I could see now the tip glistened. She picked up the bowl and held it out. An inch of oil covered its bottom.

So, I had interrupted something. Still, she shouldn't have wandered off with the baby we had just gone through so much effort to reclaim, not without telling me where she was going and why.

"Are you done?" I asked.

She tapped one finger against the rim of the bowl. "For now. The magic is gone; I'll have to recall it another day."

A prick to make me feel guilty, but it didn't draw blood. "Or perhaps after she is returned to her mother, she can be 'accepted' then," I parried back, but I wasn't done. I had another question for our new priestess. "What did you use on the son-the dart? It wasn't part of our plan."

Thea's jaw tightened. "Do you have a problem with the outcome? We did get the child." With her thumb she twirled a ring around her finger. It was gold with a black enamel spider clinging to its band.

Despite myself I shuddered. Last fall the Amazons had been attacked by a son. I'd been staked out in a yard, a spider's web of magic stretched over me, keeping my warriors from me, holding me down helpless. I had never feared anything, still didn't, but spiders. . I couldn't help but associate them with that nightmare, lying there vulnerable and exposed. . I pulled my gaze from the ring as I realized Thea was watching me.

"Perhaps," she replied. "Here." She held out the knife. "You're a queen. Someone should have shared this part of our history with you before."

I glanced at the weapon, reluctant to take it but still eager to pass off the child. Finally I slipped the baby into Thea's arms and took hold of the knife.

The handle was smooth and warm and seemed to pulse with life inside my grip.