The first thing Elspeth noticed in the room was the blood. It was everywhere. On the floor, on the bed, there were even handprints smeared on the walls. She was sure there was actually less than there appeared to be, but she could have sworn five people had been attacked in here, not just one hertasi.

"I… I fought… couldn't stop him," little Freia breathed as Elspeth wrapped her in a blanket. "She hit the wall—" The Herald didn't have to look up to know what the hertasi meant. The handprints on the wall were too high up for the lizard to have done, which meant it had to have been either Sidra or the attacker.

"It's all right. I'm bringing you to the ekele," Elspeth murmured. The lizard was still bleeding and needed to be seen to immediately.

"Not to the Healer's wing?" Kerowyn asked behind her. "It's closer."

Elspeth shook her head, even though she knew Kero wasn't looking her way. "The Tayledras and the Kaled'a'in know hertasi anatomy better. Besides, I need to talk to Jadeheart. She was supposed to be meeting with Sidra tonight."

"I'll call if anything turns up," Kero said, still studying the blood patterns on the wall. She stepped out of the way to let Elspeth through, and then the former heir was leaving her behind as she hurried down the hallway.

Gwena met her at the nearest entrance to the Field. Elspeth swung up bareback, keeping the hertasi as still as she could, and secured her more firmly against her chest as the Companion began to move. She didn't break into a gallop but instead kept it to a trot, a pace which made Elspeth ache. They seemed to crawl through the Field, but as impatient as it made her, Elspeth knew it was the wiser choice. Moving the hertasi is general was tricky, let alone at a swift pace.

"I think I have her Whites made proper," Freia was babbling, most likely unaware she was speaking. Hertasi in general liked to surprise their favorite humans with their creations, and it unnerved Elspeth to hear her talking about it at all. "Thought it was unlucky, makin' 'em so soon… I knew they'd turn out… I left her room a mess…"

"I'll have someone else clean it for you while you're sick," Elspeth told her, trying to help the hertasi stay awake.

Freia reacted the way Elspeth had hoped she would. "Is my job!" she protested, "Who'll take care of her?"

"No one else could do it better than you."

"Make some nice trinkets for Jereth too, I think," Freia muttered.

"I don't think he'd like that very much," Elspeth said. She could see the ekele now. It was so close. She needed to keep Freia awake until they got there.

"Learn to like it. Nice beads for his hair. She sang me out of… I was… falling asleep…"

"Not now, Freia, stay awake," Elspeth urged, "Sidra sang to you?"

"Pain… Then her voice… it was gone, and he was behind her and she stopped," Freia moaned. "And she was screaming, screaming, but his hands…" The hertasi's own hands traveled through the blanket and up to her mouth. Her golden eyes closed in pain and sadness, starting to cry.

"He dragged her out by her hair!" she sobbed. "Her hands were red! Red all over my nice Grays, all over her, everywhere…"

"Shh, shh, it's okay," Elspeth cooed, trying to keep her voice steady and soothing.

"He wasn't Kaled'a'in, he wasn't! He wasn't!" Freia sobbed, and Elspeth went cold. "I didn't know him, I didn't know him!"

Stardove, one of the Kaled'a'in healers, rushed out of the ekele before Gwena could reach it, holding out his arms for the hertasi. Elspeth gently handed Freia over and slowly dismounted.

She must have been mistaken, Gwena murmured. I can't believe one of them would do this.

She said it wasn't someone she knew, and Freia is one of the Kaled'a'in's hertasi, Elspeth told the Companion.

Was she? She seemed so shy. I assumed she was from the Tayledras' group.

No, she's from k'Leshya. I thought she was from k'Vala like the others, but one of the other k'Leshya hertasi is an elder brother of hers. Elspeth paused, watching Stardove disappear into the ekele. The attacker must have wanted people to think he was Kaled'a'in. The question is was he a fanatic or a hire on?

You think someone paid him to frame the Kaled'a'in?

Stranger things have happened, Elspeth reminded her.

Jadeheart rose from her meditation, hearing commotion outside. Lotyn, one of the hertasi who had traveled with her delegation from k'Leshya stood outside the doorway, his long tail twitching nervously.

"What is wrong?" Jadeheart asked him, trying not to frown.

"Freia was attacked. They're bringing her in right now."

"Attacked?"

