Halt.

The footsteps behind him abruptly stopped, and Shahin didn't bother turning around. He slowly lowered the hand he had used to signal his companion and cast his glance around, noting the height of the gray-barked, golden-leafed trees, the spacing of the clearing, the smattering of tiny mushrooms that poked their heads through the limp fall grass. The familiarity of the scene sent a shiver through him which could not be entirely concealed; the gleam of the setting sun through the forest canopy struck dissonant chords of pain-danger-truth-healing until his psyche jangled with the force of it.

"Are we here?" Andrea's voice was low, thank the gods— Shahin doubted his nerves would be able to withstand a shout. A quick turn brought the girl (she's a knight, enough of one to withstand torture and escape. Enough calling her girl) into view of his good eye.

Shahin nodded once, and Andrea glanced around. "Where is here, anyway? Sir Garner told me I was to travel with you and make sure you accomplished your mission safely, but he got all cagey when I asked what it was. Is there some sort of magic he needs which can only be gotten here?"

A grimace was her response as Shahin wondered how on earth he would be able to answer her questions in the Adrigolan combat-signs which were currently their only means of communication. Andrea's involvement in the navy had left her little time with Cassius, and as such she hadn't learned anything of the minstrel-knight's sign language.

Ally, he signed eventually, before immediately following it with Enemy. Mage ahead, illusion magic, danger. Stay still and keep silent. I will negotiate.

Andrea's brow furrowed at the signs, trying to string them together into a coherent thought. "There's a powerful mage up ahead. Dangerous, but could be an ally or an enemy. Sir Wimarc's sent you to negotiate with them, in the hopes that you'll get the former, or at least prevent the latter. I must stay silent and not trust my senses, because there will be illusions trying to fool me. Is that right?"

Shahin nodded again, then hesitated. It wasn't the complete story, but he didn't have a way to communicate with her the true danger without—

A flash of inspiration struck him, and in a voice raspy from disuse he hummed the refrain to an Adrigolan folk song. Andrea recognized it immediately. "Morgaine and the Fairy Queen? What does that have to do with anything?"

Shahin turned away, leaving his companion to her confusion. She would see, shortly enough. Until then...

Grass cushioned the sound of his footfalls until he reached the center of the clearing, where the plants still thrived as though it were midsummer. Straightening his back, Shahin looked slowly around the trees one last time, inhaling the scent of loam, rot, and life.

Gods help me.

He clapped his hands three times, each sound ringing in the silent woods with near astonishing volume. As the echoes faded, he began to sign at the empty air, weaving in slow, grand gestures that the prayed would be understood.

Fair Ones of the Northern Forest, I greet you with warmth and joy. Receive me kindly, o People of Air and Darkness, Elder Tribe of the great Mother Émer, for I must speak with you on a matter of great urgency.

The forest was still. A bead of sweat trickled down Shahin's back, but he kept signing with stately leisure. I call you forth! I name you! Come grant me parley, o Hidden People of the trees and streams!

The invocation finished, Shahin lowered his hands and waited, inhaling slowly through his nose, then out through his mouth. Andrea had stilled behind him; the slight crunching as she shifted from leg to leg had ceased completely.

Ten, twenty, thirty breaths filled his lungs with loam and leaf-rot.

As he drew his one-hundredth breath, Shahin smelled honeysuckle.

You remain as lovely as ever, Lord Adarta, he signed with the same steady hands as he had used for the invocation. If anything, this stage was the most crucial; if he had faltered then, the Hidden People would have simply refused to show themselves. If he failed now...

"Your compliment falls flat when you have not seen me, knight of Adrigole," a sweet voice closer to avian than human sang mere inches from his ear. Behind him, Shahin heard Andrea inhale sharply, and could hardly blame her— the sudden revelation that a bedtime story was not only real but inches away had taken its toll on him as well more than a year ago.

I do not need sight to know that the beauty of Lord Adarta is as unchanging as the passage of day to night to day. Amazingly, he did not tremble as he signed the compliment, and was rewarded with a melodic chuckle.

"It would seem that your torn-out tongue has been replaced with one of silver," Lord Adarta mused. "But then, you always were an amusing one. Some of us remembered who you were even three days after you left lesser an eye but greater a boon. How many humans could say as much when they had no debt to pay to us?"

A swirl of honeysuckle in his nose, the sign of the magic of the Hidden People; Adarta crossed in front of him, shining silver hair gleaming in the light of the setting sun. He had been correct earlier; the fey lord was as inhumanly lovely as ever, all golden eyes, snowy white skin, and long, precise appendages that moved with feline grace. Shahin bit his cheek surreptitiously, concealing it as a twitch as Adarta smiled ferociously at him. He focused on the pain and copper-taste of blood, letting it banish a bit of the beguilingly sweet scent and ethereal beauty.

