"But everyone says"
"If I'd had to," Feena said. "I would have. He was going to poison that well." She drank from the bottle. "But I didn't have to. He killed himself rather than face me. He died with Shar's name on his lips. I didn't touch him. But Moonmaiden's grace, I'd like to know who did! It's almost as if I were being set up." She took another sip and set the bottle aside. "Why would this Cyrume try to poison the well anyway?"
"As an act of devotion to Shar, I suppose," Keph said sourly. "We" His face twisted. "Sharrans are supposed perform a dark deed at least once every tenday. Jarull said poisoning the well was Variance's idea. Apparently the cult was smaller and a lot less aggressive before she came along."
"That would probably explain why Moonshadow Hall had no idea they were in the city." Feena stared back at the stain of Yhaunn. "Where did she come from?"
"Jarull says the Temple of Old Night beneath Calimport."
Feena's eyes narrowed. "I've heard rumors about that place. It's supposed to be the ancient seat of Sharran power, the oldest of Shar's temples."
"Bolan and Jarull never said much about it. They just went really quiet whenever they mentioned it."
"Jarull…" Feena glanced at Keph. "Your friend seems to have taken to his conversion zealously."
"I guess he has," Keph said. "What am I going to do, Feena? Have I damned myself over stupid revenge?"
Feena sighed again and rubbed her medallion between her fingers.
"I don't really know," she said. "I'm no philosopher. For what it's worth, I don't think you did anything wrong. Think about the initiation Bolan put you through. You swore no oaths. The sacrifice you made was only an illusion. And you're repentant. There's hope, I think." "And what I did to Lyraene?"
Feena said, "That you'll have to live with, Keph. It was no noble act. You'll carry the stain of it for the rest of your life."
"I guess I have to expect that," Keph replied. He stared out at the distant, dark horizon. "But what about the orison? I felt Shar's power, and I channeled it…"
"You couldn't have." Feena scowled. "A priest has to take oaths and training. It sounds too easy, too convenient. It must have been some trick. There's a spell that lets a priestess share the power of her faith with someone else. If Variance worked that on you, it might have felt like you were casting an orison when it was really Variance's magic." She closed her eyes and scrubbed her knuckles against her forehead. "The thing you have to fear is Shar's cult, not the goddess herself."
The young man blinked. "I shouldn't be running?"
"Oh, you should be running," Feena said. She opened her eyes again and gave him a long look. "They've gone to a lot of trouble to seduce you. They're up to something, and like you say, I don't think they'll give up easily."
Keph exhaled slowly and shuddered. He leaned back, stretching out on the grass and staring up at the star-speckled sky.
"What if I came to Arch Wood with you?" he asked after a moment. "Just for a little while. The Sharrans won't think to look for me there, will they?"
Feena groaned, "Oh, aye. That should cause some talk. I go aWay and come back with a man ten years younger than me and a price on my head in Yhaunn…" She looked at him and asked, "Are you so sure you want to travel with a werewolf who'll tear into her oldest friends?"
For a moment, Keph was silent, then he rolled over onto his side to look into her eyes.
"For what it's worth," he said, "I don't think you did anything wrong either. Dhauna manipulated you. Just like Variance manipulated me."
Feena stared at himand raised her eyes to Selune's crescent.
"Moonmaiden's grace," she whispered, "aren't we just the best people to give each other advice?" She smiled and sighed, "Thank you, Keph." She picked up the wine bottle and offered it to him. "How about a toast? To the two most gullible fools in Yhaunn."
"Not so gullible anymore," Keph said. "And never again in Yhaunn."
He reached for the bottle and let it slip through his fingers to tumble onto the ground.
"Listen!" he gasped.
Feena heard it too: a wild cascade of hooves in the night. Someone was riding hard and fast along the Ordulin road. A sudden foreboding struck her. She grabbed the glowing rock and willed the magic to fade. Darkness wrapped around them. Keph ran for his horse and Feena scrambled for the crest of the hill and a better view. Staying low, she scanned the road's length.
A lone rider moved in a broad patch of bright moonlight, galloping west from Yhaunn like a madman. Or a madwoman, Feena thought. As the rider drew closer, Feena slid down from the hilltop. Keph was already mounted, his overstuffed saddlebags abandoned.
"Is it the Sharrans?" he gasped.
"No," said Feena. "The rider travels in moonlight. It's one of my people."
"What do you want to do?"
The hoofbeats were even closer.
"Wait," she said. "We'll face her. I think I know who it is. If she finds us, then she deserves to."
Out on the road, the rider slowed then stopped. The horse whinnied in alarm as its rider pulled hard on the reins, wheeling the animal around and back to a narrow gap in the hedgerow. Heels kicked into the horse's side and sent it cantering across a field of swaying grain toward the hill.
"Feena!" shouted Julith. "Feena, where are you? I know you're close!"
Feena stepped forward and called, "Here!"
Julith spun her horse around, then slid out of the saddle and ran toward her.
"Feena! Moonmaiden's grace, Feenathank Selune I found you."
Her hair was wild, blown and tangled by her ride. She spread her arms. Feena hesitated, then opened her arms to accept the young priestess's embrace.
"I'm sorry, Julith," she sighed. "So much happened. There was too much to say. I just couldn't stay in Yhaunn any-"
Julith stiffened, staring up. "Who?" she gasped. Feena twisted her head to see Keph looming over them on his horse.
"Keph Thingoleir," Feena said. "That's another story." She ran a hand over Julith's flushed, wind-burned face. "What are you doing out here, Julith? Why come after me?"
"To warn you." Julith hugged Feena then pushed her away. "We found Jhezzail. Mifano and Velsinore are coming after you and they're bringing half of Moonshadow Hall with them."
Feena's eyes went wide. "What are you talking about?"
"They mean to take you back by force, Feena. They think your attack on Mother Dhauna was deliberate."
"But you don't," Feena said. The realization felt like a weight lifted from her.
"I know you would never do something like that of your own free will," Julith said as she dug into a satchel that she wore slung at her side. "They're going to be an hour or so behind me. The only reason I managed to get out ahead of them is because they were arguing over the best magic to use to find you. They'll be working together by now and on your-trail."
"How did you manage to find me, then?" Feena asked.
"Unlike Velsinore and Mifano," the younger priestess said with a smile, "I know you, Feena. I knew that if you were running, you'd be heading back to Arch Wood. I just rode in the right direction, and while I rode, I prayed to Selune to guide me. And she answered my prayer."
"I" Feena pressed her lips together, then exhaled slowly. "Thank you," she said.
"Don't thank me just yet," said Julith. She pulled out a gray bundle tied up with a leather strap. "This is how you carry your clothes while you're in wolf form, right?" Feena blinked and nodded. Julith breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." She thrust the bundle at her. "That's a robe. Take off your clothes, change into your wolf form, and get back to Moonshadow Hall."
"But if Mifano and Velsinore are coming after me, why would I want to run to them?"
"You wouldn't," Julith answered, looking her in the eye. "You need to get back for Mother Dhauna's sake."
Feena's heart sank.