Three days later, Falcon found herself still riding with the party. She had been uncertain about what kind of travelling companions they would make, and as a thief, she was unaccustomed to company. Bandits and robbers were exceptions in the criminal world, and even they only barely tolerated each other. Trust was almost unheard of.

At first, she had stayed with them and their Mordran escort out of fear. She knew the Night Hounds were in the forest, and had no desire to encounter them again. After a day and a night, however, their escort left them, and they had to spend the last two nights in the trees.

Now they were out of the vast Kalborne forest and were making their way across the rolling foothills that marked the boundary between Kalborne and Zarral. She wasn’t sure she liked it better than the woods. At least they could always climb up a tree in the forest.

Her fears, however, were briefly quelled later that afternoon.

“Civilisation,” Tarahn said suddenly as they crested a hill. “Or so they like to call it. There’s a village down there,” she added to Daimira. “Perhaps you would want to stay there for the night.”

“Definitely. I can’t remember the feel of sleeping without stones poking into my back anymore.”

“Beds are overrated,” Tarahn sniffed.

“Smoke,” Lake announced suddenly, reining in abruptly.

“What?”

Thick black smoke was curling out of the small cluster of houses below, and flames suddenly leaped up into the spring sky. There was a scream, then another. Doors were flung open and chaos broke out.

“Ssh!” Falcon hissed when Daimira crashed loudly into a bush.

“Sorry,” she muttered, crouching beside her at the edge of a cluster of trees bordering the tiny village.

It looked like very few – if any at all – of the villagers had managed to escape to safety. A lot of people were huddled in the middle of the settlement’s only true road, shaking to a man as soldiers in the Kalcene colours and Queen’s crest surrounded them.

“Kalcene soldiers,” Tarahn murmured. “What are they doing? I thought Kalborne villages were off-limits by treaty.”

“So did I,” Daimira said grimly. “They’re going too far.”

“That’s a very small group of soldiers, though. They’re probably just scouting for information,” Tarahn went on.

Daimira started to rise, but Lake grabbed her wrist. She frowned at him. “Let me go.”

His blue eyes, which had previously seemed to Falcon dull and lifeless, were now bright and alert, as brilliant as the sky. “No,” he said firmly. “That fire is not completely natural. They have an elementalist with them.”

“So? Do you doubt if I can handle one?”

“It complicates things,” he sighed.

“Ah, pardon me,” Falcon said with mock diffidence. “Wouldn’t you consider the soldiers complicated enough? And how do you propose to fight with a mage? For what reason? This is no problem of ours.”

“Not a mage,” Lake murmured meticulously. “An elementalist. But you’re right. This is not our concern. We’d best just walk away.”

“I have to know why they’re doing this,” Daimira insisted.

Lake stared at her. “Do you have to wonder, Daimira?”

She didn’t answer right away but kept her eyes glued to the scene before them. “We’re not leaving until I see what they’re going to do.”

He sighed. “As you wish.”

Captain Serkis was a relatively young soldier and he had not risen through the ranks through numerous connections but rather through his own ability and sly wisdom: rare commodities in the Kalcene army. He knew who to fight and who not to.

The Lady Vasra belonged to the latter group of people.

He watched her move around the town’s pathetic excuse for a square, her red cloak swishing dramatically behind her, and tried his best not to let his dislike show. She was despicable, true, but she would fry him in his shoes if he let her know he thought that. He wasn’t a fearful man, but he was prudent.

“How did your search go, my Lady?” he inquired politely. He and his men had done their best in searching the place and had turned up nothing out of the ordinary. Despite Vasra’s arrogant airs and exaggerated mysticism, he was confident she had met with the same result.

The woman stopped and threw back her hood, revealing a cruelly beautiful face. “She isn’t here.” Her eyes flickered over the frightened villagers. “Are these all the people living here?”

“All of them,” the captain affirmed.

She snorted. “What a place for insignificant vermin.” She stared at the huddled group. “Tell me...did any of you rats see your beloved High Priestess pass through?”

They stared at her wide-eyed, though no one spoke.

“Did you even know that she ran away?” Vasra asked, amused. “Your glorious leader has abandoned you all, probably for some fine young man.”

“She would never do that!” an old man, his hair all white and his teeth mostly gone, declared, shaking a stick-like fist.

Her nostrils flared and Serkis steeled himself.

“Kill them all,” she intoned flatly.

“W-What?” Serkis stuttered.

“Kill them all. Do it now – or do you want me to do it myself? You know how hard it is to control a raging fire. You and your men could accidentally get caught up in it.”

“You’re insane! The Queen didn’t send us here to start a war! She sent us just to confirm the reports and track her if-”

“You will do it NOW, or—” She stopped suddenly, making strangling noises, and they saw a dart protruding from her neck.

Behind the bushes, Falcon glanced at Tarahn, who was coolly loading another dart into the metal contraption that was part of her arm.

