"She doesn't, I swear by the Mother. Please believe me. Kekkai-nakana is safe, and she knows nothing."

"How can you know that?" Mirage demanded. The witch's expression grew even more desperate. She stood up abruptly, knocking over her chair, and then, before either Hunter could move to stop her, began to sing.

The Hunters' vision and hearing returned, and the room was empty.

"That was unexpected," Mirage said, standing up.

Eclipse shook his head to clear it. "To say the least. She's gone, isn't she?"

"Gone, and not likely to come back any time soon." They did a circuit of the house, but found no one, witch or Cousin, and enough personal belongings had been removed to confirm the witch was gone for good.

"We ought to apologize to the people of Ravelle," Eclipse'said as they returned to their inn. "We've just robbed them of their witch."

"Though I have no idea why. What in the Void was going on there?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. That witch is running scared, of us and of something else. But I'm glad it was her we faced down, and not the one from Corberth; she would have been a damn sight harder to crack."

"True. I just wish we knew what caused the crack."

They took to the road again as soon as dawn broke. Eclipse pulled the sheet of rice paper from a pocket in his cloak as they rode and raised one eyebrow at Mirage. "Think I should send a message to our dear contact? Or do you think she knows already?"

"That Water witch ran so fast, she's probably in Star-fall by now and has told everything," Mirage said with a grin.

He laughed and tucked the paper away. "Pity. I was going to ask her to send the description to Jaguar with a spell. It would be a lot more reliable than homing pigeons."

"I'd rather you not ask," Mirage said. "I don't want one of them serving as a go-between for our messages. We keep to ourselves, and they do the same. Most of the time." Although that formerly clear-cut situation was becoming murkier all the time.

"All right, fair enough. Still, think how convenient it would be, if magic were more common. You could send messages from Insebrar to Abern in an instanta"no need for pigeons or couriers."

"I'd be out a hire or three."

He laughed again. "Well, maybe there would be need. After all, you wouldn't want to trust a witch with really private messages. They've got their own priorities, for all they talk about serving people."

"It's a moot point anyway," Mirage said. "There aren't enough of them to make things like mat common."

"True. And I wonder why?"

Mirage shrugged. "They don't have many children. Maybe magic somehow causes miscarriages, so they don't carry most of their babies to term."

"Or maybe they just have half as many because they don't ever seem to have sons."

"We don't think they do. Who knows what really goes on in Starfall? For all we know, they kill off all the boy children."

"You have such a cheerful imagination, Sen, you know that?"

"All right, all right. Maybe they miscarry when it's a boy. It could be a magic thing. Who knows? Ask them, if you really want to know."

He shuddered. "I've had enough of facing down witches for information, thank you."

The conversation died then, but Mirage kept thinking as they rode. What would things be like, if there were more witches? She didn't like the idea, but she was biased. When she thought about it logically, it might not be so bad. Witches did do healing, for example; they could do a lot of good if there were enough of them in the Water Ray to cover the towns properly. And the Earth witches worked to prevent droughts or blights, and they kept the starving wolves at bay during harsh northern winters. Fire witches she had less use for; they served the rulers in their political games, and Mirage tended to think the rulers didn't need any encouragement or help. She also didn't particularly care about the Void Ray, which did very little to touch the outside world.

Of all the Rays, she felt the most affinity for Air. They were like Silverfire Hunters, traveling constantly, addressing problems where they found them, no matter who it was that needed help.

She envisioned ordinary people having houses with the hot water spells Tari-nakana had set up, spells to keep food fresh, spells to make life a little easier or simpler. , And deep in her mind, something clicked.

Mirage realized that she had stopped Mist, and Eclipse was staring at her. She glanced forward and back up the road; there weren't any travelers in sight, but some might come along.

"You've thought of something," Eclipse said.

"Let's get off the road."

They dismounted and led their horses through the thick trees until they found a good place to pause. Mirage teth-ered Mist and hopped up onto a boulder, where she bit one knuckle and stared at the ground. "What is it?" Eclipse asked when his patience ran out. Mirage started, then looked at him. "If you were searching someone's belongings and found papers you wanted to destroy, what would you do with them?" He blinked. "Burn them, probably."

"Where?"

"Where? As long as I didn't care about biding it, on site. If there was a fireplace."

"Exactly. You'd burn them in the fireplace. So would I. There's no point in going to the trouble to light a splinter from a lamp or whatever and burn each paper individually, where you found it."

He saw the connection now. "Yet the ashes in Tarinakana's house were all over, in tiny piles, no more than a sheet's worth or so in any one place. Why?"

"Magic," Mirage said.

Eclipse's eyes widened, then narrowed, considering it.

