Page 6 of Lake of Sorrow

“Hm?” Frayvar asked.

“I want to make her drink this herself, but maybe if we could find identical vials in her inn, that would be enough evidence.”

“Also, if we found the poison maker who sold it to her, he might identify her.”

“You don’t think she makes her own poisons?” Kaylina asked.

“I suppose she could, but she would have to have bought the ingredients somewhere, so there still might be a trail leading to a person who could point her out.”

“Let’s hope.”

Kaylina lifted a finger, about to ask if one of the circled spots on the map suggested a way into the catacombs from outside the city walls. The access point they’d used the first night had been guarded when they’d circled back two days earlier. Even before Vlerion had sent the letter, Kaylina had planned to eventually return to the city. In addition to clearing her name, she wanted to visit Stillguard Castle to see if the plant in the tower continued to glow purple instead of red—and find out what exactly that meant.

Before she could ask about the map, she noticed that the forest had grown quiet again. Was the malikar stalking their way?

“Put out the lantern,” Kaylina whispered.

Frayvar drew it protectively to his chest. “I’m studying the maps.”

“Something’s out here with us.”

He cut out the lantern. “Something or someone?”

“I don’t know. Ssh.”

In the dark, Kaylina took the maps from him. By touch, she folded them and slipped them back into the envelope with Vlerion’s letter. She tucked it under her belt. If they were attacked or had to run, she didn’t want to risk losing it. The letter might have started out vague, but there were enough details that someone familiar with the rangers and the situation might guess who’d written it. If Vlerion was already under suspicion because of his association with her, Kaylina didn’t want to make his predicament worse.

Ears straining, she listened for the something or someone the silence told her was out there. The nightlife hadn’t been disturbed by her and Frayvar’s presence. She felt certain something more dangerous was in the area.

Long seconds passed, and she didn’t hear anything, but she caught a faint musky scent. That of a predator?

“Do you think it’s safe to go back the way we came?” she whispered.

Kaylina wanted neither to spend the night in the preserve nor run into the hunters who might be waiting for them to come out. She doubted the malikar had scared them into leaving the area permanently. Unfortunately.

“No,” Frayvar whispered back. “But I’m familiar with maps of the area.”

“Does familiar with mean you’ve memorized them?”

“Not… entirely. But I think I could lead us to the Stillguard River. The waterway cuts through this side of the preserve on its way from the mountains to Port Jirador and the harbor. We could follow it back to the city.”

“Fray, in this kind of darkness, you couldn’t lead me from your bed to your closet back home. And I know you’ve memorized the layout of your room.”

“Do you want to stay here and sleep under this tree with… whatever you think is out here?”

Kaylina listened to the silence again, the hair on the back of her neck standing up even though she didn’t have any confirmation that danger lurked. “No.”

“Okay.”

She let him lead, mostly because she didn’t have a better idea. She hadn’t memorized any maps.

As they crept through the undergrowth, tripping over roots and rocks and being whacked in the face by branches, she hoped being an anrokk meant that nearby animals wouldn’t attack them.

After they’d traveled what felt like ten miles but was probably less than one, voices made them halt. Clipped voices with a lot of clucks, harsh noises, and tongue smacking. Kaylina didn’t recognize the language.

“Those aren’t animals,” she whispered.

But were they humans? Zaldorian wasn’t the only language spoken by men, and she’d heard others from travelers, sandsteaders, pirates, and fishermen who visited the Spitting Gull, but this sounded different.

---