Jynna nodded, feeling better. "Probably."
The smile remained on S'Doryn's face, although it began to seem forced. Jynna could tell that he had more questions for her, but after a few moments, he merely turned and started back down the hill.
"We'll be leaving soon," he said. "You should come down and make sure that you have all your things packed and ready to go. I want to be back in Lowna well before nightfall."
"All right," Jynna said. "We'll be down in a moment."
He nodded and continued down the slope.
She looked at Etan, only to find that he was watching her, a guarded look in his pale eyes.
"What?" she said.
"Do you really think it was your fault?"
"No. You heard S'Doryn. If it was the baskets I would have gotten sick."
"Maybe it wasn't the baskets. Maybe she did something else. My f-" He looked away. "People say that the Mettai are evil. That's why they do blood magic."
"It wasn't her!" Jynna said. But she had her doubts. The Mettai witch had been odd; Jynna had continued to think so even after the woman gave her the baskets and the beautiful flowers.
"It might have been."
"No! It wasn't!"
"Don't fight!"
They both looked behind them at the same time. Vettala was standing a short distance off, her fists clenched, her face looking pale in the sunlight.
Etan and Jynna exchanged glances.
"It's all right, Vettala," Jynna said.
"No, it's not! You can't fight!"
"Why not?" Etan asked.
"You'll make them mad, and they'll send us away, maybe back to the village. They won't take care of us and we'll be all alone again."
"No, they-"
Jynna laid a hand on Etan's arm to stop him.
"It's all right," she said. "We won't fight."
"Promise?"
She nodded. "Promise."
The little girl eyed them both a moment longer. Then she nodded once and started down the hill, following S'Doryn's footsteps. "Come on then," she said, without looking back. "We shouldn't keep them waiting, either."
S'Doryn was still pondering what he'd learned from the girl when he found T'Noth and T'Kaar.
"You look like you've lost something," T'Kaar said, as S'Doryn drew near to where they were sitting.
T'Noth laughed. "That happens as you get old. You'll have to be careful, brother," he added, with a sly look at T'Kaar. "It won't be long before you're misplacing things as well."
"What's wrong?" the older brother asked, ignoring the gibe. S'Doryn shook his head. "I'm not certain. It's probably nothing." "Probably," T'Kaar repeated.
"The girl told me a bit more about that old Mettai woman she saw in Tivston the day the pestilence struck."
T'Noth's expression sobered. "What about her?"
"Apparently she was using magic on all of her baskets."
"Didn't we know that already?"
"Yes."
The younger man raised an eyebrow.
"As I say, it's probably nothing. She told Jynna that she was using her magic to color just a few of the baskets. But she had all of them spread out around her."
"So she was coloring all of them. You've done enough trading in your day, S'Doryn. You know how much more a Mettai can get for baskets that are colored by hand."
"That's what Jynna and I decided."
The brothers shared a look.
"So, then there's more?" T'Noth asked.
"No. That's it. I know it makes no sense, but something about that woman bothers me. I can't help thinking that she did something else to those people, aside from whatever it was that she did to those baskets."
"But if Jynna-"
"I know. She spent more time with the woman than anyone. She should have gotten sick, too. But then again, all our survivors are children. Maybe whatever the woman did had no effect on Jynna because she was too young."
The two brothers appeared to consider this for several moments.
Finally, T'Kaar stood. "I'm going to check on the others," he said, walking away. "I'll make certain they're ready for the ride back."
S'Doryn nodded and watched him walk away. T'Kaar could be difficult at times, but he was a good man. He'd spent hours with the wounded children, healing their injuries and comforting them in their grief. S'Doryn had been reluctant to let the man accompany them on this journey, but he was glad now that T'Kaar had come along.
"Why would she do it?"
He looked over at T'Noth. "What?"
"Assuming for a moment that the Mettai woman was somehow responsible for what happened, why would she have done it? Do the Mettai hate Qirsi that much? Do they hate the Y'Qatt?"
"Truly, my friend, I don't know. I've never heard of any feud between Qirsi and Mettai. More to the point, I don't know how she might have done it. I know little about blood magic and Mettai spells."
"S'Doryn!"
He turned. T'Kaar was already walking back in their direction, his strides long and purposeful.
"What is it?"
"All three children recall seeing baskets in their homes the day their families fell ill. And two of them remember seeing at least one of their parents speaking with the woman in the marketplace."
S'Doryn felt himself grow cold. "Demons and fire."
"It could mean nothing," T'Noth said, though judging from the young man's expression, it seemed he didn't believe this any more than S'Doryn did.
"What do we do?" T'Kaar asked.
S'Doryn started toward the horses. "We ride home, speak to U'Selle and the clan council of what we've learned."
The brothers said nothing, but when S'Doryn glanced back, T'Noth was just behind him, and T'Kaar was on his way to the injured children. S'Doryn called for Jynna, Etan, and Vettala, and in less than an hour, everything was packed and tied to the horses, and all of them were ready to go.
The ride back to Lowna took less than half a day, and upon reaching the village, S'Doryn and the two brothers carried the wounded children to the healers for further care. N'Tevva was there to greet them, as was T'Kaar's wife and child. S'Doryn would have liked to take N'Tevva home and to bed-eight days was too long to be away from her. But it was a measure of how concerned he was about this Mettai witch wandering the land that he merely kissed her and asked her to follow as he led Jynna, Etan, and their little shadow to the a'laq's home. U'Selle was waiting for them in an old weathered chair outside her house. She was taken by a fit of coughing as they approached, and for some time after they stopped before her, she was unable to speak. Eventually, though, the paroxysm ran its course, and the a'laq managed a wan smile.
"You survived, I see."
S'Doryn grinned. "Yes, A'Laq."
"That's nearly more than I can say for myself." She turned to Jynna. "It seems you're one of us now."
The girl bowed. "Yes, A'Laq."
"You're welcome here, but I am sorry. I had hoped that you might find that your family had survived." She eyed the other two children before meeting S'Doryn's gaze again. "You did find survivors."
"Not many-not nearly enough-and all were children."
She pressed her lips thin for just a moment, but then made herself smile again. "And fine children they appear to be. What's your name, boy?" "Etan, A'Laq."
"Welcome, Etan. Are you prepared to become one of us, to be a Fal'Borna warrior when you grow to manhood?"
The boy dropped his gaze. "I think so."
"Etan!" Jynna said.
But U'Selle smiled. "It's all right, Jynna. That's a good enough answer for now." She looked at Vettala, who shrank away from her gaze, hiding behind Jynna. "What's your name, girl?"
The little one said nothing.
"She's Vettala," Jynna said at last.
U'Selle raised an eyebrow. "She can't answer for herself?"
"She hasn't spoken since… since the outbreak," S'Doryn said quietly. "She said something today," Etan said.
Everyone looked at him.
The boy's cheeks shaded to crimson. "It's true! She told Jynna and me not to fight."
The a'laq appeared to stifle a grin. "Sage counsel from one so young. Very well, Jynna. You may speak on Vettala's behalf until she's ready to speak for herself."