Shuahn arrived with a thump of her staff. She wore green in many shades, with amulets and charms pinned to her robes and a tall headdress of moss and mushrooms. “Do you want me to take you into the dark, where you will know the mystery and become my apprentice?”
Terandis held out his hand to grasp Shuahn’s. “Do you think I would do well?”
“Yes,” Shuahn said. “Come to my bridge anytime. Do you want to come with us?”
“I can’t,” Terandis said. “I can’t tear out of here on an adventure without telling Filandior, and I can’t stay on my legs that long. Ah, Saeldian.”
“I seem to be late,” Saeldian said. “My apologies for delaying us. Good morning, Saer Terandis.”
“There you are, finally,” Terandis said. “I wanted to get a look at the person Kell was so furious over that Shuahn dragged him off to sort out his feelings.”
He what? Oh no.Kell wanted to protest, but that would just make it worse. But Saeldian didn’t miss a beat. They smiled, and it made them look like the most arrogant scoundrel the world had ever seen—one who fancied themself a magnificent bastard but landed well short of the mark.
“Oh. Well, that’s me.” Saeldian bowed, every flourish perfect. “What do you think?”
The smile fell. “I think I understand.”
“I am pretty infuriating,” Saeldian agreed, and gave Kell a smirk.Ass!
But Kell was clamping down on the urge to argue. Saeldian had spotted the matchmaking gleam in Terandis’s eye and figured out how to snuff it out instantly.
Saeldian always had Kell’s back in a pinch.
“Well, Kell. I’m going to get back to Filandior. Be careful, and good luck. Come back swiftly.”
Terandis did something with the hoops attached to his chair wheels and leaned so he balanced on one rim and spun in place. Mounted on the back of his chair was a hand crossbow and a quiver of bolts.
As he rolled away, Saeldian let the facade fall.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“It seemed the most expedient,” Saeldian said. “Saying he had the wrong idea would only make him more sure of it.”
Verandil scoffed. “You didn’t have to fall on your sword quite that thoroughly. You’re really good, though. Have you ever been in plays?”
“Acting doesn’t pay as well.”
“If you want to get to Hearthaven’s Repose, it’s time we get on,” Shuahn interrupted. “Verandil, are you coming with us?”
“I have to sing the borders. Brewmistress asked me last night.”
“Begone, then. You’re distracting.”
Verandil kissed Jubilee on the forehead before he trotted off after Terandis.
“Finally,” Shuahn grumped. “Listen to me now. We will move through places that can take you away. Remember this. Stay insight. Stay on the path. Avert your eyes from whatever you see, but behave with courtesy. And this, most important: Do not dwell in memory.”
She set off, half hopping. Every time she planted her knotted staff on the ground, it pulsed with power that bothered the seedlings nearby. She didn’t look back to make sure everyone had followed along.
Kell grabbed his pack and hurried to keep up behind Jubilee and Lorzok. He checked for Saeldian, who shooed him along with a sweeping hand. The smell of yeast and fermenting grain vanished between one step and the next, and then they were in the truewild.
The forest had changed; instead of the towering cedars and that lush green world that flourished at their feet, the trees here curled their boughs around heavy air with moss swaying from their knuckles like unbound hair. Water spread over the ground lay still as a mirror. Off in the distance, someone wept. Kell looked in that direction before he remembered not to.
“Kell.”
Saeldian’s voice behind him snapped his focus back to the path, narrower now. Lorzok was still in sight, but ahead. Kell hurried to catch up.
“Did you hear that?”
