The Thread That Binds the Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Richard Bober Page A

stealing over him. He was asking a bird strange questions, and it was answering them. On the other hand, whether the bird was telling the truth ... He remembered the blue flame Laura had conjured up in front of his lips. He hadn’t learned that yet. He would have to consult with Peregrine.
    “Rape?” said the bird. It extended a wing, preened a feather. “What is that? We strove together to summon a descendant. I honored her with the promise of my generation. She defied me, but I still took care of her. She is my favorite. I have always liked her. She is healthy, has food and shelter, everything she needs. And now, a voice—she never told me she could speak. She—I want her back.”
    “Forget it. She wants to leave, and I’ve told her I’ll protect her.”
    The bird cocked its head, looked at him out of one eye. After a moment, it said, “It’s just as it was when I first met her. She clings to a new protector. See how easy? How tempting?” The bud bobbed its head at him.
    Unnerved, Tom sat back. For a moment, he wondered about his motives, but then he remembered what Maggie had said about Carroll using people. He blinked, saw a haze of lavender between himself and the bird. He waved a hand at it, and it dissipated. His mind cleared. Carroll had no stake in giving him real information, and every reason to try and deceive him. Whatever Tom and Maggie worked out, he shouldn’t talk to Carroll about it. He changed topics.
    “Why have you picked on me since the moment we met?” he asked Carroll.
    “You’re an outsider, a peasant, not fit to associate with my niece. You are not bound to us in the ways that give us structure. We don’t know what you bring us. And Laura, she should have married one of us. She’s no prize, but she has breeding potential. You came in and upset everything.”
    “Not enough women to go around?”
    “Not enough women, not enough babies, too many sickly ... Besides, we needed information about you.”
    “I know. That first spell you cast on me—was that your best shot?”
    “It was only a temporary, but it dissolved faster than it should have. I must have gotten the words wrong. Except I never do that.” It cocked its head at him. It flew up to a branch of a nearby tree, then back to the ground. “Will you release me from this spell now?” it said at last, settling in the dust at his feet.
    “Tried everything else, have you?”
    It stared at him out of one eye.
    “Do you promise to leave me alone?”
    “ Ashkali. I couldn’t keep a promise like that.”
    “Promise to leave Maggie and Eddie alone.”
    “I have no interest in Owen’s fetch.”
    Tom sighed. “What does that mean?”
    “Your boy. I’m not at all interested in your boy. I find Gwen’s taste for exotics ridiculous.”
    “Okay. You won’t bother Eddie. Now, tell me you’ll leave Maggie alone.”
    The raven flipped its wings and flew up to a low branch in a nearby tree. After a moment it returned. “I can’t leave her alone, because she is not alone; she is with you. This has no meaning.”
    “Goodbye, Carroll,” said Tom, standing up.
    “No! No. No one at the Hollow can unspell this. What do you want? Say it again.”
    “Say you won’t bother Maggie.”
    “I won’t bother Maggie,” it said, then hissed something.
    “Swear by the Powers and Presences,” Tom said.
    “I do so vow,” it said, and bobbed its head.
    —Peregrine?
    —Yes, Tom.
    —Is it safe to release him?
    —No. It never will be, especially when he has modified this promise with a whisper; nevertheless, you must release him.
    —I could turn him into something else if he bothers us again.
    —Next time he will be armed against it. But I suspect you could overcome such armor.
    Tom leaned forward, studying Carroll with Othersight. A shadow of his human form crouched above the bird; the bird was wrapped round with silver threads as intricate and beautiful as snowflakes under a magnifying glass.—Silver, Tom thought, and felt the