Dallandra had just finished washing her blood-stained hands in a bucket of water when one of the Cerr Cawnen men walked over, another beefy blond with narrow blue eyes, a common type among the Rhiddaer men, who were descended from the northern tribes of Old Ones, as the original inhabitants of the Deverrian lands used to be known. This particular fellow introduced himself as Richt, the caravan master.
You do have all my thanks, Wise One, he said, for the aid you and your people do give me and my men. I would gift you with somewhat of dwarven work. It be a trinket I did trade for in Lin Serr. From the pocket of his brigga he brought out a leather pouch.
I dont need any payment, truly, Dallandra began, then stopped when he shook a pendant out of the pouch onto his broad palm. Thats very beautiful.
As you are, and I would beg you to take it.
The pendant hung by a loop from a fine silver chain. Two silver dragons twined around a circle of gems, set in silver. The jeweller had arranged three petal-shaped slices of moonstone and three of turquoise around a central sapphire.
Are you sure you want to part with this? Dallandra said.
I be sure that I wish you to have it. Richt smiled, a little shyly.
Then you have my profound thanks.
When Dallandra held out her hand, he passed the pendant over, then bobbed his head in respect and walked away. The more she studied the pendant, the happier she was that shed accepted the gift. Rarely did she like jewellery enough to wear any of it, but this particular piece made her think of the moon and its magical tides. A bevy of sprites materialized in the air and hovered close to look at it. She could hear their little cries of delight, a sound much like the rustling of fine silks.
Who gave you that? a normal elven voice said.
Dallandra looked up to see Calonderiel watching her with his arms crossed over his chest.
The caravan master, she said. In thanks for tending his wounded men. He told me its dwarven work.
Oh. Cal relaxed with a smile. Its beautiful, isnt it? Thus, it suits you.
Shall I put it on?
Please do.
The pendant hung just below Dallandras collarbone. As it touched the magical nexus at that spot, she felt emanations.
Theres dweomer on this piece, she said to Cal. Im not sure what, though. Ill have to show it to Val later.
Maybe youd better show it to her now. Are you sure its safe to wear it?
Yes, actually. Cal, you sound so worried.
I keep thinking about the spell over Rori. He paused, glancing away, biting his lower lip. And how dangerous its going to be to lift. Ive got suspicious of everything dweomer, I guess.
Reversing the spell may not be dangerous at all. We dont know that.
Cal did his best to smile. If it turns out to be dangerous, then, he said, warn me.
I will, I promise. Ive been thinking about what happened to Evandar. He wasnt incarnate, dont forget, which meant there was nothing truly solid about him. He could appear to have a body, but at root he was nothing but pure spirit, pure vital force. After he drained himself of most of that power, there was nothing left for him to fall back on, as it were.
Ah. Cal paused, visibly thinking this through. I do see what you mean. But Ive heard you talk of the what did you call that? the rule of compensation or suchlike.
The law of compensation, yes. Any great pouring out of dweomer force is going to have an equal reaction of some kind. The problem is knowing what it will be. Dallandra smiled briefly. I may never be able to fly in my own bird form again. Thats my best guess.
Youre willing to do that?
Flying comes in handy, but it doesnt mean a great deal to me any more. I have you, I have our child, and the ground seems like a very pleasant place to be.
He smiled so softly, so warmly, that she felt as if shed worked some mighty act of magic.
I do love you, he said. Im terrified of losing you.
Dont worry, and dont forget, Ill have a great deal of help Val, Grallezar, Branna, and for all I know, the lass on Haen Marn knows enough to take part in whatever the ritual is.
Thats right! I tend to forget about them. Its not like youll be fighting this battle by yourself.
Dallandra smiled and said nothing more. At the very beginning of a ritual she always asked that any harm it might evoke would fall upon her alone, but that Cal didnt need to know.
Im not just worrying for my own sake and for Daris, Cal went on. If you he hesitated briefly went away, what would happen to the changelings?
There are other dweomer workers. Look at Sidro. Shes amazingly patient with those poor little souls, much more than I can be.
True. He suddenly smiled. Oh very well, Im truly worried if I can forget things like that. Ill do my best to stop, but I make no promises.
