Changes

Chapter 16

Morning, sadly, did not bring much relief. His room still felt stifling once he stood up. His head throbbed, and he felt vaguely nauseated. He began to wonder if he had eaten something bad—or if those murdering bastards had somehow managed to poison him after all. Was this how that guide had felt, and just brushed it off as something that would go away?

He didn’t feel all that bad.

But he didn’t feel all that good either.

Dallen whispered something into his mind—too faint to make out. Th’ hell? he thought with irritation. ::What?:: he replied. ::Cain’t hear ye.::

This time, though still whispered, the sense was clear. ::You’ve over-taxed your Gift. It took both of us to fend off the attacks of Ice and Stone’s shield-constructs. Holding your shields against it took more than either of us would have thought. You were shouting for help so loudly that the Gifted heard you down in Haven. Then you helped interrogate Pawel. Now you’re paying for it.::

Bah. Well, he wasn’t going to use Mindvoice then until it stopped hurting. Doing so would probably only make things worse. He looked down at himself, realized he was still dressed, and opened the door into the Stable.

He marched straight over to Dallen’s stall. “Is there anythin’ I kin do fer this?” he asked aloud.

Dallen regarded him with his head tilted to the side, then managed to make a strange sound. After a moment, Mags recognized it as snoring.

“Sleep’t off, eh?”

Dallen nodded.

Well, he wasn’t going to get any sleep in that room. All the things that made it so nice and warm in the winter were turning it into an oven, and he was the bread.

“Look, tell—whoever—I’m a-gonna find somewheres cool t’sleep. Don’ care iffen I miss class. Don’ care iffen I miss food. Cain’t eat anyroad.”

After a moment, Dallen nodded, then rattled the chain on his water bucket. That was easy enough to understand.

Drink plenty of water.

“Aye. I will.”

He stopped long enough to take a pillow and one of his leather water bottles. He filled the latter at the pump and trudged up through air that was positively leaden with heat and humidity to the Palace. That lower level where the crystal sphere was had been cool enough... maybe there was another room down there he could borrow long enough to get some sleep.

But all the doors were locked except that one.

He opened the door and stepped just inside, and the cool felt like a gift from the hand of a god. Even the lamp didn’t seem to be giving off much heat. He considered the room. Considered the crystal with a wary eye. True, he was not intending to use it, but what if it... oh... used itself? He drank from his water bottle while he considered the risk.

After all, there was probably a reason why the thing was down here all by itself, hidden away in a room hardly anyone seemed to visit . . .

On the other hand, it hadn’t done anything when he and Amily had been here. The benches were padded, and with his pillow one would be as good as a bed.

But the breath of cold from the room finally persuaded him. He closed the door behind himself, sat down, then laid himself down on his side, fitted his back along the curve of the bench, shoved his pillow under his head and closed his eyes.

It just felt so good... even if he didn’t actually get any sleep, the cool made his head throb a lot less.

He drifted off into a semiconscious state that was not quite sleep and not quite wakefulness.

It felt as if there were something, or someone, in the room with him. Uneasily, he tried to move but found he could not. Under other circumstances he might have panicked—

But he was in the Palace. Whatever it was, it would have had to get past so many protections, it couldn’t possibly be a danger. And it wasn’t actually doing anything. It wasn’t even paying any attention to him. It was just there. As if it had been there all along, and he was only just noticing it.

He slowly became aware that it wasn’t anything alive—at least, not as he understood the state of being alive. Finally, he knew what it was, what it had to be.

It was the stone.

The stone became aware of him as soon as he became aware that the stone was what it was. He felt it regarding him in a detached way.

Perhaps he should have been alarmed, but he wasn’t. And yet, he knew he had sensed something similar recently, from a source that did alarm him. What was it? Where had he seen this before?

The shields. The shields on Ice and Stone. This was like those shields. Except for the part about trying to kill him. So what were those shields, and why were they like the stone, anyway?

He felt the stone noticing, becoming aware of that thought. It didn’t respond as such, but... something floated to the surface. The stone had seen this before.

There was a strangely peaceful indifference to the stone. It wasn’t responding to him or to his emotions so much as responding to the mechanical stimulation of his question. As he not-quite drowsed, the stone presented