“The two of you worked well together,” I said quietly. Piaras and I weren’t the only elves in the room. Some of the watchers were, too. Elven ears did more than just look good.

Talon shrugged. Piaras didn’t say a word.

“You’ve been reading new spellsongs again, haven’t you?” I asked Piaras.

His hesitation told me everything I needed to know.

“A few,” he admitted.

I swore silently.

Piaras wanted to be a Guardian more than anything and was studying with Maestro Ronan Cayle, a legend among spellsinging masters. When Tam and I had joined forces to save those six lives last week, Piaras had destroyed some nasty magical beasties before they could destroy us. He’d used a spellsong that was damned near suicidal for someone of his age and inexperience to attempt. He’d seen it once in a spellsong book, read it, and had instantly memorized it. He’d gambled and won-that time. Today he’d gambled again, and if Tam and I hadn’t been able to take that demon from him, this time he would have lost.

I took a breath and silently counted backward from ten. It took all the way to one before I could trust myself to talk without yelling. “That was quite a risk the two of you took.” My voice came out amazingly calm. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have been impressed.

I saw Piaras’s jaw clench under a faint shadow of stubble. Jeez, the kid had stubble; when had that happened?

“Would you have had us do nothing?” His voice was tight.

“No, I would not have had you do nothing.” I took another breath and let it out slowly. I’d better say what I needed to say quickly, because calm and I were about to part ways. “That’s not what I mean-at least not entirely. You acted when no one else would and stood your ground when everyone ran. Both of you were very brave.” I paused and resisted the urge to grit my teeth. “You also had no idea what you were latching on to, but you grabbed it anyway, and neither one of you were trained to handle it.”