Tuesday following the Feast of St. John, 1178

Lydia left the nameless, half-finished castle above Bois de Haillot in the hour after terce. The household was abuzz with talk of the knight in the village the day before. Fearing few opportunities in the future, Cook sent Lydia off with a basket for early mushrooms. The girl cast her eyes about for Georges as she crossed the bailey, but like so many he was probably off preparing for the difficult days that might lie ahead.

Under a densely clouded sky that yeilded its rain in a thin but thorough drizzle, Lydia took the path past Marie's cottage and through the Hog Wood. The pigs' noses were sharper than her eyes, though, and there was little to be found. Leaving the woods, she crossed the field down to the cluster of crofts called Bar du Sud, where she called briefly on a cousin. They chatted over the latter's gate, exchanging rumours between hamlet and castle, the chickens clustering around their feet in hopes the basket might drop a grain or two of corn. After a few moments Lydia continued her trek, crossing the pasture and entering the deeper forest by the path that led past the abandoned cottage.

It was the last anyone would speak to her. An hour later, her screams would echo through the dark, dripping chambers of the forest, unheard.

Vespers, and Renaut had left Daria's laboratory after extracting no vis from the waters of the Pool of the Stone Horse. Aline called him aside as he crossed the foyer, into the shadows of the council chamber door. What did he and his companions find at the Pool? the Magus wanted to know, and What did Daria and Forba say about it? Renaut held little back. Daria had said next to nothing, and he hadn't even spoken to Forba. "Do not return to the Pool," Aline ordered, "and tell no-one else about your visit--or our little talk." Renaut did as instructed, but only after reporting the conversation to his pater.

Shortly thereafter, Albrecht found Renaut as he gathered his companions to fulfill Georges's call for aid. They considered calling for the huntsman's hounds, but Edgard was certain that such a request would be denied, and that further, they would be banned from their search until the marrow. So they set out without permission or hounds, relying solely on Edgard's skills and the recollections Albrecht gathered from the covenfolk, and traced Lydia's path through Bar du Sud and into the forest.

The fading glow of dusk did not penetrate the wet, still woods, and the companions trudged along by the light of Christophe's lantern and a torch that sizzled and hissed as the trees issued heavy drops down upon them. Despite the rain, Edgard had little trouble finding the point at which Lydia's trail left the path, veering in the direction of the abandoned cottage and, beyond, the Three Sisters. Half an hour later, Edgard called Renaut forward.

"Something has joined Lydia's trail," Edgard pointed out, his voice low to save the others from alarm. Unlike the tracks Edgard had followed from the Pool of the Stone Horse earlier that day, these prints were clear to Renaut's untrained eyes, even in the uncertain light of the torch. And it was no man. "Nor a beast, that I am aware of," Edgard said. "It walks on two feet here, but every so often puts a knuckle down. The pace is bigger than a bear's, and these claws longer."

They found the body a little further on, amid a radius of upturned leaves and bloody, torn bracken. There were no tracks leaving the site.

It was on the way home, trudging slowly with the body slung between Renaut and Christophe, that they saw the angry, flickering glare above Bois de Haillot. Leaving Lydia at the fork in the path, they hurried toward the village. There were distant shouts from beyond the hedgerows, in the direction of the barn, and a lurid orange lighting the smoke that hung over the riverward crofts. Just before the brook that runs down from the Hog Wood there was a loud hiss and the clatter of arrows hitting stone, then Renaut was stumbling, 12 inches of shaft sticking from his shoulder. Three raiders emerged from the shadows of the nearest hedge, with a rider on horseback behind them--the knight Friedhold.

Rutger charged first, with Edgard just behind. The fighting was pitched, but Friedhold underestimated his enemies, and was soon lying bleeding on the turf. Two of the footsoldiers were killed, the third fled. Renaut's injuries were dire, but Christophe's quick action had held death at bay. Elsewhere, the raid had been repelled, though homes had burned and lives had been lost. Rutger laid rightful claim to Friedhold's armor and horse, and, after retrieving the corpse, the companions returned to the castle.

They made their entry without fanfare, keeping Lydia covered amid the confusing bustle in the bailey. Renaut called over Daria while Brother Christophe found Georges. Daria's effort to scrye the attacker revealed only the same blurred images Renaut had conjured earlier. "It's not an animal," Renaut explained, "my arts have shown me that. And I do not think it typical of the fey. This is a magical beast, perhaps, or infernal." Daria agreed, noting as Renaut had that infernal creatures do not wander through woods without being summoned. "Search the body with all thoroughness," she ordered.

The apprentice did, stripping her and cleaning the wounds, and finding nothing they did not already know. But then Albrecht parted her lips. Within was a dark object. "Do not touch it!" Renaut shouted. "Fetch tongs!" Edgard returned quickly with the tool and an earthenware bottle, and Renaut parted Lydia's lips again. Gingerly he pulled the object from her mouth. It was little bigger than a child's fist, blacker than pitch, and as hard as marble.

It was an egg.