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he'd arrange things. But I can't wait. Not after what happened. Not after what I saw you do. I love you, Alto. I need you."
    Patrina stepped closer to him before he could fight past the fog in his head that tied up his tongue. She pressed her lips to his and grabbed his hands when he didn't respond. She raised them and placed them upon her chest, urging him to take over and feel her through her flimsy dress.
    Alto gasped and backed away. He shook his head. "Trina, stop."
    Patrina stared at him, her chin quivering and her eyes filling. "Don't you want me?"
    Alto growled. Did he want her? Saints above and below, of course he did! But he couldn't have her. Not now. Later? Maybe, but not now with everything else going on. He knew her , though; he knew if she thought he did, then she'd do anything and wouldn't accept no for an answer. It was part of her stubborn charm.
    "I'm leaving in the morning," Alto told her. He averted his eyes and clenched his fist as though it could take the sensation of her breast in his palm away.
    "Where are you going?" she managed.
    "I'm not sure. I have to protect my sister."
    "What about everyone else? Don't you want to protect them, too? What about me?"
    "Yes, everyone else , too. And you. I have to keep you all safe and the only way to do that is by leaving."
    "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Patrina snapped at him. "How can leaving make you safe?"
    "It doesn’t make me safe; it makes everyone else safe."
    Patrina stared at him. "You're not making sense."
    "I know, but it's for the best."
    "I'm so sick and tired of people thinking they know what's for the best!" Patrina shouted at him. "What about me? Don't you think maybe I'm the best for you?"
    Alto closed his eyes and swallowed. He felt a rush of air touch his face and then he heard his door slam shut. He opened his eyes again and saw that he was alone. Patrina had grabbed her cloak and fled.
    Alto co llapsed on the bed without removing even his boots.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
    "Out for an evening stroll?"
    Alto spun around and saw Kar leaning against the wall of the jarl's hall. He puffed on his pipe and then pushed away from the wall to walk closer to him. "A bit chilly for most but I find the cold helps clear my thoughts."
    Alto grunted and slowed. He could see the royal stables from where he stood and wanted nothing more than to keep walking towards them.
    "You're not the same young man I once knew," the wizard observed.
    Alto scowled. "Of course I am! Why does everyone keep saying that?"
    "Everyone?"
    He shrugged. "You're the second person today to question whether I'm really me."
    Kar chuckled. "I've no doubt you are who you are. I mean to say you've changed. There was always a boyish charm to you, but it seems to have faded. What happened to you under that mountain? How did you escape?"
    "I don't have time for your questions, Kar," Alto snapped.
    "You don't? What is so pressing that you must run off? Seems you've singlehandedly stalled Sarya's forces, why not take a few minutes to talk to an old friend? Mind you, I'm not saying I'm old."
    Alto sighed at the wizard's attempt to make him smile. "Thork pulled me out of the river and healed me."
    Kar scowled. "The shaman of Jarook again? I thought he'd been run off."
    "He likes to stay close to things like this. He can feel the fear, he said. Helps him find special people."
    "Like you?" Kar accused.
    "Yes ."
    "Have you stopped to wonder what it is that makes you special?" Kar asked him. "I mean, why you, a simple farmer's son?"
    Alto bristled. He was no farmer; he was a warrior. He'd fought and killed both men and monsters alike. He'd paid in blood for the title, too—his own and others. "I never asked to be special."
    Kar shrugged. "But you never looked the other way, either."
    "Is there a point to this?" Alto snapped at him.
    Kar puffed on his pipe a final time before upending it and stomping out the glowing root that fell. "There's always a point, my boy, it's just that