The morning after leaving the forest, Corec woke to find the elf girl—Shavala—calmly sitting on a large rock in the middle of the camp, near the remains of the fire. She waved at him and smiled brightly.

He pushed aside his blanket and stood. “What are you doing here?” he asked, before his mind woke up enough to realize how rude he sounded.

“It was too boring to keep following you.”

“What? Why were you—”

“Shavala?” Katrin asked. “Why are you here? Did Meritia send you?” She, too, was clambering out of her lean-to, but she sounded like she’d already been awake.

“No. I—”

“Why, hello!” Bobo said as he stood and stretched. “Welcome to our camp.”

“Have you two met?” Corec asked.

“I saw you with the scouting party,” Bobo said to the girl. “I don’t know your name.”

“Bobo, this is Shavala,” Corec said. “She helped us find someone we could speak to about our little problem. Shavala, this is Bobo. He…” He trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence.

“If Meritia didn’t send you, why did you come?” Katrin asked, looking suspicious.

“Meritia decided I was ready to begin my travels,” Shavala said.

“Travels?”

“When a druid has completed her training, she goes out into the world to learn more about it. Some of the other dorvasta do so as well, out of tradition.”

“Druid?” Corec had heard the word before, but wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Druids are mages of the natural world,” she said. “We follow the elder magic.”

“You’re a wizard?” Katrin asked, looking a little nervous.

Shavala shook her head. “No. Do you remember when Meritia spoke of the four types of magic?”

Katrin nodded.

“Druids follow the elder magic—the first magic. We look to the plants, the animals, and the elements.” The elf girl held a finger up and a tiny flicker of flame appeared at the tip, then disappeared a moment later. “Wizards follow arcane magic, which is different. Meritia is my teacher, but she couldn’t help with your sigils because they’re not part of the natural world.”

“What are they, then?” Corec asked.

The girl shrugged. “I didn’t ask her before I left, but perhaps arcane, since she suggested speaking to wizards.”

Corec nodded. “But why were you following us?” he asked.

“To see if I could,” the girl said, as if that was the only answer that was needed. “But you never once heard me or looked my way, no matter how close I got. And it was boring not having anyone to talk to, so here I am.”

“What direction are you heading?”

She shrugged. “I’d like to see the big cities and the ocean before I return, but I can decide for myself. I will accompany you until it’s time to go elsewhere.”

“Wait, you want to come with us?” Katrin asked.

“Why not? There are no rules that I must travel alone. Meritia once spent a month traveling with a demonborn man, until he got a job in a circus.”

Corec considered it. The elf girl’s bow was propped up next to her. If she knew how to use it, and could sneak through the forest well enough that he’d never seen her, she’d be of more use on the trail than Bobo, at least.

“You can stay with us until we reach the West Road,” he said, absently scratching an itch on his left arm. “After that, we need to move faster, so we’ll be riding.”

“The West Road is the one that goes east? The big road at the end of the little one?”

“From here, it goes west and east. It’s just called the West Road because it leads west from Tyrsall. At Dalewood, it splits into the Trade Road and the Old Road.”

“I thought we were already on the Trade Road,” Katrin said.

“We’re on a trade road. The Trade Road is the main road between Tyrsall and Larso.”

“I will go to the big road with you,” Shavala said, then pointed to a cloth-wrapped bundle resting on top of her pack. “I brought mushrooms if anyone’s hungry.”

Katrin rolled her eyes but Corec grinned. If she could find mushrooms in the middle of summer, she’d definitely be more helpful than Bobo.

#

“I can’t make this work,” Katrin said a few days later. They’d made camp for the night and she was sitting across from Shavala, who was helping her learn to hide her mark. “I don’t understand what I’m supposed to actually do.”

“Just…think about it,” Shavala said. She’d found a hawk feather earlier that day and was tying it into her hair, hanging down in front of her left ear. “When you want magic to do something, you must make it do something. Unless you’re a wizard, and then you have to speak funny words instead.”

Katrin wasn’t sure what to make of the elf girl. Shavala had been with them for several days now, but still hadn’t given any more reason than she had the first day—that it was time for her to go on her travels, which meant leaving the forest and seeing the world. She’d pitched in around the camp at night, but often ranged far away during the day, while they traveled. She would come back at night with rabbits she’d hunted, or with berries and mushrooms, and once with some wild sweet potatoes. Corec seemed happy enough to have her help, but it didn’t explain why she’d chosen to travel with them. Katrin felt uneasy when she saw the way the girl watched Corec, though she wasn’t sure why.

