Storm Warning

and the Stars,: he began, his mental voice ringing in Karal's mind. It occurred to Karal at that moment, as he scribbled furiously to get all of the story down, that he himself had changed out of all recognition ever since he had come to Valdemar. Not that long ago, simply seeing the kyree would have put him into shock. Now he was taking down what the creature dictated into his mind, without a second thought.

Was this a good thing, or a bad one?

Neither, he decided, as his fingers flew across the page, filling line after line with meticulous script. It's just change. You change, or you turn into a dry old stick.

And another thing occurred to him.

Dry old sticks break under pressure. So maybe it was a good thing after all. The last thing they all needed right now was one of their number who would snap like a twig.

It had been a long day; it was going to get longer before Karal saw his bed. Nevertheless, when An'desha intercepted him on his way out of the gryphons' room and asked him to make a map of the way to the Compass Rose, he volunteered to act as An'desha's escort instead, after they both had some supper. Ulrich was to work with the Tayledras and Elspeth, strengthening shields again; that left Karal free to make a hasty copy of the day's notes and show An'desha the way.

That was why they both found themselves trudging through a night made darker by the clouds still overhead, splashing through puddles left by the rain, with the sounds of carousing coming from the lantern-lit taverns all around them.

'Thank you for coming with me to where these engineers meet,' An'desha said shyly. 'I would be very uncomfortable, going there alone.'

Since this would be the first time, to Karal's knowledge, that An'desha had ever left the grounds of the Palace, he suspected that 'uncomfortable' was an understatement. Terrified might be more apt.

But An'desha was set on going. He felt that someone was going to have to try to explain magic to those without it, and that he was the best person for the task. That was the argument Karal had walked in on this afternoon. An'desha had volunteered his services, and Firesong had objected.

Firesong might be jealous; he might be afraid that An'desha will find someone else he's attracted to. I wonder if that occurred to An'desha as an explanation for all his objections?

'I have all these notes from our meeting to deliver, and I need to get copies of what they've done for our mages,' he replied. 'And besides—An'desha, I know you're shy, and I just couldn't let you walk in there alone, face all those people you don't even know. That's what friends are about, right?'

'I had hoped so.' An'desha smiled tentatively. 'But you are stretching yourself very thin, running errands for all of us, transcribing the notes of our meetings for us. I hadn't wanted to ask you.'

'Before this is over, we're all going to be exhausted, so don't worry about it,' he told the young mage. At that moment, they reached the door of the tavern, and he paused for a heartbeat on the threshold. 'Well, brace yourself. This is not going to be like anything you've ever seen before.'

An'desha did visibly brace himself, but he still winced as the door opened and a steady stream of babbling voices poured out over them.

But the voices all stopped when people noticed just who it was that was standing in the doorway. Natoli hurried over to them, and Master Tarn was right behind her.

'We've got notes and charts for you,' Natoli began.

'And I've got notes from the mages' meeting for you,' he replied. 'And more than that, I've got a mage with me who wants to show you some of how magic works.' An'desha clearly wanted to shrink back away from all the people, but only his trembling hands betrayed his nervousness. 'An'desha, this is Natoli, and this is Master Tarn. Ladies, this is An'desha; he's both Shin'a'in and Tayledras, and he's one of the mages that works with Lady Herald Elspeth.'

'Very pleased to see you, Master An'desha,' Master Tarn said, folding her hands together and bowing a little to him, rather than seizing his hand to shake it. That was a rather tactful gesture on her part, Karal thought. 'We badly need someone to help us understand how these magic powers of yours work. Right now, we're in the position of trying to read the wind.'

'I can understand,' An'desha replied, so softly that Master Tam had to lean forward to hear him. 'I am happy to be of help.'

'Well, come over with us, then. Karal, I think Master Henlin wants your notes so he can have copies made; join us when he lets you go.' Master Tarn took charge of An'desha as if she were used to shepherding shy youngsters all the time. Perhaps she was; it occurred to Karal that many of her students might be just as shy and introspective as An'desha. Intelligent children generally got into trouble with their less intelligent peers—it had