When she couldnat free herself, she began asking him rapid questions that ran through his ears like rain, first in words he could have understood if head bothered, then in the liquid silver tongue that his mother used sometimes when she was very angry or very sad.

aHush,a he said, shaking his head, and he began humming the song his mother had used to sing Rinnie to sleep when she was a babe and fretting in the night.

She stilled at his song, then said slowly, aWho are you?a aJes,a he said.

She stared at him a moment, aI can walk.a He hesitated. aYou have to come with me.a aIall come with youa"but let me walk.a He set her down then, but kept a grip on her hand because he liked the way it felt. She was closed down so he didnat feel the annoying buzzing of her thoughts, just the warmth of her skin. His mother could do that, too.

aYou donat look Traveler,a she said, almost to herself.

aMotheras a Traveler,a he replied. aPapaas a Rederni.a aWhat happened to me?a But head said as much as he was going to. It was too complex and he couldnat be bothered explaining everything. He shook his head at her and continued toward home.

The field theyad been plowing was empty, the plowshare raised out of the ground and cleaned of soil and dampness to keep it free of rust. If it had looked like rain, Lehrad have brought it in.

With a glance at the sky, Jes measured the time head spent in the woods. As usual, it was longer than head thought but not so long that Lehr should be finished plowing. Something must have happened to Skew.

He started to increase his pace, but slowed when the woman stumbled beside him. She didnat have the knack of walking over plowed ground. He swooped, picked her up, and carried her over their field. Remembering her request, though, he set her down on the other side and continued his determined course to the barn.

Lehr carried a heavy, steaming bucket to the barn and was oblivious to them until Jes called out his name.

Lehr halted and set down the bucket. aJes? I thought you were out looking for a child?a Jes frowned. aI found her in the woods,a he said, because it somehow fit Lehras questions. aIs something wrong with Skew?a aNo, no,a his brother automatically soothed, staring at the woman. aHeas fine. But he was so tired, I thought it would be better to stop. Iam bringing him some hot bran mash and Rinnieas giving him a rubdown so heas not so stiff and sore tomorrow.a He frowned. aJes, who is this?a Jes frowned back, though he knew his frown wasnat as impressive as Lehras. aThis is the one I was sent for,a he said.

Lehr smiled suddenly and shook his head. aAll right, Jes. Good afternoon, lady. I am Lehr Tieraganson. Youave already met my brother Jes.a The stranger head brought back with him tugged at Jesas hand gently and he released her.

aI am called Hennea,a she said. aI am looking for the Traveler called Seraph.a aThis one went to where Father was killed,a said Jes, because the Guardian reminded him that it was important. aThe forest king followed her and then held her for us. He thought she was coming here, which was fine with him.a aSo why did he send for you?a asked Lehr after a moment, and the woman, Hennea, looked as if shead like to know, too.

Jes sighed. aIam not sure.a But it was something Mother should know, and Lehr would remember to tell her. So he prodded the Guardian, who could make a better answer.

Lehr took a step back when the Guardian came, and that made Jes sad. The Guardian didnat like frightening his family.

aThe forest king said that she had dark magic and power and he didnat want her in his territory.a Jes came back quickly, because the Guardian was unpredictable and might decide that the woman could be a threat to his territory, too. Jes didnat want him to scare her because . . . because he liked her.

aDark magic?a asked Lehr, with a look at Hennea.

She put out her hand and showed him her wrist and tapped on the bracelet there. Jes didnat like it, nor did the Guardiana"it smelled wrong.

aI expect that heas talking about this. Who is the forest king?a Lehr smiled suddenly and shrugged. aI donat know, actually. I thought he was a story that Jes made up until I met him today.a He turned to Jes. aWho is the forest king?a Jes squirmed, uncomfortable with all the attention that they had been paying him. The Guardian didnat like people looking at him too much. aHeas the forest king,a he mumbled, almost forgetting the question in his discomfort.