He was not here to fall into the eldritch, alien hands of the Hidden People. Not again.

I have come on behalf of Sir Garner Wimarc, mage of Adrigole and advisor to King Gavin of Erenad. Have you come to parley?

Lord Adarta sniffed and made an elegant, dismissive gesture. "Parley. Feh. Such a heavy human word for bargain. This Garner Wimarc...he is your master? And hers?"

Shahin's lips tightened, but he responded dispassionately: He is. He is unfortunately busy with the Elusian war, and he was concerned you would not appear to bargain with him. Sir Garner has, however, given me leave to bargain on his behalf. Is this acceptable?

"Ordinarily, I would say this Garner does not interest me," Adarta replied, watching Shahin with cat-pupiled eyes. "But I recall that you and yours have always been ever so interesting to me, sweet Shahin. Ah, the tales you told of what had befallen you! You made the People laugh for days upon days upon days..."

—a quiet confession, ragged with pain and loss, the agony of the whip against his shoulders. The birdlike, alien laughter of countless Hidden People he had not realized lurked listening as he spoke with Lord Adarta—

Shahin did his best not to show the fury the memory provoked. It was as good a reminder as any that the Hidden People, for all they never lied, were as different from humanity as a hummingbird from a moth.

I remember. Shall we bargain, then?

"We shall." The smile Adarta gave was as predatory as the gleam in a shark's dull eyes.

Sir Garner would like to know of your intentions towards the Adrigolan army and those who would take control of Elusia from Johnathan of Lemaria.

"I neither know nor care about this Johnathan of which you speak," Adarta informed him. "I had noticed the humans seemed particularly fussed at each other of late, but really, when aren't they? If it's not Adrigole, it's the village down the road, or the vendor who wouldn't lower his prices? It's like watching kittens fight over a ragged string."

Shahin nodded. He had told Garner as much earlier—the Hidden People were not interested in the power struggles between human nations, and thus should not be counted as a threat to the invading army. Nonetheless, he had been commanded onwards to recruit a powerful ally, regardless of the danger. If you care nothing for Johnathan, then surely it would not be against your interests to sabotage his troops.

Adarta paused at that, and fixed Shahin with an unreadable look. "Sabotage the Elusians? Why would I ever do something as tiresome as that?"

Because the Hidden People's area of power spreads all through this forest, and doing so would allow the Adrigolan army far greater mobility in the north of Elusia. Because with your assistance, the troops of Farholt, Belmar, and Migolith would be unable to help the capital in time. What would you like in exchange for magical, untraceable sabotage of Elusian troops in this forest until the end of the war?

A slow, delighted smile spread across Adarta's face, the amoral grin of a child watching the pretty colors as he set a butterfly's wings ablaze.

"What price would I like for such a hefty boon?" The musing tone was all but quivering with wonder. "Ah...perhaps a diamond, as large as my head? Or no, no...the heart of a child, offered to the People for play once a month until the war ends! No, I changed my mind—the crown of your King! That way, I might play to be king of the humans, and thus gain amusement for days upon days!"

The thought of convincing King Gavin to sacrifice his crown for some eldritch princeling's transient amusement did not amuse Shahin. Adarta laughed gaily and spun in a circle, hair and moss-green clothes flashing.

"No...I've changed my mind again. A kiss— that is my price for the help of the people of Air and Darkness. Will you pay it?"

Shahin's blood ran cold.

Such a small thing as a kiss for so many months of labor? He signed carefully. Surely you would want something grander—a thousand gold coins, or spices from across the sea, or precious gemstones from Adrigole's coffers.

"Why should I need gold, when I pay no debt and purchase nothing with it? What good will human spices do when I dine on dewdrops and elderberry wine under starlight?" Adarta shook his head, hair following in a shimmering flash of silver. "No. A kiss is what I desire, and nothing less. Will you pay it?"

Blood was on his tongue, and his heart was in his mouth.

The Hidden People beguile and ensnare. A kiss will enthrall me, and I will not be able to fight it off. Their magic gave me my eye—it will not be able to break their spell once made.

Oh gods. But to win this bargain will bring Elusia to its knees. And the usurper and his court of viper will be stricken down. Vengeance for Him at last.

Shahin met Adarta's eyes, and signed: I will pay it, Lord Adarta. Kiss me.

"I am glad you agree to pay, on behalf of your master. But sweet as you are, I did not say it was your kiss I desired."

With a swirl of silver, the fey lord was gone, and Shahin left blinking.

It was not until he heard Andrea gasp, then sigh from behind him that he understood with a jolt of true terror.