yesterday.
Was that still true?
Well, why not test it?
Vree?' she called, tentatively, pitching her mind-voice up high, trying to reach the same place she had Heard him.
The bird looked up, startled, and immediately turned his head upside down to look at her.
:?: he Sent
'Yes, she's speaking to you, silly bird,' Darkwind said lightly, with an approving glance at her that warmed her all the way down to her toes.
'It's considered polite to answer.'
'Ye-es?' Vree replied, cautiously, righting his head again.
'How is Hyllarr?' she asked, figuring that was an innocent enough question, and one the bird should be able to answer easily enough.
'Hungry. Healing. Happy.' Vree roused all his feathers, evidently tickled by his own alliteration. 'Very good. Is good bonding.' lhank you,' she told him, and he bobbed his head at her before turning his attention back to Darkwind's tidbits.
'Why can I talk to him now when I couldn't before?' she asked, hoping he knew the answer.
'I think-mostly because you know now that he Mindspeaks, so you began listening unconsciously for where he was Speaking,' Darkwind hazarded. 'The gryphons Speak high, but in the ranges you were listening in already- but listening to them made you ready to listen even higher. I think. I don't think that you are developing a new Gift.'
'Good,' she replied, a little relieved. 'One at a time is enough He laughed, and fed Vree the last bit of meat.' Shall we go? he asked, standing up and offering her his hand.
The meeting was relatively uneventful, until Starblade put in an appearance.
He leaned heavily on Kethra and a walkingstick, and sat down immediately, but it was already obvious that despite his physical weakness there was new life in his eyes, and new hope in his spirit.
He listened to both of them recount what they remembered of the message, and waited for the buzz of conversation to die down, before clearing his throat to speak.
He got immediate silence.
'Before any of you speculate,' he said, carefully, 'Yes-k'treva did send mages to see if we needed help immediately after the Stone shattered.
And I did turn them away, with protests that we were fully capable of dealing with the situation ourselves. You all know why I did that. I am sorry. But this may have been all to the good, in some ways.
When they offered help, the healing Adept of which they speak had only just come into his power. Now he is at full strength. Had he tried to deal with the Stone as it was, it might have killed him and the rest of us as well. Certainly it would have damaged him, and our great enemy would have had a way into the power of a Healing Adept as a result.
And that would have been even more of a catastrophe.' Murmurs around the circle showed that most of the Clan agreed with him. Elspeth didn't even want to think about Mornelithe Falconsbane having that much power. The little that she had seen of him had convinced her that he had been far too powerful as it was.
'Now-' Starblade continued, 'I believe that with the help of Darkwind, Wingsib Elspeth, honored Gwena, and our gryphon allies, all will be well. But I am only one. I think that every voice should be heard in this. It is the fate of our entire Clan that we are discussing.' Elspeth followed as much as she could, but the Hawkbrothers were more than a bit agitated, and as a result, spoke a little faster than she preferred. She gathered that they were, on the whole, inclined to agree with Starblade, but they had been deceived before and were determined to do what they could to see that it did not happen again.
As the meeting went on, Starblade wilted visibly-yet seemed stubbornly determined to remain and prove that he was no longer acting against the good of the Clan. Finally Elspeth couldn't stand it any more.
She stood up.
All eyes focused on her, and the babble of speech cut off, abruptly, leaving her standing in silence.
'I haven't endured what you have,' she said, slowly. 'And I haven't been a mage for very long. I've certainly never seen a Healing Adept, so I have no idea what they can or can't do. But we took a lot of time preparing that message; we told k'treva everything we knew, in as much detail as we could. Surely, since they were already worried about us, this Adept they are sending has had time to prepare for trouble! Surely he comes not only armed but armored!' She sat down again, wondering if she'd managed to insult all of them, or if she'd made some sense.
Evidently the latter, since she saw Iceshadow smiling, slowly, and there was very little muttering and much nodding of heads.
'Has everyone said what is needed?' Iceshadow asked, once the last of the muttering died down. He looked about, but no one seemed inclined to jump to his or her feet. 'Very well, then, I-' The bottom dropped out of Elspeth's stomach, and although she hadn't moved, it felt as if she had suddenly plummeted about five feet.
What in- She looked wildly about. Was it an attack? Had something gone wrong with the Stone?
But no one else seemed alarmed, and she calmed her pounding heart.
Iceshadow actually grinned at the expression on her face, whatever it was.
It probably looks like someone hit me in the back of the head with a board.
'That, I think, makes the rest of the arguments moot,' Iceshadow said[. 'So, if no one has any objection, I
