'I'm sorcerer enough to handle this myself, I think. And the less people involved, the better. If Cillmod hears that Brightwood people were involved, it could be excuse enough for him to break the Oath again and move in on Darthen.'Hearn planted the seed. 'There speaks my wise son,' he said.'And besides – I don't want any Wood people getting killed because of this. And neither do you – but you'd never say it – because you're too damn kind.'Hearn laughed softly. 'My wise son. But don't let it stop you frombringing him back here if he needs a place to stay. No-one will hear about it from us.'Herewiss nodded and stood up.'Take what you need,' Hearn said. 'Take Dapple, if you think he'd help. And Herewiss—'Hearn turned back to his work, his strong hands moving the soil. 'Be careful. I'm short of sons.'Herewiss stood there looking at his father's back for a moment, and then turned and headed back into the Woodward to start preparing for a journey.The Brightwood is the oldest and most honored of the principalities of Darthen. It was the first of the new settlements established after the Worldwinning, by people who came down out of the eastern Highpeaks and found the quiet woodlands to their liking after their long travels. It took them many years to free the Wood and its environs from the Fyrd that infested it, but while many other peoples were still living in caves in the mountains, the Brightwood people were already building the Woodward in the great clearing at its center.Though the Woodward is held by outsiders to be at the Wood's heart, the Brightwood people know that its real heart – or hearts, for there are several – lie elsewhere: the Silent Precincts, secret, holy places where few people not born in the Wood or trained to the usages of the Power have ever walked. There, upon the Forest Altars hidden within the Precincts, the Goddess was first worshipped again as She used to be before the Catastrophe — invoked in Her three forms as Maiden and Mother and Wise
