My next week at the Baron pac may not have been a dream, but it certainly wasn't the nightmare it could have been. I found myself often taking long walks through the forest, careful not to stray so far as to be unable to find my way back, but far enough to be out of sight of the pac. I got the same negative vibe from this pac as I did from the War-Pac. I guess peace-attempt clans and soldiers just don't mix well. When he wasn't busy governing the pac, Kestral would join me. Different as we were, I liked his company. Besides, he was really the only one who'd even talk to me. I was the lone Col among a group of unfriendly Barons. I could hardly blame them � I'd certainly act no better in their situation. Even I was amazed that Kestral could so easily put aside the distinctions that had defined us throughout our lives. I was fervently grateful to have a person like him in such a high position in the pac into which we'd stumbled.

Tuck was slowly recovering. I was relieved that, despite her self-doubt, Felita seemed to be getting the job done. Tuck's fever was gone, and he said he was growing accustomed to the constant pain enough not to feel it much. Or it could just be that Felita kept him pretty well drugged up. I once got nervous when I overheard her complain to someone, "I am giving him the stuff. It's just not working!" But the young medic eventually found the right combination of medicines without doing too much harm to her patient in the process, and for that I was thankful. Unfortunately, as Tuck got stronger and stronger he also got excessively cranky, which Felita said was a good sign, but didn't make matters any easier for me.

"I'm sick of this! Let's just leave now. I'm ready. You're ready. What's the point of hanging around this Baron pac?" he complained loudly one afternoon.

"Tuck, there are other patients in here," I reminded him testily. "Keep your voice down. And you are not ready to go. Yesterday you couldn't stay on your feet for an hour. Remember?"

"That was yesterday. Times have changed."

I sighed. "You can't expect to get your strength back staying awake and griping about everything. And you haven't touched your�your�food."

"Hah! You don't even know what it is!"

"Tuck�"

"The food here's disgusting. I've barely eaten anything they've given me."

"Well, you can't really blame them," I argued hotly. "They have no one who knows how to farm, no one who knows how to cook�besides, it's better than slimeberries."

"Slimeberries'll at least numb your taste buds."

"You'll be stuck here forever if you don't eat."

"Just give it to Spike. She'll eat anything." He suddenly jerked upright. "Hey, has anyone remembered to feed Spike? She should be about due."

I sighed again. I'd just come back from one of my little excursions and was tired. The last thing I wanted to do was hunt for the little animal. But Tuck was right, and having a hungry puffan around would not improve my relations with the Barons of the pac.

"Okay, okay," I agreed, since I knew if I didn't comply he'd try to get up and feed her himself. "Eat your�gloppy white stuff."

"No!"

"Fine!" We sounded like four-year-olds. I snatched up the bowl to give to Spike and left. At least she'd appreciate it.

As soon as I'd stepped outside, Spike greeted me with her huge grin and launched into the figure-eight routine that meant she was hungry. My annoyance began to dissolve a little. It dissipated further when Kestral came up to me and asked what I was up to. I explained about feeding Spike, and asked he wanted to help me.

"Depends," he answered warily. "What does a puffan eat?"

"Just about whatever you put in front of their faces." I grinned. "Which is why we have to hunt out good food for her."

"I guess I'll come along," Kestral agreed. "I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow, if you'd just wait a moment while I go get it."

So a few minutes later we were walking through the forest, Spike happily following, looking for whatever unlucky game would be our first catch of the day. My spirits improved considerably when Kestral told me that they had a field pastured off, far back in the woods, in which a vast herd of caipa resided. If we just went there, the toughest part of the hunt, finding the animals, would be taken are of. Spike wailed louder and louder as it took us time to reach the pasture. I would have given her the bowl of mush that Tuck had stubbornly refused to eat, except that she would have changed and not only become impossible to deal with but also scared the caipa.

The last of my bad mood evaporated when Kestral led me to the end of a ledge and I saw the entire beautiful valley below. A tiny stream ran through the center of a river of the greenest grass I'd ever seen. More caipa than I could count were scattered throughout the valley. In the distance I could see man-made fences, separating the pasture from the world. It seemed indecent to hunt in that peaceful, beautiful place.

"You like it," Kestral observed.

"It's magnificent," I replied. "Don't take this the wrong way," I added slyly, "but I think the pasture is more impressive than the settlement. Why didn't you just build the pac in the valley?"

He laughed. "We probably would have, come to think of it, but we'd half-finished building by the time we found it. It was perfect pastureland, though, and with the valley walls we only had to fence off two sides. The caipa were the one project that went off without a hitch � we got a decent-sized herd started in next to no time. However huge a number that monster eats, it won't make a dent in the population."

"That's great," I said. "How do we get down there?"

