“He gets more arrogant and presumptuous every day,” the woman complained.“We’re supposed to be equals.”
“Someone has to lead,” the other man said in a tired voice.
The woman harrumphed.“More like he got a taste of power and liked it.If I wanted to be ordered around, I wouldn’t have betrayed my House.”
“Where does Asanth think you are?”
“On a supply gathering mission to Edros.”
“They won’t miss you?”
“Those idiots are still gathered around the Overlord’s sick bed, more preoccupied with his fate than the crisis that is currently at our doorstep.”
“I remember a time when you would have been one of those idiots,” the man mused.
“That was before my eyes were opened.”
“If you say so.”
“Where are you going?”the woman demanded.
“You heard Pieter.Someone will be arriving soon to take care of Roake’s commander.This place is a maze.They’ll need a guide.”
Gus’s heart lurched.If what the Tuann said was true, there was a chance he would lead her straight to the commander.No more wandering around like a lost child, hoping to stumble on the people she’d come here to save.
Not questioning the impulse, Gus dug into one of the interior pockets of her cloak, withdrawing a small packet of seeds that she kept on her for times like this.Pouring a couple of them into her palm, Gus held them up to eye level to examine.
They were tiny and very similar in shape to a dandelion seed.With a parachute-like top that enabled them to catch the wind and ride its currents.A small, oblong seed was attached to the bottom.
Gus wrapped her fist around the seed, concentrating briefly as she infused it with her soul’s breath.
In the next chamber, she heard footsteps beginning to recede.Her window of opportunity was closing.Without this seed to guide her way, she’d find it hard to track him through the labyrinth of the honeycomb.
Hurry.
Relief filled Gus’s chest as she finished.She brought the handful of seeds up to her mouth and blew.They floated off her palm, catching the air current Gus directed their way via herki.
For a moment, they coasted.Then the air caught them and sent them careening around the corner.Two tiny specks dancing around each other.Virtually invisible to all but the most aware.
This trick probably wouldn’t have worked on her siblings, whose paranoia made them unnaturally vigilant.These two, however, hardly struck Gus as being among the Tuann elite.Their skills were passable at best.Even if by some miracle they spotted the seeds, chances were they’d pass their presence off as an oddity and not look further.
Taking a chance, Gus peeked around the edge of the opening to make sure her seeds were on the right track.
It took only a moment of searching to spot her target.
There.
On the far side of the room.On the threshold between this chamber and the next.
Manipulating the air molecules and sending another tendril ofkitoward the seeds to correct their course, Gus nudged them on a flight path that would intersect with the male.
Then, she waited.
The seeds drifted.
Closer.
Closer.
