He didnt finish, because the woman in the mask of greenery leaned close to him. Verdants eyes… they seemed to start green, but then shifted to red, glowing from within with a fire that stole the breath out of him. Somehow, Renard suspected that this was one woman he wouldnt be able to charm with a few well-chosen songs and compliments.

We do not joke, she said, as she moved back. And we do not like having our time wasted.

Your time too, Void said. How long now until Lord Carrick drags you from here to your death?

He had a point. Even so…

No, thank you, he said.

What? Wrath demanded, and he looked as though he might strike out at Renard in that moment.

You think I havent heard rumors of the Hidden? Renard asked. Ive sung enough songs in my time to hear those too.

They have written beautiful songs about us, Verdant said. But few true ones.

Renard suspected that there was enough truth hidden away in those songs though; that the Hidden were collectors of power, to whom good and evil were irrelevant; that they could do things to a man that would imperil his very soul. Compared to all of that, even Lord Carrick didnt seem so bad.

There are things we could do to you if you refuse, Void said.

And then you still wouldnt have a thief, Renard pointed out.

You would really refuse freedom? You would really choose death?

Renard nodded. If the alternative is going with you, yes.

It turned out that hed found a new worst thing. Compared to this one, even all the others didnt seem so bad.

Void gestured to the others. Very well. Come. We must do this… another way.

He turned, walking out of the cell, the robed forms of the others following in his wake. The door shut behind him with a bang, the lock clicking back into place. Renard supposed it was too much to ask that they might leave it open.

Even as he settled back to wait for his death again, he couldnt help feeling that hed just avoided something far, far worse.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Rodry and his friends raced into the landscape of the south, trying to catch up to his sister, while Rodry hoped against hope that he would be in time. They rode down paved trackways and over dirt roads, following the signs of the party that had been ahead of them ever since they crossed into this country.

For what had to be the hundredth time since the river crossing, Rodry cursed his brother Vars. Had he been a little braver, they might have had Lenore back by now, and the ones who had taken her might already be dead. When Rodry returned, their father would hear every detail of his cowardice.

For now, there was only the chase after Lenore.