Part 7 (1/2)

That was good. I didn't wish to be forgotten. I wished to be a fish, or a horse, or whatever else the Lady required.

Karin brushed her braid over her shoulder, a deliberate gesture. ”I come seeking my student.” She tilted her head toward me. ”I see you have found her, and I thank you for it.”

”I see no plant speakers here, nor none of the blood, either.” The Lady's voice was cool, polite.

”In these times we teach whom we must,” Karin said. ”Surely you no longer insist all your students be changers now?”

”Of course not. I only insist they be of the blood.” An edge crept into the Lady's voice. If Karin was her daughter, didn't she know better than to anger her mother?

Light snow began to fall. My ankle ached where Matthew's teeth had dug in. I hadn't noticed before.

”Though Liza be human, her power is great,” Karin said. ”I value her. If she has done you any harm, I will make amends for it.”

”There is surely some mistake.” Sharp as hawkweed thorns, the Lady's words. I flinched, glad those words weren't aimed at me, even as the Lady said, ”Liza, my daughter claims to be your teacher. Does she speak true?”

The question was a strange one. ”Faerie folk cannot lie.”

The Lady's smile was a cold and glittering thing. ”Yet we have been known to slant our words from time to time. Is she your teacher?”

I had no teachers. Mom had taught all the other children in my town, but no one had taught me, not until this winter.

Except for Karin. What little I knew of magic-that visions were less terrible when spoken aloud, that magic could save as well as destroy-I'd learned from her. My own mother had suggested it might be best if I continue to learn from her.

I did not want to leave the Lady's side, but neither could I lie. ”She has taught me, yes.”

The Lady's face darkened, the way storm clouds did when they blocked the sun. ”Very well, Daughter. Take her, then.”

Karin's gaze didn't waver. ”Release your hold on her first. She is under my protection, as all students are under the protection of their teachers.”

”You presume much.” The Lady released my hand and brushed her fingers lightly over my arm. Something left me, and I fell to my knees, understanding at last how small and weak I truly was. The Lady smiled, and I flinched from the daggers in her gaze, knowing they could cut right through me. She was still beautiful, though, beautiful as a new-sharpened blade.

Karin drew me to my feet. There was anger in her silver eyes, and a hint of the Lady's perfect beauty as well. I fought the urge to bow before her, too, as if something of glamour lingered in me yet. My head dipped, just a little, and Karin lifted it.

”Not to me, Liza.” She whispered the words close to my ear, so low I doubted even the Lady could hear. ”Never to me.”

I looked at her, knew her. She was Karin, only Karin. For some reason the thought brought tears to my eyes, and I was too weak to fight them.

”It is good to see you well, Daughter.” Only the faintest echo of storm-cloud anger lingered on the Lady's face. ”I look forward to learning more of the events that have brought you here this day. Will you and your”-she paused meaningfully-”student join me for a gla.s.s of wine? A few pre-Iron bottles yet remain, and I have brought one with me.” join me for a gla.s.s of wine? A few pre-Iron bottles yet remain, and I have brought one with me.”

”I truly regret that I cannot join you.” Karin bowed her head. ”But my student and I have much to discuss. I am sure you understand.”

”Oh, I understand.” How had I ever found the Lady's voice anything but threatening? ”You will do as you must. As shall I. I am certain we will meet again. In the meantime, I have some matters of my own to tend to. Did you know, Daughter, that Tara yet lives?”

”I have heard something of it.” If Karin had any reaction to the words, I couldn't hear it in her voice.

The Lady had said she meant to go after Mom. I s.h.i.+vered as snowflakes landed in my hair, melted, and trickled down my neck. How could I have forgotten?

I couldn't do anything for Mom if I remained here under the Lady's power, any more than I could help Matthew or Kyle or- Johnny. ”There's a boy from my town here.”

The Lady raised her pale eyebrows. ”Is that one your student too, Daughter?”

Karin looked down, and the ragweed vine unwound from around her boot to retreat into the snow. ”No.”

We couldn't leave him. I had to make Karin understand.

She nodded at her mother, a respectful gesture. ”Root and Branch and all Powers go with you.”

