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I took one step to the side, then another, peering through the branches and trying to see where the sound ahead was coming from. At last I caught a glimpse, and tiptoed back towards Oraik.

“There’s a group ahead,” I whispered. “A dozen at least, making camp. They look human, though who can say.”

“Did you see Kalcedon?”

“You think I wouldn’t have mentioned that first?” I hissed. “They’ve got weapons and horses. A few have armor.”

“Well, Bird wants us to go straight that way,” Oraik whispered, unimpressed. “So, what do we do? Do we go around?”

“Don’t move,” a female voice said behind us. I stiffened. Oraik started to turn around. An arrow thrummed an inch to his right, burying its head into a tree with a thunk. The bird whistled. Oraik yelped and froze.

“I said, don’t move. Next one goes through you. Karema! Over here. Found a pair spying.”

Subtly, with my hands in front of me, I began to trace the lines of a shield. So she wouldn’t realize I was doing something, I kept the movements small. A thread of heat from the air linked my spider lines.

A woman—Karema, I presumed—emerged from the shadows of the wood in front of me. She was a good decade older than me, with wavy dark hair and hooded brown eyes. A roughshod leather vest covered a heavily patched shirt. The woman wore even more jewelry than Oraik: a collection of ceramic amulets around her neck, an array of copper rings in each earlobe, bracelets on each wrist and rings on six of her fingers.

Bird whistled and took two hops towards her. Her eyes flicked to my hands just as I started to form the last sigil.

“Witch!” she yelled.

There was a thrum around us. Then everything went dark.

Chapter 51

I woke with my head on a pillow and a blanket draped over me. Run, my instincts screamed.

I resisted the desperate urge. If they, whoever they were, thought I was asleep, I had at least a few minutes to figure out what was going on. They’d attacked me, I remembered, with some sort of… sleep spell? But I wasn’t hurt, or even chilled. I wasn’t tied up, and I couldn’t feel any enchantments on me. I cracked one eye open.

In front of me, a row of horses stood tied on long lines to the branches of the trees. In every other direction I saw waxed linen tents pitched low to the ground, blocks of pale beige against the black tangle of the woods.

My bag sat to my side. From the heat and the light, I could tell a fire burned behind me. And there were people there, talking and laughing. It smelled like food and smoke. Slowly, trying to make the move casual, I closed my eyes and rolled over.

The fire was not fifteen feet away. Folk surrounded it, ranging in age from perhaps thirteen to forty. Nearly all were dressed as roughly as the woman Karema had been. Most had weapons, and they were all heavily adorned with amulets, pendants, bracelets, and rings.

I picked Oraik out in an instant, with his broad shoulders and his fine shirt. I couldn’t make out the conversation, but I heard his familiar laugh. Uneasily, I sat up and then stood. A few of the faces by the fire turned towards me. They all fell silent.

“So, she wakes,” said Karema. Bird perched behind her, on a fallen log the woman used as a backrest. Its head was tucked under the larger wing, one leg lifted. I wondered if my enchantment had chosen the spot, or if it was hostage. “Does she have an appetite?” Karema mused as she looked me over, her voice almost mocking.

“That depends.” I gave Oraik a wary look as I came to stand beside him. He smiled at me in reassurance and shifted to make room in the circle.

“Depends on?” Karema placed her hands on her cross-legged knees and raised an eyebrow at me across the fire. The rest of the circle was quiet, watching either her or me. She was clearly the leader of this band. I ducked away from a billow of wind-blown smoke.

“Do you attack every stranger you see?” I wanted to know.

“Says the woman who drew the first sigil.”

“You almost shot my friend.”

“Your friend, who is unharmed. As are you. Are you not?”

“Well, yes,” I murmured. Curiosity took over my defensive urge. “What was that you did, anyways? I didn’t even feel it coming. And who are you people?”

“One at a time,” Karema said with a smile. “Piri, get her some food. As for what…” Karema gripped her necklace and lifted it an inch. The braided twine loop held three circular amulets. I squinted across the smoke of the fire. The disks looked like smooth baked clay. No sigils were visible.

“What is that?” I asked at last.

“Protection. You warders don’t know anything, do you?”