The day was at its hottest, and everyone sought shade in Sorrow's End. No one tended the fields and gardens this time of the day. Skywise lounged under the eaves of a hut with some of the maidens.
A solitary figure walked to the well. A tall female, not clad in the usual long-skirted, broad-sleeved, hood-topped dress of a gardener wife, but in a loincloth and a small blouse. Her hair looked strange, as if made of ropes thick as a finger. Skywise did not remember seeing her before; yet her clothing identified her as one of the merry maidens.
"Who is she?"
"It's just the Mute. Don't bother about her."
The words of the girl had an effect quite opposite to the one the speaker desired. Skywise became curious. He stood up and walked to the well. The female elf was hauling up the water jar and did not turn to look at him.
"Shade and sweet water." Skywise greeted her.
She turned towards him and looked at him. He now saw the hair was braided in hundreds of tiny braids. She remained silent. She lifted up the well's jar, pouring the water into her own, undecorated jar.
"My name is Skywise."
The one they had called 'The Mute' nodded, not looking at him.
"What is your name?"
She lifted her dark eyes in a piercing stare. Maybe she really never spoke, Skywise thought. An idea struck his mind, maybe inspired by those proud eyes that so reminded him of another silent one. He tried to send to the maiden.
Can you send?
Her eyes turned from proud to angry. She spat in his face and turned her back to him, walking away.
Skywise returned to the maidens.
"I told you not to bother about the Mute."
"Why not? Why is she like that?"
"I don't know, she was like that already when I was a child."
"Does she have a name?"
"Oh yes. Her name is Dilah. But she doesn't like it spoken."
After that day, Skywise was obsessed. He had to solve the mystery of Dilah the Mute. It turned out few wanted to speak of her, the maidens least of all, for obvious reasons. She was not one of them, she wanted to be an outsider - and the girls made it clear they had sought her company before they learned. In an eight of days or so, he saw her again, this time walking past the caves where the wolfriders dwelt and climbing up into the mountains. She used a spear as her walking-stick. Needless to say, Skywise followed her. It was evening, the sun had just set. For a moment he hesitated; a lot of interesting things could have happened down in the village, and would now take place in his absence. Was Dilah worth that much? Definitely.
She had a wolfrider's soul, he felt - one that reminded him of Strongbow. She didn't like her name spoken - was it like a soulname to her? And her clothes - like a young Sun Villager boy's, actually. Her colours of choice were gold and green and yellow. Was she going to hunt with that spear of hers? Yet the wolves knew all who hunted, and they had no knowledge of a female elf hunting alone on their territory. A hunter leaves tracks - unless, of course, she only tried to hunt, but failed? Skywise realised the maiden had walked quite far - and into an area with no large game. To the edges of the wasteland of sand. And now she stepped on the sand. Skywise watched, hiding in a shadow. He had no desire to walk on the hateful surface ever again. But Dilah had stopped. She lay down, as one would to sleep on a hot day. She seemed not to feel the night cold. Perhaps the sand still held the warmth of the day.
Dilah lay still for a long time. Child Moon rose, followed soon by Mother Moon. The desert was silent. Skywise felt the chill but dared not move. He wished he had thought to take a cloak.
I can't stay here all night, he thought, or I'll freeze to the bones. He tried to sneak away as quietly as he had come, but Dilah must possess a hunter's senses. She jumped up and grabbed her spear in a heartbeat, and aimed it straight at Skywise, who had trusted the shadows of the rock to hide him.
He stepped out, holding his hands open for her to see: no weapons. At the sight of him Dilah's features twisted in a snarl that would have suited a wolf much better.
Skywise reached out his hand in a gesture of friendship. Dilah replied by pointing towards Sorrow's End. The message was clear: go away. Skywise ignored her. The point of the spear was suddenly almost oh his throat, the gesture was repeated. He did not want to start a fight, not with another elf, certainly not with a pretty maiden. He turned and walked away, knowing Dilah might despise him as a coward. It didn't matter. She despised him in any case.