'Lady, I know you think I can trust you,' he replied, stubbornly, 'but you and she are not of my people; your ways are not ours, and what you think important may mean nothing to us.' And please to dim yourself,' Treyvan added 'You do not need to set the forest afire to prove what you are.' Her glow faded, and she pondered for a moment. 'It is true that we are not of the same peoples, but I will tell you what brings us here. the child needs tutoring in mage-craft. that is the most important of our tasks. Other than that, we have no agenda to pursue. And we are four more to stand at your side in your troubles.' She snorted delicately. 'We have departed from the road that had been planned for her. At this point, I do not see how further deviation from that plan can matter.' The road that had been planned for her? Interesting words, and ones that explained a great deal about the girl's temperament. I doubt I would much care for being blown about by the winds of fate. In fact-I just might become as belligerent as she has. He began to feel a bit more in sympathy with the girl. And quite a bit more inclined to trust her.
'Lady, we may not agree on what is to be done here,' he warned. 'This is Tayledras land; we follow the task given to us by our Lady, and nothing is permitted to interfere with that.' She shook her mane impatiently. 'Does it matter in whose name good is done? Evil done in the name of a Power of good is still evil. And good done in the name of a Power of evil is still good. It is the actions which matter, not the Name it is done for. You stand against evil here; we will help if you will have us. And then-perhaps-you may help us.' Well, that seemed reasonable enough. He raised an eyebrow at Treyvan; the gryphon, adroit at reading human faces, cocked his head to one side. 'She seems sincere. She is-something that cannot speak falsely.
And Darkwind, we and k'sheyna are not strong enough that we can afford to neglect any form of aid. Especially if we are to free Dawnfire and my children.'
He nodded. 'If that's the way you feel, then I agree.' He turned to the mare. 'Lady, we accept your offer with thanks.' The spirit nodded emphatically. 'Good. Shall we confer on what needs to be done?' Things to be done-the rescue of Dawnfire, for one thing. After Starblade's revelations, he was certain that she was in Falconsbane's hands.
He could not leave her there-he told himself it was for k'sheyna's sake, that the Clan could not afford another like Starblade-but it was as much for his sake as the Clan's. Over and over the thought had plagued him, intruding into everything, that if he had only been more vigilant, if he had only taken the time to explain why he had wanted her to stay clear of the gryphons that day, none of this would have happened to her. He knew now that he was not to blame for the shattering of the Heartstone-but this he was guilty of. He had allowed Falconsbane to lure him into relaxing his guard. And this was the result.
'Bring your people out,' he told the spirit..As soon as they are ready to talk. And I will see if I can explain this before night falls. And explain,' he added grimly, .just what it is that we mean to do.'
To his surprise-although he should not have been surprised-the Outlanders had a very good grasp of the situation once he sketched it. As the young man said, 'It's not much different from our position at home.
Except that the scale is a lot smaller.' The girl sat with her chin resting on both her hands as she listened, then offered a question. 'Why is it that this Falconsbane hasn't made a frontal assault on k'sheyna? He has to know that you're in trouble, and this would be the perfect time to take you.' This Elspeth seemed much easier and more relaxed, now that her blade was out of its sheath and away from her. The spirit penned within the sword-'Need' was its name-had stated that there was very little it could contribute. It had never been a tactician or a leader and did not care to begin learning the craft now. Furthermore, there was a great deal she could do to shield the gryphlets from further tampering; so that was what she had been left to do.
Elspeth had been a leader and a tactician-at least in small skirmishesand she had studied her craft under one of the legendary mercenary Captains of the modern times. Word of the Shin'a'in 'cousin' had penetrated even into Tayledras lands, via the few Bards that had congress with Tayledras and Shin'a'in. And her pupil's question had merit.
'I do not know,' he replied frankly. 'I am fairly certain that he has the power to pursue a frontal assault. It may be that he has not simply because he does not think in those terms; because he prefers to weaken from within, and gnaw away from without, until little by little he has wrought such damage that he can overcome his target with little effort or losses.'
'That only works if you don't know what he's doing,' she pointed out. 'Once his victim knows-'
'It may be too late,' Treyvan rumbled. 'I sssussspect hisss tacticsss have done verrry well in the passst.'
'He probably enjoys working that way,' the young man-Skif, a very odd sort of name, to Darkwind's mind-put in. 'I mean, it's obvious from what the cat-lady said that he positively revels in making people suffer. Seems to me he wouldn't get half the pleasure out of being straightforward.' Elspeth bit off an exclamation. 'That's it!' she exulted. 'That's his weakness! That's what makes him vulnerable! He's so busy with his convoluted plans that if he sees us trying one thing, he might not expect a second attack that was perfectly straightforward. Look, Darkwind, if I were you, that's what I'd do; I'd pretend to try to negotiate with him, and while he thought he was tying me in knots, I'd make a straight assault to get Dawnfire free. I'd also try and do as much damage as I could on the way out,' she added thoughtfully, 'but then, I'm well known to be a vindictive bitch.' She glanced sideways at Skif as she said that, and the young man looked sour. Evidently she was using words he had thrown at her at some point, and he was not enjoying hearing them now, tossed back in his face.
For his part, Darkwind was a little surprised by this interchange. He had been under the impression that these two were lovers, but evidently this was not so. He tucked the information into the back of his mind for later use in dealing with them. There were niceties needed with a pair of lovers that could be disposed of when working with a pair of friends or colleagues.
Such as splitting them up, for instance, sending one on one mission, and the second on another.
'It is a good notion,' he told the girl. 'Except that we are not supposed to know that Falconsbane even exists,
