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species?”
    “She is Sorroh. Her eyes will change with her mood, so it will be easy to tell what she is thinking.”
    “Why me? Why not a couple? I am a single woman who spends most of her time with her garden.”
    Sky shrugged and tried to look innocent. “You have a man in your life and he will raise Veema as his own. She will become a pillar of your community and find a mate of her own one day. For now, know that she is in the right place at the right time, as are you.”
    Sky got to her feet and began to make a portal back Home.
    Teilia waved her hands, “Wait, how will I know who to look for? I am a master of sending men on their way.”
    Sky laughed and as she stepped into the portal, “Keep a lookout for a man named Hynaro.”
    There was a crowd waiting for her when she returned Home and they did not look happy.
    Tavik immediately moved to stand next to her and faced the crowd with her. “No matter what happens, I am here for you.”
    She reached out and took his hand. “Thank you.”
    Ravikka gestured for her to follow and led the way back into the council hall. The councillors took their seats and a light highlighted Sky’s position on the floor.
    “Sky, we realize that you have not had a chance to begin your training, but you have broken one of our most stringent rules.”
    Sky blinked and waited. When no one spoke, she asked, “What rule?”
    “To avert a death in a person who is scheduled to die is unacceptable.”
    Sky tilted her head. “The child was only truly scheduled to leave her home under mysterious circumstances. Her descendants will enact the change that will occur two generations from now before they hand the mines and planet back to the people. It won’t damage her world in any way.”
    “You have created a being that will affect nine different worlds by the very existence of her bloodline.” The man named Gwetho leaned into the light as he spoke.
    The councillors murmured wildly in their shadows.
    Ravikka sighed, “You also traipsed around without a cowl and you were seen. Rumours of our existence flared into life on Colithar and swept through their history. Apparently, this is not a singular visit on your part. You will visit the child as it grows.”
    Sky nodded. “Well, if you are going to lock me up, can you do it now? I haven’t had any rest since I was shot. I am feeling a little dizzy.”
    She didn’t have a chance to say anything else, the floor came up to greet her and she felt arms grab her as she faded into darkness.
    * * * *
    Ravikka sighed and sat back. “What are we going to do with her?”
    Aura sipped at her tea and shrugged. “What is the Orb saying?”
    “It wants her to tamper with time. There is no doubt that there are people who can improve the current state of dozens of worlds and she can see them. Averting death is her skill.”
    “What is the problem then, Ravi?”
    Ravikka smiled at the woman who bore more of the Orb inside her than any other Nameless.
    Aura refused to take a place on the council. Rather, she enjoyed roaming the worlds with Randr, witnessing and being seen by folk on the lookout for the Hooded Ones. They had seen more history in their ten years together than any of the Nameless who had been called in the last century.
    “Setting a bad precedent. The rest of the seven are freaked out about it. If she can go back and change history, our present may warp beyond reasonable expectation.”
    Aura quirked her lips. “If the Orb wants it, who are we to say no? It will simply take her over and ride her into those situations and we all know it.”
    “True.” It was a well-known fact that Aura had been possessed by the Orb over ten times in her tenure as a Nameless. Each time the Orb had taken over, someone had died. Removing folk from the time stream was not something most Nameless would attempt, but Aura was the Sentinel of Vengeance on at least six worlds that they had been able to pinpoint. She was now part and parcel of their legends and