9 The Silva Offendo

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds."- Aesop

Nothing got through the forest unobserved.

High in the fork of a sturdy oak, the girl shifted her foot on the branch, careful to make no sound. Her hair was long and tangled, her only clothing roughly cut leather that formed short pants and a tunic shirt. A thin belt was cinched around her waist, with a small, needle-like dagger thrust in it. Her eyes were dark blue, almost black.

The eyes of the slim kestrel on her shoulder were nearly the same color. The blue and rust speckled falcon cocked his head in short jerks, his eyes zeroing in on the same three figures as his human bond.

Come on, Tupac. Tamal needs to hear about this. The words passed mentally from girl to bird.

High above Luke, Julie, and Seth's heads, the girl leaped away among the trees, nimble as a squirrel, the kestrel winging after her almost completely silently.

He could have been part of the trunk. Every bit of him blended seamlessly with the tree he leaned against. His hair was dark brown, his eyes were dark brown, his skin was tanned. His clothes were dark leather, his boots rubbed with wood ash to darken them as well. Tamal, the wild rogue leader of the Silva Offendo, was a master of camouflage.

Or he would have been, if not for his bond.

The Barn Owl that perched on his shoulder was brown, but only on her back. Her chest and face were a blinding, stand-out white as pure as snow. There was no hiding that hue, but Tamal had accepted it. He would not have traded his bird bond for anything. He even thought it was somewhat amusing, as if the fates had given him the most ironic partner possible.

The owl, Vega, raised her head now and gave a soft, raspy shree. Tamal turned his head lazily to see his co-leader, the young woman Rhona, come swinging easily in with her kestrel gliding behind her.

Rhona landed on Tamal's branch, juddering it slightly. The teenager uncrossed his legs and sat up, Vega dancing from foot to foot on his shoulder to keep her balance. "What's up?"

"Three kids, a little younger than us, passing by on the main trail. I tracked them for about an hour."

Tamal did not look overly concerned. "Bonds?"

Rhona recited carefully, "Gyrfalcon, eagle owl, and raven. All young." She had taken careful note; all her training had taught her to absorb detail automatically.

Tamal rose gracefully to his feet, spreading them for balance. "Well, we might as well go intercept them. Call up the team and we'll head out."

Rhona pushed a hand through her tangled brown hair. "C'mon Tamal, they're kids. Can't we let 'em go this once?"

The lanky rogue leader shook his head, sending dark brown hair sweeping over his forehead. "You can never tell, Rhona." He gave an almost predatory grin. "Besides, it's fun."

He went hopping across the branches, swinging and leaping like a tree cat, Vega a white shadow at his side. Rhona sighed and stroked the kestrel Tupac's head absently, and then went off in the opposite direction, at a slower pace, to summon the team.

"So, what is your plan when the Silva drop out of the trees to kill us?"

Luke scowled at Seth, who was twirling Sheridan in what seemed like an idle manner. But the thief had the dirk out for a reason.

"I still think they aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are. You said you've never met them, and Silas could have been blowing everything out of proportion," Luke retorted.

"Oh, I know plenty of stories about the Silva," Seth said ominously. "I've heard that they come so quietly you never even hear them. I've heard they move like shadows, and they give no quarter. They're the masters of the trees…there's a reason their name means 'Forest Strikers'."

"Okay, you can stop now," said Julie nervously, looking around at the dense trees. She had noticed the bird bonds becoming increasingly agitated, and that couldn't be a good sign.

Whether because he liked being annoying, or to ward off his own fear, Seth kept going. "They live to capture travelers…they take them up into the trees and they're never seen again. They have two leaders, one boy and one girl, both of them merciless…"

"Seth!" Julie said warningly.

The thief could not resist one last eerie remark. "And the boy has a knife that's been permanently bloodstained by—"

Someone's cool hand closed over Julie's neck. "That one," said a soft, amused voice in her ear, "is a myth."

