Alton clamped his mouth shut as if refraining from saying something he might regret. Others among the Sacoridians grumbled and Karigan wished Graelalea would try being a little more diplomatic. Hoping to prevent an incident, she began to introduce Estral, but Graelalea turned to her of her own accord and spoke to her in flowing Eletian.

Estral cocked her head and listened intently. When Graelalea finished, Estral said, “I do not understand the words, but your meaning washed over me like music.”

Graelalea appeared pleased by her response.

“This is Estral Andovian,” Karigan supplied. “Daughter of the Golden Guardian of Selium.”

“I know,” Graelalea said. “As my words are music she understands, her presence is a song I hear. Well met, little cousin.”

Estral smiled in pleasure.

It was said there was Eletian blood in the Fiori line, and Graelalea’s acknowledgment only seemed to confirm it. Finally Karigan introduced the fuming Lieutenant Grant as the commander of the Sacoridian half of the expedition, not as the commander of the expedition. Grant appeared no happier when Graelalea offered him scant attention. When Karigan introduced Lynx, he presented Graelalea with a box.

“A gift from King Zachary,” he said.

The label on the box indicated it was from Master Gruntler’s Sugary, which meant it contained—

“Chocolate!” Graelalea exclaimed in delight. She showed the box to the other Eletians and they murmured in approval. “Our thanks to the king for his thoughtfulness.”

By the time Karigan completed introductions, the dusk of dawn had lightened considerably.

“It is time,” Graelalea said. “Daylight begins, day balances night. It is time to enter the forest.”

Karigan’s hand went to Condor’s neck. He puffed gently into her hair. All at once she found she must say good-bye to her beloved horse and her friends. She wrapped her arms around Condor’s neck, fighting tears, and handed his reins over to Dale.

“Don’t you worry,” Dale said. “Plover and I will keep an eye on him. We’ll keep him in condition so he’s ready for you when you return.”

Karigan hugged her and the other Riders who were staying behind. When she came face to face with Alton and Estral, she hesitated, and then turned away.

“Karigan.” Alton grabbed her arm and hauled her into an embrace. “I know you’re mad,” he whispered, “but I care. About you. I want you to come back safe and sound.”

“Me, too,” Estral said, taking her turn. “Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Karigan was torn by her anger at their betrayal and her desire to find comfort in their friendship. But she just couldn’t give in, even now as she was about to enter Blackveil. Too much pride, too much hurt. If she didn’t come back and they felt guilty? A small vindictive part of her thought it would serve them right. But as she turned away from them so they wouldn’t see the tears gathering in her eyes, she was the one feeling guilty, alone, and, frankly, afraid.

She shrugged her pack on and with a deep breath, faced the breach. Grant was issuing final instructions.

“We stay together,” he was saying. “No one wanders off.”

Soldiers leaned a ladder against the repairwork of the breach, climbed up, and lowered a second ladder down the other side. Then they took up positions staring down into the forest with crossbows at the ready.

“We’ll keep a daily watch for your return,” Captain Wallace told them.

Grant saluted and pivoted. “I’ll go over first.” Without awaiting anyone to contradict him, he strode over to the breach and climbed up the ladder.

“That one will not last long,” Graelalea observed.

Corporal Porter was right behind Grant. When both men had disappeared over the repairwork,Yates cried, “Woohoo!” and ran for the breach, scrambling up the ladder.

One by one Karigan watched her companions climb over the breach and disappear to the other side. The Eletians moved with grace, their armor no hindrance to them at all.

“I will see you in the shadows,” Graelalea told her before ascending the ladder herself.

Karigan was the last to go. She did not lag, but she did not hurry, and when she stood atop the repairwork, she gazed one last time at the verdant world she was leaving behind, and at her friends with their anxious expressions watching from below. Estral’s face was buried into Alton’s shoulder and his arms were loosely wrapped around her.

Karigan turned her back on them and began her descent into the clinging gray mist of Blackveil Forest. The dawn that had begun to brighten the day on the other side of the wall no longer touched her.

EQUINOX

It was, by Grandmother’s calculations, the morning of the spring equinox. The equinox brought change, not merely the change of season, but a perceptible alteration in the demeanor of the forest. She cocked her head, gazing into the murk of Blackveil at nothing, sensing the forest had turned its attention elsewhere. It was a subtle feeling, like a ripple on a still lake. What had caught its interest?

Something unrelated nagged at her, too, like an itch. It emanated from the north, near the wall, and she wondered what the Sacoridians were up to. The disturbance in the etherea came to her like an inaudible whisper and she could not name it.

Grandmother was concerned. Ripples could turn to storm waves, and whispers—well, whispers were insidious, dangerous.

It was Sarat’s inconsolable crying that brought her back to the present. They’d found yet another pile of fresh entrails that had been dumped in their path. Min rubbed Sarat’s back in an effort to calm her. The men looked on unsure and uneasy. Lala, as always, was unafraid. She squatted beside the entrails and probed them with a stick.