Sun in Glory and Other Tales of Valdemar

even have Healer potential, Kes. And worse...something happened to the boy after she 'Healed' him.

It's like a bloodstain on his soul, and his mother's just the same. I took a look around the village before I came back. Just about everyone here has the same marking.:

:Oh, hellfires.: The Companion flared his nostrils. :We need a Herald- Mage.:

:I know.: Vess rubbed his nose. :It just doesn't seem to make sense, though. I don't pick up the least bit of malevolence from her. Something doesn't fit. How is she doing this? Why is she doing it? Is it possible to do blood-magic without knowing you're doing it? Or does she just have one hell of a shield around her?:

:That,: Kestric said, :is what I'd like to know.:

* * *

Vess opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling.

Something was floating there, hovering above his head-

And then he really woke up, and realized that his mind was once again playing tricks on him.

There was nothing on the ceiling but shadows, and no one in the room but him. He was alone.

And maybe that's my problem, he thought suddenly. Too many goddamn years in the court with an empty bed and fewer friends than a mean drunk. Just working day in and day out, waiting for the next crisis to strike.

And wasn't that the whole point of taking leave in the first place? I could have told Herald Becka to find another person with Mage-Gift to investigate Solmark, but no...I went instead. If it's not trouble finding me, it's me finding trouble. He grimaced. I'm pitiful.

He pulled himself out of bed and into his clothes. A brush to Kestric's mind found him to be sleeping, and Vess didn't see a reason to wake him. In the distance, he could hear the sound of the Solmark gate raising. He waned to walk, and think, and for once really, truly be alone. No people, no Companions-just him and the forest.

It wasn't healthy to go walking in the Pelagirs alone, but the same could be said for parts of Haven, as well. Picking up his sword from the table where it lay, Vess stuck it into his belt, and set off to be by himself.

It took longer to get to Starhaven on foot, and this time he approached it with the caution it deserved. He stood silently at the entrance, peering about once with his regular pair of eyes, then again with Mage-sight. When he was certain things were safe, he walked into the center, pulled the sheathed sword out of his belt, and sat down.

If I'm going to go looking for trouble, he thought, I might as well go all out.

But after a while, when the birds kept singing and the sunlight grew warmer, he found himself relaxing. He lay down in the grass, the sword on his chest, and stared at the one cloud in the sky above him, shaped like a fist.

How long, he thought, since I've just watched clouds?

The answer came easily: Since Nadja got sick. Since I started worrying the Companions might make me the next King's Own. Oh, gods-if there's one thing I don't want...I don't care if I'd be good at it, I don't want that job!

He sighed. But if I had to, I'd do it. And we all know it.

'Herald?'

He hadn't heard her walk up, but he knew the voice, and he recognized that it was close. Sitting up and letting the sword fall into the crook of his left arm, Vess looked over to see Juni walking toward him.

'Good morning,' he said with a smile. He had acted as if nothing unusual had happened last night-making the (true) excuse that he needed to think about what he had discovered. He was pretty sure that she didn't suspect anything.

'What are you doing here?' he asked.

'I visit here a lot,' she said. 'Especially early.' She paused, her mouth half open, then took a step forward, saying, 'You seem...troubled.'

He smiled. 'A lot of things on my mind.'

'About me?'

He shook his head. 'No, not you.'

She cocked her head. 'What about?'

'The court. The King. My duty.'

She widened her eyes. 'You know the King?'

He nodded. 'Sure. I'm one of his counselors-I know quite a bit about court life.' He winked.

'That's my curse.'

She smiled. 'Is the Palace nice?'

'It can be.'

She nodded. 'This place must be strange to someone like you.'

'It would be, except that I was raised not far from here. My mother is Lady Baireschild.'

She widened he eyes again. 'My Lord-'

'No.' He raised a hand. 'Dropped the titles when I got Chosen.' He grinned. 'Never liked them much, anyway.' He felt the smile fade. 'You're a very nice young lady, Juni.'

She bowed her head, blushing a little. 'Thank you.'

'You're welcome.' He stood, stretching, and brushed grass out of his hair and off his shirt. Then, dwelling on that last comment to her, he opened his inner eye and reached out to her-

-Maybe I was wrong

The red-black energy he had witnessed around her just last night was gone. He pressed further, delicately snaking past her natural defenses. Her three Gifts were still there, but now he saw that there was something more-something like the 'bloodstain' he had seen on the people of Solmark-only deeper That's odd. Why would she have marked herself with her own stain?

Something slammed into him, an unseen force that lifted him into the air and threw him back down to the ground in a pain-stricken sprawl. He blinked stars out of his eyes and tasted blood in his mouth-before he'd been hit, though, he'd felt a surge of magic coming from nearby.

:Chosen!: he heard Kestric's panicked call.

:I'm not dead-yet,: he thought dazedly. :Get out here, quick. Something's not right.: He rolled over, shaking his head to clear it, and for a moment all he saw was a pale, frightened Juni-And then he saw Sevastan. Sevastan-but not Sevastan. Even when the man had been curt yesterday, he hadn't looked this-malevolent. The set of his mouth, the shape of his eyes, the way he held himself- little pieces that amounted to a startling, sinister change.

A different person was standing before Vess. One look in his eyes revealed that.

'It is unfortunate,' Sevastan said, 'but necessary. I meant it when I said I can't have you taking her