Lehr seemed to sense how Jes was feeling because he said, aCome with me,a picked up the bucket, and continued out to the barn.

Depressed and weary of both grief and anger, Seraph almost didnat notice that there was something wrong as she walked up to her cabin.

Alinath had already heard about Tiera"Forder had stayed overnight in Redern and spread the news. Shead approached Alinath expecting to deal with shock and grief, but found Tieras sister waiting for her with anger and blame, instead.

It was only when Gura didnat greet her that Seraph set the stress of the unhappy meeting shead had with Alinath aside and looked around. The boys werenat in the field, and Rinnie wasnat working in the garden.

She whistled and was rewarded with a bark, and Gura dashed out of the barn to welcome her with a wuff of apology for his tardiness. He followed at her heels as she headed for the barn.

Something must have happened to Skew, she thought.

The interior of the barn was dim in comparison to the afternoon light, so she was still half-blind when she heard Lehr say, aHere she is, now. Mother, we have a visitor.a As her vision cleared, Seraph saw Skew with his head buried in a grain bucket. Rinnie was standing next to him with a brush in her hand. Jes slouched against the barn wall a few feet from Lehr and a woman: a Traveler woman wearing a solsenti dress who stared at Seraph with pale eyes.

Seraph felt her eyebrows climb in surprise and instinctive dismay. She had enough trouble on her hands, and a lone Traveler could only be bringing more.

aI am Hennea,a the woman said. aRaven of the Clan of Rivilain Moon-Haired.a aSeraph, Raven of the Clan of Isolda the Silent,a replied Seraph. She waited and Lehr obliged her.

aJesas forest king came this morning,a he said, sounding a bit bemused. aHe told us that there was a child loose in the woods and asked Jes to fetch her. Jes brought Hennea back. He told me that the forest king didnat want her in his territory because she held dark magic and power.a aThis is dark magic,a said Hennea, holding up her wrist.

Seraph closed the distance between them and set her hands on either side of the leather and bead bracelet. aSolsenti wizardry,a she said shortly. aA geas?a Hennea nodded. aYes.a Seraph knew of only one wizard anywhere near Redern. aVolis the priest has bound you to his service?a Hennea smiled faintly. aYes.a Head been hiding her then. Seraph had not the slightest doubt that if any of the villagers knew that there was another Traveler in the vicinity they would have told her so.

aI can help you rid yourself of this.a Seraph didnat know the exact method, but she was confident it would be in one of Isoldaas books: wizards of Isoldaas time had been fond of binding others to their services. Any spell that could break a spell woven by the Colossae wizards could be adapted to sever the bonds of a solsenti wizard without too much trouble.

aNo,a said Hennea, curling her hand into a fist. aNot yet. When the time comes I will rid myself of it.a aJes said the forest king told him that she went directly from Redern to the place where Father was killed. From there, he thought that she was trying to reach us,a Lehras voice was neutral.

aAh,a said Seraph, narrowing her eyes at the other woman. aWhy donat you tell me more about yourself, Hennea, Raven of Rivilain Moon-Haired?a aThank you,a said Hennea, who appeared to have been waiting for Seraphas invitation. aI am no Owl, so I ask that you bear with my tale as I tell it. Two years ago I and my lover, who was a Raven and my student, were taken by solsenti wizards who bound us with Raven magics.a How could solsenti bind with Raven magic? Hennea paused as if she expected Seraph to ask, but Seraph seldom interrupted. Doubtless it was a question to be addressed later in Henneaas story.

