02 Winds of Change by Lackey Mercedes

Author:Lackey, Mercedes [Mercedes, Lackey,]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-04-10T20:54:25.218000+00:00

*Chapter Thirteen A gray sky gave no clue as to the time, but Darkwind thought it was not long after dawn. He had spent a restless night, haunted by the exhausted faces of the k'sheyna mages. He had not been expecting anyone so early and the first words out of Darkwind's mouth when Elspeth appeared at his ekele were, "We cannot do it here.

He had been thinking hard about what they were to do; all during his meal, the long soak before bed (in the midst of which he had fallen asleep until a hertasi woke him), and into the night before sleep ook him.

And he had decided on certain provisions as he dressed. What they were to do was no problem; thanks to Elspeth and Treyvan he was accustomed now to improvising on existing spells. This would be a variation on the seeking-spell. But where-that was different. It could not be done within the confines of the Vale, even outside the shielded Practice ground. He knew that with deep certainty that had only hardened during sleep. Every instinct revolted when he even considered the idea.

Something was happening -to the Heartstone, or possibly within it. He had no notion of what was going on, but now he did not want to do anything that affected it while within its reach. It was not just that the Stone had drained k'sheyna mages, it was the way it had happened. It had waited, or seemed to, until they were certain of success and off their guard.

Perhaps that had been accident, but what if it was not? He did not know. It didn't seem likely, but less likely things had been happening with dismaying regularity. These were strange times indeed.

He realized as soon as he said the words that Elspeth would have no idea what had been going through his mind since the meeting. He felt like a fool as soon as he closed his mouth.

She's going to think I've gone crazy, that I'm babbling.

But instead of confusion, Elspeth met the statement with a nod of understanding. "Absolutely," she replied, as if she had been talking to him about the problems all along. "Too much interference from shields and set-spells, plus the Heartstone's proximity itself. I've been thinking about that since last night. That Heartstone of yours is acting altogether too clever for my comfort. I don't want to do something it might not like when I'm anywhere around it. It might decide that since I'm an Outlander, it'll do more than just drain me."

"It is not a thinking being," he protested, but without conviction.

"Maybe not, but it acts like it is." She glanced back over her shoulder, in the direction of the Stone. "Maybe it's all coincidence, or maybe it's something that Falconsbane set up a long time ago. But when it acts like it can think, I'm going to assume that it is thinking and act accordingly." She grinned crookedly. "As my Shin'a'in-trained teacher would say,"Just because you feel certain an enemy is lurking behind every bush, it doesn't follow that you are wrong.

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