Part 10 (2/2)

I'd put my hands over my face to let my fingers rub at my eyes, but something in the man's voice made me take them away again. When the pretty -colored spots had all faded I saw those bronze eyes looking down at me, and they were glowing faintly.

”There wasn't anything magical about this afternoon's attack,” I said, wondering if I were being gently accused of hiding things. ”Those kidnappers were warded like the three attackers tonight, but that can't be anything but coincidence.”

”Like the coincidence that the three tonight were head- ing you toward the door?” he came back immediately, annoyance growing in both eyes and voice. ”You and Su agreed that it was you they wanted this afternoon, and

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tonight they almost had you again. Who would want you so badly, and why?”

”But-no one!” 1 protested, certain he couldn't possi- bly be right, but still beginning to get confused. ”And it can't be just me they were after. They had fighters under a compulsion ready, and sent them after the rest of you.”

”But not until drey already had their hands on you,” he countered, those eyes glowing brighter now, one big hand running distractedly through thick black hair. ”Once they had you they felt free to attack the rest of us, but first they took you. Why would that be?”

”Perhaps they feared what magic she would use,” Kadrim suggested from where he stood with Su and Soffann Dra, only a couple of feet away. ”Did the wizard not say her power was great?''

”But they found out this afternoon that her magic couldn't get through their warding,” Zail disagreed from behind me, sounding as confused as Kadrim had and I felt. ”If they really are all the same group, the one who got away would have told them what happened. And if they aren't all the same group, what's bringing so many of them out from under their rocks all at the same time?”

”That part's not hard,” Soffann Dra said, moving just a little closer to Kadrim after a glance at the darkness all around. ”We're after something that was stolen, aren't we? Anyone who keeps us from getting it back, can probably ask for and get all the gold he wants from the thief.”

”Couldn't ask if he didn't know about it,” Su put in, surprising just about everyone, ”The wizard said no one knows but us and him, so how could they know.”

”There is someone else who knows,” Rikkan Addis said suddenly, staring at Su where she stood under the low-gauge glare of the miniature sun. ”The one who took the balance stone knows, and is also obviously in a posi- tion to set up ambushes along the trail we have to follow.

Knowing that much, I also now know why they've been trying for you first, girl.”

Those eyes were back to looking at me, but for once they couldn't distract me. He claimed to know something, but for the life of me 1 couldn't see it.

”You totd me the reason yourself,” he pressed when he saw that I wasn't following him, seemingly oblivious to all the rest of the eyes on him. ”You said that if you had to, you could make Su's talent your talent, and I'm now willing to bet you could do me same with me rest of us. If one of us didn't make it all the way, you could subst.i.tute for that one.”

”As a matter of fact, I could,” I admitted, still not seeing where the line of logic was leading. ”As long as I know what the necessary talent is, I can reproduce it. If I tried to match all of you I'd probably be good for nothing more than counting my fingers afterward, but if I had to I could do it. What has that got to do with kidnap attempts?

With all of you still around, 1 don't have to reproduce your talents.”

”That's why they're trying for you first,” he said with the sort of slow patience that forces home a point, folding his arms across his rust-colored leather s.h.i.+rt- ”There's no sense in their trying to stop us if you're still around, not when they can kill every one of us and still lose the game to you. If they manage to get you out of me way, then they can try for one or two of us. Without your particular talent, mat would be enough to stop me rest of us.”

Put that way, the idea was very hard to argue against. 1 just stood and stared at him without being able to say anything, then discovered that I was also being stared at.

Five pairs of eyes were reflecting me digestion of the fact that as long as I stayed alive and a part of the group, they were as safe as a quest like that was likely to let mem be. I didn't care for that thought, and wasn't even sure I agreed with all of it, but for me third time that day the words just weren't there-

”I think we'd better get on to me real inn now,” Rikkan Addis said, unfolding his arms to look around. ”It's prob- ably the safest thing we can do, considering that they tried to trap us here. Using the real inn would have been easier, if they could have managed it. Maybe there's a reason they couldn't. Kadrim, Su, see if you can find the horses. The rest of us will stay with the girl.”

Kadrim and Su nodded before going off, and Soffann Dra lost no time in replacing the red-haired boy with

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Rikkan Addis as someone to stand close to. A minute later there was an arm around my shoulders, and Zail was standing to my left, tall and concerned and protective. It was all I could do to keep from pus.h.i.+ng that arm away, an arm 1 would have been delighted to have around me just a few minutes earlier. They were now all going to be look- ing out for ”the girl,” and ”the girl” didn't like it one little bit.

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