Priestess of the White

He could see no sign of Mischief, but he knew from experience that the best place to look first was wherever Auraya might be. If only I still had her ring, he thought. I could ask her. She’d taken the ring from him to give to the leader of the Siyee scouts. Knowing what the sky people saw was clearly a much more important use for the ring than allowing him to find her wily pet a little faster.

Ah, but I hadn’t realized how useful it was until it was gone.

He frowned as he considered what to do. If Auraya had returned from accompanying the Siyee to the next camp she would probably be with the other White. He started jogging toward the white tarn.

As he drew closer he saw that Juran was riding beside the tarn on one of the famous Bearers. The leader of the White spent most of the day in the saddle. He was always somewhere in the long column, talking to people. Danjin had seen grooms tending to the other four Bearers, but the only other White he had observed riding were Dyara and Rian. Mairae seemed to prefer the comfort of the tarn, or perhaps remained there so that anyone who wanted to speak to the White was always sure of a place to find one.

Auraya, he knew, had never learned to ride. Danjin was not sure why a Bearer had been brought along for her. Perhaps the White didn’t want her lack of riding ability to be known, although surely her flying ability more than made up for that.

Flying was how she preferred to travel now. She had flown with the Siyee yesterday, far ahead of the army. In part this was to provide protection and a voice of authority if herders decided to retaliate against the Siyee hunting their stock. Partly it was to ensure the White could communicate with the sky people, since the Siyee had no priests to relay messages telepathically. Danjin also suspected it was to ensure the camping grounds the Siyee chose were suitable for landwalkers and accessible for vehicles.

Danjin knew that Juran had been reluctant to allow Auraya to stray far from the other White at first. When she had demonstrated just how quickly she could return to the army, Juran had changed his mind. Her ability allowed her to travel at incredible speeds.

Danjin, however, was puffing as he neared the white tarn. He was relieved to see Mairae and Auraya inside. Juran glanced back at him.

“Adviser Spear.”

“Is Mischief... ?” Danjin panted.

“Yes, he’s here.”

As Danjin drew level with the tarn he slowed to a walk. Auraya turned to smile at him.

“Ah, Danjin.” She chuckled. “You could have sent one of the servants for him. Come aboard. He’ll settle down after a bit, and you’ll be able to take him back.”

Danjin climbed up into the vehicle. Mairae was lounging in one of the seats with her legs curled up beside her. Auraya’s feet were planted firmly on the tarn floor, her boots and the hem of her circ stained with mud. Mischief was perched on one of her knees, and had left small paw-prints on her circ.

“Fly!” the veez said insistently. As Danjin sat down beside Auraya the creature looked at him suspiciously. “No cage.”

“No fly,” Auraya replied. “Fly later.”

The veez sagged in dejection. It gave a sigh and looked away.

“Hello, Danjin.” Mairae smiled sympathetically. “He’s a handful, but don’t worry. He won’t see you as an adversary so long as you feed him.”

Danjin opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated as he noted a Bearer approaching swiftly, ridden by Dyara. Mairae looked over her shoulder at the woman, then back at Auraya.

“I can’t see the point in this,” she murmured. “What could you possibly learn in the next few days?”

Auraya shrugged. “Perhaps something useful. At least I’ll get some battle practice in.”

Mairae turned to Juran. “You said yourself, so long as Auraya follows your lead - so long as we all do - she’ll be fine. She’s not going to pick a fight with one of these black sorcerers on her own. Not after what happened before.”

Juran shook his head. “Should Auraya be separated from us - which is possible since she so often joins the Siyee - she may be cornered by one of these sorcerers. It may be her skills rather than her strength that save her.” He turned to watch as Dyara’s Bearer drew up on the other side of the tarn. “Hello, Dyara. Did Guire agree?”

The woman smiled thinly. “Yes. He’s always reasonable, but how long he’ll remain so will depend on Berro. Things are going to get interesting once the Torens arrive.” She looked at Danjin and nodded politely, then turned her attention to Auraya. “I thought we might head north and put some distance between ourselves and the army.”

Auraya smiled. “That would be wise. We don’t want to frighten anyone, or break anything.” She looked at Juran. “You will consider what I suggested before?”

Juran nodded. “Yes. As you said, the fighters will resent us if we don’t allow them the choice.”

Auraya rose and placed Mischief in Danjin’s lap. He looked from her to Juran, wondering what they were referring to.

“Fly?” Mischief said hopefully.

“No fly,” Auraya replied firmly. “Stay with Danjin. Behave and we’ll fly later.” The veez’s head swivelled in impossible angles to follow her as she climbed out of the tarn.

Dyara dismounted. A groom hurried forward to take the halter. As she and Auraya walked away from the road, Danjin felt Mischief sigh heavily.

Juran looked over his shoulder abruptly, then smiled. “My presence is needed yet again.”

“Go on, then.” Mairae chuckled. “Don’t enjoy yourself too much.” As Juran rode away, she turned to Danjin. “It wouldn’t be fair to ask you to stay and keep me company. You look like you need a good night’s sleep. You and Auraya both.”

He smiled wryly. “I was beginning to think the White did not need to sleep.”

Her expression became rueful. “We do as much as any mortals, though our Gifts enable us to overcome the effects for a while. It is not easy to find time to sleep right now. Or when any of us find the time, we can’t.”

Danjin regarded her in surprise. None of the White were showing any signs of anxiety, but perhaps they were merely good at hiding it. There had been something both disturbing and reassuring in the way Juran and Mairae had calmly analyzed Auraya’s chances of surviving a confrontation with one of the enemy sorcerers.

Mairae shrugged. “We all have our ways of dealing with our fears. Juran stays up all night planning and plotting. Rian prays. Auraya flies around.” Mairae suddenly smiled coyly. “Or so she says.” Her eyes slid sideways to regard Danjin. “I did wonder if she had found another distraction. Perhaps she is spending time with someone close to her heart.”

Danjin frowned. Then he realized what she was inferring and felt a mix of embarrassment and shock. Auraya take a lover? It was possible, of course. She would have told him, surely. She trusted him enough to... but then again, if she wanted to hide it from the other White she couldn’t tell him...

He shook his head. “How am I supposed to sleep now? I’ll be wondering the same thing all day.”

Mairae laughed. “I’m sorry, Danjin Spear. I did not mean to add another source of disturbance to your rest. Go. You had better return to your tarn before I give you more unsettling ideas.”

He rose and made the sign of the circle, then climbed out of the tarn. Mischief rode on his shoulders as he walked past the procession. The veez appeared to have forgotten Auraya now. Danjin rubbed the creature under its chin, as he’d seen Leiard do.

Leiard!

Danjin stumbled to a halt. Auraya had found the Dreamweaver encampment two nights ago while “flying around.” Was this where she had been last night? Was there more to her visits than catching up with an old friend?

Surely not. He knew she considered Leiard as much a friend as an adviser, but what if the feelings she had were stronger than friendship?

That would explain the secrecy, he thought.

What secrecy? Danjin shook his head and continued walking. All I know is that Auraya visited Leiard once and that she flies about at night. That is far from proof that she has a lover, let alone that the lover is Leiard.

As he neared his destination, he stopped and looked back at the white tarn.