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Shryden’s saddle off so the dragon could swim in the lake. “They had a couple of things they wanted to finish. They should be here before the end of the day.”
    “I have a few things to do before I visit the baths,” Taela said as she loosened the straps then hefted Paki’s saddle into her arms.
    Kellinar nodded and carried the blue’s saddle toward the equipment cave. “I’m going to hit the baths then I’m headed down to the docks to…do some things.”
    Mckale nodded and said nothing, though Taela sensed he knew they were avoiding facing the inevitable. He was right in one sense, in another they were handling it the best they knew how. She stowed Paki’s saddle on its rack and untied her small pack.
    Kellinar slung his pack over his shoulder and dropped a brief kiss on her lips. “I’ll see you at evening meal.”
    Taela nodded and watched him leave the cave. Taking a deep breath, she too left. It really wasn’t a long walk to the records room though this afternoon it seemed altogether too long and too short at the same time. The fragrance of roses in full bloom wafted on the warm breeze through the Great Hall as she walked down it to the small hallway.
    She stood in front of the closed door for several minutes, trying to stamp down the foolish hope that Anevay would look up from where she sat at the desk, surrounded by scrolls and notes. Taela had spent the briefest of times in that room after the battle at Trilene. She’d merely glanced at the notes Anevay had left, careful not to touch anything. Her mind had been in such turmoil, nothing in those notes had made any sense. Maybe they would now.
    Taking another steadying breath she lifted the latch, pushed the door open, and stepped into the room.
    Only a few light orbs glowed fitfully, casting deep shadows over the room. No candles burned on the desk. Though scrolls and notes still sprawled across it, just as Anevay had left them, her bondsister wasn’t there. Grief closed around her heart, clogging her throat as tears burned her eyes. Silly. She had known Anevay wouldn’t be here. Still, a part of her couldn’t help hoping. Now the empty room confirmed it.
    Taela shut the door slowly and walked around the desk. She sank into the chair and laid her head on her arms on the small cleared space. A sob broke past her lips as her last hopes to see her bondsister again were dashed and grief welled up to take its place. She gave into it and allowed herself to cry, to say goodbye.
    Even after her sobs subsided, she remained as she was. The silence of the room pressed on her ears. No sounds of mice scrabbling around behind the scrolls disturbed the quiet. Yet something threaded its way through the stillness. Not a sound, something else . A vague sense of a question with undertones of sorrow drifted across her senses.
    Taela lifted her head. Sitting only a few inches from her, Nica gazed at her with his too-many eyes. With a sigh, she sat up and laid the back of her hand on the desk. The spider crawled slowly onto her hand, filling it. His hairy legs tickled the skin of her palm as she lifted him to eye level.
    “Oh, Nica.” Her voice quavered as more tears welled up. “How do I tell you that she isn’t coming back? That you’re stuck with just me now and it isn’t fair. Anevay was the sweet one, the patient one, the one who never lost her temper. It should have been me who died. Not her.”
    With her other hand, Taela pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of her pants and wiped her nose. As she laid it down, she regarded the spider. Maleena had communicated mentally with Nica before when she first found him. Perhaps that would work now.
    Reliving the pain of the moment, Taela drew up the memories of Anevay’s death, allowing the images to flow through her mind to the spider. A sense of shared grief was returned, along with dim, unfocused images of Anevay carrying him around on her shoulder while she searched for scrolls. Of sitting through the turning