We had managed to spur ourselves into motion by the time Oliver noticed we had fallen behind. His eyes questioned us, particularly once he saw our expressions, but I just shrugged. We would have to tell him later, when we found a chance to shake off Sterling. Now that the mountain man knew about my powers, I didn’t want to admit to him they might be gone.

The people we passed nodded greetings at Sterling and cast curious glances at us, but none of them smiled or came over to talk. Sterling seemed unbothered by their reception and led us through the village to a small log house.

The air in the valley was noticeably warmer than it had been out on the mountain, but I still found myself shivering by the time he had a fire going in the empty fireplace. The whole house had an empty, unused feel that told me it was his even before he confirmed it.

“You can all stay with me for now,” he said, gesturing to the floor in front of the fire. “Sorry I don’t have beds to offer you.”

Oliver shrugged and neither Giselle nor I offered any protest. It would be more comfortable than the floor of a cave which had been our accommodation since we started up the mountain.

“Well, I’ll leave you to settle in while I go to rummage up some food,” said Sterling, one hand already on the door.

“Wait.” Oliver stepped forward, brow furrowed. “Are we just supposed to stay here? We need to meet with the village elders and inspect the godmother object.”

Sterling raised both eyebrows, and I narrowed my eyes as I watched him, the thought of my achingly cold middle temporarily receding. It was subtle, but something about his manner had changed. I thought back. Or maybe it had been gradually changing as we moved closer to this village.

“Hold your horses, there. It’s almost evening. Too late for calling the elders together today. We’ll eat and sleep, and then see what tomorrow will bring.” He shut the door behind him.

Oliver remained in place, staring at the wooden barrier. At last he sighed and turned back to us. “I should be happy to see this place so exactly like he described. And tomorrow will come soon enough. But I keep thinking of that army camped outside the palace.”

“It might be a good thing if we have a bit more time to think through our approach to the elders,” I said, my mind already having circled back to my own loss.

“What do you mean?” Oliver crossed over to join us where we sat in front of the fire.

I glanced at Giselle and then back at him. “Would you like the good news, or…”

“What?” he asked, more forcefully this time. “What is it?”

I swallowed, the words harder to say than I would have liked. “The moment we walked into this valley…”

He leaned forward, his concerned gaze focused on me, silently urging me on.

“The moment I stepped on the grass, my fire disappeared.” I placed a hand against my chest. “It’s just…just gone.”

Oliver rocked back, shock in his eyes. “But what…how…?”

I didn’t reply, watching the slow realization fill his eyes.

“So, that’s the good news part,” I said, my voice weaker than I would have liked. “It seems like maybe this object of theirs really does work to repel magic.”

“But without your powers…” I could see the thoughts racing furiously across his face, although he seemed to be struggling to enunciate them.

“Yes, as I said. We might want to really perfect our approach to the elders. Because if we can’t convince them to give up the object willingly…”

“Then everyone I love will die, and my kingdom will be destroyed.”

He shot up and began to pace the floor. I watched him uneasily. When he put it like that…

My feeling of helplessness grew. I had thought I could save this kingdom—that I’d been sent here to do it, even. But now I was useless. Just like when the leopard attacked Giselle.

“What did you think of the people?” asked Giselle. She didn’t appear to have been following our conversation at all, lost in thought about something else.

“What people?” Oliver didn’t stop his pacing. He was making me restless. Pacing was usually my thing.

“The people of Valley View, of course. I assume you were both watching them as closely as I was.”

Oliver’s steps slowed, and I frowned as I felt a fresh stirring of shame. I hadn’t been watching the people. I’d been too wrapped up in horror over the loss of my powers. It had felt as if I stumbled through the village naked, and I’d had little thought for anything else.

Or had I? The more I thought of it, the more the people sprang to life in my mind’s eye. Apparently some less conscious part of me had been examining them and storing the observations away for later. The thought filled me with a surprising buoyancy. I had only had these powers for a short time, really. Had I been useless before then?

A small smile flitted across my face. Various of my siblings had certainly thought so at different points. But I had never felt that way. So why would losing my powers now make me so? I straightened, determined to still be helpful.

“They looked far more animated than the people back in the capital,” I said.

Oliver nodded slowly, his focus still on some distant unseen point.

“But not exactly normal, either?” Giselle made the statement into a question.

“No…” Oliver rubbed a hand along his jaw. “They weren’t too friendly, were they? But then maybe that is normal for this village. They’re very isolated, so they might have developed strange ways.”

“Maybe.” I scrunched up my face, unconvinced. “But surely their isolation would make them more interested and curious about newcomers. And about Sterling’s return, too.”

Oliver glanced at the door. “Maybe I should have insisted on going with him. I wonder what they’re discussing right now.”

I took no pleasure from the unease that had replaced his hopeful enthusiasm, but I couldn’t regret it, either. Somehow I suspected we would all need a dose of healthy caution if we were going to make it through this.

“Well, there’s nothing you can do about it now,” said Giselle, seemingly the calmest of us. “And I can’t imagine they’d take kindly to you poking around alone.” She wrinkled her nose. “They looked sort of unpleasant.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Or rather as if we were unpleasant.” I raised an eyebrow as I surveyed myself. “Not that I can imagine why. It isn’t like we’ve just hiked our way through a mountain range without a bath for…how many days was it, in the end?”

Giselle snorted, and Oliver managed a smile. When he opened his mouth, I held up a hand to stop him.

“Please, no. I’m far too exhausted to cope with any false compliments right now.”

“Oh, good,” he said. “Since I was merely going to agree that you could use a bath.”

I picked up the rough cushion from my chair and threw it at his head too fast for him to duck. It hit him full in the face before he caught it and lobbed it back in my direction. I ducked, and he looked around for something else to throw.