She realized the girl was staring at him right at that moment, and looked over to find that he’d taken off his armor and was changing his shirt.

“Are you going to try, too?” she asked him.

“I might as well,” he said, coming to sit near the girls. “I can hide mine easily enough under my clothes, but it would be good to know if I can do it.” He rolled up his right sleeve so the mark was visible, glowing in the twilight.

It was just the three of them in the camp. Bobo was off searching for herbs again—he’d spent the last two evenings boiling some foul-smelling concoction until it had the consistency of paste, explaining that the salve was good for burns. He was still searching for ingredients for others. Sometimes Shavala helped him, but this time she’d stayed in camp.

The elf said, “Close your eyes if it helps, then think of the sigil. Imagine it to be hidden, so nobody can see it.”

“Can we imagine that it’s gone completely?” Katrin asked.

Shavala shrugged. “You can try. Maybe it’ll work.”

Katrin shut her eyes and tried to focus on the mark, imagining it to be gone, then imagining it to be hidden just for good measure.

“Hey, you’ve got it!” Corec said in surprise.

“What?” she asked, opening her eyes to see him idly scratching his left arm.

“Oh. It’s back.”

“But it worked?”

“It faded away when your eyes were closed,” Shavala said, wrinkling her brow and rubbing at a spot on her forehead. “Then it came back when you opened them.”

“But…that was easy!”

Corec laughed. “Would you prefer if it was hard?”

They practiced for another hour, with Bobo returning to camp halfway through.

Unfortunately, it turned out it wasn’t easy after all. Katrin could do it if she closed her eyes and concentrated on the mark, but the moment she tried to think about anything else, it returned. Corec hadn’t been able to hide his at all.

“You might get better if you practice,” Shavala said. “That’s how it usually works when I’m learning a new spell.”

“Learning a spell?” Katrin said, surprised. “I thought you weren’t a wizard?”

Shavala gave her an odd look. “I don’t have to speak the words like a wizard, but I still cast spells. When I lit the campfire tonight, that was a spell. It just means I’m making the magic do what I want it to do. It’s a trick of concentration.”

“Is this a spell, then?” Corec asked. “Hiding the rune?”

“No, but it’s similar,” she said, before rubbing her forehead again.

Katrin’s blood ran cold and she stood up in shock. “You!” she said, pointing. “Your head!” She turned to Corec. “Your arm! It’s happening again!”

Shavala just looked confused, but Corec glanced down at his left arm, which he’d been scratching again. There was a look of recognition on his face as he jerked his hand away.

“No!” he said. “I mean, I thought it was just a coincidence. I didn’t even really think about it.” He rolled up his left sleeve, and there were no marks.

Shavala’s eyes were crossed as she tried to look up at where she was poking her own forehead with her finger. “I don’t think so,” she said. “My head itches, but I don’t feel any different.”

“Neither did I!” Katrin said. “That’s how it started. But if you…if he…” She faced Corec again. “You did it! You’re some kind of wizard!”

“No, I’m not!” he said. Then, after a moment, he looked concerned. “Well, not really. I can’t do much.”

“I knew it! It was you all along! You did it to me, and now you’re doing it to her!”

“No, damnit! I can’t do anything like that. All I can do is make lights, and a couple other things.” He waved his hand, and a ball of pale, silvery light floated up above his head. The night was getting darker and they’d let the campfire die down after cooking the evening meal, so the light helped to illuminate everyone.

“A mage light!” Bobo said, surprised. “That should come in handy.”

“It has a name?” Corec asked.

“Of course. It’s a common spell for wizards. You can only use it when you’re not wearing your armor?”

“What? No—I can do it anytime I want. Why?”

“Wizards have problems casting spells if there’s too much metal around them. And you didn’t cast a spell, you just waved your hand. I don’t think you’re a wizard.”

“I don’t have to move my hand. It just makes it easier to put the light where I want it.”

Katrin shouted, “Why are we talking about lights when you did this to me?”

“I didn’t do it! Or, if I did, I don’t know how, and I didn’t mean to. All I can do are the lights, and I can make a sort of shield during a fight. But I don’t know where the runes come from, I swear!”

He’d gone from insisting he hadn’t done it to saying he hadn’t meant to do it. Katrin realized she was about to cry, and stalked off into the darkness so nobody would see.

“Katrin!” Corec called after her.

“Leave me alone!”

