Standing in the doorway to their shelter-a half-ruined stone structure, buried in vegetation, in the heart of a dark wood-he asked, "What is this place? The wood where I chased you a few months ago?"

"Yes. It's the holy grove of those who worship Kina. If we cleared the creepers you could see carved representations. Once it was important to the Black Company, who took it from the Shadar. The ground is filled with bones."

He turned slowly, looked into her empty cowl. He wouldn't look at the box she carried. He knew what must be in it. "The Black Company?"

"They made sacrifices here. One hundred thousand prisoners of war."

Croaker blanched. That wasn't something he wanted to hear. He had a long romance with the history of the Company. There was no place in that for a wicked past. "Truth?"

"Truth, my love. I've seen the books the wizard Smoke concealed from you in Taglios. They include the missing volumes of your Annals. Your forebears were cruel men. Their mission required the sacrifice of a million souls."

His stomach knotted. "To what? To whom? Why?" She hesitated. He knew she wasn't being honest when she said, "That wasn't clear. Your lieutenant Mogaba might know, though."

It wasn't what she said but the way she said it, the voice she used. He shuddered. And he believed. Mogaba had been strange and secretive throughout his association with the Company. What was he doing to the Company's traditions now?

"Kina's disciples come here twice a year. Their Festival of Lights comes in a month. We have to finish before then."

Troubled, Croaker asked, "Why are we here?" "We're recovering our health." She laughed. "Where we won't be bothered. Everyone shuns this place. Once I've nursed you back you're going to help me." Still amused, she pushed back her cowl. She had no head. She lifted that box she always carried, a battered