e juraviel had ever called her that. "you'll not tell elbryan," she said, "not about my plan to go south, and not about my . ..our child."

"he has a right to know," juraviel started to protest.

"and so he shall know - by my words and not yours."

juraviel dipped a respectful bow.

"i will go to captain kilronney," pony explained. "let us see what these new soldiers have come about." she walked past him, and the elf fell in behind her, to shadow her movements from the forest. if they were wrong about the new soldiers, if these riders had come north in search of two out-laws, then juraviel would stand beside his friend.

the elf spent a long time considering that notion: hisfriend.what would lady dasslerond - leader of the touel'alfar - and the others of caer'alfar think if they understood the depth of that truth within belli'mar juraviel's heart? other elves had befriended nightbird during his stay in the elven valley, and tuntun had become close to the man, and to jilseponie. but always before - when juraviel decided to go to mount aida with the companions to battle the demon dactyl and when afterward the elf chose to lead human refugees to the elven valley; when dasslerond allowed those pitiful humans in that secret elven place; even when tuntun chose to follow the expedition to aida and ultimately to sacrifice her life - the elven choices had been made out of practicality and the prospects for gain to the elves. now, though, if elbryan and pony were to be engaged in a battle, it would be a fight between humans, a fight that had nothing to do with the good of the elven folk, and juraviel's participation in the matter would not change the outcome.

yet he would fight with his friends - and die with his friends, if that came to pass. indeed, the elf's choice to go to st.-mere-abelle to help rescue bradwarden and jilseponie's adoptive parents had been based wholly in friendship.

lady dasslerond would not approve, juraviel knew, for this conflict between his friends and the church was one that must be decided by the humans. juraviel's actions then and now were not in accord with the gen-eral tenets of elven society, which placed the good of the elves above all, believing the life of a single elf worth far more than those of a thousand of another race - even humans, whom the elves did not dislike.

but juraviel would follow pony now, and if a fight came, he would stand and die beside his friend.

as soon as elbryan left tomas - the discussion ended by the tumult as the palmaris soldiers rumbled through caer tinella on their way to find the kingsmen - he started straight off to find symphony and ride for the camp. like pony, he feared that the arrival of these soldiers might have something to do with the gemstones and the escape of the imprisoned centaur from st.-mere-abelle. also, he assumed pony was already meeting with captain kilronney. the ranger breathed a bit easier as he neared the camp's perimeter and saw no scars of explosive magic: if pony were there and the soldiers had tried to take her, her magical barrage would likely have leveled half the encampment!

"greetings, nightbird!" a sentry called. another soldier moved to take symphony's reins, but the ranger waved him away.

"new arrivals?" he asked.

"palmaris garrison," the soldier explained. "they are in discussion with captain kilronney."

"and with jilseponie? "

"to be sure, she has not yet arrived," the soldier replied.

elbryan directed symphony into the encampment and was greeted warmly by all he encountered, men and women whose respect he had earned in the last couple of weeks, in the few battles the group had waged against rogue bands of monsters. captain kilronney's soldiers had been glad to have nightbird - and jilseponie! - by their side when the fighting began. the ranger, in turn, had come to know and respect these soldiers; if the new arrivals had come with malicious intent in search of him and pony, the word had not yet spread.

the ranger's relief faded when he dismounted and entered captain kil-ronney's tent. so grave were the expressions of kilronney and the others that elbryan's hand went to the hilt of his sword.

"what news?" the ranger asked after a tense moment.

kilronney eyed him squarely. the captain was taller than elbryan by two inches, and was solidly built, though nowhere near as heavily muscled as the powerful ranger. his neatly trimmed beard and mustache were strik-ingly red, as was his bushy hair; and all that added contrast to his intensely blue eyes - eyes that now showed a profound sadness and anger to percep-tive elbryan.

shamus kilronney looked to the leader of the palmaris contingent, and the ranger tensed, almost expecting an attack. "what news?" elbryan demanded again.

"who is this man?" asked the leader of the palmaris garrison, a solidly built woman, nearer to six feet in height than to five, with hair as fiery red as kilronney's hanging in thick braids. her eyes, like the captain's, were sparkling blue. it seemed to elbryan that these two might even be siblings - except that her accent was closer to the rural dialect, typical of the underclass, while shamus kilronney's diction and enunciation were perfect.

"he is an ally," kilronney explained, "serving as scout for my garrison."

"a mere scout?" the woman remarked, and she raised her eyebrows as she considered the powerful ranger. elbryan saw her suspicions etched there and also a bit of curiosity.

"his accomplishments are too many for me even to begin to list them now," kilronney said impatiently.

the woman nodded.

"baron rochefort bildeborough is dead," kilronney bluntly explained.

elbryan's green eyes went wide. his first thought was for roger, whom he knew was traveling with bildeborough.

"he got murdered on the road just south o' palmaris," the woman ex-plained, her voice strong and determined - and hiding great pain, elbryan realized. "they're sayin' his carriage was attacked by some beast, a great cat most likely."

"on his way back from ursal?" the ranger asked.

"on his wayto ursal," the woman corrected.

