Neither of them answered.
“If we are to succeed,” he went on, “you will distract the horde and leave the rest to me.”
Sau’ilahk watched him silently without blinking. As to Ubâd, who knew what he would have done if he were not just a corpse.
Neither of them had grounds to argue further, though Khalidah knew he had pushed them to their limits. He was the only choice to enter the peak, though his cohorts both knew this left him in control of all five orbs. And though they were both now a threat, this was the arrangement he had planned from the start.
Chuillyon reappeared beside Chârmun, still partially surprised over why if not how. It could not be luck.
He had blundered into a group that had unearthed all five anchors of creation, brought them together, and was now determined to use such to destroy the Ancient Enemy ... who was awakening and calling its servants to itself.
Such things did not happen by chance, and neither did his dropping unwittingly among them.
He frowned deeply as he looked up into the glimmering branches above.
“You could have told me first,” he grumbled. “And others think I am devious!”
Tonight, Chap and Wynn had kept him inside their tent and made a shocking request—no, demand. At first, he had been speechless, convinced it was impossible to fulfill. Wynn was certainly less polite than ever before. He realized he could not refuse to try, at least not to their faces, though he had every intention of applying all his powers of persuasion.
At his agreement, Wynn had held up the branch, which she had requested from the half-blood. And with a touch upon it, Chuillyon had returned home. Now he could not fail in what he promised.
Looking up, he again saw the small new sprout with one leaf growing from a low branch of the Chârmun.
“You could have told me what you had in mind,” he chided, “instead of letting me blunder into it. It appears that again, I am not the only one prone to pranks.”
He dug about inside his robe, pulled out a small knife, and unsheathed it. About to reach for the tiny branch, he froze.
Chuillyon looked warily about the clearing and listened as well. Being caught by Vreuvillä or one of her pack would be a worse twist than using Chârmun for a trip. And soon enough, he would have to face that savage priestess to accomplish all that was needed. When certain neither was nearby, he set the blade to the base of that tiny sprout ... and hesitated.
“I would beg forgiveness, but obviously this is what you intended.”
He cut the tiny leafed branch—barely more than a twig—in one clean slice.
Cradling it in one hand, he lingered, and smiled. It was so much like another tiny precious child he had cared for long ago. That one he had personally given a new home in a hidden alcove of the courtyard at the third and greatest castle of Calm Seatt.
And then he grew sad and worried. This one would not see that kind of peace.
“I swear I will do my all for this one,” he whispered to Chârmun, as if speaking to a mother or father or both.
He tucked the little sprout of branch into an inner pocket of his robe and looked to Chârmun again.
“Bless me, please, for I will need it.”
Then he slipped away into the forest.
Wynn emerged from the tent, followed by Chap first, and then Magiere and Leesil. Ghassan was nowhere in sight, but Brot’an, Ore-Locks, and Chane all turned her way. Brot’an immediately walked over, pulled the tent’s flap, and peered inside.
Wynn looked down to Chap, gently placing a hand on his back. “How are you doing?”
—Better, physically; as for otherwise, it does not matter anymore—
It mattered to her, though, for whatever Chap had been through when he collapsed, she didn’t know what else she could do for him. What mattered most was that she had not lost him.
“Where is Chuillyon?” Brot’an asked. “There is no one in the tent.”
Wynn braced herself before turning to face him. “We sent him to check on Wayfarer and Osha and Shade, through Leesil’s branch.”
It was not a lie, not exactly. Chap had demanded that the rest be kept secret. There had been no point in arguing with him.
Brot’an rarely betrayed emotion at all, but his eyes narrowed, buckling those four scars that skipped over his right eye.
“Chuillyon will return soon,” Wynn assured. “Magiere was worried about Wayfarer when she didn’t come with Chap. Chuillyon is the only one who can ... look in on the girl.”
Magiere and Leesil neared. Though they’d been inside the tent and had been involved and informed regarding Chuillyon’s part in the plan, even they did not know everything.
“If you have concerns,” Wynn added to Brot’an, “take them up with Magiere.”
The master assassin’s jaw might have clenched slightly. It was hard to tell. He would know that he was being kept in the dark about something. At present, there was nothing he could do about it. Chuillyon was already gone, and all Wynn—or anyone—could do was wait.
If only it could have depended on anyone but Chuillyon!
Chapter Fourteen
The following evening, past dusk, Wynn noticed the others gathering in between the tents, and she knew it was time. The full creation of a plan was about to be discussed openly. Though she suspected some of them had been ready to begin earlier that day, everyone waited for Chane to rise.
Whether they accepted him or not, hated him or not, they all knew he would be needed for what was to come. And he and Chap had traveled up an entire continent to retrieve the missing three orbs. Chane had earned his place here as much as any of them.
Magiere and Leesil settled next to each other with Chap to Leesil’s left. Brot’an crouched on Magiere’s other side. Chane and Ore-Locks stood slightly aside and both looked to Wynn, so she went to join them. A moment later Ghassan emerged from a tent.
He had been angry last night upon returning to find Chuillyon gone and, for some reason, he blamed her exclusively. She’d kept Leesil’s branch and also kept quiet about its use at Chap’s insistence.
Ghassan glanced around and raised one dark brow at her. “Has your elf returned?”
“He isn’t mine,” she corrected. “And no, he hasn’t. But everyone else is ready, so we should begin without him.”
As she, Chane, and Ore-Locks stepped closer into a circle with the others, Ghassan wouldn’t let up.
“Then we start with the truth, right now,” he insisted. “Why did you send Chuillyon back home? And you can skip any more nonsense about him checking on Wayfarer.”
His tone bordered on threatening.
Magiere fixed on him, her expression darkening, and Chap rumbled low in warning. Perhaps one or both were about to intervene, but Wynn needed no such protection.
“Chap feels some things should be on a need-to-know basis,” she countered, “and I agree whether you like it or not. This is not a matter of trust but for the protection of everyone should any one of us be captured instead of killed. We cannot be forced to tell what we don’t know.”
At that, Brot’an frowned but didn’t argue. He might agree with Chap in principle, but he would also see that if she were taken, it would not matter what the others didn’t know. And Brot’an was right about that.
Very little could be done to Chap to get anything from him. Not so for her. But Chap had been as careful as possible. Last night, he had merely asked Leesil and Magiere to trust him in sending Chuillyon back. He had not shared his plan even with them. However, he had told Wynn most of it, or so she believed.