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"You did not tell him," Belli&039;mar Juraviel said to Pony

"There is a time and place, and I do not think the eve of a battle is it," Pony replied harshly, though Juraviel had only stated a fact and there had been no hint of accusation in his tone

Pony o on, mostly to tell the elf that this issue was none of his affair, but lightning split the overcast sky, startling her A late autumn storm churned in the dark clouds overhead

"The child is Elbryan&039;s as much as yours," the elf said calht to know before the battle is fought"

"I will tell him when and where I choose," Pony retorted

"You did let hio to Palmaris, not to Dun-dalis?" Juraviel inquired

Pony nodded and closed her eyes When Juraviel had left her with Elbryan earlier that day, she had explained to the ranger that she needed to return to Paler&039;s fate and to check on Belster at Fellowship Way She had told Elbryan that she needed to put her grief to rest, and only a visit to those surroundings, she believed, could acco his ie now - his eyes so full of confusion, hurt, and fear for her - pained her greatly

"And you will tell him about the child before you leave?" Juraviel pressed

"And then he will abandon the caravan to Dundalis," Pony replied sar-castically "He will forget the task at hand and spend his days instead atto needs I do not have"

Juraviel backed off a bit and wrapped his slender chin with delicate fin-gers, studying her

"Elbryan and I will be back together soon enough," Pony explained, her voice now cal She understood the elf&039;s concern for her and for her relationship with Elbryan Juraviel was their good friend, and seeing him so troubled only reminded Pony that she must carefully examine these most important decisions

"The child will not be born until the turn of spring to suive Elbryan plenty of time - "

"More time if he was told now," Juraviel interrupted

"I do not know if the child will survive," Pony said

"Considering your poith the gemstones, it is unlikely that any harm will come to the babe," Juraviel replied

"Power," Pony scoffed "Yes, the power to keep ht the battles"

"Do not lessen the credit deserved by a healer," Juraviel started to argue

But Pony had turned away, hardly listening She and Elbryan had to keep her use of the arrison sol-diers had arrived Even though the secular-serving Kingsion, Pony had wisely limited her public use of the stones Sooner or later, ould reach this far north that she and Elbryan were fugitives of the Church Pony used the stones only to heal those wounded in battle; even then, she disguised her gees, secretly finishing the task with he proficiency had trapped Pony behind the ; Captain Kilronney was convinced she was too valuable to risk Given Pony&039;s surly e, she wasn&039;t pleased with her role

"Is reater?" the elf asked "I cannot show ated to the position of private pre-battle scout for Nightbird"

"And you have been saying ever since we left the h Inninness that this as not the business of the Touel&039;-alfar," Pony shot back angrily

"Ah, but the little ones&039;re always sayin&039; such things," cae centaur, trotted into the s beside the pair "Never meanin&039; it, for the elves&039;re really thinkin&039; that everythin&039; in all the world is their business!"

Pony couldn&039;t help but sh Bradwarden could be a fierce foe, his face always see of curly black hair and beard

"Ah, me little Pony," the centaur went on, "suren that I&039;m hearin&039; yer words o&039; frustration I been watchin&039; fight after fight against the stinkin&039; dwarfs and goblins, and canno&039; even lift me club to help!"

"You wear a distinctive mantle," Juraviel said dryly

"One ye&039;re wishin&039; yerself hed in response, and then he bid farewell to the pair, explaining that he had to report to Elbryan on the final movements of the powrie band

"The dwarves&039;re makin&039; it easy this time," the centaur said to Pony when they were alone

"You have seen them? "

"In a cave in a rocky dell, not two miles west o&039; Caer Tinella," Bradwarden explained "I&039;m knowin&039; the place well, and knowin&039; that there&039;s only one entrance to their chosen ground I&039;m thinkin&039; that the dwarves haven&039;t decided which way they ht, no doubt, since powries&039;re alht But most&039;re likely thinkin&039; that it&039;s past tio hoaze inadvertently turning west

"Not so, if Nightbird catches &039;em in there," the centaur replied "The dwarves&039;d hold for soe, dependin&039; on how ettin&039; out o&039; there if Nightbird and the soldiers set themselves in front o&039; the damn hole Me thinkin&039;s that the dwarves&039;re not plannin&039; to stay in there for long, and have no idea that they been seen Juraviel will tell Nightbird to hit at them before dawn"

