Traitor's Moon

By the time they reached the house and stabled their horses, his bones ached with it.
    A few night lamps lit their way upstairs. Alec’s arm stole around his waist and he returned the embrace silently, grateful for the contact.
    Tired as he was, he barely took note of a sliver of light showing beneath a door on the second floor.
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    A whisper-gentle touch on Thero’s chest had woken him in the middle of the night. Starting up in alarm, he scrutinized the corners of his chamber.
    No one was there. The small warding glyphs he’d placed on his door when he’d taken up residence here were undisturbed.
    Only after he’d made a complete circuit of the room did he notice the folded parchment lying among the disordered bedclothes.
    Snatching it up, he broke the plain wax seal and unfolded it. The small square was blank, except for a tiny sigil in one corner—Magyana’s mark.
    He paused, hearing footsteps in the corridor outside. Casting a seeking spell, he saw it was only Alec and Seregil and returned his attention to Magyana’s message.
    Hands, heart, and eyes
, he mouthed silently, passing his hand across the sheet. Ink seeped from the parchment, flowing into Magyana’s cramped scrawl.
    â€œMy dear Thero, I send you sad news in secret and at my own risk. By your Hands, Heart, and Eyes.…”
    A hard knot of dread crystallized in the young wizard’s throat as he read on. When he’d finished he pulled on a robe and stole barefoot to Klia’s chamber.

23
A C ONVERSATION
    U lan í Sathil rubbed Torsin’s token—half a silver sester—between his fingers as he strolled beside the Vhadäsoori pool. It was quite dark, and he heard the Skalan before he saw him. The wracking cough was as distinctive as a halloo, echoing faintly over the water. It was always distressing when a Tír began to fail this way, especially one of such value.
    Following the sound, Ulan stepped out onto the surface of the pool and glided across to where Torsin stood waiting. It was a good trick—one of many that had not come down to the Skalan wizards—and made a strong impression on the mind of any Tír who witnessed it. It was also much easier on his aching old knees than walking.
    Torsin, of course, had seen the trick before and seemed only mildly surprised when Ulan stepped up onto shore.
    â€œAura’s blessings on you, old friend.”
    â€œMay the Light shine on you,” Torsin replied, patting his lips with a handkerchief. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”
    â€œA walk under the peace of the stars is one of the few pleasures left to old men like ourselves, is it not?” Ulan replied. “I’d suggest stretching out on the grass to watch the sky aswe used to, but I fear neither of us would regain our feet without help or magic.”
    â€œIndeed not.” Torsin paused, and Ulan thought he heard regret in the sigh that followed. When Torsin spoke again, however, he was his usual direct self. “The situation in Skala is shifting rapidly. I am now instructed to present you with a tentative counterproposal, one which will most assuredly be more palatable to you.”
    Instructed by whom, I wonder?
thought Ulan.
    Linking arms, the two men strolled slowly along the water’s edge, speaking too softly now for the slender figure watching from the shadow of a standing stone to hear.

24
B AD N EWS
    A brisk rap at the chamber door jerked Seregil awake just before dawn. Still half caught in a nightmare, he sat up mumbling, “Yes? What is it?”
    The door swung open a few inches and Kheeta peered in at him. “Sorry to come so early, but it’s by Klia’s order. She wants you and Alec in her chamber at once.”
    The door closed and Seregil fell back among the pillows, trying to pull together the scattered images of his latest dream. Once again, he’d been trying to save the glass spheres from the rising fire, but each time he tried to gather them, there were more: a handful, a roomful, a dark, limitless vista of the cursed things beneath which unseen monsters burrowed, coming ever closer.
    â€œO Illior, maker of dreams, give me the meaning of this one before it drives me mad!” he whispered aloud. Rolling out of bed, he fumbled in the dark for his boots. “Wake up, Alec. Klia’s expecting us.”
    There was no answer. The other half of the bed was