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  　She snipped the thin thread of Han fueling the 【创建和谐家园】all flame and they both sank to the ground, leaning against one another, recovering from the fright. Jedidiah, several years younger, was bigger than she, a handsome young man. Painfully handsome, she thought.

  　She had been assigned to him when he had first come to the palace and she had been a novice. He had been eager to learn, and had studied hard. He had been a pleasure from the first day. She knew others had been difficult, but not Jedidiah. He had done everything she had asked of him. She had only to ask, and he threw himself into it.

  　Others thought he was more eager to please her than to please himself in what he did, but none could deny that he was a better student than any other, and was becoming a better wizard, and that was all that mattered. This was one area where the results were what counted, not the method, and she had quickly earned her full Sisterhood for the way she had brought him along.

  　Jedidiah had been more proud of her than she had been of herself when she had been named a Sister of the Light. She was proud of him, too; he was probably the most powerful wizard the palace had seen in a thousand years.

  　‘Margaret,’ he whispered, ‘what are you doing out here?’

  　‘Sister Margaret,’ she corrected.

  　‘No one is around.’ He kissed her ear.

  　‘Stop that,’ she scolded. The tingle from the kiss ran all the way down her spine; he had added a wisp of magic to the kiss. Sometimes she wished she hadn’t taught him that. But other times she ached to have him do it. ‘Jedidiah, what are you doing here? You have no business following me, following a Sister, out of the palace.’

  　‘You’re up to something, I know you are, and don’t you try to tell me you’re not. Something dangerous. At first, I was only a little concerned, but when I realized you were headed out into the Hagen Woods, I became frightened for you. I’m not going to let you go wandering into a dangerous place like this. Not by yourself anyway. Not without going along to protect you.’

  　‘Protect me!’ she whispered harshly. ‘Might I remind you of what just happened? You were helpless in a heartbeat. You weren’t able to fight off even a single one of my webs. You weren’t able to break one of them. You are hardly able to touch your Han, much less use it effectively. You have a lot to learn before you are wizard enough to go around protecting anyone. It’s all you can do at this point to keep from stepping on your own feet!’

  　The rebuke silenced him. She didn’t like to reprimand him so harshly, but this was far too dangerous for him to be involved in, if what she suspected was true. She feared for him, and didn’t want him hurt.

  　The things she had said weren’t entirely true, either. He was already more powerful than any Sister, when he could bring everything together properly, even though that wasn’t often. Already, there were Sisters who were afraid to push him too far. She could feel him look away.

  　‘I’m sorry, Margaret,’ he whispered. ‘I was afraid for you.’

  　Her heart ached at the hurt in his voice. She kept her head close to his so they could speak in soft whispers. ‘I know you are, Jedidiah, and I appreciate your concern, I really do. But this is Sister business.’

  　‘Margaret, the Hagen Woods are a dangerous place. There are things in here that could kill you. I don’t want you in here.’

  　The Hagen Woods were indeed dangerous. They had been for thousands of years, and had been left that way by decree of the palace. As if they could do anything about it.

  　It was said the Hagen Woods were a training ground for a very special kind of wizard. That kind of wizard was not sent there, but went in by choice. Because he wanted to. Craved to ... needed to.

  　But that was only what was said. She knew of no wizard going off to spend time in the Hagen Woods, at least not for the last few thousand years. If it was true any ever did. The tales said that in ancient times there were wizards of that kind, with that much power, and that they went into the Hagen Woods. Few ever came out, it was also said. But there were rules, even to this place.

  　‘The sun didn’t set while I was here. I came after dark. If you don’t let the sun set on you in the Hagen Woods, you can leave, and I don’t intend to stay long enough for the next sun to set on me. It’s safe enough. For me, anyway. I want you to go home. Right now.’

  　‘What’s so important that you would go in here? What are you doing? I expect an answer, Margaret. A truthful answer. I won’t be put off. There is danger for you in this and I won’t be put off.’

  　She fingered the finely worked gold flower she kept on a chain around her neck. Jedidiah had made it for her himself, not with magic, but with his own hands. It was a morning glory, meant to represent his awakening awareness of the gift, an awareness she had helped to blossom. That little gold flower meant more to her than anything else she had.

