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to destroy the Dragons, and win backCalimekka.
Ry laughed bitterly. Good plan. He warmed his handsaround his cup of tea but
didn t drink. He turned to Kait andsaid, If we had ten thousand well-trained
troops, we might beable to take the city. But even with battle-hardened
warriors, Iwouldn t count on it, because we don t have the rightsort of
wizards. Your Falcons practice only defensive magic, whichis useless in an
attack.
He took a tiny sip of the tea andput the cup down. The
Wolves might have done somethingagainst the Dragons, if they hadn t been taken
over frominside. But two hundred people aren t enough to doanything.
Kait had been staring at a few fat snowflakes that werespiraling down to the
ground. An idea sparked in her mind, foundfuel there, and began to blaze. For
a moment, she thought thatsurely
her idea had been considered and rejected by others. But noone else, not even
Ry, had her perspective.
She faced the rest of them and put her kemish down. Have any of you
considered, she said, thatperhaps we cannot come up with a plan, not because
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we are planningwith too few people, but because we are planning with toomany?
The other three stared at her as if she d begun to drooland froth at the
mouth, and Hasmal laughed. No.
Ry shook his head. We have uncounted problems, but asurfeit of allies isn t
one of them.
Alarista said, I don t think you need to drink anymore kemish if that s the
effect it s going tohave on you.
Kait persisted. Listen. What are the objectives we must accomplish in order
to beat the Dragons and freeCalimekka? She ticked them off on her fingers.
One, wemust get into the city. Two, we must regain control of the Mirrorof
Souls. Three, we must remove the Dragons from the bodiesthey ve stolen. We ve
only talked about how two hundredpeople could accomplish those objectives. But
perhaps we need toconsider how two might.
Ry was no longer smiling. Two? He stared into hereyes, suddenly tense, his
scent abruptly marked by excitement.
She nodded, the look just for him. Two.
Tell me what you re thinking.
The only way to get to Calimekka from here now, before theroads clear, would
be to travel through the air, because the roadsout of the mountains are
impassable until spring and even if wecould get to Brelst the winter seas are
deadly; the ships are allin warmer ports now. By air, we could travel above
the clouds and literally drop into the city in the darkness, bypassing
thegates and the guards and whatever other security measures theDragons have
added to Calimekka since we fled.
We could fly in if we had an airible, Hasmal agreed. But the airibles are
all in Calimekka, in the hands of ourenemies.
Two of us . . . don t need anairible, Kait said softly.
Ry s eyes grew wary.
Alarista raised an eyebrow. You ve been hiding youruncle s bird-girl? Someone
who can drop a flea on theDragons backs? I would see that miracle myself.
Ry shook his head so slightly that Kait wondered if perhapsshe d imagined it.
The fear she read in his eyes made herthink she hadn t.
She leaned her head against his shoulder and under her breathsaid, If we do
this, the secret will be out. The Falcons willhave to provide shields and
protective spells.
He murmured, Too many people know now. The more who know,the more who can
betray . . .
the two.
Alarista had better ears than Kait would have given her creditfor. She asked,
Know what?
Hasmal looked from Kait to Ry and back to Kait, frowning. Kaitcouldn t begin
to guess what he was thinking.
Ry leaned back and said, I agree that the secretcan t be a secret from
everyone if . . . they. . .
these two, are to get into the city. But perhapsexposing the secret itself
could wait.
Kait frowned. And if we can t explain to people how. . . these two can get
all the way from
Norostis toCalimekka in two or three days, or even how they re going toget out
of the mountains at all in the dead of winter, why willthey want to help? And
there s something else to consider.Maybe the two who will go need to know from
the beginning that thepeople they need to trust won t turn on them. Because we
canmake all the plans in the world, Ry, but if the troops won tsupport the
assault team, those plans will mean nothing.
Ry turned his head away from her. Do what youwant.
Alarista said, I think my question about the bird-girl issomehow closer to
the truth than I
imagined. Yes?
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Kait studied her with all her senses and noted nothing dangerousin Alarista s
movements, her scent, the speed of herbreathing, or any of a hundred other
tiny cues that could alert thewary to their own imminent danger.
I m Scarred, Kait said.
Alarista grew still. Head cocked to one side, eyes watchful, shesaid, Not
visibly.
Visibly sometimes.
The silence inside the wagon had its own weight.
And sometimes . . . you can . . .fly?
Kait nodded.
You . . . skinshift?
Another nod.
How have you But I won t ask that. We vehidden the Scarred among our people
as well. I
know some of theways it can be done. How you survived to adulthood
reallydoesn t matter. That you can help us now Shelooked down at her
hands. But you said two, andhe with a nod to Ry knew what you
weretalking about. So she looked at Ry again, this timesearching for
something you are a skinshifter aswell?
We re Karnee, he said.
Karnee. Alarista breathed the word. She said nothingfor a long time; when
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