She paused for a moment, listening. That’s when I heard Eino panting really hard! He was going to give us away! I didn’t understand why, but he was almost out of magic. That was weird, so I touched his back and gave him some more. He jumped and looked at me in a surprised way, but it was enough. He stopped panting, and when the moment of silence passed, the leader shook her head and held up her fist in a signal. All the women turned and started heading back down the steps, bringing the boys they’d caught with them. But those were only a few of the boys who’d been in the dance-circle! We were the best at hide-and-seek.
When the strange women were finally gone, Eino let the magic go and sagged to the ground on his hands and knees. The other boys hugged each other and some of them cried a little and the rest went down next to Eino, praying or rubbing his back or whispering quiet, Thank the gods. (I poked my lip out at this. They should be thanking the godling! Stupid mortals.)
“Hey,” I said, hunkering down next to Eino to peer at him once some of the other boys had withdrawn. “You want some more magic? I have lots.”
He looked up at me with the strangest look on his face. “Wh-why?”
“Huh?”
“Why? Why are you here? Why did you help us?”
I blinked, but I didn’t know how to answer the questions, so I just kind of shrugged. “I’m really sorry,” I said, partly also to Yukur. Yukur just sent a wave of snittiness back; it would be mad for a century about this. I sighed. “I didn’t mean to interrupt the thing you and the others were doing.”
Eino’s jaw tightened. He sat back on his knees abruptly. “You at least joined in and didn’t break the spirit of it. That lot, though”—he nodded after the strange women—“were probably retaliation for that little trick I pulled on the Council this afternoon. We’ve danced out here before, many times, and no one ever troubled us.” He shook his head, sobering. “Gods. An actual raid. I must have really pissed them off.”
“What do you mean?” I hunkered forward; he was speaking softly, like he didn’t want the other boys to know, so I did it, too. “What was in that paper thing you made me take into the Raringa?”
“An idea they clearly didn’t want to consider. I’ll tell you later.” He looked around at the other boys, who had withdrawn into knots and were talking quietly to each other now. “Can you send them home? The hunters will be watching the trails, after that.”
“Huh? Oh! Yeah!”
“A moment, then.” Eino got to his feet, taking a deep breath and turning to the other boys. “You weren’t here, friends. If the ones they caught say that you were, you’ll be home safe in your beds in a moment to belie them. There’s no proof; remember that.”
Some of the boys let out relieved sighs. But another one who was tall and older like Eino frowned. “Eino, I can’t do this anymore. If I’d been caught… my mother’s carting business depends on me marrying into Selu-medre’s clan. The scandal—”
“Scandal!” A younger boy made an angry gesture. “You weren’t out here cavorting with foreign women or siring daughters for free, for gods’ sake—”
“Enough.” Eino looked weary and angry and some other stuff besides. “There’ll be time for recriminations later. If you don’t want to come next time, then don’t come. It’ll be some time before I do this again, anyway, to let things cool down.” His expression turned bitter. “I never dreamt they would find something so simple so threatening.”
The older boy frowned, but before he could ask, Eino glanced at me. I looked at the other boys and felt the places in the world where they were supposed to be, the place each called home, and I made little folds to put each of them in those places. (Some of them were surprised! I giggled at them.) After a moment, only me and Eino remained at the top of the terrace. He stared out over Yukur, the edges of his thoughts tasting thick and bitter. “There,” I said. “You want to go now, too? I have to go back to Fahno-enulai’s anyway; I’m staying with her ’til she finds me an enulai.”
He drew back a little at this, then sighed. “Of course you are. But I don’t want to go back yet.” His jaw tightened. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
He made an odd gesture with his hand, and I felt it: a tiny wave of the FORCE he had thrown during the dance. “I’ve never been able to do that before.”
I shrugged. “I dunno why you didn’t, but you could. Isn’t that what the dance was for?”