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  The horse snorted.

  "Steady, Weylyn," Fiallan said, reaching out with one long-fingered hand to rub the huge beast's nose. "He will soon return, have no fear."

  "Weylyn." The idea that the horse could be so named intrigued her. In the time she had known him, never had she heard Egann refer to the horse as such.

  "It means Son of the Wolf in our tongue."

  Shocked, Deirdre could only stare. She looked at the huge horse, so solid, so steady, and at the wizened little man so full of life he seemed to vibrate with it.

  How much of what he said was truth, how much lie?

  Seeing the indecision flicker across her face, Fiallan laughed, a cackle of sound that startled a rabbit from its nest in the underbrush. Though the beast seemed to explode from the forest right in front of the horse, Weylyn only shifted his feel and nickered.

  "I cannot lie." His voice, though softly spoken, rang with authority. "Like you."

  "Another secret of mine that you seem to know."

  "None of us is what we seem," he warned. "Especially you."

  Impatience made her shift her feet, causing the horse behind her to move sideways.

  "Tell me how we may find the amulet," she asked, knowing the answer would be of the most importance to Egann.

  "You will find the amulet when it wishes to be found."

  "But that--"

  "Go to Rune." With a mocking laugh, he changed back into the owl, flapping his mighty wings and disappearing into the night.

  A heartbeat later Egann returned to the clearing. He frowned when he saw that Deirdre stood staring at nothing.

  "What is wrong?"

  Slowly she shook her head. "Your Fiallan was here."

  He froze, lifting his shaggy head as if scenting the wind. "Fiallan? When?"

  "Soon after you left. He had become the owl that so taunted us." Crossing her arms, she waited for the disbelief that such a statement was sure to bring.

  "I do not understand." Instead of disbelieving, he sounded bewildered. "Why would Fiallan appear to you instead of me?"

  She swallowed, knowing he wouldn't like what she next had to say. "He knows the amulet is missing."

  Egann glared at her. "Why did you tell him?"

  "I did not. He already knew. Did you not say to me that he is called the Wise One of Rune?"

  Bowing his head, Egann groaned. "He is a very powerful mage."

  Since Fiallan had been somehow able to see inside of her, to the secrets she had always kept so deeply hidden, Deirdre was inclined to agree.

  "What else did he speak of?"

  "The history of my people, the name of your horse--"

  "Does he know where the amulet has been taken?"

  "If he does, he did not tell me. Indeed, when I asked him that very question, he said the amulet will be found when it wants to be found."

  "That makes no sense," Egann exploded, pacing in the small clearing. "Forever does Fiallan speak in cryptic riddles."

  "He also said we must go to Rune."

  "Impossible. I cannot return until I have recovered the amulet of Gwymyrr. And until they have chosen another king."

  Wisely, Deirdre kept her silence.

  "Why would I go to Rune?" Halting in front of her, he crossed his muscular arms and glared at her. "What purpose would it serve?"

  "Mayhap the amulet is there?"

  "No. Someone in your world has taken it."

  She decided to try a different tactic. "Why did Fiallan entrust the amulet to you, if you would not be the King?"

  "Because--" Mid-sentence he paused, crossing the distance between them with a few strides, lifting her chin with his big hand. "Your eyes - they were golden. Now they are the color of a robin's egg."

  She shrugged, trying to pretend that his nearness did not affect her. "Tis true. It has always been so. My eyes change color as often as the moon changes her shape. I do not know why or what it means."

  He seemed more interested in watching her mouth. "Perhaps there is more magic within you than you realize."

  A thought occurred to her. "How is it that you see so well in the darkness?"

  "The darkness lessens." Egann's words came at the same time that Deirdre realized what was happening. The dawn drew near, and she needed to find a place to hide from the day.

  "Think you that the sunlight will be able to penetrate the thickness of this forest?"

