“We had hoped to stop and trade here and in Tinnir,” Tatigan said regretfully, “but if that village, too, has shut itself off, there’s no reason for us to linger. But surely we may find willing merchants in Mulsantir?”
“I can’t speak for Mulsantir,” Ralemvic said. “Our concerns are Thasunta and the road between it and Tinnir. You have the freedom to travel. I warned of the dangers. Bhalla protect you.”
“My thanks,” Tatigan said, “and take care, yourselves.”
Ralemvic nodded. He wheeled his horse around, and his companions made to follow. Before he turned away, the elder warrior cast his gaze over the caravan again. When he noticed Ashok and Skagi at the edge of the road, his eyes widened. He quickly masked the reaction and rode away, but Ashok noticed that he dug his heels into his horse’s sides to spur the animal faster.
“Did you see that?” Ashok said.
“I saw it,” Skagi said. “Either they’ve never seen a shadar-kai before-”
“Or they
“Unless he recognized your pony,” Skagi said. “He’s enough to make anyone fidgety.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think he could tell what the beast was at this distance,” Ashok said. The nightmare’s flame burned low in the bitter cold. He’d never appeared so much like a common black stallion. Even his fear aura was limited to a few feet out from his body. Ashok was grateful. He hadn’t tried to put the enchanted necklace back on the nightmare. Without a cleric nearby, if the stallion resisted as forcefully as he had last time, Ashok would have been in no condition to help his friends in Rashemen.
“Won’t help our cause, him looking at us like that,” Skagi said.
“We have to hope they’ll be more welcoming in Mulsantir,” Ashok agreed.
“Ashok.”
Ashok turned and saw Cree ride up. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know-maybe nothing, but Ilvani wandered off by herself toward the village. Mareyn rode after her.”
Ashok and Skagi followed Cree back along the caravan line. It didn’t take them long to catch up to Ilvani and Mareyn.
The witch stood before a small pinewoods where the tree branches were heavy with snow. Mareyn stayed on her horse, but Ilvani walked among the trees, running her hands over the bare inner branches where there were fewer needles. As Ashok and the brothers looked on quietly, she climbed into the closest tree, using the low- hanging branches as ladder steps. She sat on a thick branch midway up the tree and shifted to face them. Her gaze was unfocused, but her hands moved over the tree branches as if she knew them intimately. She ran her fingers over the bark and down to touch her own leg.
“No blood,” she said, “but the rest is the same. The snow rabbit was here. She lived all of it.”
“What is she talking about?” Mareyn asked Ashok.
“Her dreams,” Ashok said. “She recognizes this place.”
“I can feel her everywhere,” the witch said. “She’s closer than she’s ever been.” Her breath came faster, and her eyes were wide and terrified. She gripped the branches to keep from falling out of the tree.
“We should make a guard around the wood,” Cree said to his brother. “You heard the Rashemi. We could be in for an attack we won’t see coming.”
“He’s right,” Ashok said, but his attention was still on Ilvani.
Skagi nodded, and the brothers split up to watch the fringes of the wood. Ashok dismounted, and Mareyn followed suit.
“You should get back to the caravan,” Ashok told her. “If they haven’t noticed our absence, they’ll already be moving out.”
“I’ll tell them to wait for you,” Mareyn said.
“No.” Ashok gripped her arm. “This is where we split up. If Ilvani has seen this place in her dreams, there’s a good chance we’ll find answers here about the maddened creatures.”
“It isn’t wise to stay here with only the four of you,” Mareyn said, “even with the nightmare standing guard.”
“This was always our mission,” Ashok told her. “It’s the only way Ilvani will find peace from her dreams. Will you tell Tatigan to look for us when the caravan passes back through this way?”
“I’ll tell him,” Mareyn said. She looked at him a moment, a mixture of emotions in her eyes. She stepped forward and clasped Ashok by the shoulders affectionately. “The Martucks have decided to stay in Thesk for the winter. Les needs time to heal, and he won’t find peace on the road. Beyond that, I don’t know where they’ll go, but it’s certain I won’t see you on the return trip.”
“I’m sorry for that-and for other things,” Ashok said. “What happened to the boy was-”
“Life,” Mareyn said, cutting him off. “We deal with the good luck we find and the bad that’s forced on us. Tymora reminds me of this daily. Les will learn to deal with his scars, just as you’ve done.”
Ashok nodded, but his gaze kept straying to Ilvani’s stricken face. He felt torn between the things he wanted to say to Mareyn-emotions he might not be able to sort out if he had days or months-and the urgency of Ilvani’s need.
Mareyn must have seen his internal struggle. “Go,” she told him. “She needs you to change her fortunes. And maybe she will change yours.”
“Good-bye, Mareyn,” Ashok said.
She smiled a little self-consciously, hooked an arm around his neck, and tugged him to her. She kissed him quickly and then nudged him away.
“Good-bye, Ashok,” she said.
After Mareyn rode away, Ashok went to where Ilvani sat in the tree. He stood below her, his head on a level with her boots.
She looked down at him. “No more sleep,” she said.
“I agree,” Ashok said. “We’ll go to the village. If there are witches in Tinnir, we’ll find them.”
Ilvani leaned her cheek against the tree and closed her eyes. “Each of these trees has a name. They’re telling me, whispering the names, but they don’t realize I can’t repeat them. Names like that weren’t meant to be spoken by human tongues.”
“Can you shut them out?” Ashok asked. “Maybe you should come down from there.”
“They don’t mean any harm.” Ilvani slowly climbed down out of the tree, but she kept her hands on the smooth branches. “They gave me another name, one I can use. Yaraella.”
Ashok felt a chill, colder than the frigid air, go through him. He thought it must be the wind, but the tree boughs were still. It was so quiet in the wood. The animals had sought shelter in anticipation of the deep winter.
“The woman from your dreams,” Ashok said. “She’s been here?”
“She’s all over these woods,” Ilvani said. “Tinnir is her home, but the spirits know her here. They miss her touch.”
“Let’s go, then,” Ashok said. “The sooner we get to Tinnir, the sooner we can find out what happened to her.”
Skagi and Cree met them outside the wood. They followed a track off the Golden Way. Snow-covered signs indicated Tinnir wasn’t far away, but the evening darkness came swiftly and forced them to camp for the night.
Ilvani was true to her promise. She didn’t sleep, and she noticed Ashok and the brothers were too restless to get more than a pair of hours each. In the morning, they moved on.
They passed a wooded vale that Ilvani recognized again from her dreams. She was so close to Yaraella, she felt as if she were coming home herself. When they arrived at the outskirts of Tinnir after midday, she nearly wept at the familiar dwellings.
If I’m not rid of her soon, I won’t be Ilvani anymore, Ilvani thought. I’ll be the witch-the ghost.
The uneven ground gave way to small farm fields, their remaining vegetation sealed in a frost skin. Cree stopped and pulled up one of the plants.
“These fields were never harvested,” he said.
“Maybe winter came early,” Skagi suggested. He kicked the brittle leaves.
