"They've traveled a long way today," she said, frowning. "And they've been through so much. Shouldn't we put them to bed?"

"We will soon," he told her. "But not quite yet. I imagine they need some time to themselves, without us around. The sooner they begin to feel comfortable here, the better for all of us."

She nodded, though she continued to glance anxiously toward the door. It had only been a few hours, but already she was trying to protect them as might their natural mother.

Before long, S'Doryn, N'Tevva, and T'Noth were joined by

U'Selle. N'Tevva offered her some food, but the a'laq refused, and was taken by another coughing fit.

When she could speak again, she asked about the eight days they'd spent in the hills with the children.

"Did you learn anything from them?" she asked.

S'Doryn briefly described Jynna's encounter with the Mettai woman.

For several moments after he finished, the a'laq merely stared at the floor. "It does all sound a bit odd," she finally muttered, "but really that's all. I don't see how this woman could have anything to do with an outbreak of the pestilence."

"Couldn't she use magic to put a curse on the people she met?" T'Noth asked.

She actually smiled. "A curse? I think you've listened to too many tales of Mettai blood magic." She shook her head. "As far as I understand it, Mettai magic is not all that different from our own. Yes, it comes from blood and earth, but their powers run no deeper than our own."

"They wouldn't have to run deeper," S'Doryn said. "They'd just need to be… different. We have healers who can mend wounds and tame fevers. Couldn't they just as easily cause illness as cure it?"

She frowned, but a moment later she conceded the point with a shrug. "I suppose. But you're assuming that she did far more than that. For any of this to make sense, she would have had to make herself immune.

"Or," T'Noth said, "she would have had to create a disease that strikes only at Qirsi."

"At Qirsi adults," S'Doryn corrected.

"Or at Qirsi magic."

All of them looked at N'Tevva.

"That makes more sense than directing it at adults," she said. "Doesn't it?"

S'Doryn shuddered, knowing that she was right. "Yes, it does."

"I asked this of S'Doryn in the hills," T'Noth said. "And now I'll ask you, A'Laq. What do we do about this?"

"About what?" U'Selle answered, sounding frustrated. "We have only a tale told to us by a child." She raised a hand, seeming to anticipate S'Doryn's objection. "I know she's clever, and I believe her to be honest, but I also know that she's been through a terrible ordeal. Her life these past nine days has been a waking nightmare. How do we separate what she truly saw from those things that haunted her sleep or grew from her imagination? None of us has seen this woman. Did you even see her baskets?"

"I didn't," S'Doryn said. "But according to T'Kaar, the other children remember seeing baskets in their homes that day."

She nodded. "Well, that's something at least. But do they confirm the rest?"

He shook his head. "No. That comes from Jynna alone." "I see."

"I believe her," S'Doryn said.

T'Noth nodded. "I do, too."

A small smile crossed U'Selle's lips. "To tell you the truth, I'd be inclined to as well. But I'm not certain what we can do about it. Even if we take as true everything that Jynna told you, we wouldn't know where to begin searching for this woman."

T'Noth shook his head. "So we do nothing," he said, his voice flat.

"For now. Keep talking to the children. Learn as much as you can from them. And in the meantime, I'll speak with the a'laqs on the plain and along the wash. Perhaps they'll know something about this woman."

"Thank you, A'Laq."

She smiled and stood, patting T'Noth on the shoulder as she stepped past him. "You both did well," she said, pausing in the doorway. "I hadn't foreseen the coming of these children into our village, but now that they're here, I think each will be a blessing to us in his or her own way. Good night, N'Tevva. I believe those girls will be very happy to have you around, after spending so many nights with nothing but Fal'Borna men and their horses."

The two women laughed, as did S'Doryn. T'Noth smiled as well, though he looked a bit confused.

Once U'Selle was gone their mirth faded, leaving them all silent and pensive. It was growing dark outside, and after a time N'Tevva went in search of the children. Left alone, S'Doryn and T'Noth continued to sit there, saying nothing, S'Doryn staring out the door at the deepening shadows around his home, T'Noth toying with his empty cup of wine.

"This could start a war," the younger man finally said.

S'Doryn looked at him and shook his head. "The Mettai are weak. They have no armies, no warriors. It wouldn't be much of a war."

"If the Mettai are attacked by a Qirsi army, Eandi warriors will come to their defense."

"It's just one woman, T'Noth, if it's even that. There's no reason for our people to do anything to the Mettai."

"You say that now, but what if this woman is responsible, and what if she takes her plague to other Fal'Borna villages, or to the J'Balanar?

What then?"

S'Doryn had to admit that it was a sobering question. "Let's hope someone finds her soon," he finally said.

"Let's hope."

A moment later, N'Tevva returned with the children. All three of them were flushed and laughing, even the little one, which gladdened

S'Doryn's heart.

T'Noth and Etan said their farewells, and walked off to T'Noth's home. N'Tevva began preparing the girls for bed in the bedroom that she and S'Doryn usually shared. For the time being, at least, that would be their room, and the adults would sleep in the common room. After a time, she came out again.

"They want you to say good night to them," she said.

He nodded and walked back to their bedroom. Now it was the girls' room. Was that how they'd speak of it from this night on? Was he really a father now?

They were tucked into the single bed, Vettala by the wall, her pale eyes shining in the light of the single candle that burned by the door. S'Doryn crossed to the bed and sat beside Jynna. "Good night," he said.

Jynna smiled. "Good night."

"You're comfortable?"

She nodded.

He looked at the younger girl. "And you?"

She hid her face in the pillow.

It seemed that smiling with the other children was one thing. Accepting him as a friend, much less as a new father, was quite another. He stood, walked to the door, and bent to blow out the candle. Before he could, Vettala let out a small cry.

"I think she wants it lit," Jynna said.

"All right then." He straightened and stepped out of the room. "Thank you," Jynna called to him. "From both of us."

He grinned. "You're welcome." He pulled the door until it was nearly all the way closed, and went out to the common room. N'Tevva was sitting at the table.

"Did the younger one say anything to you?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Not a word," he said, sitting beside her.

She shook her head. A pale wisp of hair fell over her brow and she brushed it away. She still looked much as she had when they first were joined. Her skin remained smooth, save for a few lines around her eyes and mouth, and she still wore her white hair tied back loosely. Her eyes were the color of the winter sun on a hazy day.

"She wouldn't even look at me," she said. "I tried everything, but you would have thought that I was a demon from the Underrealm itself the way she shied away from me."

"It'll take some time. But Jynna will help her through it."

"I know," she said. She smiled, though the look in her eyes remained sad. "There are children sleeping in our home."

"I've been thinking about that. It's not quite how we always hoped it would happen."