Belladonna

them — and the man driving.
    He opened the canteen and took a drink, all the while watching the man, whose hands tightened on the terns when he realized who was standing by the road.
    "Whoa." The man glanced at Glorianna, then looked away. "Good day to you, Michael."

    "And to you, Torry," Grief-dulled eyes. Troubled heart. "What brings you out this way?"
    "Needed to get away for a few days. Just ... away. Sorrowed the rig, figured I'd go up to Kendall."
    A man who looked that broken and empty, walking down the wrong streets, could find himself beaten and robbed, if not dead.
    Which is why he's going.
    "You didn't kill her," Glorianna said quietly. "It wasn't your fault."
    Anger darkened Torry's face as he twisted in the seat. And what would you be knowing about it?" He twisted around back to Michael. "Have you started bringing your whore with you, Magician?"
    "That's enough!" Michael roared.
    "You didn't kill her," Glorianna said again, her voice still quiet. "That voice whispering to your heart is a liar. That whisper belongs to a thing that devours Light and heart and hope. It killed her, Torry. Not you."
    The anger faded from Torry's face, leaving a wasteland of despair. "She wouldn't have been in that alley if not for me."
    "Was she waiting to meet you?" Glorianna asked.
    "No! She wasn't that kind of girl to be meeting me — or anyone — in an alley."
    "Were you supposed to walk her home? Were you late?"
    "No. She was at her friend Kaelie's house. Went over to talk about wedding things. Our wedding. I went to the pub with a few of the lads. Just to have a drink or two, play some darts. Nothing more."
    Michael stepped up and took hold of the horses bridle since Torry had let the reins slip from his hands.
    "I'm sorry for your grief, Torry," Michael said. "And I'm sorry for Erinn. I am. But Glorianna is right. Evil killed your girl and the lamplighter and the two boys. And Evil has tried to break you by heaping blame on your shoulders as well as grief."
    Suspicion filled Torry's eyes. He gathered the reins. "No one has said those boys are dead. But they went off with someone.
    A familiar stranger."
    "I heard the same thing when I was here last — and more," Michael said. "Who saw the boys go off with this stranger? Who came forward as witness?"
    Torry opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked thoughtful.
    "Whispers in the dark," Glorianna said. "Everyone has heard a 'something.' No one knows where it started or who first said it."
    "The Destroyer of Light is among us, Torry," Michael said.
    "The Destroyer is just a story," Torry protested.
    Michael shook his head. "No. It's not." He gave the horse a pat and stepped back. "You need to get away for a few days. I understand that. Sometimes you need to see the same stars from a different place to help your heart settle when it's hurting. But don't go to Kendall. There's been some ... darkness ... there too." He's a good man, Michael thought. Come on, wild child, give him a bit of luck to help ease his heart.
    "You heading down to the village?" Torry asked after along moment.
    "No," Michael said. "We just stopped for a rest and a bit of music. We're headed for the posting house and then on to Foggy Downs tomorrow."
    A blush stained Torry's cheeks. "Bit of a walk for a lady, isn't it?"
    He hadn't called Glorianna a lady a few minutes ago.
    The music is changing in the lad, Michael realized, feeling his own heart lighten.
    "They'd have a pub there, wouldn't they?"
    Michael nodded. "Shaney's. Food, drink, a few rooms to rent upstairs."
    "Music?"
    "There will be tomorrow night." Michael gave Torry a man-to-man smile. "Might even teach the woman how to play the drum."
    "What?" Glorianna yipped.
    "That little bit of hand-slapping was fine out here," Michael said, making his voice a blend of soothing and condescending, a blend that was guaranteed to put — yes, that was the look — fire in a woman's eyes. "But no one will hear it over the dancing."
    "And you won't hear anything over the ringing in your ears once I'm done whacking you upside the head."
    Lady's mercy, she just might mean it.
    But Torry burst out laughing, and the sound made her narrow her eyes at Michael.
    "Peace, lady," Torry said. "He'll play better if he can hear the tune." He paused, then added shyly, "There's room in the rig. I could take you as far as the posting house. Save you that much of a walk."
    "In return for me not whacking him upside the head?" Glorianna asked in a voice women perfect to scrape