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relative brought a lump up in Leesil's throat.
"You don't have to stay here, " he said. "We have our place in Miiska. "
Bieja's expression darkened like the Droevinkan sky. "This is my home, for
better or worse. "
"Think about it, please, " he said.
Placing his foot in the stirrup, he swung up into the saddle and look down at
her. The elder woman's face, for all its stoutness and darker color, wasn't
far different from Magiere's.
"I'll think about it, " she answered.
"Think hard, " he said, and handed her a folded scrap of paper. "Or we'll be
back to cause you more trouble. "
Bieja frowned in puzzlement and took the parchment.
While the others had slumbered that morning, Leesil had torn a spare page
from the back of Wynn's journal. He wrote a brief letter of introduction to
Karlin and Caleb back in Miiska with six silver sovereigns wrapped in it for
Bieja's traveling money. He hoped she would heed his wish.
"If you change your mind, " he said, "travel to Miiska and ask for Karlin or
Caleb, and show them this letter. Either should recognize my scrawl, and it
tells them you're Magiere's aunt. They'll get you settled at the Sea Lion. And
this isn't charity. Caleb could use the help. "
Aunt Bieja looked once more at the letter. She tucked it into her apron
pocket, and her brown eyes grew warm as she patted his leg.
'Take care of my niece, " she said.
And the next part of their journey began.
IThree days later, Leesil felt little relief upon reaching theVudraskRiver
once again. His thoughts mixed upon themselves with all that had happened in
Magiere's village, from the morbid discovery in the keep's hidden chamber to
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the chilling realization of Magiere's loneliness as a child. She had been
shunned and despised for sixteen years, yet for all the cruelty, she'd had one
person in those days who truly loved her and was willing to let her go her own
way. It made him wonder if his parents had loved him, and if they had ever
considered letting him choose his own path.
Part of him wished he and Magiere shared such thoughts more easily. In spite
of their newfound closeness, they'd spent so many years avoiding any
discussion of their pasts. Habit was quite hard to break.
When they reached a village along the Vudrask, it was late in the afternoon.
They bought passage on another barge, east to Ke"onsk, the capital city
ofDroevinka . Cloak over his arm and charcoal scarf covering his ears, Leesil
stood on the bank of the river. Its wide gray water flowed under an afternoon
breeze that rushed across his face.
Down by the docks, Magiere haggled with two men from a passing caravan,
trying to sell the ponies. Her cheeks glowed white under the overcast sky.
When the sun peeked through the clouds, red glints surfaced in her black hair.
Both men slowed their heated barter to stare. Even Leesil caught his breath,
but not for the same reason.
Magiere didn't look like a creature of this world. She was too beautiful, her
contrasts too severe. She frowned at the men as Leesil approached.
"I paid four silver sovereigns apiece for those ponies, " she said, "and
they're offering five for the lot. "
Leesil looked at the men with lined faces and calculating eyes and wondered
if they were brothers. "We're not in the trade... just looking for a fair
price. "
"If she paid too much for the beasts, " one of them replied, "it is not our
loss to bear. "
Leesil glanced at Magiere. They had money to spare from the necklace Wynn
sold off in Bela, but her stingy nature would not let this go.
The price settled at seven silver sovereigns for the ponies and the mule.
Magiere wasn't satisfied, but the barge was leaving. Leesil pulled her away as
he took the men's final offer. Once the barge left the shore, he settled with
Magiere under their blanket. She was still annoyed.
"I'm not a miser, " she said, though he'd made no such claim. "That was
robbery. " She wrapped her hands around his leg beneath the blanket.
Wynn sat cross-legged on Leesil's other side. The young sage looked
physically healthier for two nights indoors and eating Bieja's lentil stew.
Her mood was another matter, though she wasn't half as withdrawn as Chap. The
talking hide was laid out before him, but Chap showed little interest in
conversation. After days on that troublesome pony, the barge's flat deck was
such a relief to Leesil's backside that he didn't care. There was little
reason to think Chap would be any less secretive than always.
And Leesil's mother waited or so he hoped.
This urgent desire made him understand Magiere's desperation to discover her
past even more. It also made him anxious to head north and trace what had
happened to Nein'a. But the better part of him would still leave no stone
unturned for Magiere's sake, and so they continued east, deeper into
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Droevinka.
Clear roads paralleled both riverbanks, and a stout oxen team on the south
bank pulled them at a steady pace until dusk. Although they'd planned to sleep
aboard the barge, at nightfall the vessel docked at another waterside
settlement large enough to be a small town.
The trees nearby were too faded for this wet land, lacking the typical dark
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