share in thesecret of her ancestors and become a full

member of the group. But now that theday had come, she hesitated.

Everyone who went there came backsad.

And she had already endured her shareof suffering.

Was the secret more beautiful as it was—unknown?

“Leti?”The young woman opened her eyes to

her aunt’s call.She decided impulsively. “I agree,” she

said, wishing she had said it with moreconviction.

“Good,” concluded Grigan. “Let’s go. Iask that you all make as little noise aspossible, and of course that goes forcertain loudmouths too.”

“Can I let out a cry of pain if I fall?”Rey asked sourly.“Only if you really, really hurt

yourself,” shot back Grigan in the sametone. “That would be delightful.”With Grigan at the front of the column,

they disappeared through the narrowpassage, just as Nol the Strange haddone more than a century before. Reywalked behind Grigan, followed by Leti,and then Corenn and Bowbaq. Yanbrought up the rear.His heart was hammering in his chest.

It was all very exciting. Much more sothan his adventure in Berce—this timehe wasn’t alone. His mind wasgalvanized as never before.Even the most insignificant things

seemed strange. The dancing torchlighton the rocks. The distorted echoes ofevery sound. The odd arrangement ofgigantic blocks that made the wholelandscape feel like a real labyrinth.

After about a centiday of this silentwalking, Grigan led the group inside acave. Yan held his breath, certain theywere nearing their destination.

“Are we here?” whispered Rey.“No. Be quiet.”After a short time underground, they

emerged from the natural shelter througha small opening where they had tocrouch to pass through—practically acrawl for Bowbaq.

Once through, the warrior made themwait for a moment as he watched the

small exit, his bow drawn. This musthave been some sort of standardprocedure for him, a precaution to foilanyone’s attempts at following them,because Grigan quickly gave the order tocarry forward again as if nothing hadhappened.

More focused on watching thelandscape than memorizing their path,Yan was already lost. They had changeddirections at least twenty times, ignoringpassages on the right and left thatnevertheless seemed to be going in thesame direction. If he had to, he might beable to find his way back to the beach,but definitely not using the same path.

An encounter with a large, slaveringturtle forced them to make a further

detour. They had disturbed the reptileright as it was laying eggs, and itshowed them just how menacing avulture turtle can be. Though it was slowjust like its brethren, its powerful jawswere infamous, and Grigan preferred toturn the group around rather than risk aperilous crossing.

“Maybe Bowbaq could have negotiatedour passage?” Rey muttered. “Maybe wecould have even asked for directions?”

“It wouldn’t have worked,” the giantobjected seriously. “It only works withmammals.”

“Too bad. Maybe we’ll come acrosssome stray goat or cow and have a chatwith it.”

“That’s enough, you two!” Grigan said.

“A bit of silence, please!”“You know,” Rey continued brazenly,

“these discretionary measures arecompletely useless so long as we keepthese torches lit.”

“That’s for me to judge. So long asyou’re with us, you will do as we do.”

“You’re the boss, boss. Let’s hope thatif some guy’s hiding over there he’sblind rather than deaf.”

Grigan chose not to respond. He hadalready given up discussing anythingwith the actor, who was obviously benton provoking him.

If he were alone, of course he wouldhave gone without the torch. But thewhole lot of them groping their wayforward—clearly they’d make more

noise than a red pig in heat. It seemedchildish. Sometimes he got the feelingthat no one made any effort to understandhim.

“Wait for me here. Silently, ifpossible,” he added, giving Rey a gimleteye.

They watched as he crept forward.Bowbaq thought to himself that Griganmust have an excellent reason for suchcaution. The warrior didn’t even bringhis torch.

He came back presently, via anotherpath that adjoined theirs right behindYan, who jumped at his arrival.

“I didn’t see anything,” he said toCorenn. “Everything looks normal.”

“I’m tempted to say that’s a shame,”

she responded. “It could have been ourfirst step toward finding an answer.”

“There’s still hope. Perhaps later. Onceit’s occurred, which shouldn’t be long,for that matter. Let’s make haste.”

They all trekked onward after thetireless warrior, their curiosity freshlyfueled. He led them straight towardanother cave, which wasn’t marked inany particular way to distinguish it fromthe one they had already passed through,or the others they had spotted.

The entryway looked like a naturalarch, which opened up into a smallroom. It was only after they had coveredalmost the entire length of the room thata sort of gradually descending hallwayappeared off to the right.

“This must be it,” Rey declared.“There are traces of soot on the rocks.The torches…”

“Good catch, Reyan. I had neverthought of that. We’ll have to rememberto clean that up.”

“If we still get the chance,” Griganmuttered.

He had definitively given up trying tokeep the undisciplined members of hislittle group quiet. It was beyond hiscontrol.

Everyone’s excitement level was at itspeak. Yan wondered which was louder,the sound of his steps or his heartbeat.Leti feared a morbid discovery, and thedescent had hardly reassured her.Bowbaq felt very uneasy, having a

difficult time being confinedunderground. The sound of water belowand the drops streaming down the wallsheightened his anxiety. Rey let hisimagination wander about what theywere going to find…this one thing thatwas so important to every one of theirlives, but that they didn’t know.

“I hope we won’t have to swim,”Bowbaq grumbled. “If we do, don’tcount on me. I’ll turn right around.”

“Nothing to fear. There’s a chance youmight get your feet a little wet, that’sall.”

The long slope ended at the edge of anunderground lake, which was largeenough that the opposite bankdisappeared in the darkness. Grigan

waited until everyone was together.“It’s beautiful,” Leti said baldly,

relieved to find nothing more frightening.Yan squatted, cupped some water in his

hands, and wet his lips.“It’s salty,” he said, grimacing. “It’s

seawater.”“It’s freshwater, actually,” said Corenn,

“but the banks of the lake are covered insalt.”

“Grigan, my friend,” Bowbaq pleaded,“don’t ask me to cross.”

“I told you, you have nothing to worryabout. We’re going to go around.”

And that’s what they did, one behindthe other, on a narrow, uneven ledge thatran the length of the wall. They soon lostsight of the path behind them.

The room with the lake had to be 120yards in diameter, Yan thought tohimself. Maybe more. It was impossibleto know, short of making a full circle orlighting the whole room, which was alsoimpossible at the moment. They alreadyhad enough trouble focusing on theirfeet, trying not to make a false step andslip into the dark water.

But they overcame the obstacle withoutdifficulty. The only spot that wassomewhat perilous being a yard-longsection of the ledge that had crumbledaway long ago, which they had to jumpover. Corenn, lacking confidence in herphysical abilities, was the only one whoreally had trouble, before Bowbaqcarried her across the gap.

“It’s a shame we can’t leave any traceof our passing,” the Mother commented,her feet back on the ground. “I’ve beenwanting to put a little bridge at that spotfor years.”

“We could always hide a planksomewhere,” Yan suggested. “Andremove it each time.”

“There’s an idea worth considering.”This unsteady walk finally came to an

end soon after. The ledge butted upagainst a wall pierced by a thin, three-foot-tall opening. Grigan asked for atorch, clasped his scimitar, and slippedthrough the narrow opening, followed byRey, armed with his crossbow, then therest.

Bowbaq thought he was going to die

here in the depths of the earth. In orderto move forward through the small spacecarved in the rock, he was forced to turnhimself sideways, which restricted hismovements. He felt like he wassqueezing himself deeper and deeperinto a huge trap, and that he was going tobe squashed or imprisoned at anymoment. Briefly, he wondered whetherhe preferred being on the water.

Then, little by little, the crack widened,becoming a wide hallway, and sooneven wider. At last, they emerged intoanother room.

“Stop,” Grigan ordered.The warrior swept his piercing gaze

over the darkness. Leti found it a littleridiculous; he couldn’t see a thing.

Unless he was listening? She listenedclosely, but all she could hear, likeeveryone else, was the distant sounds ofthe sea.Grigan paced around, inspecting the

room before coming back. There wassomething uncanny about the sight of aman dressed all in black wanderingabout in the darkness, with nothing butthe faint flickering light of his torch.“Nothing, Corenn. No one.”“That would mean that I was wrong…”“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see when it

happens.”“Speaking of that,” interrupted Rey,

“now that we’ve fulfilled the conditions,would it be possible to finally get someexplanations?”

“It’s better to be surprised,” Grigananswered. “But I’m going to show yousomething anyway. Follow me, and becareful where you step.”

They complied, all except for Corenn,who wedged her torch into a crack in thewall and sat down. Yan figured thateverything was going to happen here.However, there was nothingextraordinary about the place. It seemedlike any other cave, perhaps smaller thanthe one with the lake, but again, it washard to tell in the dim light.

They came to the edge of a pond, whichGrigan waded into without hesitation,followed immediately by Leti, Yan, andRey. Bowbaq sufficiently mastered hisfears to not be left behind. But the water

stretched a good fifteen yards. Thewarrior stopped on the other side,waiting for the others to catch up. Theycould hear the sound of the sea muchbetter from here.They covered the remaining distance

cautiously. Grigan finally came to a haltat the edge of a dark pit that spanned thewhole floor of the cavern.“There. I wanted to tell you to watch

out for that.”“And here I was thinking you didn’t

like me,” Rey needled him. “Now you’remothering me.”“Fall in if you want, it doesn’t matter to

me. But I wanted to warn the others.”“How deep is it?” Bowbaq asked,

almost shyly.

“Sixty or eighty feet, depending on thetide; the sea comes up right underneath.The entire underground of the island hasbeen hollowed out by water.”

“Don’t tell me this is where ourancestors began their journey?” Letiasked incredulously.

“Oh, no. In fact, they never went anyfurther than here. But I challenge you tofind any clues.”

Nothing could have galvanized theyoung woman more than Grigan putting achallenge to her. She immediately setabout searching every dark corner of theroom, helped by Yan, who was recruitedby default, but was no less curious for it.Bowbaq went back to keep Corenncompany, while Rey proceeded with his

own search, all the while trying his bestto hide it.

They soon gave up, admitting defeat.An absolute scouring of the entire room—the ground and the walls—didn’t turnup any clues. Leti felt more and morefrustrated. Corenn noticed and decidedto step in before it degenerated intoanother nervous breakdown.

“Bowbaq, would you join me, please?”The giant docilely agreed and they

walked over to Leti, who was examininga fault in the rock. They all gatheredaround her.

“Here, I am going to help you a little.Climb onto Bowbaq’s shoulders. Aslong as he doesn’t mind, of course.”

“Absolutely not. It’s just like when she

was younger.”He simply picked her up and lifted her

over his head, before setting her downon his shoulders. Grigan aside, theywere all curious where this was going.

“Now, go look at the rock face near thelittle lake,” Corenn finished with amysterious smile.

Bowbaq immediately trudged over tothe wall, hurried by an encouraging Leti,whose mood had suddenly improved.Even with his feet in the water, the giantbrought the young woman to a height thatwas unreachable before.

They began to understand. The cavernceiling, and the highest walls, escapedthe faint torchlight. But they still neededmore light to fully see.

Rey took a step back from the othersand threw his torch up in the air. It beganits spinning arc up; before it fell back tothe floor they could see, just for aninstant, the highest wall. It was at leastseventy feet high.

“I found it!” Leti exclaimed.She found it right away. It was there,

right in front of her eyes. Even thoughshe didn’t know exactly what it was, shewas sure she was right.

Yan and Rey approached the wall,hoping to see something.

“I don’t see anything,” Rey declared.“Point it out for us.”

“There! And over there! And here too—oh, and it continues on up, reallyhigh,” she concluded, pointing all over

the wall in front of her.“From here, all we see is the rock,”

Yan objected timidly.“I see it,” said Bowbaq, who wasn’t

much lower than the young woman. “Itlooks like the rock has been sculpted.”

