Rori made his way around the edge of the lake. It wasn’t exactly in the direction he wanted to go, but it would ultimately be the shorter route. Time wasn’t a huge issue. There was nowhere he had to be, but if Ingstrom was camped by his clan’s wagon, Rori wanted to get there before that situation changed.

  Winding your way through the haphazard setup of tents, wagons and campfires was not a quick way to move. You often ended up walking a twisting fifty-foot path to get to something that was only thirty feet away. The edge of the lake, however, was relatively empty. There were plenty of people sitting beside or splashing in the water and a few campfires, but no tents or wagons. Because of this, the shoreline quickly became a main thoroughfare.

  He made his way around the lake, saying hello to a few people he recognized and responding to the greetings of many he didn’t. Then almost without thinking about it he turned and started to make his way through the various clans.

  He hadn’t gone far when he was forced to pull up short. In front of him was one of the performance stages. Currently on it three jugglers were pretending to compete over who was the best. It looked like the three were about to murder each other as they interfered with each other’s performances by throwing additional dangerous seeming items into the juggling patterns, knocking things out of the air and in one instance even eating some of the fruit one of them was currently juggling. Rori might have been concerned over the impending fight, if he hadn’t seen this same performance the night before. The three were actually clanmates, and the “competition” was just a part of their act.

  There was quite a gathering watching the show and laughter rolled through the crowd. Rori realized he would be slowed to a crawl if he was going to force his way through. He could reverse directions and head back towards the merchant area, but he didn’t want to backtrack. The other choice was to continue a bit further around the lake.

  The third choice was the obvious one. If he was being honest with himself, he should not have turned away from the lake so soon anyway. It was just . . .

  “It’s just that you were afraid,” he imagined the voice from his memory saying. “Afraid of me.”

  Rori took a few steps back towards the water and looked further along the shore. The next stretch looked no different than this one, but nevertheless Rori had been avoiding it since he arrived at the conclave. Now forced to confront himself about it, Rori realized he was being foolish.

  “You are a coward. You would never have beaten me without the help of a god. And now you are a superstitious dinla.”

  He didn’t have to beat himself up with a figment from a memory, he knew that it was true. The next section of the shore was where he had fought, and killed, Yoska. He realized he was being superstitious and irrational, but that didn’t change the fact that the thought of walking through that section did not sit well in his mind.

  “Do you think he’s going to spring from the ground and drag you into a pit of fire?” Rori asked himself.

  “Sorry?” said the man standing nearby. “Did you ask me something?”

  “What? Oh, no. Just talking to myself. Kind of silly I guess.”

  “I don’t know,” the random stranger replied. “I always figured I didn’t have to worry about it as long as I didn’t start answering.”

  “Good point,” Rori responded with a grin. He turned and walked back down to the shore.

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  When he got back to the water he continued along the edge of the lake until he was past the site of the battle.

  Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

  Feeling more than a little foolish Rori turned and looked back again at the site. He didn’t know why he would have thought otherwise, but there was nothing to mark the spot. The area that had been scorched black by the fire that consumed Yoska’s bones looked no different than the surrounding ground. Rori wasn’t even sure he was looking in the exact right spot.

  “You should have been the one who died,” said a different voice from his past. Only this one wasn’t a goblin he’d conjured up in his own mind.

  Rori turned to find Nika standing a few steps away.

  Rori hated to admit it, but she looked good.

  She looked older and less pampered than she had before. She had clearly not had it easy since the day she left the clan, but the struggles she’d been through had only served to give her a touch of severity that heightened her beauty.

  Her hair was still a dark black that seemed to suck in the light and her lips still had that certain curve. Her arms were more toned and her cheeks more defined. Her breasts had filled out even more and the neckline on her shirt had dropped further to show off even more of them. The chubbiness of youth had melted away and left behind a stunning woman.

  If he didn’t already know her, and hadn’t grown up with her, Rori doubted he would have ever had the courage to approach her. Though he would have definitely been attracted to her. She was gorgeous.

  At least until you looked into her eyes. They were still a rare and lovely violet color, but they also were eyes that held unmistakable cruelty. They were eyes that said you were nothing to her unless she could use you to get what she wanted. Then those eyes and that body would do whatever it took to separate you from it. And once she had what she wanted she would cast you aside without a second thought.

  “It’s nice to see you too,” Rori replied dryly, trying to keep his eyes fixed on hers and not be distracted by thoughts of how she looked and what might have been. “What clan are you with these days?”

  “Clan Nika,” she replied with a sneer.

  “Are you leading a clan?” Rori asked with some surprise.

  “What? Do you think I’m not capable?” she replied with the hate in her voice unconcealed.

  “No. It’s just that I thought leading a clan was what you wanted. If you are doing that, then you’ve succeeded. Congratulations are in order, I guess.”

  “Save your congratulations. I lead Clan Nika because I am Clan Nika. Just me and no one else. But don’t worry, I’m sure there is some sad sack somewhere at this conclave who I can use to get what I want.”

  Rori sat in stunned silence for a moment. He’d known for a while that Nika would do just that to get her desires, but to hear her put it so bluntly was both shocking and sad.

  “Nika, what happened to you? You used to be nice. Remember how we used to sit and talk? We made dreams for the future. Nice dreams about a nice future. This was not the girl you were.”

  “Rori you chabbo. This was always who I was. If acting na?ve and pure is what it was going to take to be by your side and get you to be clan leader, then that is what I would do.”

  “I can’t believe that,” Rori replied. “I refuse to believe it.”

  “Try me,” Nika said pulling her shoulders back while thrusting out her chest. Hips cocked; her voice took on a sensual tone. All consciously done to draw his attention downward. “Promise to make me a butti-bash in your clan and I’ll take you back to your wagon and make your wildest dreams come true.”

  There was little doubt in his mind that she meant it and just for an instant he was almost tempted. But then he looked back up and saw those cruel eyes.

  “It doesn’t work that way,” he said. “Besides I have somebody else now. Somebody you could never hope to equal.”

  “Please,” Nika said the venom instantly returning to her voice. “Tell me where the bitch is, and I’ll show you who’s equal to what. She can’t be from our clan. So, she must be a kerkukla from one of the others. Which is it? The redhead from Clan Madreo? I’m sure I saw you with her last night!”

  “Nika, I think we should just part ways now. I’m sorry you’ve taken the roads that led you here. Maybe you can find a new path that leads you back to who you used to be. Be well.”

  Rori turned and walked into the crowd without looking back.

  “Don’t you walk away from me!” Nika screeched. “I’m the best-looking thing you’ve ever had a chance with! Tell me who she is! Tell me!!”

  As he started winding his way through the tents, he could still hear Nika hollering from behind him for quite some time.