Icarus shrieked, only to be torn from her shoulder a moment later by a huge Barn Owl and tossed into the air to engage in battle. With a silent clap of air, Athena was airborn, hooting thunderously as she raced to help Icarus, Corax on her tail. The air was suddenly full of squalling, flapping, screaming birds. Julie writhed in her captor's grip, but whoever it was had a hand of iron. She managed to turn her head enough to see that three wild-looking teens were restraining Luke, while a girl with long, tangled hair was trying valiantly to put Seth in a chokehold. It was difficult, because Seth was twisting, bucking, and jabbing out with Sheridan in every direction. He was also uttering some very colorful language, words that would have made Mother Acko blanch if she'd ever heard Julie say them.

Finally, a diving blow from a small, brown falcon to the thief's head brought Seth to his knees.

Julie twisted and saw Icarus being pinned to the ground, wings splayed, by the Barn Owl and several other birds. The gyrfalcon's thoughts were a never-ending squawk of rage in her head, blotting out any coherent thoughts. Icarus's rage bled into hers, and she drew an extra measure of strength from her muscles and lunged forward.

She was almost surprised as she actually broke free. It didn't last, however; a moment later someone more or less tackled her in the back and she went down. The voice in Julie's ear was panting, sounding as astonished as she felt. "Well, well. Little fireball, aren't you?"

Suddenly Julie realized she didn't care if these people were the infamous Silva. They were hurting Icarus, they were hurting Luke and Seth.

"Let my bond go, now." She was proud of how coldly furious her voice sounded.

She heard Corax cawing madly overhead, assailed on all sides by the enemy's bonds. The raven was interspersing his cries with, "Let go of Seth! Release Corax's bond!"

Julie slammed her elbow back, hard, earning a grunt from her captor. "Be nice! Vega won't hurt your falcon…yet," the voice growled.

"We didn't do anything to you!" Seth snarled. "Let go, you stinking –"

The girl clapped her hand over Seth's mouth, looking grim. "That's enough, loudmouth." A second later she had to jerk it away with a yelp as Seth bit her. Julie was suddenly very glad they had let Seth join them.

"We can't hold 'em Tamal!" shouted the girl trying to hold Seth. "Time to knock 'em!"

Before Julie could react to the pronouncement, something cracked down over her head, sending her hurtling headlong into darkness, with Icarus's scream echoing in her mind.

"Nice, Tamal. They've been out for hours, what the heck did you do?"

"You gave the order Rhona, not me. It's just a lump…it'll heal."

Julie let her eyes open a bare crack, trying not to cry out from the throbbing pain in her skull. It felt like a second heartbeat. Something feathery shuffled close to her head, pressing a narrow head next to hers. Icarus. She heard him cheep softly, preening a lock of her hair. He sounded subdued, which was not like him. Her feeling of dread increased. Then she jumped, as a voice spoke directly over her head.

"See? She's awake. I told you this one was a fighter."

Strong hands turned her over so that she was staring up at a thick canopy of tree branches. And up into two faces, leaning over her.

Julie entertained a brief thought of lashing out and trying to hit her captors, but she decided it would hurt too much to move. Besides, she wanted to get a closer look at these dreaded Silva.

It surprised her, somehow, when she saw clearly that they were both teenagers, only a couple years older than her. They didn't look leeringly cruel either; they didn't have yellow teeth or painted faces or bloodstained weapons. Both had their bonds perched on their shoulders and were wearing looks of interest, and in the boy's case, mild admiration. Still, she did not at all trust them; the Barn Owl bond was clearly the same one who had attacked Icarus.

Ic, Julie probed gently. Making mental contact caused another wave of nausea to pass through her head, but she needed to talk to her bond. After a moment, Icarus's slightly shaky voice sounded in her mind. I am here, Julie. Are you hurt?

Not bad. That's the owl, isn't it? The one on that guy's shoulder. That's the thing that attacked you?

Yes. And her name is Vega.

Sometimes Julie didn't know what to make of her bird bond's odd way of looking at things. The statement was a gentle reproach, as far as she could tell, for her calling the owl a "thing". Icarus was always insistent about using the proper names for people and birds. He'd told her once that every name had a meaning, and should be used as much as possible.

