Fire in the Mist by Holly Lisle

Author:Holly Lisle [Lisle, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 0-671-72132-1
Publisher: Baen Publishing Enterprises
Published: 1992-08-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7: A GASP BEFORE THE ROAR

THE frightened thoughts of the follower scurried like rat feet across the leader's mind.

:She returns, Sahedre.:

Sahedre's angry response lashed out at the hapless follower. :Well for you, Takai. Had she vanished forever while you held the watch, I would have killed you slowly. That she escaped without your notice in the first order—for that, I think you must still die. But not yet. I give you a chance to redeem yourself.:

:What of my wounds?:

:You dallied while on watch—they are no honest battle wounds. Learn to live with them.:

:But—yes, Sahedre.:

Sahedre calmed, mollified. :You know now which of these children she is. You shall not touch any others for the nonce. I do not need the energy. So. We shall let peace return to the University. But at your first opportunity, bring the mage-girl to me. I grow weary of waiting. I wish to regain my life.:

:If I bring her to you—will you forgive me?:

Sahedre's mental chuckle was chilling. :Perhaps. But you had best hurry. I'll not be so sweet for long.:

In pairs, the students hurried along paths toward the Greathall. Faia could see them clearly from her vantage point beside the window in the Mottemage's tower. With her whole heart, she wished herself with them. But wishes were useless things.

"—You will not leave the campus again until this issue with the sajes has been settled." The Mottemage stomped back and forth in front of Faia, punching the air for emphasis. "You will not go off campus with Yaji, nor without her. You will not go to the market, nor to the alehouses, nor to the musicrooms."

Faia bit her lip. "Mottemage—"

"Listen! I am not through speaking with you yet. How dare you fly off at night?! Fly, by the gods—and on my Makketh, too! How dare you leave your roommate unprotected?! How dare you make such a major decision regarding our policy toward the sajes all alone?! How dare you bed the enemy?!" The Mottemage's face deepened to an unflattering red-purple hue. "Answer me, damn you!"

Faia shivered and hung her head. "Kirgen isn't the enemy, Motte. He had nothing to do with the murders."

"You didn't know that before you met with him last night. He could as easily have been, and have killed you. And we'd be scraping pieces of you into our cold-room today, labeled so we didn't bury part of you with part of someone else. That was a stupid stunt, Faia. Stupid!"

"I only wanted to help."

The Mottemage rounded on the girl furiously. "Some of the greatest disasters in history have been perpetrated by those who meant well. Delmuirie's Barrier, that cost the life of the idiot who erected it, that traps us from the world outside Arhel, is there because Delmuirie only wanted to help. The Singing Stones of the Fey Desert mesmerize and kill a few poor lost souls every year, but the sajes who built them there didn't mean for this to happen. They just wanted a desert beacon. They just wanted to help.

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