Wait, maybe I didn’t have to debate this. “Night, you can talk across distances like this, can’t you?”
“
Of course. It’s not that far.”
“See if you can find Raile and let him know that we’re here.”
“
Certainly.
” His eyes immediately went to the city across the gorge, ears cocked slightly as if he were actually listening for something.
Vonkaraan took a step back from both of us, eyes as wide as saucers. “The horse…you were talking to the horse!”
She’s just now realizing he’s not a normal stallion? Obviously, Nolan pulled his talent with animals from his grandfather’s side of the gene pool. The kid was more intuitive than his grandmother by far. “That’s not a horse. He’s a nreesce.”
“Nreesce are mythical monsters!” she objected.
“Legends usually hold a grain of truth in them. At your age, surely you’ve discovered this for yourself. Most legends are fabrication or exaggeration, based on some truth.”
She didn’t calm her demeanor any at my words.
Sighing, I decided to just ignore her and turned my attention back toward the city.
“
I found Raile,
” Night informed me with a pleased bob of the head. “
He’s coming now. He told me to tell you that he has everything prepared for her. Oh, and he wants to know if she’s going to have hysterics or not.”
“Probably,” I admitted without any real concern. After all, she would soon cease to be my problem. “He might have to hit her with an immobilization and silencing charm and then just float her to wherever he wants to put her.”
“
I’ll pass it along.”
Vonkaraan let out a screech that a stepped on cat would have a hard time surpassing. “You can’t use magic on me! I’ll be tainted!”
I just looked at her. Please! Is she even listening to herself? “Woman, do you honestly think that people can go a mile under the surface of the world and still be able to breathe if magic isn’t involved?”
All of the color drained out of her face. “…you weren’t just moving us…with magic…?”
“Of course not. I have to make the air breathable too.” With sadistic amusement I added cheerfully, “You’ve been breathing in magically-enhanced air for the past two or so hours.”
She fainted.
I’m not kidding! Her eyes rolled up in her head and she just dropped to the ground with a
thud
. I’ve never seen anyone faint that fast in my life.
Night and I looked down at her, and then up at each other.
“
I suppose that Raile can forgo those immobilization and silencing spells now
,” Night observed dryly.
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Raile chose that moment to appear, and undo the glamour concealing the bridge. He looked across, found a collapsed Queen on the ground, and looked back at me and Night. Despite the distance between us, I could clearly hear the amusement in his voice when he called to us, “What did you do to that poor woman, Garth?”
“Why do you assume it is my fault?” I demanded loudly enough so he could hear me.
“Nonsense, Garth, everything’s your fault!”
Oh yeah
right
. “Why?!”
“Because you’re so easy to blame, of course, why else?”
I sighed. “Where’s Didi when I need him, or Shad?” I complained to Night. “I can always blame stuff on those two, and everyone automatically agrees with me.”
“
Not this time, you can’t,”
Night disagreed with dancing eyes. “
After all, it IS what you said that made her faint. It really is your fault this time.”
I get no sympathy around here.
Raile was near enough at this point to aim his wand at the collapsed Queen, and cast a floating spell on her on her limp body. It obediently lifted in the air, her limbs and head dangling as she drifted at Raile’s command.
Once he had her floating beside him, Raile gave me a nod. “Good work, Balancer.”
I frowned at the title. “All I did was transport her here, Raile.”
“Yes, so you did,” he agreed in a tone that clearly didn’t agree with me at all. “Perhaps you don’t consciously realize this, Garth, but its little things like this that are restoring balance to Chahir. No task can be done in just one stroke of effort; it takes many strokes, and much sustained effort.”
He’s right. I started reviewing all of the things I had done over the past two years, memories flicking through my head almost too fast to follow. Each choice led to another; my choice to leave my home in Tobadorage and seek refuge in Hain led directly to my actions now, bringing a Queen into exile. And each choice, each action on my part, had started the chain reaction that was bringing magic back into Chahir.
“
Garth? Hello? You still with us?”
I nodded faintly.
