“How are you liking your first Cunāe conclave?” Sean asked L’nova.

  “It’s fine. Though who said this was my first?” she replied.

  “You’ve been to another?”

  “Several. But this is definitely the largest by far.”

  “Are there many palindri among the Cunāe?”

  “In this part of the world, not really. But it isn’t unheard of. I’ve seen two or three others at this conclave. On the wild continent over by Garenfeld there are as many palindri Cunāe as there are human. Though, the Cunāe over there are different as well.”

  “Really? How so?”

  “Most of them raise sheep. Or goats. But usually sheep. Of course, everyone over there raises sheep.”

  The two were standing near one of the stages. It was currently empty, but a woman with a flute and a man with a lyre were sitting together on the opposite side. If the sound of them tuning up was any indication, they would be performing relatively soon. If the out of tune notes coming from the lyre were any indication, it wasn’t something to hang around for.

  “You don’t want to stay to hear this do you?” Sean asked.

  “Not particularly.”

  “Good. Where do we want to head? We’re supposed to be talking with the locals, figuring things out and all that.”

  “If you don’t have any ideas, I’ve got a longshot. I overheard a conversation between two old codgers about a man selling rare books and scrolls.”

  “Sounds more promising than this performance. Let’s head over to the merchant area.”

  “Actually, according to the two old guys, we want to head in the opposite direction. The Cunāe have a tradition of swapping books and such between clans and at a conclave there is usually a place where people gather to do it. There’s going to be a big swap between clans in a few days, but small amounts of trading go on all the time. That’s why it is a longshot.”

  “We don’t have anything to swap. Should we?” said Sean.

  “That’s another problem. And another is that the guy I want might not be there. Also, we might find he’s not willing to sell to strangers.”

  “You use your charm, and I’ll look dark and mysterious. He’ll fall under our spell and give you everything he’s got.”

  “I suppose that’s a plan, but actually I’m hoping he’s the one with the spells. Let’s head that way and see how lucky we are.”

  They headed east, winding their way through the conclave. The going was okay, if slow, until they ran into a huge crowd. They weren’t near one of the stages and they couldn’t hear anything happening up ahead. L’nova stood on her toes trying to see what was going on.

  “I’ve got nothing,” she said.

  “What’s going on?” Sean asked a man sitting beside a nearby tent.

  “Wrestling that will probably turn into fighting.”

  “I didn’t realize there was a wrestling contest,” Sean said.

  “Tisn’t a contest. Just two bicherro trying to settle an old grudge. Honestly, it was inevitable. They go at it like this every time they meet. Likely neither will win and the grudge will go on.”

  “What if one does win?” asked Sean.

  “The other will claim he cheated. It’s pointless.”

  “Then why is everyone watching?” asked L’nova.

  “Not much else to do, I suppose.”

  “Should we go back around?” Sean asked L’nova.

  “No, let’s just force our way through.”

  Sean led the way. They squeezed through the crowd with much apologizing. The whole spectacle seemed extra pointless as there was little chance most of the people could even see two men rolling on the ground fighting. Nevertheless, L’nova kept turning her head to the left trying to catch a glimpse.

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  “I think we are almost to the edge,” Sean said over his shoulder, but when he got no reply, he turned back to find L’nova no longer there. With even greater apologies he began squeezing between people back the way he had come until he found her standing on her toes trying to see over the crowd. However, she was no longer looking in the direction of the fight.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe nothing. Hold on, I want to double check something.”

  “Okay. What are you looking at?” Sean asked.

  “A man in a brown shirt with scruffy brown hair.”

  Sean tried to look where L’nova was looking but even though she wasn’t that much taller, it was enough to prevent him from seeing the person in question.

  “Who is he?”

  “Saxon. I think.”

  “That name rings a bell, but I can’t place it. Why should I know it?”

  “I’m still not sure it is him. He’s got a beard, and he didn’t before.”

  “Should we head that way?”

  “No, he’ll recognize me.”

  Sean sat in silence trying to place the name while L’nova continued to watch. Then it came to him. “Clan Mullton. He was the only survivor.”

  “Yes, and that is definitely him. I don’t believe I heard about Clan Mullton being here.”

  “They’re not. At least they aren’t unless they are no longer called Clan Mullton. What’s he doing?”

  “Talking to someone else.”

  “Do you know who it is?”

