Wrede, Patricia C - [Lyra 05] by The Raven Ring

Author:The Raven Ring [Ring, The Raven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-08-28T15:13:46+00:00

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

Daner’s summary of the card-charting and the spell gone wrong was brief and accurate. Baroja and Lord tir Vallaniri listened in silence until he finished, and the questions they asked afterward were clear and pointed. To Eleret’s relief, Daner did not go into the possible reasons behind Jonystra’s actions, nor did he mention the raven ring.

“I’ll arrange to have the woman questioned when the healer is done with her,” Lord tir Vallaniri said at last. “My apologies, Freelady Salven; this should not have happened in my house.”

“I am the one who should apologize, for bringing this trouble on you,” Eleret replied, but she was warmed by his evident sincerity.

“I suppose it was you she was interested in, Freelady?” Baroja studied his left sleeve as he spoke.

Daner frowned. “It certainly looked like it to me. What are you getting at, Baroja?”

“Only that it seems a little odd for someone to get inside a noble household, associate however briefly with the family, and then attack a relatively unimportant visitor.”

“Jonystra followed us from Eleret’s lodgings.”

“Nonsense.” Baroja waved a hand in careless dismissal. “I found her myself, down in the Orphan’s Market.”

“Did you? Or was she the one who found you? Just how did you get hold of her so conveniently, anyway?”

Lord tir Vallaniri stepped forward, and was instantly the focus of attention. “A telling question, Daner, but one that will have to wait. I am more concerned about your sisters. This woman charted cards for all three of them, as I understand it. Are you magician enough to tell whether she cast any spells on them, or should I send for a wizard?”

Baroja’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack with surprise, as if he had not thought out all the possibilities before he had made his remark and was now almost regretting having spoken. Eleret wondered what he had been trying to do and why, and whether she would ever understand the way these incomprehensible people behaved.

Daner pursed his lips, then nodded at his father. “I think I can spot anything major, but if you’re worried about subtle effects, you’d better send for Fenutiol. It would be easier if I knew what she was trying to do with Eleret, but—

” He shrugged.

“Can’t you tell from the chart?” Baroja asked. “That is the whole reason for fussing with these cards, after all.”

“She didn’t finish Eleret’s chart,” Daner said. “We’ve got what we think are the last eleven cards, but you can’t tell much from them without knowing in what order they’d have fallen.”

“I can’t,” Baroja said. “But I know who can. Mother. She’s been to so many card-charters that she knows the cards as well as they do, and she’s always reinterpreting other people’s charts out of order.”

Remembering the conversations in the main hall, Eleret almost smiled. Baroja’s description fit Lady Kistran like a made-to-measure breastplate.

Daner blinked. “I suppose it’s worth a try. Eleret—

”

“Not tonight,” Lord tir Vallaniri said. “Speak with your aunt in the morning, Daner; I can’t spare that much of your time tonight.

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