She grinned at him. It was like a punch to the gut and he staggered back a step. He remembered those dimples, the smile of her eyes, and a stolen kiss or two. He remembered why he’d been so drawn to her. He realized he was gawping at her.

Damnation.

“Estral?” Karigan cried, and it was followed by a squeal that made Alton’s hair stand on end. Karigan jumped off Condor and the two young women ran to each other for a hug. Alton, who hadn’t even noticed Estral’s arrival, watched the two, feeling a little left out. Dale gazed at him with a look of amusement. He scowled at her. Garth laughed and thumped him on the back.

After some excited conversation between Karigan and Estral that was impossible to follow, Karigan came to him for a hug. They were both, he noted, a little hesitant, unsure. When he held her, she felt lighter than he recalled. She smelled of the earth and balsam fir and her horse, not at all an unpleasant combination. When they pulled apart, he asked, “How have you been?”

“Well,” she replied.

Her eyes—at first he did not recognize her eyes. They were filled with night, or something he could only describe as night. Darkness, endless depth, as if there was another part of her looking out at him from some vast space that even she was not aware of, but it was gone all in a fleeting moment and her eyes were as bright as he always remembered them. He shuddered.

The next moment new Riders were being introduced to him, as well as the forester whose name he promptly forgot. They chattered gaily, Yates making rude comments about the cavalry soldiers who had accompanied them, much to the delight of the others.

Dale and Garth led them away, the laughing gaggle, off to the pickets to care for their horses. Karigan glanced over her shoulder at him as she led Condor away. Estral remained by his side.

“What are we going to do?” he asked.

“The truth is generally a good approach,” Estral replied.

What was the truth? he wondered. He thought he knew, but seeing Karigan now? Estral reached for his hand and twined her fingers around his. When their gazes met, he was no longer confused.

At least for the moment.

Alton felt torn in too many directions. The Riders wanted food, they wanted a dry place for their gear, they regaled him with questions, wanted to explore the encampment, wanted more food, demanded a tour of Tower of the Heavens. So long away from being in the midst of other Riders, he had forgotten in all his dark, quiet time beside the wall how boisterous his comrades could be, especially the young ones. Lynx remained his cool, untalkative self, but his attitude was interested. Karigan mostly gossiped with Estral about Selium and the people they both knew at the school.

Fortunately Dale and Garth were there to help manage the questions and arrangements. It occurred to Alton that all the activity was actually an excellent diversion because it allowed him to avoid admitting his feelings for Estral to Karigan.

When they stood before Tower of the Heavens for their tour, Dale demonstrated how easy it was for the Riders to walk through the wall, with an apology to the forester, Ard, who would be unable to join them. The Riders gave it a try, first tentatively, and then with enthusiasm, passing back and forth numerous times. The nearest guard on duty watched in mortification.

Alton sighed. “Get used to it, Dixon, they’re staying. Most of them, anyway.”

When Alton entered the tower himself, he found the Riders peering into cabinets and flipping through the books on the table. He nearly pulled his hair out for he had arranged the books precisely, but he forced himself to calm down. Karigan, he noted, was gazing up at the hole in the roof far above.

“I’d heard the tower took quite a jolt,” she told him. “But I didn’t know there was so much damage.”

Before Alton could respond, Dale said, “We almost got squashed!”

Karigan’s eyes widened. “I see you came through it all right.” When she noticed Estral had followed them into the tower, her eyes grew even larger. “Estral? How did she get in here?”

Alton smiled. “She took me by surprise the first time, too. She sings to the guardians. She says they like her.”

Karigan glanced at him as if to make sure she’d heard him right. Someone yelped and they both jumped. It was Fern—she had discovered the most extraordinary feature of the tower—the grasslands in the circle of columns. The others had to experience it for themselves and there was much excited discussion and experimentation just as there had been with walking through the tower wall.

“I imagine they’ll tire of it . . . eventually,” Karigan said with a wry smile. “Actually, I have little memory of this place myself.” She wandered away, checking the various nooks and crannies of the chamber, pausing to gaze for quite a while beneath the west archway, where Captain Mapstone had found them both half dead after their respective experiences in Blackveil almost a year ago. She drifted away from the arch and joined the other Riders near the tempes stone to view the grasslands.

Estral joined Alton and watched the Riders with amusement lighting her eyes. “It’s going to be a little more lively around here, don’t you think?”

“We’ll see. Once I assign them to their separate towers, we may be able to keep things down to a dull roar.”

That evening turned into a sort of celebration beneath the dining tent, with Estral called into service to sing and play and Riders dancing up a storm, with off-duty soldiers joining in. Alton left Dale and Garth in charge of the Riders to ensure they didn’t break anything.