When Seraph said nothing, Hennea continued. aWe were taken to some sort of stronghold where these wizardsa"there were six of them and some greater number of lesser wizardlings, performed a ritual of magic upon me.a She stopped again, but Seraph didna t think it had anything to do with her audience. It looked more as if she were fighting the memoryas hold; her hands were clenched at her side and sweat gathered on her forehead. Jes stepped forward and set a hand on Henneaas shoulder, the unexpected action telling Seraph that the Guardian had accepted Hennea.

aAre the details of the spell important now?a asked Seraph more gently than shead first intended.

aNot now,a said Hennea. aOnly that their magic failed. They blamed the failure on one wizard who had not done the spell beforea"Volis. They coached him, and tried three more times. After the last time they conceded that the spell had been performed perfectly, but that something about the way it had been misworked the first time had rendered me an unfit subject. So they took Moselm, he who was my student.a She was breathing heavier now, and Seraph saw her blink hard. aI didnat even notice at firsta"I was too wrapped up in my own paina"but then he began screaming and screaming.a She closed her eyes briefly, as if that could shut out the sound. With her eyes closed, Hennea looked very young; Seraph had thought her ten years older than Jes, but she wasnat so certain now.

aWhen they finished with him,a Hennea said, athey took him out of the room, still screaming. I never saw him again. I didnat even know what their spell casting did because I was too raw from what they had done to me.a She gave Seraph a bitter smile. aThese wizards were as confident as if they had come fresh from Colossae. They talked of killing me, as I was no good for their purposes, but the young wizarda"Volis, who is the priest of their twisted religion herea"asked if he might keep me to see if he could discover what he had done. So they let him bind me with thisaa"she held up her wrista"aand made me his plaything.a aI accused them of arrogance,a she said. aBut I was arrogant, too. I could have broken free of this geasa"it might hold a solsenti wizard or even a Traveler who was not Raven, but as you have seen, it will not hold a Raven long. But they presented a puzzle to me. How had solsenti wizards worked Raven magic? Even more worrisome, I didnat think that we were the first Ravens they had taken. They knew too well how to neutralize anything I might have done for my defensea"and with the exception of Volis, they had all performed their ritual before. I reasoned that whatever they had done to Moselm, it had already been done. If I could reverse it, I could reverse it later as wella"after I discovered what they were doing.a aSo you waited,a said Seraph.

Hennea nodded. aFor a year or so I bided my time and learned what I could. We were in Taela secreted within the Emperoras own palace. The wizards ruled over a group of solsenti called the Secret Path of the Five Gods. I saw only the wizards, who are relatively few, but there are apparently many others, all mena"noblemen and high-ranked merchants and the likea"men of power.a aVolis seemed sincere in his devotion,a said Seraph. aObsessive even. Not a man who is seeking after political power.a Hennea nodded. aOh, they take themselves very seriously, including this religion that someone thought up a few centuries or so ago as a way to encourage bored young noblemen to join up. Can you think of anything a young man would like better than to shock his family? Worshiping like a Traveler is beyond offensive.a aTravelers donat worship gods,a said Rinnie, whoad been brushing Skew as Hennea talked.

aNo, indeed,a agreed Hennea. aBut Volis doesnat believe that. We Travelers like to keep our secrets, and he thinks he knows them. He likes me to spout his own theories back to him. I donat think he really knows how this geas really works. He thought it madeaa"she glanced over her shoulder at Rinnie and gave Seraph an ironic smilea"amade us friends. But he likes to believe in lies. One night, while we were still in Taela, he came into his rooms a little worse for drinka"something he seldom did. He was wearing a crude ring made of silver and rose quartz and reeking of tainted magic.a She sat down abruptly on the small bench Rinnie used as a mounting block.

aUnto Raven it is given to know the Order,a she whispered. aSomehow they had stolen Moselmas Order and put it into the ring. Volis was drunk from celebrating Moselmas deatha"and worried because it hadnat gone quite as planned. It seems that capturing the Order once itas taken from a Traveler is very difficult and sometimes fails.a aThey did what?a asked Seraph, appalled.

