dive into a corporeal body. Spirit-walking was a prelude to possession, and possession, Pony knew, was nothing to be taken lightly. Still, the woman dared to reach out to Bradwarden, to impart to him a rush of warmth and friendship.
"Bah, but it can'no be," he muttered, and then he blinked and looked about curiously, for the sensation was gone.
With Bradwarden located, Pony wasted no time in setting out as soon as her spirit rushed back through the soul stone and into her corporeal body. She had marked the way well and knew enough of the area to measure accurately the distance and the time it would take her to reach the piping centaur. When she heard the song renewed, she gained confidence, and a bit of a smile, that she had reassured Bradwarden enough to keep him in place.
A short while later, the piping stopped again, but this time it wasn't because Bradwarden had felt the presence of a ghost, but rather, that he had recognized the presence of a dear old friend.
"Ah, so many're the times I've wondered if I might be seein' ye again, Pony o' Dundalis!" he said as she walked out of the shadows of the trees before him.
Pony's lips began to move, but she couldn't begin to get a word out at that moment, and so she just rushed across the small clearing and leaped up against the centaur, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"The queen is out without an army at her side?" Bradwarden asked, finally managing to push her back to arm's length. "But yer husband'd not be happy by that..."
He stopped and looked at her curiously.
"My husband is no more," Pony admitted. "King Danube has passed from this world."
"Then ye're on yer way to find Prince Midalis," the centaur reasoned, but his tone was quite telling to Pony, revealing to her that he held more trepidation at her announcement than perhaps he should have.
"When Prince Midalis comes through here, it will be at the head of his army," Pony replied. "And that army had better be a formidable one if he is to hold any hopes of taking the throne that is rightfully his."
Bradwarden looked at her knowingly and slowly nodded.
"You knew of him," Pony stated.
"Midalis?"
Pony shook her head and stepped back, out of the centaur's reach. "Do not play coy with me, Bradwarden. For too long, we have been friends. How many enemies have we stood against, side by side? Was it not Bradwarden himself who saved me and Elbryan at the Barbacan after we did battle with the demon dactyl?"
"Oh, but don't ye go reminding me o' that!" the centaur wailed dramatically, his tone going lighter. "Ye got no way o' knowin' how much a mountain hurts when it falls on ye, woman! Ye got - "
He stopped short, for Pony stared at him hard, not letting him change the subject and wriggle away so easily.
"You knew of him," Pony said again, sternly. "And I speak not of Prince Midalis. I speak of Aydrian, my son, and you knew of him!"
Bradwarden's lips tightened and seemed to disappear beneath his thick beard and mustache.
"You did!" Pony accused. "And you did not tell me! Were you in league with Lady Dasslerond all along, then? Do you find it so easy to deceive someone you name as friend?"
"No!" the centaur shot back. "And no." His voice softened, as did his expression. "I met yer boy two years ago, when winter began its turn to spring. He had Tempest and Hawkwing, and had brought Symphony to his side."
"So I have learned," Pony said bitterly.
"Ah, but it's a sad day for all the creatures o' the world when Symphony's at the side o' that one," the centaur lamented. "And no, woman, I was no party to Lady Dasslerond on this, and though I've e'er seen the wisdom o' the Touel'alfar, never before has such a mistake been made."
"You've known for years, and yet you did not come to me and tell me,"
said Pony in the voice of a friend betrayed, a voice thick with sadness and disappointment.
"And how might I be doing that?" the centaur said. "Ye're thinking I might be galloping into Ursal to talk to the queen?"
Pony looked at him and gave a sigh and a helpless shrug.
"Ah, but ye're right," the centaur admitted. "I should o' done more, though I wasn't knowing what I might be doing! But ye got to believe me on this, me Pony, me friend. Yer son's got