The Elves of Cintra (Book 2 of The Genesis of Shannara)

He watched them converse, and then Simralin motioned for them to come out of hiding and join her. They did so, and Tragen, without a word, led them into the seclusion of his darkened cottage and closed the door behind them.

“Little K, you have a knack for getting into trouble,” he said gruffly, but there was a smile on his lips, too.

“You know nothing of what’s happened?” Simralin asked him, obviously picking up their earlier conversation.

“I’ve been asleep. I’m not on duty again until day after tomorrow—today now, I guess. Dawn’s not far off.” The big Elf looked from face to face. “What do you need me to do?”

Simralin told him. He listened without comment, typical of Tragen, who seldom had much to say in any case. “Can you do it?” she finished.

He nodded. “Stay out of sight until I get back. No lights.

No movement. Lock up after me.”

He went out the door and shut it tightly behind him.

Simralin gave him a moment to get clear and then slid the heavy bar latch into place.

They moved over to the shadows behind a shuttered window that let them peer through the slats into the night and crouched down to wait.

After a few moments of silence, Kirisin said, “Are you sure you can trust him?”

His sister nodded without answering.

“You didn’t say anything to me about how you felt about him.”

He felt her eyes on him as he stared studiously out the window. “I didn’t have a chance. This is new.” She touched his shoulder so that he was forced to look at her. “Besides, I’m not sure yet how I feel.”

“He seems pretty sure.” He hesitated a moment, then shrugged. “But never mind. I like Tragen.”

Simralin grinned, pretty and flushed. “Well, it’s all right, then. But don’t get ahead of yourself. He’s interesting enough for now, but maybe not for more than that.”

Kirisin grinned back. He glanced at Angel to catch her reaction. But the Knight of the Word didn’t seem to be paying attention, sitting back and away from them, staring at nothing. He started to speak to her and stopped. What he had mistaken for disinterest was something else. There was pain in her eyes, a ripple of loss and remorse. He could read it clearly, and it surprised him that he could. She might be thinking of Ailie, but she might be thinking of someone else, too. She would have lost more in her short lifetime than the tatterdemalion, he thought. And he wondered again about what she had survived before coming to Arborlon and the Elves.

Tragen was gone for the better part of an hour. When he reappeared, the first glimmer of dawn was beginning to appear through breaks in the forest canopy, and the shadows were starting to recede. He came out of the trees at a swift walk, looking neither left nor right. Simralin opened the door to admit him.

“Culph is dead,” the big Tracker announced as soon as the door was closed again. “I found him in his sleeping chamber, torn apart. The damage was bad, but I could tell it was him.”

Kirisin squeezed his eyes shut. We were too slow! He rounded on Angel. “I told you it wasn’t him! I told you!”

“Stop it, Little K,” Simralin snapped. “She only said what the rest of us were thinking—that it might have been him, not that it was.” She shook her head helplessly. “I thought it was him, too. So we’re back to the King.”

“Or one of his ministers,” Angel amended. “Or anyone else standing around when Ailie was in the Council chambers. We can’t be sure.” She reached over and touched Kirisin on the shoulder. “I’m sorry about your friend.”

“We should have warned him,” the boy whispered to no one in particular.

“We should have done something.”

“I don’t think there was much you could have done,” Tragen said. “He was killed hours ago, long before the King’s daughter.” He looked at Simralin and shook his head. “I don’t know what is going on, but it isn’t good.

Once they find the old man’s body, things will only get worse. They’re looking for you. All of you. They’re combing the city, house by house. You have to get away while you still can.”

Simralin shouldered her pack. “Looks like we don’t have any choice. We’re leaving.” She moved over to him, reached up to touch his cheek, and kissed him on the mouth. Kirisin watched, intrigued. “I have to ask you to do something else. I need you to go to Briar Ruan and warn my parents not to return, to stay where they are until they hear from me. Will you do that?”

Tragen looked at the floor. “I had thought I would go with you.”

She shook her head. “Then you would be one of us. I can’t allow that. Besides, you will do me a bigger favor by warning my parents.

Perhaps I will have need of your help again before this is finished. There has to be someone here I can turn to.”

He hesitated a moment, and then nodded. “All right, Sim.

But I don’t have to like it.”