The old woman had just paused to wipe her brow with a sleeve when Artemis' voice called up from the barrier. She squinted at the red light of the lantern and the highlight of the young lady's appalling state of dress. For a moment her eyes went wide -- and then she huffed again, brushing her palms on her skirt.

[b]SQUAAAAAWK! SQAAAAAK! SQUAWK SKWAAK SKQAAAK![/b]

A bird inside the house had suddenly started making a racket, and the old woman beat the roof with the handle of the axe until the bird finally shut up.

[b]"And now someone's crossed the lake barrier!"[/b] she howled in complete exasperation. The old woman sat with a thump on the roof and laid her head on her hands. [b]"Everything's in shambles, I can't go chasing trespassers now, war or no war, Argen's dead, the rat is dead, there's a tree in my kitchen and I haven't had breakfast."[/b]

With her hands folded over the handle of the axe and her head on her hands, the old woman groaned and hummed to herself, nearly falling asleep.

Meanwhile, to Artemis' left, a child wearing a white mouse-mask peeked around the boulder at her -- but hid again when the old woman called out.

[b]"Young lady! Come along, then, don't gawk and dawdle! Come, come, this side of the barrier before a Kith makes off with your pocket change."[/b] The old woman waved Artemis closer, but she didn't stand up.

[b]"At least you had the sense to bring that thing with you,"[/b] she said in a tone that suggested there had been other, less intelligent travelers that had come before Artemis. [b]"If you'd like to help, you could start by getting rid of this tree."[/b]

[hr]
The lake was still, moonlit and serene.

Water lapped against the sides of the raft.

In the distance, a white bird skimmed along the surface of the water.

Deep below the water's surface, throughout the lake, something sparkled -- golden flecks of light, turning and flickering, like the water of the grotto beneath the blue Lantern's tree. The healing water.

Schools of fish broke the surface, wriggling and shining in sprays of bright water. Not far away, something huge touched the surface of the water and then dove deep again, shaking the raft with its ripples.

Someone was standing on the water behind Anise.

She was pale, tall and proud, clad in sheer white like the moon, with impossibly long greenish hair that floated softly on the lake. She smiled with thin dark lips.

[b]"I suppose you want something in return, Princess Anise of Riverforde."[/b]