“Tell me plainly,” she said grimly, “and tell me at once.”

Only one dared speak now. “We’ve heard- That is, someone said- We’ve heard the Wanderers want him.”

This was so unexpected she sat down abruptly on her heels. “But why would the Wanderers want Roric?” she asked in wonder.

“Well, you know,” said the faeys unhappily, “even you mortals must realize- Even for the lords of voima, fate does not always go well. Or for faeys!”

“Yes, I know the faeys have their problems,” she said absently. “But- But could it mean they need him because of who he is?” Her face lit up in the green glow of the lights. “Could he really be a son of a Wanderer all this time?”

“What?! Why would you even think that? Don’t think that! It’s not right for mortals to have such notions!”

It had been a nice idea for about two seconds.

“They want him because he is a mortal, but one who has no ties with other mortals!”

Then they don’t know about me, she thought. This was disconcerting; it was almost as bad to think that the Wanderers could have important gaps in their knowledge as it would have been to think that they were watching all the time.

“What use would they have for a mortal?”

“Maybe he can help them,” said one of the faeys slowly. “We sense the time of upheaval is coming, the time even creatures of voima fear

… Soon we may have to seal our burrows against the outside world; sometimes we have to seal them for hundreds of years. Would you like to stay inside with us when we do, Karin?”

She deliberately ignored this, not sure what upheaval the faeys could be talking about and certainly not wanting to be sealed up anywhere for the rest of her life. “But how did you find out about Roric? Do you speak yourselves to the Wanderers?”