"Dawn is stillat Bradwarden

The centaur matched Pony&039;s sly dwarves up in their hole," he agreed

The stor fog about the skeletal trees, a preternatural scene brilliantly lit by every bolt of lightning Pony&039;s spirit , invisible to the eyes of any mortal creature She did several circuits of the dell Bradwarden had indicated, even went inside the cave to count forty-three powries - a larger group than the scouts had indicated - and to confirm Bradwarden&039;s claim that there was indeed only one way out of the place That single entrance intrigued her, and she lingered beneath the arch for quite a while, studying the heavy outcropping of loose-fitting stones above Then she went back into the forest She found only five powries outside, but was not surprised at the uard The dwarves could not have expected that any arainst the body, seated in another cave some miles distant Bradwarden stood patient sentry in the doorhile Greystone, Pony&039;s beautiful, well-muscled horse, stood very still inside the cave, ears flattened

"We can get right to the cave entrance with only minimal resistance," she announced

Bradwarden turned at the sound of her voice A bolt of lightning hit in the distance behind hie, powerful fraht want to be leavin&039; yer horse," the centaur reht a bit too fitful for his likin&039;"

Pony rose and went to the stallion, stroking hisa walk," she said

"Ah, but I&039;ll let ye ride on me back instead," the centaur offered "Now tell uards each," Pony explained, "looking more for shelter than for enemies Both are out about a hundred yards froht A fifth powrie is settled in the rocks above the cave entrance"

"The sound o&039; the storm&039;ll cover our first attacks," Bradwarden reasoned

"Right to the cave entrance without the," Pony said with a wicked sht, a fitting accentuation of her dangerous mood

The clip-clop of hooves sounded in the ears of the tense powrie sen-tries The tries, up to nowrain than with sentry duty, tightly clutched their weapons - a small crossbow and a war hah the rain They e horse, and breathed a bit easier when they noted that the animal had no rider and no saddle

"Just a wild one," one whispered

The other raised his crossbow

"Nah, don&039;t ye be shootin&039; it!" his co, and then it&039;ll give us a long chase I&039;ll give it a good thunk on the head, and then we&039;s be eatin&039; horsie tonight!"

The tries crept up side by side, their s creature They could not make out the horse&039;s neck and head, for it was bent forward into so split the sky in a brilliant flash, followed i thunderclap

The tarves jumped when the centaur backed out of the brush sud-denly, throwing off the blanket he had used to cover his upper torso

With one hand Bradwarden grabbed the closest powrie, the one with the crossbow, by the top of his head and lifted the dwarf fro the tu hih the air

The second powrie reacted quickly, rushing right in and s at the centaur&039;s ribs with his hah Bradwarden&039;s defense and landed hard

But the powerful Bradwarden, so incensed that these two had been talking about eating horsehis club up over his shoulder "Ye horse-eatin&039; goblin kisser!" he roared Then straight down ca the dwarf so hard that the creature&039;s knees and ankles buckled outith loud popping sounds The war ha weirdly a few tiroan from the side alerted Bradwarden that the first das not quite dead The centaur started for him at once but had to stop and stretch; the muscles on the side of his chest where the powrie had hit hi as the bruise swelled, and Bradwarden feared the blowdown, did Bradwarden realize he had a rather serious gash as well, his blood dripping down his side

The sight angered hih powries increased as he neared his first victiled to his feet and was trying hard to find soround and added a couple of solid kicks to his head as he passed

But the powrie struggled back to his feet

Bradwarden wasfast, and knocked the dwarf into a tuood

Pony&039;s approach toward the tarves in the forest to the right of the cave entrance was ain to walk out of her body and pinpoint their location Each was perched on a low branch, in trees about ten yards apart, just as they had been in her first scouting er until she was convinced the powries would not move anytime soon and also to inspect the dwarves&039; weapons and possessions Neither carried a crossbow, she was glad to see: one had a short sword sheathed on his hip, while the other cradled a club in its arms

Pony&039;s spirit quickly inspected the area and then went back to her corpo-real form She knew she could elie to put Defender to good use Despite Bradwarden&039;s suggestion, she had ridden Greystone but had left hiht was simply too wild for her to trust her horse&039;s responses, and so she walked now, using the wind and the almost-constant thunder to cover any noise

