Foundation

uncommon and whatever he was doing, it has to be bad for Valdemar. But you just think about that man back there, and you think about what he was saying. Bear, you’re the Healer, I’m not. You would know if he had some sort of sickness. Can you come up with anything that does match his symptoms?”

Bear paused right there in the middle of the path, his brows furrowing in thought as they both watched him. “Well,” he admitted reluctantly. “No.”

“Hmph.” Lena nodded, satisfied.

Bear clearly wasn’t. “That doesn’t prove anything, Lena. You can’t prove a cat’s a cat by disproving it’s a dog. But on the other hand ... Well, I thought maybe he might have some Gift that was coming on him late. You know, something like Mindspeech.” He shrugged. “So I gave him some stuff that blocks Gifts, and something to quiet his nerves, and willow because by now he’s got a powerful headache. I figure if that works, he’ll fall asleep on his own. If it doesn’t—” He shook his head. “I’m not allowed to handle the strong things, things that can really knock you out. One of the full Healers will have to do that. Whatever it is, it’s a mystery and—” Now he looked sharply at Lena, “—if your song is right—what was it he was doing that called those things down on him?”

A shadow seemed to fall over them all. She nodded soberly. “That’s the real question, isn’t it?”

__________________

“—and that’s the real question, isn’t it,” Herald Nikolas said slowly, when Mags finished telling him about the day’s surprise. “I know that song, and I always assumed it was one of those children’s tales, too.”

Mags was bone-weary. It had been a very long day. And if he hadn’t thought the problem was that important, he’d have begrudged every moment Herald Nikolas sat in that chair at his table. Mags himself was slumped over some cushions on his bed, and the moment Nikolas left, he planned to be in that bed.

“But what if it isn’t?” Mags asked. “What if them things is real, an’ if they are, why was they watchin’ that man hard enough to drive him near crazy? An’ if they’re invisible and most folks cain’t see ’em, why could he? Or at least, know they were there, ye ken?”

Nikolas got that looking inward expression that Mags had come to associate with a Herald talking to his Companion. The lamp next to him sputtered a little and cast flickering shadows over his face. Slowly, his brows creased, and he began to look pained, physically pained, as if he was either having to concentrate very, very hard, or something was hurting him. Mags had never seen that particular expression on the face of a Herald talking with his Companion. He felt a cold chill, and wondered if it was a draft, or fear. Why would just thinking cause the King’s Own pain?

Then his expression cleared, and he looked up at Mags. “We think you have uncovered something, and a good thing that you did, Mags. If you hadn’t, we would never have known of this danger. Now, as it happens, the situation was well under control, but you saw the effect of it.”

Now Mags truly felt a thrill of fear. This was far, far more than he had thought he would get into when he agreed to assist Nikolas. “Ye mean, that fellah was doin’ something against Valdemar or th’ King?”

Nikolas shrugged. “The answer to that has to be we don’t know. Rolan agrees that the man was, indeed, being watched by the vrondi and that it was driving him mad. There are any number of reasons why his Lord would bring him here. But whether he was actually doing anything, we can’t say.”

Nikolas curved his hand around the back of his neck and massaged it as he continued to speak. “He could have been a perfectly ordinary spy, which is something we expect and guard against, Mags. He could also have been here for reasons of comfort for His Lordship—men with his Gifts often act as Healers, and as Bear pointed out, His Lordship is in very real danger of harming himself with his temper.” Nikolas got up from the seat at Mags’ table and began to pace slowly, looking at nothing. “The vrondi do not react to intent, they react to the presence of a particular kind of Gift, so Rolan tells me. He has that kind of Gift, and he probably tried to use it in some minor way. So there simply is no way of telling how that unfortunate man was going to use that Gift further. We can assume, probably correctly given His Lordship’s behavior thus far, that it would not have been good for Valdemar. But we can’t know.”

Mags let out his breath in a sigh. “So Bear’s medicine worked?”

Nikolas nodded. “So Rolan tells me.” Now he looked up at Mags. “The King’s Own Companion is ... rather special.”

“Tha’s in the stuff they first tol’ me, when I got here,” Mags offered diffidently.

Nikolas smiled slightly. “Well, to be honest, no one but the King’s Own, usually, is quite aware how special the Companion is. Rolan has spoken to Kitri, whose Herald is keeping an eye on our guests for me. He just talked to the servants for me. When last heard, the man dropped off to sleep as soon as the medicine took effect and has remained that way except when being awakened to take his dose. His Lordship has requested a wagon and escort back to the border.” His mouth quirked up in another half smile. “I think your lad Bear impressed him, mostly by not being intimidated. According to the servants, His Lordship is having those instructions followed to the letter. That sort of respect could be useful to us. If he calls on Bear for other remedies, can you try to arrange to go along?”

“Yessir.” Mags ducked his head. He was not at all averse to this plan; His Lordship made him profoundly uneasy, and he really, truly did not want Bear alone with the man. Not that he thought he would be able to fend off those highly trained bodyguards! But if anything happened, it would be impossible to silence a Trainee and his Companion. Dallen could raise an alarm before either of them came to serious harm.

He hoped.

:If anyone harmed a hair on your head ...: The rest of the thought, though Mags was not at all good at sensing feelings, was awash in red rage that shook him a little ... and gave him a strangely warm and happy feeling at the same time. :They would have to tell me where a door was wanted, because that is where I would kick my way through to get to you.:

“Sir, what about them mercs? They ain’t feelin’ them vrondi, surely? An’ vrondi ain’t throwin’ axes around neither—” Mags scratched his head and looked up at his mentor, who paused in his pacing. “We got th’ answer, mebbe, to the sick fellah, but what ’bout the haunt?”

“A very excellent question, and one I do not have the answer to.” Nikolas pursed his lips. “It’s just barely possible that all of them do have this Gift, but suppressed and undeveloped, and since it was hidden that way, the vrondi didn’t react to it and swarm them. But once someone with a working version of that Gift appeared, and the vrondi began to congregate, the