There was a feast. Of course, there was a feast. The village had just been saved, the dungeon was dealt with and the Champion of Whoever was partly responsible. There were two new guests, high-level elves! A feast had been pretty much guaranteed even before the news of demons had been added. There were demons! That had been defeated!

I—none of us, really— were in the mood. Even the elves seemed cool on the idea. They had planned to disappear back into the Grove with no one the wiser but had stayed to talk with me some more. That made them guests of honour at the feast, and everyone in the village seemed to want their moment to chat with a Level Eight.

From a distance, it seemed like their well-developed [Charm] skill was being put to good use, deflecting and distracting attention, sending people away without getting them mad. It would take them a while to get through the whole crowd though. For which I was grateful.

Yeah, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to them, either. I was still thinking about Cutter. The rest of the group were handling it in their own ways. Felicia was particularly distraught, and Kyle was being a rock for her. They had withdrawn from the feast as quickly as they could. Cloridan had withdrawn in another way, hitting the booze harder than he had for a while. He’d fallen in with Reynard and his group of hunter friends, who were all drinking heavily.

It wasn’t like the feast didn’t have an undercurrent of sadness. They had lost one of their own, and they hadn’t been anything less than respectful at the news of Cutter’s death. Toasts were given to the fallen, and expressions of deep sorrow were made. I won’t say it grated on me, but I did get tired of it. I wanted to go home. Home to Sydney, of course, but Talnier would do in a pinch.

Looking for a quiet place to enjoy a private drink, I should have realised that I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get away. Walking around the curve of a tree trunk, I almost stumbled over Yoroly.

She was sitting on the edge of a platform that overlooked… darkness. It wasn’t entirely black, there were some specks of light down below. They must have been luminous flowers, but from here they were just tiny points of light. Like looking down on the stars. Yoroly looked over her shoulder as I approached.

“You,” she said. From anyone else, I’d say her tone was sour, but from her, it sounded pretty neutral.

“Me,” I agreed. I sat down next to her. Unlike her, I made sure that I was sitting next to the railing support, which I put an arm around. It was a long drop into darkness. “Not enjoying the fruits of your labour? You were the one who fixed the problem, after all.”

“Bah!” Yoroly snorted. “I hate them, and they hate me. It’s simpler for everybody if we keep any foolish notions of respect or gratitude out of it.”

“You did risk your life to save them,” I pointed out. I wasn’t sure where I was going with this, the simple statement seemed quite likely to provoke her.

“I’m too old to find another village at this point,” she said. “It’s too late to change, we’re stuck with each other.”

She sounded almost smug as she gave that pronouncement.

“That being the case, it seems to me you’d want to build some bridges with the rest of the village. Unless you like being alone.”

“Of course I like being alone!” she said incredulously. “I tolerate the brat because she cleans the place, but I could give two figs for the rest of them.”

“You’re not worried they’ll throw you out?”

“They wouldn’t dare,” she said, and this time she was definitely smug. “Especially not after today. They know how much they need me. What about you, though?”

“What about me?” I asked glumly.

“You’re a Champion,” she pointed out. “You’re a big important muckety-muck from the Kingdom. You’ve got elves hanging on to talk to you, instead of the other way round.”

“I didn’t want any of that, though,” I said. “I may have worked towards some of it, but that was just because Talnier was being ruled so incompetently. Someone needed to step up—once things have settled down, I can be replaced.”

“Yeah, that's exactly how it always works,” Yoroly said sarcastically. “No one is ever interested in important people, and they always get to go off and retire as soon as they like. How’d you get away from the feast, though?”

I shrugged. “Just about everybody got meeting me out of their system at the last feast — the one you weren’t invited to— and the elves are stealing all the attention.”

Yoroly opened her mouth to reply, but we were interrupted.

“I don’t believe that “stealing” is the appropriate word to use when the attention is unwanted.”

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The words came from behind me, spoken in dulcet tones in a female voice. I hadn’t heard her speak until now, but I knew before I looked over my shoulder that I’d see the elven lady, Culathidae, standing there.

“I guess I didn’t slip away entirely unnoticed,” I said.

“We are very observant,” she agreed, stepping closer to the edge of the platform to put herself more easily in view. “This is a more pleasant place to converse than a forest trail, but we had hoped for a private conversation, rather than a public spectacle.”

“I should go, then,” Yoroly groused.

“There is no need, Mistress Theurge. When I said private, I meant merely quiet. I do not expect Lady Kandis to divulge any of her secrets.”

I sighed. “Why are you here?” I asked. “I thought that Morthanial was the one who did all the talking.”

She shrugged. “We have worked together for many years and long ago established who was most suited for which roles. He is, as you say, doing most of the talking, freeing me to talk to you.”

“Lucky me. So what did you want to ask me about?”