"but that was months ago," the ranger protested. what he was thinking was that, if the woman's words were true, he and pony had passed through palmarisafter the murder and yet had heard nothing of it.

"we didn't think to make the trip north a priority," the woman said dryly, "bigger nobles to tell than captain shamus kilronney and his dirty friend."

"what of his companions?" the ranger asked, ignoring the insults and accepting the woman's explanation for the lack of communication.

"all killed," the woman replied.

elbryan's thoughts whirled.

"they'd set their camp," another soldier offered. "seems they were caught unawares. the baron tried to get back into his carriage, but the cat followed him in and tore him up."

from the few words the soldier had offered, elbryan had great doubts concerning the nature of this beast. in his years with the touel'alfar, he had been taught the ways of animals, hunter and hunted. there were great cats about, though very few remained in the civilized lands between palmaris and ursal. but such creatures would not normally attack and slaughter a group of men. a hunting cat might take a lone person for food, might even stay with its victim and fight off any others who tried to take the prize from it, but the telling clue here was the pursuit of the baron into his carriage.

"i seen it meself," another soldier offered. "all of 'em, torn up and lying in a pond o' blood."

"and who was killed first? " the ranger asked.

"had to be one o' the guards at the fire," the man replied. "one never even got his weapon out afore the cat ripped him dead, and the others got no chance to set any defense."

"so the baron was the last killed - in his carriage?"

the man nodded, his lips tight, as if he were choking back pain.

it made little sense to elbryan, unless some diseased animal had attacked or unless a group of cats - an unlikely occurrence - had come in together.

"how many were eaten? " he asked the witness.

"they was all ripped," the man said. "their guts was spillin' out. one of 'em had his heart laying open on his chest! i'm not for knowing how many bites the cat took of each."

"and ye're thinkin' this to be needed?" the woman protested to captain kilronney.

kilronney turned a plaintive look upon elbryan, but the ranger had his hand up, signaling that he would not press the issue further. he didn't need to. no hungry cat would leave as tempting a morsel as a heart uneaten, and no cat would spend the energy killing fleeing people when there was a fresh kill to be eaten. if the man's description of the scene was accurate, then the baron had not been killed by any natural beast.

and of course that led elbryan to even more disturbing thoughts. he had seen the gemstones at work many times, had spoken with avelyn about them at length, and knew of one that could transform a man's arm into an animal's paw.

"the men about the baron," the ranger began calmly, "did you know them all?"

"one was a friend," the witness replied. "and i seen the others with him before. the baron's closest guard, they were!"

the ranger nodded. "i have heard that another - not a soldier - was traveling with baron bildeborough."

"the little fellow," the woman remarked. "yeah, we heared o' him."

"and was his body at the camp?"

"didn't see 'im," the witness replied.

that gave elbryan a bit of relief but didn't confirm anything. the cat, if it was a cat, might have dragged roger away to eat. even more plausibly, the monk, if it was a monk, might have taken roger prisoner, seeking informa-tion about elbryan and pony.

"what is your course? " he asked the palmaris leader.

"we come ridin' to tell captain kilronney o' the baron, as runners have been sent in every direction," she replied.

"the death of the baron holds tremendous implications for palmaris," shamus kilronney remarked, "especially following so closely on the murder of abbot dobrinion."

"the city's been in brew all the season," the woman added. "the new abbot's just returned from another trip to st.-mere-abelle - some college of abbots, whatever that might be meanin' - and now he's taken his place, and a bit more than that, but he's not without his rivals."

the ranger nodded, hearing the words as confirmation of his worst fears. he had once met the new abbot of st. precious - only briefly but long enough to recognize that de'unnero was an unpleasant man, full of fire and pride. bildeborough's death left a gaping hole in the power structure - his only heir, connor, was dead, as was abbot dobrinion - that abbot de'un-nero would hasten to fill. and the fact that de'unnero had gone back to st.-mere-abelle for this college made the ranger fear the abbot might have had a prisoner, roger lockless, in tow.

it seemed to elbryan then that the abellican church was a great black monster, rising to block out the sun. he considered his journey to aida to battle the dactyl and his trip to st.-mere-abelle to steal his friends from the clutches of the father abbot, and he understood that those two missions had not been so very different - not at all.

"and what course for you? " elbryan asked kilronney.

the man blew a helpless sigh. "i should return to palmaris," he said, "to see if i can help secure the city."

"you are needed here," the ranger reminded. "winter may strike hard at these folk and bring in monsters that they cannot overcome without your help. and then there is the matter of the caravan north, before the start of spring."

"ye're not for comparin' the reopenin' o' the timberlands to the security of palmaris? " the woman protested incredulously, moving closer to the cap-tain and locking him with an intense gaze - one that reflected familiarity, elbryan noted, thinking again that there might be a family relation here.

the ranger looked at kilronney, but the captain only shrugged, defeated by the simple logic of the woman's statement.

"what of the powrie band in the west? " the ranger asked, for he and kil-ronney had previously discussed their plans concerning one troublesome band of bloody cap dwarves who had not left the region, looming as a threat to any who might venture outside the secure area of caer tinella and landsdown.

