The Dreamweaver camp was farther away than before, but she reached it in moments. A lamp burned within Leiard’s tent. She landed in front of it and walked to the door flap.

“Dreamweaver Leiard?”

The flap opened, but no hand held it aside. She looked beyond and felt her heart stop. Juran stood within.

He knows. The knowledge rushed over her like a blast of cold wind. She saw the anger in Juran’s face. His entire body was tense; his hands were clenched at his sides.

She had never seen him so angry before.

“Come in, Auraya,” he said in a low, tight voice.

To her surprise his fury did not frighten her. Instead, she felt a surge of affection for him. She knew him well enough to be sure he would never allow anger to override reason. He did not like violence. The few times he had referred to killing Mirar, he had always expressed regret at the necessity.

I trust him, she thought. I even trust that he would never harm Leiard, despite what he now knows.

But Leiard wasn’t in the tent, and the bag that he kept with him at all times was missing.

“Juran,” she said calmly. “Where is Leiard?”

He drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

“I sent him away.”

She looked at him; held his gaze. “Why?”

“Why?” Juran’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think I haven’t discovered your affair? Or do you think I’d allow it to continue?”

Auraya crossed her arms. “So you get to approve my lovers, then?”

His gaze wavered. “When I learned of…this…I asked myself the same thing. The answer was simple: my first duty is to our people. As is yours.” He shook his head. “How could you do this, Auraya, when you must have known what the consequences would be when you were discovered?”

Auraya took a step closer to him. “I can accept that our people do not embrace change quickly, that improvement in attitudes happens over generations. I intended to keep our affair private only to avoid testing the people’s tolerance. I knew I could not keep it from you forever. Nor did I intend to. You have long disliked Dreamweavers, and I did not know how long I should wait before telling you. I doubted you had put aside all prejudice. How long would I have needed to wait before you did? Years? Decades? Centuries? I am in love now, Juran. Leiard is growing older. He will die one day. I cannot wait for you to get used to the idea that a Dreamweaver might be worthy of me.”

He gazed at her intently. “My views are not the issue here, Auraya. You are one of the White. Your first duty is to guide and protect the people. You may have lovers, but they must not come between you and the people. If they do, you must give them up.”