Kelton emerged from his dreams, shocked awake by his name echoing in the void of his mind. The voice he recognized, the terror it embodied was beyond his comprehension. The horror of it bounced in his soul, the vibrations waking old desires and igniting guilt that swamped all comfort he had found in the Waitland. He had stayed too long.

"What is it?" Farni asked, her concern evident. She sat up with him and embraced him from behind in the dark. It calmed the shaking that was traveling through his bones.

"I must leave," Kelton said. His mind started to clear as it began to plan. The dry season would end soon.

"You must stay," Farni argued. She turned his head and joined their foreheads. "You are Nagada now."

"I cannot," Kelton said. He placed his palm on Farni's cheek, covering her fading scars. "I do not know why, but she calls me. I heard it...I can feel it." A tear ran down his cheek. A mixture of leaving Farni, and not doing it soon enough. "I may be too late." He shook his head. "I have stayed too long."

"She is far away," Farni said with her tempting voice. "You are a warrior and need one like me. We will guide each other and find our happiness." Her finger traced his scare. Kelton leaned away. Even in the darkness he knew she lost her smile. It wasn't meant to be cruel, but the movement would be seen as such.

"I cannot ignore her," Kelton said as an apology. He rose to his knees and took Farni's hands in his. "It is true, I am a warrior now, Nagada through and through. It is your doing that I still breathe, and for that I am forever grateful. Juno, well, she is like My'taa now. I can not stay here while some beast hunts her."

"She is weak," Farni said, with a vehemence that was odd coming from her. She pulled her hands away.

"Aye," Kelton said. "She is not a warrior like you." He sighed and let the tension leave his shoulders. Truth was better than lies. "I can still smell her hair. I still see her smile in my mind." He touched his lips. "I remember her lips on mine. Would you have me here, thinking of another?"

"It is just dreams, bonded one," Farni argued. "It is folly to follow such things. I am real, I am here. Let her fade. In time, it is my image that will haunt your thoughts." Kelton sensed her smile growing again. "Together, we will find our pleasure." Her lips surprised him, pressing against his. They were not unpleasant, though they held no power. A functional act that stirred nothing in his gut. He carefully pulled away.

"I hate her," Farni snapped.

"It is my doing, not hers," Kelton said. He didn't want anyone hating Juno.

"You do not know if she waits. Mayhap, she has found another." Farni's voice dropped. "Mayhap, she is long dead."

"Mayhap," Kelton said, not wanting to argue. He didn't know how he knew; he only knew that a moment ago, she was alive. He chose to believe that she would survive whatever peril was before her. At least, long enough for him to find her. Kelton reached for spiders-bite, the pommels fitting in his hands as if they were born there. The Nagada had forged new will into him. For the first time in his life, there was no one he feared to face. No King, no Brother, and no god. "But I will find out."

"I hate her," Farni repeated in defeat.

Kelton stood in the hut, the village fire leaking through the hide seams. He reached for Farni, bringing her to her feet, her naked form silhouetted in the flickering. "I am, and always will be, bonded to you. I can not give you all that you want, but my twin-tails will forever sing your name. Each step I take is your victory. My story is your story."

"And if you do not find her, or if she cares not for you?"

Kelton didn't want to contemplate such a thing, but for Farni, he did. He smiled and pulled Farni's forehead to his. "I will return to tell you so."

"I will not wait," Farni said. Kelton felt her strength returning.

"Aye," Kelton said. "And then it would be I who will hate another." Her chuckle told him they might part as friends, or something close to it. Still, he thought it best she never meet Juno.

It was three days of hard travel to the edge of the Waitland. Kelton was apprehensive when Farni chose to accompany Lin'cy and he to the end of the Nagada lands. He had expected residual anger to follow her, or attempts to undo his path. There was none of that. When they stopped to eat and rest, only stories of their times together filled the air. Lin'cy pointed out their humorous failings in training. Farni countered with the times she or Kelton had bested the man. Laughter was the norm. In all, it made it more difficult to part. Kelton was leaving another family behind.

"It is the end, Fire-head," Lin'cy said as they came upon the Lacor river. Kelton stood at the point where he first entered the Waitland, hesitant to cross out of it. Not that he was questioning his chosen path. It was just that leaving had the same finality he felt when he left Aragonia. This time, he was leaving a welcoming place—a place where all souls are valued.

