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of the bahk lingered here still, and although he did not begrudge Gustav’s claim to the Sovereign Stone, the bahk missed its treasure, as a child misses a loved toy.
    Gustav reached his hand to his breast, clasped there a jewel he wore on a chain of gold. The jewel was a sapphire, the color of his wife’s eyes. The jewel was a love-token, the first she had ever given him. Thinking to wear it always, he had left instructions in his will that he was to be buried with it. Gustav gave the chain a swift, sharp tug.
    The chain broke, came off in his hand. Gustav brought the jewel to his lips, kissed it, then slowly and reverently, he laid it to rest upon the breast of the bahk.
    â€œForgive me for taking what you most valued, Guardian. In return, I leave behind that which I most value. I wish for your sake itwas magic,” he added softly. “But the only magic this jewel contains is her love for me and mine for her. Farewell, Guardian. May your spirit find rest after your long and faithful watch.”
    The jewel sparkled in the light of his armor. Perhaps, again, it was his imagination, but Gustav fancied that the bahk smiled.

R eturning to the place in the tunnel where he had left the dark-lantern and his knapsack, Gustav took time to rest. He was well aware of the limitations age had placed upon his body and he knew better than to try to pretend he was thirty again.
    Seating himself comfortably on the floor, he opened the knapsack and began to remove the contents. When the knapsack was empty, he placed the silver box with its precious treasure—a treasure that was the heart and soul of a race—inside.
    Gustav had specially commissioned the knapsack long years ago precisely for this occasion. The magus at the Temple in New Vinnengael had done her work well. She had listened with polite gravity while Gustav explained why he needed such a special carry-all. He had paid for such politeness, he reckoned. The magical knapsack had cost him his life savings, as well as his modest town house in the city. He’d even been forced to sell his horse to raise the money. All for a dream.
    No wonder people thought him mad.
    What they could not know, of course, was that the house meant nothing to him without her in it. Or rather, she was too much in it.She was everywhere in the house. He could not sit in his chair of an evening but what he would raise his eyes and see her spirit sitting opposite him. She poured his wine. She laughed at his small witticisms. She pricked the bubble of his pomposity. She sang to him and played the harp. When he asked the servants if they enjoyed her music, they stared at him in alarm and fled the premises.
    Gustav spoke the single word that was required to activate the magic. The magus had told him to select a word he would be certain never to forget.
    â€œAdela,” he said softly.
    The silver box containing the Sovereign Stone vanished. The knapsack appeared to be empty. Gustav felt a momentary qualm of fear. The magus had warned him—or so he vaguely remembered—that the magic was so effective at concealing the object placed inside the knapsack that even though he knew how the magic worked, he would be tempted to doubt.
    â€œAdela,” he said again and found himself looking down at the silver box with its marvelous jeweled-eyed animals.
    Gustav opened the box, looked inside, just to reassure himself. The Sovereign Stone lay within, its sharp edges glinting in the lantern light. Gustav recalled the tale that when the Sovereign Stone had been handed to Prince Helmos by his younger brother, Prince Dagnarus, one of the edges had cut Helmos, drawn blood. The story had it that when the blood of the martyred prince fell on the stone floor, the stones cried out a warning against Dagnarus, a warning that had gone unheeded.
    Gustav shut the box. He spoke his wife’s name again and the silver box disappeared. Hefting the knapsack experimentally, he was interested to note