the way Stonehoof submitted to him.'
Windswift turned and trotted toward them, followed by Stonehoof. The other centaurs parted to let him through their circle. Windswift said something to Tanglemane in the centaur language and received an answer, then turned his attention to Arvin and Karrell. After studying them a moment, he spoke. 'You're not soldiers.' His Common was flawless, save for a slight lisp on the final word. He swayed slightly, causing Arvin to wonder if the centaur was as exhausted as he was. Steam rose from Windswift's back; he must have traveled some distance.
'You're right: we're not soldiers,' Arvin agreed, relieved to be speaking to someone who might prove sympathetic. He manifested his charm a second time. This time, Tymora willing, there would be nothing disrupt it. 'We're from Hlondeth. I'm a rope merchant's agent, and this-' He reached for Karrell's hand. 'Is my wife.'
One of Windswift's ears twitched, as if to catch a distant sound, and Arvin smiled. But then Windswift tossed his mane, and his eyes cleared. Arvin's heart sank. Windswift had shaken off his charm.
The centaur's eyes narrowed. 'A psion?' he said in a voice barely above a whisper.
As Arvin stood stupidly, blinking-how had Wind- swift known? — Karrell gave his hand a quick squeeze and pressed something into his hand: her ring. He hid his surprise and slipped a finger into it, using her hand to shield the action. And just in time. A heartbeat later Windswift manifested a psionic power. Shielded by Karrell's ring, Arvin no longer had cause to fear Windswift listening in on his thoughts. What did send a shiver of fear through him, however, was the power's secondary manifestation.
A hiss.
By the gods, Arvin thought, feeling his face grow chill and pale, Windswift isn't just any psion.
He's one of Zelia's mind seeds.
Arvin's hands trembled, and his thoughts stampeded in all directions. Should he throw up a defensive mental shield? Launch a psionic attack? Had the centaur-seed realized who he was yet? Arvin had just identified himself as a rope merchant from Hlondeth, and Windswift had heard Arvin's own, unique secondary manifestation, and yet the centaur-seed hadn't attacked him. He didn't seem to know who Arvin was.
Arvin's racing heart slowed-a little. Zelia must have planted the seed in Windswift more than six months ago, before she'd met Arvin.
The hissing of the centaur-seed's secondary display faded. One hoof pawed the snow-covered ground in irritation.
Arvin nodded to himself. Windswift must have been the person Zelia had been waiting to meet at Riverboat Landing; the centaur-seed must have been spying, on Hlondeth's behalf, on Chondath.
It all fit. The centaur-seed couldn't have come into the inn without giving himself away; his appearance was too distinctive. And the fact that he hadn't reacted to Arvin must mean one of two things. Either he hadn't made it to his meeting with Zelia-or Zelia hadn't come to Sespech in search of Arvin, after all.
If the latter, Arvin's secret was safe. Zelia still thought he was dead.
Arvin could see only one way out of his current predicament, and it involved taking a gamble-a big gamble. He caught the centaur-seed's eye and lowered his voice. 'Zelia.'
Windswift drew in air with a sharp hiss.
'I, too,' Arvin said. 'Three months ago.' He nodded first in Karrell's direction, then toward Tanglemane, turning the motion into the sort of motion a yuan-ti would make: swaying, insinuative. The mannerisms came to him easily-disturbingly so. 'We three,' he continued in a low, conspiratorial voice, 'must reach the Chondalwood.'
Karrell, thankfully, kept her silence. The gods only knew what she was thinking about the odd turn the conversation had taken, but she had the good sense not to interrupt. Tanglemane also stood quietly, a puzzled frown on his face. The other centaurs, however, were getting restless. Stonehoof took a step closer to Arvin and Windswift, only to prance back when the centaur-seed launched a warning kick in his direction.
'Why was I not told?' Windswift hissed. 'I was just…' He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the other centaurs, whose ears were twitching as they strained to listen, and thought better of continuing.
Arvin smiled to himself. So Windswift had met with Zelia. 'I was at Riverboat Landing recently, too,' he answered in a low voice. 'And I was not told about you, either. We like to play our pieces behind our hand, don't we?'
Windswift tossed his head. 'That we do.' He arched one eyebrow. 'You're not as handsome as we usually pick,' he chided.
Arvin gave a mental groan. What was Karrell thinking of all this? He returned the centaur-seed's coy look. 'We needed someone less… distinctive for this mission, this time. A mission I should be attending to:' He glanced pointedly at the Chondalwood. The sky was brightening over the forest; it was almost dawn.
'Yes. You've been delayed long enough.' Windswift turned and addressed the other centaurs in their own language. There was more than one murmur of protest, and Stonehoof reared up, challenging the centaur-seed a second time, but an instant later he clapped Windswift on the back, as he had before.
This time, Arvin was close enough to the centaur- seed to hear the hiss of the charm power's secondary display.
Stonehoof whinnied an order, and the centaurs lowered their bows. They handed Karrell's club back to her- and very pointedly ignored Tanglemane when he held out his hand for his knife-then allowed a gap to form in their ranks. Tanglemane stiffened then, eyes darting back and forth and tail lashing, trotted through it. Arvin and Karrell followed.
When they were well away from the centaur-seed, Arvin slipped the ring off his finger and pressed it back into Karrell's hand. 'Thanks,' he whispered. 'Now let's get out of here before Stonehoof changes his mind.'
CHAPTER 10
When they reached the edge of the Chondalwood, Arvin glanced back the way they'd come. Stone- hoof and his herd of centaurs were disappearing around a bend in the river, headed south. Across the river to the west, smoke rose from the chimneys of Fort Arran, white against the gray winter sky, as the soldiers started their day. A patrol would no doubt soon be sent out; Arvin had used the lapis lazuli to send a message to one of the officers he'd met last night, warning about the death symbols in the snow. The bodies of Sergeant Dunnald and Burrian-and those of the missing patrols-would be recovered. And the centaurs-including Zelia's seed-would be tracked down and dealt with.
In the meantime, the centaurs wouldn't be laying out any more death symbols in the snow, which had been gradually melting as Arvin, Karrell, and Tanglemane had walked toward the wood. Soon there would be nothing on the ground but slush.
Tanglemane, who had been trudging along behind Arvin and Karrell, also turned to look at the departing herd.
'What now?' Arvin asked. Will you return to the fort?'
Tanglemane shook his head. 'You'll need a guide.' He smiled. 'It will be good to be out of harness, for a time.'
Karrell tipped back her head, looking up at the trees. 'It looks so odd,' she said. 'Trees, without leaves. This forest seems so… lifeless.'
'I assure you, it is not,' Tanglemane replied. 'The Chondalwood is filled with life-though only the strongest will have survived this harsh winter.'
Arvin stared at the forest. The Chondalwood was a gloomy place, indeed. Tendrils of withered, brown-leafed ivy clung to bare branches, and dark moss hugged the trees. The slushy ground was an impassible-looking tangle of fallen logs, wilted ferns, and bushes dotted with blackened lumps that had once been berries. Dead boughs, snapped by the previous night's cold and hanging by a thread of bark, groaned in the breeze. As Arvin glanced up, an icicle fell from a branch and plunged point-first into the slush at his feet. He hoped it wasn't an omen of things to come.
He touched the crystal at his throat for reassurance then turned to Tanglemane. 'I need to find a landmark,' he told the centaur. 'One that would be easily recognized by the animals that live in this part of the forest. Is there one nearby?'