"It is a hard step," Kelton admitted.

"She waits," Farni said, her hand indicating the way out of the Waitland. She looked away, but not before Kelton saw her eyes leak. He did not like himself at that moment.

"Aye," Kelton said, wanting to have a better goodbye. For all that was done for him, she made him feel as if he were stealing something away. They gave, and he took, and now he leaves with a Nagada story on his back. "Leaving is not without pain, Farni."

"I am not good," Farni said, her eyes diverted.

"Not so," Kelton said, his heart sore with her words.

Farni shook her head. "The All-Father desires you elsewhere, and I try to make you stay."

"It is not the All-Father," Kelton said, moving toward her. His forehead laid against hers, his hands on her shoulders. He closed his eyes. "Did we not destroy the beast and save My'taa? Are we not bonded? Forever we will be as one in such things." He paused, then lowered his voice. "I can not stop my heart - it seeks Juno. It is my weakness, not yours."

Tears dripped from Farni's eyes as she shook her head again. "The All-Father wished me to know this. Still, I thought only of me."

"The All-Father does not..."

"I heard her call," Farni yelled. She broke from Kelton, pushing him away. "I heard, and I wanted her dead." She ran as Kelton stood still, absorbing her words. He started after her, but Lin'cy stalled him.

"It is the end," Lin'cy repeated. "I will see to her."

"She must know..."

"The tribe will embrace her," Lin'cy interrupted. "Next day, you will be farther from her thoughts. The next day, even farther. Seasons from now, Fire-head will be only a story. It is the way."

"Aye, the way," Kelton said. He looked at Lin'cy, who now bore the look of a father, which differed significantly from his warrior glare. "I have gained much from the tribe. Now I leave it with pain. I am a poor Nagada."

Lin'cy smiled. "The story of Fire-head has strengthened us. Now, a Nagada travels the world. We see it bettered by your wanderings. You will set a path for us to follow when the Treewalker comes. Nay, you are the best of the Nagada."

"I am what you made me, teacher," Kelton said, bowing his head.

"Lin'cy pulled Kelton's forehead to his. "For the tribe."

"For the tribe," Kelton repeated. They parted without further words. Kelton watched as Lin'cy disappeared into the foliage, never looking back. The idea that Farni heard Juno's call was disturbing his mind. There was a small part of him that thought it only a dream, a memory that emerged to excite his heart and give it purpose. He looked up at the sky, expecting to see the grand face of the All-Father. Darkening clouds were all that greeted him. He tsked himself and stepped into the Lacor river. Deities were for those who needed meaning beyond the known, or those who desired to justify their wrongs.

Kelton looked down at his hide clothing as he emerged from the knee-deep river. Spiders-bite's pommels conspicuously rode above his shoulders. His old clothing had been shredded by the Vic'aven, and he lacked coin if he wished swift travel. He had to reach house Tarvakian, gather what coin he could, acquire passage on a ship, and do so without attracting undue attention. The voyage would dance in the face of Kings and Brothers, but that mattered not. Their opinions no longer interested him. He would do what was once unthinkable; he would return to Aragonia and retrieve what his heart demanded.

He moved along the border of a rice paddy, in the direction of the Summerfield house. Kelton required help, and Heldi seemed the closest to a friend he could find in these parts. A change of clothes, and perhaps sustenance for travel. His mouth watered as he remembered her meals. It had been a long time since he had tasted something prepared with care. The Nagada cooked for many, and quantity always weighed over quality.

"All-Father!" A voice called from inside the high-grown paddy. Kelton saw a head rise, gray hair leaking from a scarf tied tight about her head. It was Heldi.

"Well met, lady Summerfield," Kelton said with a bow. She stalled him with her hand as he attempted to enter the muddy field.

"We thought you dead," Heldi said as she waded through the thriving plants. Her skirts were tied above her knees and feet bare.

"Mayhap, I was," Kelton said. He smiled to match hers, pleased that he was welcome. "Many thought me at my end, though some fought on, and now I breathe well again." A tinge of guilt with the memories of Farni's nursing coming back. He did not like how they parted.