“That’s right,” Corenn said simply.“Yan!” Rey called, motioning to Yan

that he wanted to give him a leg up.Using Rey as a ladder, the boy could

see the higher walls for himself. Indeed,it couldn’t be a natural phenomenon.Various curving geometric forms hadbeen carved into the rock wall, in a foot-wide ribbon that ascended verticallyuntil it disappeared into the shadows.

The lowest patterns were also thecrudest, and their lines almost

completely erased. But the ones higherup seemed surprisingly intricate andwell-defined.

Yan dropped down and took his turnhoisting the actor, who was just ascurious.

“What is it?” he asked, after examiningthe rock. “Some sort of writing? Or is itsimply decorative?”

“Unfortunately, we don’t know,”Corenn answered. “In his time, the wiseMaz Achem thought there was aresemblance between these signs andthose of the Etheque language.”

“Which no one speaks anymore, ofcourse,” the actor complained as hejumped to the ground. “I mean, since hewas Maz, we could expect this kind of

quasi-religious delirium.”Leti frowned. She still didn’t

appreciate his lack of respect for theSages.

“Does the pattern go all the way to thetop?” Bowbaq asked.

“And even higher,” Grigan answeredwith a knowing chuckle.

Yan and Rey simply looked at eachother before heading straight for the wallon the other side. Without a word, theactor locked his fingers together as astep for Yan, who hoisted himself up.

He found the same signs.“Personally, I prefer the left-hand side.

The marks are more intricate,” Corenndeclared, joking.

Bowbaq carried Leti over to the other

side, so she could see for herself.“It would take years to do all this,” she

declared admiringly.“I can guess that the patterns also cover

the ceiling?”“Exactly.”“What is all this, Aunt Corenn?

Magical symbols, or something likethat?”

“Exactly,” Corenn responded seriously.“These designs have a power, but wedon’t know how they work.”

This final answer was met with a longsilence, as they all tried to put theirthoughts into some sensible order.

Arque tradition taught that one shouldrespect and fear that which is beyondhuman intellect, which was clearly the

case here. Therefore, Bowbaq wasanxious for all of this to end, for them toleave this hole and cross that cursedstretch of sea, so they could return tonormal things.

For a long time, Leti had accepted theexistence of magic, gods, and otherunexplained realities and legends, suchas her aunt’s powers and the mysteriessurrounding her ancestors. But for thefirst time, she was finally getting to thebottom of things. For the first time, shewas really going to see it happen. Andshe was as excited as she wasapprehensive.

Yan felt changed. Two dekades earlier,he wouldn’t have believed—even if hehad been warned—that he would soon

be hunted by and fleeing a large band ofassassins.

Yet that’s what had happened. Hewouldn’t have believed himself capableof risking his life in a little Lorelientown he had never heard of, and yet thathad happened, too. He wouldn’t havebelieved he would travel with strangers,or argue with Leti. He never would havebelieved he would do all of theseunusual things. But he had indeed bravedthem all.

Now they were telling him aboutmagic. And he was ready to believeanything to satisfy his thirst forexperience, which kept growing dayafter day. Yan was easily the happiestamong them.

Only Rey still doubted. His run-inswith magicians consisted of the sleight-of-hand tricks of fakes, which took placein all the big cities’ marketplaces.Completely rigged tricks. On top of that,he felt like the others were messing withhim, and furthermore, he had waited longenough for them to tell him more.

“All right,” he declared seriously,“that’s enough riddles for now. Corenn, Ibeg of you to explain something clearly,anything.”

She paused in thought.“What do you think it is? Even if you

feel stupid saying it?”“In my opinion? I would say really

strange symbols, carved we don’t knowwhen, how, or why, at the bottom of a

remote cave, underneath a tiny Lorelienisland no one gives a margolin’s assabout.”

“A door,” Yan suggested, quietly.“What?”“In my opinion, it’s a door. The designs

come together to form an archway alongthe walls of the cavern…”

“And where’s the knob?” the actor saidmockingly.

“Yan’s right,” Grigan interrupted,happy at the chance to contradict Rey.

“You will have to really work hard, Imean really work, to get me to swallowthat load of nonsense.”

“We won’t need to. It shouldn’t be longnow. All of you come over to this side,”Corenn said, leading them to her side.

“We shouldn’t be in the doorway whenit opens, is that it?” Yan asked.“No, that doesn’t matter. But my feet

are cold!”The boy realized that they had all been

wading in the little pond for a whilenow. He had completely forgotten abouteverything else.“How do you know that it’s almost

time?” Leti asked, once Bowbaq put herback on solid ground.“It always happens around this time of

night, that’s all. For a while now, I havewanted to bring a clepsydra, whichwould give us a more accurate time, butthere was always some reason Icouldn’t.”“Tell me, friend Corenn…” Bowbaq

began timidly. “This…this thing that weare waiting for, it’s not dangerous, is it?I mean, not sacrilegious, or somethinglike that?”

“We wouldn’t have asked you to comeif it were,” Grigan responded for her.“Don’t you trust us?”

“No, of course I do!” the giantapologized fervently, but a part of himcontinued to agonize.

The conversation died. One by one,they quieted down to simply wait,staring into the dark void wheresomething was supposed to happen.

Even Rey stopped trying to interrogatehis companions. After a few moments ofwaiting, Bowbaq sat down. Thesensation of the cold, damp stone had the

strange effect of calming him. Itreminded him a bit of Arkary’s frozenplains.Corenn soon followed suit, fatigue

overcoming her. The others stayedstanding. For Grigan, who didn’t easilygive up his vigilance, caution kept himon his feet. For Yan, Leti, and Rey, itwas simple excitement.They didn’t really know what they

were waiting for. Yan’s imagination ranwild. Leti simply waited, more and morenervous. And Rey meditated on hisbeliefs and whether or not they werewell-founded.He frequently approached the archway,

all his senses alive, looking for thesmallest sign of change. But each time he

returned more unsatisfied and frustrated.After his eighth trip, he walked straight

toward Grigan.“We can’t wait here all night! You can

see for yourself that there’s nothinghere!” he yelled, pointing to theshadows.

As if in response, a faint buzzing soundsprang up from the walls, and it grewlouder and louder, quickly becoming apiercing hiss.

“What’s happening?” Bowbaq asked,raising his voice over the sound.

“It’s nothing, it’s normal,” Corennreassured him.

In the time it took for her to say thosewords, the noise stopped in a sort ofsputter. Then, absolute silence.

They all remained still, because theywere awestruck, but also because it washappening so quickly.

The center of the archway was stilldark. Then the shadows began moving,brightening. A light appeared: first onlya little dot, but it quickly grew as largeas the cavern, illuminating it completely.

It was a stunning sight. They sawbefore them a luminous form, as if thesun itself were trying to enter the cavernby the new gateway.

A sixty-foot-tall gateway.The light slowly waned, no longer

blinding, and was replaced by a hazyvision, as if hidden by smoke. Then thefog cleared little by little, allowing Yan,Leti, Rey, Bowbaq, Corenn, and Grigan

to penetrate its secrets.It was like they were looking across a

thin veil of water. It all seemed so close,but at the same time, as if beyond reach,a simple image, a cloudy trick of the eye.

Yan rubbed his eyes, then gaped at thescene. He couldn’t deny it; before him,he saw a garden.

Under his feet, the cavern’s rocky soilspread to the edge of the pond. Fromthere, water, of course. And, three feetbeyond the bank, he saw there wasgrass. The rest of the cave haddisappeared. All of it.

The gateway was a perplexing frontierbetween the space where they were andanother, a living painting wherein dawnrose over a magnificent landscape, a

verdant valley set in a mountainousbackdrop.

Yan focused all of his attention on thebarrier between the two worlds. It wassomething…unexplainable.

Bowbaq didn’t dare move. He too wasunder the enchanting vision’s spell. Hehad the impression that if he were tomove, the spectacle would stop…or takea much darker turn.

Rey searched for the trick, the trick thatmade such a thing possible, but hecouldn’t find it. He decided to get closerand see, and dipped a foot into the pond.

“Listen!” said Leti, with a smile on herlips as she placed a finger over hermouth.

She heard something. Hidden behind

the noise of herself and her companions,there was…

She finally realized what it was.Birdsong. Even if they were very faraway, she could hear the other world!The other world!

They all smiled at her, understanding.They had heard the same thing.

Rey covered the distance separatinghim from the phenomenon and grabbedthe dagger he had strapped to his calf.

“Don’t do that,” Bowbaq begged.The actor remained deaf to Bowbaq’s

pleas and delicately pushed the tip of theblade through the surface of the aqueousvision. Not feeling any resistance, hekept pushing all the way to the hilt. Thenhe started over, using a flower that

appeared right at his feet as a target.The results didn’t satisfy him. It was all

just an illusion with no substance.Leti decided she wasn’t going to be left

standing there, and joined the actor. Shefaced the landscape and took a deepbreath.

“Leti?” Yan called timidly.Whatever she was trying to do, he

didn’t think it was a good idea.The young woman suddenly took a big

step that should have brought her ontosolid ground in the other world, anddisappeared.

At the same time, they heard a bigsplash followed by the sound of lappingwater. Finally Leti appeared, walkingback through the vision, soaked to her

knees. It was as if she had fallen from acloud.

“You could have warned me,” shecomplained to her aunt.

“I assure you, I didn’t know what youwere planning to do,” Corenn respondedsincerely.

“I’m sure that on the other side, it’s allblack,” Rey announced. “It’s nothing butan illusion, a magic trick, a simpleoptical illusion.”

He took his turn disappearing behindthe phenomenon, only to return shortlyafter, grave and silent. Yan tried walkingthrough the barrier himself.

He expected to feel something, but thatwasn’t the case. He walked straightforward, slowly, staring at a precise

point in the landscape. An instant laterhe found himself facing the back of thecavern.

He turned around, curious to see whathe was going to discover. There wasstill a magnificent valley in front of him,but not exactly the same. Or really, thesame place, but seen from a differentangle. Perhaps what you might seestanding in the green valley on the otherside of the door, if you turned around tolook behind.

An enormous hand appeared from thesky, waved around for a moment, thendisappeared. A foot, then an entire leg,came next, soon followed by the rest ofBowbaq’s body.

The giant had a numb look on his face.

He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.Whatever this thing was, it wasbeautiful. And impossible.

What they were doing was surelyforbidden. He had the strange feeling hewas violating a secret. And it remindedhim too much of an unpleasant memoryfrom his past, one he wanted to forget.

He returned to the other side of thecavern, leaving Yan alone with thelandscape.

It all looked so peaceful. So calm. Andas beautiful as it was inaccessible. As ifnothing were real.

But he saw things. He could hear them.Squinting his eyes, concentrating, hecould even make out the flowersswaying in a gentle breeze, or catch sight

of a bird in flight.He concentrated and leaned toward the

vision, as if to caress the leaves of oneof those strange and wonderful plants,but his fingers felt nothing but emptiness.It saddened him more than he’dexpected.

He stood up and was about to join hisfriends, who were laughing on the otherside of the gateway, when somethingcaught his eye.

Someone was in the landscape.“Come quick! Look!”All his friends were soon at his side,

rendered mute at his discovery.Around two hundred yards away—

assuming just one stride would bringthem to the grass on the other side—a

young boy walked about, admiring thesky.He must have been four or five years

old. He had the look of the people fromthe Upper Kingdoms, and could havebeen from Lorelia, Ith, or even Romine.Or from some other country; theblondness of his hair and his total nuditygave little hint as to his origins.By instinct, Leti waved to him, before

realizing that he wasn’t looking in theirdirection. She began to call to him asloudly as she could, hoping to get hisattention.The child sat down on the grass a

couple of hundred feet away, turningaway from them. He hadn’t heard hergreetings, or perhaps just ignored them.

