Red Hood's Revenge

addition to the Wild Hunt?”
    “Can you think of another way to find Zestan?” Talia challenged them. Nobody responded.
    “Tell me when you’re ready to contact the raikh.” Roudette tapped her heart in salute, then left the tent. The idea was planted; all that remained was for the others to work out the details.
    This was the end of her path, then. At last she would shed the wolfskin and complete her grandmother’s work. Soon Zestan and the Wild Hunt would be destroyed, and she would finally be able to rest.
    Talia would have made a fine ruler. It was a shame she would never have that chance.
     
    It was decided that Snow should prepare her spells in the seer’s tent, which was already warded against detection. Kha’iida magic was new to her, and she spent far too much time examining the tent itself, trying to figure out how the wards were woven into the cloth.
    As a point of pride, Snow was determined not to ask Turz. She ran her fingers over the square panels of the tent one by one. There were no runes, no patterns to force the magic into a given form. It was as if Turz had enchanted every individual strand and fiber.
    She laughed when she finally figured it out. Turz hadn’t enchanted the tent. She had enchanted the goat , probably moments before it had been shorn. The hair from that goat had been blended and spun together with nonmagical hair, so that every panel carried a trace of magic. Such a spell couldn’t be broken without destroying the entire tent.
    With that mystery solved, Snow set to work. The others watched in silence as she used a makeshift quill to inscribe tiny symbols on the largest of her mirrors. With no proper ink, she had fetched a cup of cold coffee. The watery symbols tended to run together, and they dried quickly in the heat, but the enchantment remained, visible as thin lines of gold.
    “You said before that every scrying pool was linked back to Queen Lakhim’s palace.” Snow frowned and corrected one of the symbols. “What color is the rim of Lakhim’s pool?”
    “What does that matter?” Talia stood with Faziya in the open front of the tent. Faziya hadn’t said a word since learning of their plans.
    “Do you really want a lecture on the properties different materials have on spells of binding and protection, or the magical laws requiring such linked enchantments to be constructed of similar substances?” Snow gave her a wicked smile. “The principles of similarity have been around for at least six hundred years. A human sorcerer named Adgis of Millgason was the first to set them down in written form. He spent his life trying to quantify the exact degree of—”
    “Gold, I think,” said Talia. “I can’t be certain. I didn’t stay there for very long, and I had more important things to worry about than palace decor.”
    Snow grunted and added a new symbol to her mirror. “Paint, leaf, or solid gold?”
    “How should I know?” Talia sighed. “Lakhim’s too full of herself to settle for mere paint.”
    Snow returned to her preparations. Magical communication carried more risk than Talia or Danielle realized. An unguarded link could allow all manner of nastiness to attack those on either side. They had no idea how much magic Snow had cast into the mirrors they each wore in order to protect them from such attacks.
    “Don’t do this,” said Faziya. She leaned against one of the tent poles for support. Her other hand held Talia’s. “I saw the hedge once, before you awoke. It used to be traditional to make a pilgrimage to the hedge before taking our vows. Zestan would cast you back into that prison, and I would never—”
    “I don’t intend to give Zestan the chance,” said Talia. “She’ll believe I’m helpless, a prisoner to Roudette. I should be able to get close enough to strike.”
    “What then?” Faziya demanded. “Even if you somehow manage to slay a deev, you think Zestan’s minions will simply surrender to you when she falls?”
    “To us ,” Talia corrected. “Roudette has fought her share of fairies.”
    “Oh, forgive me. I forgot there would be two of you to face the Wild Hunt.” Faziya made no attempt to hide her anger. “Your plan is foolproof, oh wise one.”
    Snow cleared her throat. “Could you argue quietly, please? Rajil’s pool is well protected. I’m trying to break through without killing everyone in the tent.”
    “Sorry,” Talia said gruffly.
    Snow tried to concentrate on her mirror. The bickering didn’t