Lackey, Mercedes - Mage Storms 01 by Mercedes Lackey

Author:Mercedes Lackey [Lackey, Mercedes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-06-11T14:54:21+00:00

Eleven

“So—there was nothing left of the False One?” An’desha had listened, completely enthralled, to Karal’s tale of how the Son of the Sun came to power. There was something oddly comforting in the notion that there were other peoples whose deities tended to express themselves as directly as the Star-Eyed did. More directly, in fact, although An’desha could not even begin to envision how a false prophet could ever set himself up as sole authority to the Shin’a’in, much less how an entire succession of them could have. The Star-Eyed would have been much more likely to have arranged for the first fool to be eaten by something large and predatory before he ever became a problem.

“Nothing. Just a pile of smoldering ashes.” Karal nodded. “It was quite—ah—daunting. It made me certain that I never wanted to find myself receiving the Sunlord’s direct regard. I will be quite happy to remain in obscurity!”

“I can well understand that,” An’desha replied. “The Star-Eyed is—a little more subtle.” That may be the understatement of the century. Kal’enel is not inclined to strike people dead with lightning even at Her angriest.

The serene little indoor garden had become their meeting place; they were reasonably certain of being left alone there, and since An’desha and Firesong already practiced all magic there, it was one place where An’desha felt relatively confident. And no matter what the weather—which continued to be uncertain—it was always balmy summer in this miniature Vale.

He noted that Karal was no longer wincing whenever he mentioned the Shin’a’in Goddess, and his dark eyes no longer clouded with unease. Poor Karal. He was so shocked at first to learn that Vkandis might not be the One True God.

“But then again,” An’desha continued with a shrug. “She and He are both gods so who are we to say what they will and will not do? For all that I was touched by the Star-Eyed’s own hand, I am still hardly qualified to judge Her or Her probable actions.”

Karal coughed politely. An’desha took the hint.

“Speaking of probable actions—I spoke with Ulrich about you.” Karal waited for An’desha’s reaction.

His reaction would have been enthusiastic enough to satisfy anyone. Excitement sent a chill along his arms. “Will he come? Has he time? Does he think he can help?” An’desha had spent enough time delving back into the memories of Falconsbane’s previous lives to feel as if the already uncertain ground beneath him had become a quagmire. He couldn’t help thinking that only extreme good fortune had kept him from stepping into a bottomless pit that would swallow him up before he could cry out for help. He’d had a particularly hag-ridden nightmare last night, after yet another stroll through the memory-fragments of the past. He’d spent the rest of the night huddled into a blanket in a fearful ball of misery, and finally Firesong had thrown his hands up and lost patience with him after failing to calm him. Firesong had gone off to the garden to sleep, leaving An’desha to watch out the last of the night by himself.

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