:Auraya disobeyed her?
:Yes.
:Even more interesting. So did she learn it?
:Learn what?
:Healing.
:Yes.
:You do realize what that means.
:That she is Gifted enough to become an immortal. She already is immortal, Emerahl.
:Yes, but what is significant is that she could be without the gods’ intervention. She is a Wild. What that means for her depends on why they hate us. If it is a pure hatred of all Wilds, they will kill her.
Mirar went cold. Had he doomed Auraya to die just by teaching her to heal?
:There is something else I must tell you. The gods may have seen more than I intended.
:You let some secrets slip out, then?
:Yes. When I explained how Leiard and I became one person I thought of you, though only as my helper. I tried not to...
:You think the gods will guess who this helper was.
:Yes. I am sorry. You may be in danger.
She said nothing for a long time.
:Not as much danger as you face. They know I still live, but they do not know where I am. They know where you are.
:Only that I am in Si.
:Where are you heading?
:Auraya told me to leave Northern Ithania. I am heading for the coast.
:Auraya may not be willing to kill you, but I wouldn’t rely on the other White having the same scruples if I were you. Huan will enlist the Siyee to search for you and send the White in once you’ve been found. Do you think you could evade the Siyee?
:If I travel at night, perhaps, but it won’t be easy without a light.
:It’s a pity you’re not close to the coast already. You could make a boat and sail out to sea. There will be a limit to how far out a Siyee can fly. Once you have lost their pursuit, you can come to shore again. So long as nobody sees you, the gods will not know where you arrive. But I fear the White will be waiting for you by the time you reach the coast. She paused. Eventually you will have to approach water in order to leave Northern Ithania. Good timing will be essential. Let me think about this. I will reach my destination in a few days. I may learn of a safe place for you to go.
:Your destination, eh? There you go, being all mysterious again.
:You have just revealed my existence to the gods. Do you expect me to tell you where they may find me?
:No. I expected you to flay my mind with telepathic curses.
:If I didn’t think you will probably die - properly - any day now, I would.
:That’s reassuring.
:Is it? It’s not meant to be. Now wake up and get yourself out of Si.
:Yes, oh wise and holy one, he replied mockingly.
She broke the link with deliberate abruptness, startling him out of the dream trance. As he began to stand up a memory of Auraya surrounded by light flashed into his mind. Had she refused to surrender her will to Huan, as he suspected? Would the gods punish her? Or would they kill her now that it was clear she was a Wild?
She could be dead already, he thought. Because of me.
He had to find out. There was only one way. He had considered and rejected it countless times during his trek. If he dream-linked with her, and she was still alive, would she talk to him? Would he put himself in any more danger? Or her?
So long as I don’t tell her where I am, I am safe enough.
Closing his eyes, he sent his mind in search of the woman who had tried to kill him.
:Auraya?
She was slower in responding than Emerahl. The silence deepened his fear that she was dead. Then he heard his name spoken in surprise.
:Mirar?
:Yes.
:Why are you dream-linking with me?
:I am worried about you.
:You’re worried about me? I just tried to kill you!
:I may be a little different to the Leiard you knew, but I do still care for you.
:This is too strange.
:You think this is strange? I’ve woken up after a hundred years to discover I’m not the same person I was. I find I’ve done some stupid things: going to Jarime, working for the White, falling in love with one of the gods’ most powerful servants. What is strangest is I don’t regret any of it. All I regret is that I can’t be with you. I fear what they will do to you for letting me go. Have they punished you?
She was silent for a long moment.
:Not yet.
:Will they?
:I don’t know.
:Don’t wait to find out. Come with me. We will leave Ithania and seek the distant continents.
He felt amusement from her.
:Abandon everything I have, the people I protect and the gods, for you? Abandon the Siyee just when the disease is at its worst?
:No? Oh well. It was worth asking.
:If I choose to disobey the gods, I will face whatever punishment they deem appropriate.
:Even death?
She paused again, but not for as long.
:No. They won’t kill me for this. That would imply that they made a mistake in choosing me. If Circlians learned that I disobeyed the gods they would start to doubt the rest of the White. No, the punishment will be subtle. I fear... I fear they will remove my ability to fly.
Flight. He felt a sudden and unexpected thrill of insight. Her flying Gift! None of the other White have it! If Emerahl is right, and Auraya is a Wild, flight may be her innate Gift!
:If I left with you, however, she continued, the gods would be angry. Even if they didn’t send the other White after me, they might still be able to punish me. Consider the ring I wear. If they can make me immortal through it, perhaps they can kill me through it too. I don’t even know what effect taking it off would have. At the least I would no longer be immortal. I would age and die. Forgive me if I think staying here and accepting whatever punishment they choose is the better option.
:But you are...
With an effort, he made himself stop. He desperately wanted to tell her that she could make herself immortal, that all it took was a different application of his healing method. He wanted to warn her that she was a Wild, and the gods might kill her just for that.
Yet he also realized that she was right: the gods would not risk that her death would shake Circlian belief in the gods’ infallibility. They must have known she was strong enough to be a potential Wild. What did it matter when
