Wizards Conclave

That sounded foolish even as she said it, though Dalamar nodded calmly. In fact, she had been hiding her skill from Jenna, for reasons she didn't exactly understand. 'I'm sorry-I guess it wasn't very forthright of me.'

'Perhaps not,' the dark elf said with a smile. 'But it was smart. It is best to keep some secrets, when it comes to magic. Jenna is also smart, and she's very wise. But her goals are her own, and she is determined to achieve them. If she thought she could achieve them by sacrificing you, she would.'

'No-she wouldn't do that!' Cory argued. 'What do I have to do with her goals?'

'You don't know the history of the Red Robes,' Dalamar said, not unkindly. 'They are ever seeking to serve their own ends. I can't blame her, not very much, anyway. She's the last of her order, and she is desperate to continue that legacy. I suspect she intends to make you her protege, the next Mistress of the Red Robe.'

'What!?' Coryn looked flabbergasted, but she was quick with another question. 'And what are the Black Robes striving for? What do you want?'

'A fair question. The Black Robes strive to further the glories of magic for our brethren, and for posterity. As for what I want…' He leaned in, his face very close to hers, just a little above. There was a different kind of light in his eyes, now, a very warm and appealing brightness.

Coryn held her breath as his lips closed in, touching hers. She felt a fluttering in her belly as she pressed close to him, relishing his kiss. Her arms were suddenly around him, his chest broad and powerful against hers, and she more than equaled his passion with her returning embrace. She pulled him close, still breathless, and felt that warmth turn to genuine heat.

Abruptly, then, he pulled away from her, roughly breaking the embrace, and in the moonlight the expression of anger that flashed across his face chilled Coryn. He was furious- looking past her, furious with another. The girl gasped and stepped back as Jenna's voice lashed out of the darkness.

'I expected better of you-much better!' she snapped. It was she who had spun Dalamar around. Now she faced her rival, her tone like ice.

Dalamar smiled, almost a smirk. Coryn did not think it was a very attractive expression, nor did she like the vicious tone of his words.

'Haven't you waited a little too long to turn into a prude?' he asked.

Jenna spun to glare at Coryn, her jaw set, the sparks blazing in her eyes. 'You silly twit! Did you let him charm you with Black Robe lies?' She turned back to Dalamar, her fury rising. Then she snapped out the command word to another magic spell, one that the girl had heard before.

It was the cone of silence. Once again Jenna was shouting at Dalamar, just a few steps away from her, but Coryn couldn't hear a word she said.

Chapter 13 Call of the Woods

Coryn's emotions churned between embarrassment, humiliation, and anger. She was mortified that Jenna discovered them, had interrupted her and Dalamar at such a precious moment. And she was appalled at the transformation in the dark elf as he turned to acidly confront the Red Robe.

Had he 'charmed' her, as Jenna accused? She was certain he hadn't used magic, but had she been manipulated by his charm? Perhaps she had been foolish-but was she a 'silly twit?' Those words still stung, as if they were echoing back and forth through the canyon, now and for the rest of the night. Coryn looked at the two wizards, ensconced under the cone of silence, their angry faces only a few inches apart. They gestured furiously, with mutually contemptuous expressions. Neither so much as glanced her way.

Of course they were talking about Coryn, so why shouldn't she at least be entitled to know what was going on? The answer: she was entitled to know. And how to find out was obvious; she already had the idea.

She turned the word for the cone of silence spell over and over on her tongue, felt the harshness at the beginning and the smooth, sibilant conclusion of its enunciation. She tried it back and forth, then discovered a breaking point, a place in the middle of the sound where the purpose of the spell was emphatically declared with a sharp, uprising 'ee.' Working from that, she shifted the shape of the vowel in her mouth, dropping it through deepening tones until she was at the bass end of the spectrum, making an 'oo.'

Then Coryn pronounced the spell-the cone of silence- staring at Jenna and Dalamar as she completed the word, then feeling the giddy rush of magic as it slipped away from her, and insinuated itself amidst Jenna's spell.

'— a slip of a girl, by the moons' sake!' the Red Robe was hotly declaring. 'She's barely out of childhood! Were you so impatient that you couldn't wait until we reach a town where you could buy yourself a whore?'

Shocked at Jenna's words, Coryn felt her jaw clench with anger. A forceful denial rose within her throat, but with effort she quickly bit it back, remembering that Jenna didn't know she had penetrated the cone of silence. Instead, she turned pointedly away, even walked a few steps along the cavern rim. Her knees trembled and she wanted to scream. Instead, she kept listening.

'I was just having a little fun with the 'servant' girl,' Dalamar said, his tone coldly mocking.

Now Coryn felt as though she had been struck squarely between the shoulder blades. She was afraid she would give her emotions away, she trembled so; she walked a little farther away, losing herself in the shadows beneath a huge pine. Her arms wrapped around her chest-now the night seemed cold-as she turned around and watched the two wizards argue.

Dalamar continued to speak in his cold, mocking tones. 'She's rather pretty for a human, after all. I meant nothing serious, simply a little diversion. No harm was intended, nor done. Jenna, I should think a woman of your, um, appetites would certainly understand!'

Jenna hissed back in fury. 'I never knew you to turn your head for just a pretty face-especially one so youthful! No, there's more to it than that-you want something from her! I know!'

The elf shrugged. 'Maybe I've changed, and you can't recognize that. Elves don't age in the same way as you humans. Sad, they say humans inevitably forget their youthful passions as they wither and gray.'

'Bastard!' Jenna shot back, as the elf went on, his voice darkening.

'I was in a very cold, very barren place for too long. Now I am alive again-and what makes a man feel more alive than a woman's embrace?'

'She's a mere girl!'

'Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps you underestimate her-I certainly felt her kissing me back. It was not as though she seemed reluctant. That is no child, Jenna! Besides, you continue to insult me. Anyone can see that she's no more a servant than I am a Knight of Solamnia. There are quite a few things that you are keeping from me, and I think you're keeping them from her, as well.'

'I keep my own counsel,' Jenna declared.

'Such secrets are at cross purposes with our quest! How are we going to find the Tower of Sorcery if we don't trust each other and work together? It's time you stopped pretending,' the dark elf said. 'Tell me, why did this 'mere girl' come to you? Did you really know her grandmother?'

Coryn took a step forward, taking care to remain in the shadows. She willed her heart to cease pounding, anxious to hear what the woman would answer.

Jenna drew a sharp breath then lowered her voice. 'Yes. I sent a letter to her grandmother, right after the gods returned.

Actually, I sent dozens of letters, to people all across Ansalon. But Scharon was one of the few to reply, and to understand the situation.'

'You were seeking wizards, new apprentices for your order?'

'Not really. I was seeking older wizards, those who might still be alive after all this time. And not just my order-any of the orders, even the black! Scharon was once a White Robe, if that makes any difference to you. Just a young apprentice at the time of the Chaos War, though she showed some promise. When the gods disappeared, she left the Tower and went back home.'