Shadows Past by Freeman Lorna

Author:Freeman, Lorna [Freeman, Lorna]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780451463227
Publisher: Roc
Published: 2010-02-02T08:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Kveta gave a short laugh. “Didn’t know that was there, did you?”

I said nothing, my silence speaking for me. A rich aroma arose from the earth sphere, but instead of sweet grass and rich loam, it smelled of orchards and leaf-strewn forests. Without thinking about it, I inhaled deeply.

“Goddess-touched,” Kveta said, observing. Her ears went back against her skull even while her muzzle dropped in a grin. “Or at least Faena-touched.”

“I don’t think the Lady and Her Consort do Laurel’s bidding,” I said.

“No, I’m sure they don’t,” Kveta said. “However, last I knew, you weren’t a follower of either.”

I looked away from the sphere to meet Kveta’s sharp gaze. “No,” I agreed. “I am not.” I had my faith in my God and my Church confirmed firmly in Freston. So much so that I sometimes woke up to the sound of the ocean in my ears. As I thought that, there was another large booming crash of a breaker, and I controlled a jump, my eyes involuntarily going towards the sound.

“Yet, here you are, with something of the Lady’s that you did not summon, correct?” Kveta said, reclaiming my attention. She didn’t wait for an answer. “So if you didn’t, who did?”

“Sometimes the aspects do as they want,” I began.

Kveta let out a breath. “No, they don’t,” she said softly. “Even gods and goddesses do not interfere without express permission, let alone the elements. There is always a will behind their actions.”

“But, Captain Kveta,” Ryson said, his voice hesitant, while beside him Groskin frowned. “Honored Laurel wasn’t there.”

“And you think castle walls would stop him from doing what he wanted to do?” Kveta asked. “He is the only earth master here.”

Somehow I couldn’t see Laurel neglecting Captain Javes just to throw an earth sphere at me. Then, on the other hand, he had done it before. And there was the truth rune he’d drawn on my palm without any say-so from me. I frowned down at the sphere in my hand.

“You know, after you ran away from Magus Kareste,” Kveta said, “most of us lived through years of not knowing where you were or what was happening to you, believing that you were alive only because Moraina said you were.”

“Dragoness Moraina knew I was alive?” I asked, surprised.

“Of course. How else could she have sent Laurel for you?”

“I thought the High Council sent Laurel,” I said.

“Oh, they made it official, with speeches and resolutions and recording it in their Acta for them to read on nights they can’t sleep,” Kveta said. “However, it was Moraina who first proposed it to the Council. But even if the Council hadn’t blessed his excursion, Laurel was coming for you. He already had his affairs in order, another shaman assuming his Gaia duties, and his lieutenants in place to oversee the Faena in his absence when he received the summons to the Council.”

My surprise must’ve shown on my face, for Kveta grinned again, reminding me of every tale I’d ever heard of grandmas and big teeth.

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