he folded them over her chest.
'What happened?' Aunn was right behind him now, looking over his shoulder.
'Her ancestor's presence was the only thing keeping her upright. And she could only linger here so long, I guess.' Gaven stood up and looked down at the body.
Senya sat on the ground by the river outside Paluur Draal. She stretched her long legs in front of her, and leaned back on her hands. He'd never seen her so beautiful, so alluring. Her hair was wet, clinging to her face and neck, and drops of water glistened on her bare shoulders. 'It's still early,' she said with a flirtatious smile.
Gaven turned away and started pulling his boots on. 'You never give up, do you?'
'Not when I know what I want.'
Goodbye, Senya, he thought. I'm glad you managed to find what you truly wanted. Thank you for helping me do the same.
Aunn stepped to put Gaven partly between the elves and himself, glancing nervously at the assembly. 'So what happens now?'
Gaven turned to face the elves. 'What would you have me do?' he said. He had no idea whether they would respect the ancestor's last command and let him leave in peace, not after the murmurs he'd heard calling for his death.
A man at the front of the gathered elves stood and stepped forward. He wore a shapeless robe similar to Senya's, which suggested that he was a priest like she was, though he didn't wear the same skull tattoo disfiguring his face, and his reddish hair cascaded over his shoulders.
'We have funeral rites to perform,' the priest said, 'which outsiders may not attend.'
A few voices in the crowd seemed to suggest that some of the elves, at least, weren't happy with the ancestor's command, but the priest silenced them with a commanding glare. He stepped closer to Gaven and lowered his voice.
'I would very much like to understand what happened here, if you can come outside with me and explain it before you leave.'
'I'd be happy to,' Gaven said. He smiled at the priest. 'Especially since you seem to have the authority to get me out of here alive.'
The priest did not return his smile. 'Which I do only because our ancestor commanded it. That is part of what I wish to understand.'
'Fair enough,' Gaven said. 'Shall we step outside?'
'Sons and daughters of Aerenal,' the priest said, 'make ready the rites for the departed.'
A few elves stood again, some who might have been temple acolytes, others who looked more like warriors- including the one who had barred Gaven's path before, who again drew a scimitar and stood in the way of the door.
'Stand down, Vieran,' the priest said. 'You heard the command.'
The warrior's face was a grim mask, and Gaven felt his body tense in preparation for a fight. The priest stood face to face with Vieran and put his hands on the warrior's shoulders.
'Let her go, Vieran.'
Gaven saw tears form in Vieran's eyes, but finally the elf's shoulders slumped and he stepped to one side. The priest clapped Vieran's shoulder and walked past him toward the door. Gaven wanted to ask the man if he had been a relative of Senya's, what she meant to him, but Vieran wouldn't look at him as he walked by, and his knuckles were white from clutching the hilt of his scimitar.
With Aunn close on his heels, Gaven followed the priest past Vieran and out the door. Gaven felt every eye on him, but he kept his own gaze fixed on the priest's back until they were out in the entryway and the priest closed the sanctuary doors behind them.
'I can't believe she's gone,' Gaven said to Aunn.
'I can't believe you found her in the first place,' the changeling replied. 'What brought you here?'
'That was the first question on my mind as well,' the priest said, turning away from the door. 'Why were you in Senya's room this morning?'
'I came here last night,' Gaven said, 'hoping to consult with the priests.'
'The Khoravar do not often turn to the Undying Court for counsel,' the priest said.
'I visited the City of the Dead with Senya a few months ago, and her ancestor-I suppose you'd say she foretold that I would return and find what I sought. So I came in hope of finding that.'
'So you didn't know that Senya was here?' the priest asked.
'I had no idea. But she took me in, brought me into the sanctuary there, and… I don't know, she let the ancestor take over her body, just like this morning.'
'There he is!' a voice cried from the temple entrance.
Gaven whirled and saw a young elf in the entry, breathless from running, his hand extended to point at Gaven. Behind him appeared first one and then a second soldier in the green tabards of the city watch.
'Well, I think you've answered all my questions,' the priest said. 'You're free to go.'
CHAPTER 35
The tumult of the battlefield faded into the distance, as the ragtag band of survivors around Rienne grew steadily larger. Cressa's periodic shouts seemed to give the stragglers courage and perhaps even a shred of hope, though Rienne couldn't imagine what they thought they could hope for. She didn't know what was emerging through the sundered seal of the Gatekeepers, but between it and the barbarians, she felt sure the Eldeen Reaches was beyond all hope.
She saw no sign, yet, that the Blasphemer's forces had managed to regroup after the sundering of the seal threw the battlefield into chaos. Rienne and her band saw one small gang of barbarians crouching on a ridge, looking like they were waiting to prey on stragglers fleeing the battle, but they were daunted by the size of Rienne's group and fled into the woods. Was it possible that the sundering of the seal had wreaked as much havoc on the Blasphemer's horde as it had on the Reachers? Rienne didn't dare to hope as much.
When the noise had faded and the earth no longer shook beneath their feet, Cressa fell into step beside Rienne once more.
'What's your plan, Lady?' Cressa asked.
'Plan?' Rienne shook her head. She had been thinking only about getting the survivors out of immediate danger.
Cressa's face fell, and Rienne hurried to create the impression that she knew what she was doing. 'Here's what I want you to do,' she told the girl. 'I need to know how many of us there are in this group, and whether there are any officers or elders, or any priests, druids, or shamans among us. Find someone to help. Can you do that for me?'
'I can,' Cressa said, beaming.
'Let me take the standard.'
Cressa carefully transferred the ragged battle standard back to Rienne's hands, and bounded off to the nearest clump of people to begin her survey. Rienne watched her with a smile, amused by the girl's boundless energy and enthusiasm.
'Now to come up with a plan,' she muttered to herself.
She had started walking vaguely eastward, ahead of the general direction of the barbarians' movement and toward the river that marked the Aundairian border. She tried to picture in her mind the maps that she and Jordhan had studied on their airship journeys, squelching the grief that surged in her chest at the thought of Jordhan. The barbarians had cut a swath through the Towering Wood, running more or less directly east from the Shadowcrags. They had reached the edge of the Towering Wood, and would soon emerge into the fields of the agricultural east. If they continued due east across a few hundred miles of farmland, a stretch of forest called the Riverwood stood between them and the Wyr River. If they turned to either side, they'd enter smaller woods-the Mosswood to the northeast, the Wolfwood to the southeast. Or they could follow the fields and farms, turn south around the Riverwood, and reach the river near Varna.
