“I would. Whatever Lord Micum is having will be fine.”

Micum watched her go, then raised an eyebrow at Seregil over his plate of roasted vegetables, marrow pudding, and mutton. “You’re looking better.”

“I am, thanks in good measure to our friend the doctor. What news do you have for me?”

“Mika came back last night, and Alec, too.” He told Seregil about Klia and the dyrmagnos, the boy’s dream, and the strange word.

“Eshrlee?”

“He wasn’t certain, but said it sounded like that.”

Seregil thought a moment. “Could it be ‘es rili,’ I wonder?”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s old-dialect Aurënfaie for ‘my skin.’ ”

“What in Bilairy’s name kind of sense does that make?”

“I don’t know, but something in that cave wanted Mika to hear it, something that spoke Aurënfaie. Did he say if it was a man or woman’s voice?”

“No.”

“Hmm. Well, at least we have some actual information to work with. It looks like Nhandi was the one who set the inner seal. Interesting.” He took the arm ring from an inside pocket and handed it to Micum. “This belonged to our dyrmagnos, who was lovers with the Aurënfaie man, Khazireen, and apparently they ruled Menosi at some point, if Mika had a true dream. You know, I’m thinking that maybe the cataclysm that struck Kouros was the dyrmagnos. Didn’t Zella say that Kordira knew something of the island’s history? Perhaps she can fill in a few gaps for us.”

“What’s your opinion of the doctor these days?”

“She’s a very good physician and levelheaded in a crisis. We had a bit of excitement on the way here from Mirror Moon with Lady Zella.”

“So I heard. What happened?”

“From the moment Kordira told me that only Zella had escaped when Klia was taken, I was suspicious.”

“Why leave a witness, unless you wanted the story told?”

“Exactly. And Zella told quite the story, only I couldn’t find a single trace on the road to verify it. Also, why would she go past Mirror Moon afterward and end up under the bridge when she could have found help at the estate? Her tears finally gave her away, though.”

“Her tears?”

“She wept a great deal, especially when I pressed her in the carriage after I’d searched for tracks and didn’t find any. When I handed her a handkerchief, I discovered that her fingers weren’t wet, as they should have been. Considering what Alec told us about the river in the other plane, I had my proof that things weren’t as they should be.”

“What happened?”

“She attacked me, but as soon as she touched the amulet it drove the dra’gorgos from her. Sadly, she didn’t survive the shock of it.”

“That’s a pity, to be sure. What else have you been up to?”