The man who might or might not b the Diamond Raven struggled, but he couldn’t seem to do anything about the cord around his neck and, rather than have Raizel tug it tighter, he followed her.  “I have things I should get-” he protested, but she didn’t listen, and then “I shouldn’t leave a candle burning-” and then “someone needs to watch the sacred spot.”

“Someone does,” she agrees.  “But having it be you might be a bit silly.”

“And why would it be silly for it to be me?”  He raised his eyebrows at her in challenge.

He was, she had to admit, not all that intimidating.  He was barely taller than her, skinny in that sort of way that suggested he’d missed a few meals lately, his black hair in need of a wash and his skin sallow, like he hadn’t been outside in a while.  

“Well, there’s the whole issue – perhaps, or as I’ve  heard it said,” she allowed, “of the relationship between you and Nadya.  Or the fact that she’s willing to recruit people to move you.”

“There’s a relationship between her and I, or there was, when we were young.  She used to love this place.  Now she wants to destroy it.”  The probably-the-Raven gave one last longing looking at the chapel.  “It’s a sacred place, still, you know, even here in the city.”

“There’s a relationship between her and I, or there was, when we were young.  She used to love this place.  Now she wants to destroy it.”  The probably-the-Raven gave one last longing looking at the chapel.  “It’s a sacred place, still, you know, even here in the city.”

“I will talk to her, if we can find her.”  She glanced over at her captive.  “Why ‘Diamond Raven,’ anyway?”

He flushed and tugged at the lasso in a half-hearted attempt to get away.  “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“Everything has to do with something, and if it’s a name you chose yourself, it has to do with so many things.  Diamond Raven.”  She tested the name.  “Shiny, glittery, thieving?  You steal yourself?”

He stopped tugging on the rope and frowned at her.  “Nadya told you.”

“Nadya doesn’t know, does she?  Why you call yourself that, that is.  She knows it’s your name.”

“Nadya should know.  We were children together.  We were lovers when we were teens.  We were going to be wed.”

“Many people are going to be wed when they are teens.”  She hated herself for saying it.  How many times had she and Amos and Emma talked about it?  Even if their families might not allow it, even if her family might not allow it.

“You can’t let her take the chapel!  The gods need it!

“If the gods need it, perhaps they ought-” Raizel stopped herself, but it was too late.  She’d said the words she knew better than to say.

The Diamond Raven stared at her.  “Who are you?” he asked into the glittering, sparkling air.  “What are you?”

“Me?  I’m a mountain child going to the capital to pay the taxes and file the census paperwork.  Nadya po’renz Ettera of Esteronzerai-and-Ettereteret paid me – no.  Offered me my name in stone for all to see if I got you out of here, if I tied you up.  And I have some skill with tying people up.”

“And it’s a sacred site!  An old site, even if they have moved on, the people, the – the others!”

He, at least, was smart enough not to say gods.  Raizel wondered if, by the time she made it home, there would be enough left of her to care about things like family or romance.

“Worry not about the others.  Worry about things more immediately to hand.”

That was not the Diamond Raven.  That was… nooo.  Raizel would have put her hands over her face, but she was still holding the end of the lasso.  Instead, she bowed.  Bowed very deeply to the deifically-touched person standing in front of them.