Bearers of the Black Staff

She struggled against him, demanding that he put her down, beating at him with her fists. Panterra had never imagined that a Princess would behave this way, and he didn’t like how it made him feel. Clearly, Phryne Amarantyne was someone who was used to getting her way and didn’t like it a bit when she didn’t.

“This is foolish!” she snapped, continuing to thrash from her perch atop her cousin’s broad shoulder. “We’re supposed to be exploring! We’re supposed to discover as much as we can!”

“We can come back and do that another time,” Tenerife replied, walking alongside Tasha but staying out of range in case Phryne decided to take a swing at him. “When we’re better prepared.”

“When we have more men and more weapons and less confusion,” Tasha added. “Stop struggling, will you?”

She stopped then, going limp, as if suddenly drained of the energy to resist. She hung there for a moment, and then said, “Put me down.”

Tasha hesitated, but finally he lowered her to her feet and stepped back. “We came to find out about the barrier that wards us from the outer world, Phryne. We’ve done that. Now we need to go back and let your father and the High Council decide what is to be done about it.”

“I know,” she said, straightening her rumpled clothing and brushing herself off. “I just thought that since we were already here …” She trailed off. “I just thought we might do a little more, learn a little something else. But I understand your point, Tasha. I’ll let it go for now. But I’m coming back.”

“And we’ll come with you,” Tasha assured her.

Panterra hoped the big man didn’t think he was speaking for all of them, because he wasn’t at all sure he and Prue would be coming back. Having seen what they’d seen, he was inclined to believe that his own duty lay in reporting back to Pogue Kray and the people of Glensk Wood. It might not be easy to accept, but now they knew for sure. Everyone in the valley would have to be made aware that the barrier was down and the valley was open to the rest of the world. It would take time for people to get used to the idea, and the sooner they got started doing so, the better.

All of a sudden he caught sight of something he had missed before. Off to the left, close against the wall of the cliffs, a single column of smoke rose into the damp air. A solitary campfire, he decided instantly, not a quarter mile distant.

“Look there,” he said to the others, pointing.

They peered through the gray twilight with him and spied the smoke immediately. “A campsite …” Tenerife said quietly, the words trailing off.

“Now we have to have a look!” Phryne insisted at once. “That’s not too far for us to go! Is it, Tasha? It’s not, is it?”

Her cousin did not reply at once. Panterra could tell that he was thinking it over. “It’s not what we came to do, cousin,” he repeated. “I don’t know.”

But he was clearly hesitating, and this did not escape Phryne. She turned to Pan. “We can go over there and take a quick look and come right back and go home. It won’t take us that far out of our way and it won’t use up hardly any time at all. You tell him, Pan. We can do this and maybe learn something important. Don’t you want to know who’s living out here after all these years?”

Pan did want to know, but he also didn’t want to take one too many risks. They still had no idea how dangerous it was in this new world, and he didn’t want to find out the hard way.

“We can go,” Phryne pressed. “You and I. The others can wait here for us.”

Prue stepped forward at once, her small frame stiff and her face set. “I will go with Pan,” she declared. “He is my partner, and we know best how to look after each other.” She took Panterra’s arm. “Come on, let’s get this over with. It’s clear that you’ve made up your mind.”

“Go on, then,” Tasha called after them. “But watch yourself, the both of you!”

“Nothing will happen!” Pan called back bravely.

Prue dug her fingers into his arm so hard he flinched. “Not now, it won’t,” she muttered as she dragged him along.



PANTERRA WAITED JUST LONG ENOUGH to be certain they were out of hearing before wheeling on her. “Why are you acting like this?” he asked, careful to keep his voice low.

Her green eyes fixed him with a frosty glare. “Acting like what, Pan?”

“Like you’re angry with me. Like it’s somehow my fault. Why are you even going with me, anyway? You know you don’t want to. You don’t want anything to do with this!”

“True enough. But if I don’t come with you, you’d go with Phryne and she might get you killed!”

He stared in shock. “Why do you say that? I’m not going to let anyone get me killed! I can take care of myself. Besides, who says I would go with Phryne?”