“
You okay?
”
I was feeling a little light headed, actually, under this sudden perfect moment of clarity. “Fine.” Shaking off my thoughts, I focused back on Raile. The Wizard was watching me with a faint smile.
“Well, I’ll take her to her gilded cage now, if that’s alright with you,” Raile informed me cheerfully, as if he hadn’t just bludgeoned me in the back of the head with too much information. “Keep in touch, Garth. We’re very interested over here as to the changes Chahir is going through.”
“I will,” I promised. I watched him walk back across the bridge for a moment before firmly dismissing any thoughts of balance, or prophecies, from my mind. “Let’s go home, Night.”
“
Can we go home and make peanut butter? PLEASE? I’m hungry!”
Laughing, I patted him on the shoulder. “Sure, Night. We can do that, you have earned it.”
He whickered in delight.
Chapter Seventeen:
Recovering
We spent the next week in Hain recuperating and regaining our strength. I had to watch Xiaolang, as he had a tendency to test his physical limits when no one was watching, which usually meant he was overdoing it. Active people like him are hard to keep chained down for any length of time. I admit there were a few times I’d quietly dose him with a potion so that he would sleep for twelve hours straight and give his body the rest it needed to heal. I think he suspected I drugged him. Every time he woke up, he’d give me this appraising look of dark speculation. I, naturally, emitted an air of complete innocent in return, just to mess with his empathic senses.
And then I’d quickly take myself out of the vicinity on an important errand before he could accuse me of anything.
After the first day or so of him being at the house, however, I found that I didn’t have to worry as much about him. Asla’s children quickly adopted him. We were constantly finding both of them curled up on Xiaolang’s bed, either for a nap, or for a story, or for a game, or asking him endless rounds of questions. We couldn’t seem to keep either child out of his room for more than an hour at a time. It was probably because of his Q’atalian heritage. I wasn’t surprised to find that he was good with children, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy their company.
Four days into the Xiaolang being at my parent’s house, I wandered through the front door, looking for my father. I’d noticed last night that Night’s hooves were getting long and needed to be re-shod. I couldn’t find the right hammer I wanted, and was sure my father had put it somewhere special. Da’s never been particularly good at being organized, but he always knew where everything was.
As I wandered through the living room I was glad to see Xiaolang out of bed. He was sitting on a chair, legs propped up, hand wrapped around a steaming mug of something. Aral was snuggled next to him, tucked under one arm. Next to Xiaolang was Asla, holding a sleeping Hela in her lap. They were involved in an easy conversation, sharing funny family stories back and forth, from the tidbits I caught in passing. I was rather surprised to see this. Ever since Asla had joined the family, she had avoided being in close contact with single men, especially if they were attractive men. We knew it was because of what happened with her previous husband, but hadn’t pushed her to try and reconnect with anyone.
Hmmm. I thought about turning around and saying something quietly to Xiaolang, and then thought better of it. He was an empath, after all. He probably knew better than I did what Asla was feeling, what to say to her.
Deciding not to worry about it, I went through the living room and into the kitchen, finally locating my missing father. He was half under the sink, apparently attempting to fix some leak in the plumbing. “Da, I need to re-shoe Night. Where’s the red handled hammer?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s here in my box.” He gave a casual wave to the wooden box at his feet.
I bent over and rustled through it, finally finding the hammer among all of the assortment of other tools. Hefting the handle in my hand, I went out the back door with a determined stride. It was time to wrestle with a nreesce.
~*~
Still, by the end of the week, everyone was practically recovered. Aletha’s ribs were still a trifle tender, as were Xiaolang’s and Hazard’s, but that was their only complaint. Xiaolang proclaimed us fit to resume our duties, with the promise that he wouldn’t do anything more strenuous than riding, and dispatched me to go get Chatta.
I’d been up to see Chatta so many times I had the route to her house memorized. After a quick call by mirror to warn her, I headed up alone on the earth path to her house. When I surfaced just inside the front courtyard it wasn’t Chatta who greeted me, however.
