"Feel what?"

"It… I don't know. It's hot. It makes a hot feeling in my head. No, that's not right. I can't say. But I hate it." His little face was determined again, pale and stern. "I'm going to throw it into the moat."

"You can't! It's valuable! It's been in the family for… for a long time."

"I don't care. It's not going to be in the family any longer. I can't even bear to look at it." He stared at her. "Remember, you promised, so you can't tell anyone. You swore an oath-we shared blood."

"Of course I won't tell. But I still don't think you should do it."

He shook his head. "I don't care. And you can't stop me."

She sighed. "I know. No one can stop you doing anything, redling, no matter how foolish. I was just going to tell you not to throw it in the moat."

He stared at her from beneath a furious brow. "Why?"

"Because they drain it. Don't you remember when they did it the sum¬mer before last and they found those bones of that woman who drowned?"

He nodded slowly. "Merolanna wouldn't let us go see-like we were ba¬bies! I was so angry." He seemed to regard her for the first time as a true collaborator rather than an antagonist. "So if I throw it in the moat, some¬one will find it someday. And put it back in the chapel."

"That's right." She considered. "It should go into the ocean. Off the out-wall behind the East Lagoon. The water comes up right under the wall there."

"But how can I do it without the guards noticing?"

"I'll tell you how, but you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"Just promise."

He scowled, but she had obviously caught his curiosity. "So be it, 1 promise. Well, how do I throw it over without the guards seeing me do it?"

"I'll go with you. We'll say we want to go up and count the seagulls or something. They all think we're children, anyway-they don't pay any at¬tention to what we do."