Traitor's Moon

fool!”
    â€œLet’s hope it’s the former. I don’t know what he was up to with Amali, but if he’s not really love-struck for Beka, then I am a fool.”
    â€œAh!” Seregil held up an accusing finger. “But he didn’t happen to mention the good lady Amali, now did he?”
    â€œHe wouldn’t, would he? We heard him promise to keep silent about something.”
    â€œClearly a man of honor, your Ra’basi friend,” Seregil observeddryly. “To his credit, I think you’re right, at least about his feelings for Beka. Let’s go keep an eye on him.”
    It was clearly Beka who occupied the interpreter’s thoughts that night and the following morning, although she continued to greet his attentions with apparent bemusement.
    The second day was much the same as the first. The air grew colder, and when the breeze shifted, Alec felt the chill kiss of glacial air on the back of his neck. Just after midday, the pitch of the trail begin to drop. Riding blind, Alec found it hard not to doze off. His chin was slowly sinking on his breast when a sudden warm gust of damp, acrid mist brought him awake.
    â€œWhat is that?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
    â€œDragon breath!” an Aurënfaie exclaimed.
    He was already grasping the edge of the blindfold when someone gripped his wrist. Laughter broke out around them.
    â€œA joke, Alec,” his escort assured him, sounding like he was sharing in it. “It’s just a hot spring. There are lots of them on this side of the mountains, and some smell even worse than this.”
    Alec smelled the strange odor again just as the hated blindfolds finally came off later that afternoon.
    A few miles ahead, an ice field hung in a valley high between two peaks. The pass was wider here, and in places along its sloping sides clouds of white steam boiled from the ground, or wafted off the faces of little pools between the rocks.
    Below lay a small tarn, its brilliant blue surface shimmering like a shard of Ylani porcelain beneath a shifting pall of vapor. Deep azure at its center, the waters gradually lightened to a pale turquoise toward the shore, where the rocks were a dull yellow. Rocky ground surrounded it, devoid of vegetation. A line of darker stone ran down the slope to the water’s edge and beyond, like a stain.
    â€œOne of your ‘mirrors of the sky’?” asked Alec.
    â€œYes,” said Seregil. “It’s the largest hot spring along this trail, a very sacred spot.”
    â€œWhy is that?”
    Seregil smiled. “That’s Amali’s tale to tell. We’re in Akhendi fai’thast now.”
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    They made camp upwind of the tarn. It was warm in the little vale; the ground gave off heat they could feel through the soles of their boots. The foul odor was stronger here, too, like eggs gone bad. The yellow coloration Alec had noted earlier turned out to be a crusty rime built up just above the Waterline.
    â€œSulfur,” Thero said, taking a pinch between his fingers and igniting it in a puff of orange flame.
    Despite the smell, most of the ’faie were already stripping off to bathe in it. Amali ä Yassara dipped up a cupful and presented it to Klia.
    â€œOdd sort of spot to call sacred, don’t you think?” asked Alec, eyeing the gently roiling water distrustfully. “It can’t be poison, though. Everyone’s drinking it.”
    Testing the water, he found it hot as a bath. He scooped up a small amount in one cupped palm and took a sip. It was an effort to swallow; the flat, metallic flavor was not something that invited deep drinking.
    â€œA mineral spring!” Thero noted, wiping his lips—though not discreetly enough to escape Amali’s notice.
    â€œYou are perhaps wondering why we revere such a place?” she asked, laughing at the wizard’s expression. “I will show you in a little while. In the meantime, you all should bathe, especially you, Alec í Amasa. The waters are healing and would do that ear of yours good.”
    â€œIs my talímenios welcome, as well?” Alec asked, keeping his tone respectful even as his gut tightened.
    Amali colored, but shook her head. “That I cannot grant.”
    â€œThen I thank you for the offer.” He gave her a slight bow and strolled off to the cluster of tents nearby. Seregil followed.
    â€œYou didn’t have to do