“Yan, help me!” Leti asked.The young man nodded, and they yelled

at the same time, with all their force.The child lifted his head and turned

toward them. He didn’t seem joyous, orscared. He simply watched them withhis big eyes.

Leti waved to him again. They all heldtheir breath. Bowbaq forced himself tosmile, not knowing why.

The child stood and came toward themat a lazy stroll. He stopped from time totime to contemplate one thing or anotheralong the way, and didn’t continue untilLeti encouraged him.

He stopped only thirty feet from themand tranquilly stared at them, one hand inhis mouth. Leti repeated her greeting for

the tenth time at least.The little boy smiled and clumsily

imitated her wave, looking happy.Leti felt an unbridled joy and couldn’t

explain why.Yan figured something out. If the child

could see them, just as they saw theother world, it was proof that he existed.It existed.“Hello!” Leti began sweetly, still

smiling, “What’s your name?”He looked at her without reacting. He

soon focused his attention on Grigan,who had, up until then, kept himself frommaking any gestures. The warriorawkwardly waved, which seemed to beenough to satisfy the child, whoresponded to him as warmly as he had to

Leti.They all started to greet him with

“hello” and “hi,” and each of them got aresponse. But the boy never spoke.

Finally he turned his head to his left,his attention diverted by something else.Despite Leti’s desperate efforts to keephim there, he walked straight out of thevision.

As if to signal the end of theperformance, the image wavered andbecame opaque, before turning into adazzling light that progressivelydimmed, leaving them alone with thecavern’s shadows. A whistle rose up,then went silent.

It was over.They stood there, speechless,

motionless. It was gone. The magic haddisappeared.

Leti felt a tear roll down her cheek,then another, then even more. She criedsilently, not knowing why. Turningtoward her companions, she realized thatmany of them had glistening eyes. Eventhe proud, powerful Grigan.

Now she understood why all of theheirs returned from the island sad.

“Does it always have this effect?”“Especially the first time,” her aunt

answered. “You get used to it eventually,as with anything. And then you only thinkabout the beauty of it all.”

“What did we see, exactly?” Reyasked. “Do you know where that placeis?”

“So, you’ve finally come to accept it,”Grigan said, scoffing.

“It’s a wise man’s strength to know hiserrors, the proverb says. I would addthat you didn’t really try all that hard toconvince me!”

“The facts speak better on their own,”Corenn said. “To answer your question,no, unfortunately, we do not know whereit is. But that is where Nol the Strangebrought our ancestors.”

“And?” Leti asked, wiping away hertears. “What did they see there?”

Corenn sighed before responding. Theycould feel the regret in her voice.

“That part of the secret disappearedwith them. They never spoke of it.”

They all reflected on this revelation.

Bowbaq was happy that nothing ominoushad happened. Leti and Rey werefrustrated they couldn’t learn more. AndYan had the feeling that his life had justtaken a new direction. He knew thatfrom now on, his curious mind wouldknow no rest, nor tedium, so long as hehadn’t yet penetrated the mystery of thegateway.

“Did the Sages say how they crossed tothe other side? I mean, I’m sure wewouldn’t have needed much to do thesame. Maybe an object, a magicformula…”

“The story goes that they simply heldhands before crossing onto the grass,”Corenn answered. “But we have alreadytried, in vain,” she added, seeing the

surprised looks of the youngest membersof the group. “For all this time, the heirshave tried everything to pass to the otherside. Unsuccessfully.”

“Except for once,” Grigan corrected.“That’s right, except for once. Queff,

Bowbaq’s own grandfather, offered aplon to the boy on the other side; the boyapproached like the little boy just now,stuck out his hand, and took the fruit.”

“You mean to say that a kid came out ofthe vision, that he took the plon andwalked off without saying a word?” Reyexclaimed.

“Only his hand,” corrected Corenn,“but I can’t confirm it, none of us hadbeen born at the time.”

“Maybe the gateway only works in one

direction?” Leti proposed.“No, not if you consider that the Sages

used it,” Grigan disagreed.“You know, we could make a mountain

of gold with this thing,” Rey said,grinning.

Five skeptical gazes turned his way.“I’m joking, I’m joking. Rest assured, I

truly intend to respect my oath.”“Did it reveal anything to you, Lady

Corenn? I mean about our enemy?”“Sadly, no, Yan. We were lucky enough

to see one of the children, which ispretty rare, but nothing unique happened,as I had hoped.”

“In my opinion,” Rey said, “the guywho sent the Zuu on our trail has foundthe way to pass through to the other side.

And he wouldn’t like it if we made itthere, too, for some reason that only heknows.”

“That’s also what I think. But I wasexpecting to see him tonight. Unless,perhaps, his discovery was even moreincredible, and has allowed him to passthrough this gateway, or another, at anygiven time…”

“Another gateway?” four voicesrepeated in unison.

Corenn looked at them one by one, andunderstood that, apart from Grigan, hercompanions had no idea what she wastalking about.

“I obviously have a lot to tell you,” shebegan. “We know that this one exists,and we suppose that a similar gateway is

located on the other side. Which led ourancestors to think there could be otherones. So they began their search, asdiscreetly as possible—because theirrespective governments were still spyingon them at the time. By rummagingthrough archives from geographicalinstitutions throughout the known world,they found traces of two otherdoorways.”

“The first one was found in Jerusnie,the far western province of the RomineKingdom. But what little indication theyhad of its whereabouts was approximate,and they never found it. It was easier forthe second one, renowned in the UpperKingdoms: the Sohonne Arch.

“The Grand Arch?” Bowbaq said,

surprised. “The Grand Arch of Arkary?A gateway?”

“What is it?” Leti asked.“A sort of bridge in the middle of

nowhere,” Rey responded. “Accordingto legend, it’s one of the five ancienthuman wonders of the known world,along with Mount Crepel’s stairway, theKenz temple, the fossil pyramids, andthe pillars of Corosta. But it’s nothingmore than a useless bridge above thesnow!”

Corenn objected. “It’s not a bridge. Abridge would have been designeddifferently, unless it were very poorlyconceived. It’s a gateway.”

“I myself have been there,” Griganinterjected. “In some parts, which are

still intact, the interior of the Arch isadorned with the same marks as here.”

“That’s a bit much for tonight,” Reydeclared. “You make it sound like thesupernatural is everywhe—”

“But it is everywhere! I am the Motherin charge of Traditions on the KaulMatriarchy’s Permanent Council,”Corenn said portentously. “It is my jobto be rigorous, logical, and intelligent.But can I explain the Ezomine stones?The Vines of Karadas? The Stone Tree?No. And yet these things exist, even ifthey escape our understanding. Can Iexplain the gateway of Ji? No. But itexists too. Just like the others.”

Rey reflected before responding. “Allright, I believe you. Why not, after all?”

Yan mused on all these mysteriousnames he had just heard. He promisedhimself to ask Corenn about all of thesethings sometime soon. The worldsuddenly seemed vast.

“I suggest we finish this conversationlater,” Grigan said. “We should leave theisland before dawn.”

A suggestion from the warrior had thesame effect as an order. They regretfullyturned toward the exit, after making surethey left no trace of their passage, andstarted on their way back.

“Aunt Corenn, in your opinion…Thegarden, the mountains, what are they?”

“I would say, maybe it’s a thing that wefind in every religion. Paradise?”

They made their way out in a mournful

silence. Rey couldn’t stand it for verylong. He was sad, inexplicably sad,much like his companions. So he made atoken effort at cheer, devoting himself tohis favorite pastime: annoying Grigan.

“Do we really have to walk so fast?That’s twice now that I’ve almostfallen!”

The warrior taunted him in turn. “Onceit’s actually happened, let me know,Kercyan. The women aren’tcomplaining.”

“How sensitive of you,” commentedLeti. “May I ask why we should havemore reason to complain than you men?”

The warrior didn’t answer. He hadlearned to ignore the young woman’srebellions as much as the actor’s barbs.

It made life easier, but didn’t soothe hissour stomach. Far from it, actually.In any case, his priority for the moment

was to get them off the island and returnto the mainland before dawn. Whichwould be impossible if they continued todawdle as they had in the cave with thearch.What Corenn was expecting, which is

to say an event even more spectacularthan usual, or a meeting with theirenemy, had not materialized. The visit toJi didn’t reveal any answers. It simplyallowed them to eliminate a fewhypotheses.But Grigan’s instinct didn’t fail him. If

there was no one in the cave, therewould certainly be someone waiting for

them at their exit. He couldn’t explain it,even to himself, but he was sure. Thiswas the kind of intuition that had savedhis life more than once.

“Grigan, my friend,” Bowbaq said, “Itseems like you’ve spent your whole lifeon this island. You scurry between therocks like you’ve known this path foryears.”

“Well, it’s true, you know. That was theninth time I witnessed the phenomenon.”

He went quiet, hesitant to continue.“I hope there are more to come. I’ve

always liked round numbers,” he added,to lighten the mood.

“Speaking of numbers, how manypeople have you killed?” asked Leti.

“I don’t keep count like that,” he

snarled. “I leave that to the Zuu.”“I just had an idea,” she went on.

“What if we hired a Zu to kill the otherones for us?”“This little one’s resourceful.”“I’m not little.”“My sincere apologies. But my

compliment was sincere.”Rey could be charming and despicable

at the same time. Leti never knew how toreact to him—fall in love or detest him.At least with Yan she knew how she felt.But the young man was always soreserved.“Snuff out your torches,” Grigan asked.

“We’re getting close to the beach. Fromthis moment on, I ask that you make aslittle noise as possible, and this time do

it for real.”They complied. The warrior climbed

on top of a rock and, looking towardtheir boats, watched attentively. Not longafter, Rey did the same.

“Do you see anything?” Bowbaqwhispered.

“I think we’re on an island,” Reyanswered. “There’s water all aroundus.”

“I know we’re on an island,” the giantexplained. “Rey, my friend, I don’tunderstand you sometimes.”

“It was a joke, Bowbaq, my friend,”said the actor as he slid from his perch.“Just a joke. You can’t see a thing.”

“Which doesn’t mean nothing’s there,”Grigan added. “Let’s go. Very slowly.”

They followed the warrior for a while,until he signaled a stop.

“I’m going ahead,” he whispered.“Wait for me here.”

He slipped away into the darkness,bow in hand, as he had done for hiscompanions so many times before.

But this time, things would not turn outso well.

He refused to admit it, of course. Buthe went much faster, more discreetly,and thus more safely, when he wasalone.

Despite the goodwill and effort of—almost—all of his companions, thegroup made for easy prey. They were toonumerous, too loud, and worse, most ofthem weren’t fighters.

Grigan felt responsible for them, like afather with his children. And he had todo his best to keep them safe. He tookthis responsibility on himself and took acertain pride in it, despite the constantdisagreements.

Like a shadow, he emerged through anopening a little bit larger than the others,walled in on either side by a largeboulder stuck in the sand. The beachwasn’t much farther. He could alreadyhear the sea.

He crouched down and inched forward,hidden by a slanted boulder. He’d longago stopped worrying about theridiculousness of such postures. Manybattles had been won by seeminglyridiculous people, or excessively

cautious ones.He leaned against the rock, all of his

senses alive, and analyzed the layout ofthe terrain. Where would an ordinaryperson hide for an ambush? Over there,surely. In that corner formed by the twohuge boulders.

He proceeded to circle around, usinganything he could for cover, every relief,every spot blanketed in shadow. Soon,he neared his goal.