Heldi walked around him, examining as if to make sure he was real. "You have added scars, and what are these marks on your arms?" She moved in front of him and shook her head. "And you carry swords as if you mean to use them."

"A long story, my Lady," Kelton said, wishing to talk as progress toward travel is made. To sit still and explain would be time wasted.

"Hungry?"

"Aye."

"Then, Grag and I shall hear the tale over a meal." Heldi undid the knot on her skirts, letting them fall to their more modest position. Barefoot, she led Kelton to the Summerfield home, gathering a surprised husband along the way.

Heldi ladled stew into a bowl and placed it in front of Kelton. The smell was glorious. Kelton tore off a chunk of bread, another treat he had missed, and dipped it deep into the bowl.

"A beast?" Grag asked as a bowl was placed in front of him. "There are such things roaming about in Assima's Bane?"

Kelton took a moment to savor and swallow the soaked bread. "Aye," he said, and dipped more as if he were famished. It was not true hunger, it was the desire to please the tongue. "A thing of black fur, like a cat, yet larger than most dogs." He held out his hands wide in an attempt to size the vic'aven.

"I have told you I see eyes glowing in the dark now and again," Grag said to Heldi. "It is a wonder they do not cross the river."

"Rare things, I was told," Kelton said with a shrug. "Rarer still to attack unprovoked. They hunt smaller prey, like the deer that roam the Waitland. Not so much ones like us." He took another big bite. His tongue was dancing with glee.

"And they marked you while you slept?" Heldi asked. She sat down at the table with a full bowl, and tore off a chunk of bread. Kelton nodded as he chewed. "We have never seen these...Nagada. Not that we cross the river much."

"Good thing, since there are beasts about," Grag said. "I will rethink acquiring that purple flower you so desire. Best if we look at them from afar." Heldi smiled at her husband. Must be sweet memories, Kelton thought.

"The Nagada will not harm you," Kelton said. "You own no one and do not have any intent against them. At worst, they would think you odd for being happy with only two, and not a tribe. They would see that as a lonely thing."

"More would be a crowded thing," Grag said. "Sometimes, it is good to gather, but best to spend most times with those you know best." He smiled at Heldi. "It is a greedy thing, not to share the one you love."

"And what will you do now, Kelton?" Heldi asked.

"There is a place I must go," Kelton replied. "There is one I seek far away from here. I plan to beg coin from house Tarvakian in exchange for promised work when I return." He took another bite of stew dipped bread. Grag and Heldi looked at each other. Grag shrugged, and Heldi sighed.

"You must not return to house Tarvakian," Heldi said. "Much has happened since you left this land, some of it will not be to your liking." Kelton's chewing slowed. "You are free by way of death. Do not willingly return to bondage."

"But I have told you," Kelton said, with half-chewed food in his mouth. "Tarvakian is a free house now." Heldi and Grag shook their heads. "He vowed to free it," Kelton added weakly as Heldi looked toward the ground.

"It is not free," Grag said.

"The promise was not kept," Heldi added. "I know you saw Heralic as honorable, yet coin warps many good men. Tarvakian is now known as the cruelest of owners." Kelton found the stew less tasteful. "His house grows, his coin is now boundless and rivaling that of the King's hoards."

"It can not be," Kelton argued.

"We were promised a visit," Grag said. "It was retracted. We are too tiny to be worthy of his time." He shook his head. "We would not go now even if he kept his word. The stories that leak from the house speak of horrors. We fear he denies even due care behind his walls."

"The King has given him a special disposition," Heldi added. She reached out to cover Kelton's hand with hers. It was a motherly gesture to soften his disappointment. "His house now boasts a lesson post within its walls. I fear lashing is a constant thing - they say screams can be heard often."

"He would not do such a thing," Kelton insisted. It was not the Tarvakian he remembered.

"A free house would greatly weaken his fortunes," Grag said. "Men used to fine things will not give them up without a fight." He sighed. "Tarvakian houses the Princess, and now he has the envy of every great house. There is power in that. Though I may curse his choices, I can understand his weakness not to hold to the vow you claim."

"I do not claim it," Kelton said with more anger than the Summerfields deserved. "He vowed it to save lives."

