Hedi kept the fire low and pulled the cloak tighter around Korey and Wynn. Wynn coughed and opened her eyes. The young scholar rolled her head to look about, and fright washed over her face.

"You are safe," Hedi said. "We are all safe."

"Ch… Chane?" Wynn stammered. "What happened?"

"Your strange friend brought us out," Hedi answered. "He carried you all the way. I gave him my word that I would watch over you until your companions came. He left us here and would not stay. How do you know such a man?"

"Then it was real?" Wynn asked. "He was there in the corridor… with the soldiers?"

Little Korey frowned and muttered, "He was cold-bad man," and snuggled closer to Wynn beneath the cloak.

"How do you know him?" Hedi repeated. "Is he a foreign soldier of some kind? I have seen him before but cannot remember where."

"Where are we?" Wynn asked, and glanced about as if truly noticing her surroundings for the first time. "Where is your baron?"

Hedi tried to be patient. "Your friend thought Emel went into the keep, looking for us. I hope he did not, and that he will come for us soon."

If only poor Emel had known what would happen. In hindsight, she should have told him everything from the start. Byrd must have located the tunnel's exit, or Emel-far too chivalrous for Darmouth's domain- would never have gone in after her. Soon enough, Byrd's associates would be sent to finish Darmouth, but not before Hedi dealt with Leesil.

"And Papa and Mama will come, too?" Korey asked.

"Maybe not tonight, but soon," Hedi said.

Rhythmic scraping sounds came through the forest behind her.

Hedi leaned around the tree and looked toward the opening in the dead trunk. She started to pull herself from under the cloak.

A tall, cowled man stepped out into the forest with someone draped over his shoulder. Both were cloaked, and the one standing had a cloth wrapped across the lower half of his face. He turned his head, looking about, and Hedi barely made out large eyes in a dark-skinned face. He staggered in weariness, as if it were an effort to remain on his feet and still bear his burden.

Hedi pulled back out of sight and put a finger to her lips, signaling Wynn and Korey to be silent.

The dagger taken from Wynn's guard lay by her side, and she gripped its handle. As she looked at the small fire, her fear rose sharply. Its light could not be missed by anyone so close. If this was one of Byrd's elven assassins, then they had closed in on Darmouth more quickly than Hedi had thought possible. And this one might not care to be seen by three women in the forest.

She leaned slowly back to peer toward the tunnel's exit.

The elf was gone. She scanned the darkness between the trees. After long, tense moments, Hedi relaxed again.

"What was it?" Wynn whispered.

"I thought I saw something, but… no, nothing."

Disturbing Korey or Wynn over this strangely fortunate near-miss would serve no purpose. They huddled in silence, letting the fire burn lower. Wynn appeared lost in thought. Angry dissatisfaction filled Hedi in realizing Leesil would not die before Darmouth. Then she heard another soft scuffling in the direction of the dead tree.

A tall woman crawled out of the opening, dressed in a leather hauberk and wearing a sword on her hip. The sleeves of her shirt seemed torn or tattered, though it was too dark to be certain. One shoulder looked stained, and she held that same arm against her chest. Hedi turned on her knees, holding the dagger ready.

Emel crawled out next, his face smudged and dirty, and Hedi rushed out of hiding.

"Emel! Here!"

He saw her and held out his arms. Then her face was in his chest, and he pulled her close.

"Magiere!" came a cry from behind.

Hedi caught a glimpse of Wynn rounding the tree that blocked the fire, steadying herself with one hand on its rough bark.

"Wynn?" the tall woman said, her tone melting to relief. "You got out."

Before the woman named Magiere took a step, a large silver-gray dog lunged out of the tree. It rushed to Wynn, and the little scholar sank to her knees. The animal licked her swollen face with a whine.

Another figure rose up in the hollow of the dead tree.

Slender, with brown skin and white-blond hair, his eyes were like amber. Clearly he was an elf, but Hedi was confused. Had Emel joined with the assassins? The man's face was expressionless as he held a bundle to his chest with one arm.

"Leesil," Wynn cried. "You're safe."

Hedi went cold.

Leesil. The son of Gavril and Nein'a. The one who had murdered her father in his sleep. And now, of all sick twists… Wynn was his companion and not his target?

He did not acknowledge the little scholar and stared into the darkness, slowly blinking now and again. Everyone else began speaking at once.

"Ah, look at your face!" Magiere said, kneeling beside Wynn. "What are you wearing? Where's your coat? It's freezing out here."

"Magiere, you are bleeding!" Wynn returned. "Let me see your shoulder. What's wrong with Leesil?"

Emel whispered softly in Hedi's ear, but she did not hear his words. Korey came out next around the fireside tree, the hem of Wynn's coat dragging around her bare feet.

"Are Mama and Papa with you?"

Hedi was barely aware as Emel's mouth opened and then closed. He crouched, dropping from her sight. Hedi's gaze turned on Leesil alone.

"No," Emel answered to Korey. "They are not with us."

"We have a fire back here," Wynn said. "Magiere, I need to look at your wounds."

"Not now," she said. "You go sit down."

Hedi still had the dagger in her hand-she felt the hard hilt and the strain of her aching fingers.

Someone passed through her sight. Was it Emel carrying Korey? She heard the others move away toward the fire, and the only one left was Leesil… his hands and thighs stained dark with someone's blood.

He blinked rapidly as if waking, and turned his head toward her. There he stayed, motionless with his eyes upon hers. She understood his expression-recognition.

"Assassin!" she hissed, and charged him.

He did not try to block her swing but only retreated and stumbled. The dagger's tip skidded across his hauberk, clicking across its iron rings as he fell to the forest floor.

Hedi threw herself onto him, where he sat clutching his bundle. She raised the dagger.

"Leesil!" someone shouted from far away, and the voice grew ragged and snarling. "Get off him!"

"Murderer," Hedi whispered. She ripped the bundle from Leesil's arms, and her voice rose so loud it tore at her throat. "Do you know what happened to my mother? My sisters!"

She drove the blade down.

Leesil's eyes awakened-hardened. But not at her. They followed the tumbling bundle she had taken from him.

"Hedi, no!" This time it was Emel's panicked voice.

Leesil reached for the bundle, twisting beneath Hedi. The dagger's tip slid off the hauberk's side and sliced through the inside of his shirtsleeve. Leesil whipped his other arm across her, and Hedi fell away as he lunged for the bundle. She righted herself on her knees, looking at the one man she wanted dead more than Darmouth.

Leesil knelt on the ground with his back to her, gathering the cloak into a bundle against his chest. He stayed there, not turning to face her, not even trying to defend himself. Hedi rose up, turning the dagger point down as she approached Leesil's exposed back.

A figure landed in her way like an animal pouncing from the dark, and its growling words were barely intelligible between distorted teeth.

"Get… away… from him!"

The woman named Magiere crouched, nearly on all fours, in Hedi's way. Her face was so pale it looked white in the darkness, but her irises had no color at all-only black, like her sweat-tangled hair. Her fingernails were pointed like claws. And in her mouth, upper and lower fangs extended beyond sharpened teeth.