Part 12 (1/2)
”And you'd better stop trying to antagonize him,” the g- most powerful wizard of our time said, his image rising ^ from the chair with no more than slight difficulty. ”What- ^ ever patience he had with you is just about gone now, and if you continue to push him you'll certainly regret it. And one more thing-''
”What now?” 1 asked when he paused, for some reason looking as though he were searching for the right words- ”Have you decided the way 1 breathe in and out bothers you?”
”That's closer to the truth than you know,” he said, his crooked smile bending his face and warming the dark of his eyes. ”Laciel, child, you've spent too much of the last years locked away with Morgiana in her house, studying and practicing and a.s.sociating with very few people who weren't of the Sighted. Morgiana is a wizard of great power, and your potential is nothing short of enormous;
mat combination of factors tends to turn people, especially men, somewhat diffident and circ.u.mspect. In the full mea- sure of things, I'm afraid you're a good deal more inno- cent than girls who are years your junior.”
”Is all that supposed to mean something?” 1 asked, having not the least idea what he was talking about. ”And I'm not at all innocent. I'm a full grown woman.”
”You most certainly are a full grown woman,” he agreed with a sigh, beginning to look frustrated. ”That, specifically, is the reason for the problem. Your self- image, however, hasn't been given me chance to change from the scruffy waif Morgiana brought home with her, to 91.
what you've now grown to become. The men of this expedition aren't Sighted, child, which makes your poten- tial meaningless to them, and they've never even heard of Morgiana. All they have is their own sight, and you mustn't believe everything they tell you. Morgiana will be cross enough with me as it is; I certainly don't want to add to it.”
”Uncle Graythor, I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about,” I said. giving in to the need to stretch out across the bed again. ”Whatever this is, can we discuss it some other time? I really am very tired.”
”Possibly I should be the one to be cross with Morgiana,”
he muttered, shaking his head in annoyance and what seemed like defeat. ”She should have explained these things to you long ago, not left them to a man who has never had daughters of his own to caution. I think I'll have to look for another way. You sleep now, and remember what I said: the trail will grow progressively more danger- ous, and you need to be protected so mat you can protect everyone else. Know mat my blessing and hope is with you every step of the way.”
He raised one hand, more in benediction and farewell than for magical purpose, and then his image was abruptly gone. Probably to set that warding on Rikkan Addis, I thought sourly, forcing myself to my feet in order to get out of my clothes. Well, I might not be able to use magic to take over leaders.h.i.+p, but if there were some other way I'd find it- I used the Sight to make sure there was nothing living in my bed before crawling under the covers, vaguely wondering what it was that I wasn't supposed to believe when told by my male companions, men stopped wasting my time. Graythor was very old, and sometimes old age affects even wizards with strength like his. I snapped my fingers to turn the lamp out, then snuggled down to think about Zail and the dinner we still had ahead of us to share.
CHAPTER 4.
The bloodcurdling scream snapped me out of sleep and bolt upright, my eyes opening quickly enough to see Soffann Dra just disappearing from the now-open door to my room.
I still wasn't awake enough to know what was happening, but if we were under attack again the attacker had to be invisible.
”She really should have knocked louder instead of sim- ply walking in.” a very familiar voice said from the floor to the left of my bed, not five paces away from the door.
”That way she wouldn't have nearly stepped on me.”
”InThig,” I groaned, lying back down as the big, black, feline head with blazing red eyes rose above the side of my bed, it now being in a sitting position instead of stretched out along the floor. ”What are you doing here?”
”Graythor felt that my presence on this expedition will be very helpful,” it purred, enormously pleased with it- self, red eyes unblinking in the small amount of lamplight coming in from me hall. ”Was that one of our companions?”
”Our companions,” I muttered, hanging a forearm over my eyes, still too jangled to make a more appropriate comment. There were some people, I knew, who disliked being awakened abruptly in the dark by the crowing of a rooster greeting the approach of dawn; right then I wouldn't have minded a batallion of roosters.
”Listen to all those running feet,” InThig remarked, its growl sounding interested and delighted. ”Almost all booted,
Q1.
93.
f-
,B.
I think, and definitely coming this way. This should be bin.”