  　She took up his hand and leaned against him. ‘All right, Jedidiah, I will tell you. But I can’t tell you all of it. It’s too dangerous for you to know everything.’

  　‘What’s too dangerous? What can’t you tell me?’

  　‘Be quiet and listen, or I will send you back right now. And you know I can do it.’

  　His other hand went to the collar. ‘Margaret, you wouldn’t do that. Tell me you wouldn’t do that, not since we have been...’

  　‘Hush!’ He fell silent. She waited a moment to be certain he was going to stay hushed before she went on. ‘I have suspected for a time that some of the ones with the gift who have gone away, or died, have not done so as it has been put to us. I think they have been murdered.’

  　‘What!’

  　‘Keep your voice down!’ she whispered angrily. ‘Do you want to get us killed, too?’ He fell silent once more. ‘I think something awful is going on in the Palace of the Prophets. I think some of the Sisters murdered them.’

  　He stared at her in the darkness. ‘Murdered? By Sisters? Margaret, you must be crazy to even suggest such a thing.’

  　‘Well, I’m not. But everyone would think I was if I were to say such a thing aloud inside the palace walls. I have to figure out a way to prove it.’

  　He thought a moment. ‘Well, I know you better than anyone, and if you say it’s true, then I believe you. I’ll help. Maybe we could dig up the bodies, find something to go against what was said about their deaths, find somebody who saw something. We could carefully question the staff. There are ones I know who ...’

  　‘Jedidiah, that’s not the worst of it.’

  　‘What could be worse?’

  　She held the gold flower in the crook of a finger and rubbed her thumb against it. Her voice came even lower than before. There are Sisters of the Dark in the palace.’

  　Even without being able to see him in the darkness, she knew bumps were running up his arms. The night bugs chirped around them as she watched the dark shape of his face. ‘Margaret... Sisters of the ... that can’t be. There is no such thing. That is only a myth ... a fable.’

  　‘It is no myth. There are Sisters of the Dark in the palace.’

  　‘Margaret, please don’t keep saying that. You could be put to death for making an accusation like that. If you accuse a Sister of that, and can’t prove it, you would be put to death. And you can’t prove it because it isn’t possible. There is no such thing as a Sister of the ...’

  　He couldn’t even say the words. The thought of it frightened him so much, he couldn’t even say it out loud. She knew his fear. She had felt it herself until she had happened on things she could no longer ignore. She wished she hadn’t gone to see the Prophet that night, or at least not listened to him.

  　The Prelate had been angry that Margaret wouldn’t give the Prophet’s message to one of her aides. When she had finally granted an audience, the Prelate had only stared blankly at her and asked what the ‘pebble in the pond’ was. Margaret didn’t know. The Prelate had lectured her sternly for bothering her with Nathan’s nonsense. Margaret had been furious at Nathan when he had denied remembering giving any such message for the Prelate.

  　‘I wish it were as you say, but it is not. They’re real. They are among us. They are in the palace.’ She watched the dark shadow of him a moment. That’s why I’m out here. To get the proof.’

  　‘How are you going to do that?’

  　‘They’re out here. I followed them. They come out into the Hagen Woods to do something. I’m going to find out what.’

  　His head turned about, searching the darkness. ‘Who? Which Sisters? Do you know which ones?’

  　‘I know. Some of them anyway.’

  　‘Which ones are they?’

  　‘Jedidiah, I can’t tell you. If you knew, and you made even the slightest mistake ... you would not be able to defend yourself. If I’m right and they really are Sisters of the Dark, they would kill you for knowing. I can’t bear the thought of you being hurt. I won’t tell you until I go to the Prelate’s office with the proof.’

  　‘How do you know they are Sisters of the ... And what proof have you? What proof could you get?’

  　She searched the darkness for any sign of danger. ‘One of the Sisters has something. A thing of magic. A thing of dark magic. I saw it in her office. It’s a little statue. I noticed it one time because she has a number of things, old things everyone thinks are just ancient curiosities. I had seen it before, and like all the rest of the things, it was covered with dust.

  　‘But this one time, after one of the boys died, I went to her office to talk to her about it, about her report. That little statue was tucked back in a corner, with a book leaning against it, hiding it, and it wasn’t covered with dust. It was clean.’

  　That’s it! This Sister dusted a statue, and you think ...’