One glimpse she had of a pale face, mouth open on a shout. Then she, baby, harness and all were engulfed in a thunderous wall of water.

One glimpse she had of a pale face, mouth open on a shout. Then she, baby, harness and all were engulfed in a thunderous wall of water.

Leana gazed around at all the gear laid out, ready. And thought of all the endless days stretching before them. “I have to go, I must,” she murmured. A short while later, she was out the door and slipping down the Concourse toward the trail.

Leana knelt by the cradle. “If Urolf makes you his heir, I’ll stay for your sake,” she whispered. “But if not . . . ”

 “Oh, my dear. I am so sorry.” (Vala) sighed. “You couldn’t have guessed just how hard it would be, leaving home to live with strangers.”

“My lord Urolf bears the news well. But there’s ill-feeling among the clan, and he knows it. Whatever some say in public, they won’t accept an heir of mortal blood.”

Vala smiled. . . . “It speaks to all who live in this place: Yul Kinta, human, and any in between.”

“We reach An Telfahn through a portal deep in these woods—”

Turning from her casement, Leana went to her harp and played sad songs of love gone wrong, the plaintive notes drifting out over the treetops and up towards the stars. . . .

Vala sighed. “You dismissed your ladies.”