aThey killed him and retained the power of the Order in the stone,a said Hennea with Raven calm. aTheir spell slowly rips the Order away from a Traveler over a period of some months. Many of the stones are all but useless, but the ones that work can be worn in a ring or necklace. Then the solsenti wizards become Raven, Falcon, or Cormorant as they wish.a Dread closed Seraphas throat. It was starting again, as if the mermori had been harbingers of things to come. Tier had died, and now Seraph would be forced to live as she had before she met him.

aI donat know what I can do to help you,a she said at last, because, in the end, there was no choice. aI can take a message to the clans, though I donat know where any are at present. I will give you what aid I can.a aYou donat understand,a Hennea said. aIave come to help you.a

CHAPTER 6.

aYou are going to help me?a asked Seraph. aWith what?a Hennea smiled grimly. aYour new Sept travels with quite an entourage.a aIncluding you and Volis,a Seraph said. aIs the Sept one of the . . . what did you call them, something stupid . . . the Secret Path?a aThe Sept?a she said. aNo, not him, at least I donat think so. Heas charismatic, the Emperoras best if not only friend, and heas very good at political games. No one is surprised at the number of people who follow him around. Volis said that someone called in a few debts and offered a favor or two so that the Sept would agree to build a Temple of the Five Gods here.a Hennea stood up and began pacing in abrupt, quick steps. aThe Secret Path decided to bring the religion out into the public. They donat tell people that they get their five gods from the Travelersa Orders, of course.a aThere are six Orders,a observed Rinnie.

aThey donat know about the Guardian,a said Jes. aTravelers donat talk about their mistakes.a aYou are not a mistake,a said Seraph, though Jes was more right than wrong about the Travelersa reasoning regarding the Guardians. aTravelers protect the Guardiansa secrets because your Order works better that way.a As if that settled the matter, Seraph turned back to Hennea, and sorted through her story for some way to change the subject. aWhy did this Path of yours change and decide to bring their church to the masses?a Hennea shook her head. aI donat know. Volis thinks that itas because the truth must be made knowna"but Volis wouldnat know the truth if it tore his throat out. I donat think that all of the wizards believe in their made-up gods, so there must be another reason.a aVolis told me they chose to set his temple here because of Shadowas Fall.a aIave heard him say that, too,a agreed Hennea. aI donat know what they want with Shadowas Fall, but I suppose that whatever power still lurks there can defend itself more than adequately.a aIndeed,a said Seraph. aMy husband is proof of that.a aNo,a said Hennea. aI donat think that he is.a Seraph stiffened. aOh?a she said softly.

aThere were some wizards who traveled with us from Taela. They stayed with the Sept when Volis moved us into the new temple.a She stopped her pacing to frown down at Seraph. aUnderstand, please, that Iave had to take a few facts and string them together. A few days ago, Volis got some correspondence from Taela. It wasnat signed, but from the content I think that it was from one of the wizards who came here with us. The letter devoted an entire paragraph to your familya"unless there is another family with a Raven, Falcon, and Cormorant?a aNo,a said Seraph softly.

Hennea nodded once and began to pace again. aSomeoneas taken a Ravenas eye to your homea"and a real Raven would know that you had a Guardian, too. So it must have been one of the Pathas wizards wearing one of their stones.a Seraph nodded.

aIad been listening to talk since we came here, and I heard of a Traveler mage married to a solsenti farmer. Since it was unlikely that any other Travelers had settled here, I could only suppose that youad been blessed with two Ordered children, half-blood or not. I decided to warn you as soon as I could, though there seemed to be no particular urgency. Then, last night, a man came to tell Volis that your husbandas dead horse had been found with a few human bones. Tieras dead, they said, and they mourned the loss of his music.a Hennea stopped again, rubbing her wrist absently. aAnd I thought on that letter Iad read. The first line read, awe have the Owl safe here.a a Seraph froze as her heart leapt to her throat. aBy Lark and Raven,a she said, imbuing the words with compulsion, ado not mislead me on this.a Hennea nodded to herself in satisfaction. aYour husband was Traveler and Owl and they took him to Taela to work their magic on him.a aMy husband was Rederni born and breda"but given to the Order of the Owl,a corrected Seraph absently to give herself time to regain control. Tier was alive? aIf there was Traveler blood in his lineage it was a long time ago.a aAh,a said Hennea, revealing mild surprise. aIave never heard of something like that.a She rubbed her wrist again. aAnyway. I waited until Volis left on business this morning and set out to find the place where the huntsman found your husbandas horse. It wasnat difficult to follow the huntsmanas trail.a aWhat did you find?a asked Seraph, her voice so soft that Lehr shifted uncomfortably.

