held by those who take a fancy to it. Simple death will not assign its territory; if you were dead, your assassin could not easily step into the breach to claim the power of this land that you now hold. Not yet.”
“When, then?”
“When the land was truly his own. It would be centuries, if that.”
“I haven’t lived that long.”
“No.”
She studied his face in the light of the tree; although the fire was almost red, it shed sun’s light. “Could you have taken these lands?” she finally asked.
“I? No.”
“Why?”
“They are not my home.”
“But you’ve lived here forever.”
“When dealing with the Members of the Order, it does feel that way, but no, Jewel. If I died on this soil, these lands would still not be my home. Yes, they are home to many—but the many are not you; they are not born with your gift.”
“Could Evayne have taken them?”
“A perceptive question. I do not know. It is my suspicion she could not; else, she would have done so long ago. Perhaps she did not choose to do so because she had seen an older Terafin in her travels, and she knew who now holds these lands.” This last was said with a trace of bitterness, a hint of anger—but it was only in his voice; his face looked oddly peaceful. “And if she is certain, she can be certain for only two reasons: the first, that she has attempted to cross them without your permission, and you are strong enough to block her way; the second—and in my opinion more likely—is that she has seen what you have built, and she understands what it means.”
“But I—”
“You have built nothing yet, no. But she is not bound by time in the fashion you are.”
The Winter King touched her shoulder with his muzzle, and she turned to meet his eyes; they were almost black, although the fur that framed them looked golden.
“There is, however, one other who stands some chance of wresting control from you if you do not assert territoriality here.”
“Who?”
“I can tell you his name, but it will mean nothing to you; I am not even certain you could pronounce it. He is not Kialli, not Arianni.”
Sometimes Jewel found the magi frustrating. “Tell me who he is.”
“I told you—”
“Then tell me what he is, at the very least.”
“You have seen his hand, Terafin. It has stretched across the hundred holdings; it has moved across the Isle.”
She frowned, wondering how it was that Sigurne had not strangled him yet. “Meralonne.”
“He calls the dreamers,” the mage continued, untroubled by her growing irritation. “And they do not wake.”
* * *
“Have you told this to Sigurne?” she demanded, when she could speak calmly.
“I have mentioned it, yes. There is very, very little that Sigurne can do in this case; very little, in the end, that I can do.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since my return. Remember, Terafin, you returned before I could.”
“Have you told the Kings?”
“The Kings now understand that it is not a plague, yes. It is not contagious. But there is no certain way for those who are not god-born to avoid it. Even the talent-born have fallen to the illness; two bards are sequestered within the walls of Senniel, at its highest remove. What the healers cannot do, the bard-born cannot do; their commands cannot wake the sleepers. There is, according to Sigurne, only one in the city who can.” He raised a white brow, waiting.
She offered him nothing, not yet. But in the end, she had to ask. “Why? Why only one?”
“I consider it a small miracle that there is even one. But there have been no sleepers outside of the city limits. Victims have fallen to sleep only here,” he said, raising his face to stare, unblinking, at the Ellariannate, “and within the hundred. Only in these two places. Do you understand? If you cannot yet touch the hundred holdings, the path exists there; you have made no attempt to walk it, if I am not mistaken. You have remained here, near the heart of your lands. But they extend. What you will not take, you cannot hold; Darranatos will come again, and I do not think he will come alone. But he will not come immediately; he is injured. He will gather his power, and he will gather his lieges; if the Shining Court has finished licking their wounds, they might come again in force.”
“Why do you mention the Shining Court now?” she asked. “It’s the second time today that I’ve