Richt and his gift reminded Dallandra that she had an extremely unpleasant task ahead of her, telling her fellow dweomermaster in Cerr Cawnen about the fate of the caravan. As she went to her tent for privacy, she wondered if Niffa might already know, since Niffa had lost a great-nephew in that attack. The plight of bloodkin had a way of reaching a dweomermasters mind. Indeed, as soon as Dallandra contacted her, she could feel Niffas grief, as strong as a drench of sudden rain.
My heart aches for your loss, Dallandra said.
My thanks, Niffa said. Jahdos the one whos suffering the more, alas. Aethel was always his favourite grandchild.
Dallandra let a wordless sympathy flood out from her mind. Niffas image, floating in a shaft of dusty sunlight, displayed tears in her dark eyes. Her pale silver hair hung dishevelled around her face, a sign of mourning.
The men whove survived this long are likely to live, Dallandra said. I just tended them and spoke with Richt. They wont be able to get back on the road for some while, though.
My thanks for the telling. With my mind so troubled, its been a hard task to focus upon their images and read such things from them.
No doubt! Here, Ill let you go now. Ill contact you again to let you know how theyre faring.
Niffa managed a faint smile, then broke the link between them.
Just as Dallandra got up to leave, Sidro brought her the baby to nurse. They sat together, discussing the changeling children, until little Dari fell asleep. Dallandra settled the baby in the leather sling-cradle hanging in the curve of the tent wall. Westfolk infants sleep more or less upright, settled on beds of fresh-pulled grass, rather than wearing swaddling bands as we Deverry folk wrap our babies.
I was just going to talk with Valandario, Dallandra said. Do you think you could watch the baby for me?
Gladly, Wise One, Sidro said. Ill take her with me to my tent, if that pleases you.
It does, and my thanks. Ah, heres Val now! I thought she might have heard me thinking about her.
Val had, indeed. After Sidro left them, they spoke in Elvish. Valandario exclaimed over the pendant when Dallandra handed it to her, rubbed it between her fingers, and pronounced the dweomer upon it safe enough to wear.
Someones turned it into a talisman to attract good health, is all. Val handed it back. Huh, and the dwarves claim they dont believe in dweomer!
Someones turned it into a talisman to attract good health, is all. Val handed it back. Huh, and the dwarves claim they dont believe in dweomer!
Probably one of the women did the enchanting.
I suppose so. Valandario settled herself on a leather cushion. Ive been thinking about the dragon book, and I dont understand how Evandar could have written it. He couldnt read and write, could he?
I honestly dont know.
What? The subject never came up in all those hundreds of years?
Theres something you dont understand. Hundreds of years passed in this world, yes. For me it was only a couple of long summers with barely a winter in between. That first time when I went to Evandars country, I thought Id spent perhaps a fortnight away.
Valandario pursed her lips as if she were clamping them shut.
Dont you believe me? Dallandra went on.
Of course I do. Val stayed silent for a moment more, then let the words burst out. But how could you love a man whod trick you that way? He trapped you in his little world, and by the Star Goddesses themselves, the grief he caused in this one!
Tricked me? Dallandra found that words had deserted her. She sat down opposite Val, who apparently mistook her silence.
Im sorry, Val said. A thousand apologies.
No, no, no need. Dallandra managed to find a few words. Id never I dont think I ever thought of it of him that way before.
As what? A trickster? He had to be the consummate trickster, the absolute king of them all, from everything I know about him. This book its another of his tricks, isnt it? Like the rose ring and the black crystal. I hope its the last of the bad lot.
Well, so do I.
The silence hung there, icy in the pale silver light. Abruptly Val flung one hand in the air. The dweomer light above them changed to a warmer gold.
About the book, Val said. So Evandar could have written it.
Yes, perhaps he might have. Dallandra let out her breath in a long sigh. Though it seems like it would have taken a long time, just from its size, I mean, and he had so little patience.
Valandario quirked an eyebrow. Dallandra kept silent.
What about the archives in the Southern Isles? Val went on. Could it be a copy of something there?
