Elspeth grimaced. “We only have four Adepts,” she pointed out gently. “And we only have a few days to get them in place, before the next wave comes.”
An’desha took a long, deep breath. “You have two Adepts, one Healing Adept—and me.”
Firesong turned to stare at him, and it was as clear to Karal as the color of his eyes that he had
no
idea what An’desha meant.
“You have a Sorcerer-Adept,” An‘desha elaborated. “A creator. The kind of mage who actually
made
living beings. All of Ma’ar’s knowledge is mine, now. I know how to build these breakwaters because in a sense, I’ve done it before. I can work with two Masters; you don’t have to pair me with Firesong.”
Firesong paled but said nothing.
Elspeth’s mouth formed a silent “oh,” but she wisely bent her head over her list. “Right, then—let’s think about
how
we get the Adepts in place.” She bit at the end of her quill, and looked at the map. “For obvious reasons, at least to some of you,” she said, finally, “I think that Firesong and I should go north. We can Gate there—”
“We’ll probably have help,” Firesong muttered. Elspeth’s mouth quirked, although Karal had no idea what he meant; evidently this was a private joke.
“Hydona and I arrre Masssterrrsss,” Treyvan said. “Darrrkwind can Gate parrrt of the way, then we can carrry Darrrkwind in the basssket. We have done ssso beforrre.” He cocked his head at Hydona. “Ssso, sssouth orrr eassst forrr usss?”
:You will go south.:
Everyone’s head came up at the imperious mind-voice. Altra jumped into the center of the group, landing right on top of the location of the eastward key-point. The Firecat posed like a statue, holding a folded and sealed parchment packet in his mouth; with the exception of An’desha and Firesong, the rest of the group gasped, and Karal guessed that they were finally seeing the Firecat as he
really
was, and not in the guise of a household pet.
:You and the gryphons will go south, Darkwind,:
Altra repeated.
:For reasons I am not permitted to reveal at this time, Karal and I will accompany An’desha to the east.:
“Karal
and you?” Elspeth said incredulously. “But he’s not even a mage! He’s not even an envoy!”
:He is an envoy now.:
Altra dropped the parchment packet on the table.
:Solaris
has decided.
Karal will replace Ulrich. He is a full Sun-priest now. and a channel for magic as Ulrich recognized when he was a child. I am a mage. Karal, one Companion, and I will accompany
An’desha.:
Altra stared her down, and she finally dropped her gaze.
“So
that’s
how all those miraculous documents of Ulrich’s were getting here!” Prince Daren exclaimed.
Altra favored him with a faintly approving look but said nothing.
“Wait a moment. You said one Companion,” Elspeth objected. “Who is the Herald?”
: There is no Herald. Florian is unpartnered. He, too,
is
a mage and will use Karal as his channel as well,:
Altra
shot
back.
:Although we may not work magic as a human can, we are mages and can support as Masters with Karal as our channel.:
Elspeth looked back up at him, her face showing nothing but disbelief. “This is impossible!” she cried. “You’re breaking all the rules!”
:And who made those rules?:
he countered, just as swiftly.
Karal cleared his throat. “This is Altra,” he interjected mildly. “He is what we call a Firecat; and he is—something like an Avatar. I don’t think any of you are aware that there were
four
of those Imperial weapons targeted for Ulrich and myself. Altra dealt with two and deflected the third.”
Everyone in this room had seen the swiftness and deadly power of the weapons at firsthand; they stared at Altra with surprise and growing respect.
“We of Karse generally consider it wise not to argue with a Firecat,” Karal concluded as the silence grew. “They are often acting on orders.”
:As I am now,:
Altra stated.
:There are reasons for what I have said. Those reasons do not yet concern you, and may never concern you. The future is fluid and subject to change.:
And you are being your most inscrutable and infuriating,
Karal thought hard at the Firecat. Altra turned his head slightly in Karal’s direction, and dropped one eyelid in a quick, but unmistakable, wink.
Elspeth was clearly fuming. “Look, you—Avatar or not, I
won’t
be manipulated on some grand playing board of—”
She stopped in midsentence as Altra turned to face her directly.
