watching the fire through half-slitted eyes as she waited for the opportunity to confer with him. Her single word contained a world of overtones that she was fairly certain he'd pick up.
:Interesting, on several levels,: he replied. He was lying on his back, arms beneath his head, his eyes also closed.
The settlers - Savil had learned before the evening was over that they were calling their lands 'Garthhold,' and that there were seven loosely-related families in the group - had offered the Tayledras and their friends unlimited hospitality. All four of them were bone-tired even after rest and tea, and it was agreed among the three adults that it would be no bad thing to take them up on it. They refused, however, to put anyone out of his bed. So after a dinner of bread and stew, they made it plain that they intended to sleep by the fireside. The four of them were currently rolled up in their cloaks, on sacks of straw to keep them off the stone of the floor, beside the glowing coals of the kitchen hearth.
Vanyel was genuinely asleep. Savil wasn't certain of Moondance; he was curled on his side, his face to the fire, as peaceful and serene as a child's.
By all rights, he should really be asleep. There'd been several injuries related to the colddrake's attack and the hasty escapes, and Moondance had had his hands full Healing them. Then he had delegated himself magical assistant to getting the stockade back up. It had saved the Garthholders no end of effort to have the logs spell- raised back into place. He should have been exhausted.
So Savil thought, until he Mindspoke both of them :May I enter the conversation? I assume there is one.:
So much for Moondance being weary.
:Be welcome, but keep it in private,: she replied, :Among other things, we're discussing the boy. Starwind, go on please :
:From the small things to the great - I think perhaps you may cease to fear for the boy. I think he now feels the hunger you spoke of, and understanding has been attained. Herein the question is if the boy can conquer his fears.:
:I wondered about that. He's been wearing a very odd look on his face this evening, and I've never known him to be as friendly with common folk as he was tonight.:She opened her eyes wide and stared at the glowing embers of the hearth without really seeing them :Poor Van. If that dream of his is ForeSight - that's a hell of a burden to carry around.:
:It still may never come to be,: Moondance reminded them, and the straw of his bedding crackled as he shifted :We still See only the thing most likely at this moment. And the moment is always changing. I would change the subject. We have a more urgent consideration. Those colddrakes were Gated here. That speaks of - :
: - great trouble to come,: Starwind replied, his mind-voice dark and grim. :There is no doubt in my mind at this moment that the drakes were sent to harry this area in advance of a fighting force.:The fire popped once :This has gone beyond tampering. There was a village to the west of here under tacit k 'Treva protection. I can no longer sense it; it is under a foreign shield.:
:Someone moved in and took it over, hmm?: Savil brooded on that a moment :What would you say to us organizing a little surprise for whoever sent those drakes? I doubt anyone is expecting k 'Treva response this soon. By rights, dividing the swarm should have kept us busy for a week.:
Starwind's mind-voice was troubled. :I would say that you are not k'Treva - :
:And I would reply that I am Wingsister, which makes me just as much k 'Treva as Moondance. I would say also that two mages tampering in this area is a very unlikely coincidence, ft is far more likely that this is the same mage who was hired by the Leshara of Valdemar. Which makes it the more my fight.:
More straw rustled, and Savil moved her head slightly; just enough to see Starwind's ironic gaze bent on her for a long moment.
:And I,: Moondance put in :would say that my shay'kreth'ashke is unlikely to win a battle of wills with such a stubborn one as I know the Wingsister to be. I would also say that three Adepts are better in this than two.:
Starwind sighed. :I fear I am defeated ere I begin. What do we do with the boy, then? We cannot leave him here, and I mislike taking the time to take him back to the vale. That will lose us the element of surprise.:
:He may prove useful,: Moondance said unexpectedly :He did defeat the queen-drake :
:We bring him, I suppose,: Savil agreed, though with some misgiving :Surely Yfandes can be counted on to keep him out of serious trouble.:
:I cannot like it, but I must agree,: Starwind replied reluctantly :This is a great deal of danger to be taking one so untested and so newly-healed into.:
:I know,: Savil said, wishing the coals burning in the fireplace didn't look so much like a burning town. :Believe me, I know :
It had been snowing all day, not heavily, but steadily. The air felt almost warm. The Companions moved like white spirits through the drifts of flurries, each carrying double. White horses, white riders - all but one; the one riding pillion behind the second Companion was in smoky black and dark gray, a shadow to a ghost.
'You all look like Heralds,' Vanyel said, from the pillion-pad behind Moondance. 'Everyone does except me.'
'How so?' Moondance asked, somewhat surprised.
'It's your white outfits,' Savil supplied, as Kellan lagged a little so that she could reply without having to turn her head. 'Heralds always wear white uniforms when they're on duty.'
'Ah - youngling, Tayledras always wear the colors best suited to blend into the treetops. In winter - white. In summer, obviously, green.' Moondance was carefully plaiting a new bowstring using both hands; he wasn't even