Hennea shook her head. aNot much.a She shivered and clenched her hand over her wrist where Volisas geas band held her. aI have to get back soon.a She straightened slightly and continued, aThe huntsman and his men buried both the horse and the skull, and I had no means to dig them up. I found hints of old magic, but nothing that would cause a personas death. There were a few tracksa"but Iam not a Falcon to be certain of anything the tracks could tell.a aLehr is,a said Rinnie.

aYes,a said Hennea, aI know. I had hoped to prove my suspicions before I talked to youa"but Iam unlikely to get a chance to come so far again. Take your Falcon and find out what they did. Then come and help me deal with Volisa"and Iall help you find your husband.a aI donat like leaving Rinnie alone,a said Lehr as he led Seraph through the partially plowed field.

aSheall be safe with Gura,a Seraph said, though she wasnat happy with it either. aAnd Jes will be back soon.a Shead certainly be safer at home than investigating a place that might have been Shadow Blighted. If Seraph hadnat needed Lehras help, shead have found some way to leave him behind, too.

Jes, shead found excuses to send off with Hennea. The forest kingas territory extended on either side of the trail to town, but Jes thought that as long as he was with her the forest king wouldnat stop Hennea a second time. The geas had obviously been very painful by the time theyad lefta"Jes could get Hennea back to the temple sooner than if she had to find her way herself.

So now she only had to risk one of her children to find out if Hennea had been right. Tier was alive. Seraph was too much a Raven to allow herself to believe it without more proof, but even so, the thought thrummed through her. She would have the chance to save him, as she hadnat been able to save Ushireh.

aThereas two places I could pick up the trail,a Lehr said. aBut knowing Jes, I thought that it might be shorter to follow the path he took with the forest king than to try and follow the trail he made bringing Hennea back.a aYouare the Hunter,a Seraph said. aI trust you.a Lehr stopped where the field turned to forest. aThe forest king came here,a he said, but he didnat immediately start on the trail, just stared at the ground. aAre you certain that Iam a Hunter? Papa could . . . can track as well as I can.a He didnat look at her as he spoke.

Lehr, she thought, saw beyond the power to the cost of acknowledging his Traveler blood. He knew that a Falcon could never belong to Redern.

aIt doesnat matter,a she said gently. aWe just need to track Jes to where he found the girl, then follow her trail to where . . . where the huntsman found whatever he found.a aRight,a he said and started through the forest.

Seraph followed Lehras rapid gait with an effort, but made no complaint. The afternoon was well spent and he would need light to track. Whatever he hoped, she could feel the hum of magic as it passed from him and seeped into the woods around her. She had learned basic tracking skills herself, but she could see no sign of bent grass or footprint in the trail Lehr followeda"she doubted that anyone but a Hunter could have followed the forest king through his own territory.

But she said nothing of it. Lehr would have to accept his abilities in his own waya"or not.