  It seemed like he'd read her mind. Trying to remain calm, she glanced upwards, where the thick canopy of branches blocked out the sky. "I do not know." She admitted, hearing the quiver in her voice and hating it. "But I would prefer to find a safe place until the sun has passed overhead and vanished."

  He glanced around their small clearing, appearing unconcerned. "Perhaps you can find a hollow tree."

  "Or you can take me to Rune and hide me there." The instant she spoke the words, Deirdre recoiled in horror. She hadn't meant to say them, hadn't even thought them. Where they had come from she could only guess.

  "Rune?"

  "Truly I did not mean to say that," she stammered, "Some enchantment perhaps, or--"

  The edge of the forest began to lighten. All around them, birds began to sing welcoming songs of joy to the coming day.

  Twas time for her to take shelter.

  Swallowing, she moved closer to Egann.

  He placed his massive arm across her shoulders, drawing her near. "Tis like before," he muttered. "When we found the ancient temple and hid you in the tomb."

  While the thought of such utter confinement made her shudder, she would gladly have climbed into the tomb now, in order to hide from the coming sun.

  There remained possibly a half hour before the dawn, maybe less.

  Deirdre broke away from him, running towards the forest. She who had always been so strong, fought against panic now, because she could see no place in the twisted maze of undergrowth and towering trees for her to hide. The sun would find her somehow; she knew it would, the curse her people lived under had been utterly definitive on the subject.

  "Hold." Egann's voice rang out, bringing her to a crashing, shuddering halt. In a moment he had reached her, turning her in a circle so that she might see in every direction.

  All looked the same. No caves, no hollow logs, no ruined temples. Nothing but forest and leaves and various small creatures that made ready to greet the morning.

  "I will die," she told him, caring not how her voice trembled, nor that a silent tear coursed down her cheek. "I am not ready."

  He cursed once, a powerful sounding oath, the meaning of which she could not tell. Leading her back to where the stallion waited, he took a deep breath. "Tis twice now that we have been caught unprepared. We must plan better in the future."

  If there was a future. Her heart pounding, Deirdre snuggled close to the man who had saved her life once, only to have to watch her end it in some desolate forest.

  "Think you," licking dry lips, she swallowed hard and drew a deep breath for courage, "that dying this way will be painful?" Her voice broke on the last word, which appalled her. Though terrified, she wanted to at least try to die with some sort of dignity.

  "You will not die," he promised her, his expression fierce.

  The tops of the trees began to glow a vibrant green as the sky lightened.

  "I have always wanted to see the sun," she confessed, still trembling. "Though forbidden to those of my kind. At least I will have this one thing to take with me to my death."

  "You will not die," Egann said again, holding her close. "I refuse to let you. We go to Rune. Now."

  Rune. Even as he spoke the words of the spell to take them there, Egann felt himself inwardly balking. It had not been long enough since he himself left his home and all that it represented. Until he had spoken to Fiallan, he meant to keep well hidden, so that there were no misconceptions by the people.

  First he sent Weylyn, knowing his faithful stallion would be eager to resume his normal form and romp in the lush meadows of their h
ome. This took a mere blink of the eye, and even as the horse vanished, he spoke the spell of sending for Deirdre and himself.

  Holding the mortal woman tight, he felt the familiar shifting of reality. The forest - and the approaching day - faded, and they hung for a moment in the great empty void between the places.

  Rune, he thought again, and suddenly he stood in a lush meadow, underneath the velvety blackness of a nighttime sky.

  Alone.

  Once more it would appear that he had failed. His arms were empty - the Shadow Dancer had not crossed into Rune with him.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Where was she? Since it seemed he'd somehow lost her, did she even now go to a slow and agonizing death under the rising sun of the human world?

  Heart pounding, he closed his eyes. He had to find her - he'd promised to keep her safe. Surely he, who had failed at so much in his lifetime, was not destined to fail at everything. Especially not this - another life lost because of his incompetence.

  Again he tossed out the magical words, again the air buzzed with power and he crossed the icy void. When he reappeared in the same clearing of the same forest, in the blazing sun of a mortal day already well underway, he saw no sign of Deirdre - alive or dead.

