Once the spell was finished, Tavis's eyes rolled back into their normal positions. He was even more pale than before Brianna had healed him, with a cold sweat running down his brow.
"Now will you listen to me?" he asked.
"If that will make you feel better," Brianna said, giving him an overly sweet smile. She laid her talisman upon the scout's bruised chest, taking care to position it directly over the scout's heart. "Just let me do one more thing."
Brianna closed her eyes, preparing to cast a spell that would prevent any lies from slipping his from lips.
"No!" Rog's voice shook the entire platform. "Wait!"
Brianna opened her eyes to see the hill giant laying Greta at her side. The ogre's arrow still protruded from the beast's flank, while his fur was matted and dark with drying blood.
"First fix Greta." The hill giant locked a threatening glare on the princess.
Brianna's stomach knotted in panic. She could cast no more healing spells today. But if she explained that to the hill giant, Tavis would wonder what spell she intended to cast on him. The princess took a deep breath, then said, "I'm sorry, Rog. It's more important that I use this spell on Tavis than on Greta."
"Liar!" Rog stooped over and pressed a huge finger to Tavis's bruised chest, drawing a groan of pain from the scout. "Him not die from little bruise. You say that!"
"Still, this spell is for him," Brianna said.
"No, use it on Rog's wolf," Tavis insisted. He took her amulet off his chest and returned it to her, at the same time pulling his lips to Brianna's ear. "We want him on our side."
"I doubt Hiatea will grant her magic on behalf of a dire wolf," Brianna countered.
"Why not? She's the goddess of the hunt as well as the family," he pointed out. "And dire wolves are nothing, if not hunters."
"But-"
"Save Greta!" Rog insisted. "Rog's other wolves all dead. You not tell him about ogres!"
"There wasn't time." Brianna objected.
As the princess spoke, Morten stepped to her side, axe in hand. Brianna knew he would be hard pressed to defend her against a single giant, let alone three.
Rog seemed to know this better than the princess. He dropped to his hands and knees, in the process brushing Morten aside and nearly knocking him from the platform.
"Not matter," Rog growled. The hill giant, eyes narrowed, hovered over Brianna. "How you feel if Rog not watch where he step and squish horse? Same thing, huh?"
"There's nothing I can do for Greta," Brianna said. Her jaws ached with nausea, for her lungs were filled with the giant's breath, a foul odor that smelled like rotting swamp grass and rancid meat "Maybe tomorrow-"
"Cast the spell on the wolf!" Tavis urged. "Or do you want to get everyone else killed along with yourself?"
"Tavis not worry." Rog said. "Tavis friend-save Greta."
It did not escape the notice of either Brianna or her bodyguard that the hill giant had limited his reassurances strictly to the scout. Morten stood and carefully moved forward to place himself near the princess.
At the same time, Brianna lowered her head until her lips were next to the scout's ear. "I need you on my side," she whispered. "If I cast my spell on the wolf, all it'll do is howl in its sleeps-if it does that much."
"What do you mean?" Tavis demanded.
"I've run out of healing spells for today," Brianna replied. She spoke loudly enough so the hill giant could hear also. "The spell I was going to use on you was true speaking-so I'd know you were telling the truth."
Tavis's jaw dropped. "You can do that?"
Brianna nodded. "As long as you don't resist-which is why I haven't tried it before now," she explained. "I was trying to take you unaware."
The scout shook his head in astonishment. "Women!" he hissed. "I'll never understand you. Why didn't you just ask?"
"You'll let me cast the spell on you?" Brianna did no! know whether she was more astonished or confused. Even the most honest of men were reluctant to give someone complete access to their innermost thoughts. "And I can ask you anything?"
The scout nodded. "If Rog lets you live that long," he said, glancing above her.
Brianna looked up and saw the hill giant's head still poised above her. His lips were twisted into an angry snarl, and his brow was furrowed in confusion.
"Can't save Greta?" he demanded.
"Then kill humans," suggested one of his friends. "Don't taste good anyway."
Rog's second friend reached out and plucked Avner off the platform. "If stupid girl can't save Greta, then Kol crush boy!"
Avner's face, all that showed above the giant's thumb went as pale as Tavis's. "Maybe we can get more wolves?" he suggested.
Rog shook his head stubbornly. "Take years to train new bully wolf. Raise from pup, teach to like Rog, to make others obey," he complained. "Without Greta, Rog no hunter. Him just stupid guard."
The other giants frowned at this. "What wrong with that?" demanded Kol, the one holding Avner.
"Yeah. Sart like being stupid guard," the other confirmed. "Sleep on same floor every night, rut whenever Sart like."
Rog's face reddened as he realized he had insulted his friends. Glancing over his shoulder, he said, "Nothing wrong with being stupid guard-for you. Rog not stupid. Him smart, have own pack."
This did not alleviate the tension. "Not after Greta die," smirked Sart.
"Yeah, then Rog stupid, too," added Kol.
Rog's face went pale. He looked back to Brianna and pointed at the dire wolf. "Fix Greta!"
"Maybe you can do something without a spell," Tavis said. "The ogre poison only knocks its victims unconscious. It doesn't kill them. With luck, Greta may not be injured that badly."
Brianna needed only a glance to know the scout's hopes were without foundation. Though she had never tended a dire wolf before, she could see the arrow had lodged itself deep in the intestines. The ogre poison had done the beast a service by knocking it unconscious. Such wounds were terribly painful and, without a prompt healing spell, invariably fatal. The princess could do nothing. Removing the arrow would only bring death sooner, and counteracting the poison would revive the wolf only so it could suffer a horrible death.
"Fix Greta now!" Rog insisted.
Brianna began to prod and poke the wolfs belly, desperately trying to buy time to think. Her stomach was churning with fear, not as much for herself as for the boy, and there was something else, too: guilt. She had been wrong to doubt the scout, and her mistake could, cost Avner's life-as well as hers and Morten's. The princess still did not understand what had happened back in Hartwick, but she now accepted that somehow she had interpreted events incorrectly. No thief would allow a truth-speaking spell to be cast on him, yet Tavis had been more than anxious to subject himself to it and clear his name. She owed him a big apology-if she could figure out a way to keep herself and her friends alive that long.
Their only hope was Tavis's friendship with Rog, Brianna decided. If anyone stood a chance of reasoning with the hill giant, it would be the scout. The princess looked up and caught Tavis's eye, then shook her head ever so slightly.
The motion did not escape Rog. "Do something!" he boomed.
Tavis pushed himself to his feet, bracing himself against the cliff face to keep from reeling. "Rog, listen-"
"No!" The hill giant pushed the scout back down, then looked over his shoulder at Kol. "Drop stupid boy over cliff!"
Kol extended his arm over the edge of the platform. Brianna caught her bodyguard's eye, then flicked her head toward Avner. Morten obeyed instantly, moving to intercept Kol with a raised axe. Rog lashed out and caught the burly firbolg by the ankle, then lifted him high into the air.