He set down his bow and quiver,arming himself with just a throwingdagger. Then he slowly poked his headout of his hiding place, just enough for aquick glance.

He was right, which brought him only afleeting moment of satisfaction.

A man was hiding there, leaning againstthe rock, a sword in hand. He keptlooking toward the path. The path thatGrigan, Corenn, and the others wouldhave taken.

He wasn’t a Zu, more likely a low-level thief from the Guild, of the kindthat Yan and Rey described. The mandidn’t do his job very well, anyway.Grigan was sure he could get rid of himin less than two heartbeats.

But where there is one, there areothers, the proverb says. Maybe manymore. Definitely enough for an ambush.

Under these conditions, areconnaissance mission all the way tothe beach was impossible. Opportunitiesfor coverage were too few and far

between. And he had to warn hiscompanions, before they started to getnoisy again.

The best thing to do was to lose theirenemies in the labyrinth; maybe toeliminate them in isolated combat. Atdawn, he would reassess the situation.

While figuring out this problem, he hadstarted to return when a cry shredded thesilence.

The voice was Leti’s.

Grigan had been gone for some timenow, and Rey was beginning to getimpatient. It was hard enough for him tobear the attitude of the old man, as hehad disrespectfully nicknamed Grigan,and his obsession with controllingeverything. But the fact that he was

wasting time on top of that was tough forRey to swallow.

The others waited obediently, theirbacks against rocks, or seated in thesand. They were all good people, sure,but far too timid for his liking. Apartfrom Leti, perhaps, they all seemed toaccept the warrior’s orders as if theyhad done so their entire lives. Reycouldn’t go along with that.

He clambered on top of a boulder andattempted to pierce the darkness of thenight. But all he could see was the sea, aslightly darker color than the island, andhe gave up.

He was a city dweller through andthrough. Up until recently, he had onlytraveled between cities, taking the

shortest route possible. On this deserted,desolate island, he was out of hiselement. As if he were closer to therealm of death. His death.

He tried to banish this unpleasantthought. In Lorelia, the streets werealways lit and rarely deserted. Theteeming city life, with its countlessfestivals and the impressive density oftaverns and other entertainmentestablishments, didn’t lend itself topessimism. Whereas here…

Finally, he admitted it. Yes, heregretted the vision they had seen of theother world. He felt a kind of sadnessand an inexplicable frustration he hadnever known before. He wasn’t the onlyone, judging from the others’ lost

expressions.So much for the old man’s orders. He

was going to break the ever-so-important silence. He needed to talk.

He went over to Leti, searching for anamusing way to strike up aconversation…and froze midstep, hiseyes fixed in one direction.

A man had just appeared, right in frontof him.

Rey lunged at him so swiftly that hesurprised even himself. The stranger,just as surprised as Rey, reacted withmuch less agility and found himself withhis back on the ground and a dagger tohis throat before he could even draw hisblade.

If he had been alone, Rey wouldn’t

have hesitated for an instant to slice hissteel blade through the man’s filthy skin.But some sense of decency, being in thepresence of his naive companions, aswell as the memory of the other world,prevented him from killing the strangerin cold blood.

It all happened very fast. Rey smelledthe man’s awful breath. He read thepanic in his eyes. Then he heard Leti letout a dreadful cry, and something struckhim brutally on the head.

As soon as Leti saw Rey bolt for noapparent reason, she stood up to find theactor subduing an armed stranger.

No one had heard the man approach.Yan, sitting close to her, wasdaydreaming, as he often did. Bowbaq

was lost in his contemplation of thestars, and Corenn was resting with hereyes closed.

Leti’s first emotion was relief. Thisstranger was clearly an enemy, but itwas fine, since Rey had subdued him—and without Grigan’s help, even.

Then she felt anger. Anger towardherself for not reacting as quickly asRey. She hadn’t even reacted at all.

Then hysteria overtook all of her otheremotions when she saw the other men.

She heard herself yelling to warn Reyand watched, powerless, as one of thestrangers clubbed the actor on the head.

She brandished her knife in front of her,in front of her enemies, in an improvisedcombat position. She didn’t even

remember grabbing the weapon.Bowbaq placed himself between them

and her, blocking the way with hismassive body. Leti felt someone pullingat her clothes. She pivoted around, ragefilling her body, ready to take on herassailant.

It was only Yan. She realized he hadbeen calling her for a while now. Shefinally understood what he was saying.

“Come on! We need to leave! Leti,come with me!”

She followed him without knowingwhy. Maybe because it was Yan.Because he had called to her.

She couldn’t think straight. All shewanted was to keep her grip on theknife.

She clasped the weapon, gritted herteeth, and started running as she neverhad before.

Bowbaq had spontaneously confrontedthe strangers without knowing what hewas going to do next. He was overjoyedto hear Yan and Leti get away. Then henoticed that, among the group, Corennwas in the most danger, so he leaped twoyards to place himself in front of her.There were several assassins. He

counted at least five, but the shouts andclanging of metal that could be heard allaround didn’t bode well.The giant didn’t know what to do. The

cluster of men standing before himremained still, encumbered by Rey’sbody lying on the ground and impressed

by their new adversary’s size.He took a slow step forward, looking

hard into the nearest man’s eyes. He hadoften seen Mir do the same with hisprey. The assassin unconsciouslystepped back, forcing his fellows to dothe same.

Bowbaq swung his gigantic armforward and ripped the club from itsowner’s hands. He had taken an oathnever to kill anyone, no matter who, buthis enemies didn’t know that.Regardless, he felt a little better armedthan barehanded.

“Put it down!” he heard behind him.Bowbaq shot a brief glance behind

him, short enough to still keep his otheradversaries at bay. But what he saw

drained him of the meager hope that hadvitalized him.Men surrounded them on all sides,

blocking all exits from the rockypassage. Several of them had bows.He, Corenn, and Rey were trapped.

Grigan didn’t like it, not one bit. Theirenemies seemed to be legion, and hethought he could hear sounds of astruggle where he had left hiscompanions.In fact, all the assassins were rushing in

that direction, and he was having moreand more trouble making his wayforward without being seen. Oncealready, he’d had just enough time tofling himself into a dark corner beforecoming face-to-face with three of the

strangers.Grigan was brave, very brave, but not

foolhardy. If he kept running as he hadbeen, it wouldn’t be long before theycaptured him. If he waited, soon enoughhe really would be a solitary warrior,mourning the deaths of his friends.

He heard running; someone was comingtoward him. Grigan melted into theshadows and gripped his dagger. At thelast moment, he stuck his leg out,tripping the hurried man, and watched asthe man’s head smacked into a rock,knocking him unconscious before hecould even cry out.

The warrior wished it could always beso easy.

But the assassin sprawled out on the

ground gave him an idea. Somewhatridiculous, surely very risky, but the bestone he had for now. Actually, the onlyone.

He quickly undressed his victim andslipped the clothes on over his own.

Then he joined the band of assassinswho were racing toward his friends.

Leti was going way, way too fast. Atfirst, Yan intentionally let her go outahead so he could protect her and stopher from turning right back aroundtoward the heat of battle. But now shewas too far ahead of him and wasslipping out of his line of sight more andmore frequently.

Forcing a swift pace wasn’t the bestsolution: in the thick darkness, they

could very well fall or run smack into arock—or right into one of the assassinsthey were running from.

Earlier, running away as fast aspossible seemed like it was their bestoption. Yan had understood that as soonas Rey was attacked, they were at adisadvantage. Their only chance atsurvival was to run; even Grigan wouldhave agreed.

He tried not to think about Corenn andthe others.

Not right away. First he needed to gethis precious Leti out of danger, then hewould turn back and help his friends. Ifhe still could.

Yan slowed down, out of breath. Thepath he had been following began to

slope down; their escape was altogetheraimless, and now they were completelylost.

A few millidays had already gone bysince Leti had faded from sight. She wasseveral dozen paces ahead. He listenedclosely, trying to calm his panting.

He couldn’t even hear her anymore. Heconcentrated hard, searching for thesounds of running feet in the silence ofthe night. Nothing.

He had lost Leti.

Corenn followed their enemies withoutresisting. It soon became apparent thatany effort to escape would be uselessagainst the imposing band of criminalsand assassins that had been sent afterthem.

These men hadn’t slain them on thespot, which left a sliver of hope.Furthermore, Grigan’s fate wasunknown, and Leti and Yan hadsuccessfully escaped. Whatever theywere planning, the best solution for nowwas to stall. By any means necessary.

Corenn immediately put this idea intoaction, faking a painful cramp. But afteronly a few millidays, the horrible manbehind her violently pushed her forward,letting loose a string of curses whichCorenn hadn’t even known existed. Thatwasn’t enough to stop her, and she madedo with slowly hobbling along, cryingout in pain every once in a while. Shecouldn’t leave room for any suspicion.

Even limping, she managed to catch up

to Bowbaq and get in front of him,before slowing down even more. Thegiant had been marching at his normalpace, which was far too brisk.

Their only chance was to stall theirenemies, she repeated to herself. ForGrigan, for Leti, for Yan. And to give hertime to think.

The assassins had even brought Reyalong on this forced march, even thoughthe actor seemed more dead than alive.Two crooks had disarmed him andcarried him along like a sack of grain.Corenn presumed it wasn’t the intentionof the men to kill them. Not right away,at least.

Nevertheless, they weren’t treated anyless like enemies. Not a single member

of the Guild—that’s who these menprobably were—had spoken to them,except to deliver insults and menacingremarks. It was better not to have anyillusions about their intentions.

“Where are we going?” she riskedasking.

“Shut the hell up, old woman!” was theonly response she received.

Corenn left it at that, not wanting tomake things worse. Making one of themen mad would surely result in moreviolence and would eliminate anychance they had of escaping throughdiplomacy, if they had any chance at all.

“He’s awake, I’m telling you!” aLorelien voice shouted.

One of the men carrying Rey happily

dropped him to the ground. Indeed, theyoung blond man had already regainedconsciousness, at least enough to protesthis poor treatment.

“Well, sirs! I get the feeling you don’tlike me. This habit of dropping mewithout fair warning shows a flagrantlack of manners.”

“Shut it! Stand up!” the scoundrel said,kicking him in the stomach.

Rey grabbed the man’s leg and pulledhim to the ground, then tried to take hissword. But it was stuck underneath itsowner, and the actor’s attempt to escapedied in the womb. The second manbooted him in the ribs before forcing himto his feet at bladepoint.

“I knew you didn’t like me,” Rey

groaned in pain.“Shut it!”The little column started forward again.

Corenn knew where they were bringingthem: to the small beach where they hadlanded earlier that night.

Her worst fear was that they would betaken away immediately. That she wouldbe separated from the others, withoutany way of knowing what happened tothem.

Bowbaq had an exaggerated coughingfit. Corenn turned toward him, intrigued.To her knowledge, the giant wasn’t ill.

Bowbaq stared back at her with eyes asbig as saucers. He nodded to his left.

Corenn followed the signal asdiscreetly as possible. What, he wasn’t

thinking about trying to escape now, washe? It was too late for that.

But what the giant had seen was a trailsign. Grigan must have assembled theunique collection of branches, rocks, andseashells. Unfortunately, Corenncouldn’t decipher it.

It didn’t matter. Whatever the warrior’smessage, there was nothing he could dofor them.

Leti had cracked. Her mental balance,which had already been strainedtremendously over the past two dekades,had finally tipped completely.

She had a strong urge to cry, but thetears didn’t come. If it weren’t for thebitter taste in her throat and the poundingheadache that prevented her from

reasoning, she would have thought shehad become numb.

She felt as though she had been runningher entire life. She ran from her dearones’ disappearance, from the love ofthe living, from challenges and joys,truths and lies.