Fine, Vega then. And I think I recognize that little hawk with the girl from the fight too…

Tupac.

Julie sent the mental equivalent of a scowl at Icarus. He had certainly wasted no time figuring out the names of their enemies' bonds. What, are we all friendly with them now?

It never hurts to know your enemy, replied Icarus loftily, ruffling his feathers. If you can, you should try to sit up and look a little less...subdued.

Julie braced her hands on the surface she was lying on, which felt like wood. Gritting her teeth against the pain that swirled through her head, she managed to push herself more or less upright. Icarus crouched at her side, his pupils dilating rapidly, his beak hanging open slightly. Julie swallowed, and then looked at the two Silva with what she hoped was a defiant expression.

The Barn Owl, Vega, as Icarus had told her, rotated her head sideways, so she was looking at Julie almost upside-down. It was almost funny, and the owl's wide eyes gave her an innocent, surprised expression. But that hooked beak and claws was dangerous, and Julie had learned from Mother Acko that no bird bond was helpless.

The boy pushed himself back on the branch. For that was what she was sprawled on, Julie realized; a thick, rough-barked tree branch. Now, the guy leaned against the trunk, regarding her from under curved eyebrows. The lazy way he held himself reminded her of Seth, which put her on guard. In the few days Seth had traveled with them, Julie had come to realize he was like a snake. Smooth, graceful, and able to strike at the slightest provocation.

"Are you going to introduce yourself properly?" the boy asked. The girl with the tangled hair sat to one side, swinging her tanned legs off the side of the branch.

Julie felt a spark of anger at their relaxed manner. "You expect me to act like we've just had a friendly first encounter?" she asked coldly, "I should be asking you that question!" She hated the way the boy's mouth just curved up at her words instead of taking her seriously.

With a flutter, the white Barn Owl left the boy's shoulder and landed on the branch. With a couple short hops, the bird inched its way over to Julie. She drew her legs up to her chest, not wanting to let it anywhere near her bare skin.

Icarus flared his wings and hunched his back, extending his neck toward the owl in a challenging way. The white bird stopped and rotated her facial disk, watching Icarus from sharp, pebble-round eyes. Icarus made a fast clicking sound in his throat, fluffing out his feathers. He was answered in a raspy shrill from the owl.

Julie watched this performance with wary interest. Often, the interactions of bird bonds settled all kinds of disputes and encounters for their human counterparts. It saved a lot of talk and argument sometimes.

Finally, the Barn Owl turned and hopped back to her human bond, and climbed his shirt with her talons. She settled onto his shoulder and drew her round head down into her neck, looking very relaxed.

Icarus did not look quite as pleased. He kept his feathers bushed out in a threatening manner, and he sidled close to Julie's hip. So, what's the verdict? Julie asked, keeping her eyes trained on the two Silva.

She says that her bond and his band rule this forest. We were trespassing, and they only gave us the 'standard procedure' apparently. She says Tamal, her bond, didn't mean to hit you that hard, but he didn't want to take chances. Oh, and she says that you should come because Seth and Luke are giving them a world of trouble.

That made a smile crack across Julie's bruised face. She only imagine what the boys must have been like after waking up unconscious in enemy territory.

"So, are you going to help us control your friends or not?" the boy, Tamal, asked. He didn't look as if he cared whether she said yes or no.

"Maybe," Julie said carefully. She knew that even though he was feigning disinterest, this boy would not have asked for her help unless he needed it. Which meant that she was holding at least one card to use for bargaining. "If you promise you won't kill us…or hit us over the head with anything."

Tamal shrugged. "I can't promise you that unless you do everything we tell you to, without fighting. So far, you haven't done a very good job of that."

Julie felt anger greater than mere irritation begin to trickle through her. Who did this upstart teenager think he was? He wasn't much older or larger than she was, and she was willing to bet he wasn't smarter, either. Dislike colored her tone heavily as she retorted, "Well, I won't help you until you make that promise."

