‘Shouldn’t you be tramping about the woods?’Afanan glided into the seat across from him.
Llewyn fixed her with a long, judgemental stare.
‘What?’She grinned.‘You didn’t expect me to sit around and do nothing all day, did you?’
He gestured to the troupers.‘Are they under your sway, as the wraith was?’
‘Oh, if only,’ Afanan said.‘It would be much easier to get things done.And so much less squabbling over who should take which role.I am a member of their troupe, genuinely.I write the plays they sometimes put on.True, they also provide me with cover, and the life of a trouper gives plenty of opportunity to gather spirits from the countryside.But I, in return, provide them with protection.’
Llewyn glanced at the tumblers, who had grabbed one another by the ankles, tucked themselves into an absurd ball, and now rolled about the stage.
‘Fine, I’m sorry for spying.’Afanan shook her head.‘I don’t fault you for banishing it, but I am upset that you did so just when things were getting interesting.That’s where the fiend is, isn’t it?That stone?’
‘I would tell you of it, if I thought that might dissuade you.But I think it would only make you salivate.’
‘Again!The insults!I am not a slavering dog, hungry only for power.’
Llewyn sipped his ale.It was bitter.Ashen-tasting.After what he had seen in the forest, it would be some time before any pleasure would be as sharp as it ought to be.‘Then why are you here, sorceress?’
‘Because that thing is dangerous,’ she said, the mirth gone from her expression.‘But it deserves to live, gwyddien.Just as you and I deserve to live.As even the wraith I sent after you does, until it finds its rest.As all things deserve to live, for their own sake.’
‘And you would give it a life in bondage?’
‘A life under guard,’ Afanan corrected.‘A lifekept safe, both from those like your Grey Lady, who would destroy it as a threat, and from the harm it would do if allowed its freedom.’
‘You want to know what I found?’Llewyn said, his voice turning hard and biting as iron.‘It gave me visions of what it does to the children it takes.You noticed their absence, but did you notice the crows, Afanan?Why do so many flock here, did you wonder?’
He saw pity in her eyes.Pity she seemed to extend to all creatures—mortal, fae, fiends, and undead alike—no matter how monstrous.
‘I can understand why that would outrage you,’ she said.‘I know some gwyddien lore—’
‘It doesnotdeserve to live,’ Llewyn said.‘You have prisms.I need one.Will you let me kill it, or will you stand in my way?’
‘We can work together.There’s no reason—’ Afanan began to say, but bit off her words when Siwan, the alderman’s daughter, bounded over.
‘Hello again, master!’she said.‘Did you see the tumblers?Weren’t they funny!’
Llewyn stared back at her, astonished.He touched his ring.
Afanan looked from the girl to Llewyn, as baffled by her ability to intrude as he was.
‘You made my papa nervous,’ Siwan said.‘That’s why he let me come see the tumblers.’Then, more quietly, cupping a hand around her mouth, ‘What were you talking about?Maybe if I talk about it next time he won’t let me have some fun, he’ll get nervous again and change his mind.’She giggled, her grin full of mischief.
the Grey Lady said.
A shout sounded from outside the inn, cutting through the music and laughter.
‘Gwyddien!’the alderman’s voice called, muted by walls and windows.‘Lyn son Phylip!We call you by name and cast you from Nyth Fran!’
Afanan straightened in her seat.Her hands twitched up her sleeves, likely seeking hidden gemstones.The tumblers rolled to an awkward halt as the jovial air in the room died into an agitated quiet.Siwan stepped back from the table, all the mirth gone from her face.
‘Gwyddien!’Trefor called again.‘Come out!We command you by your name!Lyn son Phylip!’
