Spy, Spy Again
Page 34
. . . . and felt that hole inside him fill with something new.
He lost all track of time for a while and only came to himself again when Elissa shoved him in the chest with her nose again, playfully.
:What . . . : he began.
:We don’t Choose people who have unfinished business. You had a lot.: She nuzzled his chest. :We also don’t Choose people who don’t need us. Now, you need me.:
:But . . . : Something occurred to him, and he placed his right hand on her forehead and looked for his sister Abi.
And there she was. Back at Haven, drawing up plans for something. But . . .
. . . that was not all he could see. He sensed Trey, sitting on the Throne and listening to a petitioner. And Kat, circulating among the courtiers waiting to be heard, quietly listening as only she could. And Niko, practicing swordwork in the salle, and the two youngest Royals at their lessons.
And Bey, anxiously waiting for word from his two missing children. And if he stretched a little farther. . . .
:What can I Farsee now?: he asked her in amazement.
:Quite a lot. If you’ve been there, we can See it. If you know the person, we can See what they’re doing. And of course, if you’re related . . . well, Chosen,: she said into his mind. :I think between us we can still keep track of your entire far-flung family. Even the murdering ones.: Then she laughed. :And it looks as if there is going to be a true successor to your father, the King’s Herald-Spy, after all.:
* * *
• • •
Sira looked up, and felt a surge of emotion she did not even try to deny or hide. From the absolutely unmarked trail that led to the Sleepgiver stronghold, it was easy to see the Mountain itself, marked—if only you knew it—by the circling lammergeyers that made it their home.
Home! She glanced over at Kee, who stared up at the Mountain, recognizing it by the circling birds she had told him about. He looked back over at her, and smiled.
Kee and Sira were mounted on ponies they had picked up just outside of Amber Moon South. Ahkhan, however, was mounted on his beloved Natya; there had been a very emotional reunion between them when the Guard who had “bought” her brought her out of the stable for him and told him, “I was absolutely certain you were coming back. I was just taking care of her until you did.”
They had met up with the earth afrinn that had saved them just on the other side of the Menmellith border. His name, it turned out, was Lyasho, and like the others, he fully intended to resume his former place as an ally of the Mountain.
Once into Menmellith, he and all the other afrinns had taken advantage of the Amber Moon Portal along with the three humans. From there, they had gone on ahead to the Mountain—all except for Eakkashet, who insisted on staying with the humans.
They had all been perfectly happy to have the afrinn along—just in case. If nothing else, Eakkashet had been the perfect night guard, since once Kee fed him power for the night, he didn’t need to rest.
“So . . . now I get to meet your family. Please tell me they won’t murder me,” Kee said, and it sounded as if he was only half in jest.
“Actually, we do a lot less murdering than you think.” That was Ahkhan, speaking before Sira could. He smiled at Kee. “Change is generational, my brother. It took my father a long time to convince the Sleepgivers to forsake their old Talismans for the still older kind, but it has been accomplished. And as the older Sleepgivers grow too old to practice the trade, the younger ones are looking past our traditions, and asking if they might, perhaps, find other means of serving the Nation than bringing death—or requesting that they bring endless sleep only to those who, shall we say, deserve it.”
Kee blinked at him. “Are you saying—”
Ahkhan shrugged. “By the time my father decides to tend to the orchards and my brother Teychik is the Banner Bearer, I believe the Sleepgivers will no longer resemble the days of my grandfather, and they will mostly be employed as bodyguards.”
But as Sira glanced over at Kee, she couldn’t help but notice that he still looked uneasy.
“What’s the matter?” she asked with concern.
“I—I’m walking into your home, to your people, and without any introduction or ‘please may I’ or ‘by your leave,’ pretty much announcing I’m marrying you and there is nothing they can do about it,” he said, helplessly. “They don’t know me, they don’t know anything about me, they don’t know anything about Valdemar—”
He was interrupted by the sound of laughter from overhead. They both looked up, to see Eakkashet in his firehawk form hovering above them.
“I can fix that, Prince,” the afrinn said. “Hold up your left arm.”
Clearly bewildered by the demand, Kee did as he was told. And Eakkashet dropped down to land on it.
But while it was a firehawk that began that drop, the bird that closed its talons on Kee’s arm was the biggest lammergeyer that Sira had ever seen.
And it was wreathed in flame.
“There!” crowed the fire afrinn. “You are riding into the stronghold with the fiery symbol of the nation on your arm. There could be no greater sign that you are one with the Nation, even though you were born elsewhere. I dare anyone to doubt you now!”
“And when they discover what a powerful Mage you are,” Sira added, “powerful enough to renew our old alliances with all four of the races of afrinn, they are more likely to be worried that you will leave than that you will stay.”
“That,” said Kee, looking happier than she had ever seen him at the moment, as he gazed into her eyes, “is going to be the least of their worries, my Princess.”
About the Author
Mercedes Lackey is a full-time writer and has published numerous novels and works of short fiction, including the best-selling Heralds of Valdemar series. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots. She can be found at mercedeslackey.com or on Twitter at @mercedeslackey.
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