:I understand,:
the Firecat told her with surprising gentleness.
:Please believe me, Lady Elspeth. What I have been ordered to tell you is not meant to manipulate you all like so many game pieces—it is to ensure that you have the opportunity to exercise your free will.:
He sighed, and somehow conveyed the impression of a burden of terrible grief.
:The future holds the secrets, not I, Solaris, or even Vkandis. Ulrich should have been here. He was an Adept, although he seldom made that known. It would have been he who accompanied the gryphons in the east, Elspeth and Darkwind together in the south, and An‘desha would have gone north with Firesong. This is not optimal; now Florian and I must serve as the suppliers of power—you have not enough Master Mages to cover all the minor points and send two with An’desha. Besides, there is another consideration. Karal is the most acceptable substitute for a—a guardian—that must be placated by a presence it will understand. The guardian is not intelligent, but it will recognize Karal. I am not yet permitted to tell you why. Be assured that when I can, I will—although—: His ears
twitched. :
I have the feeling that by that time, you will have deduced the reason for yourself.:
“Guardian,” Elspeth muttered to herself, and her eyes dropped to the Firecat’s hindquarters—or rather, where those hindquarters were set. “Bright Havens!” she exclaimed.
“Iftel!”
The Firecat bowed his head to her. :
Precisely.
Check Master
Levy’s calculations. You will find that the middle key-point stands at the exact joining of the three countries. Because of the mages who are available at this moment, this key-point requires a certain diplomacy where that guardian is concerned. You will be working Great Magics that will become one with the border of Iftel, after all; the guardian must be reassured that this will cause no harm. Originally, this would have required two Adepts, or Ulrich and the gryphons. Now it requires a balance of four workers. Two will stand in and for Valdemar—:
“That will be Florian, obviously,” Elspeth stated. “The other would be An’desha?”
: Yes-and two will stand in and for Iftel. That must be Karal and myself. The Vkandis Priest-mages still in your land would not be recognized by the guardian as legitimate; although they are good men and women, they are mages first and Priests only as an afterthought. Talia—: the cat paused. :If Karal were not here, Talia might
possibly
be an acceptable substitute, but I am not willing to risk the chance of failure. It must be Karal; he is the only one besides myself available that the guardian will allow to pass the border. And since he is not a mage, but is a channel, he can support An’desha with help from myself and Florian.:
“This is beginning to sound like a religious ritual,” Prince Daren said, finally, with a chuckle. The chuckle died when Altra turned those fiery blue eyes on him.
:You are not entirely wrong,:
Altra replied.
:The circumstances are extraordinary. If Karal had died along with Ulrich
—: he paused again
:—it is possible that Solaris herself would have been with you at this moment, at whatever cost. The situation is that grave.:
“Oh, no.” Elspeth said hastily. “No, no, no! Talia has told me quite enough about Solaris, and I don’t even want to
think
about that possibility!”
Altra actually shrugged, although a cat’s body was not particularly suited to that gesture.
:Think on this, then. It is also true that if you had been able to learn the magics for the breakwater-shieldwall before this last wave, the key-point would have involved only the borders of Valdemar and Hardorn. If you wait until this wave is passed, however, the next will involve only the borders of Valdemar and Iftel. You will still need Karal, which means you would still need me and Florian.:
He shrugged
again. :This is simply the way that things fell out. There is no Great Destiny involved, if that cornforts you any.:
“Great Destinies generally involve great funerals,” Elspeth muttered, as if she was quoting someone. Both gryphons laughed. “All right; I can accept all this, then. Thank you for taking the time to explain.”
:Well,:
Altra replied, standing up again and walking carefully to the edge of the table.
:Your dislike of manipulation is well-established. Infamous, even. Had I not explained, you might well have found some way to subvert my orders entirely. In this case, that would have been a disaster for all concerned.:
“I guess he does know you,” Prince Daren whispered roguishly to his stepchild. Elspeth blushed.
“Cats,” Elspeth muttered. “They always know. Why don’t we get back to the business at hand, then?” she added hastily.
