They walked on, holding hands. The air had turned colder as night fell; here and there puddles of water had developed a thin skin of ice that crunched underfoot. Moonlight glinted off the broken shards, making them sparkle like a scattering of diamonds. “I had heard about ice before I came north,” Karrell said. “But I never knew it could be so beautiful.”
Arvin nodded. He snuck a glance at Karrell, remembering the serpent form that lay beneath her human skin, then fixed his eyes on the far shore. In the distance he could see a wagon setting out from Fort Arran. It was moving across the bridge; the two horses drawing it were running at a good clip. The giant cradled Tanglemane in the crook of one arm and waved at it. Figures in the wagon waved back.
“What will you do, once we reach the fort?” Karrell asked.
Arvin touched his forehead. “Contact the baron, as soon as I’m able. Find out how Glisena is doing. Hopefully, the clerics have been able to… purge… what’s inside her.”
Karrell gave him a startled look. “They will kill her child?”
“It’s no child,” Arvin said. There hadn’t been time, until now, to tell Karrell everything he’d learned. When he did, her face paled.
“Helm’s clerics will deal with the demon,” Arvin reassured her. “Lord Foesmasher seemed confident that they could. And once they have, we won’t have to worry about Naneth looking over our shoulders anymore. In fact, we can turn her scrying to our advantage. If we let it “slip’ that Glisena’s womb is empty, Naneth will realize her scheme has failed. Glisena will be safe from her.”
And, Arvin added silently, he would be able to collect his reward. The baron would no doubt be pleased with his work; Arvin had done everything he’d promised, and more. Not only had he located Glisena, he’d provided vital information that would help the clerics save her. The baron’s emotions ran high when it came to his daughter. No doubt he would be as generous with those who had saved her as he was merciless against those who threatened her.
He realized that Karrell hadn’t answered. She walked in silence, one arm wrapped protectively across her stomach. Arvin supposed it only natural; what had been done to Glisena would hit a woman harder.
“I too have been thinking about what we might say the next time Naneth scries on us,” Karrell said at last. “I think it would be a mistake to reveal that Glisena is no longer pregnant. If we choose our words carefully—make her think that Glisena is in .a location of our choosing—we can lure Naneth to us.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” he asked. Naneth was a powerful sorcerer—he wasn’t keen on facing her spells a second time.
“I must find Sibyl and recover the Circled Serpent,” Karrell said. “Naneth is the one thread that will lead me through the maze. I must follow it,” She leveled a challenging look at Arvin. “If, however, you no longer wish to help me….”
Arvin stared at the approaching wagon, wishing he could just board it, return to Ormpetarr, and collect his reward. Then he thought of what Sibyl’s minions had done to Naulg and to Glisena’s unborn child. He met Karrell’s eye. “You kept your end of the bargain,” he told her. “I’ll keep mine. Whatever I can do to thwart Sibyl, I will.”
Karrell gave him a long look. “If we find that Sibyl is in Hlondeth, will you return there with me?”
“Hlondeth isn’t a healthy place for me to be,” Arvin said. He clenched his left hand, remembering. By now, the Guild would be wondering where he’d gone… and asking questions—questions that might lead them to a realization that he’d been feeding Tanju information on their activities over the past six months. Arvin had been forced to trade his mentor something, in return for the lessons in psionics. If the Guild found that out, they’d cut out Arvin’s tongue. “I have enemies there.”
“You have enemies here,” Karrell said softly. “Zelia.”
“True,” Arvin agreed. Then he smiled. “And Zelia, according to the baron, is in Ormpetarr—which makes my decision easier.”
He expected Karrell to smile at his faint attempt at humor, or to ask what his decision was, but her face had a distant look, as if she were lost in thought.
“The centaur Windswift,” she said abruptly. “You addressed him as Zelia. Was he one of her seeds?”
Arvin’s jaw clenched. “He was. Zelia must have created him to spy on Chondath.”
“Zelia is an agent of Hlondeth?” Karrell asked. Arvin nodded.
“She serves House Extaminos?”
“Yes,” Arvin answered. “Why?”
Karrell countered with a question of her own. “Why did she try to seed you?”
Arvin gave a bitter laugh. “You’ll appreciate the irony, I’m sure. Zelia hoped to use me to infiltrate The Pox—the clerics who were allied with Sibyl during her first attempt at Hlondeth’s throne. Zelia needed a human who had….” His voice faltered as he remembered the terrible transformation Naulg had undergone—and the final kindness Arvin had been forced to pay him. “Who’d had the misfortune of falling into their hands. They wouldn’t have accepted anyone else into their ranks.”