”And with you.” There was no warmth in the Lady's voice.

Karin turned from her mother, and she walked away. Just like that. For a moment I didn't move, as if glamour held me still. The Lady gave me a long, disdainful look. ”Go on, then. Follow your teacher.”

I hurried after Karin, catching up with her where the path left the town. My footsteps creaked against the damp snow; hers made no sound. ”We can't leave him there.”

”I have no intention of it.” Karin didn't slow her pace. ”But first I must get you to safety. We will think on what to do after that.”

I didn't slow down, either, but I told myself I'd return for Johnny, one way or another. No one deserved to be left helpless under the Lady's power. At least I'd gotten Matthew free, and maybe Kyle as well. Kyle had run in the same direction we now walked. He couldn't possibly outrun a hawk He couldn't possibly outrun a hawk. ”I'll come back.” I spoke the words aloud, making them a promise.

The path turned to follow the frozen river. We picked our way downstream along its uneven bank. Snow landed on my cheeks and bare hands. ”You came for me.” My voice seemed loud in the chill air. I lowered it, though there was no sign the Lady had followed us. ”I called you, and you came.”

”It is not the first time.” Karin smiled, as if it were a small thing.

It was not a small thing. ”That's twice you've saved me.”

Karin frowned, and the green leaves around her wrist stirred restlessly. ”I would not declare either of us saved yet. The Lady is a powerful enemy, and she'll not soon forget the insults we've exchanged this day.”

She'd done worse than insult me. ”I won't forget, either.” I reached for my knife and remembered that the Lady had it. Until I'd met her, I'd had no idea how helpless I truly was.

Panic shuddered through me, and once I started shaking, I couldn't stop. I thought of the Lady's fingers brus.h.i.+ng my hand, my hair, of how I'd smiled as she'd talked about killing my mother, of how I'd slept at her command. I would have done anything she asked of me-anything. Even now it would take but a word from her, and I'd be nothing more than a weapon in her hands once more. I stumbled, nearly fell.

Karin's hand caught my shoulder, steadying me. ”Liza.” She took my face in her hands, making me meet her eyes. ”You are safe for now. You must believe that.”

Safety was an illusion. I'd always known it. Matthew had, too. I thought of how he'd snarled at me, how he'd flopped down at the Lady's feet. ”Nothing's safe.” Even my voice shook. He'd forgotten me, for no other reason than that the Lady wished him to.

Karin's gaze hardened, and I saw anger once more. She wrapped her arms around me, her posture more protective than comforting. ”I am so very sorry for all she has done to you.” There was steel in Karin's words, and for the first time, I almost believed she had fought in the War. ”You have my word that I will do all I can to s.h.i.+eld you from her.”

She didn't promise that it would be enough. I wouldn't have believed her if she had. I managed to still my shaking. ”I will do what I can not to need protecting.”

”I know that.” Karin nodded respectfully as she drew away. ”I watched you set off to rescue your mother, though you had little chance of success. I heard of how you brought her out of dying Faerie, and brought my brother back from beyond death as well, at no small risk to yourself. You need not convince me, Liza, of your strength or your will to face hards.h.i.+p. I'll do what I can just the same.”

The snow grew steadier as we started walking again, away from Clayburn and my town both, toward Karin and Caleb's town. I wanted to stop, to turn around-I couldn't bring myself to take a single step back toward the Lady. I hadn't thought myself a coward before.

A length of brown kudzu broke through the snow, reached for Karin, then sighed and fell still. ”Understand, Liza, that my people take the bond between teacher and student quite seriously, as seriously as that between parent and child. The Lady is no more free to directly interfere with that bond than anyone else. This gains us some time, if nothing else.”

I reached once more for the knife I didn't have. ”Who is is she?” she?”

Snow landed in Karin's clear hair and froze there. ”My mother has gone by many names-the Lady of Air and Darkness, the Ruler of the Realm, the Queen of Faerie.”

I hadn't known that Faerie had a queen. Even Before, my town had been ruled by the Council. The Council had been ruled by a governor, the governor by a congress and a court and a president. There were queens in the old stories, though. ”She's truly your mother?”