“I don’t care what that cat is, or what it says it is!” Firesong said waspishly. “I do
not
like the idea of you holding the middle key-point all by yourself!”
An’desha suppressed the response that had been second nature to him; to give in to Firesong and defer to his judgment.
We can’t afford that now,
he thought, chillingly aware of how little time they did have. As blithely as Altra had spoken of “waiting until the next wave,” he and Master Levy both knew that would be a very bad idea. The wave that was approaching
would
have intersection-points in several populated areas.
He knew, as no one else did, what that would do to the humans in those areas—and not all of those populations were in places that could be warned in time.
“I don’t like it either,
ke’chara,”
he said instead, very quietly. “To tell you the truth, I’m terrified. I’d much rather it was you beside me; Karal has never served as a channel before, and no matter how well Altra prepares him for it, this will still be an entirely new experience for him. What’s more,
I
don’t like the idea of you being at the most volatile of the key-points! Elspeth may be an Adept, but she is very young in her power, and I had much rather that you had someone experienced beside you.”
“You aren’t experienced—” Firesong began, then coughed sardonically. “Of course. You have all that secondhand experience to draw on, correct?”
He had not been distracted by An‘desha’s own, very real, concern for
him. Ah, well, I tried,
An’desha thought.
“You were the one who rightly insisted that I learn to use those memories,” he began.
Firesong interrupted him. “Oh, well, throw my own words in my face!” he replied angrily. “And what next? I suppose now that you have all this experience at your behest, I am no longer interesting to you! Shall I expect to find myself left by the wayside, with the rest of the unwanted discards?”
There was more in the same vein, and it was a very good thing that Karal and Talia had seen the signs of this turnabout in Firesong and had warned An‘desha. This would have been very hurtful, had An’desha not understood what was behind it all.
Firesong, possibly for the first time in his life, was jealous and afraid—afraid that An’desha
would
simply walk off and leave him behind. He could, now. He was no longer frightened and dependent. Firesong had never been in the position of the courter, rather than the courted, and he had no idea how to deal with it.
Firesong was also afraid for An‘desha; the substitution of two mages and a channel for a real Adept was dangerous enough to make An’desha’s hair stand on end when he stopped to think about it. Only his faith in Karal allowed him to even consider it.
Karal will allow himself to be burned out before he breaks,
he thought, as he let Firesong continue to rant.
He has changed, too.
He knew what Firesong’s conscious intention was—to make him so emotionally wrought up that he would give in, and let Firesong find some other solution to the situation.
There was only one problem with that idea. An’desha had spent too much time with Karal.
I suppose a sense of responsibility must be contagious,
he thought, a bit wryly.
“Aren’t you even listening to me?” Firesong cried desperately. “Don’t you care what I’m saying, what I’m going through?”
“Yes,” he replied, reaching out to catch Firesong’s hands in his own. “But more importantly, I have listened to everything you didn’t say, but meant. You are afraid for me, and you think I am in great danger. You are afraid I will leave you, that I no longer care for you. You are right in the first instance, and completely, absolutely, utterly wrong in the second.”
Firesong’s hands tightened on his; Firesong’s silvery eyes begged for something he could hold in his heart.
“I am in danger;
all
of us are in danger. If we do nothing, your people, mine, and all these friends in this adopted land of ours will suffer, and maybe die.” His eyes, he hoped, told Firesong that this was wholly the truth, nothing held back. “If we try to change this plan—” He sighed. “I must tell you that I do not know what difference the changes will make. Altra swears that this is the optimal use of our powers, and that anything less will not guarantee success. With all of my so-called ‘experience,’ I cannot tell you if he is right or wrong, but I am willing to trust him.”
Firesong nodded, reluctantly.
“I will not leave you.
” He said that with such force that Firesong winced. “I am not tired of you, nor bored with you, nor do I find you less than my equal.” He allowed a hint of a smile to flick across his lips. “I
do
find you my superior in more than you know.” Now he tightened his hands on Firesong’s. “I have never said this in so many words,
ashke,
and I believe it is time that you heard it.”