“But it was what it said last that bothers me most,” he finished. “It said that if I wanted to take a part of it—a limb from which to fashion the darkwand—then I must give it a part of myself in return. When I asked what part it wanted, it quit talking to me.”

Cinnaminson thought about it. “Perhaps it was just testing you. Or perhaps it was speaking about something else. Maybe it wants a part of you that’s emotional or spiritual.” She paused. “It can’t be talking about an arm or leg.”

Pen wasn’t so sure. The entire business was strange enough that he wasn’t willing to rule out anything.

He looked off in the direction of the tree. “I should go back and try to find out. This is taking longer than I thought it would.”

“It is taking as long as it must,” she corrected him gently. “Don’t be impatient. Don’t let yourself become frustrated.”

He nodded, shifting his gaze to study her. “What will you do? Will you go back to the aeriads?”

“For now. I already know I can’t be with you. You have to be alone to speak with the tanequil. I will come looking for you tonight.”

She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek, then on the mouth. He kissed her back, not wanting to sever the connection, not wanting her to go.

But when she rose and waved good-bye, her face still flushed with excitement and expectation, he didn’t try to stop her.

He returned to the tanequil in the warm hush of midday, the sun spilling in faint, thin streamers through the thick canopy of the old growth. Clouds scudded overhead in billowing white clusters, throwing shadows to the earth, and the skies were so blue they hurt his eyes. A breeze blew through the trees, and the air was scented by leaves and grasses sweet with summer warmth. It was the sort of day when you felt that anything was possible.

He sat down in the space he had occupied the night before, where the tree had first spoken to him, studied it for a time, then lay down beneath it and closed his eyes. He gave himself time to relax, then turned his thoughts to his aunt, to the Ard Rhys and her imprisonment inside the Forbidding, embracing the fear such thoughts automatically generated.

And waited.

–Penderrin–

–Tanequil–

–You must have what you came for. You must take what you need–

–What of giving you a part of myself? What of that?–

–You must do so–

He couldn’t help himself. –Will I be crippled?–

–You will be enhanced–

–A part of me will be missing?–

–A part of you will be found–