Changes

sometimes they feed on their own, too. If you left someone like that alone with Amily, he’d definitely hurt her.”

Mags nodded. “Aight. Could it mebbe be some’un thet’s jest... greedy?”

Bear looked at him oddly. “I suppose it’s possible.” He scratched his head. “I... never actually met a greedy Healer; even my father isn’t greedy, just . . .”

“As bloody arrogant as Marchand,” Gennie said crisply.

Bear flushed. “Aye. That. But I know they have to exist. There’re plenty of rich people that want a Healer all to themselves, or want one who... who won’t take just anyone. And I know there’re Healers that will do that.” He blinked and regarded Mags curiously from behind his thick lenses. “You think someone could be greedy enough to— to take the money of kidnappers to keep their captive healthy?”

Mags shrugged. “I seen a lotta good people since I come t’Haven. But... there was plenty’a priests what came by th’ mine an took Cole Pieters love-gifts an’ looked t’other way at starvin’ kiddies. Iffen there’s priests what’ll do thet, why not Healers?”

“Last possibility . . .” Gennie said slowly. “Someone who got in over his head.”

“Eh?” It was Mags’ turn to stare curiously.

“Someone who... oh, I don’t know, was like Marchand, didn’t see any harm in blabbing everything he knew to someone who offered plenty of money—and, yes, by the way, under threat of Truth Spell, Marchand finally admitted that was what he’s been doing. I thought Master Bard Lita was going to die of a brainstorm right then and there.” Gennie smirked, then sobered. “But, what about someone who was taking bribes without thinking twice about it because he thought what was being asked seemed harmless enough. Then when the Karsites grabbed Amily, they needed a Healer, so they lured him to a meeting and grabbed him as well. Now he knows what’s going on, he knows he’s in over his head, and all he can do is try to keep Amily safe and pray we manage to figure out where they have her. Honestly? I think that’s the most likely.”

They all looked at each other. “In that case, Marchand is our Bardic informant, and this Healer is the other plant they said they had,” Bear said. “We’ve filled in all the blank spaces. So... if that’s true, then who’s missing from the Hill, Healer-side?”

“I’ll go interrupt the King and his emergency council,” Gennie said, standing up. “You lot see if you can figure out a way to find where Amily is, if they haven’t already.”

Mags nodded, and they set aside the notes about Amily and her captor and picked up the ones about “the irritations.”

Mags closed his eyes for a moment as the letters began to swim in front of them. Webs and vibrations and... it was all so complicated... .he wanted to sleep, but no, he couldn’t, he needed to . . .

The images that the stone had put in his mind swirled there again. Vibrations. Irritations. Vibrations. Interference. Irrita—

His eyes flew open just before he nodded off. ::What if thet stone was bein’ literal again?::

::That’s more likely than not,:: Dallen said after a moment.

::Then—all that fightin’ and squabblin’—thet wasn’t jest ’cause of th’ heat. It was ’cause them shields really are irritations!::

He turned his mind to Gennie and gently “poked” her.

::Still talking. What?::

::Marchand there?::

He sensed her bitter amusement. ::Being grilled like a fish. Why?::

::I need t’ know iffen them rats he was talkin’ to was meetin’ him real close t’ Palace.:: He remembered now something that the stone had said—or that he thought it had said— when he had fallen asleep in its room. That Ice and Stone were “irritations” because they were “near.”

He waited impatiently for the answer, but he didn’t push things. It was one thing to be impatient, quite another to impose that impatience on someone else who was doing you a favor.

::He says he met with them almost every day. Lord Lascal and his family close up their manor in the summer and move to their estate. There’s only a skeleton staff and everyone around here knows their gardens are pretty free to roam in. That’s where they met.:: There was a pause. ::He says he thinks they were actually living in a guest-house on the grounds. Why?::

Well... that figgers.

Quickly, he explained what the stone had told him and his idea that whatever the stone did worked against the shields that the Karsite agents wore to act as an irritant to everyone’s temper.

::So we look for places where the worst fights are happening, and that’s probably where they are?:: she said. ::Right, I’ll pass that on. Good job, Mags. They just sent out pages to find out if there are any Healers missing from up here.::

Ah, now there was another reason to be impatient. He got up to pace. “Iffen they thin’ we got a chance at findin’ Amily... might could be they kill this Healer an’ ’er t’gether,” he muttered, choking down his anguish at the mere thought. “So we gotta find ’em. Then we gotta get ’em away from ’er afore they figger out we ac’tually know they’re there. There’s gotta be somethin’ that’ll lure ’em out . . .”

“Hell,” said Bear, looking extremely disgruntled. “There goes my plan. Well, it wasn’t a very good plan . . .”

Mags looked over at him. “So? Mebbe we kin use part’f it.”

::Mags. Tell Bear that there is a Healer missing. Cuburn.::

::Oh thet’ll sit well.:: But after Bear got mad, this bit of information would probably give him some satisfaction. He told his friends what Gennie had said.