"Someone stabbed her," Lotyn whispered, his eyes hard and angry as he scanned the path where Stardove was rushing to the entrance. The Healer was gone for a brief moment, and then reappeared with a bundle in his arms. He was followed by a white figure who proved to be Herald Princess Elspeth.

"Where was she attacked?" Jadeheart asked.

"In the Palace. In Trainee Sidra's room," Lo answered.

"What was she doing there?" Jadeheart asked, surprised.

"She has a fondness for Sidra. All of us do, but it's different with Freia. Just as it is with you and me," he added, smiling up at her briefly.

Jadeheart watched Herald Elspeth peer after Stardove until he was gone, then turning to see Jadeheart herself, began to walk further in towards the kestra'chern. Her face was troubled and angry.

"Jadeheart, may I have a word?" Elspeth asked as she drew closer.

"Yes of course Lady Elspeth." Jadeheart stepped aside, sweeping a hand in an invitation for the Herald to enter her room. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

"No, thank you," the Herald answered quietly, turning back briefly to smile at the kestra'chern. She eased herself into one of Jadeheart's chairs and ran a tired hand across her forehead.

"This is going to sound strange, Jadeheart," Elspeth began, looking up at her again, "but have you had any problems with anyone in the Palace? Has anyone you don't know visited? Or has someone you do know come unexpectedly?"

Jadeheart shook her head, lowering herself into a chair nearby. "No. Not that I know of. Is there someone you had in mind?"

"No, no," Elspeth answered, shaking her head. "I do have reason to believe that Freia and Sidra's attacker wanted everyone to think he was Kaled'a'in."

"Why," Lotyn demanded, standing by Jadeheart's elbow.

"Sidra has been attacked as well?" Jadeheart exclaimed at the same time. "How badly is she hurt?"

"We don't know. She is missing. The Firecat Altra heard Sidra call magically for help not a candlemark ago. When Altra got to her rooms, Freia was on the floor, but Sidra was nowhere to be found. Her Companion has been incapacitated.

"While I was bringing her over, Freia mentioned that the man who had stabbed her wasn't a Kaled'a'in she knew. I can't believe that any Kaled'a'in or Tayledres would ever hurt a hertasi, so I think that the man wanted people to think he was one or the other," Elspeth explained quietly. Jadeheart heard Lotyn gasp next to her and turned in time to see him lower himself onto a low stool, looking shocked and pale.

When the kestra'chern looked back, Elspeth was rubbing her forehead again. "Jadeheart, did Sidra mention any concerns at all to you? I mean ones pertaining to specific people. If there is nothing else I have learned about her, it's that she is an excellent judge of character. She might have mentioned him to you."

Jadeheart let out a breath. "I was planning on mentioning this to you myself, but not tonight. She did mention someone to me, a former teacher of hers named Crim."

"Crim," Elspeth repeated slowly. "Freelance mage, yes? From somewhere south of Valdemar. He specializes in illusions. I thought I had heard he had left the city."

"She told me that she had encountered him a few days ago in a remote part of Companion's Field. He was distraught, grief stricken. She was afraid he could become violent towards himself. I advised her to speak to Talia or the Healers about him.

"But I wanted to speak to you about Crim for another reason, Elspeth." Now Jadeheart was the one rubbing her face. "A former friend of mine, Moonflower, once wrote to me about a mage named Crim, or rather about his involvement with a student of hers. She was afraid that their relationship had progressed beyond kestra'chern and client, which can happen, but Crim was- disturbed." Jadeheart paused, trying to catch her bearings. It was unbelievable that she had spoken about Moonflower not once, but twice in so short a time. She could not remember the last time she had mentioned Moonflower to anyone before Darkwind.

"You think they are one and the same?" Elspeth hazarded.

"I couldn't be sure," Jadeheart said, knowing she was not being helpful, "but I can tell you that not long after, Moonflower and the entire village was destroyed. There were thought to be no survivors. Only a few traces of Moonflower and her party were recovered."

"How was the village destroyed?"

The kestra'chern shook her head. "The inhabitants of the neighboring village couldn't say. They did know there had been a fire, and they did know that it was mage-lit, but other than that, they were unable to determine anything more."

"Are you saying there might have been a murderer living in Haven, in the Palace, this whole time? Under our noses," Elspeth whispered.

Jadeheart didn't answer except to nod once.