Charissa hurried to the stoma and was surprised to see Somek and Pronos standing outside with their spears.

"He's inside," Pronos said.

She entered the stoma and followed a flickering light into the shadowy recess at the back. Amantis had spread out a drwg skin on the floor and lay on it, propped on one elbow. A small keleos lamp burned nearby with a soft golden light. He smiled up at her.

"I have it," she said.

"Good. Sit down." He patted the skin.

Charissa knelt and held out Karux's stone. "You can use it to help him, right?"

"Of course." Amantis took the stone and carefully placed it on a broken stalagmite at his elbow. "I'll deal with that soon enough. But first we have to deal with us."

"Us?"

"Our feelings." He stared into her eyes with a fierce penetrating look.

"Oh."

"You have to admit, you have some feelings for me."

"Well...." Charissa didn't know how to respond. Sometimes she thought she might be attracted to him, other times she was certain Karux was the only one she wanted.

"I know you've kissed him." Amantis leaned in close. Charissa could feel his breath on her lips. "You should give me a chance as well."

"I—"

Amantis pressed his lips against hers and she felt herself respond in confused desire. He pushed her back onto the furs and she clung to him to keep from falling. His knee pushed in between hers and she felt his hand on her leg, under her dress, sliding up her thigh.

She pushed his shoulders back. "No, wait, I—" she gasped.

"You know you want this. You've secretly wondered about it. The stone showed me." He fumbled at her small clothes.

Charissa froze in terror. Could it be true?

He held her down as she tried to struggled, his weight as immovable as a mountain.

-=====|==

For the next several days, Karux focused on getting his life back to normal. Without the stone, his visions only came at night and then as strange disjointed dreams, even without Mahd Mela's potions. Whenever he felt a familiar fuzziness start to take him, he remembered his anger. He was heard more than once muttering to himself the now-familiar profanity, "Void take it."

Rumors continued to fly all over the village first among the women, then among the boys. Whatever they were talking about, must have included him, because they always stopped when he appeared, sometimes giving him angry or pitying looks depending on what they had heard. Karux ignored them and spent a lot of time in the field tending the goats. Only then would his anger start to fade and allow him a measure of peace.

Though a month later, when he still had not seen Charissa even once in public, he began to wonder what had happened to her. It was impossible for a person to simply disappear in the small village, yet she seemed to take all her meals in her father's house, and was never seen outside. He wanted to confront her, to tell her how she had hurt him and to find out how she really felt about him and Amantis.

Amantis, however, seemed to have changed. He seemed bolder, strutting around in the wolf-skin cloak that was supposed to have gone to Garick and wearing the angorym long knife in a special leather sheath that hung from his waste. He took delight in ordering the others about in weapons practice and gave no deference to any adult whether in matters of combat or any other part of life. He soon had a devoted following of wolf-hunters who would do whatever he commanded. Even Theris and Macander stuck with him, if only because they were each one of the "wolf-skins" a part of his elite inner core.

Karux elected to stay behind from the spring trip to N'shia-Potoma. He hoped that when the men and boys had left, Charissa might emerge from hiding, but she remained locked up tight in her house.

-=====|==

Macander found N'shia-Potoma nearly as stunning as the first time he'd seen it. He followed the younger adras to the smiths and watched as they all ordered two bronze spearheads apiece. When the smith asked why everyone wanted spear heads, they told him of the angoran and the trained drwg it brought. Word of the attack spread, especially when the wolf-skins learned they could earn a free beer by telling their story in the taverns. Macander was frequently made to show off, as evidence, the wolf skin Karux had given him and Theris proudly showed off the angoran tooth he still wore on a thong about his neck.

Amantis disappeared from time to time to make big purchases from various merchants, but when Macander asked, he would never talk about what he was doing or why. When finished, he seemed eager to leave though the others wanted to linger. He finally ordered his wolf-skins to leave with him and so they headed back early to Korion-Garanth.

Amantis set a brisk pace along the northern trail, but as they approached a narrow path between two close hills, the very place they had been stopped the year before, a hail of stones flew over the hill's crest, pelting them. An egg-sized stone smacked Macander in the side of the head and he saw stars. He spun around and ducked, trying to ward off the cloud of stones flying over his head. He managed to fall into a defensive circle with the wolf-skins who readied their spears. A score of farm boys appeared on the eastern hill with rocks and staves, jeering at them.