The teen's brown eyebrows rose. "Well then." He leaned back against the tree trunk again, appraising her. The girl, who was still remaining silent, was watching Julie just as carefully, as if trying to puzzle something out. "I guess that means we have an impasse," Tamal finished lazily.

Julie would have dearly loved to hit him, just to wipe that smug look off his face. She felt the fighting blood that aided her in fights against numerous village boys boiling up. She knew that to feel so much anger was very unladylike, and she didn't care, just as she had never cared. Icarus reflected her feelings, hunching up, the feathers at his throat vibrating as he loosed a chilling high-pitched whistle.

Some of the mocking humor disappeared from Tamal's eyes. He regarded girl and bird, both looking at him with expressions of deep fury. Finally, he stood, as graceful on a tree branch fifty feet off the ground as on land. Julie thought she heard him mutter something under his breath; it sounded like, "fighters". He exchanged a quick glance with the girl, and then folded his arms. "All right. We won't hurt you unless you give us a good reason to."

"You're bandits; I'm supposed to trust your word?" Julie wasn't giving in that easily.

Tamal rolled his eyes. "You just don't give up, do you, smart mouth?" He reached up and placed a hand on his Barn Owl's head. "I swear by Vega that I'll keep my promise."

That silenced Julie for a moment. She hadn't thought that people as wild as these rogues would dare use the sacred bond oath. It was virtually unbreakable; to swear something on your bond was a serious thing.

But there was one more thing that bothered Julie. Mentally, she ran over Tamal's promise. Then she asked pointedly, "You said you wouldn't hurt us without good reason. What's a 'good reason' to you?"

Tamal stared at her, and this time there was real shock in his muddy brown eyes. For the first time, the tangle-haired girl made a sound. She laughed. It was a surprisingly nice laugh to Julie's ears; she had been expecting a harsher sound.

"She got you, Tamal," the girl said. "Either she's smarter than we gave her credit for, or she's got some relatives that work in law."

Tamal opened and closed his mouth several times, but nothing came out. His Barn Owl, Vega, shuffled her feet and made a soft churring sound that equated to laughter. Tamal glared first at her, then at the girl. "Traitors," he muttered. "Fine, I agree not to hurt you or your friends unless you threaten the Silva Offendo in some way."

"Agreed," Julie said. She could not help feeling triumphant. And she knew that she had won at least a small measure of respect from these two. And from what she had learned from Seth, and from observing people back in the village, gaining respect was a pretty good way of making sure no one tried to mess with you.

"Now, c'mon. Follow me; your friends are this way." Without another glance at her, Tamal sprang to the next tree branch, hooking an arm over it and swinging his feet onto the next one. He was about three trees away when he looked over his shoulder. "I said, come on."

Julie looked helplessly at the girl. Her head felt better, but she knew she couldn't move that effortlessly among trees even if she was in perfect health.

Tamal understood, however. He sighed again. "Rhona," he said, apparently addressing the girl. "Help her along, okay? And don't take all day about it." Then he was gone into the foliage.

The girl, Rhona, turned to Julie. "Put your arm around my shoulders," she instructed. Have your bond follow us close and hang on."

Julie did so nervously. She was slightly uncomfortable with touching the Silva, but Rhona seemed unconcerned. She started inching down the branch, Julie half-clinging to her. The small kestrel who was her bond flitted above her head, piping in high-pitched twitters.

As they reached the edge of the branch, Rhona turned to Julie. "You might want to close your eyes until I tell you to open them."

And then she leaped from the branch, one hand gripping Julie's wrist.

Julie took the wild Silva's advice immediately. She crushed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the swooping sensation of free-fall in her stomach. Her teeth slammed together as Rhona came to a jarring halt. Julie assumed she'd caught something, a branch maybe, to slow their headlong drop.

The next few minutes seemed like hours. Julie was dragged along as Rhona leaped, dropped, climbed, crawled, and swung through the trees. Or at least that was what Julie guessed she did; obedient to Rhona's words and her own body's nausea she kept her eyes firmly closed. Julie had never been afraid of heights, but after this experience, she thought she might be.