"we will deal with them at once," shamus kilronney offered.

the woman soldier began to protest.

"and then, if the weather holds and leaves the road clear, my men and i will turn to the south," shamus said in a tone that left no room for debate.

the woman growled and turned away to stare intently at the ranger.

"i give you nightbird," captain kilronney said, finally introducing him.

the ranger lifted his chin slightly but did not bow.

"nightbird?" the woman asked, her expression sour. "a strange name."

"and this is sergeant colleen kilronney of the palmaris guard," shamus explained.

"your sister?" the ranger asked.

"cousin," replied shamus, somewhat distastefully.

"from the better part o' the family," colleen was quick to put in, and elbryan couldn't tell if her tone was serious or not. "oh, me cousin's learned to speak so proper and pretty for courtin' ladies in ursal. he's even been to the king's dinner table."

shamus glowered at her, but she just gave a derisive laugh and turned to the ranger.

"well, master nightbird - " she began.

"just nightbird," the ranger explained.

"well, master nightbird," colleen went on without missing a beat, "seems ye've got yer fight with the bloody caps. me and me soldiers'll go along for the fun. we're all a bit troubled by the happenin's in palmaris, and it might be good for us to take out our worrys on the powries."

the other two palmaris soldiers, grim-faced, nodded.

shamus kilronney said, "we have not much time. the battlefield must be chosen and prepared."

"ye make yer own battlefield when ye draw yer sword," stubborn colleen put in.

elbryan eyed the captain and then his cousin. there was an intense rivalry here, obviously, and the ranger understood that such feelings could lead to disaster in a fight. "i will learn where the powries have gone and choose the appropriate ground for our attack," he said, and he walked from the tent.

"ye're a bit trustin'," he heard colleen complain.

"none can prepare a battlefield better than nightbird," shamus was saying as elbryan, shaking his head and smiling, mounted symphony and started away. his amusement over colleen kilronney was short-lived, though, lasting only as long as it took him to consider again the grim news the woman had delivered.

he found pony nearing the encampment even as he was leaving it, and he trotted symphony over to her.

she eyed him suspiciously, and she knew even before he began to speak that something was wrong.

"baron bildeborough was murdered on the road, before he ever got near ursal," elbryan said, sliding down to stand beside his wife, "along with all his guard - though no sign of roger was discovered among the dead."

"powries again?" came juraviel's voice from the trees, dripping with sar-casm. "same clan that killed abbot dobrinion, no doubt."

"that thought may hold more truth than you believe," the ranger replied. "those who found the baron say he was killed by a great cat, but while the wounds might prove consistent with such a creature, i doubt the motive will."

"tiger's paw," pony spat, referring to the gemstone the monks could use to transform their limbs into those of a great cat. she closed her eyes and put her head down, sighing deeply, and elbryan draped his arm around her shoulders, sensing that she needed the support. every new encounter or word about the abellican church weighed heavily on pony; every action these monks engaged in that was so unholy, so against the principles that had guided dear avelyn, only reinforced her grief for her lost parents.

"palmaris is in turmoil," elbryan said, speaking more to juraviel. "our time with captain kilronney and his soldiers grows short. we should dis-patch that powrie band before we depart."

"and what of roger?" pony was quick to ask. "are we to continue our duties here, even go further away, while he might be in terrible peril? "

elbryan held his hands out helplessly. "there was no sign of roger, among the dead or anywhere on the road," he explained.

"he may have been taken," juraviel offered.

"if he has been sent to st.-mere-abelle, i will go back," pony declared, her tone so cold that it sent a shiver through elbryan. he suspected that she meant to go in through the front doors this time, and leave little standing in her wake.

"and if he has been taken, then of course we will go for him," elbryan assured her. "but we do not know that, and in the absence of evidence, we must hold our trust in roger and continue our planned course."

"but if we continue to the north, or go against the powries, how will we discern roger's fate?" pony protested.

it was a dilemma, but the ranger remained unconvinced that they should drop everything and go in search of roger lockless. the man was a sur-vivor. when elbryan and juraviel had gone into powrie-occupied caer tinella to rescue him, they had found him already free. "i have no answers," the ranger admitted. "i know that i must trust roger. if he was killed on the road, then there is nothing i can do about it."

"you would not avenge a friend?" pony's words cut deep.

elbryan stared at her as if she were a stranger, some different person than the one he had come to love so dearly.

pony couldn't match that stare. she lowered her head and sighed again. "of course you would," she admitted. "i am afraid for roger, that is all."

"we can send word to belster o'comely in palmaris," juraviel offered. "the city is too large for us to go wandering about in an attempt to locate roger. but belster, so centered in the town, might be able to glean some information."

"all gossip flows through fellowship way," pony added hopefully.

"i will go to tomas gingerwart," elbryan offered, "and secure a trusted courier."

"none would prove more trustworthy than i," pony said as the ranger took a step away.

elbryan stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes; it took a long while for him to secure control of his anger. then he turned to her slowly, astonished that she would take such a step.

"i must go and meet with bradwarden," juraviel remarked. "we will scout out the powries and report this evening." and the elf was gone, leaving the two, who had hardly heard his words, to their conversation.