The former pain priest, Tas, narrowed his eyes. “If you recall, we’ve been taking quite good care of your friends for days. I healed Shura right in front of you, and Yan and Lyuc have opened their home to you—”
He stopped when the big blond man, Girik, put a hand on his arm, though not without a last disapproving harrumph that made Ravi’s lips twitch. Maybe the Brotherhood wasn’t so scary when you were up close and personal with them. They were just men, after all.
“We understand your reticence,” Yan jumped in before anyone else could speak. “Meetings can be tense when all parties don’t know where they stand. That’s why I’d hoped we could relax over a good meal before easing into more serious topics.”
He threw a look at Lyuc as he finished, and Ravi had to hide another smile. Despite the strangeness of their situation and the hard lessons life had taught him about trust, he thought he could learn to like these people. They hadn’t shunned him or treated him like some alien thing to be ogled. They had gifts, just like him—or probably even stranger. He wasn’t used to being on this side of the fence, but he liked to think he was a better man, more accepting of differences than his family and his fellow Rassans had been.
“It’s okay, Daks,” Ravi murmured, and Daks turned his stubborn glare away from the others to give him a searching look. “You said to follow my feelings. These people have been kind to Shura and the mistress, and they’re showing kindness to us. We shouldn’t insult their hospitality.” He reluctantly turned back to Lyuc, though he kept his gaze trained somewhere in the vicinity of Lyuc’s chin. “That’s only the second time something like that has happened to me… that I know of anyway. But I do have other Visions and Dreams. I’m only here now because I saw your Spawn, uh, the horse, uh, man—”
“Bryn,” Yan interjected.
“What?”
“Our friend, Brynthalon.”
“Oh. Uh, okay. I saw Brynthalon in a Vision and feared for Daks’s life. But since the prophecy happened the second I saw you, I suppose that means I was meant to come here.”
Habit made him shoot nervous glances at everyone at the table, but their faces all remained purely curious, no judgment, no fear or disgust, and he relaxed a little more.
“And can you tell us anything about what it meant?” Lyuc asked.
Ravi grimaced, and Daks took his hand under the table again, giving it a squeeze. “I can’t even tell you what I said. I don’t remember any of it. Sorry.”
He braved a glance upward to gauge Lyuc’s response, but the man simply smiled knowingly. “I thought so. That’s the way prophecies usually work for the poor soul burdened with giving them. That’s all right. I just hoped it might be easier this time.”
“You’ve heard prophecies before?” Ravi asked, curious enough to meet the man’s gaze dead on.
Lyuc’s green eyes crinkled at the corners, and his teeth gleamed behind the copper strands of his beard. “I’ve been around for a few in my time.”
Yan snorted, but it must have been an inside joke, because Daks didn’t seem to get it either.
“Do you know what it means?” Daks asked.
“I believe some, but not all,” Lyuc replied enigmatically. He sat back in his chair and stretched his legs out, mirroring Daks’s earlier pose.
A pipe appeared in his hands, and he lifted it to his lips and sucked as he pointed a finger at the bowl. The shredded dried leaves flared to smoky orange life without benefit of any flame, and Ravi gasped. To his surprise, Daks also tensed at his side.
“Show-off,” Yan murmured under his breath, and that actually eased some of Ravi’s fear.
“Who are you?” Daks asked baldly. “You’re not of the Scholomagi. And you don’t work magic like any witch, priest, or shaman I’ve ever seen. How is it I’ve never heard of you?”
“Oh, you’ve heard of me,” Lyuc said, his wry grin widening behind his pipe.
Tas groaned, and Yan swatted Lyuc’s arm gently before saying, “It’s rude to tease a guest, oh great-and-powerful-one.”
Yan’s last words held enough gentle mocking that Ravi was torn between smiling and scooting closer to Daks.
“Mind enlightening us?” Daks asked with a hint of a growl behind his words, and Ravi clutched at his hand, hoping he’d get the hint that he needed to be careful.
“Sorry,” Yan said, leaning forward with an apologetic grimace. “He can get a little puffed up from time to time. He was out in the wilds by himself too long.”
Lyuc pulled his pipe away and stuck his tongue out at Yan, but Yan only smiled. “Suffice it to say, he’s a lot older than he looks… and acts. But maybe tonight isn’t the right time to get into all of that. You’re both probably tired from your journey, and we’ve taken you away from your friends. I’m sure Fara can help fill you in on some of it later.”
Daks pursed his lips as if he were weighing his options, but after a few beats and a quick glance at Ravi, he nodded.
“Maybe we should,” he agreed. “But before we go, I’d like to know what your intentions are for us.”
“Intentions?” Yan asked, looking reassuringly confused.
“Are we free to come and go as we please?” Daks clarified.
The strangers exchanged glances until Lyuc said, “As long as you pose no threat to anyone here, you may do whatever you wish. I would like to talk to you a little more about any other Visions you may have had lately, Ravi, but it isn’t urgent.”
“Did you discuss the prophecy at all with Fara?” Daks asked. “Does she know your thoughts on it?”
“No. I have not,” Lyuc replied.
“Then will you share them with us so we might discuss it amongst ourselves?”
Everyone leaned forward, all eyes on the wizard.
“If you’re sure you really want to get into this tonight,” Lyuc murmured, quirking an eyebrow.
“I’m sure,” Daks replied with his usual