“I am interested in whatever you are willing to talk about,” Culathidae said. “Whatever interests a Chosen is an insight into the mind of the god that chose her. Such insights are keenly sought by my nation. To start with, though, what brings you to the Great Wild?”

“A few things,” I said carefully. “I was told by a Council member that if I showed up, I might be able to help them with a problem that they weren’t willing to tell me about.

“Elders!” Yoroly snorted. “Can’t decide on a tea blend without three hours of discussion and four hours of sulking from the losers.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Culathidae said, looking at her. “Passions run high in the beast-folk, and in days gone by the tribes would have settled things with knives, rather than words.”

“They still run high,” Yoroly replied, giving the words a sarcastic edge. “Even among the Elders, who should know better, no one can say anything approaching the truth, just in case it offends someone.”

“I am surprised that you do not fill that role yourself,” Culathidae said.

“Bah! I am older than this village’s representative,” Yoroly admitted. “And a damn sight smarter, too. That’s why I didn’t want anything to do with the job.”

“You’ve worked hard not to get it,” I said with amusement.

“Don’t think it was that easy! Remember, the job of the representative is to leave. There was some that wanted me to take it, regardless of what I wanted.”

“I am glad that you have found a place in your village that suits both you and the greater tribe,” Culathidae said smoothly.

Yoroly glared at her. The constant politeness was getting on her nerves. What’s more, I think that Culathidae knew it. She turned back to me.

“So you are only travelling to the Tribal Gather?” she asked.

“Well, it depends on what this mysterious problem is,” I hedged. “And having come all this way, it would be a shame not to press a bit further and see the Grove.”

She nodded. “It is a sight to see, and not one vouchsafed to most mortals.” Ignoring the effect that word had on Yoroly and me, she blithely continued speaking.

“You will not find our border as easy to cross as that of the Tribes, however. It would be easiest if an invitation were to be extended. I could arrange for someone to contact you at the Gather?”

“That would be useful,” I said. “This invitation would be coming from your government?”

“The Administratum, yes. I am reasonably confident that one would be extended to a Chosen. It would help if there was a particular task you wished to accomplish?”

Don’t mention the portal, I told myself. “I’ve had a few hints,” I said carefully, [Charm] doing its best to make sure I didn’t give anything away. “I did have some well wishes to pass on to someone’s sister.”

“From a runaway? Best not to mention that to the Administratum. I shall tell them that you wish to visit on Chosen business.”

“You’re not concerned with… runaways?” I asked.

She shook her head. “They are not a part of my duty,” she told me. “If there was one in front of me… I would be rewarded if I brought them in, but I doubt that it would be worth my trouble.”

“He wasn’t lying when he told me there were hunters, though, was he?”

“There are hunters,” she confirmed. “There are not many though, and they move slowly. To allay concerns from the mortal nations, they make sure to submit to whatever border controls that are in place. The Great Wild is one of the few places where we can move freely.”

“A courtesy that is not returned,” Yoroly put in.

Culathidae inclined her head. “It is not up to me, of course,” she said. “I will merely note that, as we have seen very recently, the world is not fair.”

We left early, despite Cloridan’s aching head. Felicity gave him something that, while it didn’t stop him from complaining, seemed to give him enough energy to put one boot in front of the other.

“Where are we headed next?” I asked Reynard.

“Singing Feather Haven,” he said. “Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t choose the name. Bunch of birds living there.”

“Bird-kin, you mean,” I said.

“And birds. You don’t get cats living with Cat-kin, and most of the other types are the same, but birds seem to get along with Bird-kin just fine.”

He looked back at me. He was leading the way, but he was far more at ease in this terrain than any of us and could afford to take his eyes off the ground.

“I hope this delay isn’t too disruptive to your plans.”

I shrugged. “It just means we’ll be longer getting back. I can send word back to Talnier when we get to the Gather that we’ve been delayed.”

He nodded and looked back to the path, seemingly reassured.

“Do you think it’s disrupted any of your mistress’s plans?” I asked.

If the question bothered him, he didn’t show it. “If she has any, she didn’t tell me,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule it out, but her ability to arrange things out here had got to be limited.”

Is it, though? I wondered. She had Reynard, how many others did she have? How many more of those amulets were there? Reflexively, I checked his. It was still disconnected from wherever it was getting controlled from.

“If you’re keeping an eye on me,” I asked. “Just how are you getting word back to the Countess?”

“I had some contacts in Talnier,” he told me. “I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I don’t tell you who they are. I assume I’ll be contacted at the Gather. It’s a big place, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had agents there.”

That might be true. She could be relying on the link that I had severed, but she might have agents out here already. One of them could replace the amulet instead of sending him back to get it reconnected. I’d have to watch out for that.

“Come on,” Reynard said. “Let’s pick up the pace, I want to be drinking nectar by nightfall.”