As Danjin drew level with the tarn he slowed to a walk. Auraya turned to smile at him.

“Ah, Danjin.” She chuckled. “You could have sent one of the servants for him. Come aboard. He’ll settle down after a bit, and you’ll be able to take him back.”

Danjin climbed up into the vehicle. Mairae was lounging in one of the seats with her legs curled up beside her. Auraya’s feet were planted firmly on the tarn floor, her boots and the hem of her circ stained with mud. Mischief was perched on one of her knees, and had left small pawprints on her circ.

“Fly!” the veez said insistently. As Danjin sat down beside Auraya the creature looked at him suspiciously. “No cage.”

“No fly,” Auraya replied. “Fly later.”

The veez sagged in dejection. It gave a sigh and looked away.

“Hello, Danjin.” Mairae smiled sympathetically. “He’s a handful, but don’t worry. He won’t see you as an adversary so long as you feed him.”

Danjin opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated as he noted a Bearer approaching swiftly, ridden by Dyara. Mairae looked over her shoulder at the woman, then back at Auraya.

“I can’t see the point in this,” she murmured. “What could you possibly learn in the next few days?”

Auraya shrugged. “Perhaps something useful. At least I’ll get some battle practice in.”

Mairae turned to Juran. “You said yourself, so long as Auraya follows your lead—so long as we all do—she’ll be fine. She’s not going to pick a fight with one of these black sorcerers on her own. Not after what happened before.”

Juran shook his head. “Should Auraya be separated from us—which is possible since she so often joins the Siyee—she may be cornered by one of these sorcerers. It may be her skills rather than her strength that save her.” He turned to watch as Dyara’s Bearer drew up on the other side of the tarn. “Hello, Dyara. Did Guire agree?”

The woman smiled thinly. “Yes. He’s always reasonable, but how long he’ll remain so will depend on Berro. Things are going to get interesting once the Torens arrive.” She looked at Danjin and nodded politely, then turned her attention to Auraya. “I thought we might head north and put some distance between ourselves and the army.”

Auraya smiled. “That would be wise. We don’t want to frighten anyone, or break anything.” She looked at Juran. “You will consider what I suggested before?”

Juran nodded. “Yes. As you said, the fighters will resent us if we don’t allow them the choice.”

Auraya rose and placed Mischief in Danjin’s lap. He looked from her to Juran, wondering what they were referring to.

“Fly?” Mischief said hopefully.