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"My mother will ride at the head of the arhtfully to Lapus as they threaded their way through the twisting hallways of the duke&039;s house Although rain denied thearden, Crystal was too restless to sit still "But all I hear talk of is men The men will do this, the ht?"

"Some, but not many "

"Why not?"

"So of the land "

"But why the women?" Crystal was puzzled "The centaurs always said that the e of what?"

"Well the country "

"And who does that leave in charge of the men?"

Silver brows rose "The woet fed, and clothed, and to council on ti, and when to be weak? Who sees that the race continues? Soe and then createdto do "

"Lapus, you&039;re a traitor to your sex!" Her tone was aled to keep her whole purpose for existing at a little distance over the last few days of waiting ("Always remember that you were conceived solely for the destruction of Kraydak ") although it was never far frohts

Lapus stiffened at the word traitor "I ah it is true that men and women are equal in the eyes of the Mother, it is equally true that they are not the same It does no honor to men that they are better able to facilitate the arrival of Lord Death Perhaps because a woman better understands how difficult it is to create a life, she becoeons and healers that ride with the army are women "

Crystal dropped into aseat and stared pensively at her slippered feet

"It appears, " she said, "that I not only havea princess, but someone had better teach me to be a woman as well " She looked up at Lapus and smiled "Do you think you couldFor a change, there was nothing of the other world in Crystal&039;s expression, unless it was the innocent beauty of that smile

Lapus sice and shoved his hands deep in his sleeves to hide their treet out was one word

"No, " he said And fled

Crystal stared at his fleeing back in astonish?"

The rain on thehad no idea

She was still trying to figure out the Scholar&039;s strange behavior when Bryon sauntered by a few moments later

"What&039;s up?" he asked as he threw hiently behind her shoulders

"Lapus doesn&039;t want to lint surfaced in Bryon&039;s eyes and his expression hardened "He doesn&039;t what?" he asked, his voice stony

"I think, " said Crystal seriously, et to the root of the question, "that it&039;s a philosophical problem"

Bryon&039;s face relaxed as he realized that Crystal had no idea of the doubleof what she&039;d said Such innocence was rare around the court, he wasn&039;t used to it He shook his head and took hi himself to consider that Crystal and that skinny Scholar with no looks and less personality would

"Forget philosophy, Crystal " He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and made his voice a caress "In my eyes you&039;re a wo why she felt cheated when his hand dropped She suddenly didn&039;t feel like pursuing the question further, for a strong suspicion said Bryon had a great deal to do with her recent restlessness "They tellsoon " "Within the hour Father is sending me around the province to help rally the men " "Will you be back?"

"No, I&039;ll join the army in Hale Will you miss me?" "Of course, I&039;ll miss you,

" Crystal said more snappishly than she&039;d intended "You&039;re my friend "

"Ah, friend, " Bryon&039;s eyes twinkled "A sad word that, when you&039;re hoping for htened around her shoulders and drew her close With his other hand he cupped her chin and gently forced her head up Taking an incredible chance, he held her eyes with his, but the green fires were banked and he saw only a reflection of hihten out theof her emotions She had spent the last six years with the centaurs learning to be a wizard while Bryon, growing fro an education of a different sort

Centaurs, being iht be able to move mountains, call up demons, and-hopefully-destroy the enemies of her people, but in this area she was totally unskilled She didn&039;t understand her reactions and she didn&039;t like the feeling that things were out of her control

She also didn&039;t want Bryon to stop Whatever it turned out he was doing

She didn&039;t understand that either

Bryon had no intention of stopping Their faces were inches apart and her breath ainst his mouth like a warm breeze He drank in the feel of her, the smell of her, the touch of her

"Your horse is ready, sir "

Crystal junore that briefest touch of his lips on hers

Bryon, realizing the rinned up at his father&039;s footot jauntily to his feet

"Look for one

Crystal stared down at her hand, the soft pressure of his ether, " she said to the eeway "He treats me like a whole person, not as just a wizard or a princess He is my friend "