"I can't imagine it would take more than a tiny bit of power to light each one. A witch wouldn't think twice about it. She'd find a paper, conjure a lick of flame, and up it goes."

"So you think a witch trashed her study." Something else occurred to Mirage then. "And another thinga"haw did that Wolfstar get into her house in the first place? It's one thing for that Water witch to leave her house lightly warded; she expects mundane visitors, living where she does. But Tari-nakana lived in Starfall, and whatever her wards are, they're strong enough that our contact felt the need to protect us from them. What about the Wolfstar? How did he get inside to set up his second trick, if he didn't have help?"

Eclipse stared at her. "You think he was hired by a witch?"

She hadn't considered it until just now, buta "Maybe."

"Why? And why would they then hire us to investigate it?"

"I can't answer the first, but for the seconda we tend to think of the witches as all getting along. Why should they? Do the Hunter schools?" They both knew how ludicrous that thought was. Even within Silverfire, there were rivalries. "It's flat-out stupid not to expect factionality within them. So maybe one faction had Tari-nakana killed, and the ones who hired us are on the other side. Assuming there's only two sides."

He exhaled slowly, thinking it through. "Warrior's blood. I thought this might turn out to be messy, but this isa"

"Ugly."

"Uglier than the Crone with leprosy. Before, we had to worry that we'd die if we didn't solve this. Now we have to worry that we'll die if we do."

"It could explain lots of things, though. Like why witches of so many different Rays are involved in our side; these factions don't necessarily stick to Ray boundaries."

"And why our Water contact bolted. Do you think Kekkai-nakana is on the side that hired the Wolfstar?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Our contact might fear that, though. It's too simplistic to assume right now, but Kekkai-nakana might have had Tari-nakana killed out of ambition alone. And if our contact knows, or at least suspects, that other witches were behind the assassination, no wonder she's afraid." Mirage whistled suddenly. "And it explains Avalanche, too. Remember what he said? He was the only one she trusted. Tari-nakana had to have known the ones after her were witches; that's why she couldn't rely on Cousins as her bodyguards."

It was making more and more sense. Mirage wished Avalanche were alive to confirm it, but even without that, the explanation was becoming more and more plausible. And more and more frightening. "Do we say anything yet?" Eclipse asked. Mirage chewed on her knuckle for a long time before answering. "No. Not until we talk to Jaguar. He can tell us about the Void witch who delivered it, if she behaved oddly or seemed to hold any information back."

"And now we have another reason for going to Silver-fire," Eclipse said soberly. "What?"

"Protection. If we're right, and witches are behind this, we're going to be very unpopular with that faction. We may have no choice but to ask for shelter from Silver-firea"since I don't want to depend on 'our' side to keep us safe."

Mirage shivered. Eclipse was all too right. She could feel the eyes upon her already, hunting her, after her blood, like a palpable weight on the back of her neck. Eyes that were closing in with every heartbeat. They hadn't even told anyone their suspicions yet; when they did, the pursuit would begin in deadly earnest.

And however well-trained a fighter she might be, she had no way to protect herself against magic.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

Haira [Miryo]

Miryo had ample opportunity to doubt her decision as they rode east. The journey through Currel's rocky countryside was uneventful, verging on tedious, and gave her far too much time to question whether she should have gone north.

They traveled at a good pace, and by the fifth day were crossing the smoother, fertile lands of Seach's southern coast. The road was lined with thick hedges and low stone walls; it was very different from the mountainous lands around Starfall, or Tsurike Hall's airy forests in Insebrar, where. Miryo had spent her first ten years. She rode upright in her seddle, drinking in the sights.

The road wound between farms and the occasional, pasture. Often she could see people in the distance, hip-deep in the rapidly maturing grain. Farmers, of course, yet they seemed so different from the Cousins who performed the same work in Starfall's domain, simply because they weren't associated with witches. Miryo found herself squinting at these distant figures, and then realized she was trying to see if any of them had red hair.

The question of her doppelganger never left her mind for more than a moment. How had it spent the past twenty-five years? Where would she find it? It was, she figured, probably masquerading as a normal person. Would it be a farmer? Or had it taken up some craft? It would look like her, she remembered, and so she imagined herself in a dozen different contexts, each one stranger than the last. Miryo tried not to be distracted by these, and hunted the elusive flicker of instinct deep inside her mind.

It was extraordinarily difficult. She repeatedly considered backtracking and going north, where she had a more concrete lead to follow. She never did it, though. Having committed to this path, she was determined to keep to it. For a while, at least. Until she could no longer stand to depend on the vague thread of direction that was all she had to guide her.

She was relieved when at last they came to something other than a village or a farm, simply for the distraction from her own doubt. And also, she had to admit, because once those villages and farms lost their exotic aura, they all mostly looked alike.

