The woods at night were very quiet, even as the people walked and gathered where they had been told to gather. It was far enough from the sanctuary's main buildings that whatever was said was out of earshot from where they kept Varek ..or rather where he refused to leave. Tahla had tested it herself to make sure he got no wind of anything.
She stood at the clearing's edge and watched her people arrive. They came in ones and twos and small clusters, pulling cloaks tighter against the cold, their breath misting white in the dark air. Some carried torches, the light moved between the trees in a way that was almost beautiful, amber and shining, throwing long shadows across the snow-covered ground. She watched their faces as they entered the clearing and found no central fire, or a raised pla