But she sat until dusk hid her in shadow, considering it

The horn carriers had been on their way for three days when Kraydak ainst them While the truncated court sat at dinner, all the s in the hall crashed open The winds roared around the roo the lamps and candles to sputter and flicker and thenot fastened down

Crystal leaped to her feet and called the winds to order They flew to her side and buffeted her about in their ees, and then sent theht

When the last of the winds had left, Crystal looked up to see the court regarding her with awe-all except the Duke of Belkar as dusting off a crusty roll which had been blown to the floor

"What is it, child?" Mikhail asked, his heart rung by the expression on his stepdaughter&039;s face All the recently developed signs of humanity had fled and the wizard looked bleak and cold

"Kraydak is ht"

"Now?" asked Tayer "During dinner?"

Humanity returned for an instant and Crystal raised a silver eyebrow in her mother&039;s direction

"But you haven&039;t even finished your soup You can&039;t just run out in the middle of dinner What will people think? No " Tayer blushed suddenly and dropped her head in her hands "I&039; we can do to help?" Mikhail asked, laying a warht wife

"No " Crystal shook her head "What I do tonight, I , soth from Mikhail&039;s touch "You can stop hihter in the eye "You can stop hiht of this night and now it had come The first test And what hope was there for the future should she fail? She forced herself to walk calmly from the room

As the door closed behind her the buzz of conversation began again, al

Tayer rose to follow Mikhail gently guided her back into her seal

"I could at least walk her to her roo away

"I don&039;t think she wants you to " He could offer little comfort in a roohtly to her hands "You said she could stop hihed "I feel, " she said suddenly, "like a chicken trying toto keep my child out of the water "

Crystal took the steps to her tower roo herself into the rooht of her irl asked, stepping forward Then she saw the expression on Crystal&039;s face and her own paled "Anna, child, this will no! be an cany job, " the queen herself had said, "but the princess must be made aware of her position Noht that blazed in the princess&039;s eyes, Anna sed once and clung to duty "Shall shall I take your hair do?"

Startled, Crystal&039;s hand flew to her hair, then she shook herself, as though to free the wizard froo, " she said,away froround "I&039;m sorry, milady, but your ave me very precise instructions, " theto obey them to the letter

"She instructed you to serve"

"I don&039;t think, e that had not been spoken for centuries, Crystal abandoned her attehtened but determined servant out into the hall, threatened her with a dire fate should she return before dawn, and slammed the door on her protests

Then she paused Why hadn&039;t she reinforced her coirl would not have been ht&039;s work and the result would have beenIn the back of her mind, where usually only the centaurs spoke, the me a tiny girl-child in the rights of those who served Uneasily, she slammed the lesson back into the past She must be only wizard now; divided, she could not hope to win

With a wave of her hand, the laht flared near the center of the rooreen flame which danced and beckoned

The winds raced round the tower and the sounds they made as they wove about each other all said, "Hurry!"

Crystal moved forward and her elaborate dress dropped to the floor with a rustle of silk She stepped free and into the plain white gown that had risen to meet her Pins showered to the floor as her hair danced out of complicated braids and flowed down her back Another two steps brought her to the brazier, but as she was about to sit, she paused, turned, and threw a fine web of power across the door She didn&039;t trust her own between her legs, she sank to the floor

"Hurry!" wailed the winds

She wiped sweaty palhs She had to be in four places at once and she had to defeat ahis powers for several dozen lifetimes while she&039;d had only six short years

Finally, she looked into the flaht on his chest He opened his eyes and the largest crow he&039;d ever seen cocked its head, dug its talons into his leather vest, and glared at hiht he was dreah to his chest The pain was real

With a startled cry, he flung himself to the side as the wicked beak stabbed for his eyes

His s it took to the air The Messenger aled on the carnal odors carried on the down-draft He&039;d rolled away from his sword and the bird nearly took off his hand when he tried to reach for it His fire had turned to e the creature aith flaer soon bled fro had hevital He knew his luck, and the saddlebag, couldn&039;t hold outfor each breath, and the pain and loss of blood eakening hiht in his torment