He knew her then and scrambled back till he hit the rosebushes and impaled
himself on the thorns. He began to shiver; and she caught a little remnant of
magics about the place.
“That very fool!” she said, knowing of a sudden that signature and that willful
pride. At times Haught amused her with his hunger for knowledge and his self
convinced keenness to serve. This was not one of those times. “Where did you go
last night?”
“H-h-here.”
“Vanity. Vanity. What prodigy did you perform? What did he ask?”
“I-I-” Stilcho’s teeth chattered. “Ask-a-ask me-go down-find-f-find-a-answer-“
She drew in a deep breath and slitted her eyes. Stilcho gazed into her face and
pressed himself as far in retreat as he could, heedless of the thorns. He
flinched when she reached and caught him by the arm. “Stepson. No, I shan’t hurt
you. I’ll not hurt you. What did Haught want to know?”
“N-n-nik-o.” Stilcho went into a new paroxysm of shivering. “T-temple-. Said
said tell-you-Janni- Janni is out hunting Niko.”
She was very still for a moment. A thread of blood ran down Stilcho’s cheek from
the thorns. “What side is he playing, Stilcho?”
“Says-says-you spend-” Stilcho trembled and a second runnel joined the first
down his cheek. “Too much time on Straton. Says think of Janni. Think-“
It all died away very quickly, very quietly. She stared at him a moment, and he
stayed still as a bird in front of a snake. And then she smiled, which made him
flinch the more. She reached out and straightened a lock of hair above his
ruined face. “You have a good heart, Stilcho. A loyal heart. An honest one.