Raven's Shadow (Raven #1)(40)

When she couldn't free herself, she began asking him rapid questions that ran through his ears like rain, first in words he could have understood if he'd bothered, then in the liquid silver tongue that his mother used sometimes when she was very angry or very sad.

"Hush," he said, shaking his head, and he began humming the song his mother had used to sing Rinnie to sleep when she was a babe and fretting in the night.

She stilled at his song, then said slowly, "Who are you?"

"Jes," he said.

She stared at him a moment, "I can walk."

He hesitated. "You have to come with me."

"I'll come with you - but let me walk."

He set her down then, but kept a grip on her hand because he liked the way it felt. She was closed down so he didn't feel the annoying buzzing of her thoughts, just the warmth of her skin. His mother could do that, too.

"You don't look Traveler," she said, almost to herself.

"Mother's a Traveler," he replied. "Papa's a Rederni."

"What happened to me?"

But he'd said as much as he was going to. It was too complex and he couldn't be bothered explaining everything. He shook his head at her and continued toward home.

The field they'd been plowing was empty, the plowshare raised out of the ground and cleaned of soil and dampness to keep it free of rust. If it had looked like rain, Lehr'd have brought it in.

With a glance at the sky, Jes measured the time he'd spent in the woods. As usual, it was longer than he'd thought but not so long that Lehr should be finished plowing. Something must have happened to Skew.

He started to increase his pace, but slowed when the woman stumbled beside him. She didn't have the knack of walking over plowed ground. He swooped, picked her up, and carried her over their field. Remembering her request, though, he set her down on the other side and continued his determined course to the barn.

Lehr carried a heavy, steaming bucket to the barn and was oblivious to them until Jes called out his name.

Lehr halted and set down the bucket. "Jes? I thought you were out looking for a child?"

Jes frowned. "I found her in the woods," he said, because it somehow fit Lehr's questions. "Is something wrong with Skew?"

"No, no," his brother automatically soothed, staring at the woman. "He's fine. But he was so tired, I thought it would be better to stop. I'm bringing him some hot bran mash and Rinnie's giving him a rubdown so he's not so stiff and sore tomorrow." He frowned. "Jes, who is this?"

Jes frowned back, though he knew his frown wasn't as impressive as Lehr's. "This is the one I was sent for," he said.

Lehr smiled suddenly and shook his head. "All right, Jes. Good afternoon, lady. I am Lehr Tieraganson. You've already met my brother Jes."

The stranger he'd brought back with him tugged at Jes's hand gently and he released her.

"I am called Hennea," she said. "I am looking for the Traveler called Seraph."

"This one went to where Father was killed," said Jes, because the Guardian reminded him that it was important. "The forest king followed her and then held her for us. He thought she was coming here, which was fine with him."

"So why did he send for you?" asked Lehr after a moment, and the woman, Hennea, looked as if she'd like to know, too.

Jes sighed. "I'm not sure." But it was something Mother should know, and Lehr would remember to tell her. So he prodded the Guardian, who could make a better answer.

Lehr took a step back when the Guardian came, and that made Jes sad. The Guardian didn't like frightening his family.

"The forest king said that she had dark magic and power and he didn't want her in his territory."

Jes came back quickly, because the Guardian was unpredictable and might decide that the woman could be a threat to his territory, too. Jes didn't want him to scare her because... because he liked her.

"Dark magic?" asked Lehr, with a look at Hennea.

She put out her hand and showed him her wrist and tapped on the bracelet there. Jes didn't like it, nor did the Guardian - it smelled wrong.

"I expect that he's talking about this. Who is the forest king?"

Lehr smiled suddenly and shrugged. "I don't know, actually. I thought he was a story that Jes made up until I met him today." He turned to Jes. "Who is the forest king?"

Jes squirmed, uncomfortable with all the attention that they had been paying him. The Guardian didn't like people looking at him too much. "He's the forest king," he mumbled, almost forgetting the question in his discomfort.

Lehr seemed to sense how Jes was feeling because he said, "Come with me," picked up the bucket, and continued out to the barn.

Depressed and weary of both grief and anger, Seraph almost didn't notice that there was something wrong as she walked up to her cabin.

Alinath had already heard about Tier - Forder had stayed overnight in Redern and spread the news. She'd approached Alinath expecting to deal with shock and grief, but found Tier's sister waiting for her with anger and blame, instead.

It was only when Gura didn't greet her that Seraph set the stress of the unhappy meeting she'd had with Alinath aside and looked around. The boys weren't in the field, and Rinnie wasn't working in the garden.