Thordric examined the young woman curiously. She and Lyanis obviously knew each other, but he was sure she hadn’t been in the forest earlier, at least not near the clearing where they were now.
‘Who are you?’ he asked her politely. She turned to him and smiled, making him blush like Lyanis had when he’d first met her. He wondered if that was a gift all female forest dwellers had.
Next to him, he noticed that Vey was entranced by her, and flushed so deep a crimson that he had to look away. Thordric suppressed a snigger.
‘My name is Ilyu,’ she said, her voice higher than Lyanis’s. She gazed around at them all, her eyes bright and alert, as if she was etching every detail of them into her mind.
They waited for her to say more, but she looked to Lyanis to explain. ‘Ilyu is the next protect
