* * *
The sun was nearing noon the next day when Kani led Tufenk into the brush near the rocks where first they'd seen the Bis-kit eaters.
He might have been the first human being to ever come this way, the first living thing to tread this path in months. Nothing stirred. No birds sang, no leaves twitched to betray hidden eyes, watching.
Kani looked around nervously, his hands tightening on Tufenk's reins. "Where are they, Tufenk?" he murmured. "We are close to where we left them. I am sure of it. Surely we have not been gone more than three days?"
A new thought occurred to him. "Did Hairy-Fairy mean three days to him, or three days to me? Perhaps days and days have passed here, while we traveled and…and slept.”
A lump of ice formed in his stomach. Why had he not thought of that? Were all his efforts for naught?
He looked up at his horse, watching her ears, her eyes. If Lace and Shadow were nearby, Tufenk had no sense of them.
He looked at the silent forest that stretched in all directions around him. There was the rocky outcrop where Hairy-Fairy had lain, watching them. And there a broken stump he recognized.
"It was here," he whispered. "Surely this is the place." He took another breath, let it out in a prayer. "Allah guide me."
Raising his voice, he shouted to the silent forest. "It is I, Ascham Kani, Ranger of the Gold Triad. I have returned as I promised, and I have brought what you requested. Return to me what is mine, as you promised."
"And what exactly is yours?" asked a familiar voice.
Kani spun, Tufenk's startled snort resounding in his ear. Hairy-Fairy sat on its rocky perch, hands folded before its breast. It watched him, its old eyes bright beneath shaggy brows.
Kani swallowed. "My Triad. The Gold Cavalier, Allysia, and the Gold Mystic, the Seeker. And their mounts."
"Are they yours? Would they claim you so, were you in their place?" The creature sounded genuinely interested.
Kani stared at it. How much did the thing know? "I…." He paused. How to answer such a question? "I do not know. It does not matter." He wondered if they were listening, somewhere out of sight. He hoped so. Understand my heart, he begged them silently. We need one another.
Aloud, he said, "I belong to them, whether they know it or not, or care to know. We belong together. We were each of us Chosen to become the Gold Triad, and so we must be, until death or the Fey choose otherwise. Return them to me."
Hairy-Fairy regarded him. "Have you brought the tablecloth, as you promised?"
"I have." Kani reached inside his cuirass and drew out a crumpled wad of red and white fabric. He held it up. "Behold, the tablecloth of plenty, as you requested."
"Bring it here." The creature waved Kani closer.
Kani dropped Tufenk's reins and approached the rock. He held the cloth out, but Hairy-Fairy made no attempt to take it. Instead, it pointed down, at another outcrop beneath it, flat and just at Kani's knee level. "Put it there."
Kani did so, wondering what would happen next. He straightened and looked at Hairy-Fairy.
It tisked. "Is that how you set a proper table? Unfold it, boy."
Flushing, Kani did as he was asked. The cloth settled with an almost audible sigh of relief over the rock.
Hairy-Fairy peered down at it. One thin hand fished beneath the fur of its chest and withdrew a pair of spectacles. It placed them on its long, thin nose. "Splendid! Well done, my boy." It looked up and smiled. "How very clever of you. I do hope it wasn't too inconvenient."
Kani stared, agog. Inconvenient?
Then his mouth closed, and he smiled despite himself. "Not very. Please do not concern yourself. And I have already tested it extensively — it works exactly as it is supposed to. This cloth will provide you and yours with all the food you may wish."
Hairy-Fairy looked pleased. "And it seems to have improved your manners as well as your tongue." It removed the spectacles, drawing out a small kerchief from somewhere under its fur and wiping them carefully. "Well, you've certainly kept your part of the bargain. We shall keep ours."
Behind Kani, Tufenk whickered. Another horse answered. Suddenly a nearby clump of branches parted like a curtain and Allysia and Seeker stepped out leading their mounts, accompanied by a small horde of the Bis-kit eaters, spears at the ready. They saw him and stopped. "Kani," said Allysia, her relief undisguised. "You did it."
Seeker let her breath out. "Thought you'd never get back."
Lace pricked up her ears and whistled a lilting greeting, her eyelashes a-flutter, but Kani found he did not mind. His knees were weak with relief. He straightened, not even trying to stop the grin that spread across his face. "Are you well? Were you harmed?"
Allysia shook her head, smiling, and Seeker snorted. "Not unless you count having thousands of these little bas — ah — biscuit hounds chanting in your ears and dancing around you day and night." She scowled down at the ones nearest her, whose heads just reached her knees. "Mind you, some might call it a fate worse than death. They're all tone deaf."