  “No. Another human man. Looks sketchy to me. But then most of you look sketchy to me. Now a woman has joined them as well.”

  “Does she look sketchy too?” Sean said with sarcasm.

  “No. You’d probably say she was good looking. She’s got big tits.”

  “You know us humans so well,” Sean said dryly.

  “I didn’t mean humans that time. I meant men.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “This crowd is infuriating. I want to move but I don’t want to lose sight of them,” L’nova said. Then after a moment she added, “It’s too late now anyway. They are moving. Stay with me.”

  The palindri began making her way through the crowd. She was moving faster than they had before, which meant that Sean’s apologies were now less about being polite and more because of all of the jostling and stepped on toes.

  They reached the edge of the crowd and L’nova continued over to a nearby wagon before stopping.

  “They’ve stopped and are talking,” she said.

  “Where are they? Point them out to me.”

  “There between the green tent and the mostly red wagon.”

  Sean had never seen any of the three people before. If it wasn’t for the fact that only one of them had a beard, he still wouldn’t know which one was Saxon. The other man did look a little less than reputable and the woman was rather good looking.

  “What do we do when they split up?” asked Sean.

  “How do you know they will?” asked L’nova.

  “Because if they were staying together, they would be walking somewhere together. But they aren’t.”

  “If they split, we should split up as well,” L’nova said. “I’ll follow Saxon.”

  “Shouldn’t I follow him? You could follow the woman.”

  “Why should I follow her? Am I not good enough to follow a man?”

  “She’s a woman. You’re a woman. Seemed the obvious pairing. Also, Saxon could recognize you. I never said that you couldn’t do it.”

  “Couldn’t do what?” asked Wergen as he and Trill came up behind them.

  “It doesn’t matter now that you are here,” Sean said. “We’re watching those people over there. We are going to follow the man with the beard. We need you to follow whoever goes in a different direction.”

  “Who are they?” asked Wergen.

  “Remember when those Cunāe on horseback were charging Rori’s clan and L’nova fried the lot of them with one spell?”

  “I do indeed remember the tale,” said Trill. “Though wasn’t there one survivor?”

  “Yep, his name was Saxon. He’s the guy over there with the beard,” said L’nova.

  “Okay, who are the other two?” asked Wergen.

  “No idea,” said Sean. “He just started talking to the two of them.”

  “There goes the woman,” said L’nova.

  “Okay, you two follow her,” said Sean. “Find out who she is.”

  “So, we know nothing other than she seems to know Saxon?” asked Wergen.

  “That and the fact that you’re letting her get away.”

  “Are you actually saying that I’m going to lose her trail?”

  “Good point,” conceded Sean as Wergen and Trill moved away.

  “Okay, now who follows who if the two guys should split up?” asked Sean.

  “You were right, I should follow the sketchy man. You follow Saxon.”

  After another brief exchange, Saxon and the man shook hands and went in opposite directions.

  L’nova waited until Saxon had turned around and then closed some of the distance between her and the other man. He’d never seen her before so he wouldn’t recognize her, but she was still one of a handful of palindri in the area, so she didn’t want to risk getting too close.

  He circled the edge of the large crowd for a half dozen steps before he turned and went back into the throng.

  L’nova hurried over to where she had last seen him and moved in after him, but it was too late, there was no sight of him. She backed out of the crowd and moved to stand by another wagon on the chance that he might reemerge, but it was soon clear he had disappeared.

  Sean found it easy to follow Saxon. He was weaving his way amongst the wagons and tents but was making no effort to hide himself. Soon it was clear he was heading in a generally westward direction.

  Sean allowed the distance between them to widen by a few more steps. He also drifted over one row of tents to the left so that he wasn’t taking the exact same route. If Saxon suspected he was being followed, he showed no sign of it.

  They continued this way until they were nearly back to the area where the soldiers had set up their own tents. Up ahead was a sky-blue wagon with green wheels and roof. When Saxon reached the wagon, he turned to the left behind it. His path would bring him out on the same general row Sean was traveling on.

  Sean slowed but didn’t stop, hoping Saxon would come out on this side of the wagon and walk in front of Sean. However, by the time Sean reached the wagon there was still no sign of Saxon.

  Sean passed the wagon without stopping, but as he did, he turned to look at the opposite side. He expected to see Saxon standing there, but there was nobody. The door to this wagon was on its back and while this side had a small window, it was tiny and closed. Saxon had disappeared.