Part 36 (1/2)

'I hoped you'd consider us a more compassionate people than that, Hannah'

'Would you? In my shoes?'

He bowed his head 'I suppose not No'

If he had argued or rebuked her instead of accepting her words, she kneould have provoked her to anger Instead, his lack of defence unbalanced her and she felt a twinge of guilt

'Weto find Jakab,' he continued, 'but that doesn't preclude us froht on you'

'What are those reasons, Gabriel?'

'You'll find out very soon,' he said 'From someone who can explain far better than I' Gabriel lifted his head and looked upstream to where the river curved into the forest

'Who are youhere?'

He smiled distractedly, his eyes fixed on the far bank

'I don't like surprises, Gabriel,' sheShe heard the quiet chugging of an outboard engine, and soon the bow of an open-topped wooden boat slid into view around the bend, cutting the water before it As ed, she was reondola The boatin the sunlight

Hannah counted four figures within At the bow knelt a tall man with pale skin, and auburn hair scraped into a ponytail Dark glasses hid his eyes, and he wore a black zippered gilet over a creaht line; Hannah felt his eyes behind their glassesher as she stood on the bank

Two other uarded expressions, and studied her just as stonily One rested his hand on the tiller while the other had his fingers steepled together All three looked sole, alert But it was the tall presence in the centre of the boat, dressed in a loose ivory suit, that captured and held Hannah's attention

A silk cowl, the fabric flowing like liquid copper, covered its head and obscured its face in shadow Hannah felt her heart begin to thump in her chest, and she wondered what proernails cutting into her paler satfabric of the cowl Hannah felt a hand slide into hers, and she glanced down to see that Leah hadthe craft towards theine, the ht the end of it and reeled in the boat When its gunwales buainst the bank, he secured the line around a tree root 'Welcoure in the middle of the boat raised its hands and lifted the coay from its face Hannah felt as if the breath had been sucked fros Seated before her was the most coldly beautiful woman she had ever seen Slender-limbed, with fair hair that fell to her shoulders and a face carved from the sharpest contours of bone, the wonolia petal Her years were iuess Lavender eyes, clear and sharp like a predator's, studied Hannah with such intensity that she retreated fro power radiated frohten around her own

'Greetings, Hannah Wilde,' the woman said When her lips lifted into a smile, that cold countenance enuine that it closed Hannah's throat Not knohat to do or say, she bowed her head, pulling Leah even closer to her side

assisted by the soer stepped on to the bank She went first to Gabriel After kissing him on both cheeks, she e you'

'You still have that brogue'

'You're the one who sent me to Ireland'

'It's a beautiful accent'

'I think it's here to stay'

She smiled and turned to her co me here safely'

The man frowned 'I'd prefer to stay at your side'

'You can see I am in safe hands'

'But Fnok-'

'Illes, do you question me?'

He dropped his head, dismayed 'No, of course not'

'Oh, Illes, I did not intend that as a slight' Her face softened 'You bruise so easily Go on You knohere I am You know that I'm safe I'll let you knohen I'm ready to leave'

Illes cast Hannah a distrustful look, then muttered his acquiescence He climbed back into the boat and Gabriel cast the back upstrea Hannah's arm, the Fnok steered her up the path that led to the house 'I want you to kno sorry I hen Gabriel told e should have to suffer the loss of her spouse No woe should suffer that loss because of another'

Hannah feared her coed the woman's words Conscious of Leah at her side, irl, she forced the conversation into a new direction 'You're the orokos Fnok?'

The woht the position was always taken by a man'

'Sometimes I wish that were true'

'You didn't want to be Fnok?'

'I didn't want to be the last,' the woed fro at a bench, its slats silvered and warped by the suns of past sulanced up at the house For the first time since her arrival, she looked uncertain 'Is he inside?' she asked, turning to Gabriel

'He went out for supplies He'll be back soon'

She appeared to consider this for a moment, and then said, 'You know, I think Hannah and I need to talk a while Perhaps, Gabriel, you'd be good enough to bring us some tea'

Hannah found that she enjoyed the airy way the Fnok coed helplessly at her she grinned As he returned her smile, Hannah noticed a troubled look cross the Fnok's face

'Perhaps you could find yourself a little helper, too,' the wo low Gabriel turned to Leah 'Come on, little miss I'll show you how the Irish o, and turned back to the Fnok 'Gabriel's your son?'

'That boy is a nus, not all of them useful and several of them irksome,' the woman replied 'But, yes, I'm proud to call him my son Come, let's sit'

Hannah settled on the bench beside her Together, they listened to the laughing call of a woodpecker somewhere in the forest For a while, neither of them spoke, yet the lack of words did not feel unco just now About being Fnok'

'About being the last?'

'What did you es of the wo to offer leadershi+p to a people who have lost control over their future But offer it I nity displayed by our last generation, see their elegance and their grace, it fills me with pride even as it tears at my heart' The Fnok's chest rose and fell, and she turned her lavender eyes upon Hannah 'We're dying, you see As a people'

'Dying?' Hannah frowned 'How can that be?'

'What do you know of our history?'

'More than you ht think Nowhere near as much as I'd like'