Han and Bird came from their hideout by the river, where they’d spent the afternoon before sluicing off the hot stickiness of the day. He’d pulled on clan leggings Willo had made for him and a summer shirt of cotton. Bird had left off her warrior garb for once. She wore an embroidered deerskin vest with no shirt underneath and full trader skirts. She’d laced a beaded anklet Han had given her around her right ankle, and Han couldn’t help staring at her tanned and muscled legs as they flashed beneath her brightly colored skirts. He looked down at himself, wondering if she noticed him the way he noticed her.

When Han and Bird entered the lodge, he was surprised to see it was packed full of people, many of them unfamiliar. The clans were great for holding councils. He and Bird found a seat on a bench by the door and sat, hands clasped, hips squeezed tightly together. Han was pleased she chose to sit with him rather than huddle next to the fire with the other Demonai warriors.

Willo opened the meeting. “Thank you for coming, to our Marisa Pines brethren as well as those who’ve journeyed from Demonai, Rissa, and Escarpment camps.”

Han and Bird had been whispering together, but Han looked up, startled, at Willo’s words. This must be an important meeting for the Rissa and Escarpment camps to have sent representatives.

“Please share our fire and all we have,” Willo said. There was a murmur of greeting from the visitors from other camps.

Han spotted Lord Averill and Elena Demonai standing behind Willo. Once again, Han wondered if Averill would remember him from the incident at Southbridge Temple. And, indeed, Averill’s eyes lingered on Han for a long moment of appraisal.

But this night Averill had other things on his mind.

“Lord Demonai has brought news from the Vale,” Willo said.

Lord Demonai looked around the circle, and the buzz of conversation died away. The patriarch looked older and wearier than when Han had last seen him. He also looked as if he’d been in a fight, which seemed so out of character, Han couldn’t help paying attention.

“I bring troubling news, as Willo has said,” Lord Demonai said. “The power of the High Wizard grows stronger by the day. Lord Bayar exerts tremendous influence over the queen. So much so, in fact, that Queen Marianna means to marry our daughter, Raisa, the princess heir, to Bayar’s son, the wizardling Micah Bayar.”

This was greeted by a clamor of protest and cries of alarm and disbelief.

Beside Han, Bird stiffened and leaned forward, the light from the torches gilding the hard planes of her face. “That cannot happen,” she whispered.

They deserve each other, Han thought.