She had run away yet again, just amoment ago. So quickly, so selfishly,that she had even lost Yan. When shefinally noticed, it was almost too late.

Now, kneeling down in the grass, sheshuddered at the memory. She had runand run, and still ran, as if she weretrying to run from all her fears at once.She ran like a madwoman. Almost to herdeath.

She had only seen the danger once she

was ten yards from the edge of oblivion.It had taken her seven or eight more tostop.

The path went no further. Her aimlessrun led her to the top of a cliffoverlooking the sea, 150 feet below.

Momentarily, she sat watching thewaves crash against the rocks. Shethought that joining them might be asolution, a relief.

But no, that would be anotherweakness.

She couldn’t run any further? Verywell. Perhaps it was a sign of destiny.

Never again would she run away.She tightened her grip on her knife and

started back down the cliff toward therocky maze with a confident step.

Three armed men appeared, blockingher way. One of them yelled somethingin Lorelien, likely an insult or a threat.She calmly returned to the top of the

cliff, turned around, and waited for themwith a determined resolve.Never again would she run away.

Grigan came as quickly as he could, butit wasn’t quick enough. He finallyreached his companions after the shortbattle, just in time to witness theircapture.The crooks already had them under

escort. The warrior considered joiningthem, but it was too risky. Some of themen might know what he looked like; itwas best that he stay back for now.So he followed the troop from a

distance, more powerless, tortured, andanguished than ever.

He figured they were taking them to theonly place on the island where theycould have landed: the little beach.Using this knowledge, he outpaced thegroup and left a sign for Bowbaq, hopingthat the giant wouldn’t pass by it withoutnoticing.

It was all he could do for now—signalhis presence not far from them.

It wasn’t much.

Bowbaq wanted to be somewhere else.The more he thought about it, the morehe was convinced that they wouldn’t bein all this trouble if they had justavoided the cave. Once again, he hadtransgressed and was now suffering the

unhappy consequences.He didn’t feel sorry for himself. He felt

sorry for his wife and his children. Thesmall group of heirs that had unitedfailed to thwart their unknown enemy’splan. And now the Zuu were going tocarry out their despicable duty until theywere completely finished.Maybe he could have done something

for them if he had stayed in Arkary. Ornot. Anyhow, the past was the past andhe couldn’t do anything to change it now.The line reached the beach. The heirs’

skiff was still there, now joined by fourother, larger boats. Bowbaq hadexpected this, just as he’d expected themore frightening events to follow.No less than five Zuu waited patiently

on the beach. To a man, they looked justlike the others they had already comeface-to-face with: red cloak, shavedhead, demented eyes.

Only one of them stood out from theothers—his face, or rather his entirehead, was painted in black and white. Itmimicked the shape of a monstroushuman skull, inhabited solely by twoeyes that seemed eager to devour theirprey.

Even the thugs seemed intimidated bythese fanatics. Bowbaq noticed that noneof them came near the Zuu if they couldavoid it. The majority of them preferrednot to take their eyes off the assassins.Apparently, the Lorelien “brothers”didn’t doubt the sinister reputation of the

Zuu.Two of the Zuu held their dreadful

daggers. Two others were armed withcrossbows, no less dangerous. The manwith the painted skull was the only oneunarmed. And yet he seemed to be themost threatening.

“Where are the others?” he asked oneof the thieves.

He spoke perfect Lorelien, but therewas something disconcerting about thesight of this enormous talking skull. Theman swallowed painfully, cursing thegods for choosing him to answer theassassin’s question.

“The two kids got awa—will soon bebrought here,” he immediately amended.

“And the Ramgrith?”

The man took a step back, and loweredhis eyes in silence. Bowbaq noticed thatthe man feared his boss more thanBowbaq himself feared his abductors.

The Zu turned away and took a fewsteps.

“So your work is unfinished,” heannounced in a clear voice. “You knowwhat you still have to do.”

The thug didn’t wait to be told twiceand immediately left for the island’sinterior. Six of his comrades raced afterhim, all too happy to get away from themadmen with poisoned daggers.

The two men that held Corenn, Rey,and Bowbaq hostage moved to do thesame, but the Skull constrained themwith a simple furrowing of his brow.

Then he approached the prisoners,walking slowly, very slowly.

Rey laughed uproariously. The Zustopped dead right in front of him, hisarms crossed, and stared him right in theeyes, which didn’t seem to have theintended intimidating effect on the actor.

“This number, ha! I mean, honestly!”Rey jeered. “When I play bad guys in thetheater, I always think they’re so stupid,absurd, mad, and old-fashioned that Inever imagined such sick people reallyexisted. But it’s true. Congratulations,really, well done,” he concluded, withanother burst of laughter.

The Zu smiled faintly for a moment,then thrust two extended fingers intoRey’s throat so quickly the actor didn’t

even see it coming.Breathing suddenly became impossible,

and resumed only after a moment that feltway too long for Rey, as he trieddesperately to draw air into his lungs.Then a gut-wrenching nausea took holdof him, and he turned to vomit, his throatconvulsing in pain.

“You’re lucky,” the Zu declared. “Fourtimes out of five, that’s enough to killany heretic.”

Bowbaq couldn’t believe it. Thesefellows were truly insane.

“Well,” the assassin continued, “we’regoing to have a little talk. You, me, andZuia.”

Leti had never felt so alive. Threeassassins were advancing on her,

weapons drawn. She had no way toescape. No help was on the way, and allshe had was a simple fishing knife todefend herself with.

But her rage was infinite.All the hatred and anger toward the Zuu

and their henchmen, and the sorrow thathad been welling up inside her untilthen, now flooded her entire being.

All she could feel now was fury.Never had she felt so ready. So

powerful. Her entire body wasresponding to her frantic spirit. So muchso that her senses seemed amplified.

She heard each of their steps, everysound made by her approaching enemies.She noticed their changing expressions:from mocking, derisive, and curious to

cruel. She felt the sand grinding beneathher feet, the wind caressing her hair, theknife’s rough handle against her palm.

She had to force herself to unclench herjaw. While her body felt more agile thanever, her face was locked in a fiercegrimace.

The three men were close to her now.She noticed every facial tic, every detailof their clothing. These images wouldforever be burned into her memory. Butshe forced herself to focus on everythingelse, which was of more vital interestfor the moment.

Two of the men had swords. The thirdhad a dagger. The bearded one carriedhis sword in his left hand. The man withthe knife had only one arm. The bald one

seemed the most menacing. She shouldget rid of him first.

“Just come with us, don’t make a fuss,”the bald one croaked.

Leti didn’t respond, still threateningthem with her knife.

“Come on now, just give it up, you’llhurt yourself.”

She swiped the blade about a foot fromhis face. She didn’t want to injure him.She still refused to start this fight. Butsurrender was out of the question.

The bald one cursed and took adefensive position, ready to respond toany attack.

“Wait,” the one-armed man chimed in,“don’t hurt her right away. This could befun.”

Leti faked an attack toward the man,who reared back and then continuedforward with a stupid little laugh. Letipushed back, but he drew even closer,laughing louder. The bearded one foundthe game to his liking and joined in,attacking her from the other side. Leti’sblade danced through the air, still notconnecting with her targets. The two menamused themselves by touching her andjumping back, the bald one enjoying theshow.

Leti retreated a little farther up thecliff. The abyss was right behind her.

“Eh! I bet you can’t undress her withoutgetting bitten!”

“I’ll take that bet!”The two men took to their game again,

a vulgar gleam in their eyes. The one-armed one tore a piece off Leti’s tunic,crying out in victory.

The young woman fumed. A handlanded on her shoulder. She let herreflexes take over and her blade bit intothe flesh of a wrist.

“Whore!” the bearded one screamed,clutching his wound.

He staggered backward and droppedhis sword.

“Harlot! I’m bleeding like a pig!”The game didn’t seem so funny to him

anymore. Nor to the others, whostiffened up in real combat positionsbefore closing in on her.

Now it was for real.

The Zu paced back and forth, as if

searching for words. But he must havealready planned what he was going tosay long before now, Corenn thought.He stopped, and for a long moment

contemplated the sunrise over theMedian Sea. The Mother doubted hecould appreciate the beauty of the sight.Finally, he turned to focus on them.“For two of you, that’s the last time the

sun will rise.”Rey, Corenn, and Bowbaq exchanged

looks. Although they more or lessexpected very bad news, the raw truthstill shocked them. Rey attempted to saysomething, but the beating he hadendured, especially the wound to histhroat, left him speechless. The sarcasticcomment he wanted to deliver died in a

cough.The assassin stared at them one by one

before continuing.“Zuia will forgive the first one of you,

and only the first, who asks.”No one moved. The Zu waited patiently

before resuming.“He who is forgiven must condemn his

former accomplices. Which willessentially amount to reciting theirnames and where they’re hiding, startingwith the Ramgrith, if he isn’t on theisland.”

There was still no reaction. The Zulooked irritated.

“We will get this information one wayor another. It’s simply a question of timeand pain.”

“You are truly the worst person I’veever met,” Bowbaq commented. “Mirwouldn’t even want you for food.”The Zu came over to stand right in front

of him, fire in his eyes. The giantsubconsciously covered his throat withhis hand.“I am worth one hundred of you,” the

Zu sneered, losing his temper. “Any oneof Zuia’s messengers deserves morerespect than all of your kings combined!The goddess’s greatness flows throughus!” he concluded, raising his arms tothe sky.“Look at yourselves, the ‘heirs.’ A

farmer, a delinquent, a woman, twochildren. You’re nothing compared to theGoddess. You’re nothing in the face of

her judgment.”Corenn had made her decision as soon

as the assassin began his sermon. It wasclear that there was no hope innegotiating with this maniac.Unfortunately, they had no choice but totake action.

It was best to act swiftly, before theothers came back. While the Zu spoke toBowbaq, she gave Rey a little nudgewith her elbow, accompanied by aknowing look. The actor understood thatthe Mother was going to try somethingand prepared for action, though he washurt and nauseous.

As best she could, Corenn closed hermind off to everything that surroundedher, devoting every ounce of her

attention to the crossbow the nearest Zuwas holding. She roused her Will, thenlet it grow on its own, easily controllingit as she had learned. Her bodytemperature rose slightly, and wildimpulses invaded her mind. Then sheunleashed her Will and the crossbowstring snapped with a sharp ping, leavingthe object useless.

Its owner leaned over to study it moreclosely, and everyone turned toward himout of curiosity. Rey swung around,caught hold of the guard behind them,and violently bit the man’s hand beforesnatching his dagger.

No! It was too soon! Corenn didn’thave time to disarm the other crossbow.The Zu was going to shoot him!

The magician couldn’t call on her Willagain so soon after releasing it once.Since she was out of practice, the featcost her nearly all of her energy.

Horrified, she watched the assassin lifthis bow and aim right at the actor, whodidn’t have time to take cover.

With surprise, she saw the tip ofanother arrow suddenly emerge from theZu’s eye. Then, after a moment, asecond, then a third, hitting another Zu inthe chest and the leg.

She searched the beach and the rockssurrounding them, not yet willing tobelieve the miracle. Grigan knelt at thetop of a bluff one hundred feet away,firing arrow after arrow.

Corenn made her way toward him, still

too exhausted by the recent use of herpower to run or even think. She heardBowbaq let out a cry behind her, andturned to find him on the ground,moaning in pain, his hands clasping thehandle of a dagger stuck in his side.

The skull-faced Zu had just thrown theweapon. Toward her.

Just then an arrow pierced the leader’schest, and he fell to his knees. Rey, whohad just finished off another crook, gavehim a hard kick right in the throat.

The vermin coughed up a pool of bloodbefore collapsing face-first into it.

