The bags were still too heavy, and for the third time Faunos went through them, weeding out what he could leave behind. They must be light enough for him to carry them and run a good distance, or they could be the death of him. Working by the light of three lamps, and keenly aware of the passage of time, he unpacked and repacked yet again.
In the end, he would be carrying little more than the books, his father's jewelry, a few spare garments, and the purse Galen had hidden inside his old cassocks. The pigskin bag was much heavier than Faunos would have expected, and he sat down for a moment to open it. Gold and silver gleamed from within, and he swore softly.
He stashed the purse with his own spare cloaks and wraps, checked that his father's jewelry was safe, and tried the weight of the bags again. They were never going to be light, but he was sure he could carry them now, and he had stooped to buckle them down when a faint rattle of gravel outside the cottage made his hackles rise.
The rush of the ocean made it difficult to hear small sounds, and until that split second he had heard nothing. Grief had dulled his wits and he cursed himself as he fumbled for the dirk. It was halfway out of the sheath when he saw a man's shape step into the doorway, outlined against the moonlight. The hilts of a pair of short butterfly swords filled both his hands.
Without even realizing what he had done, he gestured toward the lamps and their flames burned brighter, higher, for better light so that he could see Soran' s face clearly. He could not know how the lamps lit witchfires in the Keltoi green-gold eyes, made them shimmer, until Soran could not look at him. The witchfinder turned away slightly, and Faunos made a derisive sound.
"You think I'm a liar?" Faunos demanded.
"I know you're a witchboy," Soran corrected in a murmur.
He closed his eyes, and part of him was waiting for the blow to fall. The part of him that had swum deep in the harbor in the early hours of the morning would have welcomed it. But Soran made no move on him, and as Faunos waited he became aware of the open bags at his side. The larger of the bags, which contained his father's jewelry and the Eye of Helios, was well within reach.
He had never finished packing it properly, and if Soran had only known, the great diamond was sitting just under the goatskin in the top of the bag. He was certain he could get a hand to it, if only the witchfinder were distracted.