Actually, I had no idea who she was.
She was tall, with a willowy figure to her and hair dark as midnight falling over one shoulder. She was, in a word, a natural beauty. I had a brief male moment where I just looked at her in sheer appreciation, then recovered my poise.
She rose from where she had been sitting on the fountain’s edge, laying a book aside, returning my look with one of her own. “So, judging from your abrupt appearance, and the descriptions I’ve been given, you must be the Advent Mage.”
I frowned slightly at this cool greeting. “I am Magus Rhebengarthen, yes. And you are?”
“Nicola Delheart.”
Abruptly, it clicked and fell into place. I knew who she was—Chatta’s older sister. In the two years I had known Chatta, I’d never met this woman face to face. I’d heard about her, of course, but we were never in the same place at the same time. Judging from her reaction, I had to wonder…just what had she heard about me? I gave her a slight bow. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” I hope.
“I’ve heard wildly different accounts of you, Magus.” She said this so neutrally I wasn’t sure if it was an accusation or not. “The majority of the rumors in some manner include my sister.”
The light was beginning to dawn. It wasn’t me that she had a problem with, exactly; it was her sister’s reputation. I’d already been subjected to a lengthy interrogation on this topic—by both Delheart and Shad. I blew out a breath, feeling a headache brewing on the horizon. “Yes, I have no doubt. I’ve heard some of them myself. I trust you realize that they are just that—rumors?”
“Are they?” There was an open challenge in her eyes. “Is there not even a grain of truth in those rumors, Magus?”
I wasn’t entirely sure of what I was being accused of. “What are you getting at, Lady Delheart?”
“My,” she drawled with a hint of sarcasm. “Are you always so formal and polite?”
“As a matter of fact, my dear sister, he is.” Chatta stepped out of a side door of the mansion, winking at me. “Hello, Garth. You made good time, as usual.”
I smiled back at her. “Xiaolang’s in a bit of a hurry. I think one more day of rest will drive him completely crazy. Besides, this way I could escape the house.”
“Aha, I knew there was an ulterior motive lurking in there somewhere.” She came forward and gave me a quick hug.
I hugged her back, but was rather grateful she kept the contact brief, considering our company. It’s never comfortable hugging someone when you’re being glared at.
Chatta sensed it too, I think, because she turned and matched her sister look for look. “I told you, sis, they’re just rumors.”
“Considering the oath he gave, I don’t believe that,” Nicola retorted heatedly. “I especially don’t believe it now, after seeing how he looks at you! What do you take me for, an idiot?”
“A stubborn one at that,” Chatta responded with mock-sweetness dripping from her voice.
Nicola’s eyebrows slammed together. “Now you listen to me, Chatta—”
“I am a legal adult, Nicola. The only things that I have to do are live, die, and pay taxes. The rest is
completely
optional. I’m not going to stand here and be lectured by you of all people.” With a dismissive glance, Chatta turned, displaying her back to her sister. “Garth, I’m ready to go when you are.”
As much as I liked the idea of leaving, I didn’t see any bags on Chatta. “Er, fine, but don’t you have any luggage you need to bring?”
“I shrunk everything I packed and put it in my pockets,” she answered cheerfully.
“CHATTA!” I swear there was steam coming from Nicola’s ears. “Stop ignoring me, curse you!”
After one look at that enraged face, I decided Chatta was right about leaving now, and dropped right back onto the earth path. Cocooned in magic, I directed us toward Del’Hain.
Chatta gave a brief wave to her furious sister on the way down and looked around in approval. “You know, I never appreciated before now how peaceful it is down here.”
“Has your sister been pestering you like this for long?” I couldn’t imagine so. I just saw Chatta three days ago, and her sister hadn’t been home then.
“Roughly two days.” Chatta pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “She puts too much stock in appearance. What really bothers her, I think, is that our parents don’t seem to care. They both like you. More than that, they both
trust
you. She can’t get anyone to see her side of things, and it’s been really frustrating her.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just nodded.
“Any changes since I last saw you?”