Finally, Julie felt herself slide limply from Rhona's hold and land jarringly on another branch. It felt like she had ended up in the same place as where they had started. Her head, still bruised from the blow Tamal had given her, throbbed. Rhona hauled Julie up ungracefully and leaned her against the trunk. Hesitantly, Julie cracked her eyes open, jumping a little as Icarus, who had followed her in the air the entire time, landed on her shoulder.

Julie saw now that they weren't in the same place at all; they were facing a small tunnel entrance carved into the side of one giant tree. Inside was a twisting staircase, the stairs roughly carved as if by hand.

"C'mon." With her kestrel bond on her fist now, Rhona disappeared into the tunnel, her footsteps echoing in the hollow trunk.

Julie stood unsteadily for a moment looking after her. It could be an ambush, a trap, anything. She was deliberating on whether to follow when she heard a very familiar voice drift up from somewhere in the tree's base. The echoes made it difficult to make out the exact words, but Julie thought she caught her own name, and several very colorful insults apparently directed at someone else.

It was unmistakably Luke.

Julie started forward as she heard a harsh cawing, and then a yelp of pain, followed by something that sounded like "Why you stinkin' little—" The caws changed to a sound like laughter.

And that had to be Corax. Apparently Seth was not the only one who knew how to bite.

Julie hurried down the steps, trying to not trip over the rough edges, and keeping one hand on the inside of the trunk to steady herself. The murmur of voices grew louder, and a bright light shining from the bottom of the staircase grew stronger. Finally, Julie rounded the last curve of stairs and heard Rhona's voice.

"Reporting. I've got the other one."

"Julie!" shouted two male voices simultaneously.

Luke and Seth were lying side-by-side on the floor of the hollow tree. The floor itself was so lumpy Julie was sure it must have been designed around the natural root structure. Two Silva, one girl and one boy, stood over them, holding staffs made of carved wood against their throats. The boy's bond was a slender owl with wickedly curved talons and hooded brown eyes. The girl had a blue jay, which was never still, hopping from shoulder to head and back again. Athena and Corax sat on the respective chests of their humans, glowering with as much anger as birds could show up at the Silva and their bonds.

At the two boys' yells, the Silva guards jabbed the butts of their staffs none-too-gently against their necks. Luke made a strangled gulping sound, but Seth's hand flashed up and grabbed the staff, twisting it sideways. The Silva who held it, the boy, seemed to be expecting it. He shifted to compensate for Seth's attack, yanking it from his grip and then bringing it down in a sharp smack on the crown of the thief's head. Then he spun it one handed and brought it back to rest against Seth's throat, in the same place he started. Seth sank back with a dark look that was somehow resigned, as if he had attempted this several times before and failed.

"Hey, stop it!" Julie said loudly, feeling a flare of anger break through her tired confusion for the first time since she had been on the branch. So far, the Silva seemed like bullies to her; but bullies who knew what they were doing. The easy, smooth way that boy had managed his staff suggested he had been using it for a long time.

"Relax." The easy drawl came from the corner of the room. Julie looked up, starting slightly as Tamal seemed to melt out of the shadows. She could see now that his clothes were almost exactly the same color as the tree bark; he blended completely. She hadn't even seen him until he moved. But she should have seen the ghostly white patch of his bond.

"I told them they should just stay still, but that one," Tamal jerked his head in Seth's direction, "Insists on being difficult."

"Julie, will you tell that jumped-up little tree crawler to shut his mouth," growled Seth, without moving. Nonetheless, his snide remark earned him a blurring smack with the boy's staff again.

"Shut up about Tamal," the boy ordered in a hiss.

"I'll say anything I blasted well please about your leader, you twig-wielding twerp," Seth shot back. He hadn't even blinked at the strike.

The boy's face twisted, and he moved to hit Seth again, but Tamal stopped him with a lazy, "Karif, enough."