The moon was bright, so she could make her way if she was careful, but she couldn’t walk fast. Shavala caught up to her before she’d made it far.

“What’s wrong?” the elf girl asked.

“What do you mean, what’s wrong? He pretended that he didn’t know what was going on, but all along, he did this to me!”

“You don’t believe him? About not knowing?”

Katrin thought about that. It had been Corec’s idea to go see the elves when she hadn’t wanted to return to the city. It seemed like a long trip out of their way if he’d been lying to her all along, but she just didn’t know anymore. “How could he do it to both of us without knowing, or without meaning to?”

Shavala shrugged. “Maybe someone else did it.”

“Then why would they do it to him twice? Why would they do it to anyone?”

“I don’t know. Humans never make any sense.”

“Why aren’t you angry at him? He did it to you, too.”

“It hasn’t happened yet. Maybe my head just itches because it itches. But if it’s going to happen, aren’t you seeking out a wizard to help get rid of it anyway?”

“I guess.” Just then, Katrin saw a pair of yellow eyes crouched low in the darkness, fifty feet away. She gasped and stepped back in fear.

Shavala followed her gaze. “It’s just a wolf. A lone male—young, I think. He’s been watching us all evening.”

“Wolf?” Katrin barely managed to keep from shrieking the word. Shavala had known it was out there this whole time and hadn’t told her?

“He won’t hurt us. He’s just curious and hungry. I’ll take him that last bit of rabbit after we return to the camp, and ask him to leave us alone.”

“Ask him? Are you insane?”

“It’s part of being a druid. He’ll understand what I say, mostly. It depends how smart the animal is, but wolves are smarter than most.”

Katrin had been a city girl her whole life. She’d never had to deal with magic, or wolves, or—except for the harrowing trip from Tyrsall to Circle Bay when she was younger—sleeping outdoors in the wilderness. She just wanted to go home. She stared at the elf girl, not sure how to respond.

Shavala took her by the arm and led her back to the camp, the elf more surefooted in the dark.

When they got there, Katrin refused to speak to anyone. Just when she’d started getting along with him, Corec had betrayed her. Again.

#

“We’ll reach the village tomorrow,” Corec said the next day. “Katrin, this isn’t the one we stayed in last time, since we’re following the trade road all the way back rather than cutting across like we did before.”

She just looked at him with red-rimmed eyes, not speaking. He felt sick to his stomach. The more he thought about her accusations, the more they made sense. The only likely way for the runes to affect both Katrin and Shavala—while affecting him both times—was if he was the one causing them. He and Katrin were the only people who’d been present both times, and she certainly wasn’t faking how she felt about the whole thing. Shavala’s rune hadn’t appeared yet, but his left arm felt exactly like his right arm had felt the first time, and she’d mentioned that her forehead still itched. If he was the one responsible for the problem, he didn’t know how he’d make it up to them. He didn’t even know what the damned things were, much less how he’d created them—if he’d created them. Meritia had said that they bound two people together, but she hadn’t explained what that meant. So far, they seemed like nothing more than decoration.

Corec hoped to find a wizard in Tyrsall that could get rid of the runes, but he was concerned about the price. Hiring a wizard probably wouldn’t be cheap. He’d considered heading back to Four Roads, to visit the moneylender that held most of his savings, but that would add several weeks to the journey. It would be better to talk to the wizard first, to see what was required.

Unlike Katrin, Shavala didn’t seem to be concerned. Corec knew part of the reason was because she wasn’t yet convinced that the rune would appear—and, for that matter, neither was he. But she also didn’t seem inclined to blame him for whatever was happening.

“And then east to Tyrsall?” she asked. “I’ve heard it is very big.”

“Yes, we’re headed to Tyrsall next. It’s the largest city I know of—almost a million people.”

Her eyes grew wide. “A million? Terrillia only has…” She hesitated. “Terrillia is not as large. In Tyrsall, they say you can see ships on the ocean, pushed by the wind? Have you ever met a seaborn?”

He laughed at her enthusiasm. “Tyrsall is the largest port in the east. There are always ships coming and going.”

“And the seaborn? What are they like?”

“Much like a human,” Bobo said, “but they can breathe below water when they want to, like a fish. Their hair is brown, but the more time they spend in the water, the whiter it becomes.”

Corec nodded. “There are usually a few around the docks, working as pearl divers or sailors, but most seaborn make their homes out west, past Terevas.”

