Magic Engineer by L. E. Modesitt Jr

Author:L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Epic, Fantasy, General, order as published, Fiction
ISBN: 9781857232721
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 1994-05-14T22:00:00+00:00

XCI

DORRIN RUBS HIS forehead, trying to reduce the throbbing in his head. Why has it taken so long to heal from a fever? All he has been able to do is move his few things into the new house-not even much in the way of light smithing-and the moving .wouldn't have been possible without Vaos. He wants to slam his fist into the wobbly wooden table.

Instead, he sips the bitter mixture from the battered mug beside his writing box. He sets the mug down, picks up the sheet, and reads silently.

Liedral-

I am sorry it has taken a while to answer your latest letter, but I have been ill with a mosquito fever. I hope that, by the time you receive this, I will be fully back at work.

The house is finished. It should not take too much more work to finish the forge itself. The anvil was the expensive part! Do you know how much eleven stone of solid iron weighs? I also need more tools. Some of the hammers, like the straight and cross peen ones, I have already made for myself, and I have three sets of tongs. I also have some hot sets and some forks and swages and fullers-but not nearly enough. Most of what I have made from the toys and other devices has been spent. Being sick has not helped at all.

The house seems empty, even with Vaos living in the room off the smithy. I look forward to your coming when you can, and trust you will find the storage arrangements suitable for all that you might desire. Yarrl and Reisa have made a number of observations about the now-unused space, and Meriwhen is lonely. They often ask when you will be coming.

I recall when you saw the bird, and I had to catch the cart on the road to Jellico. That bird is still out there, flying around, I am certain, but we are not together.

Dorrin rubs his forehead again. What else can he say that will warn Liedral and not tell the readers of his letter that he knows it is being read? He takes another sip of the medicinal potion. He is stronger-that he can tell-but not strong enough to lift hammers for long. He dips the quill and resumes writing.

Thrap. . .

He looks up at the sound, glimpsing a figure through the small window that opens onto his too-small porch.

"Coming." He rises slowly, letting bare feet carry him to the door.

"At least you're up." Kadara's face is smudged, and her blue uniform is soiled. Beside her, Brede appears equally travel-stained.

"Come on in."

"You look like something the light fried." Kadara sits on one end of the crude bench on the other side of the table.

Brede closes the door and takes the other end of the bench.

"Thank you," Dorrin says.

"For what?"

"You came right after you arrived, didn't you? You both look like you've been riding for a long time."

"We have," Brede admits.

"Success is worse than failure." Kadara's voice is hard. "The better we get, the more they give us to do.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.