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her, then spoke slowly. “There is a place nearby where water lies.”
    Mari felt hope flare as her head came up. “Where?”
    “The caravan.”
    The hope vanished like a burst bubble. “Are you crazy, Mage? We can’t go back there.”
    “Not at this moment. But you said they expect us to flee in panic. This is so. They will not expect us to stay near the caravan, to creep down when opportunity offers and find water there.”
    Mari took shallow breaths, lost in thought as she considered the idea and how dry her mouth felt. The plan was insane, but somehow the totally emotionless way in which the Mage had outlined it made it seem almost possible. “It’s our only chance, isn’t it?”
    “I can see no other action which would offer any chance.”
    She could be too impulsive. Her teachers had warned her of it many times, but her impulsive decisions so far today had kept her and the Mage alive. “Then let’s go a little higher up before we start bearing back toward the pass. We’ll wait until it gets dark. Hopefully the bandits will be done looting the caravan by then.”
    “The bandits did not seem concerned with loot,” the Mage pointed out again.
    Mari nodded wearily. “That’s right. They blew up the front wagons. Why destroy loot? Even if they wanted me, why throw away the chance to pick up some loot on the side? And those weapons. And the explosives. How could any caravan carry enough loot to pay back those expenses? Mage Alain, I don’t expect you’ve priced out the cost of repeating rifles and bullets, but the Empire itself wouldn’t field an attack force like that unless it had a very good reason. There was an army’s worth of rifles there, and a treasure chest’s worth of gold used up in the bullets they’ve already fired today.”
    “So you said. Capturing you must have been worth such a cost to them.”
    Mari’s laugh once again turned into a choking cough. “Me? I’m skilled at what I do, but I’m not that conceited.”
    The Mage watched her intently. “Perhaps your value is greater than you know, greater than any treasure spent in pursuit of you.”
    The sort of statement any girl wanted to hear from a guy, and she had to hear it from a Mage with an expressionless face and a toneless voice. “I’m not that special. I have special talents, and the job in Ringhmon will be worth a lot to my Guild, but—” Mari realized that the Mage was now staring at her. “What?”
    “Do you know of foresight?”
    “Foresight? You mean fortune-telling?” Mari asked, not bothering to hide her automatic scorn.
    “No,” the Mage replied with no sign of being offended. But then he wasn’t showing much sign of any feelings, so that didn’t mean anything. “True foresight tells what will happen and cannot be summoned reliably, nor is it easy to understand what can be seen or heard.” The Mage was looking directly at her, his expression somehow serious despite the lack of visible emotion. “I have developed a small gift of foresight. Some new danger awaits you in Ringhmon.”
    Mari felt herself stiffening, rubbing her left arm slightly against her body so that she could feel the pistol resting in its shoulder holster under her jacket. “Please tell me you’re not threatening me.” Every warning she had ever been given about Mages came back with renewed force.
    He gazed at her for a long moment before replying. “No. This danger does not come from me.”
    Of course, Mari thought. It was a come-on. The Mage wanted her to offer something in exchange for more information. The oldest con game in the book, and he actually had the nerve to pull it while they were being chased by bandits. “What is it you want? How much money would it take for you to see more about this danger you claim I face?”
    The Mage’s expression didn’t waver. “No sum of money or other favor would make a difference. What my foresight provided has no value to me. What little I know I will tell you.”
    Surely he wanted