It was completely unnecessary, however, because the elementalist, stiffening, was already toppling over.

“Poison?” Lake asked.

“Sleeping potion. She’ll be out for a while, long enough for the captain to disable her.”

“She’s a mage!” Falcon protested.

“Not much of one,” Daimira snorted. “See the pendant she’s wearing?”

“It’s ugly. How can I miss it?”

“That’s a Relic – one of the minor ones. It’s where her powers come from. Once it’s removed, she’ll be helpless.” Daimira rose quietly. “We’d better leave, before the captain starts worrying about where the dart came from and if he could be the next target.”

“Are we really stopping here for the night?” Falcon asked, dubiously glancing around her.

Tarahn was already setting up a tent at the bottom of a grassy knoll. “Where else should we stop?”

“Er...somewhere with a roof? Walls? Other people?”

“Why?”

“I don’t think I like the idea of camping out here in the open where the Night Hounds can so easily get us.”

“Night Hounds don’t like wide open spaces much. You don’t see them in the plains, do you? There isn’t enough magic to draw them here, either. Besides, Lake’s staying up to keep watch.”

Falcon eyed the young man with some distrust. Lake, besides that first night in Kalborne and the incident with the elementalist, had sunk into a kind of wordless stupor. His eyes were once more dull and uninterested, his face a mask of indifference. He seldom spoke, and he never did anything. He wasn’t even lifting a finger to help Tarahn now.

“I don’t know...Can’t you stay up and keep watch?”

Tarahn stared at her.

“I’m just asking a question," Falcon said quickly. "It’s not like I’m ordering you around. Princess.”

Daimira laughed. “She hates being called that, Falcon. Are you being offensive on purpose?”

Falcon sighed. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Ali-Zar is a whole day away, and there aren’t any villages between here and there. The occasional isolated house, perhaps... But it would be hard to find one in the dark.”

Falcon shivered. “And it’s a new moon tonight...”

“We’ll be fine,” Daimira assured her.

“What about those Kalcene soldiers, though? They might stumble upon us.”

Daimira paused. “They won’t be interested in a bunch of ordinary travellers,” she said after a while.

“They won’t pass this way,” Lake suddenly spoke up. “It’s too close to the Malcor border. Even if they do, Tarahn’s a Mordran. She can go anywhere in the world without being questioned. We can just say she’s been called east to oversee the assembly of some machines. There really is nothing to worry about, thief.”

“Will everyone please stop referring to me as the thief? I have a name,” she said in exasperation.

Lake shot her an amused glance and started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Daimira asked.

He paused. “I’m just going to look around.”

“At what? More trees and bushes?”

He shrugged and went around their little hill and out of sight.

“He’s a very strange person,” Falcon said once he was out of earshot. “Not to be offensive again, or anything,” she quickly added.

“No one’s going to get mad at you for saying that,” Tarahn snorted. “He is...unusual.” She looked at Daimira. “I really don’t know why you’re travelling with him. Where did he come from?”

“He’s an old friend.”

“I’d feel better if we had the other one with us.”

Daimira suddenly stiffened. “They don’t get along. But I assure you. Lake’s very dependable.”

Falcon wondered how far they could depend on him, but she kept the thought to herself. She could ask more questions later. Right now- “All right, since you’re all pretty confident about stopping here, how about supper?”

“Why did I have to open my mouth?” Falcon sighed, staring dispiritedly at a rabbit hole she’d found. “`Go find us some food,’” she mimicked Tarahn’s bossy tone and made a face. “As if I know how to hunt. What am I doing?”

She shook her head. She didn’t have to put up with the three of them for very long, did she? Once they reached a city - any city - they could part ways. She’d had enough of being ordered around like a servant.

“What are you saying to the rabbits?” a voice asked from behind her.

She groaned and stood to face Lake. “Why do you always show up behind me at the strangest times?”

He smiled faintly. It seemed to Falcon that the only expression he knew was one of mild amusement. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to kill little rabbits!” she blurted out.

“And who asked you to?”

“Tarahn.”

“Tarahn?”

“Well, she didn’t exactly say to kill rabbits. But where else are we supposed to find food out here?”

Lake held out one of his hands and she glanced down at it. Three eggs lay precariously in his palm.

“But... you stole them right out of a nest!”

“Where do you think the eggs in the city come from?”

“But chickens are different from birds!”

“You’re a very strange person.”

“That’s funny. I said the same thing about you.”

He smiled again. “I know. Now stop terrorizing those poor rabbits. Let’s go back.”

Falcon followed him back toward the camp. He really was very strange. She couldn’t understand why, when he looked at her, she felt both safe and afraid at the same time.

“You should smile a bit more often,” she said. And then she wanted to kick herself.

“What?” he asked.

He heard what I said. I’m not saying it again. “I’ll go on ahead,” she muttered, her face flaming, and ran off.

Where did that come from?