Corenn gazed at the small beach thatwas once so peaceful. Now it woreseven bodies, one of which was herfriend.

Rey hurried to Bowbaq’s side and tookout the little box that contained, perhaps,an antidote to the Zuu’s poison. He madethe giant, still bellowing in pain,swallow it, and applied some to thesmall but deep wound.

“He threw himself in front of thedagger,” Rey told her. “He threw himselfin front of it to save you. It’s the firsttime I’ve ever seen that. The first time.”

The actor was truly moved. Corennstared at him, still collecting herself.Rey had blood on his face, but he wore aboyish expression.

She gently pushed him aside andfinished cleaning Bowbaq’s wound. Hewas still conscious, although groaning inpain. He wasn’t bleeding very much.

The Zuu’s poison was known to spreadquickly. If he wasn’t dead yet, then itmeant he was going to survive.

Grigan finally joined them.“How is he?” he asked right away.“I’m all right, my friend,” the giant

answered, out of breath. “I just wish Iwere somewhere else.”

“You can count on me to get you out ofhere, my friend. Sorry for not stepping insooner. But I couldn’t do anything aslong as the two crossbows—”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Corennthrew herself into his arms. He clumsilyembraced her, feeling more awkwardthan if he went for a walk in a Eurydiantemple stark naked.

The Mother needed the embrace, but

soon enough she regained her composureand broke free, feeling just as awkwardas the warrior.

“Let’s go look for Yan and my littleLeti, shall we?”

It was almost a plea.

Yan felt more useless than ever. He hadbeen walking around in circles for fartoo long without any sign of Leti. Hecould no longer even tell whichdirection would lead back to the skiff, orfurther inland.

Everyone in Eza was right. He wasgood for nothing. He didn’t know how tohelp his friends. He didn’t know how toprotect Leti. He couldn’t even find thetrail.

He would have been an awful

companion for Leti.Yan realized he had just thought about

his proposal as if he had given upalready. After all, even if the two ofthem survived this ordeal, he wasn’tgood enough for her. He didn’t deserveher.

The Ancestress of Eza’s council toldhim one day when he was thinking suchthoughts that every person possesses atalent that makes him the equal ofeveryone else. But he didn’t have anytalent. He was only good at doingeverything halfway. And the only reasonhe was still alive now, while hiscompanions faced certain death, wasbecause he got so lost that hedisappeared in the center of the

labyrinth.He sat down to think about what he

could do, besides feel sorry for himself.But as soon as he sat down, he jumpedup and took off running.

He had just heard screams echoing inthe night.

Among them, Leti’s voice.He didn’t take any of the precautions

from earlier. Get to Leti as fast aspossible—that was all that mattered.

More screams. Threats. Sounds of astruggle. Leti was fighting for her life.

He scrambled to the bottom of the cliff,pausing only to grab a rock, beforecharging toward the bastards, screamingfuriously.

A bearded man turned around to face

him, sword in hand. The man’s hand wasbleeding, and he could hardly hold hisweapon.

The other two turned around by reflexwhen they heard Yan arrive. Leti wasstill standing, but she was in a pitifulstate. Even at this distance, Yan couldsee cuts on her arms and her legs. Theyhad dared to hurt her!

Yan could hardly believe what he sawnext. Leti thrust out her arm, and one ofthe men screamed out in pain, grabbingat his eye. He fell to the ground trying tostop the blood.

The last man redoubled his effort andferociously attacked Leti, who couldonly recoil to avoid him.

Then, Yan watched with horror as Leti

threw herself at her adversary, struggledwith him for a brief moment, and thenboth tumbled off the cliff into the void.

He heard himself cry out, “No!” and hecouldn’t stop screaming.

He now found himself close enough tohis own enemy. He threw the heavy rockright at the man’s face, his strengthincreased tenfold by the horrible scenehe had just witnessed.

The projectile hit its target with aheavy thud, but Yan didn’t stop to judgethe results. He ran to the top of the cliffand leaned over the edge, dreading whathe would see.

“Yan!”Leti was only two yards below. With a

single hand, she desperately clung to a

tiny rock outcropping.“Yan, hurry! I can’t hold on much

longer!”She wasn’t kidding. She sounded

panicked.The boy frantically searched around

him, but there was nothing—nothing—that he could use as a rope. Even hisclothes weren’t strong enough to holdher weight.

He got down on his knees and swungone leg over the cliff’s edge. His footfound a hold and he started to move hisother leg.

“No! No! We’re going to die!”Now she was really panicked.Yan continued his reckless descent,

hardly taking the time to verify the

strength of each hold. But he couldn’tmake it all the way to Leti. The best hecould do was lean over and reach out hishand to her, but he would never bestrong enough to lift them both up withhis other hand.His foot slipped and Leti screamed,

terrified.Yan hesitated, trying to find some other

foothold, some easier solution. But therewasn’t one.Suddenly, everything was clear,

perfectly clear in his mind.They were going to live or die together.He reached out his hand, flexing his

muscles as much as he could. Letieagerly seized his extended arm and didher best to relieve Yan of her weight,

grasping at the smallest handholds andfootholds she could find.

But it still wasn’t enough.Yan couldn’t lift her up.One of his arms was weakening, and he

was going to lose her or lose his grip onthe cliff wall. One way or another, itwas over. He could see the rocks, fortyyards below, and Leti’s pleading faceright next to his. His arm began to shake.

No!No, it was so simple: he had to do it.

He needed to. He willed it to happen…He gritted his teeth and concentrated

his will on the strength in his arms. Aftera few moments, he was dripping withsweat; blood hammered in his templeslike a drummer on the Day of the Earth.

He couldn’t feel anything except his ownhand grasping Leti’s and his will to pullher up toward him.He gained a few inches, and kept

pushing himself. Soon, he had pulledthem up a full foot higher. Then, slowly,he straightened up and it got easier.Finally, Leti was high enough that she

could swing all of her weight up onto thelittle rock outcropping that had saved herlife. She and Yan rested for a momentagainst the face of the cliff, gasping forbreath.“What you just did…was impossible,

Yan,” Leti whispered.The young man didn’t respond. He

began to feel faint. He started climbingup right away, to avoid passing out in

such a precarious position.He felt completely drained and very

cold. Leti reached the top before himand had to help hoist him up, where hecollapsed. His head was spinning.

But he had saved her.

For the first time, Grigan recognizedthat Rey had a place in the group. He hadreacted well during the battle, and evenbefore, from what Corenn said. He mighthave had a part in saving Bowbaq’s life,and he was the one who spontaneouslysuggested they go looking for Leti andYan.

Nevertheless, his biggest faults,namely, his disrespect and constantprovocations, were hard to deal with.Even the Zuu agreed.

But for now, Rey kept quiet and obeyedGrigan’s every order. Their partnershipproved effective: they had already comeacross three thugs working for the Zuu inthe labyrinth and struck them down withease.

Finally, around a bend in the path, theystumbled right into the two youngKauliens. Yan looked feeble, and Letiwas covered in cuts and bruises, herclothes torn completely to shreds.

The warrior sighed in relief. They hadall been lucky. Extremely lucky, even.He promised himself to be more carefulnext time.

“Are the others all right?” Yanmurmured with difficulty.

“Bowbaq is hurt, but not too seriously,”

answered Rey. “Let’s get out of here.”Leti went up to Grigan and grabbed him

firmly, but not aggressively, by his blackclothing.

“You are going to teach me how tofight,” she said clearly, fixing him with asolemn stare.

The warrior waited for Leti to let go ofhim before answering.

“Fine, if it will keep you out of trouble.But it won’t be as much fun as youthink,” Grigan said.

“I don’t think it’s going to be fun,” sheanswered, turning back to Yan, whowondered if he had understood thisexchange.

They quickly made their way back tothe beach. A few more thieves were

waiting there, and threw a few insultstheir way, but Grigan held them off,threatening them with his bow.

“They must have already noticed thenice holes I made in their boats,” Reysaid. “My popularity must be at an all-time low today.”

“What happened here?” Leti asked,seeing the bodies.

“We’ll explain later.”Grigan motioned toward the boat,

where Corenn and Bowbaq sat waitingfor them near the shore. The sorceressbrought the skiff to them, and they set outright away, relieved to finally be inrelative safety.

Each told his or her story. Corenn washardly taken by Leti and Grigan’s new

notion, but she put off discussing it indetail until later.

On the other hand, she was exceedinglyinterested in Yan’s experience on thecliff.

After a long moment of reflection, shebroke the silence they had all settledinto.

“Yan, we’re going to have to have along talk, you and I,” she said simply.“I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.”

SHORT ANECDOTALENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE

KNOWN WORLDAlt-The largest river in the known

world. Its headwaters are located in thehighest of the Curtain Mountains. Itcrosses the Ithare Kingdom and theGrand Empire before reaching its deltain the Ocean of Mirrors.

A Goranese legend claims that whenthe time has come, the dead will floatdown the river in gigantic phantom boatsand take revenge upon those who havecommitted atrocities toward their livingkin. Every once in a while, someoneclaims they’ve seen the vanguard of thedark army. Some harbors even refuse all

embarkations after nightfall.Apogee-The moment when the sun is at

its highest point: noon, in our world. It’scommonly accepted that the end of thethird deciday marks the apogee.

Arque-Native of the Arkary kingdom.It’s also the main language spoken in thisland.

Bells (of Leem)-At one point in time,Leem experienced such a crime wavethat the city seemed to be completelyoverrun by thieves, pillagers, arsonists,and murderers of all shapes and colors.Although the city doubled the guards’night rounds, and then tripled them, thecriminals remained untouchable, sincethey were too well organized.

The provost at the time then came up

with the idea of installing a bell in thehouse of each of the most prominentpeople in the city. When these importantpeople were threatened by or witness toa crime, they could ring the bell and thecity guard would come right away. Mostof the time it wasn’t quickly enough,with the villains fleeing the scene themoment the first strike sounded. But itwas still better than before.

More modest citizens followed thisexample, and soon there were quite afew artisans and merchants who hadequipped their shops with a bell. After afew years, there were so many bells inLeem that crime nearly disappeared.

Unfortunately, the criminals found acountermeasure: setting fire to each

house that dared to ring its bell, as an actof vengeance and as a warning.

Today, there are still more than sixhundred houses in Leem fitted withbells, but now the bronze only ringsduring the occasional festivity.

Brosda-A divinity whose cult isespecially widespread in the KaulMatriarchy. Brosda is the son of Xefalis,and Echora’s reflection.

Brothers (of the night)-What themembers of the Grand Guild callthemselves, as do members of any guildof thugs in general.

Some of them even go as far asrenaming their new members, creatingfake “families,” etc.

Calendar-The one used in the Upper

Kingdoms is the Ithare calendar. Itcontains 338 days, which are dividedinto thirty-four dekades and fourseasons. The year begins with the Day ofWater, which also marks the first day ofspring. There are two dekades thatcontain only nine days instead of theusual ten: those preceding the Day of theEarth and the Day of Fire. Each day onthe calendar begins with the sunrise.

Every day, as well as every dekade,carries a meaningful name originatingfrom the cult of the goddess Eurydis; themoralist priests of the Wise One broughttheir nomenclature to the furthest reachesof the known world. But time and usebrought about changes of varyingdegrees depending on the region. The

Day of the Dog, for example, which theGrand Empire doesn’t observe with anyparticular importance, was renamed theDay of the Wolf in the area aroundTolensk, and corresponds to a feast daythat all the locals really look forward to.Similarly, the Dekade of Fairs, kickedoff by the Day of the Merchant, is well-known and will ever be so to theLoreliens, whereas it represents nothingto the Memissiens.

