Part 22 (1/2)

Archer grudgingly nodded. ”Your instincts are good ones, Devin.”

Talia stepped forward. ”There isn't anyone else to teach me? To pick up where we've left off?”

”Your mother was the only one,” Baleweg said, turning back to her. ”I only wish she'd had the time to work with you. But she made me promise to sever all contact with her. It was the only way she felt she could keep you safe.”

”So she never intended to bring me back?”

”From what you tell me of the stories she told you as a child, I feel she did plan that very thing. Perhaps she wanted you to grow up first, in a place where

she could teach you in relative safety, then bring you back as a grown woman, able to handle yourself.”

”But how would she have brought me back if she had no contact with you?”

Baleweg smiled then. ”Your mother was not without skills of her own. I have

every faith she would have found a way to contact me had she been ready.”

”She must have known someone was looking for her. We moved around a lot.

Did she know about Emrys?”

Baleweg looked troubled then. ”Yes, she did. But I thought she was being overly cautious. I honestly didn't think he'd have any interest in her, or you.”

He blinked several times, as if his eyes had grown gla.s.sy, then sighed. ”I had no idea she lived with such fear and for that I am terribly sorry. I felt a disturbance when she died, but honored my promise to not interfere in your life. Perhaps I should have. Maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.

But I stayed wrapped up in my studies.” He looked to his hands, then to some

point far beyond the two of them that only he could see. ”Too wrapped up, it appears.”

”Then why interfere now?” Talia asked gently.

His gaze sharpened as he brought it back to them. For the first time she saw

anger edging those brilliant blue eyes of his. ”Because Emrys does have an interest in you now, though why I cannot say. It can't only have to do with Chamberlain's wish to take on the power of the throne. He enjoys toying with the lives of others. If he's aiding Chamberlain, it is only because it serves some childish wish of his to entertain himself. And, as usual, his entertainment comes at a cost to others. I imagine my involvement with your mother is part of that amus.e.m.e.nt. He is using Chamberlain's desires to jab at me, draw me out.”

”Then why didn't you step in sooner?” Archer asked. ”You could have just

come back and taken her to the queen yourself.”

Baleweg turned on him, eyes snapping. ”My stepping into the game then, for the sole function of attempting to protect her, would have only served to heighten his amus.e.m.e.nt and s.h.i.+ft the focus more sharply on her. As it was, the queen resolved the issue for me by taking up the search for Eleri herself. It had only been a matter of days by then that I had come to be aware that the plot

with Dideon was afoot. As usual, I was fairly immersed in my studies, not in the latest political schemes. Then you were chosen. The royal hunter. And the path became clear to me. I knew you would be the one. And so you are.”

Both Archer and Talia fell silent. Talia felt it the moment Archer s.h.i.+fted his gaze to her and wanted nothing more than to look into those eyes, take from his strength. But she needed to be strong herself. It was difficult enough to admit she trusted him, that she knew he'd risk his life to keep hers safe... but to simply give everything over to him... no, she couldn't do that. She had to know she could take care of herself.

Archer spoke then. ”Tell us more about Emrys. We need to know who and what we're dealing with. He is more powerful than you are, isn't he?” Baleweg looked to them both, remaining silent for so long neither thought he would speak, then finally, he said, ”He is known as the Dark One. I a.s.sure you he deserves that moniker. His skills are, in some ways, more advanced than mine, but he has far less discipline.” His expression turned baleful. ”He's learned quickly, in far less time and with less effort. It is all a game to him and he bores easily. I'm certain this drama at court is a highly amusing little play to him, like a chess game, with Chamberlain as a rather entertaining p.a.w.n.”

”So he's moving people about time at Chamberlain's whim for no reason but that it amuses him?” Archer snorted. ”I find that hard to believe.” Baleweg looked to him. ”It is difficult for someone like yourself, a man with long-held goals who is willing to work hard to achieve them, to understand the motivations of someone for whom obtaining things, material things, comes easily. When that is the case, goals s.h.i.+ft. Security is not an issue and defeating boredom becomes the only challenge. When you have powers as strongly defined as Emrys's, your choice of entertainment can take on dire, even deadly, consequences. Especially for those with whom he chooses to play. Which, I imagine, is what draws him to the game in the first place. That and poking and prodding at me whenever the chance arises. This game with Chamberlain allows him to do both. He'd like nothing more than to draw me into this. He's never understood or accepted my chosen path of continued study. And I a.s.sure you he cares nothing about who gets hurt in the process.”

Talia's throat tightened as the true consequences of her role in this sunk in. If she couldn't help the queen, far more was at stake than political chaos. ”So if I fail... and the queen dies-”

Baleweg looked sharply at her. ”You will have done what you can do. Fate will out. But you must see this through. I had hoped for more time, for us to make more tangible progress, but we must head back as soon as possible. If you remain here, you will be hunted. Anywhere you go, in this time or any other, you will be hunted, until the matter of the crown is dealt with. We must try to do what we can for Catriona. I believe this is what you mother would have wanted.”

”What about Emrys?” Archer asked. ”When the queen's fate is resolved, what will he do then?” ”That I cannot answer. But I will do what I must when the time comes. Our first concern must be the queen's health. As to that, Talia should not be at court without someone whose interests are the same as my own. Make no mistake,” he said, his voice quavering with emotion now, ”I am not doing this for queen and kingdom. I am doing this because of a promise I made to a young woman who made a place for herself in my heart. I have honored Eleri's wishes, but now I must do what I can to protect her daughter, all that is left of her. The one to protect her must place her interests first, beyond those of the queen and court, beyond even his own.” He turned and looked deeply into Archer's eyes. Even Talia s.h.i.+vered at the intensity. ”I trust that you are the

one who will fulfill this role.”Talia's first thought was that she didn't want anyone else's life placed in jeopardy, but she was stilled into silence by the look in his eyes. I won't let anything happen to you, Talia. Not if I can help it. The words he'd blurted out to her in the park earlier echoed through her.

He spoke to Baleweg, but his gaze continued to rest squarely on hers and she knew he was thinking about them, too. ”You have nothing to fear on that quarter,” he said, then turned and faced Baleweg. ”I say we move swiftly.

Tonight if possible.”

Baleweg shook his head. ”Despite the problems and threats facing us, patience in this matter is key. It is not so easy as das.h.i.+ng off.” He stepped closer to her.

”Talia, I think it best if you do what is necessary to square things away with your animals and their potential owners. Then explain to your employees that you will be making a short trip.”

”Short?” Her voice was a croak.

”Whatever happens after your arrival will likely happen quickly. Then it will be up to you to do what you wish from that point forward.”