Mael, answer me. Let me know where you are. Had the Mother’s cold fiery beam struck him too? Or did he mourn now so deeply for Jesse that he hearkened to nothing and no one? Poor Jesse, dazzled by miracles, struck down by a fledgling in the blink of an eye before anyone could prevent it.

Maharet’s child, my child!

Khayman was afraid of what he might see, afraid of what he dared not alter. But maybe the Druid was simply too strong for him now; the Druid concealed himself and his mind from all eyes and all minds. Either that or the Queen had had her way and it was finished.