Hairy-Fairy sighed. "I have been trying, but it is a continuous challenge. One does what one can." It rubbed its hands and looked at each of them. "Well, that's that then. Stay for tea?"
Kani looked at Allysia and Seeker, and saw the same befuddled expression.
Allysia, ever polite, responded after only a brief hesitation. "But of course. We'd be honored."
"Splendid!" Hairy-Fairy clapped its hands. "Tea and all the trimmings for everyone, please."
The cloth was suddenly covered with steaming pots of tea, cups, and plates heaped high with edibles. The Bis-kit eaters leaped upon them, chattering in their high-pitched voices and swarming over the cloth, the plates, and one another like ants.
It was several minutes before Hairy-Fairy or the Triad could serve themselves, but the wait was worth it.
The Triad packed their saddlebags with the tablecloth's bounty, then sat on the rocks near Hairy-Fairy, passing plates and cups back and forth. They exchanged more glances than words, and more smiles than either. Kani wondered how to begin telling them of his adventures, and, more important, of the things he'd discovered about himself. Would they understand? Was it too soon to push for a new beginning?
Seeker spoke first, of course, licking the cream from the center of her teacake. "So, tell me, Kani. How'd you do it?"
Kani took a sip of sweet, hot tea. "I tricked the troll," he replied. "It was not fair of me, but I could see no other way. It was not such a bad thing, for a troll." He bit into a buttered pastry of some kind and wiped the sweet jam off his chin.
Allysia glanced at him, measuring him with her great, clear eyes. "I am glad. The Code says that we should not kill without need. Even if it was just a troll."
"So you tricked it." Seeker grinned suddenly, though her eyes still challenged him. "I'd like to hear that story sometime."
Allysia looked out over the chattering throng stuffing themselves and smearing crumbs and honey over their faces in an effort to cram in everything at once. "Why not now? I see no harm in it. And I'd like to know."
Hesitantly at first, Kani related the tale. The others listened without interrupting, though some moments brought laughter, some only silence.
When he was done, he looked down at his empty cup. He had left out his night at the Inn of the Three Bows. This was not the time to tell them of the thoughts that had kept him awake all night. Perhaps the right time would never come.
A hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked up in surprise to meet Seeker's thoughtful regard. Her expression became somber. "You did well, Ascham Kani. You did very well."
He flushed and looked down, taken aback by the unexpected praise. "I very nearly failed," he admitted. "I almost—"
Allysia stopped him. "But you didn't." She tapped her cup against his, and suddenly both were full again. "I don't think even Robert could have done bette
r."
"Wish you could have met him," added Seeker. "He was really…." She paused and cleared her throat, then raised her cup to tap it against the other two. "To Robert."
"To Robert," Allysia echoed, her eyes over-bright.
"To Robert," said Kani, and meant it. He lifted the cup to his lips. It was right that he should drink to the late Gold Ranger. Any man who had earned the respect and love of two such as Allysia and Seeker deserved to be honored.
Allysia's hand stopped him just as the cup reached his lips. "And to Ascham Kani, the Ranger of the Gold Triad. A trickster in the making. This time, I think you could have taught Robert a thing or two."
Kani stared at her, the cup forgotten before his mouth. Did she mean it, or was she only being kind?
Beside him, he heard Seeker speak. "Well, maybe just this once — yes, I think he might."
He looked from one to the other, met their eyes, still guarded but seeing him now, truly seeing him.
He swallowed, searched for words and failed to find them, and finally settled for drinking his tea.
Seeker set her cup down. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this crowd. Let's get going. We've got a ways to go before dark."
"Agreed." Allysia rose and set her cup carefully on the cloth. The other two hastily followed suit and one by one, with brief, polite bows to their Hairy-Fairy host, they collected their mounts and vanished down the trail.
The hairy-fairy thing watched them go, ignoring the clamoring throng below his rock.
A figure in shimmering saffron stepped from behind a tree. "That was well done."
The hairy-fairy thing smiled. "Oh, do you really think so?"
"Indeed." The figure solidified to a tall man with hair the color of sunlight and honey. He nodded after the Triad and smiled. "I was beginning to despair of them. These situations are always so delicate."
"Humans are marvelously resilient creatures," said the hairy-fairy thing. It shook itself, fastidiously combing out its long, golden fur. "They just needed a bit of a prod in the right direction. They'll be fine."
"Indeed. I hope you are correct." The eyes of the man in gold became slightly unfocused, as though he saw something unimaginably distant. "They have a difficult journey ahead of them, and will need one another."
"Well then, all this fuss wasn't without benefits, was it?" said the hairy-fairy thing. It reached down and lifted up a plate, offering it to the man in gold. "Biscuit?"