"How did you and Evelyn come to live here in Morningshire?" Satine asked.
"I knew Wigg and the other wizards of the Directorate well," Shamus answered. "Later, I was also one of those who helped build the Gates of Dawn. Nicholas-Tristan's son-altered the nature of our blood signatures, bringing us out of the darkness and into the light. I was proud to serve him. Before that, Evelyn and I lived in Tammerland for many years. When the Gates of Dawn fell, the surviving consular network sent us here. It certainly isn't Tammerland, but I have come to like it. Each of us in the brotherhood must do his part, whatever and wherever that might be."
"Forgive me, but how do you make ends meet?" Satine asked. "It is my understanding that the Directorate never allowed the consuls to learn how to conjure kisa."
Shamus smiled. "The story about the calmatrass berries is true," he said. "I have a small patch out back that I harvest and sell. Evelyn cans the rest for sale in the winter, and she also sells her knitting. With a little help from the craft to make our work go faster, we get by."
Evelyn looked up from her knitting. "Tell me, father," she asked, "does she remind you of anyone?"
"Of course, mother," he answered. "I saw it the moment she walked in."
"What are you talking about?" Satine asked.
"You remind us of our granddaughter," Shamus said.
"Where is she now?" Satine asked.
Shamus' face grew hard again. "Clarissa is dead," he answered softly.
"During the ill-conceived return of the Coven, she was raped and butchered by the very same winged ones the prince now commands. Her parents were also killed. Clarissa was a schoolteacher in Tammerland, and she was about your age. She knew nothing of the craft, or of my part in it all. Many of us have paid dearly to see the defeat of the prince and his wizards."
Silence reigned for a time, the only sound the occasional crackling of the fire.
Sensing that it was time for her to go, Satine stood. "I must leave," she said. "I want to thank you both for everything that you have done for me."
"Please stay the night, child," Evelyn said. "There's no reason for you to sleep out in the cold."
Satine shook her head. "I cannot afford to miss seeing the Minions when they take flight. That is how I have been following the prince and his group."
Shamus rose. "Suppose I arranged to have you wake two hours before dawn?" he suggested. "Would that give you enough time?"
Satine carefully considered their offer. The prospect of a warm bed was very tempting, and the odds of a roving Minion patrol discovering her campsite were next to nil.
"Very well," she said. "I accept. And thank you."
"It is we who thank you," Evelyn said. "It is good to have a young woman in the house again."
"I have a small barn round back," Shamus said. "I'll go and bed down your horse."
The elderly consul went to the door. Taking his overcoat from a peg on the wall, he walked outside.
Satine sat back down in the chair by the fire. Evelyn came to pour her another glass of the calmatrass berry wine.
The three of them talked for hours as the logs burned low in the hearth. Satine awoke with a start. at first she didn't recognize her surroundings and immediately lunged for the dagger beneath her pillow. Then she remembered that she had stayed the night with Shamus and Evelyn and she calmed down. She got out of the warm bed and dressed quickly.
The sleeping spell with which Shamus had gifted her had worked perfectly. She felt wonderfully rested and refreshed. Looking out the window of her room, she saw that it was still dark outside. She quietly opened the bedroom door and walked into the front room.
The fire had gone out, and a package lay on the table next to her cloak. A parchment note pinned to the package read: "For the journey." She opened it to see a wedge of cheese, a generous amount of jerky, and a small package of purple calmatrass berries.
She tiptoed to the other bedroom door and opened it a crack. Beneath a great, patterned quilt, Evelyn and Shamus lay asleep in each other's arms. A tear formed in Satine's eyes and she quickly brushed it away.
She walked back into the front room, put on her cloak, picked up the package, and headed for the door. She was just about to leave when she had a thought. She walked back over to the table and put the package down.
She looked around for something to write with, but she couldn't find anything. Instead, she took a piece of warm charcoal from the hearth. She removed five gold coins worth twenty kisa each from her cloak and put them on the table. Using the charcoal, she wrote, "For your kindnesses" on the tablecloth. She took up the package again and left. Four hours later the Gray Fox found herself at a fork in the narrow country road. She was in disguise again, and she held the reins of her packhorse firmly in one hand. The Minions had dwindled to specks in the sky as they traveled west, following the branch of road that bore away to her left. The road to the right led east, toward the coast. The way behind her would take her back to Shamus and Evelyn's comfortable cottage, where she knew she would be welcome to stay for as long as she liked. She found it an oddly attractive prospect. Even though she had collected only half of her fee, she was already one of the wealthiest women in Eutracia. But Wulfgar's reach was long, and if she quit now, she knew that the specter of his wrath would haunt her forever.
Thinking to herself, she reached down into her boot and withdrew the precious piece of parchment. From here on, her sanctions would prove to be even more dangerous. If she were killed, she wanted no harm to come to Shamus and Evelyn as a result of her failures. Their names and address were at the bottom of the list.
Ripping their information from the page, she tore the small section into pieces then cast them to the wind.
Eager for his mistress to choose her path, the gelding danced beneath her. She looked at first one branch of the road, and then the other. She thought for a moment about Aeolus and Shamus. They were so alike, she realized. And yet also so different.
Finally she made up her mind. Her jaw set, the Gray Fox turned her horse and spurred him into a trot down the road leading west.
CHAPTER LXXI
From where he stood in the bow of his black ship, Wulfgar looked out over the moonlit sea. His fleet was making good time. The six other Black Ships traveled abreast in a broad line. The ebony vessels and their cargo of Earthshakers and demonslavers flew quickly and silently above the waves.
Miraculous, Wulfgar thought. They had traveled from the Citadel to the coast of Eutracia in only five days. The wizards of the Redoubt would rue the day that they created these mighty ships-he would make sure of that.
Suddenly Wulfgar stiffened. For the briefest moment he thought he sensed something, but then it was gone. Relaxing again, he returned to his previous thoughts. Suddenly the feeling returned. This time the sensation was unmistakable.
"What is it, my lord?" Captain Merriwhether asked. His eerie green eyes glowed brightly from within his dark skull. "Is something amiss?"
Wulfgar quickly raised his good hand, demanding silence.
"There is endowed blood out there," Wulfgar said after a time. "It lies to the west, not far off the coast. You will probably not be able to sense it, but I can. It is blood of a very high order. Its quality is slightly higher than my own, but not altogether perfect. That leads me to only one conclusion. It must belong to the Jin'Saiou. But the Jin'Sai is not traveling with her.
"I find that curious," he added with a smile. "After our first encounter, I would have thought him eager to meet me again. And someone is cloaking Shailiha's blood-either Wigg or Faegan, no doubt. They think that they can hide it from me, but they can't. The enemy fleet must be out there. They're coming fast."