“I want to visit Terevas, too!” Shavala said. “Meritia says the nilvasta don’t make their homes in the tershaya, but build palaces of glass and metal.”

Corec shrugged. “I don’t know—I’ve never been there. It’s a long way from here. How much traveling do you plan to do before you return home?”

“As much as I can. I want to see everything!”

He laughed again. “That’ll take a while. First, we need to see about getting you something to ride. The next village may have a horse or a mule.” He worried about the cost of buying another mount, but she’d need to be with them when they met with the wizard.

“Why?” she asked. “I can walk or run as fast as the animals.”

“They’ll be going faster once we reach the West Road,” he said, though he suspected she was telling the truth. If he wasn’t wearing his armor, he could walk farther in a day than a horse carrying a rider. The problem was in doing so day after day—and even if Shavala could keep up, it would be rude to ride while she was walking.

She furrowed her brow. “How many metal coins does a horse cost?”

“About forty silver, but it can be higher or lower depending on the horse. Around here, a good riding mule will be about the same.”

Her face fell. “I only have ten of the silver ones. Will they take any of the other ones?”

“I…” Corec paused, not entirely sure what she was asking. “You have money? I was planning to buy the horse for you.”

“I have some of the human coins, but I don’t have forty of the silver ones. Do horse sellers only take silver coins?”

“Ah, well, when I say forty silver, I mean coins worth forty silver.”

Shavala chewed on her lip while she thought about that. “So they would take one of the gold ones instead?”

“Yes, if you have gold.”

She nodded. “Two of them, but I don’t understand. Why would they take one metal coin instead of forty?”

Corec chuckled. “Sometimes I don’t understand it either, but it has to do with how rare the metal is.”

“Will they take the hawk feather I found yesterday? Or a carving of a squirrel?”

“I doubt it. You might be able to sell the carving for a few coppers once we reach the city.”

“I don’t want to sell it!” She looked offended. “I might trade it for something. But a horse seller will only take coins?”

“Yes. We’ll do the bargaining in silver—it’s easier that way, and there’s no sense letting him know you have gold before the deal is made. Do you want me to bargain for you?”

She nodded—somewhat reluctantly, he thought.

“What about me?” Bobo asked.

“We agreed that you were going your own way once we got back to the West Road,” Corec said, with an uncomfortable feeling about what was coming next.

Bobo had been helpful in the first few days, cutting down on some of the tension between Katrin and Corec—though that appeared to have been wasted effort now that she was angrier than ever. But the man was annoying, and Corec wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand his company.

“I was thinking…” Bobo said. “I need to visit Tyrsall anyway. There’s a library there, and if I can get access, I have some experience in researching obscure topics. While you are looking for a wizard, I can look for information on your runes. You said the elf woman called them binding sigils? I’m sure I could find some reference to that. Perhaps you could…lend me the money to purchase a mount?”

Corec sighed. Bobo’s idea was a good one. Unfortunately.

“I’ll buy the animal myself,” Corec said, “and let you borrow it until we reach the city, then I’ll sell it. And yes, in exchange, I’d appreciate your help with the library.”

“Excellent!” Bobo exclaimed with a wide smile.

#

Shavala had tried to hide it, but she’d grown increasingly uncomfortable as they traveled away from the forest. At first, it wasn’t bad—the trees were shorter than she was used to, but still numerous. But day by day, there’d been fewer of them.

The first farm they’d come across had been even more disturbing. She was familiar with the idea of planting crops, but seeing huge fields with no trees whatsoever—just long, straight rows of whatever the farmer had sowed, and always the same crop across the entire field—had felt unnatural to her.

Meritia had once mentioned that it had taken her a while to get used to the world outside the forest, too. Getting accustomed to new things was the whole purpose of a druid’s travels, so Shavala hid her unease and tried to tell herself that everything was all right. That became more difficult once they got to the big road—the West Road. It was mostly open space surrounding them, with only a few trees in scattered bunches. She stayed close to her companions, rather than roaming widely as she’d been doing before.

They came across a village just a couple miles beyond where the two roads had met. With the buildings so close together, it seemed like a larger version of the border camp. In Terrillia, everything was much more spread out. Corec led them to the largest of the buildings, telling her it was the inn.

After they’d tied the animals to the hitching post, Corec spoke to Katrin. “Do you want to offer to play tonight, to get a deal on our rooms?”

“No,” she said flatly.