After she identified the trees she knew held the powries, she stopped and crouched beside a thick elm In a few moments, she could make out the dark forical shich had once belonged to Connor Bildeborough Its crosspiece was set with netites, lodestones, and Pony also held one in her free hand Foot by foot, she crept nearer to the dwarf on the right, the one with the sword

"Yach, get back to yer post!" the powrie growled at her when she was barely a yard away, obviouslyher for his co deep into the powrie&039;s leg

Down hopped the dwarf, sword slashing, but Pony was already backing, waving Defender and turning to the other powrie as it hopped down fro powrie attacked powerfully, sword slashing in wild arcs, and Pony retreated to the left, Defender only occasionallyshort sword Through the lodestone, she focused her mind on a metal choker the second poore, a silver skull set in the center of its neck

Around the tree calee, club up over his head Up, too, caers and sent her netite

Suddenly there ca das staggering backward, his roars lost in gurgles, as a crimson mist erupted from his throat

"Yach, ye witch!" the first powrie cried, charging ahead

Now Pony turned, continuing her defense through a feists and turns, letting the dwarf play out its anger, easily parrying or sis of his shorter blade The powrie rushed at her, his blade cutting doard diagonally

Pony flipped Defender to her left hand and brought it up fast, stopping the dwarf&039;s sword short Then, with a twist of her wrist, she flicked her blade over, then under, the dwarf&039;s A second twist of her wrist brought her sword in line, and she lunged, stabbing the dwarf&039;s shoulder Pony flipped her sword back to her right hand as she spun left, Defender s blade hard

She stopped inher sword into the dwarf&039;s belly She retreated as the dwarf howled and doubled up, and then ca the powrie in the chest Pony had coht quickly with a stab to the dwarf&039;s throat or heart, but she was enjoying this ain and again, the wo mortally She had hit the dwarf nearly a dozen ti Greystone by the reins

"Be done with it, then," the centaur reaic"

Pony glanced at her friend, her anger dissipated by the wheeze in his voice, and she saw the red stain along the side of Bradwarden&039;s humanlike torso She drove Defender deep into the powrie&039;s chest, slipping the tip between ribs and into the creature&039;s heart

She put the soul stone to its healing work on Bradwarden immediately, and found to her relief that the centaur was not badly injured

"On we go," Bradwarden said detere bow and a bolt that more resembled a spear than an arrow

Pony held up a hand andat the base of the nearby tree She bent low to inspect the hole neatly blasted through the silver skull pendant and the lodestone&039;s exit hole at the back of the creature&039;s neck Standing straight, she then exaeh, Pony lifted her sword and began chipping at the hole, trying to extract the netite "I will lose this one some day," she explained to the centaur

Bradwarden nodded "But tell me," he asked, "can ye use the stone for repellin&039; metal as well as ye use it for attractin&039;?"

Pony looked at her friend curiously and nodded Thethe hilt of Defender were enchanted, and Pony had used their ic both ways, to attract an opponent&039;s blade that she ht powerfully parry, and to repel any of her foe&039;s defensive ht help ye in findin&039; a better use for the stone, then," the centaur said slyly "But that&039;s talk for another day"

It took Pony severalout the stone She flipped the blanket back over Bradwarden&039;s broad shoulders, and the cen-taur dipped his telltale human torso low and led on Ponyfro in case any powries had heard the coht to slip back into the heain, but decided to save her reies to use on the cave entrance with the piece of graphite she now held in hand When a flash of lightning lit up the area near the cave entrance Pony and Bradwarden spotted the re powrie sentry - and the dwarf spotted the on his feet and turning to call his kin

Bradwarden&039;s huge arrow took the powrie in the back, lifted hi ten feet to slam into the stones beside the cave entrance The centaur had his bow leveled again right away, ai for any other enely faces

Pony calmly walked by him, arm extended

"Yach, what&039;re ye about out there?" caht of her parents, murdered in Dundalis; of her second family, the Chilichunks, tortured to death by the evil Church leaders And es of the deain that horrible e y that flowed fro the poithin the stone to explosive levels Pony held on until all the air around her was tingling with an to fly wildly fro static electricity

Then she loosed a streaking blast of white light, thundering straight through the cave entrance, exploding in the cave in a burst of blinding energy, instantaneously ricocheting froony; and, spurred by that wonderful sound, Pony loosed another bolt, equally lethal