When Lehr began a steady jog, Seraph left off her musings and concentrated on keeping up with him. He ran a mile or so before dropping back to a walk in a glade of wild wheat edged by forest on three sides and a formidable rock formation on the other.

aI think this is where Jes picked up the girl,a he said, glancing around at the ground. He turned his back to the stone formation and knelt in the thick, spring-short grass. aThere are several sets of his tracks. Do you see how much deeper Jesas print is here than it usually is?a A branch moved behind his head. Seraph hissed a warning and called her magic.

aNow there is no need for that, Raven,a said the man who rolled nimbly out from under a particularly thick area of foliage that gathered in front of the stone formation. aIt is you who have invaded my home, not the other way around.a Lehr got to his feet and dusted off the knee of his breeches. aMother,a he said. aThis is Jesas forest king.a He looked more like a grubby farmer fallen on hard times, thought Seraph. The tunic he wore was patched on top of older patches. His feet were bare and his hands were the knobby-knuckled, dark-nailed hands of a man who had worked the land.

Shead always wanted to see Jesas friend, and on any other day she would have had a number of questions for him. But nothing mattered except Tier.

Seraph bowed her head shallowly so she could keep her eyes on him. aWe are sorry to disturb you,a she said. aWe are following the womanas tracks to the place where my husbandas horse died.a aYou wonat find it trying to track her from here, Hunter. I didnat bring her by ways you can follow.a The forest king grinned, revealing yellowing teeth that looked sharp, and his eyes stayed cold and watchful. aThe place you speak of is outside my realm, but you can follow the girlas tracks starting from the big waterfall. Let me loan you a guide.a He turned and looked at the brush behind him. It shuddered briefly then a rangy vixen emerged. Seraph felt no magic, though beside her Lehr stiffened as if he heard something odd, but the vixen stared at the bedraggled forest king as if he were talking to her before setting out at a trot without looking at Seraph or Lehr.

The forest king waved his hand at the fox. aFollow hera"she wonat wait.a aMy thanks.a Seraph bowed again and started out after Lehr, who was already headed deeper into the forest.

It was chilly near the falls where the cold river water was pounded to vapor at the bottom of its descent. The fox shifted nervously while Lehr paced by the river. The moment he found Henneaas trail and knelt beside it, she left without waiting for gratitude.

Lehr rose to his feet and set out at a gait scarcely slower than head used to follow the fox. Even so, the sun was low when they broke free of the trees at last and began climbing a narrow path up the rock-strewn side of a mountain.

aLots of traffic here,a said Lehr, pointing at a rock scored by a shod hoof. aMore than usual for such a remote place.a aHennea was here,a Seraph reminded him. aThe huntsman and his men.a Lehr shook his head. aMore people than that have been here. Some of the tracks are pretty faint, but Iad say five or six horsemen were here a month or more ago. Their tracks go up the mountain and back down again. Isnat that what weare looking for?a Seraph nodded. aIf you find anything that might have belonged to them, a bit of cloth or hair, get it for me.a She wiped the sweat from her face to clear her eyes. aI can use it to get more information.a aLike you did from Frostas bridle,a Lehr began moving again, but only at a walk. His change of pace might have been to allow him to observe the tracks more clearly, but Seraph suspected it was more likely to allow her to catch her breath.

They didnat slow long, and after a few miles Lehr seemed to forget she was there. The trail he followed snaked across the foothills and into the crevices of the Ragged Mountains.

Seraphas calves ached, then burned as they hadnat since her Traveling days. Farming was hard, but climbing at a jog in the mountains was a different sort of work. Lehr didnat seem bothered by it, even though he wore the pack shead filled with things they might need.

When Lehr stopped, she wondered if he were finally getting tired, but then she really looked at where they were.

The deer trail theyad been following had widened into a piece of open level ground as big as the kitchen garden. In the center of the cleared area, a waist-high white rock with an unusual flat top broke through the dirt.

