Barb Hendee - In Shade and Shadow

She had to trust in whatever the domin was up to, or be left to explain Chane's presence.

"Do it!" she whispered.

Chane spun onto his knees and stood up, flattening against the wall.

Il'Sänke released the staff and pulled the strange spectacles from his face. As he tucked them in his robe, he passed his other hand in an arc before the door, never actually touching it. Then he opened it partway, holding it in place so that no one could step in.

"It is nothing," il'Sänke said through the door's space, shaking his head with a half smile. "A large cat got into the courtyard and began to mewl. It set the majay-hì off. In our efforts to quiet her, Wynn and I made quite a racket. I do apologize."

Wynn couldn't see Premin Sykion outside, but she heard the head of the guild let out an impatient exhale.

"We shall speak further of this tomorrow." Her tone was both annoyed and relieved.

"I will make certain everything is quiet," il'Sänke assured her. "You can send everyone back to bed, or we will all be useless in the morning."

Il'Sänke closed the door. His false smile vanished as he turned toward Chane.

Always before, in any conflict involving Chane, Wynn feared for the safety of others. Watching il'Sänke, she suddenly felt the opposite.

"Do not hurt him. I… we need him," she whispered to the domin, still fearing that anyone outside might hear.

"I assumed this was not some lovers' tryst," il'Sänke answered disdainfully. "And do not think I have forgotten him from your previous outing! I waited to see what you both might do… though this hardly meets my better expectations."

Chane just stood tense and silent.

"Toying with the staff—and your sight, at the same time!" il'Sänke snapped. "The growth of your stupidity is astounding."

He shook his head slowly, and then snatched the staff from Wynn's hand.

"What drew that thing in here?" he demanded. "Did you sneak any translations back to your room?"

"No," Wynn answered. Just what was he implying? Before she could stop herself, she glanced down without thinking.

Her open journal and quill had been kicked against the wall on the door's other side—and the scroll as well. Fortunately no one had stepped on it amid the conflict. She went cold at the sight of ink all over the floor stones, for her small bottle had been kicked under the bed. But the splash of black hadn't traveled to the other items.

By the time Wynn looked up, in no more than a blink, il'Sänke had already followed her gaze. He leaned down and picked up the scroll, frowning suspiciously at its blackened surface.

"Is this what it came for?" he whispered.

"It is mine," Chane rasped, reaching out. "I will take it and go."

"I do not recall dismissing you," il'Sänke replied, though he didn't even look at Wynn's secret guest.

Wynn silently shook her head at Chane, and he held his place. She glanced down at his hand. The ring was there again on his left hand—it hadn't been when she'd looked for it with mantic sight. And she couldn't remember seeing him put it back on, let alone having taken it off.

Il'Sänke's gaze shifted to the journal and quill. He picked up the former, holding it open atop the scroll, and then his scrutiny returned to Chane.

That intense gaze made Chane fidget, and Wynn almost lunged when his grip tightened on his sword.

Il'Sänke cocked his head and frowned.

A strange instant of wary uncertainty washed over his dark features, as if he'd tried to read something in Chane's face and couldn't.

"We need him," Wynn repeated. "That thing came inside the guild. Maybe it has done so before… since no one could've stopped it. The three of us are the only ones who even believe it exists. We can't afford to turn on one another if we're to seek the truth and a way to destroy it."

"You are leaping to conclusions," il'Sänke said. "After last night it could have simply been attacking you, as obviously this scroll is unreadable, except…"

He bent his head, peering down at the journal.

"What is this?" he asked—like a parent's accusation, who already knew what trouble a child had gotten into.

"A copy," Wynn answered. "But only what I could make out from the scroll—"

"— with your sight," he finished for her, and then he turned to Chane. "So… bearer, where did you get this scroll?"

Cold mistrust showed on Chane's burned features.

"From the same library where I found the ancient texts," Wynn answered.

"Wynn!" Chane hissed.

"We cannot solve this alone!" she hissed back. "He needs to know everything."

And she turned back to il'Sänke.

"There is a poem under the coating, penned by one of the ancient undead among the trio who wrote the texts I brought back. I haven't been sure who to trust in this—but we must protect the guild and the texts. If I tell you everything we have learned, will you help us?"

Il'Sänke remained expressionless, but he tilted the staff's crystal toward Chane.

Chane instinctively flinched away.

"Who is he?" the doman asked.

"I've known Chane for some time," she answered. "He often came to our little branch in Bela, studying with myself and Domin Tilswith. He reads several languages from his region and has an interest in history. He… he knows a good deal about the undead."

"I can imagine," il'Sänke said drily.

Wynn's heart began hammering. How much had Domin il'Sänke already guessed concerning Chane? And the way the domin had tilted that staff suggested much.

"I should not stay," Chane said. "There will be questions if I am discovered. I came only to ensure Wynn's safety."

Domin il'Sänke snorted once and spoke only to Wynn. "He is correct about questions—but you cannot stay here alone. Both of you will come with me—now. I will take him out the library window, atop the wall."

Wynn gaped. He knew how she'd been getting out. But they would be seen if il'Sänke took Chane through the keep.

"No one will see us," he said. "I'm shure I can be quite as sneaky as you. But I will keep the scroll for now."

"No!" Chane rasped, raising his sword.

As Shade snarled, Wynn rushed in and grabbed Chane's forearm. She didn't fully understand why, but it was clear how much the scroll meant to him. Yet il'Sänke might be the only one who could read the ancient Sumanese that she'd blindly copied from the scroll.

"Let him keep it," she told Chane. "He's not like the other domins here. He won't lay claim to it. And even you shouldn't walk alone tonight while carrying it."

"Especially since you already look rather a mess," il'Sänke added.

Chane glanced down at Wynn. With a glower he reluctantly let her pull his sword arm down.

"And you had best take these," il'Sänke said to Wynn, taking out the strange glasses he'd been wearing. "At least until you learn to control the crystal's intensity. Your mantic sight will be all you have left… if you stupidly blind yourself."

Wynn snatched the glasses from him, feeling less than grateful. "What was I supposed to do? You weren't here."

"I am not the one drawing so much attention to myself," he countered, and turned for the door.

With a quick glance in the outer passage, Domin il'Sänke ushered them all out. Wynn went last, with Shade beside her. They paused at the door to the courtyard. When il'Sänke nodded that all was clear, they slipped across to the main doors and back inside the keep, heading for the library. He led them the same way by which they'd come in, yet another disturbing coincidence that bothered Wynn.

When they reached the library's first floor, il'Sänke had them wait while he scouted ahead. By the glow of perpetual cold lamps, Chane turned to Wynn, and the burns on his cheek looked orange in the soft light.