Magic's Promise

'One name of Lissa. I've been playin' her eyes an' ears over here.'

'She could be right,' he admitted. 'She knows I hate to be muddle-headed these days.'

Jervis grimaced. “Anybody been on front-lines hates t' be muddle-headed. Wish them Healers'd figure that out.'

'Have you heard anything out of Highjorune? Like about the palace, and the heart-stone?'

'Buried, and gonna leave it that way. Seemed safest. Van, you really think I should do this?'

'Why? Don't you?'

Jervis chewed his lip. 'I dunno,' he said after a moment. 'Tashir trusts me. I'm getting too old to try and beat sense into more young heads than one at any one time. What do you think of the notion? Too damned foolish to believe?'

'I think you'd make a good Marshal,' Vanyel replied honestly. “You've certainly proved that you aren't too old to change.'

Jervis snorted. 'You say that after I nearly ruined your life for you?'

'But you saved it,' Vanyel pointed out. 'If you hadn't been there, I would either have let the palace bury me, or I'd have gone down under Leren's knife. I'd have been dead before anyone found me. I think we're even.'

'Huh.' They drank in silence for a moment. The pain of Vanyel's wound seemed a bit eased.

'About Leren - you heard anything yet?'

Vanyel shook his head. 'I was hoping you'd get around to him. I have some information for you, since you're relaying to Liss. Leren was mage- controlled.'

Jervis swore under his breath. 'So he was tryin' t' take us both out a purpose. If he hadn't gotten distracted - '

'Exactly - and I'm the one that distracted him for you; there was - I felt something about him, but it got away from me.'

Jervis shook his head. 'Damn. We found out he was planted on us by the Mavelans. And now the priests of Astera are sending 'finders' into every damn temple along the Border here, to see how many more there are like him. Seems the Mavelans bought themselves a temple-school. The High Prelate is not what you'd call pleased. But I guess Leren's even twistier than we thought?''

Vanyel nodded. 'I told Savil this morning and she relayed it to Haven, but Liss might as well get it from you. He may have been serving the Mavelans, but he was serving somebody else, too. And I don't know who or what. It was no power I recognized.''

'And you won't ever find it from him. Liss couldn't get it out of him, and whoever it was killed him before she could turn him over to Heralds.'

Vanyel swore creatively and descriptively in Tayledras. “Savil didn't tell me that.”

Jervis grimaced. “She didn't know. Liss' sergeant found him dead in his cell just this mornin', guts torn out, and nobody next or nigh him since they'd brought him dinner. But Savil an' Lores an' Tashir showed up right after that, an' that kinda got lost in tryin' t' figger out what to' do 'bout Tashir.'

'Magic.'

'Seems so.'

Vanyel pondered for a moment. 'Did you ever find out why he tried to kill me?'

'Oh, aye. That was easy enough. Leren knew what was goin' on here; that Mavelan bastard was keepin' him briefed. That much Liss got outa him afore he got his insides tore out. Vedric figured you were getting too close to the truth about the boy. When he breached the shields, he didn't know we'd unraveled everything. He had it figured that his spell was too good to unravel. What he meant to do was send you Gating home, and the boy with you. Leren was supposed to knife you both. They figured you'd use the same place to Gate into as last time, so Leren was waiting once Vedric contacted him. What they didn't figure on was Savil and me bein' there, nor you and Savil splitting up, and they