"We must hide the dead. Don't think he is up to it." Marnice whispered as she headed back down the trail with purpose.

"Agreed," Gossamer said, unsure if he trusted her and decided a warning was in order. "Know that if harm comes to Kelton, my blade will find you."

"He trusts to quickly," Marnice said, ignoring his words and picking up her pace.

"You gave him your child," Gossamer said in Kelton's defense.

"Aye, though that was hardly a gamble." She smiled at Gossamer. "The boy fell in love at first look. Zachery is as safe with him as he is with me."

"Kelton has a big heart. Too big for this land."

"He has riches on his head if he is the boy they are hunting," Marnice said. "More coin than most can build in a winter's time. We're told he is a demon wishing all those that follow the Goddess ill." They reached the bodies and Marnice stopped between them and looked to either side of the forest.

"It looks easiest to drag them through there," Marnice instructed, pointing to a gap in the trees to the north. She grabbed the two legs of brown and began dragging. Gossamer relieved her of one leg and between them it went quicker.

They dropped the legs when they were about twenty paces in, leaving the carcass for the animals. They went back for black.

"You say you have a secret?" Gossamer asked.

"I mean to give my boy to my brother. His wife is yet barren, and the blessing is in three days time. Zachary is my third in so many winters, so the Goddess is happy with me. " Marnice bent down without a thought and grabbed Black's leg. Gossamer grabbed the other. They followed the previous path.

"Strange, but hardly a secret worth our trust," Gossamer said.

"You been under a rock?"

"Near to it."

"There is a tax on all barren woman. They must give coin to those with fat bellies or birthings since last winter."

"Goddess! And if they don't?"

"They are marked with the Wilted Rose," Marnice said. "I wish to not lose my new sister...or my brother, who will die trying to stop it. They will love Zachary as much as I, so it is a small thing." Gossamer could see the moisture in Marnice's eyes. It was no small thing.

"These two," Gossamer said, his eyes pointing at the headless body they dragged. "They meant to take and sell your child."

"To a barren one." Marnice nodded as she pulled. "There is always profit for those without heart." Gossamer dropped the leg when they pulled Black next to Brown. Marnice stood looking at Gossamer, allowing him to see the truth in what she said. He nodded and started walking back to the path.

"Kelton is who they are looking for. He killed a Brother who condemned friends of ours."

"Goddess, he doesn't think at all! I've not heard of anyone doing that. I've heard of those who have failed, but never anyone who has inflicted any harm to a Brother. I thought it an impossible thing."

"Kelton doesn't think. He just does, as with you. He snuck up behind and surprised the Brother." Gossamer smiled. "Got just as sick about it as well." He bent down and lifted Black's head by the hair, took a few steps for momentum, and underhanded it deep into the woods. Marnice was busy kicking dirt over the pools of blood that had yet to soak into the soil.

"You must keep him away from others," Marnice stated the obvious.

"I meant to leave you with your problems. It's the boy who insisted."

"It would have been my choice," Marnice said as she looked around for any more obvious evidence of the battle. "I thank the Goddess that Kelton has more heart than mind."

"His mind is sharp enough, and he knows the risk he took. I'm a storyteller by trade, and I believe he envisions himself as one of my heroes. It's the realness of it he regrets, not the doing."

"Storytellers don't own swords," Marnice observed.

"Mothers don't drag dead ones about without a thought." Marnice smiled at Gossamer's counter.

"I fear dying, not the dead." Marnice chuckled. "Tis not the day to trade histories though, and I'll not yet ask how a boy can sneak up on a Brother. Is there trust enough to accept a meal?"

"It is a risk to accept, though our stomachs would be happier for it."

"It is a greater risk to do the feeding, though I wouldn't be here to do it if it wasn't for the boy."

"He makes a good first impression," Gossamer said as he indicated the way back with an open palm as an invitation. An obvious signal of agreement.

"You should cut his lovely red hair, and he would be harder to spot," Marnice stated as the began their return to Kelton.

"You are the third woman to call it lovely, though one was really a child. He became partial to their minds and would find it difficult to change what they liked about him." Gossamer didn't mention that they intended for Kelton to be spotted at times. There was no need to share everything.

Kelton was where they left him, though his smile was larger. His little finger was gripped in Zachary's fist, a tug war underway. Zachary's toothless mouth was wide open, emitting happy gasps as Kelton pulled, then relented over and over.

