The other lands

"I can't believe how close I came to killing her," Mena said. "I ordered her shot at when she had never done anything to anybody. That shames me now."

What joy, then, to learn that the creature was not dead after all! Joy in watching her heal so quickly, in observing her tenderness and her comic ways. Joy in coming to feel a bond with her. That was why Elya was so important. Not only had this creature of such beauty and gentleness chosen her as a friend-her, Mena, the killer of Maeben and so many other creatures. Not only that, but being with her infused Mena with the creature's goodness. She felt that goodness inside her body. She became part of it, and everything about the world seemed better.

"You don't know how much that means to me," Mena said. "You didn't see those foulthings, didn't look them in the eyes the way I had to. For so long I thought of them, of what they were, worrying about what they might become. Cori

"Which is why it was an abomination," Cori

"The abomination is that Santoth sorcery did that to them."

Cori

"No! No, she won't." Mena said this with all the conviction she could muster. She believed it completely, of course, but it was not all she felt. She had dreamed that Elya turned toward her with bloodshot eyes, with that terrible, malevolent intelligence in them. But these were only nightmares, she now believed, the lingering traces of having seen so much in her battles. Nothing more. She meant it when she said, "Elya is what she is, and that's wonderful. She makes me feel good. I haven't felt good in such a long time. I don't remember when I last felt… just joyful. Do you?"

She was surprised by the question, making it a full stop instead of only a part of her discourse. She looked at her sister even more deeply, realizing that Cori

Cori

Mena smiled. At least Cori

"What do you intend to do with it?"

"She'll stay with me. As long as she wants to, at least. She's no burden or danger. She eats fruit. Just fruit. Her feet are as light on the ground as a bird's. She'll soon be loved by everyone."

"I don't know that I can allow that," Cori

Mena looked at the bowl of apricots on the table beside her and plucked one. That was a topic she did not want to discuss. In truth, she had begun to suspect that Elya might be pregnant. Nothing definite gave it away, just a feeling of other pulses of life within her. She might be wrong. How could Elya be pregnant if she was the only one of her kind? In any event it was better to keep the possibility to herself for the time being.

"It won't be for long," she said. "I'll fly on her the next time I go to Vumu." She bit into the apricot and managed to speak as she chewed. "I've decided that's what I want to do next: go to Vumu for a time. I'd like to be the priestess again. This time, however, I'll show them Maeben at peace. I'll ask them to look up at the sky without fear. They'll look up and see Elya, and they'll feel safe for once. I'd like to give them that gift, for they gave me so much during my time there. The people will love it; the priests will hate it. Perfect."

"Perfect? Hardly. You may fancy your pet, but remember it's a foulthing. It's distorted. Who knows what-"

"Please, Cori

Cori

Two maids stood nervously nearby, as did one of the prince's tutors. Clearly, they had been beseeching the boy to come away, but now stood about, curious and worried at the same time.

"I didn't know he was here," Mena said, speaking in a near whisper. "Really, I didn't."

"Not much gets past Aaden. He's as hard to keep track of as Dariel used to be."

"Do you want me to call to her? To get him off?"

Cori

"You say she is easily hurt?" Cori

"Her wings are paper thin. They're amazing. You can see right through them. If she didn't heal so quickly she'd never have survived. But she does heal amazingly fast. And she made me heal faster, too. I should still be splinted and battered. Instead, I've never felt better."

"You've never looked better either," Cori

"Why, thank you, Sister. I was going to say the same about you last night. Sitting next to King Grae. Quite the striking couple you two made."

"You thought that before you dropped from the sky?"

"Exactly," Mena said, a lift in her eyebrows and a slight purse to her lips. "So?"

Cori

"Don't even joke about that. I mean it. Look at her. She's all delicacy. Power, too, but none that I would allow to be endangered. Don't even think about it."

"All right. All right. I had to ask," Cori

Mena stared at her sister, her mouth open and the corners of her lips uptilted. It had been a long time since Cori

"What?" Cori

When they parted, she embraced her sister for a few breaths longer than formality required. Cori