“Huh. Alberich? Nobody convinces him of anything; he must have had reasons of his own to agree with you.” He digested this in silence for a moment. Tantris shifted over another step.

“Alberich is going to have a word or two with Elspeth, too,” she continued after the silence had become a little uncomfortable. She ran her hands down Rolan’s legs to confirm that the bindings on his pasterns and fetlocks were firm. “And Keren promised to beard Dirk in his lair as soon as she can bully her way past the Healers. So did Skif.”

“Skif said as much to me. Poor Dirk, I could almost feel sorry for him. He’s not likely to get much sympathy from either of those two.” Tantris’ bridle bells tinkled as he shifted again.

“Sympathy isn’t what he needs,” she replied a little waspishly, straightening up. “He’s been wallowing in self-pity long enough ...” her voice trailed off, and she concluded shamefacedly: “for that matter, so have I.”

“Work is the best cure I know for self-pity, little bird,” Kris said, self-consciously. “And—hey!”

With that last step Tantris had managed to shift over far enough that Kris and Talia were trapped between the two Companions, breast-to-breast.

:Kiss and make up, brother-mine. And be nice. She’s having a hard time.:

Kris sighed with exasperation, then looking down at Talia’s wistful eyes, softened.

“It’ll be all right, little bird—and you have every reason to feel sorry for yourself.” He kissed her softly on the forehead and the lips.

She relaxed just a little, and leaned her head for a short moment on his shoulder. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve a friend like you,” she sighed, then took hold of herself. “But we have a long road ahead of us—”

Tantris had moved away so that they were no longer trapped, and Kris could hear him laughing in his mind. “—and we’ve got a limited time to cover it,” Kris finished for her. “And since my Companion has decided to cooperate again, we ought to get moving.” He gave Tantris’ harness a final tug and swung into the saddle. “Ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”