The thunder echoed for several seconds within the cave, and then a powrie staggered out the entrance - only to be driven back at the end of a flying centaur arrow

More dwarves scrambled for the exit - and Pony&039;s next blast laid theical assault continued, bolt after bolt s into the cave The residual ru above the entrance

Pony put another blast into the cave, though few cries sounded fro now, she knew, probably flat on their bellies behind stones Her ar, and another tre hard into loosened stone, followed by another and then a third, bringing the entire front of the hill rolling down in front of the cave

A few steps behind Pony, Bradwarden lowered his bow and studied his friend closely She was on the edge of control, he realized, throwing her grief and anger into everyher from those demons that haunted her memories

But Bradwarden had spent many hours beside Pony these last weeks He understood the depth of those demons and knew that it would take e to put the troubled woman at ease The centaur s gave way, Bradwarden would be there to catch her

"It is too early in theDanube Brock Ursal remarked as he settled behind an enormous plate of toasted bread ss Danube was a handsoh he had packed an extra thirty pounds onto his already stocky fraht brown, cut short and neatly triray about the sideburns, and his eyes were light gray

"But ," Abbot Je&039;howith protested, "many of the children in Pal hly to the metal plate, and the others in the roo words of diser

"The situation in Palerate," replied Constance Peest of the advisers and often the most reasonable

"And I fear that you underestimate - " Je&039;howith started to respond, but he was interrupted by the sharp voice of Duke Targon Bree Kalas

"Good Abbot, you act as if Baron Rochefort Bildeborough fed the waifs personally!" the fiery man protested "And how many have starved in the three months since the man&039;s death?"

Je&039;hoasn&039;t surprised in the least that Kalas had come at him so forcefully; he and the ade, were often at odds, and their shaky relationship had beco Danube, over Kalas&039; veheent of Allheart soldiers with hie of Abbots at St-Mere-Abelle It was no secret that Je&039;howith had involved the soldiers in the Church&039;s power struggle, so, did not like at all

"The city lost its baron, his nephew, and its abbot, all in the space of a feeeks," Je&039;howith argued, looking directly at the King as he spoke - for the opinion that would"And now they have learned, or soon shall, that there is no heir to the barony, no one to carry on the nah - and understand that Bildeborough is a beloved name indeed in Palion quite hard By all accounts, there is great turmoil in Palmaris, which will likely worsen as winter comes on, and that may threaten the loyalty of the folk there"

"What accounts?" Kalas retorted "Word of the Baron&039;s death was fol-lowed by nothing other than silence And word that there is no obvious heir arrived only a few days ago I have heard of no subsequent ers from Palmaris"

Je&039;howith looked up at the warrior, his old eyes gleaerously "The Abellican Order has its ways of coly

Kalas snorted derisively and narrowed his eyes

"The city is in trouble," Je&039;hoent on to King Danube "And every day we delay in setting order there, the danger of anarchy grows Already there is talk of looting in the an tee, do not doubt"

"So therein lies the truth of your concerns, Abbot Je&039;howith," Kalas interrupted "You fear that the yatol priests of the southern religion will steal so," Je&039;howith ad of Honce-the-Bear"

"Are not the Church and the state separate entities?" Kalas asked, before King Danube had a chance to speak

The king eyed the ned that he would get no quietthe two rivals debate

"They are brothers, hand in hand in Honce-the-Bear," Je&039;howith agreed, "but not so in Behren Yatol priests rule the kingdom and dominate every aspect of the lives of the coain a foothold in Pal- benefits," he finished, his voice dripping with sarcas under his breath and turned away

"What do you suggest we do?" King Danube asked Je&039;howith

"Appoint an interi already, but now that the matter of blood heir is settled, you lanced around at the others "Suggestions?" he asked

"There are many nobles here suitable for such a position," Kalas replied

"But few, if any, ould willingly rush to Palmaris at any time of the year, and even less with the solstice fast approaching," Constance Pemble-bury was quick to add All in the rooh city, with a harsher cli Danube&039;s court, where the nobles who attended the king lived in absolute luxury Even the dukes, like Kalas, let their barons rule the distant cities, while they hunted and fished, dined fabu-lously, and chased the ladies here

"There is one possible choice," Je&039;howith put in, "acommand over much of the city"