‘isn’t it too early for hurricanes?’ Kalten shouted.
“It is in Eosia,’ Ulath shouted back.
The shrieking of the wind grew louder, and they rode with
their cloaks pulled tightly about them.
‘We’d better get in out of this,’ Vanion yelled. ‘There’s a
ruined farmstead just ahead.’ He squinted through the driving
spray. “It’s got stone walls, so it should give us some kind of
shelter from the wind.’
They pushed their horses into a gallop and reached the ruin
in a few minutes. The moldering buildings were half buried in
weeds, and the windows of the unroofed structures seemed to
stare down from the walls like blind eyes. The house
had completely tumbled in, so Sparhawk and the others dismounted
in the yard and led their nervous horses into what had
eVidently been the barn. The floor was littered with the rotting
remains of the roof, and there were bird-droppings in the
corners.
‘How long does a hurricane usually last?’ Vanion asked.
‘A day or two,’ Ulath shrugged. ‘Three at the most.’
“I wouldn’t make any wagers on this one,’ Bevier said. “It came
uP just a little too quickly to suit me, and it’s forced us to take
shelter. We’re pinned down in these ruins, you know.’
‘He’s right,’ Berit agreed. ‘Don’t we almost have to assume
that somebody’s raised this storm to delay us?’
Kalten gave him a flat, unfriendly stare, a fair indication that
he had not yet shaken off his suspicions about the young man
and Queen Ehlana’s maid.
“I don’t think it’s going to be much of a problem,’ Ulath said.
‘As soon as we get back on board that ship, we’ll be able to
outrun the hurricane.’
Aphrael was shaking her head.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked her.
‘That ship wasn’t built to ride out a hurricane. As a matter of
fact, I’ve already sent it back to where it came from.’
‘Without even telling us?’ Vanion objected.
‘My decision, Vanion. The ship’s no good to us in this
kind of weather, so there was no point in putting the crew in
danger.’
“It seemed well made to me,’ Ulath objected. ‘The builders
must have taken high winds into account when they designed
her.’
She shook her head. ‘The wind doesn’t blow where that ship
came from.’
‘There are winds everywhere, Flute,’ he pointed out. ‘There’s
no place on this entire world where the wind doesn’t blow now
and…’ He broke off and stared at her. ‘Where does that ship
come from?’
‘That’s really none of your business, Sir Knight. I can bring it
back after the storm passes.’
if it passes,’ Kalten added. ‘And I wouldn’t be at all surprised
that when it does, this broken-down barn’s going to be surrounded
by several thousand armed fanatics.’
They all looked at each other.
“I think maybe we’d better move on, storm or no storm,’
Vanion said. He looked at Flute. ‘Can you still… ? I mean,
will this wind interfere?’
“It won’t make it any easier,’ she admitted glumly.
“I don’t want you to hurt yourself,’ Sephrenia told her.
Flute waved her hand as if brushing it aside. ‘Don’t worry
about me, Sephrenia.”
‘Don’t try to hide things from me, young lady.’ Sephrenia’s
tone was stern. “I know exactly what all this wind’s going to do
to you. ‘
‘And I know exactly what trying to carry it around will do to
our mysterious friend out there. Trying to chase us with a hurricane
on his back will exhaust him far more than carrying ten
people on horseback will exhaust me – and I’m faster than he
is. They don’t call me the nimble Goddess for nothing, you
know. I can run even faster than Talen, if I have to. Where
would you like to go, Lord Vanion?’
The Preceptor looked around at them. ‘Back to Jorsan?’
“It’s probably as good as any place in a hurricane,’ Kalten said
‘At least the beds are dry.’
‘And the beer is wet?’ Ulath smiled.
‘That did sort of enter into my thinking,’ Kalten admitted.
The wind shrieked around the corners of the building, but the
inn was a sturdy stone structure, and the windows had stout
shutters. Sparhawk chafed at the delay, but there was no help
for it.
Sephrenia had put Flute to bed immediately upon their return
to the inn, and she hovered over the little girl protectively. “She’s
really concerned,’ Vanion reported. “I guess there are limits after
all. Flute’s trying to make light of it, but I know exhaustion when
I see it.’
