The Turning Tide by Diana Pharaoh Francis

Author:Diana Pharaoh Francis [Francis, Diana Pharaoh]
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780451462688
Publisher: ROC
Published: 2009-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Nya sank into a wingback chair, curling her feet beneath her. Though she was clearly weak and unsteady, she still moved with a startling liquid grace. William sat opposite, with Niall standing silently behind his chair. Fallon paced restlessly.

“You have had an adventure this morning,” Nya said. “What happened?”

“Assassins,” William said. “They are of no import.” He bent forward, his elbows on his knees. “Tell me about Fairlie. Tell me what happened.”

“I already told you,” Fallon snapped.

“I want to hear it from you,” William said to Nya.

She laced her fingers together, leaning back against her chair and watching him from beneath her heavy eyelids.

“We were losing her. I couldn’t hold her. Her mind was … wild. She attacked me.” Nya paused, a ripple of pain flickering across her expression. “I did not expect her to reach me. This is not common for those who have been kissed by sylveth. She cut me deeply. I … lost my way for some while. I do not know what else happened except for what Fallon has told me.”

William rubbed a hand across his jaw. “She’s angry. She has a strong majick. I thought she was going to turn the castle walls to sand.”

Nya nodded. “It is not surprising that her majick is over stones. She is a metal master. Such would matter in what she’s become.”

“How do I control her?”

If Nya had had eyebrows, they would have risen into her hairline. “There is no saying.”

“Because you don’t know? Or because you won’t?”

She shrugged. “Does it matter? I am Warden. She is mine to guard now. You understood this when we made our bargain. She may choose to help you, but if she chooses not, I will guard her. As will Fallon.”

She looked at her companion then and something flashed between them. Something hot and angry. William noted the look and tucked it away. These two were not as united in purpose as they wanted him to believe. Nya faced him again.

“Surely you can tell me something about what she’s become,” he prodded

Nya shook her head, speaking slowly and deliberately, as if she considered each word. “I can tell you only that she is different from any Kin I have yet encountered. That may be the root of her compass-making ability.”

William looked at Fallon, not allowing the disappointment that stormed through him to show on his face. Without Shaye, without some insight or help, he wasn’t going to convince her to make compasses for him. “Have you discovered anyone else with the talent for compass making?”

“I have not,” Fallon said, crossing both sets of arms, bracing his legs defiantly. “But I have been busy.” His strange gaze flicked to Nya and stayed there.

“I ask that you begin to look.”

Nya bent forward in a very catlike way, her talons biting into the fabric of her chair. Her robe fell open, revealing that she was naked beneath. Short buff-colored fur covered her stomach and breasts like velvet. Her nipples were dark like the black stripes on the rest of her body.

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