Giselle stopped us with a gagging sound. “Oh, please. That’s enough, lovebirds. Now that someone’s mentioned the word ‘bath’, I’m not going to be able to rest until I’ve had one.” She stood up and looked at us expectantly.

For some reason Oliver had flushed and looked away at her scolding rebuke, so I answered.

“Are you expecting me to pull a bath out of my pack? Because I’m pretty sure it was heavy enough that there might be one packed in there somewhere…”

Giselle rolled her eyes. “The villagers must do something for baths. And I for one don’t want to face any elders without having had one. Some things are more important than food.”

I jumped to my feet in complete agreement. I wanted nothing so much as I wanted to peel off these ill-fitting clothes and sink into some delicious hot water. I would never get used to being cold again after these delightful weeks with my own private heat source.

Oliver looked less convinced. “Wasn’t it you who were just saying they’re not likely to take too kindly to our poking around?”

Giselle shrugged. “So we won’t poke around. We’ll just ask someone about a bath.”

Since she pulled the door open and marched out, me close behind her, he had little choice but to follow. We hailed the first people we saw, a young couple, and from the expressions of distaste on their faces as they surveyed us, we needed those baths even more than we realized.

To our great joy, it turned out that Valley View came equipped with its own public bathhouse thanks to the presence of a small set of hot springs on the edge of the town. We hurried over to them, Sterling forgotten in our excitement. Oliver warned us to be careful and keep our eyes open before leaving us for the men’s bath.

“I don’t know about you,” I said to Giselle, as I sank into the water, “but I have no intention whatsoever of keeping my eyes open.” I let them flutter closed as I heaved a deep sigh.

The water gently circulated in the largish pool, carrying away my grime and replacing it with fresh water. Either nature or an industrious villager had shaped several stone ledges at the perfect height for sitting, and I gratefully let my head tip back against the rim of the pool.

“I have no idea how hot springs can exist in a place like this, but it’s the best thing I ever heard of.”

Giselle’s indrawn breath made me hold up a lazy hand. “No, please don’t tell me. Some things really are better with the mystique preserved.”

I could almost hear her eye roll, but I didn’t care in the least. I was utterly, blessedly warm, and soon I would even be clean. For this one perfect moment I refused to think about anything else.

Once I had soaked enough to regain a little energy, I dipped my head back into the water and vigorously washed my hair using one of the bars of soap provided on a small shelf beside the pool. I watched the suds floating away and wondered how long I could get away with soaking in here when voices made me sit up straight and look over at Giselle.

We probably shouldn’t be surprised that at the end of the day some of the locals might want to make use of the bathhouse. And this might be a good opportunity to try to get friendly with some of them.

A group of girls entered, with two older matrons following close behind. They all stopped short at the sight of us, before one of the older ladies prodded the others to keep moving and get on with it.

“The water will be clean again soon enough, I suppose,” she said, glancing disapprovingly down into the pool.

I gaped at her and then down into the water. We had been here long enough that our dirt had long since washed away, and the clear water of the pool contained only us.

The girls entered one by one, giving us looks of such disgust that I concluded our earlier state of unwash had not been the source of the couple’s distaste. It seemed this village did not like outsiders.

But as I quickly finished my bath, eager to be gone now that we were no longer alone, my confusion grew. These people didn’t seem the least lethargic or disconnected. But I had never met such an unpleasant bunch, so eager to see only faults. The way they poked and prodded at each other with their words, pointing out various perceived negatives in each other’s appearance, made my teeth ache. I desperately wanted to tell them to stop, but I didn’t think it would do our cause any good to get involved.

Still, by the time we had dried and dressed in clean layers, my jaw felt like it had set in position, so tightly was I clenching it. And the older women had been no better. The only words out of their mouths had been complaints. For their day, their work, the girls, each other…

As we walked back toward Sterling’s house, I frowned into the sunset. “When you said earlier that these people didn’t seem normal, I don’t suppose you meant they seemed excessively unpleasant?”

Giselle frowned. “They definitely don’t seem normal, do they?”

“What was it Sterling said back at the palace?” I muttered to myself. “That his village isn’t like other villages.” I was starting to wonder if there was something actually wrong with these people. If that’s why they had fled up here. But I had no idea what could turn people like this.

I took a sudden detour, Giselle trailing behind me, to take us close enough to overhear a conversation between several men who stood outside what looked like some sort of small tavern. They each clasped a flagon and appeared to be relaxing after a day’s work. And yet just a slow walk past was enough to hear that nothing but complaints issued from their mouths as well.

Giselle and I exchanged glances but refrained from commenting until we were safely back inside Sterling’s log walls. Oliver had beaten us back, as had Sterling, who looked less than pleased with our unsanctioned outing. Or maybe the villagers were just rubbing off on him.

“Nice bath?” Oliver grinned at us which made me think he must have completed his wash undisturbed.

“The bath itself was delightful.” I eyed Sterling. “But I can see why you were anxious to leave.”

Our guide raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, don’t you?” But I muttered the words quietly enough not to provoke a confrontation. I was still on edge with the loss of my powers, but turning our only potential ally in this place against us didn’t seem like a helpful way to let out my frustration.

Sterling had apparently returned with a hot meal because bowls had already been laid out for us on his small table. We descended on them with nearly as much enthusiasm as the bath, and silence briefly reigned. Only when he had wiped his bowl clean with a large piece of fluffy bread, did Sterling speak again.

“I mentioned something of your situation to a couple of the elders, and they agreed that you can have an audience tomorrow. But they also said that the village will never agree to release the object that keeps them all safe.” He glanced up at us, his face hard to read. “Just so you know not to get your hopes up.”