"Well," he smiled wickedly, "we've got ropes down one of the gentler slopes."

"You sure make things difficult."

Almost as soon as we reached the ropes we started to race. Halfway down we both dropped our unwieldy bows and arrows to the ground for faster travel. I was immensely pleased to reach the bottom first, though empathic study afterward revealed he'd let me win. We made a game out of catching the caipa, too, since we both were archers. This time he won, which duly impressed me. Not many I've met can beat me at archery.

I wisely removed our arrows from the dead animals before Spike could eat them, and scraped the white mystery food out of the bowl, taking that away, too. When Spike was morphed and hungry, she ate whatever was in front of her regardless of whether it were edible or not. I lay down on the grass and stared up at the bright blue autumn sky as Spike set to the task.

"Not exactly the most romantic spectacle, is it?" Kestral remarked of the feasting giant puffan.

I sat up and looked into his sparkling brown eyes, reading his tone and not wanting to respond to it.

"No," I agreed, and promptly lay back down. But although I was massively tired by the hunt, I felt my heart start to pound.

Kestral slapped his forehead and laughed, shaking his head from side to side.

"What?"

"Well, you didn't have to share all my feelings, but I was hoping for a little better answer than that!"

I sat up again and smiled. "Kestral, you're a Baron and I'm a Col. Let's not complicate things."

"It's fun to complicate things."

"Please don't start this�"

"Can I kiss you?"

"I just said, I'm a Baron and you're a Col! I mean�you know what I mean! A Baron can't kiss a Col."

He answered by taking my chin in his hand, leaning over, and kissing me on the lips, gently at first so I could pull away if I wanted to, then wholeheartedly when I didn't. Maybe it was just the attraction of the forbidden, or maybe I'd found a personality I could truly appreciate. I'd never kissed a man before, only boys, and I found that there was a big difference. It was too bad we were on opposite sides of the war.

"Well," he whispered, his face inches from mine, "we just proved that a Baron can kiss a Col. It was surprisingly simple, wasn't it?"

I didn't answer. It shouldn't be simple, it shouldn't be...but it was. I didn't know whether I liked that or not.

"Are you okay, Bryt?" he asked gently, concerned. "I know that was a pretty radical thing we just did. I guess�" he sighed. "I guess if you feel you have to kill me now, I can understand."

At this, I snorted and threw myself back on the ground. Why did Kestral make me feel all jumpy inside? Why was I perfect relaxed, and yet jittery at the same time? It might have been okay, would probably have even wonderful, to feel this way about someone, if he weren't a Baron! And besides, he was a good twelve or fifteen years older than me. And I'd only known him a week.

I sat up again. "I suppose you think this means you've won our little bet, about converting me," I said, asperity masking my uncertainty.

His face fell. "I don't care about any bet," he said flatly. "I like arguing with you, anyway."

I sighed and looked around at the happily drinking caipa, and my eyes eventually fell on Spike, still lustily devouring the meal for which she'd been so hungry. I turned away, not wanting the sight to spoil the moment. I stared instead up at the golden cliffs glowing in the sun's warm rays, the softly rolling waves of grass in the secluded valley, and the endless, limitless sky. I looked into Kestral's eyes and brushed a wayward lock of hair off his forehead. "I really think I might regret this," I said, and bent to kiss him again.

* * *

Much later, when the sun had set, I left the pac infirmary and returned to the valley. We'd left Spike where she was � no harm could befall her there and she was much to heavy to carry up the ropes. This time I'd brought a blanket with me in which to haul the sleeping puffan up the valley wall. I kept the blanket wrapped around me as I walked, since it was a pretty chilly night. The only problem was that it kept lulling me to sleep. It wasn't that late, but I was very tired and the warm, comfortable blanket would be perfect for curling up on the ground and falling asleep. I caught myself several times as I was about to nod off, and vowed never to undertake a nonurgent chore like this when I was so tired again.

When I reached the ledge overlooking the valley I found the panorama almost as beautiful during the nighttime as it was during the day. Moonlight reflected off the cliff walls and tiny creek, and the herd slept peacefully, as did one small, round puffan. I used one of the ropes to guide me to the valley floor, dreading the upward climb toting a very heavy puffan that soon awaited me. I shivered as I removed the blanket from my shoulders and spread it out on the grass, then placed the sated animal in the center. Even Spike felt cold, and she was always warm after eating. I grabbed each of the four corners of the blanket, so that Spike could breathe but not slip out, and headed back for the ropes.

Unfortunately, I was even more tired than I realized. It wasn't like it was difficult for me to carry the puffan up the cliffs; I couldn't do it at all! It was as if all the strength had been drained from my muscles. What's wrong with me? I asked myself. Sure, it had been a busy day, but my body had never failed me like this before.

