CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Is Jyrbian all right?” Khallayne asked Lyrralt as she wiped at her forehead wearily.

Jelindra and Celise had been calmed at last, thanks to some wine, a little magic, and Igraine’s comforting, soothing words.

Bakrell swaggered up in time to hear her question. “He’s making full complaint of an interesting bump on his head. Everlyn is patting his wrist, and my sister is fuming.”

Holding her injured arm against her side, Tenaj laughed, a bell-like peal as silvery as her eyes.

Bakrell looked at her with an appraising, appreciative expression that reminded Khallayne of the old Jyrbian, the one who had wooed her and every other woman at court with rowdy charm and high spirits. Now he had vanished behind a mask of authority, straining for the affection of a woman who paid him no attention.

She felt a moment’s pang for that Jyrbian, that bygone world, then let it pass. Not for a return to that comfortable life would she give up the magic.

The crowd around Jyrbian parted. He walked with a slight limp, his arm around Everlyn’s shoulders for support. His expression, beatific, was like nothing Khallayne had ever expected to see on his face.

Whatever the extent of his injuries, at that moment he didn’t seem to be suffering much. Just as Bakrell had said, Kaede was holding his elbow for support. Storm clouds in the sky could be no darker than the expression on her face.

“How’s Jelindra?” Everlyn asked, looking around for the child.

Khallayne waited until the threesome was within hearing. “She’s better. Your father’s with them.”

“Do you really think she dreamed that monster?” Jyrbian asked, his voice clipped.

“Yes, but you can’t hold her responsible. She’s only a child, and she’s half mad with grief. And no one can control their dreams!”

“If she caused that thing once… what do we do in the future?” he asked. “Let her accidentally kill us off one by one?” His voice was less harsh, less accusing, but still bitter.

“I don’t know.”

“We could take turns at night watching her,” Everlyn suggested. “Surely, if it happens again, we can wake her up right away and break the spell.”

“Or you can die, sucked dry, like her brother did.”

Everlyn slipped from under Jyrbian’s arm, her face suddenly distant. “I think I’ll check on her.”

“What about me?” Jyrbian called after her, his voice playful. Only Lyrralt knew him well enough to sense the disappointment in his tone.

Everlyn smiled back over her shoulder, her long hair tumbling like silk down her back. “Surely you’ll manage.”

The warmth of her smile made him forget everything. He didn’t notice Kaede’s expression slipping from troubled to bleak. Without glancing at Kaede, Jyrbian limped toward his bedroll.

With a longing glance at Jyrbian’s back, Kaede turned to Bakrell. She motioned for him to stay with the group. He caught her arm and wordlessly held her for a moment.

“Keep them occupied,” she whispered.

Reluctantly, he nodded and went back to Khal-layne’s side as Kaede went to her bedroll for a shawl and a small package.

As Kaede slipped out of camp, she saw that Bakrell was still in the center of the group, drawing their attention with his questions and conversation.

Since the human attack near Nerat, the Ogres had been posting sentries at night. Kaede and Bakrell had taken turns, sitting outside the perimeter of the camp and watching the darkness. But someone could have slipped out-or in.

Kaede pulled the dark shawl over her bright hair and crept away from the camp, heading out onto the plain. Solinari was just rising, offering a pale, cold light on the horizon. She walked through the tall grass, damp with dew, until the fires of the camp were mere twinkles in the distance, until the only sounds were the rustling of grass and the chirp of nightbirds.

She searched until she came to a small rise. Beyond it, she dug a hole and planted the small package. There were no rocks on the plain, as there had been in the mountains, so she marked the place by pulling up all the grass around it for the width of her two hands. Then she set a small spell on it, a beacon for anyone who knew how to search.

Brushing grass and dirt off her pants, she rose and started back to camp. Voices, so nearby that she could understand what they were saying, interrupted the quiet, sibilant whisper of the breeze.

Kaede dropped to the ground, flat on her belly, waiting for the voices to start over. In a moment, a female’s soft voice broke the silence.

“I’m here.”

An equally soft, male voice answered.

The female’s voice again. “Oh, Love, it’s you who’ve come.”

This time Kaede recognized it. In spite of the pleasurable tone she’d never heard coloring Everlyn’s speech, she knew it was Everlyn’s voice! And in a lover’s clandestine meeting!

Her heart caught in her throat as the male voice responded. She couldn’t hear it well enough to identify it. Praying that it wouldn’t be Jyrbian, she raised herself cautiously for a better look.

Bakrell was sitting on her bedroll when Kaede slipped back into camp, waiting for her with a tense expression on his face.

She glanced about, checking that no one appeared overly interested in their conversation before leaning close. “Bakrell, you won’t believe what I’ve discovered about Everlyn!” she whispered.

He looked at her flushed face, at the exhilaration shining in her eyes. Her lips were pulled back in an intense smile. ‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Kaede.”

The caution, the disapproval in his voice, dimmed her enthusiasm.

“I was wondering… if you haven’t forgotten why we came here.” He looked first at her, then at his own hands, clasped in his lap.

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said.” He edged closer to her. “I was wondering, considering the way you feel about Jyr-bian and all, if you’ve-”

“I haven’t forgotten anything!” Kaede glared at him, slapping away the conciliatory hand he extended. “I’ve searched and searched, but I’m convinced that Jyrbian is the one. Why do you think I keep running after him?”

Bakrell lifted an eyebrow at her and smiled.

“All right,” she admitted. “I do want him for other reasons. What’s wrong with that? That only makes it more convincing. I haven’t forgotten why I came here, and I resent-”

“Kaede.” He stopped her by gently placing his fingers over her mouth. “Slow down. You misunderstand. I wasn’t accusing you. I was-I’ve been thinking. This life really isn’t so bad, is it? I mean, if s pretty exciting, and we can do as we please. And I was just thinking maybe we shouldn’t cause any trouble…”

“I have no intentions of causing trouble,” she said sweetly, and pushed him off her blankets.

Two days later, Kaede waited for Jyrbian near the edge of the camp. He greeted her with a smile, which he regretted the moment her face lit up. She was a beguiling woman, and she had left no doubt about her interest in him. In another life, just a few short weeks ago, he would have been interested in her. But now there was Everlyn, and she eclipsed Kaede the way the sun outshone the stars.

“Jyrbian,” she said, her voice as sweet as cream. “I have to talk with you.”

The way she said it, he thought talking wasn’t what she had in mind. He answered with a word, her name. He eased the warning in his tone with a slight smile.

She reached for him, wrapping her arms around his, pinning them to his sides playfully. Her breasts were soft against his chest, her breath sweet. “I want you.”