Sword of Ice and Other Tales of Valdemar

enough temperature generally produce snow.'

'Lessons?' Serena said.

'Leesa,' Quenten said, 'fog occurs in nature when—'

'—the ambient temperature approaches the dew point.' Leesa finished the sentence automatically, with the air of a student who had heard the lesson more times than she wanted to.

'You're a quick study,' Master Quenten said approvingly.

Leesa just shrugged. Compliments made her feel uneasy. Since her own mother had never seen anything to praise in her, she figured that anyone who was nice to her wanted something in return. But she couldn't read this man; he didn't broadcast his thoughts the way most men she had encountered did. 'What do you want?' she asked him suspiciously.

'I want you to come up the hill to my school, to live and study there, so that you can learn how to use your abilities without hurting anyone.'

'I haven't hurt anyone!' Leesa protested.

'You're hurting yourself,' Master Quenten pointed out. 'You are standing here in dripping wet clothing, and by my reckoning this is the third day you've managed to soak yourself to the skin. Keep this up and you'll be sick. Do you have any dry clothes left?'

'Well, no,' Leesa admitted after a moment's thought. 'Everything I own is still damp.'

'Come on upstairs,' Margaret said, 'and Rose and I will find something to fit you. We weren't in the kitchen during any of the incidents, so our spare clothes are dry.'

'Good idea,' Rose agreed. She glanced at Master Quenten to see if he had any objections, then took Lee-sa's hand. The three girls went up the stairs to the large attic room they shared.

'What you said about her leveling the building,' Myrta said as soon as the girls were out of earshot, 'you were exaggerating, weren't you?'

'No,' Quenten said, as Serena shook her head. 'She really could have done it. It's fortunate for all of us that the lessons the last few weeks have been basic weather magic, rather than say, how to summon a fire elemental.' He looked at Ruven. 'You, young man, have had a very narrow escape. And I wasn't joking about her killing you. If you hadn't let her go, if she had felt truly cornered and desperate, you would be dead by now. Think about that next time you're tempted to treat a girl worse than you would treat a horse.'

'But horses are different!' Ruven protested.

Serena snorted. 'Yes, they're bigger than you are, and they kick harder. Go back to the stables, Ruven.'

'Shouldn't he apologize to her?' Myrta asked.

'Not if she can read thoughts,' Serena said. 'That's why I always say exactly what I'm thinking—I spent enough of my time in the Skybolts around Master Quenten and his mages to learn that you're much safer around mages if your behavior matches your thoughts. Since Ruven obviously doesn't understand what he's done wrong, any apology he attempted to make would be perceived by Leesa as an insult—and he's insulted her more than enough already.'

'I see your point,' Myrta said. 'Ruven, you can go back to the stables now, and I suggest that you stay there.'

Ruven, still looking bewildered, shrugged and went out.

Meanwhile Quenten was conferring with Serena. 'You've worked with her for several weeks. What's your impression?'

'She's smart, determined, and a hard worker,' Serena replied promptly. 'I'll be sorry to lose her; it's not often you get help that diligent. But she's running scared from something—probably her mother's way of life.'

' 'I'm not a harlot,'' Myrta quoted softly. ' 'I'd rather die than be one.'

'Exactly,' Serena said. 'And if 'I'd rather die' had been 'I'd rather kill,' we'd have a real mess on our hands. The sooner she's moved up to the school, the better.'

'You're sending me away?' Leesa stood in the doorway, looking stricken. The fact that she was wearing clothes too large for her made her look even more like a helpless and frightened child.

To Myrta's astonishment, for Serena had never struck her as the motherly type, Serena limped over to Leesa and held out her arms, and Leesa took the step that closed the small distance between them and clung to Serena.

'Master Quenten is an old friend of mine,' Serena said quietly. 'We were Skybolts together, and I've trusted him with my life many times.'

'Almost as many as I've trusted you with mine,' Master Quenten pointed out.

Serena ignored him. 'He's good people, and the school he runs is one of the best. You'll have a room of your own there, with a lock on the door—'

Leesa looked sideways at Master Quenten, who nodded.

'—and you'll have people to teach you how to use your powers. There are a lot of jobs that mages can do, and I think that you're going to be a very good mage.'

'I think so, too,' Quenten said, smiling at her.

'What's the catch?' Leesa asked, still suspicious. 'Am I going to be a prisoner up there?'

'No, you won't be a prisoner,' Master Quenten assured her. 'Students are not allowed to leave the school grounds without permission, but permission is routinely granted when you have free time.' He chuckled. 'How many of our students do you get in your bar here every night?'

'Quite a few,' Myrta said, 'and even more on holidays.'

'And I'll come up and visit you, too,' Serena said reassuringly. 'You're not going to vanish into a dungeon. Once you reach Journeyman status, you can go out and get a job if you're tired of studying. And by

then, you won't have to worry about anyone's trying to rape you—you'll be able to defend yourself from idiots like Ruven.'

Leesa looked up at her. 'Truly?'

Serena nodded. 'Truly.'

'And you promise you'll come visit me?'

'I promise.'

Leesa chewed on her lower lip, then decided. 'All right, I'll go.'

'Excellent,' Master Quenten said. 'You can share my horse on the ride uphill.'

Leesa's eyes sparkled. Riding a horse was a real treat.

'But promise me one thing, Leesa,' Serena said. 'Even when you've learned how, don't turn that idiot Ruven into a frog. It's a waste of energy.'

Leesa laughed. 'I promise.'

Chance

by Mark Shepherd

In 1990 Mark Shepherd began collaborating with Mercedes Lackey in the SERRAted edge urban fantasy series with the novel Wheels of Fire, (Baen Books). Also available from Baen is another collaboration with Mercedes, Prison of Souls, and a solo project, Escape from Roksamur, both novel tie-ins based on the best-selling role-playing computer game Bard's Tale. His first published solo work, Elvendude, appeared on the Locus bestseller's list In the works is a sequel, Spiritride, to be published in 1997.

He is not what I expected, and everything I expected, Guardsman Jonne thought as he made his way back to the camp. What I didn't expect was that he would look so tired.

It had been a candlemark since making the acquaintance of Herald-Mage Vanyel, and already Jonne was convinced that the gods had sent him to this place for a reason.