Julie intervened, feeling totally ignored. "Excuse me, I said stop. Those are my friends; you need to let them go, now, or any promise I made you is off."

The female guard pushed her tangled blond hair off her forehead, her staff still resting on Luke's neck, but her eyes on Julie. Her expression was incredulous. "Did she just threaten you, Tam?"

Tamal leaned against the wall of the room, his smile mocking, but his eyes piercing. He was forever leaning, Julie thought. On anyone else it would make them look lazy and sneaky, but there was something so alert about Tamal that that assumption was canceled out.

"I know, Orinda, I couldn't believe it at first either," joked Tamal. Julie glared; she was sick and tired of being treated like a joke by these forest bandits. Her temper snapped.

Icarus! she shouted in her head. Her falcon reacted so quickly that she knew he was just as angry and fed-up as she was. And he knew just what she wanted him to do.

The gyrfalcon moved in a white streak, swooping straight for the two guards. Their bonds launched themselves into the air to guard, but too late. Icarus slammed into Karif, the boy guard's, stick, his weight and speed knocking it from his grasp. Seth was up off the floor in a second, but to Julie's relief, he didn't attack, he just went into a defensive crouch, ready for anything.

Icarus swerved in midair, but Orinda, the girl, had already jumped sideways out of the falcon's path. Luke scrambled up as well, taking full advantage of his lack of guard.

Julie held out her fist, and Icarus swooped back to her, letting out a shrill of satisfaction. Julie turned with her bond on her wrist, to face Tamal. She couldn't keep the grin off her face.

Tamal had not budged an inch. His owl bond sat calmly on his shoulder; she had not made a move to stop Icarus either. Tamal was simply smiling at her with almost the exact same expression.

The other Silva's reactions were a bit more satisfactory. Karif's mouth hung open, Orinda's eyes were wide with surprise, and Rhona was hiding an expression of admiration. Finally, Tamal raised his hands and slowly clapped twice in sardonic applause. Vega rasped softly from his shoulder, her huge dark eyes blinking solemnly.

"Icarus, was it? An impressive performance, Icarus." Tamal spoke directly to the bird.

Icarus hunched his wings and rattled off an ululating screech at the Silva leader; it echoed inside the hollow tree trunk. It was not quite a challenge, but it was a warning.

Tamal held up his hands, palms forward. "Not to worry, I take the point. I'm not stupid." Icarus cut off his cry, and cocked his slender head, his gold eyes glinting like chips of topaz.

Julie felt immensely proud of her bond. He had held his own, showing Tamal everything she wished she personally could; that they were a force to be reckoned with.

Tamal snapped his fingers three times. "Karif, Orinda, stand down." This was not hard for the two guards to do, since their charges were already more or less free. But they took Tamal's order with a kind of trained dignity, holding their staffs at their sides and standing straight. Karif and Seth, however, did trade glares across the hollow.

"So, can we go now?" Julie asked, sliding closer to Seth and Luke. If something happened, she didn't want the three of them to be split up again.

Tamal shook his head, and Julie felt her anger flare again. "It's getting dark. There are dangerous things in these woods at night, you know."

"You mean besides you?" Luke said. Seth gave a quiet snort of appreciation.

"Yes, besides us," Tamal answered calmly, as if Luke's question had been serious rather than sarcastic. "It would be inconsiderate of me to dump you back on the ground now. So you might as well spend the night with us."

Julie looked at her two friends, and saw from their expressions that the idea of sleeping with a colony of tree-dwelling bandits appealed to them about as much as it did to her. But, she hated to admit, they couldn't get down from the treetops without help. They were entirely dependent on when Tamal decided to return them to earth.

You could insist, said Icarus. I think he respects us enough to comply if you were very stubborn about it.

That surprised Julie. Since when did Tamal respect her and Icarus? He had shown bare civility to them, usually with a mocking undertone.

He does, insisted Icarus, picking up on her thoughts. He could have challenged me further when I freed Seth and Luke, but he did not. The Barn Owl Vega is a mighty fighter, yet she did not twitch a talon when I attacked. We intrigue them. Luke and Seth too, but you and I most of all.

