Artemis Invaded by Jane Lindskold

duck and tea, as Terrell requests.”
    â€œTerrell withdraws his request,” Terrell responded. “Show us!”
    Pleased, Adara led them to where a very small heap of seegnur artifacts rested amid the meadow grass. Griffin hunkered down, carefully turning over each bit—no matter how insignificant—then returning it precisely where it had been before.
    â€œThese are the remnants of fasteners—what the seegnur used instead of buttons or laces,” he said. “I’ve seen the like elsewhere. This looks like a belt buckle. This odd twisty thing might have been part of something larger. This is a comm bracelet—similar patterns are still used in the Kyley system. I wonder if this ring was ornamental or if it had another purpose? Where did you find that thing you showed us?”
    â€œOver here.” Adara pointed to an impression in the grass. She handed it to him.
    â€œPart of a clasp,” Griffin said, “possibly meant to hold items on a belt.”
    Adara smiled. “I found two other locations like this. Would you see, seegnur?”
    â€œDefinitely!” Griffin leapt to his feet. Terrell sighed in mock exasperation, but his blue eyes were shining with excitement.
    Adara led the way to the other locations. Each held a scattering of seegnur artifacts, none very functional, but many quite fascinating. Each scatter looked as if it had been in place for quite a long while.
    When darkness forced their retreat, Griffin insisted that they leave everything in place. “We’ll sketch, then excavate first thing in the morning.”
    Adara had her own thoughts about what her finds might be, but she wanted to hear Griffin’s speculation first. After all, he had spent much of his life examining things the seegnur had left behind.
    â€œWhat do you think I found?” she asked as she carved one of the ducks.
    â€œI think,” Griffin said, shredding the greens for the salad into such tiny pieces that Terrell removed them from beneath his hands before they were rendered inedible, “those are what’s left of the bodies of three of the people who died here. They didn’t necessarily die in those specific places—scavengers could have dragged the bodies—but that is where they came to rest.”
    â€œThe lore says,” Terrell reminded, neatly chopping wild carrot and onion, then adding it to the salad bowl, “that residents of Crystalaire buried the dead seegnur.”
    â€œThey might not have found these bodies,” Griffin countered. “I doubt they knew how many seegnur had fled here. Given that they were violating the prohibitions by coming here—and that not long before this area had been a battlefield—I doubt that they spent much time searching for the dead.”
    â€œI agree,” Adara said, pleased that Griffin had confirmed her own speculations. “Believe it or not, scavengers might not have dragged the bodies very far from where they fell. They would only do so if there was competition.”
    Terrell added, “I notice that each of Adara’s finds was in a relatively sheltered area. Perhaps these seegnur hid in those places, rather than near the temple, but were discovered, slain, and their bodies left to rot.”
    â€œWe’ll look more closely tomorrow,” Griffin said. “I believe the solution to our puzzle is at hand.”
    Adara was less certain, but why ruin Griffin’s excitement? He had been brave in the face of so much disappointment. Could she blame him for being excited that, perhaps, at last, he was one step closer to returning home?
    *   *   *
    Griffin contentedly settled into the familiar routine of excavation. He found his two apprentices easy to teach. Terrell had done some excavation before, since the loremasters (under whom the factotums did much of their early training) were fascinated by the seegnur’s culture, especially anything that might