Priestess of the White

secret, bringing dangerous birds, or the one who waited to be invited?”

And finally: “Huan made us. Do these Pentadrians worship Huan? No. I choose the White.”

25

In the shadows around Leiard and Jayim only the faint shapes of trees and plants could be made out. They might have been in the middle of a forest. It was the lack of familiar noises that ruined the illusion, telling Leiard plainly that they were on the roof of the Bakers’ house.

I miss the forest, he realized suddenly. I miss being calm. Being undisturbed in heart and mind. Safe.

Then go back, fool.

Leiard ignored the tart words in his mind. This voice in my head is merely an echo of a long- dead sorcerer, he reminded himself. If I ignore him, he’ll go away. He looked at Jayim. The boy was waiting patiently, used to Leiard’s long pauses.

“Magic can be used for healing in many ways,” Leiard said. “The Gifts that I will teach you are divided into three levels of difficulty. The first level involves simple actions: the pinching of a blood tube to stop bleeding; cauterization; the realignment of broken bones. The second involves more complex interventions: encouraging or discouraging blood flow; stimulation and guidance of the body’s healing processes; blocking pain.

“The third level involves using Gifts so difficult they take years to learn, if that is at all possible - as only one or two Dreamweavers in every generation has the ability to achieve this level. These Gifts require a trance of concentration and a sure knowledge of all the processes of the body. If you learn them, you will be able to realign any tissue within a body. You will be able to make a wound disappear, leaving no scar. You will be able to give a blind man sight and make a barren woman fertile.”

“Can I revive the dead?”

“No. Not those who are truly dead.”

Jayim frowned. “Can someone be dead, but not truly dead?”

“There are ways to...”

Leiard stopped, then turned toward the stairway. He could hear faint footsteps drawing closer. Two sets. A lamp appeared and light flooded out. Tanara climbed out, followed by a familiar, well-dressed man.

“Leiard?” Tanara called tentatively. “You have a visitor.”

“Danjin Spear.” Leiard stood. “What brings you—”

“Before you get talking, come inside,” Tanara interrupted. “It is too cold out here for entertaining guests.”

Leiard nodded. “Indeed, you are right.”

Tanara ushered them down the staircase into the communal room, where braziers provided warmth, then dragged Jayim away with her to help prepare hot drinks. Danjin settled into a chair with a sigh.

“You look tired, Adviser,” Leiard observed.

“I am,” Danjin admitted. “My wife and I hoped I would have more free time while Auraya was in Si, but I’m afraid the situation has been quite the opposite. How have you been?”

“I spend all my time teaching Jayim.”

Except for at night, when you indulge in illegal erotic dream links with one of the White, Mirar whispered. Wonder what he’d think of that? The mistress he loves like a daughter lying with a Dreamweaver...

Tanara entered the room again, carrying two steaming mugs of hot spiced tintra. Danjin took a sip and smiled.

“Ah, thank you, Ma-Baker. This is most welcome. It is cold outside.”

“It is, isn’t it?” she replied, sending Leiard a meaningful look. “Especially on a day too cold for anybody to be sitting on a roof.”

“Mother!” Jayim’s protest echoed through the doorway.

“I’ve told you a hundred times already: he taught me how to keep myself warm with magic.”

She sniffed, then smiled at Danjin. “Just call out if you need anything.”

When the door had closed behind her, Leiard turned to regard Danjin. Mirar’s comment had reminded him that he knew little about how Auraya’s work was progressing. Little of the dream links had involved any discussion of her work in Siyee. Their attention had been on... other matters.

“So how is Auraya?” he asked.

Danjin smiled. “She is enjoying herself immensely. As for whether she will be successful at her task,” he shook his head, “that is unsure. Their leaders, the Speakers, want all tribes to agree to an alliance before they sign anything, and during the first Gathering a few tribes spoke against it. She hopes that new revelations will change their mind. The threat of war is one. The other is a fortunate coincidence. One of the Siyee has created a new weapon that will allow them to strike at the enemy while in flight, making them an effective force in battle. They will hold another Gathering in a week to decide.”

What is this weapon? Leiard wondered. The idea that the Siyee might become warlike dismayed him. He had always been heartened to know there was at least one non-violent race in the world.

A non-violent people created by Huan. Now there’s an irony for you, Mirar muttered.

“She asked me to visit you,” Danjin added. He drained the mug of tintra.

Leiard smiled. “So she hasn’t forgotten us yet.”

“No.” Danjin chuckled. “I suspect that if it wasn’t for her commitment to her position she would settle in Si.”

“She is infatuated,” Leiard said. “It happens to some new travellers. They discover a place and fall in love with it. They believe everything there is done as it should be. Eventually they come to see that place for what it is - both the good and the bad.”

Danjin regarded Leiard with an odd expression. Leiard sensed surprise and a reluctant respect. “In my early years as a merchant, and later as a courier and negotiator, I noted the same phenomenon.” Danjin looked at the empty mug in his hands, then set it aside. “I must continue home. It is late and my wife is expecting me.” He rose. “Please pass on my gratitude for the warm drink.”

“I will,” Leiard assured him.

Leiard walked with Danjin to the main entrance. As they reached it Danjin hesitated, frowned and glanced at Leiard almost furtively. Leiard sensed a sudden shift in the man’s mood. Danjin wanted to say something. A warning, perhaps.

Danjin turned back to the door.

Ask him if there is anything else, Mirar said.

No, Leiard replied. If he was able to tell me, he would have.

You can’t be sure of that. We both know his family have always hated Dreamweavers. If you won’t ask him, I will.

Leiard felt something slip away, like the sensation of not quite catching a falling object in time and having it slide through his fingers. His mouth opened, though he hadn’t willed it to.

“There is something else, isn’t there?”

Danjin turned to regard Leiard in surprise.

Not as surprised as I am! Leiard thought. He groped for control of his body, but he had never lost it before and had no idea how to regain it.

“Something is bothering you,” Mirar repeated, holding Danjin’s gaze with Leiard’s eyes. “Something important. A possible threat to my people.”

Danjin was silent and thoughtful, obviously considering what he would say, and oblivious to the change