Sun in Glory and Other Tales of Valdemar

me.'

:Kayla, that is not allowed-:

:I don't give a damn.:

The boy slid his arms around her neck and held her tightly, and that was his entire answer. She turned to the priest, a mixture of defiance and possessiveness lending strength to the soft lines of her face. 'I cannot help them all,' she said quietly. 'Not yet. But I promise, if it is in my power, that I will.'

And wondered what the word of an Oathbreaker was worth.

Looked at the child's head, his messy hair, the wax in his ears that hadn't been cleaned out by whoever had been attending him.

And knew that the word was everything. Mother, forgive me. Forgive me. I will return to Riverend when I am done.

'I am taking this child with me,' she told the priest. She almost lied. She almost told him that if she didn't, he would lapse back into his state of wide-eyed immobility. But she didn't believe it.

'Will you take him into safety, Herald-'

'Call me Kayla. Kayla Grayson.'

'Will you take him into safety, Kayla? Or into danger? If you ride toward the capital, you will find this...disease...is far more prevalent as you approach the palace. We have had care of him for two weeks, and we are prepared to care for him until-'

'Until he falls victim to the terrors once again? No. If I take him into danger, I take him with me, and I know-I know how to comfort a child.'

'You will have your duties.'

'What duty is more important than this? I will protect him. But-'

And a head appeared in the doorway; a white, large head, with deep blue eyes the size of palms and a long, straight muzzle wearing a silver-and-blue strap and bells.

Companions had no words to offer anyone but each other-and their Heralds-if the stories were true, but Darius did not need words; he butted the priest gently in the chest, and met his eyes, unblinking.

It was the priest who looked away.

'I won't abandon you,' she said softly, and hesitantly, as Riverend flashed before her eyes. 'But...but I think I understand now why I was called.'

'What are you, child?'

'I don't know.'

:Tell him your Gift is Empathy.:

'Darius says my Gift is Empathy.'

The priest closed his eyes. 'Then he is taking you to an unkind fate, Kayla.'

'Why do you say that?'

'The Empaths, the greatest of the Empaths, were the first to fall.'

* * *

The town's many inns offered food and wine and water when Darius entered their courtyards. But they were silent as they made their offers, and the fear that she had sensed in the infirmary had extended outward in an echo that was terrible to witness. On impulse, she said, 'I have with me one of the children who was in the cathedral infirmary. He's not very talkative,' she added, as the boy shyly turned his face into her shoulder, 'but he's recovering. I know it's been bad on the town, but as an outsider, I'm amazed at the way the town has come together to help the fallen, even when they don't understand the disease.

'There's hope,' she added softly.

And the innkeepers, their wives, their guests, leaped at the words that she had spoken aloud, a clear indication that eavesdropping was a way of life in any place, be it small hold or large town.

They might have called her a liar, but she was astride a Companion, and the Heralds did not lie.

So they breathed a sigh of relief instead. 'We've been pleading for help,' the innkeeper's wife said, as she added four extra pies to their load. 'But the only help the King sent lies in the infirmary with the others. We didn't know-' She ran the back of her hand across her eyes. 'My brother's in back, same as them that you saw. Thank you, Herald.'

Kayla had given up telling people that she wasn't. The woman composed herself, although the redness of her eyes spoke of unshed tears. 'You'll want a blanket for the boy; it's chilly on the hills in these parts.'

* * *

The boy ate like a pig. Which is to say, he ate everything they put in front of him, and he ate it in a way calculated to leave the most food on his clothes. The innkeeper's wife-a woman, and a mother, who therefore thought of these things-had seen fit to pack him extra clothing; Kayla was grateful for it.

She did not let the boy leave her, and he did not wander farther than her hand could reach. But his ordeal had left him easily tired, and he slept frequently, his back against her chest, her arms on either side of his upright body to stop him from plunging the distance between Darius' back and the forest floor.

'Is it true, Darius?'

:Yes. In the capital, where there are so many more people, many have died from the...ailment. They cannot feed themselves, and if they fall in the streets before the Heralds or the Kings' men find them, they're often robbed and left for dead.:

'How long has this been happening?'

Darius was silent.

'Darius, I think I've figured out why you came to Riverend by now. How does my ignorance serve your purpose? Tell me. If I'm to help, I need to know.'

:I would tell you everything in a minute, but there are oaths you must swear, and vows you must undertake, before you become Herald; and if you are Herald, there is no information with which you cannot be trusted.:

She knew when she heard his words that she suddenly didn't want that much trust.

Daniel chattered as they rode. And he helped with the food that was meant for Darius; helped with the blankets that were meant to keep him warm in the night. But he helped in a way that he didn't understand, for he would not sleep without Kayla's arms around him. She held him.

When the nightmares came that night, they were subtly different. The beast that roared with the voice of a thousand-tens of thousands-of screams, had eyes that were focused. Its flight was lazy, the circles it drew in the night sky slow and deliberate.

He was searching, Kayla realized. For her. For the child she had taken from him.

She did not scream. She wanted to, but she knew what it would cost the boy, and she kept it to herself.

And because of that, she reached the capital, and the Herald's Collegium, before sun's full height the next day.

The Kings' guards bowed quietly as Darius approached the main gates, and although it was evident that they were curious, they merely welcomed him home.

:They are usually more friendly,: Darius said apologetically, :but things in the Collegium have been dark for many months. I- Come, Kayla. Here is a woman you must see.:

A Herald?

:Yes. She is the King's Own, second only to the King in authority, and she is beloved of the Heralds. I should warn you, though that it is not for the quickness or sharpness of her tongue that she is loved.:

* * *

Kayla learned this almost instantly. A Herald met her at the front doors to the dauntingly huge building; he bowed to Darius. 'So you've brought her,' he said. 'Finally.'

'Yes,' Kayla replied, although the words had clearly not been directed at her. 'He did.