Keffria took that as an unvoiced but deserved rebuke. Once, her interests had centered only on her own home and children. "The gossip at the Council meetings is endless. I am out and about more than I used to be. There is less at home to claim my time. Also, Ekke and I talk, when we are cooking dinner. It is the only time she seems completely comfortable with me." Keffria paused. Her voice was puzzled as she asked, "Did you know that she is sweet on Grag Tenira? She seems to think he is interested in her as well. I didn't know what to say to that."

Her mother smiled almost indulgently. "If Grag is interested in her, I wish them the best. He is a good man, and deserves a good partner. Ekke could be that for him. She is a solid person, blunt but good-hearted, and knowledgeable about the sea and those who sail. Grag could do worse than Ekke Kelter."

"Personally, I had hoped he would do better." Keffria poked at the fire. "I hoped that Althea would come home, come to her senses and marry him."

Ronica's face went grave. "At this point, my sole hope for Althea is that she does come home." She came over to the fire, then sat down suddenly on the hearthstones. "It is my prayer for all of them. Come home, however you can. Just come home."

For a long time, there was a silence in the room. Then Keffria asked in a low voice, "Even Kyle, Mother? Are you hoping he will come home?"

Ronica turned her head slightly and met her daughter's eyes consideringly. Then, in a heartfelt voice, she said, "If that is what you are hoping, then I hope it for you also."

Keffria closed her eyes for a time. She spoke from that private darkness. "But you think I should declare myself a sea widow, mourn him and then go on."

"You could, if you chose," Ronica said without inflection. "He has been missing long enough. No one would fault you for it."

Keffria fought the rising misery that threatened to engulf her. She dared not give in to it, or she would go mad. "I don't know what I hope, Mother. I just wish I knew something. Are they alive or dead, any of them? It would almost be a relief to hear Kyle was dead. Then I could mourn Tor the good things we had, and let go of the bad things. If he comes home… then I don't know what. I feel too much.

"When I married him, it was because he was so commanding. I was so sure he would take care of me. I'd seen how hard you had to work while Father was gone at sea. I didn't want that sort of life for myself." She looked at her mother and shook her head. "I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings."

"It doesn't," Ronica said shortly, but Keffria knew she lied.

"But, when Father died, and everything changed, somehow I found myself living your life anyway." Keffria smiled grimly. "So many details, so many tasks to be done, until I felt there was no time left for myself at all. The odd part is, now that I've taken up the reins, I don't think I can put them down again. Even if Kyle appeared on the doorstep tomorrow and said, 'Don't worry, dear, I'll take care of it all, I don't think I could let him. Because I know too much now."

She shook her head. "One of the things I know now is that I'm better at these things than he would be. I began to discover that when I had to deal with our creditors myself. I could see why you had set things up as you had, and it made sense to me. But I also knew that Kyle would not like patiently working the family out of this a bit at a time. And…" She swung her eyes to her mother. "Do you hear how I am now? I don't want to have these burdens. But I can't bear to turn them over to anyone else, either. Because, despite all the work, I like being in control of my own life."

"With the right man, you can share that control," Ronica offered.

Keffria felt her smile go crooked. "But Kyle isn't the right man for that. And we both know that now." She drew a deep breath. "If he came back now, I wouldn't let him have the family vote on the Traders' Council. Because I know more about Bingtown and can vote more wisely. But Kyle would hate that. I think that, alone, would be enough to drive him away."

"Kyle would hate that you had to control your own vote? That you had to be able to take care of yourself while he was gone?"

Keffria paused a moment before she answered. She forced the truth out. "He would hate that I was good at it, Mother. But I am. And I like being good at it. It's one reason I feel I should let Selden go. Because, in his short years, he has shown me that he is better at taking care of himself than I am. I could keep him here, safe by me. But it would be a lot like Kyle keeping me in hand."

A light tap at the door made both of them startle. Rache peered around the corner.

"Jani Khuprus is here. She says she has come for Selden."

Rache had changed in small ways since the upheavals in Bingtown. She still lived with them, and took on the duties of a house servant. But she also spoke openly of where she hoped she would get her piece of land, and what type of a house she would build when the final agreement was settled. Now when she spoke of Jani coming for Selden, her disapproval was more obvious in her voice than it would have been months ago. Keffria didn't resent it. The woman had cared for her children, and in doing so, had come to genuinely care about them. Rache had been overjoyed at Selden's return from the Rain Wilds. She hated to give him up again.

"I'll come down," Keffria replied immediately. "You should come, too, if you wish to say good-bye to him."

JANI STUDIED THE ROOM AS SHE WAITED NERVOUSLY FOR KEFFRIA. IT HAD changed from the happy days when Reyn had been here courting Malta. The room was clean but the furniture had obviously been scavenged from throughout the house. There were chairs to sit on and a somewhat wobbly table. But there were no books, no tapestries, no rugs nor any of the small domestic touches that finished a room. Her heart bled for the Vestrits. Their home had been taken from them; only the walls remained.

True, she herself had seen the collapse of the buried city that was the source of the Rain Wilds' and, indirectly, Bingtown's wealth. Trehaug faced lean times ahead. But her home had weathered the storm. She had resources to draw on. Her pictures, her embroidered linens, her jewelry, her wardrobe of clothing awaited her safely at home. She had not been left near-destitute as the Vestrits had. It made her feel all the more selfish that she had come to take away the final vestige of the family's true wealth. Their last son would go with her tonight. It had not been put into words between them, but the truth was writ large on Selden's scaled face. He was Rain Wild now. It was not Jani's doing; she would never have sought to steal a son, let alone the last of their line. It did not make her feel any less greedy that she cherished the thought of taking the boy with her. Another child for her household was a treasure beyond compare. She wished she did not have to gain it as her friends' loss.

The whisper of their sandals preceded them. First Keffria, then Ronica and finally Rache entered the room. Selden was not with them. That was as well. Jani preferred to make her proposal to Keffria before she had to say goodbye to her son. It would not seem so much like a trade. As she exchanged greetings with them, she noted that Ronica's hand seemed frailer in hers, and that Keffria was more grave and reserved. Well, that was natural enough.

"Would you care for a cup of tea?" Keffria asked in the courtesy of a bygone day. Then, with a nervous laugh, she turned to Rache. "That is, if we have any tea, or anything close to it?"

The serving woman smiled. "I am sure I can find some sort of leaves to steep."

"I would love a cup of anything warm," Jani replied. "The cold outside bites to my bones. Why must so harsh a winter descend in our most difficult time?"