Bearers of the Black Staff

Pogue Kray shook his head, still doubtful.

“What have you got to lose?” Sider asked. “Send men up into the pass and see what you find there. If the protective barrier is down, you have your answer and can do what’s needed about the rest of it. Doing nothing is what puts you at risk.”

The big man looked at him, studied him carefully, but not in a good way, and then finally nodded. “I will look into it. Maybe you do speak the truth, although I question if that is possible.”

Sider said nothing, but Panterra could tell that the antagonism between them had as much to do with Aislinne as it did with the news the Gray Man had brought. Their rivalry might be buried in the past, but Pogue Kray had unearthed it and set it out for everyone to view.

The Gray Man turned to Skeal Eile. “I want your word that neither you nor any of your followers will harm either Panterra or Aislinne for their part in all of this. If they have done anything to offend, put the blame on me. I encouraged it.”

The Seraphic managed a shocked look. “I have already admitted my failings and promised that I would stand by you. That oath includes the boy and the woman. I give you my word that both are perfectly safe from any who serve or follow the teachings of the Children of the Hawk. I will see to it that my word is kept.”

Something about the way he said it was immediately troubling to Panterra, much the way his attitude in all of this had been. But on the face of things, the oath seemed straightforward enough, and Sider apparently took it to be so, nodding in satisfaction.

“Very well,” he said. He looked at the other two. “The boy and I will spend the night and leave in the morning for Calling Wells, Porterria, and Mountain View. We will warn the people there, their leaders and councils, and ask them to send you armed help. Two have small armies, as you know, which can stand with you against the Trolls. Will you send word to the small villages while I’m gone?”

“I will see that it is done,” Trow Ravenlock said, apparently thinking to speak for all of them. “You needn’t worry.”

They probably did need to worry, Pan thought, but this was the best they could hope for.

Good nights were exchanged in an uneasy parting, and the boy followed the Gray Man out the door and into the dark.



THEY HAD GOTTEN ONLY AS FAR AS THE EDGE of the surrounding trees when Aislinne caught up with them. “A moment, Sider,” she said, bringing him around to face her. “Panterra, stand over there and wait on us.”

She pointed to one side, and the boy walked over obediently and turned his head away.

“What did you tell Pogue about running after me like this?” Sider asked at once.

She gave him a look. “Not everything that passes between us is about you, Sider. Pogue understands this, even if you don’t. I told him that I needed to apologize to both Panterra and you for the way you were treated. I told him that this was in no way a threat to him and he should not take it so—that he and I are married and that whatever was between you and me was over and done with a long time ago. He accepts that.”

Sider felt a sharp ache when he heard her speak those words, but he understood the need for them and simply nodded.

“What I want to say to you has nothing to do with an apology,” she continued. “You require no apology; you knew what you were getting yourself into, as you mostly always do. But I want to remind you of what I said earlier. Leave Panterra alone. Let him live his life. Do not think to make him your apprentice. Don’t try to take him away from Prue. He is not ready for that and neither is she. Find another apprentice or let the matter be until one comes along. I mean it, Sider. I am warning you.”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t have thought that matters would ever come to this, Aislinne. Warnings are not required. We have always understood each other better than that. What’s done is done between us, but I still read you like a Tracker can read a trail sign. I still know what’s in your heart. Your caution is noted. Do not presume further.”

She gave him a long, searching look. “I rather doubt you know as much as you think. I would guess you know almost nothing of me, even now. But I will take it that my warning is understood and you will act accordingly.” She seemed about to say something more, then shook her head. “Good luck to you.”

She started to turn away, then hesitated and looked back again. “Be careful, Sider. I do not trust Skeal Eile’s word. You might have noticed that he did not give a promise of safety to you, only to Panterra and me. And I don’t trust even that.”

She walked away quickly, back toward the house, and he had to fight down the urge to go after her and claim her and take her away with him once and for all. But that ship had sailed a long time ago, and so he beckoned to Panterra and disappeared into the trees.