Few know all the days of the calendar,and even fewer know what theyrepresent for the cult of Eurydis—priestsaside, of course. In the Upper Kingdoms,they use it very naturally, as they wouldtalk of the day or the night, yet a lot ofpeople are completely unaware of its

religious origin.Other calendars are used in the known

world; they arise out of royal decrees,from other cults besides that of Eurydis,or quite simply out of tribal tradition.Many of them are based on the lunarcycle, like the ancient Roman calendar:thirteen cycles of twenty-six days.

Centiday-A unit of time of Goraneseorigin representing one-tenth of adeciday: approximately fourteen earthlyminutes.

Council of Mothers-The maingoverning body of the Kaul Matriarchy.Each of the villages has such a council,presided over by the elected Mother andadvised by the Ancestress.

Curtain-The Curtain is the mountain

chain that separates the Grand Empire ofGoran and the Ithare Kingdom from thecountries to the east.Dekade [pronounced “day-cahd”]-Ten

days. A division specific to the Eurydiancalendar. The days of each dekade arenamed in chronological order. The firstday is prime, the last is term. The otherdays, from second to ninth, are: des,terce, quart, quint, sixt, septime, octes,and nones.The dekades of Earth and Fire, which

only contain nine days, don’t have an“octes” day. In these dekades, thecalendar skips directly from septime tonones. The Maz have provided areligious explanation: the omission ofoctes symbolizes the victory of Eurydis

over Xetame’s eight dragons.Deciday-A unit of time of Goranese

origin representing one-tenth of a day:approximately two hours and twenty-five minutes in our world. The firstdeciday begins with the sunrise, theinstant at which the tenth deciday of theprevious day ends. The apogee generallyfalls around the end of the third deciday.

This unit of time is used crudely by theignorant, but a lot more precisely by thelearned people in all nations, who do notuse a common sundial for reference, butrather consult calculations indicating theposition at which the sun rises relativeto the city of Goran, and makeadjustments depending on the season.This is also the only method that enables

one to discern precisely when the changebetween the night decidays, from theseventh to the eighth, occurs.Dona-First and foremost, Dona is the

goddess of merchants. The daughter ofWug and Ivie, legend has it that Donacreated gold so that she could coverherself with it and thereby exceed hercousin Isee’s beauty. She then giftedhumans with her creation so that thoselike her, upon whom destiny endowed aless favorable lot, could outshine otherswith their intelligence, with thepossession of this precious metal actingas a testimony.Unfortunately for Dona, the young god

Hamsa, whom she had chosen as referee,renewed his admiration for Isee. Dona

then resolved to disregard the singularopinion and became renowned for herparade of lovers. And so she alsobecame the Goddess of Pleasure.

There’s a Lorelien custom that requiresa merchant who has just made alucrative deal to give an offering to astranger, and more specifically a young,impoverished-looking woman. They callthe offering “Dona’s share.”Unfortunately, the custom is dying out,since the members of the cult feel thatthe share they routinely offer to theirtemples is in itself a sufficient display ofpiety.

No successful merchant would everforget to glorify Dona with his gifts, ifonly to preserve the affection of a few

“priestesses” who are particularlydevout to the Goddess of Pleasure.

Emaz-The chief figureheads and highleaders of the Grand Temple of Eurydis;in other words, the heads of the entirecult. There are thirty-four Emaz. EachEmaz reserves the power to pass on hisor her title to a chosen Maz.

Erjak-An Arque title given to anindividual who has the ability tocommunicate with animals from mind tomind.

Eastian-A Levantine. A native of thelands that lie to the east of the CurtainMountains.

Eurydis-The chief deity in the UpperKingdoms. The cult of Eurydis hasspread to even the most remote areas of

the known world, at the instigation ofIthare “moralists.”

The legend of the goddess has foreverbeen tied to the history of the Holy City.During the sixth Eon, the Ithare people—who didn’t yet carry this name—weremerely a colorful grouping of more orless nomadic tribes, assembled at thefoot of Mount Fleuri, one of the oldsummits of the Curtain Mountains. It issaid that the people first came togetherthanks to the vision of one man, KingLi’ut of the Iths, who wanted to create apowerful new nation by bringingtogether all of the independent clansresiding east of the Alt river.

King Li’ut dedicated his entire life tothis dream, but the building of the city of

Ith—the Holy City, as it is now morecommonly called—took more time thanhe had. With Li’ut gone, ancestraldivisions sprang up again, and strongerthan ever: without Li’ut’s art ofdiplomacy, the beautiful dream wouldcrumble.

It is then that the goddess is reported tohave visited Li’ut’s youngest son,instructing him to finish the immensework his father had begun. Comelk—ashe was named—thanked the goddess forher confidence, but explained that giventhe severity of the tribal quarrels, hedidn’t believe he could succeed. Eurydisthen asked him to bring all of the clanchiefs before her, which Comelkpromptly did.

Eurydis spoke to each one of them,demanding that they follow the path ofwisdom. Everyone listened respectfully,for as barbaric and unruly as they were,their superstitions and traditions madethem fear divine power.

Once Eurydis had left them, the chiefsspoke for a very long time, consultingthe elders and the oracles. All problemswere brought to the table, and all of themwere resolved. They swore to keeppeace forever, under the name of theIthare Alliance.

Years passed, and little by little Ithbecame a city of reputable size, andeventually a truly grand city. At the time,Romine alone could still rival the youngkingdom’s capital. The tribes mixed

among themselves, and the old quarrelsbecame nothing more than a memory ofthe past. Ith had everything in its favor tobecome the leading power in theworld…which it became, but not as itshould have.

Blinded by their new power, whichwas so easily obtained, the descendantsof the first tribes started to boast of theirsuperiority over the rest of the knownworld. Eventually, a few wanted todemonstrate it. The Ithares launchedsmall-scale war raids, and later smallborder disputes, which finally escalatedto full-scale conquest campaigns thatprogressively became more frequent anddeadlier.

At the end of the eighth Eon, they had

made themselves masters of all theterritory stretching from the CurtainMountains in the east to the VelaneseRiver in the west, and from the MedianSea in the south to the Crek region in thenorth. The Ithares behaved like genuineconquerors: they pillaged, burned, andravaged shamelessly, massacringthousands…

One day, as the war chiefs gatheredonce again to consider an invasion intoThalitte territory, Eurydis appeared forthe second time.

It is said that she came in the form of ayoung girl, hardly twelve years old, theway she is most often depicted to thisday. Still, many of the seasoned warriorspresent thought they might die of fear, the

goddess’s ire was so great.She didn’t speak, feeling that a piercing

look was sufficient. She simply boredher gaze into the eyes of every one of thepowerful individuals in the IthareEmpire, as it was called at the time. Thewar chiefs understood her warning,immediately gave up all their plans forconquest, and made every resolutionpossible to put an end to the battles andthe occupation of foreign lands. Each ofthem felt personally responsible for themajor changes that needed to be broughtto the Ithare way of life.

The next generation of Ithare peopleturned toward religion. At first, theyexperienced great tragedies. Theirformer victims, such as the young

Goranese people, in turn became theexecutioners. The Ithare territory shrunkback to about what it was to start with:Ith and its surrounding area, and the MazNen Harbor.

But the years went by, and the Ithareslaunched into a new form of conquest,one that was surely more in line withwhat the goddess had in mind: the Mazleft in all directions to the most distantreaches of the known world, with theaim of bringing the “Eurydis Ethic” toall the people of the known world.These excursions were very beneficialto the less evolved peoples, since theIthares also brought their civilizationwith them: the calendar, writing, arts,and skills…everything they had learned

over the course of their past conquests.Some theorists are now proclaiming the

third appearance of the goddess. Shewill come again, of course, since she hasappeared twice already. But the mainquestion the Ithares ask themselves isthis: What will be the next path tofollow?

Gisland River-River that partiallydraws the border between the KaulMatriarchy and Lorelia.

Grand Guild-This term designates theloose collective of practically all thecriminal organizations in the UpperKingdoms. There is no formal structureor hierarchy to the Grand Guild; it ismore like an agreement among gangs thatguarantees the respect of one another’s

territory and activities, just like thekingdomwide and citywide guilds.Despite their numerous internal

quarrels, the groups sometimes manageto agree to conduct an operationtogether, notably with contraband.The Grand Guild does not officially

deal in hired killings, but more often inextortion, kidnapping, fraud, contraband,and of course any form of stealing.However, it should be noted that anynewcomer organization that doesn’trespect the agreements doesn’t last long.Grand House-This is the seat of

power of the Kaul Matriarchy, where theMothers hold their council. Their livingquarters are also located here, as wellas their study chambers. Anyone can

come to the Grand House to expresstheir grievances; fifteen or so Mothersare permanently present to accommodatethem. At various times during the year,the study and council rooms of the GrandHouse are open to any curious visitors.

Holy City-Another name for Ith, thecapital of the Ithare Kingdom. This termis most often used to describe thereligious quarter, an enclave with itsown walls, laws, and citizens,constituting a veritable city within thecity.

Ithare dice-A very popular gamethroughout the entire known world.While its origin remains uncertain, it isnevertheless known that it spread at thesame time as the Ithare Empire, during

the seventh and eighth Eons, and wasquickly adopted by all of the conqueredterritories.The Ithare die has six sides, with four

depicting the elements Water, Fire,Earth, and Wind. The two remainingsides represent a double or triple of oneof the four elements. There are fourkinds of dice: one for Wind, generallywhite; one for Fire, red; one for Earth,green; and one for Water, blue.The number of dice used in a game

varies depending on the rules of thechosen game and any specificarrangements decided upon betweenparticipants. While a set of four dice—asoldier—is generally all that’s needed, itisn’t uncommon to see games requiring

several dozen dice. The star, theprophet, the emperor, the two brothers,and the guejac are the most popularvariations of the game. However, thereare many more.

Jez-A native of Jezeba.Kauli-The native language of the Kaul

Matriarchy.Kaulien(ne)-A native of the Kaul

Matriarchy. Kaulienne indicates afemale, while Kaulien indicates a male.

Kurdalene-This Lorelien king iscelebrated for having fought long andhard against the Zuu during his reign.The cult of the Goddess of Justice, Zuia,through threats, extortion, and murder,then exercised such strong influence onthe kingdom’s nobles and bourgeois that

the king couldn’t make the slightestdecision without the endorsement of theZuu.

At his wit’s end, one day Kurdalenedecided to put an end to it, and from thenon he dedicated all his energy to theannihilation of the cult—at least inLorelia.

He survived for almost two yearscloistered in a wing of his palace,surrounded by handpicked guards,before the Zuu finally assassinated him.

Lermian (kings of)-Five centuries ago,Lermian was still the capital of a richkingdom that had nothing to envy in thenascent Grand Empire, or in theexpanding Lorelien land. The royalfamily had controlled the throne for

eleven generations, and the dynastydidn’t seem anywhere close to dying off,since Oroseleme, the monarch at thetime, had three sons and two daughterswith his wife Federis.

Lermian had endured the Rominianinvasions, the domination of the Ithare,and later on the Goranese expansion, allwith relative ease. It seemed that shewould just as easily resist Bledevon, theking of Lorelia, and his attempts to exerthis influence. Bledevon wanted toincorporate Lermian, which waspractically an island within his ownkingdom, into his realm. But it wasn’t inhis interest to launch an assault againstLermian’s walls, since the city acted asa buffer zone between his kingdom and

the Goranese border; Oroseleme waswell aware and teased the Lorelien kingwith games of intimidation, promises,and intrigue.

