Had he found any body at all?

Then he remembered his dream of the dark cloaked form standing in the Ashenell and asking, over and over again, Who told you that?

He found himself staring at Tragen as if seeing him for the first time, newly revealed, finding something odd about him, something strange. He could not quite bring himself to embrace fully what he was thinking because it was too terrifying.

“Sim,” he said quietly.

She glanced at him. “Shhhh.”

Tragen had finishing giving his report and was answering questions from the members of the High Council. Kirisin didn’t listen. He didn’t do anything but stare, and then he repeated everything he remembered, and then he again tried unsuccessfully to get Simralin to listen to him. You can’t be right about this, he told himself. Don’t be stupid. You’re imagining things. He hugged himself, ran his fingers through his tousled hair, and then jammed his hand deep into his pocket where the Elfstones nestled, seeking reassurance from their presence. Tragen found your body!

Is that what he told you?

“Tragen!” he called out suddenly, not really meaning to do so, acting impulsively and without thought. The Tracker turned. “Whose body did you find if it wasn’t Culph’s?”

Everyone was staring. “What are you talking about?” an irritated Arissen Belloruus asked him. Kirisin ignored him, watching Tragen. “You said you found Culph’s body. But he wasn’t dead. So whose body did you find?”

The big man shook his head. “You’re mistaken. I said I found evidence of a struggle. I said it looked like someone had been killed in Culph’s house. Just remains. No complete body.”

“No,” Simralin said quietly. “You told us you found Culph’s body. You said that he was dead.”

There was a hushed silence as the members of the High Council, not quite sure what was happening, looked at one another in confusion. The King was leaning forward, dark gaze intense. “What body do you mean? What is this all about?”

“Whose body did you find?” Kirisin pressed, his eyes locked with Tragen’s. “There wasn’t one, was there?”

Tragen sighed. His smile could not quite hide the trapped look reflected in his eyes. “You always were a bright boy, Little K.”