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CHAPTER 14

      SHE'S WITHIN your reach. How DARE you keep me waiting! Dur's voice thundered inside Arm's aching head, making his stomach tremble and his bones go weak with strain.

      He showed no sign to his men, however, only glowered at them and snarled, "Keep searching."

      "But Sir," one of them ventured, "We've scoured every farm and village. There's nobody here who doesn't belong."

      A second added, "And there's not a stand of trees we haven't looked at. I, f'r one, know every weed and boulder personally."

      Arm took the second soldier by the shirt and pushed his bristly beard into the young man's face. "Yes, Barleyman, and you'll search these fields a dozen times more, if I say so. And you'll look behind every weed and under every rock until I give you leave to look somewhere else!" He shook the man until his jaws rattled and then flung him back into the ragged line of cowering soldiers.

      "Now, all of you. Dig up the boulders and look under them if you must — but bring me the woman with the yellow eyes. If anybody's with her: man, woman, or child — kill them all. My orders come from the king himself: Kill the others, and bring the woman."

      "But they ain't here," one of them whimpered.

      "If the king says they're here, then they're here. And if you don't find them — I swear I'll kill every one of you and take your blind eyes to the king as recompense!" Arm cried desperately, giving the nearest man a push that sent him sprawling. "Now GO!"

      The soldiers slunk away into the darkness, leaving Arm alone with a roaring in his head that resounded again with: "Find them!"

      "Majesty, I will," he groaned. And turning his back on the misty trees that surrounded the painted wagon, he headed out after his men, shouting, "Run, you animals, sniff them out. Look under the roots of the trees — and look again!"

      All the while he was bullying his men, Arm had been standing within arm's length of where Steel, Ware, and the others lay sleeping. But neither he, nor Barleyman, nor any of the others had seen them.

      When Ware roused, hours later, the sun was high in the sky. Getting up from the damp ground and stretching himself, he thought, "What curious dreams."

      Then he saw the cart.

      He could hardly believe it. Yet there it was, pale green, with a pretty design of flowers and birds painted on the side — a little room on wheels. He stared at the door and the folding steps that led up to it. That door had opened, hadn't it? And inside he had seen . . . Ess-Issa's face appeared in his mind, but no matter how hard he tried, Ware could recall her no more clearly than a fading dream.

      Yet when he looked at the dense trees, he saw them waver and he remembered that they were an illusion. Something real had happened last night — and he'd been changed by it.

      Hearth interrupted his thoughts by pressing a pail into his hand, "Ware, dear, see if you can find a stream somewhere and bring us some water."

      Later, as he returned with the bucket full, he noticed a small, shaggy horse tethered behind the cart. It had eaten all the grass within its reach, so Ware pulled a handful of weeds for it. The little beast refused his offering with a look of deep suspicion.

      "Don't get too close; it bites." Itok advised, emerging from the painted wagon.

      "It's a pony, isn't it? I never saw one before. We only have oxen here in Avianne."

      "Yes, and it kicks, too. So be careful." The Ezzeman gave the pony a bucket of water and retied its tether to a tree.

      By now they were all waking. Zex yawned and gave a push to Ember, who lay near him. "We slept without a guard last night. No thanks to you we weren't discovered." Ember's eyes were still closed; he never noticed.

      As Hearth began making breakfast, Itok unrolled a small carpet that had been tied to the side of the cart. He took fruit, bread, and nuts from a basket, spread them out, and sat down. "Shall we share our provisions?"

      As they ate, the Ezzeman said thoughtfully, "You're heading south, you said? I go that way myself. We can travel together, if you like."

      Zex looked truculent. "Why should we let you join us?"

      "I might say the same to you, Berach. However, your enemies are also mine, and I can afford you some protection from . . . persons whom you wish to avoid."

      Zex looked the Ezzeman up and down, and said with heavy sarcasm, "Well, of course I can see that you're a fighting man. How many soldiers can you take on — ten? A dozen?

      Itok returned a scornful smile. "There are other kinds of protection than a cudgel, Prince Zex, just as there are other kinds of threat."

      Steel intervened before Zex could answer. "I know you Ezzemen have skills — or should I say powers? — that are different from ours. What kind of protection could you offer us?" she asked politely.

      The Ezzeman's face softened. "What the eye sees isn't necessarily what the mind sees. If a band of soldiers were to pass through these woods and never notice us, you wouldn't need fighting men to protect you. And if, after passing, they never remembered that they'd seen men of the right age for impressment, and a beautiful lady with long black hair and eyes of gold, would that be protection enough?"

      Color rose in Steel's transparent skin. "You won't betray us, will you?"

      Itok's smile creased his parchment face into a thousand wrinkles. "Secrets kept can be more valuable than those revealed, and a wise man never tells all he knows."

      Hasty asked curiously, "Can you really do that — keep the soldiers from seeing us?"

      "I've done it already. Look in the dust at the far edge of this clearing — count the footprints there."

      Hasty ran to the spot the Ezzeman had pointed out. "He's right — there are footprints all over the place. There must have been a hundred of them!"

      "Twelve armed men were here while you slept."

      Zex leaped to his feet. "Snake! Did you betray us?"

      "Pah! If I had, would you be a free man now?"

      Hasty came back with shining eyes. "D-did you use magic on them?" he demanded.

      Not magic, but a skill that takes many years to learn. He turned to Steel: "Well? Do you accept my offer?"

      Ware tensed. He could see that his companions remembered nothing of what had happened after they joined Itok by his fire. And although his own memories of it were cloudy, he recalled enough to interrupt, saying, "That's all very well, Ezzeman, but what do you want from us in return?"

      Itok turned enigmatic eyes on him. "Only what you'll give me freely: Your company. Perhaps your friendship."

      "What do you want with our friendship — why do you care about our troubles," Ware persisted.

      "I'm an alien in your land. In every land," the old man answered softly. "I've been apart from humankind a long time and . . . I'm lonely. Are you so strong that you can afford to refuse my help?"

      Ware stared at the magician doubtfully. Then the image of Ess-Issa rose in his mind, and he realized that Itok could probably have compelled their agreement without asking for it. Perhaps there was truth in what he'd said about his loneliness.

      Hearth began gathering up the dishes. "You've already done us a kindness by protecting us as we slept, and we're glad to have you join us." she said. And it was settled.

      Steel gave him her hand to seal it. "I acknowledge my debt for your help, Ezzeman. And if you can help us reach our journey's end, we'll all be grateful."

      Itok nodded, and as if to seal the bargain, he clasped hands with each of them. As Hasty took the Ezzeman's hand, he said soberly, "I don't know what I could ever do to help a M-Magician, but I'll try."

      The Ezzeman's leathery palm met the boy's smaller one. "Few of us can read the future, young man, but the day may come when my people will need your aid — and thank you for it."

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