Austin heard the voices again, sounding just out of sight, and he froze. His heart beat started pounding in his ears, frustratingly loud, drowning out almost all other sounds. But they were talking loudly, and he could tell now that there were only two distinct female voices. He hoped that was all there were. His tired mind struggled to make sense of the situation. Women weren't a threat, but these two were talking so loudly and carefree, they must have some form of confidence in their safety…

Or perhaps they were just foolish and stupid.

Either way, Austin was too close to the Tarenthan border to feel comfortable with people seeing him.

All of these thoughts whirled around in his mind and he came to his decision in a few precious seconds. He snapped his head and found a sturdy looking tree. Already plotting how to hide, he sprinted at the tree, jumping at the last second to lace his fingers together on a sturdy limb, and kept running up the trunk until he could wrap his legs around the limb. There. Completely hidden by the leaves. And just in time, as the two chatty females came into view. He'd really wanted to get on top of the branch, but he didn't dare move now that they could see him if they looked. He was taking a risk breathing in his mind.

As the women passed under him, he craned his neck to get a better view of the confident girls. He immediately saw why they were so cocky now.

The two were Daughters, one of Liena, and the other…of Demi. He shuddered.

The Liena Daughter was typical of her kind, tall with fair skin, brown hair and any range of blue for eyes. Hers were a dark sapphire color with grey flecks. She was wearing a recently washed white shirt and some comfortable looking pants that had been dyed a deep blue. Her hair was braided, and the end tie was an expensive looking bit of blue silk. No doubt from the School she went to, which meant she couldn't have been out of it very long. She looked to be about his age. Like all other Children, she had a sword on her, but hers was cleverly concealed. The assassin could just barely see a trace of the sword behind her pack.

The other one, the Demi Daughter, looked like she'd been forced to comply with the rules, but then had found her own way around them. Her hair was the blue-black color that they had to dye it, and her eyes were a stormy grey. She'd cut her hair short, so it was at her shoulders, and smudged black makeup around her eyes. She carried herself tall and proud, with a knowing and slightly mischievous glint in her eyes. She was dressed in a plain looking traveling tunic, but expensive looking black riding pants tucked into knee-high boots. Strange, since she obviously had no horse.

Unlike her friend, she wore her blades openly. Austin stared at them in admiration. They were twin rapiers, made of a gold material. Scarlet cloth had been wrapped around the hilt for beauty and grip, and the sheaths were made of something the same color. They were not only deadly weapons, but works of art.

Now that he'd noticed the swords, he also took note of her lithe form and developed muscles. Beneath the tight riding pants, he could tell that she had firm, lined muscles from years of practicing, no doubt. However, she looked as if she was barely old enough to go into a School, let alone be out of it already. It meant that she'd either ran away, not gone to it…or she was extremely good at controlling the magics that Demi had given her. He shivered again.

They walked right under him, still talking. Austin relaxed slightly, relieved that he'd gone unnoticed. He was just about to climb down when he heard them suddenly stop talking.

"What'd you stop for?" one of them asked the other crossly. The other one shushed her, and they came back into view. The Demi Daughter closed her eyes, then put one foot in front of the other carefully, as if she were testing the waters before stepping. Finally, she stopped below Austin. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at him with an amount of hatred in her eyes that startled Austin into letting go of the branch. He fell to the ground, landing on his back with a hard thump, and all the wind got knocked out of him. The Demi Daughter had drawn one of her rapiers, putting it at his throat while he struggled to get air into his lungs.

"Kaythryn," she drawled to her companion, never taking her eyes off of Austin, "we've just caught Daemon."

The other girl, Kaythryn, came up behind her, peering over her shoulder. "He doesn't look like much. You sure?"

"He's surrounded in Death," she said bitterly.

"Oh…"

The Daughter smiled, but it wasn't a warm one. "So what do we do with someone whose head is worth over a thousand golds?"

"Make him come with us?"

"Exactly." She took her rapier back, sheathing it and offering him a hand up.

Austin furrowed his brows, but didn't ask as he got to his feet again.

The two girls smiled eerily. "We've been looking for you."