"He'll be a strong one," Kelton said when he noticed their approach. Marnice slowed and stared at the game the two were playing. Gossamer could see it her eyes, that same look Jocelyn had when she looked at Kelton. He rolled his eyes. They all wanted to mother him.

"We're offered a hot meal," Gossamer told Kelton.

"Can I carry him there?" Kelton asked as he stood. "He likes me, and he's light enough. I'll be careful." His eyes were pleading.

"There will be no argument from me," Marnice replied with a smile. The conversation of Zachary's qualities continued as Marnice led the way down the trail. Gossamer had to choke back a laugh when Kelton began discussing Zachary's intelligence as if the babe could teach himself the ways of the world. It was the babe's eyes and the way they took things in that convinced Kelton of it.

The walk was not a long one. They veered off the trail, cutting through a small patch of woods that ran along a creek bed. They emerged on an open field, fallowed due to the season. The center held a small wooden structure with a thatched roof. A single door stood in its center and smoke rose from a hearth stack on one side.

"There are two inside," Kelton said, without thinking. He was used to warning Gossamer. It had been a long time since someone unknowing was present.

"Aye," Marnice said, looking at Gossamer with questioning eyes. "I'll speak with them first, so they won't think a demon has come calling." She held out her hands for Zachary, who had fallen asleep during the walk. Kelton reluctantly gave her the child. Marnice moved across the field with a purpose.

"You should not have let out that you can feel people," Gossamer whispered to Kelton. He pulled him back into the cover of the trees. The sun still held dominion over the day, though the shadows were getting longer. Gossamer made sure they made good use of them.

"She's a mother," Kelton argued as if they were all Jocelyn's equals.

"There's more to that woman than motherhood. And now she knows there's more to you. You are too free with your trust." Kelton watched Marnice disappear into the house.

"She is worthy of it," Kelton decreed.

"So be it," Gossamer said, and they waited for Marnice to return.

Marnice took longer than the two expected. She found them sitting by a tree and signaled them to remain seated as she approached. She sat with them.

"They will allow the night, but you best be going at first light," Marnice said. "My brother, Sidal is wary but trusts my word. My new sister, Dedra, is fearful of the Goddess. She thinks it is her failings that cause her to be barren. She doesn't want to upset the Goddess, and it took a bit to get her to think otherwise."

"If you think the risk..." Gossamer began.

"She will keep to my word," Marnice interrupted. "I will spend next day and the following one making sure. Sidal took a buck a day back, and there is a heavy meat stew inside. Dedra may be shaky in some things, but cooking is not a one." Kelton started to stand. Marnice waved him back down.

"You need to think before you let words out," Marnice said to Kelton, tapping her head with her finger. "You tell me too much, and I wish Dedra not to be tempted by thoughts of coin and the Goddess's blessing. She is high strung of late. You are travelers who have done me a deed and this is all she knows. I warned her of your hair and told her you're not the one they are looking for. You know her secret, and that should be enough for one night and a meal."

"I will think," Kelton promised.

"You are Unseen," Marnice reasoned. Kelton nodded before Gossamer could stop him. "You see as they do." Kelton confirmed again. Marnice's eyes moved upward, toward the sky, and she let out a deep breath.

"They will hunt you dead," Marnice said. Her eyes returned to Kelton, mistier than they had risen. "There are stories of the first to fall."

"Ancient tale. It's not him or anyone else," Gossamer said quickly. "It's my fault. I kept him hiding in the forest and away from the truth. I thought it best to protect him from it all." He looked toward Kelton. "Now he's grown and thinks for himself. Doesn't listen unless he has the reasons why. And even then, only if he thinks it's right."

"I'm sorry," Kelton said, lowering his eyes.

"I'm not." Gossamer smiled. "Just wasn't ready for it, is all."

"You have not been ruined," Marnice calculated as if it were a revelation from the Goddess. "You do not know what can't be done, only what should be done."

"And we've been told all our lives," Gossamer thought out loud as he considered Marnice's words. "Mayhap, the world needs more unknowing." Marnice chuckled, reached out and patted Kelton's cheek with her hand.

"You are a precious thing," Marnice said. "Mayhap, you should hide another ten winters so we can see what comes of it." Gossamer could see Kelton was bonding with Marnice, just as he had done with Joycelyn. The words that had passed between them all made him less wary of it, but leery nonetheless.

"My insides could use a warm meal." Gossamer changed the subject before Kelton could reveal more. Marnice nodded, and they stood as one.