Heldi stroked his hand, which simmered Kelton's mood. "We do not doubt your word," Heldi said. "We only tell you what is. And in this land, none would make Tarvakian hold to a vow he made to the jungle bound, or to property."

"I would," Kelton said, retargeting his anger at the one who deserved it. "Mayhap, he will rethink his ways when he sees I live."

"Likely, he will slap the collar back around your neck," Grag said. "Best if you choose another path, one far from house Tarvakian."

Kelton took a vow as well, not that he shared it with the Summerfields. He never thought it a gamble, easily made to back the word of Tarvakian, a man he trusted without reservation. He wasn't sure if he could follow through with the vow. And he needed Tarvakian, or at least some of his coin, to get to Aragonia. Maybe, Tarvakian thought the Nagada went back on an implied vow to keep Kelton safe. A broken vow for a broken vow.

"This is a tasty stew, my Lady," Kelton said, adding a smile. The Summerfields were not part of what was going to happen. Best if Kelton kept his friends separate from the problems that didn't involve them. There weren't enough friends to risk losing two. "Flavors I have sorely missed."

"You are changing the subject," Heldi said. Her smile said she appreciated the compliment. Her words spoke for her intuition.

"Aye," Kelton said as he filled his mouth with a large piece of well-dipped bread. Truth, as was the compliment on the stew.

Grag chuckled as he rose. "I will gather some old clothes, something not...what did you call them...Nadaga." Kelton nodded. "If you run about dressed like that, you will draw trouble like bees to honey."

"Honey!" Heldi said, "I have a jar of it I meant to put on the table." She rose to do so. Kelton was thankful neither tried to push the issue of his return to house Tarvakian. At least, for the moment.

Kelton stirred his stew with a chunk of bread, wondering why the world was so broken. Tarvakian had his faults, but lying to Kelton had never been one of them. Then again, you can't lie to a dead man. And what of Filgot and the other guards, were they so weak of character to allow such a thing. Maybe Grag was correct. Coin can sparkle in a man's eye and enable him to ignore the most grievous foulness.

"Here it is," Heldi said as she placed the honey on the table. "A sweet treat. Dip the bread, and you will see." Kelton followed the instruction and had to twirl the bread around to get it to break the strand of honey that wanted to remain connected. The piece of heaven coated his mouth in bliss.

"You can not walk about with swords riding high on your back," Heldi said. She pointed to the full sheaths laid on the bench. "Mayhap, in a pack or such."

"Once, long ago, I carried a sword between a pack and my back," Kelton said as he dipped more bread in the honey. "A woman fixed it so it would hide there, upside down, yet easily drawn when needed. I think I can reverse the sheaths and secure them that way."

"A woman?" Heldi asked. She sat back with a grin as if he spoke of lost love.

"Aye, Joycelyn," Kelton said. The memory was a good one and he let it show. "A mother, to be sure. She cared for me, and her own, when trouble found us." He popped more honeyed bread in his mouth and let it swim there. "It was many years ago, but I still remember the feeling when she was around. I was younger then, not yet understanding the world." Kelton chuckled and had to cover his mouth, so the bread didn't leave it. "I admit, I still don't understand much of it."

"She was not your mother?"

Kelton sighed and swallowed. "Nay, she was not. At the time, I wished her to be. I never knew mine." He dipped another piece of bread, this time back in the stew.

"This is when scarred yourself, when you were hunted?"

"You are like Joycelyn," Kelton said with admiration. "Swift of mind and the desire to assemble things." She surprised him by remembering their previous words.

"Trousers, tunic, and an old cloak," Grag said as he entered displaying the wares. "They have seen better days, but are still sturdy enough."

"I have no coin for them," Kelton admitted.

"And you need none," Grag said. "At best, Heldi would have made rags of them." He signaled for Kelton to stand, then held them against his body. The trousers would ride high, but the rest would fit well enough, if not a little wide.

"You are intent upon confronting Tarvakian," Heldi stated, seated as if their conversation never ended.

"He has what I need," Kelton said.

"He will collar you, and the law will support him," Heldi said.

Kelton looked at the bench where spiders-bite rested, then looked back at Heldi. "It would take more men than he has to do such a thing. I am hoping it does not come to that."

"And if it does. Property, defending or not, can not harm an owner. You will awake the ire of the King himself," Grag said.