Sister of the Dead

Chane frowned. "You don't know where she's going."

"No… she should have turned north after leaving her village… or at least out of this land."

He offered this like a tidbit to a hungry dog, hoping to turn Chane's mind back onto their goal without telling him too much.

"I saw her speak to a soldier from the manor," Welstiel added. "Possibly the captain of the guard there. Did you ever assist your father in an interrogation?"

"Yes."

"On occasion, I helped mine, as well."

"Of course you did," Chane said bitterly. "One more thing we have in common."

Welstiel almost smiled.

Wy

Beneath her short robe, breeches, and shirt, she wore a white cotton shift, which she normally managed to keep tucked in. Since leaving Bela, she had not abandoned her clothes to sleep in this loose cotton undergarment. Nights were too cold, and she was far too modest in company. The freedom to do so now, for this one night, should also have pleased her.

It did not.

She had written nothing in her journal concerning the undead sorcerer… or more of Magiere's nature, as Domin Tilswith would expect. She did not even warm up her crystal in the cold lamp on the bedside table. Instead, she closed her door tightly and crawled under the comforter, looking about the room's fixtures, so dim and normal in the low light of the single candle.

She had lied to Magiere, to Leesil, to the people here. She took credit for something she had not done… to save Chane… to keep Magiere from knowing he had followed them here.

There was a knock at the door, but Wy

"It's me," Magiere said from outside. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Wy

She looked uncomfortable, hair down but uncombed, and wore only her loose white shirt and black breeches. A few cuts on her face were begi

"Do you have any of the healing salve with you?" she asked.

More guilt for Wy

"Yes, I'm sorry. I should have thought of that earlier. It's in the side of my pack."

Magiere shook her head. "Don't apologize. We're all tired."

Wy

"I can comb out your hair, if you like. It's full of burrs and twigs."

It wasn't that Wy

She loved the pursuit of "knowing." Nothing made her happier than gathering knowledge, but how could she document any of this as if it were some passing scholarly interest? The dark and dead half of Magiere frightened her as much as the pale woman's mysterious and bloody origin.

Magiere glanced at the brush, seemed about to refuse, and then sighed. "Yes, thank you."

Wy

"Better," Magiere said.

Wy

"How is Leesil?" she asked.

"Resting. All right, I think. I don't think Vordana took much from him in the fight, but we can't be sure. I'll make certain he eats well in the morning."

Wy

"You have beautiful hair," she said, though its tendrils reminded her too much of the shadow ribbons in Magiere's essence. "Did Leesil tell you what he saw in the forest?"

Magiere turned about, and Wy

"No," Magiere answered. "Did he tell you?"

"He was incoherent, like you, but I think he saw his mother… dead. He said we were too late, and she was dead."

Magiere closed her eyes. "I should never have let Vordana trick me, never hesitated. If I'd cut that bastard down… Oh, Leesil. He's borne too much for me through all this."

She was silent for a moment, and when she spoke again, it was the last thing Wy

"What did you see tonight? What did you see in me that terrified you-hurt you?"

Wy

'Tell me. I've nothing else but a chamber of bones in a decaying keep. So if you know something, tell me."

"It is not anything that I know," Wy

Magiere sat waiting.

Wy

"I wish I'd seen him the way you did," Magiere said, and her expression softened. "I didn't really come here for the salve. I wanted to… to apologize for what I said back in Bela when you insisted on coming with us. I thought you'd be in the way, but your knowledge and skills have been so useful, and not just in dealing with Chap. Leesil and I, and even Chap, were outwitted tonight. If you hadn't been here, I don't know if either of us would still be alive. The townsfolk are going to give me the credit for this, and they won't understand anything else. And so I wanted to tell you this now and to thank you."

The words were so out of place for Magiere that Wy

Wy

"Let me finish your hair," Wy

Magiere turned around, and Wy

"And Wy

Wy