Part 28 (1/2)

”Yes, I know,” Myrmeen snapped impatiently.

Stunned, the child looked at her with wide, hurt eyes. Apparently, a harsh word was rarely spoken to this girl.

Myrmeen could hear Reisz's amused and somewhat admonis.h.i.+ng voice in her head: Well, here you are, Myrmeen, at the end of your quest. You have your daughter-so what are you going to do with her? Have Krystin teach her the discipline of the sword?

”Are you happy here in Suldolphor?” Myrmeen asked.

”Oh, yes, milady,” Lynelle said with a bubbling enthusiasm that erased any hint of her earlier reserve. ”Here I have my studies, my parents, and my suitors-each and every one a true gentleman.”

”Your studies,” Myrmeen said, grasping for some common ground with this alien child. She is to become a mage, perhaps, and such pursuits certainly would help to grow some callouses on her far too trusting and vulnerable soul.

”Yes,” Lynelle said brightly, ”our library contains the works of the poets from all the ages-not that I believe that my humble scribbling will ever gain such recognition, but there is an art to be admired, a beauty forgotten by many, that must be explored-particularly the poems of love, for without them our world would be a barren and lifeless place. Don't you agree?”

Myrmeen stared at the child, finding it incomprehensible that this could be her daughter. The longer she watched Lynelle's pretty face, the more subtle clues she discovered that made her believe this was her child.

This girl wouldn't last five minutes alone on the streets of Calimport, Myrmeen thought. She felt as if she were about to crush a beautiful flower underfoot in her blind race to pursue her own fulfillment.

”What do you know of me?” Myrmeen asked.

Lynelle smiled. ”That you are the ruler of a s.h.i.+ning city called Arabel. Why you wish to waste your time with my lowly presence, I do not know.”

”Why do you think I'm here? Hazard a guess.”

”My father often has strangers come and speak with me, sharing their views, imparting theirwisdom, so that my life is not so cloistered-or so he says. Frankly, many of them are bores. I do not sense that you would be such.”

”You are most kind,” Myrmeen said in a halting, arduous fas.h.i.+on. The enthusiasm that had gripped her on the journey from Berdusk was now fading. Even her memories of the ceremony at the Twilight Hall, where she officially had been brought into the ranks of the Harpers, did not bring comfort.

What did you think you would accomplish here, Myrmeen? Reisz's hearty voice asked in her mind.

I wanted to know that she was safe and happy.

You already knew that.

Myrmeen realized that this moment had played a thousand times in the theater of her mind. In her fantasy, she told Lynelle the truth and the girl embraced her, turning her back on the life she had led for the past fourteen years. Tearfully, they rode off together, beginning a cherished journey of exploration, embarking on a quest that would have no conclusion, as the raising of a child was an adventure that lasted until a parent's final days, no matter what age mother and daughter attained.

”Mistress Lhal?”

Myrmeen was abruptly snapped from her revery by the child's voice.

You are my daughter. Say it.

”Mistress Lhal, you haven't said why you wished to see me. I am-very curious.”