Willon is not a Raven, who can take the story of the Orders and know how it was done. At least he didn't have access to a Raven's power until after he'd already discovered how to steal the Orders. He'd have needed specifics. Rituals, words, and runes - something. I did not give them to him."
"Hinnum," said Hennea.
He turned to her and, to Seraph's eyes, seemed to shrink a little. Then he caught himself, stood up straight, and looked her in the eyes. "I could not kill you, Raven. In all the centuries I paid my allegiance to you, there was only one thing you asked that I did not do. I could not do."
Tier opened his eyes during Hinnum's speech, looked up at Seraph, and raised an eyebrow. Centuries? He asked without words. Raven? Is Hennea the Raven? Is that what Hinnum is saying? Twenty years of marriage allowed her to read all of that in his face.
She nodded.
"What a story," he mouthed. "I knew she was old."
She smiled and touched her finger to her lips. "I'll tell it to you later," she mouthed back.
He smiled and closed his eyes again. She couldn't tell if he was going to sleep.
"I don't remember most of it very well even now," Hennea told Hinnum, her face wearing its Raven mask. "Some things," she said slowly, "are as clear as yesterday. I can see the Eagle's face and hear his voice, but I don't remember the Falcon or the Cormorant. When Seraph looked at Tier's spirit, when she brought back the gem, I thought, 'I remember how to do that.' But there is much I ought to know that is simply a blank, fogged by time's passage. I doubt I shall ever remember some of it."
Hennea stood up and left the fire so she could face Hinnum. "But I do remember you. I remember you beside me during the black days before Colossae's end. I remember finding peace in the knowledge that I would die when Colossae did - because you promised to kill me. And you always fulfilled your promises."
Hinnum made a soft sound and turned away.
"For four and a half centuries, Hinnum, you were a man of your word." She touched his shoulder, and he cringed under her hand. "And this beautiful morning, I cannot find it in me to be anything but grateful for the one time you were not."
Tier sat up, yawned, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Hinnum. He rubbed his eyes again and looked some more.
"I see why you chose to stay here," he said after an awkward moment.
Seraph looked, too, but Hinnum appeared no different to her than he originally had. Which, she realized, was odd, because he'd told her that something had happened to his body that kept him from leaving Colossae with the other wizards. He must still be using an illusion, even if it was his own body he wore that morning.
Hinnum lowered his eyebrows and looked down at Tier. "I love music," he said heavily. "Last night you told the story of Shadow's Fall with such power that I cried for the death of a man I never knew. Even so. Even so, Bards are the bane of my life. I am an illusionist, and Bards see truth."
Tier shook his head. Whatever he saw must have been bad, because his reply was without the touch of humor he usually threw in. "My apologies, Hinnum. I won't reveal what you want hidden."
If Tier said he wouldn't tell them what he had seen, he would not. If she was not to know what had happened to Hinnum, Seraph would rather talk about other, more important matters.
"If you did not teach him how to steal the Orders, how did he find out?" she asked.
"It was the Stalker," said Tier.
"The Stalker?" said Hennea.
"Who else could it have been? I've been thinking about it a lot."
"The Stalker is not evil," Hinnum said.
"I didn't say that he was. You told us the Elder gods' powers are constant, almost involuntary. If there are holes in the veil that keeps the Elder gods from destroying the world, then I believe it is possible for a wizard to feed off the Stalker's power without the Stalker's consent. You also told Seraph that the Stalker is caught behind the veil against his will."
Hennea took a seat beside Tier. "The Weaver told me the world was too old, too brittle for the stresses He and His brother would bring to it. Their