Traitor's Moon

make the best of things.”
    Alec turned again to his young dining companions.
    â€œYou really knew nothing of your ’faie blood?” asked the boy, Mial, after quizzing him pointedly about his family background. “Don’t you have any magic?”
    â€œWell, Seregil did teach me a trick with dogs,” Alec said, showing him the left-handed sign. “But that’s about it.”
    â€œAnyone can do that!” scoffed the girl, Makia, who appeared to be about fourteen.
    â€œIt’s still magic,” said her brother, though Alec had the impression he was merely being polite.
    â€œI always just thought of it as a trick,” Alec admitted. “None of the wizards we know seem to think I have any real magic in me.”
    â€œThey’re Tírfaie,” Makia scoffed. “Watch this.”
    Furrowing her brow, she scowled down at her plate. Three olive pits slowly rose into the air and hung unsteadily in front of her face for a moment before clattering back to the table. “And I’m only twenty-two!”
    â€œTwenty-two?” Alec turned to Mial in surprise. “And you?”
    The young Aurënfaie grinned. “Thirty. How old are you?”
    â€œAlmost nineteen,” Alec replied, suddenly feeling a bit strange.
    Mial stared at him a moment, then nodded. “It’s the same with some of our half-breed cousins; you mature much faster at first. You might want to keep your age to yourself once you get over the mountains, though. The purer clans don’t understand ya’shel the way we do here. The last thing your talímenios needs is another scandal.”
    Alec felt his face go warm. “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
    â€œYou are to advise Princess Klia on the western clans, I understand?” Amali ä Yassara remarked, addressing Seregil directly for the first time.
    Seregil looked up from his dessert to find her studying him coolly. “I hope to be of service to both our lands.”
    â€œAnd you do not think their request was in part motivated by the possibility that your presence would elicit strong reactions in certain quarters?”
    Klia smiled at Seregil over the rim of her cup; blunt speech was considered a sign of goodwill in Aurënen. After all his years of intrigue in Skala, however, it was going to take some getting used to.
    â€œThe thought did occur to me,” Seregil replied, adding pointedly, “However, as Lord Torsin opposed my inclusion for the very same reasons, I doubt that was their aim.”
    â€œDespite the errors of his youth, I can assure you that Seregil is a man of honor,” Klia interjected calmly. He kept his eyes on his dessert dish as she went on.
    â€œI’ve known him all my life, and he’s been invaluable to my mother. No doubt you have heard that it was he and Alec who found the remains of Corruth í Glamien while uncovering a plot against the Skalan throne? I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you the effect that discovery has had on relations between our two countries. If not for that, I might not be sitting here with you now, nor would Skalan ships be riding at anchor in this harbor again after all these years.”
    Riagil saluted her with his cup. “I begin to see why your mother entrusted you with this mission, Klia ä Idrilain.
    â€œI do not doubt what you say of him, or disparage his good works,” Amali said, apparently content to speak again as if Seregil were not there. “But if he is still ’faie in his heart, then he knows that one cannot change the past.”
    â€œYet may not one’s past be forgiven?” Klia countered. When the question went unanswered, she turned to Riagil. “What do you think his reception will be at Sarikali?”
    The khirnari gave Seregil a thoughtful look, then replied, “I think that he should keep his friends close by.”
    A warning or a threat?
wondered Seregil, unable to discern the sentiment behind the man’s bland words. As the evening wore on, he often looked up to find Riagil watching him with that same enigmatic look—not smiling, but not cold, either.
    After the meal people wandered among the tables, sharing wine and conversation.
    Seregil was just looking about for Alec when he felt an arm around his waist.
    â€œTorsin was right about her, wasn’t he?” Alec muttered, nodding slightly in Amali ä Yassara’s direction.
    â€œIt’s