Depressed by my lack of even the barest minimal success, and wishing I'd asked Kestral to come along to help, I spread the blanket out on the ground again, and lay down on it next to Spike. I hugged the sleeping puffan to me for additional warmth, but found she gave none. She was even colder than I was. That's not right, either, I told myself, for Spike was always warm after she ate � all puffans are. Tuck had explained it to me. But right now Spike felt cold as�

I turned the puffan over in my arms and lowered my ear to her mouth, straining to hear any signs of breathing. And then I listened harder, but to no avail. It's rather easy to hear and feel a puffan's breath, and I sensed neither. A shiver ran through me that had nothing to do with being cold. I turned Spike over and over again, looking desperately for any signs of life, listening fervently to hear the noisy digestion working inside of her, but I heard and saw nothing. I felt tears prick my eyes, as I accepted the fact that the little puffan was dead.

What could have killed a puffan out here? Kestral had said this place was safe. Had be been lying? If so, he sure hadn't shown any sign of it. Besides, there wasn't a mark on her. Something she ate? Baron caipa couldn't be any different from Colossan caipa. My mind went back to the dish of white glop I'd given her. But Tuck fed Spike human food often; he sometimes gave her nothing else when he had no time to hunt. And Baron food would be no different. Nothing that wouldn't harm a human could hurt a puffan. Poison? I asked myself. But that didn't make any sense. If they wanted us dead they could have killed us easily. And if they were trying to poison Tuck they'd be after me, too. With a start I recalled the inexplicable lethargy I'd been seized with all day. For several days, now that I thought about it. The result of a hidden poison? But if that were the case, why didn't they just kill us?

Unless they didn't want us dead. Only weakened � my heart sank � for easy capture, questioning. My head started to spin. Had they found the bag of explosive powder on Tuck? I shook my head at our foolishness � I should have taken the powder from him, since a medic could easily search him. But neither of us had been thinking clearly when we'd arrived. We should have known better than to trust Barons! Kestral seemed so real, though, so honest. I wasn't just telling myself that because I liked him; my empathy had never given me the slightest hint that he wasn't who he seemed to be. Sure, I wasn't a full empath; I could have missed the subtlest clues, but�I suddenly groaned out loud as I saw the shortcoming to empathy. I'd hardly talked to anyone else at the pac! And if Kestral simply didn't know what was going on, he couldn't possibly reveal the secret to me. How could I have been so blind � it's an empath's job to recognize these things! How could they have known I was an empath? Tuck couldn't have told them. Unless he'd talked in his fevered sleep? I shuddered as I realized that perhaps there was an empath among these Barons, and that was how they knew. Or maybe they hadn't known at all, and simply kept the plot hidden from the one person who spent time with me for effect. I'd never know for sure what had happened, but I knew what I had to do now: get out of there!

Working as quickly as I could, I dug a hole in the ground with me hands. I decided this beautiful, peaceful, valley was a fitting resting place for the brave little puffan, where the happiness without refected Spike's ever-joyful disposition. I was sorry that Spike had been an innocent victim of a plot by Barons to capture Cols, a conflict in which puffans had no part. But an amount of poison that would only weaken a human had proved deadly to a fully shrunken puffan. More tears dripped from my eyes as I covered her round little body with earth.

Abruptly I picked myself up and rushed for the rope. I climbed as quickly as I could in my weakened state. When I reached the top I ran through the forest at a dangerous speed, desperately hoping I wasn't going the wrong way.

When I got back to the pac I almost ran into Kestral.

"Hey, Bryt, where have you been?" he asked casually.

I looked him squarely in the eyes. "Kestral, I know."

I watched, senses on full alert, for any slip, any sign that he knew what I was talking about, any subtle alteration from his clean slate that meant he knew he'd been discovered. I knew I was taking an awful chance, but�

"What?" Nothing. Nothing at all. It didn't really matter, since I'd have to leave anyway, but I was relieved.

"Never mind," I said sweetly, amazed by my own calmness. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"Oh�okay." He sounded confused, but he smiled as he retreated back into the building. I turned and ran up the steps of the infirmary.

"Tuck!" I whispered, fiercely shaking my teammate when I entered his room. "Tuck, wake up! Now!"

His eyes opened slightly and he asked, "Bryt? What's going on?"

"We have to get out of here."

"Huh?"

"Don't ask questions. There'll be Baron soldiers here soon. I don't know when, but soon. I don't even want to wait till morning; we're leaving now!"

"How do you know? What's going on?" he asked, but he began to climb out of bed and pull his boots on.

"I'll explain later. Now just be quiet and let's go."

"But, Bryt�"

"No! For once, Tuck, you are going to listen to me, and you won't ask questions and you won't object; just do exactly what I tell you so we can get out of this place with our lives."