"Not so tough now are you, hillbillies?" their leader called out. His nose, crooked and misshaped, appeared to have suffered badly in their last encounter.

Amantis laughed. "Any one of my boys could easily defeat four of yours."

Macander did a quick count and hoped Amantis was correct, because he estimated the farmers had at least a four to one advantage.

"That sounds like a challenge," the leader replied. "Care to put that to the test, or are you hillbillies all just a bunch of cowards who only fight by ambush?"

"Look who's talking about ambuscades." Amantis strode forward through his protective circle. "How about just you and me, Big Mouth? I'll even put aside my spear, because I know you couldn't touch me in a fair fight."

The leader stumped down the hill, growing larger as he approached. He stood a full head taller and nearly a hundred pounds heavier than Amantis. "Big talk from such a little guy," he sneered. How do I know your friends won't jump me when I'm kicking your butt?"

Amantis locked eyes with him for a moment as if daring him to make a move. He glanced at his wolf-skins who, without a word, backed away to the next hill. They stood and watched with their spears at the ready.

The leader's eyes bounced back and forth between them, a crease forming on his large forehead.

Amantis flung his spear at the hill behind him where the wolf-skins stood and it stuck in the ground. He turned back with a smirk, empty hands spread wide.

"That certainly was stupid," the farm boy laughed. "With that pig-sticker, you might have had a chance. Now you've got nothing to stop me from messing you up." He took his staff in both hands and readied it.

Amantis took a step back and pulled the long knife from its sheath. The farm boy must have sensed something was wrong for he immediately lunged at Amantis, throwing the weight of his massive shoulders behind his swing.

Stepping in close, Amantis swung his long knife at the staff, stopping the blow before it had the chance to gather much force. The staff caught on the knife's edge, which bit deep into the wood, and the farm boy had to yank backwards to lever it free. As the farmer raised the staff, Amantis turned the knife and slashed outward. A stream of bright blood poured out through a diagonal gash in the farmer's tunic, running from shoulder to hip.

The farmer staggered backwards, dropping his staff and Amantis slashed out again, this time raking him across the abdomen. The farm boy dropped to one knee, clutching at his stomach while blood rained down.

Macander watched in horror as the farmer's guts began to spill out.

The boy fell over groaning and clutching at his stomach. His friends dropped their poles and ran to his side. After a hurried consultation, they picked him up and carried him back across the fields without a backward glance.

Amantis examined his knife and cleaned off the blood with some leaves. He stuck it back in the sheath hanging from his waist and picked up his spear. Then, without a word, continued walking down the path to the village.

The wolf-skins exchanged anxious glances before falling in behind. Macander felt guilty just being near him.

-=====|==

Three days later, five strange men appeared at the village entrance and spoke with the elders. Macander was not close enough to hear what they said, but when he saw the elders' welcoming faces grow serious, he could guess what they were talking about.

Macander drifted closer, hoping to hear the discussion, but Ghett looked up, noticed the young boys that always buzzed around them like flies, and rose. Ghett led the men to his house where they all crammed inside and still managed to close the door behind them. A minute later, Rennon poked his head out of the door, called for Jaemin who was playing nearby, and sent him off to retrieve Amantis. When Amantis appeared some time later, he entered the crowded house and no one came out for hours.

Eventually, Amantis emerged scowling and stomped across the commons. Macander called out to him. "Hey Amantis! What's going on?"

Amantis just glared at him and kept walking in the direction of the stoma. Sometime later, the visitors came out. Normally such guests would stay the night where they would be feasted and entertained, but these men seemed eager to the point of rudeness to leave.

Macander watched them hurry off feeling something momentous had just occurred and though he hadn't seen it yet, somehow their lives had all just changed.

-=====|==

After many long days filled with nothing but goats and lots of time to think, Karux was at last ready to forgive Charissa. He couldn't escape the fact that he still loved her. It was possible, he thought, that Amantis had tricked or confused her. He could be pretty convincing, if for no other reason than he always believed what he said, whether he knew it to be true or false. It could also be that Charissa didn't know what she wanted.

At the very least, he had to talk to her and find out. He might be able to convince her that her love for him was greater than whatever she felt for Amantis. And if not, well, he needed to hear it from her own lips.

Karux woke with the determination to see her. He rose, dressed himself and walked straight over to her house and knocked on the door. Her mother answered, red eyed, hair disheveled and face streaked with tears. He first thought someone had died. He nearly asked about Charissa's younger brother or sister or the baby, but he remembered his purpose. "I'd like to speak with Charissa."

