Lark and Wren

She widened her eyes. 'Can they do that?' she asked.

'I don't know why not,' he replied. 'One of the farmers has agreed to let them use his fallow fields for free for the first year. That may be how the Kingsford Faire started; I seem to recall something like that-the Church putting a ban on entertainment or levying an extra use-tax. I can tell you that most common folk would rather go to an open Faire, given a choice. Anyway, he asked me to spread that bit of news as well, so that the small crafters are ready, come next year.'

She nodded, stowing the information away in her memory. That was another thing the Free Bards did that she hadn't known; they passed news wherever they went. Often it was news that those in power would prefer others didn't know. Ordinary minstrels might or might not impart news as the whim and the generosity of their audience moved them; Bardic Guild musicians never did.

So in a way we are spies, she reflected. Only not in a way that sheep-brained captain would ever recognize.

'Aren't we going to meet Gwyna at Kardown?' she asked, suddenly, squinting into the sunlight, and taking off her hat to fan herself with it.

'That was the plan,' he replied. 'Why?'

'Oh, nothing-' she replied vaguely. She hadn't thought about the coming encounter, until the association of 'news' brought it to mind.

She and Talaysen were news, so far as the Free Bards were concerned. When they had parted from the Free Bards, she and Talaysen had been Master and Apprentice. Now their relationship was something altogether different. Gwyna planned a course of travel that put her in and out of contact with a good half of the Free Bards over the year, not to mention all the gypsy Clans. She would be the one telling everyone she met of Master Wren's change of status, and if she didn't approve . . .

Rune realized then that she wanted not only Gwyna to approve, but all the rest of the Free Bards, including people she didn't even know yet. And not just for her own sake. If there was divisiveness in the Free Bards, trouble with Talaysen's leadership, the things she and Talaysen had talked about would never come to pass. The group might even fall apart.

We will never make a difference if that happens, she thought worriedly, and then realized with a start that for the first time in her life she was thinking of herself as a part of a group. Worrying about 'we,' where 'we' meant people she'd never met as well as those she knew and liked.

It was a curious feeling, having been a loner most of her life, to suddenly find herself a part of something.

If Gwyna didn't approve of what had happened between her and Talaysen-

Then she mentally took herself by the scruff of the neck and shook herself. Of course she'll approve, she scolded. She was practically throwing us into bed together before we all broke up. I'm running from shadows that aren't even there. The fact that we're married shouldn't make any kind of a difference to her. She told me herself that Talaysen spent too much time alone.

She noticed that Talaysen was watching her with a concerned frown, and smiled at him. 'It's all right, no disasters. Just thinking things through,' she said cheerfully. 'Tell me something, do you think we were working magic last night, or not?'

He hesitated a moment, taking the time to wipe some of the dust from his face with his scarf. 'I never thought of myself as a mage, or anything like one,' he said, finally. 'Even though everything I've ever really wanted I've gotten. Now that I think about it, that is rather odd; I don't know of anyone who always gets what he wants or needs. I always thought it was plain fool luck, but maybe it wasn't just extraordinary good luck. Maybe it was magic all along.'

'Your cousin's a mage,' she pointed out. 'I'd always been told that sort of thing runs in families. That's the way it is in ballads, anyway.'

'That might explain it.' He paused a moment, and Rune had an idea that he was gathering his thoughts. 'Last night I told you that I heard the melody you were trying to match the first time we were caught. You wanted me to see if I could actually match it myself when we were wooing Sire Harlan's men, and I said I'd try, and we didn't have a chance to talk about what I did in private. Well, I heard the melody, just like before, and I tried to match it. Easier on a lute than a fiddle, by the way.'

She nodded. 'And you did it; I felt you snap into the melody at the end of the first time through, and the tune got stronger as we played it. Which was probably why they asked us to stay and play for them, why the men gave us supplies, and why the Sire gave us money and an escort.'

'I think it's also why the Sire talked to us personally,' he said. She raised an eyebrow in surprise, and he nodded. 'When we played for his men, he was listening just beyond the fire. I didn't see him, but somehow I knew he was there, and I knew we needed his goodwill. I saw you were doing all right with the men, so I turned my attention to him. I hoped I could get him to help us out; the captain was pretty reluctant to exceed his authority.' He frowned, as if thinking of something unpleasant.

'I'd say it worked,' she replied, wondering why he was frowning.

'That's the trouble, it did, and too well.' His frown deepened, and he tucked his scarf around his neck again. 'He talked to us very like equals, he gave us money and an escort. He shouldn't have done any of those things, it's just not in the character of most Sires to welcome strangers into their camps and treat them like old friends. What I did somehow made him act completely differently-'

'Maybe not,' she countered. 'He was camped out there with his men, after all, and he's obviously liked as well as respected. Maybe he would have done all that anyway. Maybe he's used to treating underlings well; maybe he just likes music.'

'Maybe, but it's not likely.' He shook his head. 'But that's not the point. The problem here isn't what he did, it's that I made him do it. I made him do those things just as surely as if I'd held a knife to his throat and ordered him to tell us the same things. Even though it kept us out of trouble, I don't like the implications. Being able to change the way people think and react is-well, it's frightening.'

She started to object, then shut her mouth, thinking about it. It was frightening, and she found many reasons why what she was doing was wrong. 'Can Ardis do that?' she asked.

He nodded. 'That, and other things. Healing, for one. Mostly she doesn't use her magic. I think she told me