Tier tilted his head toward the fields. "Is it safe for them to return to Redern?"
Karadoc smiled, a secret, pleased smile. "Ellevanal tells me that the village is safe, so I've told everyone to start packing. You'll have your home back to yourselves by nightfall."
Karadoc's prediction was a little optimistic, and Seraph and Tier spent another night in Isolde's mermora house. The villagers were more interested in celebrating their victory than in returning home. Then, too, Seraph thought, they were a little nervous about returning to the village. It would be a while before Redern felt safe to them again, despite Karadoc's assurances.
"Thank you again for watching Rinnie for us," said Seraph, as she helped Alinath gather her things from the corner of the house where Lehr and Jes usually slept.
It was the afternoon of the second day since they'd returned home, and Seraph was hopeful that they'd all sleep in their own beds tonight. To that end she'd sent her children and Tier out to encourage the stragglers to return to Redern.
"Rinnie is a joy," said Tier's sister, folding a shirt neatly and setting it into a pack. "Until we came here, she helped us in the bakery." She paused. "Thank you for finding my brother. If you and the Travelers hadn't found him, he'd be dead."
Seraph shrugged uncomfortably. She didn't know what to say to Alinath. The old animosity had faded, but she wasn't certain what to replace it with.
"Tier is resourceful," she said at last. "Did he tell you he had the Emperor asking him for advice?"
Alinath smiled, and the relief in the expression told Seraph that she was finding this no easier than Seraph herself. "Yes, he said something about it, but I thought he was exaggerating."
Seraph shook her head. "No. I've never heard him exaggerate about anything he's done - usually just the opposite."
"Really?" Alinath thought about it a moment. "Did he really take all the young thugs and turn them into an army for the Emperor?"
"They're still thugs. Most of them anyway. But they adored Tier and fought for the Emperor for his sake. Tier has a way with young men."
"Speaking of young men," said Alinath, "have you noticed the way that half of the village girls are swooning over Lehr? He's a hero for fighting and killing that troll."
"He and most of the men in the village," said Seraph dryly. "And I killed the troll."
Alinath grinned; the expression looked a lot like Tier's. It wasn't one that Seraph had seen on Alinath's face before - but then Alinath had seldom been happy in Seraph's presence since Seraph's marriage to Tier. "No one is going to chide you for using magic this time. But I doubt you'll have anyone swooning over you either."
Seraph stole Rinnie's favorite expression and rolled her eyes. "Probably run the other direction. It took them twenty years to forget about the time I almost flattened the bakery - do you suppose it'll be twenty years before they forget the troll?"
Alinath put the last of Bandor's shirts in the pack. "I don't think they'll ever forget," she said seriously. "But I don't believe that is necessarily a bad thing that they are reminded you are not just a farmer's wife."
"That is what I am."
"No." Alinath tied the pack and lifted it. "You are a Traveler, a Raven of the Clan of the Silent."
"The Clan of Isolde the Silent," corrected Seraph. "I am also Seraph Tieraganswife. Isolde's clan is dead these twenty years and more. I have been Rederni for longer than I was a Traveler."
"Seraph," said Alinath. "You have always been Traveler - and Raven, too. We've known that since the day you almost flattened the bakery, all of us - even Tier."
She picked up her bags and left Seraph alone.
After a moment, Seraph shook off the effects of Alinath's words. Alinath wasn't Tier, with his fearful accuracy where people were concerned.
Seraph had given up her Traveler heritage and exchanged it for Tier and for her children. True, the time she'd spent in Benroln's clan this summer had been comfortable, like taking out a shirt stored for years and finding that it still fit. But here was where she belonged.
But she still wore Traveler's clothing rather than Rederni skirts.
With brisk movements, Seraph stripped the bedding from the bed for washing. She started for the ladder, then turned around. The room was small and spare, a third the size of the cell that Tier had occupied