He stared at her for a moment, but didn’t argue. It was the first time Katrin had spoken to him in two days, so Shavala hoped it was a good sign. The tension between them hadn’t been helping her discomfort over leaving the forest.

“I’m going in to see if there are rooms available,” Corec said. “Katrin, Bobo, could you wait here and watch over our things?”

Bobo agreed. Katrin didn’t reply one way or another, but she remained outside, too. Shavala stayed with them. Some of the villagers who walked past glanced at her ears, but they didn’t seem surprised to see an elf this close to the forest.

Corec returned a few minutes later. “I got us two rooms. Bobo and I’ll take one, Katrin and Shavala, you can have the other. They’ll be serving supper in an hour, and afterward, I paid for use of the bathing room. Ladies, you can go first.”

They unloaded their packs and passed the animals off to the inn’s stable boy. Shavala helped them carry everything in and up to their rooms, but she found the stairs to the second floor to be unnerving. She was used to stairs, but only built in spirals around the trunk of a tershaya, leading from one dwelling to another up and down the tree. The inn’s short, straight staircase was different than any she’d seen before, and she found herself wanting to curve to the left as she climbed.

Once she and Katrin reached their room, the other woman closed the door and locked it, then sat on the bed without speaking.

“Why don’t you play your music anymore?” Shavala asked. “I listened to you a few times when I was still following you, and it was very pretty.”

Katrin scowled at her. “I don’t want to play in front of him.”

“If you hate him so much, why don’t you leave?” Shavala asked.

Katrin sighed. “I don’t hate him,” she said in a weary tone. “I thought I did, but you’re right. He’s telling the truth when he says he doesn’t know how it happened, or whether he did it or not. I’m just mad that…” She paused, her eyes widening as she stared at Shavala.

“What?”

“Your mark—I mean, sigil! I can see it, almost!”

Shavala touched her forehead, but it didn’t feel any different, except that the itch was fading. Katrin led her to a mirror in the corner of the room. There was a faint blue light under Shavala’s skin. It looked like it was moving around, even though she couldn’t feel anything.

They stood together and watched as the sigil took shape, gradually coming to the surface. It had three parallel, diagonal lines, crossed by a fourth line that was almost perpendicular. It was the same brilliant blue as Katrin’s, and the itching had stopped.

“I’d hoped mine would be green,” Shavala said, disappointed.

“What?”

“It’s pretty, but it doesn’t really look right on me. Maybe if I wore some blue feathers in my hair? I have a blue tunic, but I didn’t bring it with me.”

“That’s what you’re worried about right now?”

“What else should I be worried about? Your sigil hasn’t done anything bad, has it?”

“No, I suppose not, but we still don’t know what they are.”

“We can ask the wizard about that once we find one,” Shavala said.

“Why is it a different shape than mine?” Katrin asked. “Do you think it means anything?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen the symbols before.”

There was a quiet knock on the door, and Katrin opened it to let Corec in. She closed the door behind him.

“Hi,” he said to Shavala, as he saw her standing in front of the mirror. “I guess you know.” He rolled his left sleeve up to show the matching mark on the outside of his left arm, just below the shoulder.

She nodded, then stepped over to him and ran her fingers over his sigil. Like hers, it just felt like normal skin. She stopped when she realized she was caressing the muscles in his arm. She wouldn’t mind being more forward with him, but it was difficult when the others were always around.

“We were wondering whether the different shapes mean anything,” Katrin said. She no longer sounded angry when she spoke to Corec, just tired.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was surprised it was different.”

“I like it,” Shavala said. “But I do need to find something blue to wear with it.”

He looked puzzled, glancing at Katrin who just shook her head.

“Both of you, I’m sorry if I had anything to do with these things,” he said. “Katrin, I was thinking…how much do you need to get your brother out of prison?”

“Forty gold.”

“Forty?” he said, in a strangled voice.

“It was his fourth offense, so they multiplied it by four. They found the things he’d stolen, or it would have been more.”

“I was going to offer to pay it off, but I’m not sure I have that much saved. And there’s your penalty, too—that should come first.”

“Oh. I…don’t know what to say.”

“The offer still stands,” he said. “However much it’s worth. Most of my money’s in Four Roads, though, so we’d have to go get it after we’re done in Tyrsall. We can pay the wizard’s fee, and your penalty, and then, whatever’s left, you can take to Circle Bay for your brother.”

“Thank you.” Katrin turned away from them, wiping her eyes.

Shavala breathed a sigh of relief as the mood between her companions lightened. The two of them had been starting to depress her.