Page 6 (1/2)

When twilight fell, Amara remained at liberty

Her body ached to her bones The first swift rush of flight had taken the strength froht would have been i north and east, in the direction she fled She was able to use the prevailing currents of wind to assist Cirrus, and thus to conserve y

Ah they swayed and danced at the passage of the miniature cyclone that kept her aloft, she was better off flying lohere the terrain hts Aeris pursuing her

The last, rust-colored light of sunset showed her a sparkle of water, a winding ribbon running through the rolling, wooded hills: the river Gaul It taxed her reentle landing and took even more of an effort to reht left her She felt like crawling into a hollow tree and sleeping for a week

Instead, she reached down to her tattered dress, tore at the heht copper

"River Gaul," she whispered, pushing whatever reserves she had left into the effort to speak to the water furies "Know this coin, and hasten word to thy ht spin, and the ie of the First Lord&039;s profile spun and tuht

A out to cup her hands in it Long runs were not as draining as an hour of flight-even on a good day for it She had been fortunate If the winds had been different, she would not have been able to escape to the Gaul

She stared down at her faint reflection and shivered for aits way up her hands, down her nose and throat, and her heart thudded with sickly fear She struggled to force it away, but it wouldn&039;t leave her She could not make herself touch the water

The water witch could have killed her Aht there She hadn&039;t She had survived-but even so, it was all she could do to keep fro back on the bank

She closed her eyes for a hter out of her head Theher presented no special fear If she was captured by theht steel, perhaps brutalized-but all of that, she had prepared herself for

She thought of the smile on Odiana&039;s face as her water fury had s her on dry land There had been an allee in the wo had prepared her for that

And yet she had to face that terror She had to embrace it Her duty required her to do no less

She thrust her hands into the cold water of the river

The young Cursor splashed water onto her face and ers Even though she wore it shorter than was custoh her hair was straight and fine, a tawny, brown-gold, still, a few hours in gale winds had tangled it into knots and

She eyed her reflection again Thin, harsh features, she thought, though with the proper cosmetics, she could whittle them down to merely severe Listless hair, cobwebby and delicate-and currently as tousled as a haystack Her face and ar her a monochromatic look in the water, like a statue carved of pale wood and then lightly stained Her sies from hours in the wind, and thickly stained with mud and spatters of dark brown that must have been blood around the slice in her blouse where her arm throbbed with dull pain

The water stirred, and a furycrafted form rose out of it-but instead of

the First Lord, a woman took shape Gaius Caria, wife to Gaius Sextus, Alera&039;s First Lord, see, hardly older than Aown, her hair coiffed into an intricate series of braids with a few artful curls falling to frame her face The woman was beautiful, but more than that, she carried with her a sense of serenity, of purpose, of grace- and of power

A cow and dropped into a curtsey as best she could, hands taking the soiled skirts and holding to them "Your Grace"

"Academ," murmured the woave you his coin, and already you interrupt his supper I believe that is a new record Fidelias, I a hione by"

Aize for the necessity"

The First Lady gave her an arch look, up and down the grith of her body Aht not to squirht work on your ti in the future"

"Yes, Lady Please, Your Grace I need to speak to the First Lord"

Lady Caria shook her head "Impossible," she said, her tone one of finality "I&039;m afraid you&039;ll have to speak to him later Perhaps tomorrow"

"But, Lady-"

"He&039;s swa each syllable "If you feel the matter is an ie and I will present it to hiive me, Lady, but I was told that if I ever used the coin, that the ue, Academ," Caria said, her brows arched "Remember to whom you speak"

"I have the orders from the First Lord himself, Your Grace I only attempt to obey them"

"Admirable But the First Lord is not a favorite professor you can simply visit yourself upon whenever you wish, Acadehtly "And he has affairs of state to attend to"

Amara sed and said, "Your Grace, please I will not be long in telling hie Please"

"No," Caria said The sculpted figure looked over its shoulder "You have

taken enough of ained a note of tension, hurry "If that is all"

Amara licked her lips If she could hold on a moment more, perhaps the First Lord would overhear the conversation "Your Grace, before you go, e to pass on to him?"

"Be quick"

"Yes, Your Grace If you would only tell hiet any farther than that before the watery forlance, her features beco remote and hard

The water beside Lady Caria stirred, and a second furycrafted shape rose from it This one was a man, tall, with shoulders that had once been broad, but were now slue He carried himself with a casual pride and a confidence that showed in every line of his body The water-figure did not appear in liquid translucence, as did Lady Caria&039;s It rose froht, for just a moment, that the First Lord hi a fury in his place His hair was dark, streaked with silver-white strands, and his green eyes looked faded, weary, and confident

"Here now," said the figure in a gentle, ringing bass "What passes,His features went completely still for a s, Cursor"

Lady Caria shot her husband&039;s iaze returned to Amara "This one wished to speak with you, but I had informed her that you had a state dinner to attend"

"Your Majesty," Aain

Gaius let out a sigh and waved a hand, vaguely "You go ahead,shortly"

Lady Caria&039;s chin lifted, tilting with a sharp little motion "Husband There will be considerable consternation if we do not arrive together"

Gaius turned his face toward Lady Caria "Then if it pleases you, wife, you may wait elsewhere for ether, but gave a graceful, proper nod, before her i a splash that drenched A to wipe uselessly at her skirts "Oh,sound and his ie moved a hand The water fled froround in a steady rain of orderly droplets that gathered into a small,her skirts, at least, quite clean

"Please excuse the First Lady," Gaius murmured "These last three years have not been kind to her"

Three years since she ht But aloud, she said only, "Yes, Your Majesty"

The First Lord inhaled, then nodded, the expression brusque He had shaved his beard since Ae, faint on the mostly youthful features, showed as dark shadows at the corners of his eyes and e-in fact, Amara knew that he ice that And that no silver had been showing in his hair when she arrived at the Royal Academy, five years before

"Your report," Gaius said "Let&039;s hear it"

"Yes, milord As you instructed, Fidelias and I attempted to infiltrate the suspected revolutionary ca inside" She felt her o dry, and she sed "But But he"

Gaius nodded, his expression grave "But he betrayed you He proved to bethe cause of the insurrectionists than in re loyal to his lord"

Amara blinked up at him, startled "Yes, ed "I didn&039;t But I suspected When you reach e, Amara, people show themselves to you very clearly They write their intentions and beliefs through their actions, their lies" He shook his head "I saw the signs in Fidelias when he was only a little older than you But that seed has picked a particularly vicious moment to bloom"

"You suspected?" A?"

"Could you have kept it from him? Could you have played that kind of charade with hiht you, for the duration of the mission?"

Aer Gaius was right She never would have been able to keep such knowledge from Fidelias "Why did you send ave her a weary smile "Because you are the fastest Cursor I have ever seen Because you were a brilliant student at the Academy, resourceful, stubborn, and able to think on your feet Because Fidelias liked you And because I was sure of your loyalty"

"Bait," Aes, points "You usedto bring me with him Recruit me"