The grass in the clearing was knee-high, unusually tall for this time of year this high in the mountains. It carpeted the ground in dark bitter green, except for a large mound of disturbed earth to one side, a burial mound large enough for a horse.

aWhy did they bury the horse?a asked Lehr.

aSometimes,a said Seraph, athe Blighted Places can recharge their magics. The bodies will tend to attract people or animals, and itas best to get them safely buried. There are also stories about odd things happening to the bodies of people who die of Shadow Blighta"things that donat happen if the bodies are safely buried.a aWerenat they afraid of the magic?a aMaybe,a said Seraph. aThere are a lot of Rederni who can sense magica"especially the ones who spend a lot of time out in the mountains. Maybe because in earlier times, when the Shadowedas hand was heavier on the mountains, the people who couldnat sense the Blighted areas didnat survive.a Tier had said that he could sense such placesa"she pushed hope away and said, aThere isnat any magic that I can feel nowa"likely the huntsman felt the same. Take a look around, would you, and tell me what you find.a Lehr nodded, then stopped. aDo you believe her, Mother?a he said, his voice tight. aDo you believe Papa might be alive?a aI donat know,a she said, because it was the answer that would hurt him the least. Seraph took a deep breath. aThis doesnat feel like one of the Blighted Places to me. Hennea said there was old magic here, but I canat sense it.a aWhat does that mean?a he asked.

She shook her head. aI think I would sense anything that had lasted here from the time of the Shadowedas Fall, especially power still strong enough to kill.a aSo this is not a shadowed place.a Seraph nodded slowly. aA month is long enough to dissipate solsenti magic,a she said, and then forced herself to point out the obvious to both of them. aJust because it was not old magic that killed here, doesnat mean that those solsenti wizards of Henneaas didnat kill Tier outright. I need you to look and see if you can tell what happened when Frost was killed here. Remember to look especially closely for any scrap of hair or clothing that I might be able to read.a She moved back to the edge of the clearing as he began to quarter it thoroughly.

aThe clearest thing I see,a he said at last, ais that something burned here. You can see where the earth was scorcheda"the patch goes all the way around the gravea"see here where the grass is a bit shorter?a She nodded.

aIt looks to me that there have been three groups of people here recently,a he said. aThe most recent was Jesas Hennea. She walked the meadow, just like I did, stopped thereaa"he pointed to a place just to the right of the large stonea"aand stopped again to press her hand into the dirt mound. Then she left. The party who came before her, was here a few days agoa"three horsemen. One of them was the huntsmana"see the way that off fore is angled?a He didnat look at her so Seraph didnat bother shaking her head. aThatas the horse he was riding when he come to tell us what head found.a aThe earliest group, though, is what weare interested in, and they worked at hiding their tracks. They were here after the snow started to melta"so no earlier than a month and a half ago. I canat tell you how many of them there were here for certain, but they were here about the same time as Papa.a Lehr gestured for Seraph to follow him and led her to the far side of the clearing, through a thicket of elderberry, to a stand of trees.

aHe saw them, Mother,a said Lehr. aHe stopped Frost here for a while and watched them, maybe for as long as a quarter of an hour. See how Frost stood here, shifting her weight?a He turned and walked back the way they came without taking his eyes from the ground. aThen he walked Frost out into the clearing. There was no fighting, or scuffle that I can see. But Frostas prints are lost in this burnt area.a He glanced around again. aI can pick up the tracks of the other men lower down and backtrack them.a aWeall do that if necessary,a said Seraph. aDid you find anything they left behind?a He shook his head. aNothing. Iam sorry I couldnat find out anything more. Are we done now?a aJust beginning,a Seraph answered. aGive me your pack,a she said. There was a camp shovel tied to the back and she took it. aNow we dig.a aYouare looking for something that can tell you what happened?a asked Lehr. aLike the saddle or Papaas pack?a aIf thereas something to read, Iall trya"but mostly Iam looking for the human bones the huntsman buried with Frost.a Before she set cold iron to earth, she touched the dirt, trying to find the old magic that Hennea had spoken of. aThereas death here,a she said. aSudden and painful.a aPapa?a he asked.

aI donat know,a Seraph replied, rubbing the grains between her fingers. aRavens are not necromancers.a She got to her feet and started digging with the shovela"refusing Lehras help. This was not something for children, no matter that the child in question was a foot taller and almost twice her weight.

