Page 10 (1/2)
“Quite so, my lord,” Frentis told hi his weapons, long after the others had taken to their tents, the fa across the ca, he cleaned his boots, then his saddle, then unstrung his bow and checked the stave for cracks After that he sat and sharpened every arrowhead in his quiver I do not need to sleep, he told hile with exhaustion and his head constantly slumped unbidden to his chest
Just drea a reluctant gaze at his tent Just the stain of her company, the stink of her in my mind Just dreaued hands left hi the arrows to his quiver and walking to the tent on weak legs Just dreams
• • •
She stands atop a tall tower, Volar spread out beneath her in all its ancient glory, street after street of teneardens of wondrous construction and h none so tall as this one: the Council Tower
She raises her gaze to the sky seeking a target The day is clear, the sky mostly unbroken blue, but she spies a small cloud some miles above, thin and wispy but sufficient for her purposes She searches inside herself for the gift, finding she has to suppress her song to call it forth, but when it does the power of it staggers her,her reach for the parapet as she sways She feels a familiar trickle from her nose and understands the price for this one will be harder to bear even than the wonderful fire she stole fro noith precise irony: Always the ith stolen gifts, don’t you find?
What did he know? she thinks, though the scorn is forced and hollow He knew enough not to be blinded by love
She forces unwelcoift surging,fro into a tight vortex before flying apart, tendrils fading in the clear blue sky
“Ie from the stairway onto the tower roof Two Kuritai follow hi on their swords She has yet to test the skill offered by this new shell and has to resist the urge to do so now Hide an advantage and you double its value One of her father’s axio dead philosopher
“Arklev,” she greets the tall e in him, a neeariness around his eyes, an expression she knoell He grieves
“The Messenger did not linger,” he tells her “Save to say that the Ally’s guidance will now be spoken only by you”
The Ally’s guidanceAs if he could co of those words, what it means to a soul in the Void to hear the Ally’s voice She alnorance of this ancient little
He is staring at her in expectation, a faint concern on his brow, and she realises it has been severalhere? How long since she climbed the tower?
She breathes deeply and allows the confusion to fade “You’re grieving,” she tells him “Who did you lose?”
He draws back a little, concern deepening into fear, no doubt wondering howthe appearance of omniscience could offer as much power as omniscience itself
“My son,” Arklev says “His vessel never reached Varinshold The scryers can no longer find a trace of him in times to come”