“She won’t die, will she?’ Talen asked in a shocked voice.
“She can’t die, Talen,’ Vanion replied. “She can be destroyed,
but she can’t die.’
‘What’s the difference?’
‘i’m not sure,’ Vanion admitted. “I am sure that she’s very
very tired. We shouldn’t have let her do that.’ He looked around
the hallway outside the room where Sephrenia was tending the
weary little Goddess. ‘Where’s Kalten?’ he asked.
‘He and Ulath are down in the tap’-room, my Lord,’ Bevier
replied.
“I should have known, I guess. One of you might remind them
that I won’t go easy on them if they’re unwell when we set out,
though.’ They went on downstairs again and periodically checked the
weather outside. If anything, the wind actually began to blow
harder.
Sparhawk finally went back up and knocked lightly on the
door to Sephrenia’s room. ‘Could I have a word with Flute?’ he
asked when his tutor came to the door.
‘No. Absolutely not,’ she whispered. “I just got her to sleep.’
She came out into the hallway, closed the door, and set her back
protectively against it.
‘i’m not going to hurt her, Sephrenia.
‘You can make safe wagers on that all over Daresia,’ she told
him with a steely glint in her eyes. ‘What did you want to ask
her?’
‘Could I use Bhelliom to break up this storm?’
‘Probably. ‘
‘Why don’t I do that, then?’
‘Did you want to destroy Jorsan? – and kill everybody in
town?’
He stared at her.
‘You have no real idea of the kind of forces involved in
weather, have you, Sparhawk?’
‘Well, sort of,’ he said.
‘No, I don’t think you do, dear one. Whoever raised this Hurricane
is very powerful, and he knows exactly what he’s doing,
but his hurricane is still a natural force. You could use Bhelliom
to break it up, certainly, but if you do, you’ll release all that
pent-up force at one time and in one place. You wouldn’t even
be able to find pieces of Jorsan after the dust settled.’
‘Maybe I’d better drop the idea.’
“I would. Now run along. I have to keep watch over Aphrael.
Sparhawk went back down the hallway feeling a little like a
small boy who had just been sent to his room.
Ulath was coming up the stairs. ‘Have you got a minute, Sparhawk?’
he asked.
‘Of course.’
“I think you’d better keep a close eye on Kalten.’
‘Oh?’
‘He’s beginning to have some murderous thoughts about
Berit.’
‘is it getting out of hand?’
‘You knew about it, then? – about the feelings he has for your
wife’s maid?’
Sparhawk nodded.
‘The more he drinks, the worse it’s going to get, you know and
there’s nothing else to do during this storm except drink. Is
there any real substance to those suspicions of his?’
‘No. He just pulled them out of the air. The girl’s very, very
fond of him, actually.’
“I sort of thought that might be the case. Berit was already
having enough trouble with the Emperor’s wife without going
in search of more. Does Kalten do this very often? Fall desperately
in love, I mean?’
‘So far as I know, it’s the first time. He’s always sort of taken
affection where he could find it.’
‘That’s the safest way,’ Ulath agreed. ‘But since he’s waited
so long, this is hitting him very hard. We’d better do what we
can to keep him and Berit apart until we get back to Matherion
and Alcan has the chance to straighten it out.’
Khalad came down the hallway to join them. Sparhawk’s
squire had a slightly disgusted look on his face. He held uP
Kalten’s florin. ‘This isn’t going to work, Sparhawk,’ he said. “I
could cover the stone with it easily enough, but it’d probably
take you a half-hour to pry it open again so that you could use
the ring. I’m going to have to come up with something else.
You’d better give me the ring. I’m going to have to go talk with
a goldsmith, and I’ll need precise measurements.’
Sparhawk felt a great reluctance to part with the ring. ‘Can’t
you just…. ?’
Khalad shook his head. ‘Whatever the goldsmith and I decide
on will have to be fitted anyway. I guess it gets down to how
much you trust me at this point, Sparhawk.’
Sparhawk sighed. ‘You had to put it on that basis, didn’t you