Voice of the Gods

Something more. She found she could not speak.

“Reivan?”

“Yes?” Her voice was thin and breathless.

“Would you welcome me in, if I came to your door?”

She took several deep breaths.

“I would not turn you away.”

He moved away. Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart was racing. What am I doing? I just invited him in. There was nothing subtle about what he just said. I’m no fool. I know it’s not just my room he wants me to invite him into.

Footsteps were fading away. She backed into her room and stopped. He’s coming to the door. Now.

This is a bad idea. What about Imenja? She won’t be happy about this. I know it. She cast about, then hurried out of the bedroom. The main door of her suite was a few strides away. She stared at it, heart hammering.

I have to turn him away. I’ll... I’ll tell him I changed my mind. Surely he’ll understand. I can’t do this.

He’ll know I’m lying.

The knock made her jump even though she was expecting it. Swallowing hard, she made herself walk to the door. She took hold of the handle, drew in a deep breath, and pulled.

He moved into the room like a gust of warm air. The smell of him enveloped her senses. He moved close and warm hands pressed against the sides of her jaw. She stared at his face, unable to believe this intense expression of desire was directed at her.

“I...” she began.

A frown of concern creased his forehead. “What is it?” he asked gently.

“I... haven’t done this before,” she said weakly.

He smiled. “Then it’s about time you did,” he said. “I can think of no better teacher than the former Head Servant of the Temple of Hrun.”

With those words echoing in her head, she could not gather her thoughts enough to protest any more. She did manage to laugh when he picked her up, just like in the silly romantic tales some women liked to read, and carried her into the bedroom.

I’m going to regret this, she thought as he shrugged off his robes and she hesitantly slipped off her nightdress. Then a little while later, as his lips and tongue descended to her nipples and his fingers trailed down over her belly, she began to change her mind.

No, I’m not going to regret this at all. Not one bit.

10

Emerahl watched Auraya’s face as they stepped out from behind the waterfall into the sunlight. The former White’s frown disappeared and she stopped to take a deep, appreciative breath of fresh air. Catching Emerahl watching her, she smiled.

“It’s good to be outside again,” she said. She stepped up onto a boulder and stretched. “I feel like I haven’t flown for months.”

“You enjoy it, then?”

Auraya grinned. “Yes. It’s so... unrestrained. I feel unbound. Free.”

As the younger woman jumped back down again, Emerahl chuckled. “That’s how sailing feels. Just me and a boat, and nothing to worry about but the weather.”

“Ah. Yes. The weather. It’s best to avoid flying in storms. There’s not just the cold and rain, but the risk you’ll be struck by lightning or fly into a mountain hidden in the clouds.”

“Sounds just as dangerous as sailing in a storm,” Emerahl noted wryly.

Auraya looked thoughtful, and nodded. “How shall we start these flying lessons, then?”

“I have no idea. You’re the one teaching, this time.”

“So I am.” Auraya looked around, then started toward a flat, clear area a little downstream. “And I have no idea how to teach this. The other White couldn’t do it, but I don’t know if that was because they were incapable or I’m a bad teacher.”

“I’d suggest you teach it by putting your pupil in the same situation you were in, except Mirar told me you discovered the Gift after falling off a cliff.”

Auraya looked back at Emerahl, her face serious. “We could do that.”

Emerahl gave her a level look. “Let’s consider it a method of last resort.”

“It wouldn’t be as dangerous as it sounds,” Auraya continued. “We’d need higher cliffs than those around us, though. You need time in the fall for the initial shock to pass, then to figure it out, then to apply magic to—”

“Actually, let’s consider it out of the question.”

“I’d catch you if it didn’t work. You’d be quite safe.”

Emerahl decided not to respond to that. She wasn’t sure she trusted Auraya that much. “How did you go about trying to teach the White? Did they throw themselves off the Tower?”

“No, they tried to lift themselves off the ground.” Auraya stopped as they reached the flat area.

“Then that’s what I’ll do.” Emerahl turned to face her. “Tell me what to do.”

“Can you sense the magic around you?”

“Of course.” Emerahl let her senses touch the energy all around them.

“Can you sense the world around you? It’s a similar feeling.”

“The world?”

“Yes. I find it easier when I’m moving. Then my position is changing in relation to it. That’s why falling was so useful. The world was rushing past me, or I past it, so I noticed the change in my position.”

Emerahl took a few steps while searching for a sense of her surroundings other than what she could see and hear. She paced around Auraya in a circle.

“I don’t sense anything.”

“It’s similar to sensing the magic around you.”

Circling Auraya again, Emerahl felt nothing like what Auraya had described. She shook her head.

Auraya frowned and looked around them. “Perhaps you’re not moving far or fast enough. If you jump off a boulder you’d move faster. The fall is short, so you’ll have to be concentrating.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

They moved toward the stream. Choosing a boulder as high as her shoulder, Emerahl clambered up. From the top it seemed higher than it had from the ground.

Auraya stepped back, giving Emerahl plenty of room.

“Concentrate,” she said.

Taking a deep breath, Emerahl made herself jump down to the ground. She landed off balance and staggered forward. Auraya caught her shoulders and steadied her.

“Sense anything?”

Emerahl shook her head. “Too busy thinking about how hard the ground was going to be.”

“Try again. Maybe if you do it often enough, you’ll forget about the ground.”

Forget to be scared, you mean, Emerahl thought wryly. She climbed up and forced herself to jump again. Before Auraya could ask anything, she turned and climbed the boulder once more.

After twenty jumps, Emerahl could land with practiced grace. She could even manage to remember to concentrate on “the world around her” as she fell. But she still sensed nothing.

“What happens next?” she asked, more for the opportunity to rest than any confidence in her readiness to move on.

Auraya’s eyes brightened. “You change your position in relation to the world. Using magic.”