Her mother burst out into fresh tears and couldn't speak. Her father appeared at her side, his face frozen in an expressionless mask. "I'm sorry, Karux. No."

And with that he abruptly closed the door.

Karux thought he saw, for one brief moment, a familiar profile standing in the background as motionless as a corpse. He raised his hand to knock again and froze. The feeling of grief and despair emanating from the house was too thick. He didn't dare intrude. He walked away, coming to a stop only when he bumped up against the keleos press. He turned and sat on the rock coping and chewed on a fingernail, trying to think. Who was that he saw silhouetted in there? Was it Charissa, and if so, why did she look so much older?

A crowd of people began to slowly gather, each casually standing and talking in small groups as if each had been brought to the commons for different reasons and had only coincidentally arrived at the same place at the same time. As Karux watched, he saw Amantis arrive with two donkeys. One was loaded with skins and baskets of goods as if he were planning on a trading trip to the market cities. The other simply had a blanket across it as if he intended to ride it.

He stopped at Charissa's house and knocked. Her father opened the door and Amantis started to go inside but her father held up an interposing hand. The people around Karux began to whisper in angry hisses. Karux couldn't catch their meaning, but he could hear their disapproval.

After a minute, Charissa stepped outside, escorted by her parents. Her hair had been cut short and fixed up on her head under a circlet of ivy and flowers. Her mother, who cried the whole time, hugged her briefly and then turned away. Her father lifted her onto the blanketed donkey. Karux noticed, despite the long dress a slight swelling around her middle as if she had put on some weight while shut up in the house. She sat on the donkey with her head bowed in shame, her short hair covering her face. Her parents didn't even look at Amantis who took the donkey's reigns and led them away.

"I don't understand," Karux said out loud. "What's going on?"

Bazma who had taken on a grim demeanor since his brother's death stood nearby watching the events with cold eyes. "Amantis has been exiled. He killed a boy in a fight coming back from the river town."

"Is that why those strange men were here the other day?"

"Yes. They came from the boy's tribe, seeking compensation. Amantis has forfeited all the animals he owns and as further punishment, the elders have exiled him. They are sending him back to his father's tribe."

"So where did he get the donkeys?" Tareuk, who had been standing nearby, asked.

"He traded his wife's dowry for those," Bazma said.

"Wife? Dowry? Does that mean that he and Char—," Karux's throat clenched shut and he found it impossible to complete his sentence. His heart skipped a beat and then pounded so hard it felt like Somek was repeatedly punching him in the chest.

"Yes, didn't you know?" Nyrana answered. "Amantis got her with child mahts ago. They've been secretly married for at least a fortnight. Everyone knows that."

Charissa cast one backwards glance over her shoulder as the donkeys passed the elders' oak tree and headed for the village's entrance. She briefly locked eyes with Karux and he could see in them the depths of anguish and despair she carried. She seemed to sag hopelessly, as she turned away and followed her husband from the village.

Karux couldn't catch his breath. Bazma turned to him and asked, "Are you unwell?" while Karux gasped as if he had just run all the way from the river markets. He watched Charissa disappear around a bend in the path and he got up and staggered away. He wandered off into the woods feeling as though someone had pulled out his guts and left him an empty numb shell.

Then the grief hit him in a landslide, dropping him to his knees. He screamed out a pain unlike any he had ever before known. He clung to a pair of saplings as his body spasmed and shook and he poured out his rage and despair until his voice grew hoarse. Then he simply wept.

When he could stand again, he staggered blindly through the trees until he found himself before the stoma in which the village had taken shelter. This is the spot, he thought. This is where it happened, that day Charissa had taken his stone to Amantis, thinking he would help her. He felt the pouch hanging from his neck, now empty of all but her lock of hair, empty as the promise it once held.

If only he had known what was happening. He could have charged in. Even with Pronos and Somek guarding, his love and fear would have propelled him through. He envisioned running a spear through Amantis, shoving the bronze head into the stone, pinning him there.

He could have saved her.

How could he have been so blind as to think she wanted any of this?

Karux blinked at hundreds of little glints of light. He had wandered into the back of the stoma where only the faintest of the sun's rays reflected from the stone walls. Before him, on the flattened stump of a broken stalagmite, lay his stone, shattered into thousands of tiny fragments.