“That’s not true.” She tried to look away.
“Then how did your father know what I was going to say before I said it?
He knew all about the Loden and the Elfstones and the histories. He knew about everything, Erisha.” He paused. “What is this all about?”
Her lips tightened, and she looked as if she might cry. He thought for just a moment that she was going to tell him what he wanted to know. But then she regained her composure, and her face closed down.
“You imagine things, Kirisin,” she whispered furiously. “You make up stories to suit your own purposes. You have a talent for it. I think you had better go back to your work and let me do the same.”
She scrambled to her feet. “You better keep these wild stories to yourself, too, or I won’t be responsible for what happens to you!”
She stalked away, arms stiff at her sides, shoulders rigid, long hair swaying. She did not look back. Kirisin waited until she had knelt down again to continue her work, then quit watching. So much for not acting precipitously. He wondered how long it would take for her to tell her father.
He wondered what would happen to him then. It didn’t bear thinking on too closely. If the King determined to keep what the Ellcrys had revealed a secret, he would do whatever he felt was necessary to keep Kirisin from interfering.
It was a very long day after that. He worked in the gardens all morning, then spent the afternoon studying lessons on caring for plants and trees with old Willum. He was close enough to Erisha the entire time for either to call over to the other, but he never said one word to her, nor she to him.
He tried to think of what he should do next, but couldn’t come up with anything. It seemed he had burned all his bridges by telling her what he knew.
If he now told anyone else, she would deny everything. Would the other Chosen back him up?
Maybe, but he couldn’t be sure. They hadn’t been too eager to back him up so far. They were uncertain of him and would not be quick to want to take a stand.
He could talk to Biat, he decided. Of all of them, Biat was the one most likely to support him.
But when the day ended, he didn’t say anything to Biat. He left alone and walked home through the trees without a word to any of them. He found he didn’t know exactly what he wanted to say or how he wanted to say it. He wasn’t sure what he should do, and he needed time to think it over. So he walked out to one of his favorite places, a promontory overlooking the River Orish, and sat down with his back to one of the old-growth cedars.
He wished Simralin were home. She would know what to do. Or at least she would have an opinion. He could talk to his parents, but they might decide to confront Arissen about it, and what happened to them then would be his fault.
Worse, they might decide he was confused or mistaken. He was just a boy, after all. Boys like him were confused or mistaken much of the time. Every adult knew that.
But he had to do something. The Ellcrys was in peril, and time was running out. If she didn’t receive the help she was asking for, she might perish. It didn’t seem that anyone else was going to do anything if he didn’t.
So he had better come up with a plan.
He sat there until dusk, looking for such a plan. By the time it was dark and he started home, he still didn’t have one.
Chapter SIXTEEN
IT WAS LATE in the day, the light turned gray and the world become a place of shadows and mysterious sounds, when Angel Perez finally found what she was looking for. She had marched the compound children and their protectors north all afternoon through a haze of smoke and ash to get clear of the city.
She had stopped when rest was necessary and once for a quick bite to eat from their meager supplies, but otherwise she had kept them moving. It was hard on the children, especially the little ones, many of whom had to be carried as the march wore on. But stopping was dangerous. They were still too close to the creatures who sought their annihilation, the demons and the oncemen and especially that old man. She didn’t know if he had discovered yet that she had escaped him again. She didn’t know if a pursuit had been mounted. Yet she knew better than to assume anything but the worst, and took no chances.