“Sit,” she said, waving him to a flat rock.

He sat, and she sat across from him.

“I’ve tried to talk to Dancer,” she said. “And he won’t speak to me.”

“Do you blame him?” Han asked. And then, after a pause, “I can’t believe you’d want to be in a group that would treat your friend that way.” There. He’d said it.

Bird bit her lip and stared down at her clasped hands. “It…it’s nothing personal,” she said. “But that’s why the Demonai exist. To fight wizards. And the presence of…of any wizard on Hanalea is sacrilege.”

“We’re talking about Dancer,” Han said, thinking of how Dancer had challenged Bayar and his friends. “He was born here. He belongs here.”

“I know.” She swallowed hard. “But think about when the jinxflingers invaded the Fells—they were ruthless. They put lytlings to the sword. They captured our queen and forced her into marriage. They evicted the priests from the temples and launched a reign of terror. But the clans held the Spirits, and they were our sanctuary. If not for that, we would have been eradicated as a people.”

It was a pretty speech. Han wondered if it came from Reid Demonai. He imagined them sitting hip to hip by the fire, Bird looking into his eyes, spellbound. He blinked the image away.

“That was a long time ago,” he said. “I’m not sweet on wizards either, but…”

“That was a long time ago, but these are dangerous times,” Bird said. “We have a weak queen. The power of wizards is growing. We in the clan feel less welcome in the Vale. We wield less influence at court.”

“Averill Demonai is consort to the queen,” Han said. “And father to the princess heir. That sounds influential to me.”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Bird said. “Reid says it’s more important than ever to maintain the traditional boundaries against wizards.”

And I’m not really interested in what Reid says, Han thought. “So what’s the plan?” he asked. “Will you be going back to Demonai with them or what?”

Bird nodded. “We leave soon. It’s just…Reid doesn’t want to leave while Dancer’s still here.”

“Well, they won’t have to worry about him much longer, will they?” Han said, his own guilt driving the knife home. “Once he leaves, we may never see him again.”

Bird raked her curls off her sweaty forehead. “Do you…do you think it’s a good idea? Dancer going to Oden’s Ford? Training as a wizard?”

Han stared at her. “What choice does he have? You just said—”

“Maybe…maybe he should just move down into Fellsmarch,” Bird said, not meeting his eyes.

Han leaned forward. “And do what? He’s no flatlander. The things he’s good at have no value in the city.”