Part 9 (2/2)
Lute grabbed her ar her ar for the coins when the two of them passed the boundary stones
”OF ALL THE STUPID-Why run this way? The eastern boundary was closer-and easier going beyond Or am I to believe you came in this way?”
”No,” said Moonhawk absently ”I came in by the eastern way Here”
”Here what?” he de away fro under his breath, he followedIn a moment he heard the voices of the recent prisoners
”North for a bit, then,” the winded traveler was saying ”We'll turn south beyond the hills There's time for a short detour, isn't there, Maria?'
The woman's doubt was palpable She hunched in her cloak, dark eyes tired now, not flashi+ng
Moonhawk stepped around the rock that sheltered the
”Go due north,” she said, voice deep with Foretelling ”At the end of seven day's walking you will come to a town by a wide river The nahter is born, take her to Circle there They will Know her”
She sagged suddenly and felt Lute's hand beneath her elbow as she smiled ”The Goddess Herself intervened for you, sister Be joyful”
LATER THAT EVENING, Moonhawk fed twigs to a fire while Lute gru really worth so much?”
”So much?” He stared at her in disbelief ”My dear Master, ht that ain hand ”It's his prop” A sharp shake and legs appeared Lute set it firht scarves dazzled in the firelight
”His safe” Coins glittered and clinked
”His watchman” A moment of that hideous noise that had started the escape!
”His lightning ” A quick flash of pyrotechnic light danced about his hands
”And his restaurant” A tin arced across the fire and she caught it, laughing
”Hardly fresh milk!”
”Fresher than we had elsewise,” he retorted, and cao now?”
”Where the Goddess sendshands A wooden top spun in one palers, vanishi+ng it frohed in wonder
”How are you doing that?”
He glanced up with a grin ”Magic” The grin grew speculative ”Would you like to learn?”
”May I?”
”You seem to have a certain aptitude And I need an apprentice Been putting it off far too long Since we both go where the wind blows us, there's no need for us not to go together, is there?””No,” said Moonhawk, ”there isn't”
”Good,” he said and vanished the top Standing, he went to the bag ”We should, though, head more or less toward Huntress City”
”Why?”
He turned and the firelight glinted off the dull blue barrel
”I took this fros with others of its kind, under the careful eyes of those who know their dangers, rather than loose in the poor, half-orld”
”Will I have learned ic by the tihed as the weapon disappeared into the depths of his bag
”It depends on how apt a pupil you are”
THUS DID MOONHAWK and Lute ether across the world, this with the blessing of the Goddess, our Mother
The first tale ends here
A Spell for the Lost
THE WIND WAS out of the southwest, carrying the acrid odor of baking rock The sun was out of the saician in the weed-choked square, casting spears of light into the eyes of his audience
Moonhawk, thecompanion for this month or so, sat on the cistern wall, face turned aside the sun-spears, and watched each gesture with care
It was to be a rope trick now Lute showed the crowd the length of common brown cord, called a lad froly into a loop and hold it high above his head
Lute held up the circle of steel and waved it under the rope-holder's nose The lad called out that it was only a saddle-ring
Moonhawk leaned a little forhere she perched on the wall, opening herself to nuance, as she had been taught in Circle The ring-and-rope trick always baffled her, though she had seen it fifty times in the past month Perhaps this tihtly by the wind, ”by the grace of the eles we aim to touch and hold, by the wind and by the sun-Ho!” He -and reached forward in nearly the saered, letting the rope loop sag
The lad got his feet under hi the rope up, so the crowd could see the loop, unbroken, with the saddle ring threaded neatly as a pendant, spinning lightly in the wind
There were then as always several fro, all under the ician's tolerant eye