Lermian could have become—morethan it is today—a leading city of theUpper Kingdoms if misfortune hadn’tstruck its rulers. Oroseleme died fromfood poisoning; his oldest son had beenon the throne for only six days beforeperishing in a fall from the city’s highwalls. The younger son reigned for alittle more than eight dekades before hejust vanished. Since the last son was tooyoung to rule, the prince consort wasgiven the title of regent, but not one yearlater he had to be relieved of this titlebecause he went mad after falling off his

horse. The husband of the secondprincess refused the honor of ruling thekingdom, choosing a life of exile withhis wife. Queen Federis asked hercouncilors to elect one of their own tobe regent. Only one came forward, buthe perished just a few days later,stabbed to death in the street by thieves.

After that, no one wanted to volunteerto be regent. The queen, feeling unableto rule alone, finally accepted the dealKing Bledevon offered her, makingLermian a simple duchy of Lorelia. Inreturn, the merchant kingdom offered theprotection of its army.

The curse that weighed on Oroseleme’sdynasty seemed to stop there; QueenFederis and her last son escaped death.

Rumors spread that the deaths were aseries of assassinations; some even saidthat Bledevon was behind it all. But thetheorist of the Lorelien court managed todispel any doubt by revealing that it wasthe will of the gods to join the twokingdoms under one crown.

From this tragic episode sprang thepopular expression “as dead as the kingsof Lermian.”

Lesser Kingdoms-Another name forthe Baronies.

Lorelien Fairs-One of the oldestLorelien traditions. During the tenthdekade, from the Day of the Merchant tothe Day of the Engraver, the entry andexit of all goods into and out of the city—whose trade is authorized by the

kingdom’s laws—are tax free.Obviously, this is the time of the year

when the majority of occasional traders,faraway artisans, foreigners, and rare-goods sellers decide to find buyers.

The fairs draw in a lot of people. Infact, about a third of the participantsdon’t come for business at all, but tosimply enjoy the numerous attractionsthat come along with the fairs—streetshows, games, banquets, and more.Some of them are generously paid for bythe Crown, which sees it as anopportunity to affirm its prestige.

Anyhow, the kingdom’s coffers hardlylose out in the deal: each seller has topay a three-terce fee before he can set upeven the smallest stand in the street. The

process is tightly monitored andviolators are severely punished: no moreand no less than the immediateconfiscation of the entirety of theviolator’s goods.

Fairs also take place in the other largeLorelien cities, Benelia, Lermian, andPont. Here the fairs enjoy a relativelocal success, but they remaininsignificant in comparison to thecapital’s fairs.

The Louvelle-River marking theborder between the Baronies and theLower Kingdoms.

Lower Kingdoms-Case dependently,this term designates either the territoriesstretching south of the Louvelle or theland collectively formed by these same

territories and the Baronies.Margolin-A medium-sized rodent.

Adults can grow up to two feet long.There are several species: the copper,the screamer, and the glutton, amongothers.

Margolins are well-known in the southand central areas of the UpperKingdoms, and thrive just as well on theplains as in the forests or alongriverbanks. Generally considered to bepests because of their rapidproliferation, their occasionalaggression, and their unpleasant-tastingflesh, they are sought after only for theirskins, which artisans use for all sorts offurs, bags, and leathers.

Maz-Honorary title used primarily by

the cult of Eurydis, but other religionshave borrowed the title as well.

The title can only be transferred—withexactly one exception—from a Maz toone of his or her novices who, as shownby work and devotion, deserves theposition. The Grand Temple mustapprove the transmission, which takeseffect either immediately or at the deathof the granter, depending on thearrangement. A rule forbids any Mazfrom passing on his or her title to afamily member.

The one exception involves thespontaneous “elevation” of a novice as athank you for a service deemedparticularly noteworthy. The title is oftenbestowed posthumously—and therefore

cannot be transmitted—as a sign ofgratitude for a lifetime of service to thecult. The Emaz reserve the exclusivepower to elevate novices in this way.

The tangible advantages of a Maz arenot defined, for they vary greatlyaccording to the particular priest’s“career.” Some have manyresponsibilities in the cult’s maintemples, others are entrusted with theoccasional apprenticeship of a fewnovices, and still others are never calledupon.

The number of living Maz is unknown,except by the archivists of the GrandTemple, who keep a continuous count.Many priests in foreign lands grantthemselves the title without actually

earning it, which doesn’t help theestimates. But legend has it that the Mazwere originally only 338, as many asthere are days in the year; similarly,there are as many Emaz as there aredekades.

Meche-A small river that is completelycontained within the borders of the KaulMatriarchy, whose capital sits on herbanks. A tributary of the Gisland River.

Milliday-A unit of time of Goraneseorigin representing one-tenth of acentiday: approximately one minute andtwenty-six earthly seconds. Most peopleconsider it useless to measure anythingthat takes less than a milliday; however,the unit is itself fractioned into“divisions,” representing about eight

seconds, and then “beats,” which areless than a second.Mishra-The cult of Mishra is at least

as old as the Great Sohonne Arch. Shewas the Goranese people’s chiefgoddess before the Ithare army finallyovercame Goran’s defenses, sometimeduring the eighth Eon. She reclaimed herrole as chief goddess of the Goraneseafter the Ithares completely abandonedtheir warrior ways for religion. In theperiod that followed, the city of Goranprogressively became the empire ofGoran, then the Grand Empire, andMishra’s cult developed at the sametime.Mishra is the Goddess of Just Causes

and of Freedom. Anyone outside of

Goran can appropriate her. And so it hashappened that the people conquered bythe Grand Empire have called upon thegoddess for help, just as theirconquerors did.

She has no known divine parentage; afew theologians present her as Hamsa’ssister. There are very few GrandTemples dedicated to her—apart fromGoran’s impressive Freedom Palace, ofcourse—but there are many followerswho individually revere miniature idolsof the goddess or her symbol, the bear.

Moralist-The moralist priests use thewritings and narratives from allreligions and combine them to find themorals that are most common andimportant: pity, tolerance, knowledge,

honesty, respect, justice, etc.They are often teachers and

philosophers who humbly limit their taskto the education of a small community.The most recognized of moralist cults isthat of the goddess Eurydis.Niab-A Kauli term. The niab is a deep-

sea fish that only comes to the surface atnight. Kaulien fishermen use a largedark-colored cloth to lure the fish bystretching it out on the surface of thewater between several boats, therebyfabricating artificial darkness. Then allthey have to do is dive in and “pick”them like fruit, since the fish enters intoa state of drowsiness near the surface.From this, the term “niab” is used as an

insult for someone who is gullible, or

acts without thinking.Odrel-Divinity whose cult is

widespread in the Upper Kingdoms.According to legend, Odrel is the secondson of Echora and Olibar.

After a lifetime of work, a single Odrelpriest managed to assemble more thanfive hundred stories that centered on thegod of Sadness, as he is sometimescalled. None of the stories finish well.The most famous story by far is the onethat tells of Odrel’s complicated loveaffair with a shepherdess. It ends withthe dramatic death of the woman andtheir three children, and Odrel’sagonizing realization that he can’t followthem into death, the only thing in theworld beyond his reach.

The priest-historian finishes his workwith these words: “No one hasexperienced such misfortune as Odrel.It’s surely because of this that all the ill-fated, unlucky, and destitute; those whocarry the burden of mourning, regrets,and of memories; those who have knowninjustice, despair, disgrace, misery, allof life’s trials; all have come, do come,and will come one day to seek comfortbeside Odrel. He’s the only god capableof understanding them, because he’s theonly one who himself inspires pity.”

Old Country-Another name for theRomine Kingdom.

Queen moon-A small, smoothseashell, almost perfectly round inshape. Precious because of its rarity, the

shell exists as three known types: thewhite, the most common; the blue, lesscommon; and finally, the multicolored, ararity. At one time, the last two varietieswere used as money in some isolatedparts of the Kaul Matriarchy. Elders maystill accept a few shells in a transaction.

In fact, the seashell is still representedon every coin minted by the Treasury ofthe Matriarchy, and the Treasury adoptedits name for its official currency, thequeen, which exists in denominations ofone, three, ten, thirty, and one hundred.The hundred-queen coins, as large as ahand, are not in general circulation, andare only used as a guarantee intransactions with the Matriarchy andother kingdoms.

Ramgrith-Native of the GritehKingdom. Also the primary language ofthis kingdom.

Ramzu-The language of the Zuu.Terce-The terce is Lorelia’s official

currency. There is a difference betweenthe silver terce, which is most commonlyused, and the gold terce, which is mintedwith an image of the king’s head. Goldterces are known to have a level ofpurity unrivaled by similar coins. Thedenomination of official currency is thetice; one silver terce is worth twelvetices.

Theorists-A caste of priests devoted toall of the gods in general or, lessfrequently, to a few, or even just one.The theorists work to reveal the will of

the gods through divine omens. Althoughthe Grand Temples view them ratherdimly, the royal courts and lords prizethem, and they often act as astrologistsand advisors.

The Wise One-Name sometimes givento the goddess Eurydis.

Three-Steps Guild-Name given to thecircle of prostitutes in Lorelia. The nameoriginates from the fact that this“business” used to be confined to thepart of town known as the lower city.These merchants of charm were sonumerous that the pimps, tired ofarguments that frequently devolved intofights, finally gave each one of them aportion of the street measuring exactlythree steps.

Some pimps have held on to thistradition, even though the majority ofprostitutes now gather in the harborneighborhood, which is much larger.

Upper Kingdoms-Term used todesignate the group of kingdomscomprised of Lorelia, the Grand Empireof Goran, and the Ithare Kingdom, andsometimes Romine. In the LowerKingdoms, however, the term is used toindicate all of the countries north of theMedian Sea, meaning the kingdomslisted above, with the addition of theKaul Matriarchy and Arkary.

The Velanese River-A Lorelien river.The town of Pont was built at itsheadwaters.

White Country-Another name for the

Arkary Kingdom.Zuia/Zuu/Zu-Called the Goddess of

Justice by her followers, Zuia is thegoddess of the Zuu assassins. A singlefollower of Zuia is called a Zu, with theplural form being Zuu.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSTo Christophe “Jet” Vasseur, for

drawing the map of an imaginary worldand naming many characters.

To Laurent Vitou, for his editing work,which was as effective as it wasselfless.

To Claire, the first reader of all mybooks, and a wise critic.

To Stephane and the warriors of theMnemos clan, for their patience,professionalism, and encouragement.

And finally to all the readers, parents,friends, and strangers who agreed tobelieve. This world is yours!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A native of France and a lifelongfantasy enthusiast who numbers JackVance, Fritz Leiber, and MichaelMoorcock among his heroes, PierreGrimbert has been awarded the PrixOzone for best French-language fantasynovel and the Prix Julia Verlanger forbest science fiction novel in any

language. He is the author of thirteenwidely admired novels of the Ji mythos,including the series The Secret of Ji, TheChildren of Ji, and The Guardians of Ji.He lives in northern France with hiswife and two sons.

ABOUT THETRANSLATORS

This is Matt and Eric’s firstcollaborative translation. They wereboth working as English teachingassistants in France when the projectwas born. As friends who share apassion for the French language and itsliterature, they are very excited tointroduce Pierre Grimbert’s gripping Jiseries to the English-speaking world.

Matt has been losing himself in fantasybooks for many years, but onlydiscovered the wonders of the Frenchlanguage while studying at CU Boulder.These combined interests sparked hisinterest in the Ji series, which a friend inFrance described as the “best French

fantasy.” He is pursuing a doctorate inecology at Duke University in NorthCarolina.

Eric received his bachelor’s degree inFrench from CU Boulder in 2010 and acertificate in applied literary translationfrom the University of Illinois in 2011.His first book-length translation, MyBeautiful Bus by Jacques Jouet, waspublished in January 2013 by the DalkeyArchive Press. Eric teaches French atAspen High School in Colorado.