Traitor's Moon

squeeze, then went to retrieve his sword from its hiding place in the hay.
    â€œWhere did you get that?” Alec asked.
    â€œA gift from my sisters.” Seregil tossed the sword belt to him and went to sling his pack over his saddlebow.
    Alec drew the blade. “It’s a beauty.”
    Seregil took the belt back, wrapping it twice around his waist. Alec gave him the sword and he sheathed it, fiddling with thescabbard lacings until it hung at the proper, low-slung angle against his left hip. His hands remembered each movement without the need for thought; the off-centered weight of the weapon at his side felt good and right. “Let’s go.”
    â€œLuck in the shadows,” Thero murmured again, walking them to the gate.
    â€œAnd in the light,” Seregil replied. He clasped the wizard’s thin shoulder a moment, wondering what else to say. If this all went wrong, this would be their last parting.
    Thero covered his hand with his own for a moment. The silence between them was charged with sentiments neither knew quite how to express.
    Alec spared them the necessity. “We’ll see that your rooms at the Orëska House are aired out for your return,” he joked.
    Thero’s smile flashed in the darkness, then he was gone, barring the gate behind them.
    Mounting his horse, Seregil looked up at the black disk of the new moon, just visible among the blazing stars.
    Ebrahä rabás
.
    Astha Nöliena
.
    Nyal watched Beka and the others out of sight, then slipped away in the opposite direction, unaware of the rhui’auros who watched him.
    Though it seemed a foolish risk, Seregil stopped one last time at the Vhadäsoori. Across the dark span of water he could see a few people gathered around the Cup for some ceremony, but this side of the pool was deserted. Driven by some half-formed desire, he dismounted and went to the water’s edge. Kneeling, he drew his sword and plunged it into the sacred pool, hilt and all.
    â€œAura Elustri, I accept your gift,” he whispered, too low for the others to hear.
    Reversing his grip on the hilt, he stood and offered the weapon to the moon, then let out a soft laugh.
    Alec joined him, scanning the surrounding shadows nervously. “What’s so funny?”
    â€œLook at this.” Seregil held the pommel up; the round, dark stone looked like a second new moon against the stars. “My uncle and his dreams.”
    â€œSo that runs in the family, too, does it?”
    â€œApparently.” Sheathing his sword, Seregil scooped up a handful of water and drank. He felt edgy, light, a little giddy, the way he used to, just before a job.
    It was time to go.
    They set off to the north, anxious to get away from the populated streets. The unrest was worse tonight. Angry voices rang out in all directions around them. Alec thought he caught a fleeting hint of the Bash’wai’s mysterious scent and remained vigilant, expecting pursuit at any moment.
    But most of the people they met paid them little mind, until they reached the edge of the Goliníl tupa, where a half dozen youths emerged from a side street to follow them.
    â€œOff to serve your foreign queen, Akhendi?” one of them shouted after Alec. The insult was followed by a hail of thrown rocks. One bounced off Beka’s helmet. Another struck Seregil in the middle of the back. The horses shied, but Seregil kept a slow, steady pace.
    â€œAura bring you peace, brothers,” he said.
    â€œPeace! Peace!” came the jeering reply, together with more rocks. One grazed Beka’s cheek when she unwisely looked back. Alec reined in angrily, ready to retaliate, but she blocked him with her horse.
    â€œCome on; there’s no time for this!” she warned, kicking her horse into a gallop.
    The Goliníl soon gave up the chase, but the riders didn’t slow until they burst out onto the open plain.
How far do we have to go before he’s breaking the law?
Alec wondered as they slowed to a canter under the star-studded sky.
    Just then the Bash’wai scent closed in around him again, strong enough to take his breath away. Reeling in the saddle, he felt rather than saw a dark force surround him, blinding him and roaring in his ears. Then the stars were back, brighter than ever, but sliding sideways.
    He landed hard and gave thanks later that he hadn’t flung out his arm in time to break or dislocate it. As it was, his ribs took a nasty jar. He