Silver and Iron by Marian Allen

Author:Marian Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Per Bastet Publications LLC
Published: 2013-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The Kinninger's Sword

Oliva dreamed. Corvina provided powders and syrups, small animals bled and died, and Oliva dreamed. She dreamed of a unicorn, graceful as a horse, agile as a goat, slender as a sword. She dreamed of Guthrie, holding his sword before him, shaving a straight path through a dense wood. The path stopped at the edge of a river. In the center of the river was a wooded island. An old woman stood on it, towered over it, shielding it with her wide black skirt. Guthrie crossed, using Deya as a bridge. He shoved the old woman aside and found Elsie. "Kinnan!" Elsie cried in Oliva's dream, and a man with dark blond curls came running. Oliva felt herself controlling Guthrie's body. She waved his arms, and Elsie, Kinnan, and the old woman all became one with the unicorn. Guthrie grasped it by the base of its ivory horn, and struck off its head.

~*~

Oliva, Landry Oliva beren Ada, and Guthrie beren Melanell stood in a small chamber off the Great Hall. Oliva had been offered a seat but she preferred to stand with the men, the better to read their faces.

Guthrie's was easy to understand: hope, banked like a fire, shone through his skin. Landry's was more guarded, or perhaps the expression was clear but the feelings behind it weren't.

"Such an island does exist," she said. "In Fiddlewood."

"And the old woman who guards it?"

"Someone of power, by my dream. No wonder Rhu was hidden from my sight on his quest. He told me he had lodged in the Wood in the hut of an old woman."

Unease stirred in Oliva's breast. She had never doubted her dreams – her visions – before, but there was something disquietingly logical about this one. This one contained too many echoes of her waking goals and desires, together with the reproduction of Rhu's report. It held no hint of danger to herself or her agent, no smallest threat of thwarting. An adept grew to expect cautionary portents along with hope and information. Still, perhaps this was good. Perhaps this only meant that victory was now assured, that Tortoise was firmly bound to her intentions.

She would keep her doubts to herself. "The old woman on the island exists. Ask your Roll-Keeper."

Landry protested with a small laugh. "He might know that much. But if his daughter's hiding there – that, he doesn't know. He hasn't the nerve to come into the bailey, day after day, with that secret in his heart. Would you think so, Guthrie?"

"I would not. But it's easily determined. May I? Men speak very clearly and very thoroughly, when they speak to me."

Oliva raised a cautionary hand. "No violence. That will come later. If you suspect him, arrest him. Otherwise, raise no alarm."

Landry nodded, and Guthrie left.

~*~

The Chief Sword hooked his thumbs over his belt to keep his hand from Deya's hilt. Oliva's dream had excited him almost beyond bearing. His release was so near.... And when he was released, what would he do with Deya? Why, begin again.

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