  "She is not here." A voice spoke behind him. Twas a voice he knew well.

  "Fiallan." Spinning to face the wise man, Egann let his rising panic show.

  "The Shadow Dancer - I cannot locate her. I tried to take her to Rune and something happened. I don't--"

  "She was not permitted entry," Fiallan told him, in the sonorous tones he usually reserved for times of great ceremony. "The curse from the ancient spell apparently forbid her entry into Rune. I was unaware of this, or I would not have bid you to travel there."

  Egann had no patience for riddles, not now. "I know nothing of ancient spells. She cannot be left unshielded - if the sunlight touches her skin, she will die."

  "There are many ways to die," Fiallan mused, stroking his grizzled chin. "Though that way would seem more painful than most."

  With great effort, Egann restrained himself from throttling the older man.

  "I must find and protect Deirdre. I have her my word that I--"

  "You forgot to mention the Maccus." The wizened one reminded him. "If they find her, she will die also at their hands."

  Clenching his teeth, Egann took a deep breath. "Where is she?"

  "Walk with me," the Wise One said. When he used this tone of command, few dared to disobey.

  Egann dared. Shaking his head, he met the other man's gaze. "Nay, not now. I must find Deirdre."

  "She is safe."

  Instantly, the fear left him. If Fiallan said it was so, then Egann knew it for truth. The mage could not, like all of Rune, tell a direct lie. He relaxed slightly and when Fiallan began to walk, fell into step beside him.

  Dead leaves rustled underfoot as they went. Above, in the towering treetops, birds sang and squirrels ran. All the forest watched them from a distance, knowing in the way of all beasts that these were not humans and thus, would not harm them.

  Finally, Egann could stand the silence no longer. "What know you of all this? No more games."

  Fiallan's response was a slight nod. "Do you ask about the woman?"

  "Yes." Egann sighed. "I ask about all of it - the Shadow Dancer, these Maccus, the missing amulet. I think you know well the answer to my question - what tie is it that binds these things together?"

  Fiallan did not answer - instead he slanted a narrow look at Egann and continued to walk sedately into the dappled forest.

  Knowing from past experience that the ancient one wished him to reach his own conclusion, Egann smiled, though it felt a bit grim even to him.

  Seeing this smile, Fiallan answered with one of his own. "Tis not what the logical chain of thought would seem to suggest, my friend."

  "As usual, you speak an answer that is not truly an answer."

  "Oh?" Fiallan raised one brow, pausing to rest his wizened hand on the knotty bark of one particularly stately elm. "You do not believe it is possible that the link can simply be you?"

  "Nay." The answer came readily. "I know this for a certain truth. I knew nothing of the woman - of the Shadow Dancer - or the Maccus before I went in search of the amulet."

  "What of your dreams?"

  This Egann refused to acknowledge. He wouldn't have put it past Fiallan, who had tried to make Egann participate in the sacred ritual that all of Rune invoked when searching for a mate, to have cast the spell that made him dream of the lovely Deirdre in the first place.

  Knowing Fiallan well, he knew once he got started, the Wise Man of Rune would not waver from his goal. If he wished to keep certain things hidden from Egann, then hidden they would remain, no matter how Egann poked and prodded. This talk then, full of esoteric references, riddles, and half-truths, could last for hours without Egann learning one useful thing.

  Time to cut to the heart of the matter. "I wish to see for myself that Deirdre is safe."

  "I thought you wanted the amulet."

  Impatient, Egann growled low in his throat. "That too. But I must find the Shadow Dancer first."

  Fiallan stopped so abruptly that Egann nearly continued on without him.

  "Care you so much for this woman?"

  Jaw set, Egann shook his head. "Tis not that. I have given her my word that I will protect her. I must not - will not fail at this."

  Since they both knew well the consequences of his previous failure, it was not necessary for Egann to elaborate. Fiallan had known Banan as well, and had felt the sting of his brother’s passing from their realm nearly as sharply as Egann had himself.