I had hopes that way, but no, Dallandra said. Meranaldar was a librarian there, you know, and he knew every single volume that survived the Great Burning. Before he left last autumn, I asked him about the book that Ebañy saw in the crystal. He didnt recognize it, and yes, he remembered all the covers of the books, too.
He would. Valandario grinned at her. But boring or not, he was a useful sort of man to know. You were already wondering, last summer, if the book contained dragon lore, too.
So I was. He told me that the only dragon lore they had was the occasional comment or passage in books about other things.
Didnt you say that Jill had books from the Southern Isles?
Yes, and when she died, Evandar reclaimed them. Meranaldar told me that he brought them back to the archive. Ive got her other books, and the only dragon lore in them is what she wrote in the margins.
So much for that, then. Now, what about Lazs book, his copy of the Pseudo-Iamblichos Scroll? It has such a similar cover. Sidro told me that he bought it already bound but with blank pages up in Taenbalapan. Do you suppose the dragon book came from there, too?
A very good point. Dallandra rose and began to pace back and forth in the tent. I wonder if Evandar saw the other one there and acquired it somehow.
Stole it, you mean. Valandario got up and joined her.
Dallandra swirled around to face her and set her hands on her hips. Vals expression revealed only a studied neutrality. Shes right, Dallandra thought. He really was an awful thief. She wasnt quite ready to admit it aloud.
Anyway, to return to the book. Vals expression changed to narrow-eyed disgust. I suppose wed better talk with Laz Moj about it.
You suppose? Val, you look like you just bit into turned meat.
Hes someone else I have to forgive. Valandario forced out a brittle little smile. After Javs murder, Aderyn and Nevyn spent a long time trying to piece together what had happened. A very long time, truly. Things didnt fall into place till after the war where Loddlaen died.
I was still gone then, Dallandra thought. The guilt bit deep. If shed not gone off with Evandar, how different things might have been!
It wasnt till then, Val continued, that they realized Alastyr lay behind the murder and the war both.
Rori told me that Laz was once Alastyr.
Exactly, and I actually saw him when he was only a lad, a nasty little bit of work named Tirro. He grew up to be a merchant, and it was his ship that carried She paused briefly the crystal away, which is why no one could scry for it. They would have been out on the open sea by the time I tried to find them.
She means the crystal and Loddlaen, Dallandra thought. Aloud, she said, Ill go speak with Laz, but theres no reason you need to come along.
Thank you. I was hoping youd say that. She hesitated again, then glanced away as if shed decided not to say some painful thing.
What is it, Val? You might as well say it.
Why couldnt Evandar have just told you about the book on Haen Marn? Vals words floated on a bitter tide. Why all this secrecy and glittering crystals and the like? If that wretched crystal hadnt existed, Loddlaen wouldnt have coveted it. Yes, I know that sounds stupid, but he wanted it enough to kill for it. Why all the She stopped, breathing hard. My apologies.
Dallandra could think of a dozen reasons why, but faced with Vals undying grief, she found them shallow, stupid, pointless rationalizations, not reasons. She sighed and said the simple truth, I dont know why, Val. I truly dont.
Oh. Val paused for a long cold moment. Yes, I suppose you dont. She got up and left the tent.
Dallandra followed her, but she left Val her privacy, and instead went looking for Grallezar. The royal alar spread out along a sizeable stream, tents on one bank, horse herds and sheep flocks on the other. Against the rich green of the grass, the freshly painted designs on the tents gleamed in the summer sun as if the dull leather had been beaded and bejewelled. Children and puppies chased each other among the tents, followed by swarms of Wildfolk, crystalline sprites in the air, warty grey and green gnomes on the ground. Now and then this crazed parade ran into an adult who, nearly toppled, yelled imprecations upon them all as they raced on past.
Dallandra found her fellow dweomermaster standing on the edge of the camp well away from the childrens chaos. She was talking with a Gel daThae man who wore a filthy grey shirt and trousers, the remnants of a regimental uniform, Dallandra assumed. Indeed, Grallezar introduced him as Drav, an officer in one of Braemels old cavalry troops.
He does want to take his men away from Laz and join us, Grallezar said. I did tell him that only the prince could decide such a thing.