Variance manipulated me.'
Feena stared at himand raised her eyes to Selune's crescent.
'Moonmaiden's grace,' she whispered, 'aren't we just the best people to give each other advice?' She smiled and sighed, 'Thank you, Keph.' She picked up the wine bottle and offered it to him. 'How about a toast? To the two most gullible fools in Yhaunn.'
'Not so gullible anymore,' Keph said. 'And never again in Yhaunn.'
He reached for the bottle and let it slip through his fingers to tumble onto the ground.
'Listen!' he gasped.
Feena heard it too: a wild cascade of hooves in the night. Someone was riding hard and fast along the Ordulin road. A sudden foreboding struck her. She grabbed the glowing rock and willed the magic to fade. Darkness wrapped around them. Keph ran for his horse and Feena scrambled for the crest of the hill and a better view. Staying low, she scanned the road's length.
A lone rider moved in a broad patch of bright moonlight, galloping west from Yhaunn like a madman. Or a madwoman, Feena thought. As the rider drew closer, Feena slid down from the hilltop. Keph was already mounted, his overstuffed saddlebags abandoned.
'Is it the Sharrans?' he gasped.
'No,' said Feena. 'The rider travels in moonlight. It's one of my people.'
'What do you want to do?'
The hoofbeats were even closer.
'Wait,' she said. 'We'll face her. I think I know who it is. If she finds us, then she deserves to.'
Out on the road, the rider slowed then stopped. The horse whinnied in alarm as its rider pulled hard on the reins, wheeling the animal around and back to a narrow gap in the hedgerow. Heels kicked into the horse's side and sent it cantering across a field of swaying grain toward the hill.
'Feena!' shouted Julith. 'Feena, where are you? I know you're close!'
Feena stepped forward and called, 'Here!'
Julith spun her horse around, then slid out of the saddle and ran toward her.
'Feena! Moonmaiden's grace, Feenathank Selune I found you.'
Her hair was wild, blown and tangled by her ride. She spread her arms. Feena hesitated, then opened her arms to accept the young priestess's embrace.
'I'm sorry, Julith,' she sighed. 'So much happened. There was too much to say. I just couldn't stay in Yhaunn any-'
Julith stiffened, staring up. 'Who?' she gasped. Feena twisted her head to see Keph looming over them on his horse.
'Keph Thingoleir,' Feena said. 'That's another story.' She ran a hand over Julith's flushed, wind-burned face. 'What are you doing out here, Julith? Why come after me?'
'To warn you.' Julith hugged Feena then pushed her away. 'We found Jhezzail. Mifano and Velsinore are coming after you and they're bringing half of Moonshadow Hall with them.'
Feena's eyes went wide. 'What are you talking about?'
'They mean to take you back by force, Feena. They think your attack on Mother Dhauna was deliberate.'
'But you don't,' Feena said. The realization felt like a weight lifted from her.
'I know you would never do something like that of your own free will,' Julith said as she dug into a satchel that she wore slung at her side. 'They're going to be an hour or so behind me. The only reason I managed to get out ahead of them is because they were arguing over the best magic to use to find you. They'll be working together by now and on your-trail.'
'How did you manage to find me, then?' Feena asked.
'Unlike Velsinore and Mifano,' the younger priestess said with a smile, 'I know you, Feena. I knew that if you were running, you'd be heading back to Arch Wood. I just rode in the right direction, and while I rode, I prayed to Selune to guide me. And she answered my prayer.'
'I' Feena pressed her lips together, then exhaled slowly. 'Thank you,' she said.
'Don't thank me just yet,' said Julith. She pulled out a gray bundle tied up with a leather strap. 'This is how you carry your clothes while you're in wolf form, right?' Feena blinked and nodded. Julith breathed a sigh of relief. 'Good.' She thrust the bundle at her. 'That's a robe. Take off your clothes, change into your wolf form, and get back to Moonshadow Hall.'
'But if Mifano and Velsinore are coming after me, why would I want to run to them?'
'You wouldn't,' Julith answered, looking her in the eye. 'You need to get back for Mother Dhauna's sake.'
Feena's heart sank.
'What's happened?' she asked.
'She let Chandri heal her wounds, but when Velsinore tried to give her the belladonna you prescribed, she refused it. Velsinore tried casting healing magic on her as well, but Mother Dhauna resisted that, too.' Julith swallowed. 'Then she prayed to Selune herself, asking her to send her brightest light.'
Selune's brightest light…
'The light of a full moon?' Feena asked, and Julith nodded. Feena sucked in her breath. 'Moonmaiden's grace, she's forced herself to transform into a werewolf!'
CHAPTER 12
Keph watched color spring back into Feena's face. Her jaw shifted in determination. She dropped the gray bundle to the ground and began to loosen the drawstring of her skirt. He stared, then turned away.
It felt very much like he was on the periphery of events. Whatever was happening at Moonshadow Hall didn't involve him. Feena had helped him just by talking to himbut what was he to her? Just a misguided enemy of her faith she'd only met once before. Her real devotion lay with her old friends and her own mistakes.
Something inside him raged at being ignored, just as Strasus and Dagnalla had ignored him, but he fought it down, swallowing the arrogance that had brought him so much trouble.
'Wouldn't she have changed at the next full moon anyway?' he asked over his shoulder.
'The next full moon. A tenday and a half from now. We…' Feena's voice caught. 'Moonshadow Hall would have been ready.'
'She caught us off guard,' said Julith. 'The clergy present managed to keep her back, but just barely. She needs your help, Feena. You're the one who knows the most about Iycanthrope. Mother Dhauna was locked in a chamber in the infirmary when I left. She's like a w'ld animal.'
'She is a wild animal,' Feena said. 'That's the chamber I used to be locked in when I changed as a girl. Julith, what are you doing?'
Keph glanced around out of reflex.
Feena was naked. Before her, Julith was also undressingand swiftly donning Feena's discarded clothes. Keph gulped and looked away again. He heard Feena growl at him.
'Keph, don't be an idiot.' 'Sorry,' he muttered.
He swallowed and turned back around. Under the moonlight, Feena's skin shone like ivory. Her arms and legs were long, lean, and muscular. The moonlight had leeched the color from her hair, turning flaming red into lustrous copper. If Selune herself had stepped down onto that field, she couldn't have chosen a more beautiful, vigorous form. He bit back a gasp and forced his eyes away before he could stare too long.
Julith pulled Feena's blouse down over her head. The other woman's country clothes hung ridiculously loose on her frame.
Julith shook her head in response to Feena's stare and said, 'I'm not mad.' She reached into her satchel again and produced a slim case of worked silver. 'Jewelry and baubles aren't the only treasures in Moonshadow Hall's chests.'
She touched the case and it sprang open. Inside, two square vials of crystal wound with silver filigree nestled side by side. The liquid inside them caught the moonlight and reflected it back in a blue-white glow.
'Temple records refer to this as Iraelathe's Escape,'
