“The city’s all stirred up. The priests are looking for a sor’sress,” a younger boy, Tiro, said.

“An old woman. Like you,” a girl, Gae, added.

Emerahl grunted. “So I heard. Priests think every old woman is a sorceress, especially if she knows a bit about herbs and things.” She pointed a bony finger at them. “They’re just jealous, you see, because we know more than they do about cures.”

“But that’s stupid,” Rayo said. “You’re old. You’ll be dead soon.”

She looked at the boy reproachfully. “Thanks for reminding me.” Then she sighed. “It is stupid. Like you said, what can we do, eh? Nothing but put up with them roughing us up.”

“They done that to you?” Tiro asked.

She sighed and nodded, pointing at a rip in the seam of her tawl. “Chose a fine time to get turned out of my house, didn’t I?”

“Then you not the sor’sress. You safe,” Gae assured her.

Emerahl looked at the girl sadly. “Depends if they find what they’re looking for. If they don’t, they’ll just keep hassling us. Or they might take someone and put the blame on her rather than admit they lost the one they’re after.”

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Rayo told her firmly.

She smiled. “You’re all too good to me, letting me stay here.”

The children didn’t seem to mind that the few days she had said she would stay turned into a week, then two. She gave them things of hers to sell. They brought back food and even a little cheap firewater, and occasionally spied on the priests so she would know when the search ended.

“I o’erheard two of ’em,” Tiro told her breathlessly one night. “They were talking of the higher priest who d’recting the search. Ikaro’s his name. They said he c’municates with the gods, and he been giv’n the ’bility to read minds.”

“So they haven’t found her yet?” she asked.

“Don’t think so.”

Emerahl sighed, but her dismay was more to do with the news of her pursuer’s abilities.

Of course, the people Tiro had overheard might be so in awe of their superior that they believed any rumor that came their way. However, she could not take the risk that it was true. Any priest who tried to read her mind would see nothing. It took considerable magical ability to master the Gift of hiding one’s mind. He might not know this, but she wasn’t intending to find out.