Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar

Your horse misses you, the dogs miss you (Tygris has faded in health ever since you left), Mother misses you, and I miss you most of all. I hope you get to Journeyman rank soon, so you can come to see us.

Love and hugs, your own Chylla

Revyn leaned back against the sun-warmed stone of the grotto, closed his eyes, and smiled, laughing with his merry sister. He could see her now, just the way she had been on the day he told her he was leaving Hold Elann.

'But what will Mother and I do without you?' Her lips were quivering, and she bit them so hard he was sure she would cut them. She looked at the ground then, turning away from him so he wouldn't see her tears.

'You'll have to take care of Mother for me, Chylla. You know how hurt she'll be when you tell her where I've gone.' He smiled and gently touched her thin shoulders. She turned abruptly back to him, taking a deep breath.

'Take me with you, Revy. Please. I can cut my hair.

You can tell the traders I'm your little brother. Please don't leave me here, not alone with Myndal.'

'Better that you stay with Mother,' he had answered gravely. 'Mother will need you more than you will need me. Besides,' he said, smiling cheerily, 'I'll come back for you, little one. You know I will, and everything will be fine.'

If only she could be here with him now, everything would be fine. She would understand about him being a Healer if she just saw him, if he could just talk to her and show her how he felt, but he didn't know how he could write it to her. It seemed to him that to tell his family would make everything just that much more final. Telling them that he wouldn't be a Bard would mean that he would have to give up his dream and become a Healer.

'You know you want to be a Healer, too,' came the insistent voice in his head, the second self that chose times like this to scold him. This time, however, he didn't slap it away as he would a biting gnat. 'You have Talent. You know it, Eser knows it, the rest of the Healers know it, too. You're just afraid.'

Revyn thought about that one for a while. What would I be afraid of? he asked himself.

'You're afraid of losing your last hope of being a Bard. As long as you stay in the House of Healing without making any progress in using your Healing Talent, there's a chance that a Bardic Gift might show up. If you become a full Healer, you might have to leave Haven, and you couldn't continue your musical studies like you have been. Like Eser and Keryn have indulgently allowed you to.'

The voice was a sting of conscience, sharply reminding him of how ungrateful he had been to those who were trying to help him and teach him. He squirmed suddenly, trying to avoid his self-recrimination. But the voice, once unleashed, refused to be fettered again.

'You know it's just your own pride. Keryn said you could be a good Minstrel— and you already are one, even if it is 'just' around the circle of other Healing students.

And a Healer who can play music to soothe and calm the nerves is a rare thing. You're just too stubborn to accept that. You won't accept being anything less than the best, anything less than what you decided you had to be without even knowing what you could and couldn't be. You—'

Enough! he 'shouted' at the voice, squelching it into silence. You've made your point. Leave me alone for a while. I just need to think, to figure out what I want.

Some weeks later, Revyn hurried down the hallway of the House of Healing ahead of Eser, anxious to get to young Seldi's room for a few quick minutes of conversation in the course of the morning rounds. The boy's broken leg had been healing well, and Revyn expected that Eser would soon allow the lad to return to his family's holding with his older brother, who had arrived in Haven this day to fetch him.

'Good morning, Seldi,' he said cheerfully as he entered the room, smiling at the first patient he had ever treated on his own.

'Hi, Revyn,' the younger boy said, grinning. 'I hear my brother's come t' pick me up. 'S it true? Will I be goin' home soon?'

Revyn glanced in mock warning at the door. 'I wouldn't say that too loudly when you know Healer Eser is coming. He's liable to keep you here just to dash your hopes.'

Eser smiled at the sound of the two boys' laughter as he entered the sickroom.

'Well, Seldi, how do you feel today?'

'I'm itchin' t' go home, Healer Eser, sir. I hear m'brother has come t' fetch me.'

'He has, and he'll be in to see you soon. But it seems you might not be getting away from us for good, after all.'

Revyn shot Seldi a quick 'I-told-you-so' look, then turned his attention to what the Master Healer was saying.

'You, my boy, have a slight Talent for Healing. Not

enough to make you a Master Healer, so don't worry about being trapped in my job,' Eser said, smiling at his own expense. 'But what you have, if trained, would be very useful back on the farm to help with the livestock and small injuries.'

'What, me, a Healer?' Seldi gaped at Eser, eyes wide with disbelief.

'Yes, in certain things, if you choose to come back when you're a little older, for training. You probably wouldn't be strong enough to save lives, but you could save a good deal of the pain from small things—the little hurts that you get often enough on a farm. And you could learn to set legs, too.'

'In case anyone else is fool enough t' go climbin' the crag so soon after the first snow, y'mean?' Seldi grinned.

'Something like that,' Eser smiled. 'Would you like to be able to do that?'

'Would I! Ma 'n' Da are allus sayin' how much we need a Healer down nearer t' the village—we can't allus be runnin' t' Haven. An' if I could take care of what we need, well, that'd save us time and gold. Sure I'd come back!'

Eser smiled again at Seldi's infectious enthusiasm.

'Well, then, we'll just have a look at your leg and I'll talk with your brother and we'll see if we can get you sent off home to finish knitting up that bone.' He turned and nodded at Revyn, who slipped quietly into his accustomed place beside the cot, lifting the blankets and laying his hands gently over the bandages.

Carefully, he let his mind sink into the leg, beneath the bandages and the splint, until he could See the white of the bone buried deep within the flesh. The joining of the two pieces was a complete, though fragile, network Of bone and ligaments. The break had healed straight and clean. He withdrew his awareness and looked up at Eser, nodding slightly.

'It's clean,' he said quietly. Eser bent down and touched the leg briefly, checking Revyn's Sight against his own, and nodded back at his student.

'Well, Seldi, you're doing fine. I'll just have a word

with your brother and we can send you home in good health. Mind you don't try walking too soon, now, or you might bend the bone.'

'Thank you, Healer Eser, sir,' Seldi murmured breathlessly. 'I'll be back before you know't.'

Eser slipped out the door, leaving Revyn alone with the younger boy.

'I'm t' be a Healer like Eser an' like you, Revyn. Can you believe't?'

Revyn grinned at his friend, sharing his delight.

'Who'd've thought this would come of me breakin* me leg tryin' t' get me Mum the last Of the ferril flowers?'

'Was that what you were doing, Seldi? You never said.'

'Oh, aye, a stupid enough thing, eh? I allus promise t' pick the last ferril flowers I can find for me Mum, and I hadn't gone and got 'em this year. So after the first snow, I decided to take a last look up the crag t' see if'n I could find some. When the snow started again, Teral came up to look for me, an' we both went down in that rockfall.' Seldi became quiet and looked down at the blanket, absently picking at its weave.

'Well, you never can tell when good'll come to you, right?' Revyn asked cheerily, standing and heading toward the door to join Eser and continue the morning session.