Now Julie was very confused. Of all the words she could use to describe herself, "intriguing" was definitely not one of them. But she decided they'd give it a try. So far, the strange snap decisions she'd made on this journey had been toss-ups. There was inviting Seth along, which so far had been good, calling the Watcher, which had been interesting, and heading into the Eastern Woods, which had been…eventful. Julie hadn't yet decided whether the Silva Offendo fell into the good or bad category.

"C'mon, it's almost time to eat. Rhona, Karif and I are going to do one last patrol round. Would you and Orinda escort our three…visitors…to the main hall?" Tamal looked at the two girls. Both gave him obedient nods. Karif shot Orinda, the female guard, a smug look as he followed Tamal up the stairs, clearly pleased that he had gotten the more exciting assignment. Orinda looked sour.

"Okay, boys," she said, as Tamal and Karif's feet disappeared above them. "Let's move, or all the good food will be gone." She went to give Luke a shove in the back with the butt of her staff, but Rhona caught the stick first and pushed it away.

"Tamal promised her," Rhona gestured with her chin at Julie, "That we wouldn't hurt them if it wasn't necessary. I'm sticking by that promise, and so are you."

Orinda nodded, but she didn't look happy about it.

Julie watched this with interest. Her mind had begun to assess the way the Silva worked, and she couldn't help being curious. She had decided that Tamal had to be the leader. Even if she hadn't seen this from the easy, commanding way he handled the others, if she hadn't deciphered it from the mental conversation with Icarus, she was fairly sure she would have known. There was just something about the way he held himself, something in his posture, that spoke of his leadership.

Rhona, then, must by some sort of deputy. Tamal spoke to her as if to an equal, and he phrased his orders to her in a much less superior way, more like requests than commands. And Rhona's willingness to hold to whatever he'd said showed she respected him.

Rhona started up the stairs, then turned to look at Julie, Luke, and Seth as if struck by a sudden thought. She groaned abruptly.

"Tamal…" she muttered under her breath, followed by a couple unintelligible words that probably weren't polite. Julie edited her thinking slightly. Perhaps Tamal and Rhona were more like friends. Otherwise she probably wouldn't dare to talk about him that way.

"What's the problem?" Julie asked tentatively.

"Well, you remember how I brought you here?" Rhona grinned humorlessly. "How do you think we're going to get three of you back the same way?"

"Two," Seth corrected. Rhona shot him a look.

"Two? You sure you know how to count, smart guy?"

"Pretty sure." Seth bounded up the stairs, past Rhona. She looked after him in disbelief, and then went after him, Orinda on her heels. Julie and Luke followed.

As they came out again into the cool evening air, Seth inched out on the branch. He turned to look over his shoulder. "Which way's this hall we're supposed to meet at?"

"About a mile that way." Rhona pointed to the east. "You can't miss it, it's this huge oak. But…it's through the trees." She emphasized this as if she thought Seth wasn't grasping the concept.

"Yep. Thanks for the directions." Seth grinned at Luke and Julie, then threw a mocking salute at Rhona and Orinda. "See you there!"

Seth leaped from the branch like a cat, catching the next one effortlessly. He did an entirely unnecessary flip to hook his feet over the next branch, and then swung onto the next one. Julie could have sworn she heard him chuckle wickedly as he whipped around a trunk and made a bounding leap that took him out of their line of sight, Corax flapping behind him like a rustling shadow.

Luke was laughing, bracing one hand against Julie's shoulder. Orinda's mouth gaped wide. Rhona folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

"He would make one heck of a Silva," she said, sounding both admiring and disappointed.

Julie looked after Seth, unable to suppress her own grin. But at the same time, Rhona's comment sent a tiny prickle of unease through her. She sounded like she thought Seth was ripe for recruiting. Deep down, Julie hoped the thief wouldn't agree to anything of the sort. He had only been with them for a few days, but already he felt like he belonged.

"Well," said Rhona. "We'd better figure out how to bring you two along, at least."