started to object, but the other’s hand gripped her sharply in
reproof.
“You are the one, Wren. You have always been the one.
Alleyne was my daughter and would have been queen after me,
but circumstances forced us apart and took her from me. She
left you to act in her place. Never forget who you are, child.
You are an Elessedil. It was what you were born and what you
were raised, whether you accept it or not. When I am dead,
you shall be Queen of the Elves.”
Wren was horrified. This can’t be happening, she kept telling
herself, over and over. I am not what you think! I am a Rover girl
and nothing more! This isn’t right!
But Ellenroh was speaking again, drawing her attention back
once more. “Give yourself time, Wren. It will all come about as
it should. For now, you need only concern yourself with keep-
ing the Staff and its Stone safe. You need only find your way
clear of this island before the end. The rest will take care of
itself.”
“No, Grandmother,” Wren cried out urgently. “I will keep
the Staff for you until you are well again. Just until then and
not one moment more. You will not die. Grandmother, you
can’t!”
The queen took a long, slow breath. “Let me rest now,
please. Lay me back, Eowen.”
The seer did as she was asked, her green eyes frightened and
lonely as they followed the queen’s face down. For a moment
they all remained motionless, staring silently at Ellenroh. Then
Triss and Dal moved away to settle their gear and set watch,
whispering as they went. Gavilan walked off muttering to him-
self, and Garth slipped from view as well. Wren was left staring
at the Ruhk Staff, gripped now in her own hands.
“I don’t think that I should she started to say and couldn’t
finish. Her eyes lifted to find Eowen’s, but the red-haired seer
turned away. Alone now with her grandmother, she reached out
to touch the other’s hand, feeling the heat of the fever burning
through her. Her grandmother slept, unresponsive. How could she
be dying? How could such a thing could be so? It was impossible! She felt
the tears come again, thinking of how long it had taken to find
her grandmother, the last of her family, how much she had gone
through and how little time she had been given.
Don’t die, she prayed silently. Please.
She felt a scratching against her legs and looked down to
discover Faun, wide-eyed and skittish, peering up. She released
Ellenroh’s hand long enough to lift the little creature into her
arms, ruffle its fur, and let it snuggle into her shoulder. The
Ruhk Staff lay balanced on her lap like a line drawn in the gray
light between herself and the sickened queen.
“Not me,” she said softly to her grandmother. “It shouldn’t
be me.”
She rose then, carrying both the Tree Squeak and the Staff
up with her, and turned to find Garth. The big Rover was rest-
ing against a section of the cliff wall a dozen paces off. He
straightened as she came up to him. The hard look she gave
him made him blink.
“Tell me the truth now,” she whispered, signing curtly.
“What is there between you and my grandmother?”
His gaze was impassive. Nothing.
“But the way she looked at you, Garth-she wanted to say
something and was afraid!”
You were a child given into my care by her daughter. She wanted to
be certain I did not forget. That was what she thought to tell me. But she
saw that it was not necessary.
Wren faced him unmoving a moment longer. Perhaps, she
thought darkly. But there are secrets here . .
Trust no one, the Addershag had warned.
But she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t be like that.
She broke off the confrontation and moved away, still
stunned at the whirlwind of events that had surrounded her, at
the way in which she was being rushed along without having
any control over what was happening. She glanced again at her
grandmother, feeling torn at the prospect of losing her and at