  Faeries did not die easily or often.

  Still, he could think of nothing now but the lovely woman he had promised to protect. "Where is Deirdre?"

  "As I have said, she is safe." The wise man cocked his grizzled head, peering up at Egann with an owlish gaze full of mischief.

  "I would see her." Crossing his arms in front of him, Egann waited, the pounding of his heart the only sign of his agitation.

  "So you shall, once the sun has set."

  "Nay. Show her to me now." If he used the tone of a King's command, so be it. Deirdre was his responsibility and as such, he meant to make certain she was safe.

  A silken red fox, braver than most, crept out from under the brush to watch them. Above, a crow cried raucously, once, twice, then a third time before flapping off into the forest.

  Time crept by while they waged a silent war.

  "I cannot," Fiallan finally admitted. "Think on it, my friend. If you open her hiding place to look at her, you will also let the deadly sun harm her. You must wait until the sun has traveled the sky and crossed the horizon."

  Only years of ingrained manners kept Egann from swearing out loud. The wise one was correct, in this at least. Egann could not do such a thing. If making certain she was safe would endanger her life, then he would simply have to wait.

  Patience had never been one of his virtues.

  Fiallan began walking again, this time into the very heart of the forest, where the trees grew so massive and intertwined that the dappling gold drops of sunlight came few and far between.

  "I will have need of Weylyn," Egann mused out loud. Lifting one hand casually, he began muttering the few words of the spell necessary to bring the beast to him, changed into a fierce steed.

  "Nay." Grabbing Egann's hand, Fiallan stopped him mid-spell. "I have given him leave to hunt the plains of Morthar. I do not think he enjoyed the time spent acting as your horse."

  Egann shrugged. "I could not ride around the mortal world on a wolf, even one as large as Weylyn. But I will let him have his time to hunt, and will summon him back once I find the woman."

  "Ah, the woman.” Fiallan’s smile seemed smug and knowing. “She is beautiful, is she not? Too bad that the curse that haunts her is ancient and so powerful."

  Though thinking of her loveliness was the last thing he wanted to
do, Egann could not help but remember the supple feel of her limbs as he held her in his arms, or the sweet scent of her hair and smooth silk of her skin. His body instantly responded, which infuriated him.

  “Curse?”

  “Yes, this curse will not be an easy one to break,” Fiallan said. “All who dance in the shadows labor under it.”

  Focusing on the wise man, Egann slowly shook his head. "Who made this curse, mortal or Faerie? I would not think there could be any human wizard or witch so powerful to curse an entire race of people for so long."

  "It originated in Rune." Fiallan's voice sounded heavy. "Long before the Hall of Legends was even built, or sealed. I have found little on it, but know that your Deirdre and her kind were cursed by our own ancestors."

  "Faeries?"

  "Yes."

  At that they both fell silent. A curse was something not done lightly, even by those few faeries inclined to follow the path of darkness.

  Despite his resolve not to get any more deeply involved than he had to, Egann's curiosity overrode his inclination to caution. "Have you at least been able to find out why?"

  "Nay. The secret will most likely be found within the place where such knowledge is kept."

  "Is the door to the Hall of Legends unlocked and open once again?"

  "Not yet." Fiallan sighed dramatically, reminding Egann that Fiallan had dreamt of entering the revered repository of records for most of his long life.

  "I am certain the answer will lie within. Now all I need is the door to open and allow me to search for it."

  Egann couldn't help but smile at the anticipation in the wise one's voice. He had no doubt that any day now, the heavy oak door would swing wide open, allowing all seekers access to the ancient records. This had been known to happen every so often, though not in Egann's lifetime.

  "Think you it will be soon?" Fiallan asked, as though he had plucked the thought from inside of Egann's head.

  About to answer, the absolute cessation of sound from the wildlife alerted Egann a second before he heard the telltale rustle of leaves. In the blink of an eye Fiallan vanished.