“Listen, ver. I’m called Marit. I’m lost, truth to tell, and I got lost by running from a nasty pack of bandits who aren’t too far from here by my reckoning. I’m not sure it’s safe for you. You might be safer walking back to your village, wherever you came from, and warning them that dangerous men are wandering out here looking to make trouble.”

He shrugged with a peculiar lack of concern. “We’ve had trouble for years with that crew, most of them out of Walshow and other places north of here. But we’ve made our own defenses.” With a sly grin, he indicated Nip. “You’d be surprised what that dog can do when he’s roused. We’ve learned to defend ourselves. It wasn’t so bad before, when I was a nipster—a toddler, like. The elders say it was peaceful then. Still, the troubles are all I’ve ever known. But your bandits won’t be finding this pasture. I’m surprised you did.”

“How long have bandits been wandering up here? How can they feed themselves? How do you know they’re come from Walshow? How far is it to Walshow from here?”

He snapped his fingers. Two more dogs appeared out of the grass. They were bigger than Nip and had massive muzzles and powerful chests. They loped over to sniff at her, then slipped away to resume their patrol. “You’re a reeve, aren’t you?” he asked. “We see them now and again, hunting around here.”

“Do you? Where do they hail from?”

He shrugged. It was obvious he was telling the truth and never thought once of lying to her. He didn’t even feel he needed to lie, he was that confident. “I don’t know. They keep to themselves, although it’s true that a time or two we’ve had a bit of help from them when packs of men came drifting down out of Walshow.”

“They’re not patrolling out of Gold Hall? Clan Hall hasn’t the resources. I suppose Argent Hall or Horn Hall might fly these parts. Don’t they oversee your assizes?”

He looked at the ground, dense with the green growing breath of plants feeding on the early rains and the promise of a fresh year. It almost seemed that he darkened in aspect, pulled shadows over himself as he changed his mind about trusting her. He was hiding from her, flashes that pricked at her vision

what if she knows?

a snake winds through underbrush, tongue flicking

keep a vessel as of clay about your thoughts, it is the only protection against the third eye

She blinked back tears and realized he was not speaking.

Fear makes you cold. Shivering, she clambered to her feet. Nip barked as the other dogs circled in. There were five dogs that she could now see, but three wagged their tails tentatively. None threatened her; they simply remained vigilant.

“You’re one of them, seeing into me,” he said in a hoarse voice. “You’re death. Have you come to kill me?”

The speed of his transformation from pleasant companion to frightened lad shocked her. She took a step away from the ugly emotion she had roused in him. “What do you mean?”