branch in a high wind that brought him around, and it took him several long minutes to realize that he was stretched out in the back of one of the Rover wagons. He lay on a straw–filled pallet in a wooden frame bed against the rear wall of the mobile house, staring upward at a strange assortment of tapestries, silks and laces, and metal and wooden implements, all swaying with the motion of the wagon as it bounced and rolled across the grasslands. A shaft of bright sunlight slipped through a partly cracked window, and he knew he had slept the night.
Amberle appeared next to him, a look of reproof in her sea–green eyes.
«I don’t need to ask how you’re feeling this morning, do I?» she declared, her words barely audible above the rumble of the wheels. «I hope it was worth it, Valeman.»
«It wasn’t.» He sat up slowly, feeling his head throb violently with the movement. «Where are we?»
«In Cephelo’s wagon. Since last night, if you can remember that far back. I told them that you were still recovering from a fever and that you might be sick from more than the wine. So they put me in here with you to look after you until I was sure you were feeling better. Drink this.»
She handed him a cup with some dark liquid in it. Wil eyed the unpleasant–looking concoction suspiciously.
«Drink it,” she repeated firmly. «It’s an herbal remedy for excessive use of wine. There are some things you don’t need to be a Healer to know.»
He drank it down without arguing. It was then that he noticed that his boots were gone.
«My boots! What happened to…»
«Be quiet!» she warned, motioning quickly toward the front of the wagon where a small wooden door stood closed. Wordlessly, she reached beneath the bed and produced the items in question, then pulled from the sash about her waist the small leather pouch containing the Elfstones.
The Valeman sat back with a look of relief.
«The party proved to be a bit too much for you,” she continued, a trace of sarcasm in her voice. «After you passed out, Cephelo had you carried to his wagon to sleep. He was about to have that old woman strip you when I convinced him that if the fever had come back, it would be contagious and that, any case, you would be offended if your clothes were taken without your permission. Apparently he didn’t consider the matter all that important because he ordered the old woman out. After he was gone, as well, I searched you and found the Elfstones.»
He nodded approvingly. «You’ve kept your wits about you.»
«Good thing one of us did.» She brushed aside his compliment with an arch of her eyebrows. She glanced again toward the closed door: «Cephelo left the old woman in the next compartment to keep an eye on us. I don’t think he was entirely persuaded that he knows everything he should about you.»
Wil leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. «That wouldn’t surprise me.»
«Then why are we still here — other than the fact that you drank too much wine last night?» she wanted to know. «For that matter, why are we here in the first place?»
He reached for the Elfstones and she gave them to him. He put the leather pouch back into his right boot and pilled both boots on firmly. Then he motioned for her to lean close.
«Because we have to find a way to get Artaq back from these people and we can’t do that if we don’t stay with them,” he whispered loud enough for her to hear him over the creaking of the wagon. «And there’s another reason. The Demons that chased us from Havenstead will be looking for just two people — not an entire caravan. Perhaps traveling with the Rovers will throw them off. Besides, we’re still traveling west, which is where we want to go, and we’re traveling faster than we could on foot.»
«Fine. But this is dangerous as well, Valeman,” she ‘pointed out. «What do you plan to do when we reach the Westland forests and Cephelo still refuses to give you Artaq?»
He shrugged. «I’ll worry about that when it’s time.»
«We’ve been over this ground before.» She shook her head in disgust. «At least you might try confiding in me a bit more than you have so far. It is not very reassuring to have to rely on you and not have the faintest idea what you’re about.»
«You’re right,” he agreed. «I’m sorry about last night. I should have told you more before we entered the camp, but, to tell you the truth, I hadn’t made up my mind what we were going to do until just after we found it.»
«I believe that.» She frowned.
«Look, I’ll try to explain some of it now,” he offered. «Rovers travel in Families — you already know that much. The term ‘Family’ is somewhat misleading though, because its members are not always blood–related. Rovers frequently trade or even sell wives and children to other camps. It is a kind of communal property situation. Each Family has one Leader — a father figure who makes all the decisions. Women are considered subservient to men; that is what is called the Way. For the Rovers, that is the natural order of things. They believe quite firmly that women are to serve and obey the men who protect and provide for them. It is a tradition among them that those entering their camp should observe this custom in order to be made welcome. That’s why I took the water first. That’s why I left you to clean up after we treated the sick. I wanted to convince them that I understood and honored their beliefs. If they believed that, there was a chance they would give Artaq back to us.»
«It doesn’t seem to have worked out that way,” Amberle remarked.
«No, not yet,” he admitted. «But they have let us come along with them; ordinarily they would not even consider such a thing. Rovers have little use for outsiders.»
«They have let us come along because Cephelo is curious about you and wants to find out more than he has been told..» She paused. «Eretria has more than a passing interest in you as well. She made that quite apparent.‘
He grinned in spite of himself. «And I suppose you think I enjoyed all that dancing and drinking last night?»
«If you really want to know — yes, that is exactly what I think.»
She said it without the faintest trace of a smile. Wil sat back, his head throbbing with the movement.
«All right, I admit that I overdid it. But there was a good reason for what I did, despite what you may think. It was necessary for them to believe that I wasn’t smarter than they were. If they believed that I was, we would both be dead. So I let myself drink and dance and behave as any other outsider would under the same circumstances, just to keep them from becoming suspicious.» He shrugged. «I cannot help what Eretria thinks about me.»
«I am not asking you to.» She grew suddenly angry. «I don’t care what Eretria thinks about you. I only care that you don’t give us both away by being foolish!»
She saw the look of surprise that crept into his eyes and she flushed darkly.
«Just be careful, will you?» she added quickly, took the empty cup from his hands, and turned away, moving to the far end of the wagon. Wil stared after her curiously,
A moment later she was back, calm and collected once more.
«There is something else you should know about. Early this morning the caravan met with an old line trapper traveling east. He had just passed through the Tirfing — the lake country fronting the Westland forests below the Mermidon. He warned Cephelo not to go in. He said there was a Devil there.»
Wil frowned. «A Devil?»
«He called it a Devil — it is a name the Rovers use for something not human, something evil.» She paused meaningfully. «It may be that this Devil is one of the Demons that has broken through the Forbidding.»
«What did Cephelo say about this Devil?»
Amberle smiled faintly. «He is not afraid of Devils. He intends to go into the Tiding anyway — his mind is made up on that. I think he has business that requires that he pass that way. The rest of the Family is not too happy about his decision.»
Wil nodded. «I would be inclined to go along with them.»
The Elven girl gave him a long, careful look. «I would not be inclined to go along with anyone in this camp, if I were you. Keep that in mind if you are offered any more wine.»
She wheeled without a word and moved back once again to the far end of the wagon, hiding her movements from the Valeman. Wil started up after her irritably, but the pain in his head made him reconsider quickly. He sat back carefully, resting his throbbing head against a piece of woven reed backing lining the wagon wall. One thing was certain, he thought glumly She need not worry about him drinking any more of that wine.
The caravan traveled steadily westward until midday, then halted long enough for the Rovers to partake of a