Haira's capital consisted of a central keep surrounded by a city that sprawled across the forking of the Nuna and Tufa Rivers. Miryo and her companions had pushed to reach it that day, and so when they crested a ridge that gave sight of the city, the red-tiled houses were bathed in vivid sunset light, and the rivers blazed as if they were on fire, "Beautiful," Miryo murmured, momentarily entranced by the sight. The Cousins, as usual, said nothing.

The vantage given by the ridge was deceptive; it was nearing full dark by the time they passed through the gates and into the bustling evening activity of the city.

Haira was not a place that went to sleep with the sun, particularly not in the summer, when the nights were pleasant. Hawkers continued to cry their wares, often in Miryo's face, and the taverns and gambling halls along this main road overflowed with light and laughter. She debated dismounting to lead her horse, but there were other mounted people in the streets, and she feared being crushed by the crowd if she went on foot. This was a far cry from Star-fall, or the rural quiet of the previous days.

A woman careened out of a doorway to Miryo's right and almost fell under her horse. Miryo grabbed the woman's arm to pull her to her feet, and got drunken thanks in return.

"Tell me, where can I get a room?" she asked the woman, although by the looks of her she'd had enough beer to forget her own name.

The woman peered up at Miryo and grabbed the stirrup to steady herself. Miryo's horse sidled until she controlled it. "North," the woman said at last, having finished her examination of Miryo's face. "Not around here. In the bit between the Nuna and the Tufa. We like to keep our gambling and our housing separate, here." She grinned, and Miryo saw that she had lost two teeth at some point in her life. "Want me to show you?"

Miryo agreed warily. Having a guide through this crowd would be useful, but she knew that such offers were sometimes traps. Well, if it comes to a scuffle, that's what I have two Cousins along for.

The woman took her horse's bridle and began to lead the animal deftly through the streets. Miryo checked back periodically to make certain neither of the Cousins had gotten cut off by the crowd, but mostly she watched the woman for any sign of trouble.

She'd be a fool to try. No one knows I can't use my magic. All the people here look at me and see a witch. With two Cousins who, by their looks, are quite competent with their swords. Miryo shivered, although the air was warm. Mother, I do hope they're competent. I assume they are, and if I'm wrong, I don't want to find out in the middle of an attack.

They soon left the main crush behind, and Kan and Sai moved up closer to Miryo's sides. She began to breathe easier. The streets they were on were less crowded, but not deserted. It didn't feel like they were headed into an ambush.

A bridge loomed in the uncertain light ahead. The Tufa River rushed underneath, white-capped and energetic. Miryo's guide had released her horse's bridle; now she gestured for the three of them to follow her over the bridge. On the other side, they found themselves amid buildings with signs marking them as inns.

"Here you are," the woman said, indicating the buildings with a sweep of her arm.

"Any recommendations?" Miryo asked, having decided the woman was not a thief.

She shrugged. "I live here. I don't know." She scanned the street less drunkenly than she had Miryo's face a while before. "That one over there, I've heard it mentioned once or twice. Decent food. I could use a bite myself."

Miryo looked to the one she had indicated, THE DANCING FLAME, the sign read, with a cozy hearth painted above the words. She glanced back at Kan, who shrugged. Sai looked blank.

"Sounds good," she said at last.

Neither room nor food was too expensive, and by the time their bags were upstairs, the woman had ordered supper for all of them, a dish of rice mixed with vegetables. Miryo poked through hers cautiously, then took a bite; it was acceptable.

"What's your name?" she asked the woman, who was devouring her own food at a good rate.

"Anthia," she mumbled, wiping a drip of sauce off her chin.

"Thank you, Anthia. Are all of the folk here so helpful?"

The woman swallowed and flashed a quick grin at her. "Some of them. You kept me from falling under your horse, and so saved me from bruises, maybe broken bones. I figured you deserved something in return."

Miryo gave her a sharp look. Her voice had cleared of its slur with remarkable speed. "Somehow," she said, "I don't think that's quite true."

Anthia looked puzzled.

"You're not as drunk as you pretended to be. And you weren't as off-balance as you looked; I could tell that as soon as I grabbed you."

Anthia saluted with her mug of cider. "Sharp of you."

"So the question is," Miryo said, studying the woman closely, "did you fall into me on purpose, and if so, why?"

A shrug. "I wanted a better look at you, and it seems less strange if you pretend to be drunk. Drunk people act oddly."

"Why did you want a better look?"

Anthia gave her a half grin and took a sip of cider. "Tell you later."

"Tell me now," Miryo said.

"Not here," the woman said, still with that half grin, and flicked her eyes toward the few other patrons in the room.

Miryo stood. "Upstairs, then."

The Hairan seemed about to protest, but Kan had her arm by then, and propelled her firmly up the stairs.