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.And she adores you; she thinks her wise and handsome father knows everything.If I had a daughter like this, I'd give her more to live on than lies.Regular meals would be a good start."The man sank down on the foot of the bed."You don't understand," he replied."I grew up a gentleman.I'm not prepared for this kind of life.My mother wanted me to make a name for myself in politics, but I came home from college, and that's when I met Liza.""Is that the beautiful maiden your daughter talked about?" asked Seylin."Why were you forbidden to speak to her?"The man gave a rueful shrug."Is a gentleman ever supposed to converse with the housemaids? But she was right about Liza's beauty.I was wild about the girl.I won her trust, and I ruined her.When my mother found out she was pregnant, she dismissed her from service.Nobody would give her any work."There was my poor Liza, out in the street, and my child with her.I decided to marry her.But my mother was so angry when she learned of the marriage that she threw me out, too, and now Liza and I were in the street together.I had never learned how to make a living, so Liza worked for us both.She died soon after Jane's birth.I make a little money every now and then, when I can find something to do.Really, I don't know how.It's just not something I was taught."Seylin surveyed the human with growing disgust."You'd have more money for food if you didn't drink away what you get, and you'd earn more money if you weren't still drunk in the mornings.Jane loves magic.She'll be thrilled to find out that her father is under an enchantment." He concentrated for a minute and tapped the human on the shoulder.Then he picked up his herbs and walked to the door."Wait a minute!" said the man, upset."What did you just do?""That's an elf spell," Seylin told him, "to keep the human slaves out of the winter cider.Try drinking anything but water now and you'll just throw it up.That should help you wake up in the morning."He walked outside to retrieve his dewy pack.The sky was brightening in the east, but he still had some time left.Seylin set out at a steady pace.He would be miles away from this depressing house before the day broke in earnest.Chapter Four"They're eating me alive!" shrieked Emily, and she dropped the pack to scratch.She was standing on a hedge-lined road that ran between flat fields, waterlogged and muddy with recent rainfall.Midges and gnats whined past her ears and danced before her eyes.The scrawny gray squirrel on her shoulder clung tightly to its perch and chattered with disapproval."I never heard such a fuss over a few tiny bugs!" it shrilled."All this hysterical skipping about! Your sister would never do anything so undignified."Kate and Ruby had had only one unfriendly encounter, and that had happened before Kate became Marak's wife.Changed into a squirrel, Ruby had taken a turn at guarding the King's Bride from harm, and the furious Kate had chased her up a tree.But all was forgiven after the ceremony.Kate could do no wrong.After all, as Ruby often remarked in reverent tones, the King's Wife was an elf."Oh, I am just so sick of hearing you talk about my sister!" cried Emily."She had the same mother and father that I had! How can she be an elf and be perfect, and I'm just a horrid human? Well? Answer me that!""It's a dreadful misfortune," agreed the squirrel."For all of us," it added quietly."And how is it that you're supposed to be protecting me and you're letting these things bite me by the dozen? I can't wait to tell Marak how you've failed his trust.""The King stressed that you were to experience your world just like a regular human.Bugs belong to your world, and you're experiencing them," Ruby replied with evident satisfaction."I'll tell Marak that you let me be attacked by wild beasts," threatened Emily."A midge is hardly a wild beast.""Then tame one!"The squirrel chattered and grumbled for a few seconds."All right.Goodness! Such a commotion over a few bites." And she worked the Insect Spell.Silence reigned for a quarter of an hour as Emily squelched down the muddy road."Now it's starting to rain again! Ruby, why won't you work the Rain Spell? I'm already soaked to the skin.""I am not allowed to interfere unless you are in danger.Comfort," enunciated her former teacher, "does not belong to the human world.""Neither do talking squirrels," said Emily viciously."I've had enough," snapped the squirrel."I'm going to find some peace and quiet.Scream if you really need my help, and I'll come save you." She bounded from Emily's shoulder down to the road, ran lightly across the top of the mud, and disappeared through a hole in the hedge.Emily picked her way along, studying the dark clouds overhead and trying to keep up her spirits.They could hardly be lower.Except for his one trading journey, she and Seylin had never been apart for any length of time.She remembered how miserable she had been while he was gone.All the diversions of the goblin kingdom hadn't been enough to replace him.He had come back stiff and formal, and she had been angry about it, but she had still seen his embarrassed face at least once a day.She had assumed that she always would.Now she hadn't seen him in weeks, and she missed him dreadfully, more than she had ever missed anyone.She had to find him again.She couldn't imagine life without him.In her mind, she practiced the speech she would say when they met
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