“Treesa,” he breathed. Only that, but somehow the name took on the flavoring of everything she was, and things Savil hadn't guessed she could be.
Treesa's eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she focused on was Moondance.
“Oh -” she said, weakly. “My.” She gulped, and blinked at the
Starwind was too polite to burst out laughing, but Savil could tell by his too-calm expression and the creases around his twinkling eyes that he was doing his very best not to laugh at the notion of Moondance as an angel.
“No, my lady,” Moondance said haltingly in the tongue of Valdemar. “I am only a friend of your son. We came here to help him, and you as well.”
“To help -” All the color drained from Treesa's face. “Van - how badly is he hurt? Dear gods -”
She struggled to sit up, but the Healer prevented her from moving by holding her down with one hand on her shoulder. Moondance put his hand atop the Healer's, eliciting a gasp from both the Healer and Treesa.
“We go to him now, my lady,” Moondance said, and smiled sweetly. “Be at ease; all will be well.”
And with that, he turned and swept out of the room, Starwind joining him so that they left as they had entered, together. Savil smiled at Treesa, as reassuringly as she could, and followed them.
“Where is young Vanyel?” asked Starwind as soon as they were all in the stone-walled corridor.
“Up a flight and over a bit,” Savil told him, taking the lead again, and moving as quickly as her aching hip would permit. “I should warn you about something. Seems he's lifebonded again, this time to a young Bard about half his age -”
Starwind exchanged a wry glance with Moondance. “Indeed? And where have I heard
“I would have no idea,” Savil replied, her tone heavy with irony. “Just because you were near thirty and Moondance was all of sixteen ... At any rate, the boy's with him. Don't frighten him; he's had a bad few hours, and he's part of the reason why I haven't been frantic to get you here.”
Moondance looked puzzled, but Starwind nodded knowingly. “Ah. The blade feeds on both of them. I had wondered why you were so calm about all this.”
“So long as you didn't take a week to make up your minds, I reckoned we had time.” She paused outside Vanyel's door. “Here. And remember what I told you.”
This time Starwind held the door open for her, and followed her inside with no dramatics at all. Stefen, whitefaced, was absorbed in Van - so completely that he didn't even notice they were there until Starwind laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Stefen jumped; he looked up at the
“We are here to help young Vanyel, little one,” Starwind said kindly. “But for us to do so, you must move away from him.”
Stefen lurched to his feet, knocking over the chair he'd been sitting on, and backed away, tripping over it in the process. Moondance caught him before he fell, and Savil wondered for a moment if the poor boy was going to faint on the spot. He recovered, and edged over to Savil, standing slightly behind her, his eyes never once leaving the
Starwind held one finger near to the leech-blade, but did not touch it. “A nasty piece of work, that,” he said in his own tongue to Savil. “More than ordinary malice went into its making.”
“But can you get rid of it?” Savil asked anxiously.
“Oh, aye. Not easily, but it is by no means the hardest task I have ever undertaken.
Moondance nodded, and moved to stand immediately behind him, with one hand resting lightly on his shoulder. Starwind ripped part of the ornamental silk from his sleeve; the cloth parted with a sound like the snarl of a hunting cat. He wrapped the bit of silk around his hand, and only then grasped the hilt of the leech-blade.
“Now we give it something else to seek after,” he murmured, and held his other hand a few thumblengths away from the wicked little knife. Invoking Mage-Sight, Savil Saw that his hand glowed with life-force; far more than
