followed by his Aunt.
:Yfandes!: he called, snaking the Mindtouch around Vedric, hoping the mage would be too preoccupied with his attack to sense it.
:Here-:
Grateful that thought took less time to send than words, he told her all they'd learned. :Time to run for it, love. Have Kellan stay with the stud, you and Ghost head over the Border at top speed. Vedric's on to us. If we lose this -:
:I will see that the Kingdom knows,: she replied grimly. :I will see you avenged. Then I will come to you :
She cut him off before he could protest, and there was no more time to spare for protests.
'We have,' he cast over his shoulder at Savil, 'maybe a candlemark or two to figure out what we're going to do.'
Fourteen
They skidded into the Great Hall, feet slipping on the debris, startling Jervis and Tashir considerably as they came to a halt beside them. Savil held her side and panted a little.
'What -' Jervis began.
'Vedric's out there,' Vanyel interrupted him. 'He's trying to break through the shields. I expect he knows we're in here; I expect he figures we've learned the truth of what happened. He's the one that triggered the trap-spell; he used Tashir for the target, and the damned thing's set to take anyone of the bloodline of the target with Mage-potential.'
Tashir had been sitting on a cleared space on the floor. He stood, slowly, his expression frozen, his face drained. “I remember,” he said, his voice tight and strained, “I remember now. '' He turned away from them, and pointed a shaking hand at the door that led to the second-floor stairs. 'I was running down those stairs. I was going to run away. I told Father that - I told him that I'd rather dig ditches than go to Baires. He laughed at me, he said he doubted I had the spine - and I hit him. I didn't mean to, but it just happened. I was afraid he'd do something horrible and I ran. I ran through here and out the door, and – and -I couldn't get out! It was like hitting a wall! I didn't even think, I just turned around and started running for the stable door, and when I got here -' He pointed at his feet. 'I – it - happened. Like, I don't know, like a whirlwind, only there were all these teeth and eyes, and pretty soon it was filling the whole room and tearing everybody and everything around into shreds -'
His voice spiraled up into hysteria, and Jervis shook his shoulders.
'Tashir, come on, lad, we've got troubles now, don't you fall apart on me.'
The young man shivered like a trapped rabbit, but he nodded, and there was still some sense in his eyes.
'I repeat; Vedric's out there.' Vanyel shuddered as he felt his shields buckle a little more. 'He'll be in here soon. I sent the Companions out of here; Kellan's minding the stud, she and Ghost and Yfandes are going for home. One way or another, the truth is going to get out, but there's only one way out now for us. Savil, I'll hold him, while you build a Gate and get Jervis and Tashir out of here.'
She nodded, face gray and grim. 'Where?'
'Haven, by choice; no one is going to extract him from Randale's hands once he hears the whole story.' He was only giving half his attention to the conversation; the other half was busy weaving reinforcements to his disintegrating shields.
'But - ' she protested.
'Dammit, Savil, just do it; I can't. Gating that far would probably kill me!'
'Vanyel,' she interrupted urgently, 'what happens when he triggers the trap on you?'''
He felt himself pale, felt his spellcasting falter. 'Oh, gods - let me think - you should be all right if I can just hold him off long enough for you to alert somebody to protect you. Medren is Bard-Gifted with no Mage-potential, he should be safe enough. My sibs - no potential. Father!'
'Is safe,' she told him. 'How do you think I got half these white hairs? I spent a week in the nodes weaving