She dug until the metal edge of the shovel blade bounced off bone. They hadnat buried Frost very deepa"but a horse is a large animal. Scraping gently with the blade, she pushed away dirt and saw, beneath a coating of soil and ash, the familiar pattern of Frostas dapples.

aLet me, Mother,a said Lehr, taking the shovel from her.

He shouldnat have been able to read anything from her face, but he was almost as sensitive as Jes or Tier. She was too tired from the trip here, from digging, from hope and fear to fight him.

aIf weare lucky,a Lehr said as he began digging, atheyad have set the skull beside the horse and not beneath her.a We donat have ropes and horses to move Frost the way the huntsman did.a aI can move her if we have to,a said Serapha"not as certain as she sounded. aBut Iad rather not add more magic here until Iave sifted all the information the grave contains.a He probed the disturbed ground and uncovered, little by little, Frostas poor burnt corpse. As the huntsman had said, her head and neck had been charred to the bone with just enough tissue to hold the vertebrae together. But the hindquarters were almost intacta"left that way by the chill of the mountain spring. There was only a faint odor of meat turning rotten.

aHow did the bridle survive?a asked Lehr after head cleared a space around the blackened skull of the horse.

aThere are spells that only attack the living,a said Seraph. aI think that the damage to the bridle was secondarya"the spell burnt the horse, and the burning horse burnt the bridle in turn. Hold up, thereas the saddle blanket.a Part of it, anyway. Where the saddle had been was gone, leaving only a black scorch mark on Frostas back.

She knelt and touched the cloth. Nothing. She whispered words of power, but they slid past the saddle blanket and sank deeply into the soil as if something sucked them down and ate them. And deep below the surface of the earth, something very old stirred then subsided, its sleep too deep to be awakened so easily.

Cautiously she withdrew her magic, letting it die down until it no longer fed whatever it was that waited beneath. She looked again at the flat-topped stone and saw that it could have served as an altar. She felt the dirt again and looked at the deep green grass. Blood had once flowed over the altar, enough blood that generations later the grass still fed upon it. Hennea had been right, there was old magic herea"older than Shadowas Blight.

This was not a Blighted Place. If any mage tried to set a trap here, the magic would be eaten by the same thing that had eaten hers.

aMother?a Lehr asked, pausing in his steady pace to look at her.

aSomethingas waiting here,a she said. aBut it had nothing to do with any recent deaths. Itall likely lie here until your grandchildren are dust unless itas awakened.a aWhat about the blanket?a Seraph shook her head. aNothing. I need the skull. Iall be able to tell if itas Tieras.a His shovel hesitated before he resumed his search, widening the cleared space around the horse.

Seraph cleaned the dirt from her fingertips absently and watched as Lehr at last unearthed a fire-blackened human skull, set near the horseas neck bones.

Gently Lehr took the grim thing into his hands and handed it to her. Seraph stared at the wide brow and looked for a hint of familiar features. Had Tieras front teeth been so square? She couldnat tell. There was no jaw bone to give the skull balance.

As shead told Tier, necromancy was not something Ravens useda"but it was prudence rather than ability that stopped them. Meddling with the dead was no light thing. If her need had not been so great shead have left it alone.

Her fingers told her nothing; the bone could almost have been a stone in a field that had never felt a human hand, so little of its past stayed with it.

She set it down and touched Frostas skull. Nothing. Someone had deliberately cleaned these bones as theyad cleaned the bridle and saddle blanket. No random magic could rape the memory of life from a bone.

She picked up the human skull again and sent more magic seeking through it. A bridle or a blanket could be cleaned of lives that brush past it, but not even a great deal of magic could clean away a whole lifetime completely. There had to be bits of it left, if she tried hard enough.