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"Yes," said Lewan.

"Portals, like doors, require keys. And very special doors require very special keys. I think my father has been searching for one particular key for many years. Perhaps it explains his contact with Chereth."

"A… a key?" said Lewan. "I don't understand."

Talieth reached into the folds of her skirt, her hand disappearing into a deep pocket, and what she pulled out Lewan recognized immediately.

"Erael'len!"

"The Three Hearts. So named because of the holy objects concealed within." Talieth held up the relic so it caught the light from the open balcony. Inside the latticework of twisted wood, something caught the light and sparkled. "Stoneblood," she said. "The hardened sap of the three trees most holy to Silvanus."

"Oak, Ash, and Thorn," said Lewan. All were bound within an intricate web of wood that was itself almost as hard as stone. "But… how did you…?"

"How did I come by it?"

Lewan nodded.

"Sauk," she said.

"But… but my master took it from Sauk."

"So he did. And after… what happened, Sauk found it lying in the mud."

Lewan looked away and stared off into nowhere. It didn't seem right. After all they'd risked… to have the relic simply cast off, left lying in the mud…

"You see what I meant, don't you, Lewan?"

"What?"

"A gift from the gods," said Talieth. "That… thing taking your master. Had it taken Erael'len as well, all might be lost. Do you think it mere chance that the relic was left behind? I have lived too long and seen too much to believe in mere chance. You came to us for a reason, and Erael'len was given to us for a reason."

"So Erael'len is the key your father needs?"

"I think so, yes," said Talieth.

"Then why bring it here? You should be carrying it across the mountains or giving it to druids to guard and protect."

"You understand keys, yes, Lewan?"

"Yes. Just because I live in the wild doesn't mean-"

"Then you understand that a key can not only open a door, it can lock it as well."

"Oh," said Lewan, as the realization hit him.

"Yes," said Talieth. "And this particular key will lock the most important portal. For I think that this portal-ancient beyond any recorded histories-predates even the Imaskari. Its original users were not those wizards, I think."

"Druids?"

Talieth lowered the Three Hearts, letting it dangle from its necklace of leather by her side. She shrugged. "Who knows? Druids? Perhaps the forerunners of the druids, or even the forerunners of their forerunners. Perhaps Silvanus himself, for all I know."

Lewan closed his eyes. This was too much to take in. "I hope you see now why we need you," said Talieth.

"Me?"

"Chereth is beyond helping us. Even if I could reach him, he has been my father's prisoner for years. If his mind is still whole…" Talieth did not finish the thought. "It was my hope that your master could use the Three Hearts to help us. But that"-the sudden force in her voice told Lewan she was on the verge of crying again -"is no longer a path open to us. That leaves us with you. So tell me, Lewan, will you help us? Help us stop my father before it is too late?"

"That's why you captured me? To help you stop a madman? I'm only a novice!"

"Captured?" said Talieth. "Lewan, please understand. You are our honored guest. If Sauk and his men were… a bit rough getting you here, well, I beg your forgiveness for that. But I must say that it was due mostly to your master's refusal to come. If he had come as we asked, Sauk wouldn't have forced him."

Lewan opened his mouth to protest, but Talieth cut him off.

"Still," she said, "honored guest as you are, you must understand that the Fortress is a place of many dangers, especially now that my father has gone completely mad. He sees enemies at every corner, and many of the people who live here still serve him. We must keep your presence hidden from him at all costs. You must go nowhere unattended. Especially tonight! Do you understand?"

"Tonight? Why?"

"Tonight is a holy night for the druids, and