“I’d weaken all the supporting poles and ropes,” she offered diffidently. “As soon as the breeze came up the way it does every evening, it would collapse.”
“Now, if the object was to trap people inside for a crucial few moments, obviously her way would be better,” Lorryn continued.
“Well, only if you wanted to trap them at that particular time, but I see your point,” Shana replied, then suddenly turned toward Rena and stared at her.
“What’s the matter?” Lorryn asked quickly.
But Shana only shook her head. “Nothing really,” she replied. “I just—something about your sister seemed familiar for a moment, that’s all.”
Lorryn had the feeling that there was a lot more to it than that, given the measuring glances Shana kept casting on Rena, but since she didn’t seem hostile, only thoughtful, he finally decided that it was probably, some mysterious female thing that no male would ever understand, and dismissed it from his concern.
“Anyway, if what Diric wants is some way for us all to disappear that makes it appear as if we could have done so at any time, Rena may be able to leave some signs that will confuse them no end,” he pointed out. “For that matter, she could make changes in the food that will put Jamal’s warriors to sleep, she could collapse the tent after we’ve gone—”
“Don’t make too many promises, Lorryn,” Rena interrupted, blushing. “I’ll do what I can, but I’m not a great wizard like La—the Elvenbane is,” she said, clearly unable to force herself to call Shana by anything other than her title.
But Shana only laughed. “Believe me, 7 am not the great wizard that the Elvenbane is,” she replied warmly, with a friendly smile that brought another blush to Rena’s cheeks and an answering smile to Lorryn’s lips. “If I were, do you think we’d have been caught in the first place? No, the best thing we can do is to assess all of our abilities and use them to advantage. There is a real value in being able to work subtle magics; taming the alicorns the way you did, for instance. Or—say—stopping a heart.”
Shana cast that last out carelessly, or so it seemed, but Lorryn caught a gleam in her eyes as she waited for Rena’s response. And to his surprise, his sister went just a little pale.
But her reply was steady enough. “I—that had occurred to me,” she said softly. “I did try it, once, with a bird that was already dying. Never again, though.”
She had? That surprised him more than almost anything else today!
“It’s not a power to use lightly” was all Shana said, but she said it so soberly that he knew, deep within his heart, that the burden of all of the dead of the second Wizard War lay heavily on her soul, and always would. “But sometimes—” Her eyes looked far away, into some bleak place where he could not go. “Sometimes, you aren’t given a choice. If, by using a power like that, you could save an innocent life—”
Then she shook herself, and returned to the present. “Any way, the last thing I’m going to ask you to do is use something like that on—say—Jamal. He hasn’t actually hurt anyone yet. He might not. He might be so frightened and alarmed by discovering we’re going that he might turn his people right back around and go home. He might get a late-night visitation from his god telling him mat he’s been a naughty boy. Anything could happen.”
Rena nodded, but her relief at Shana’s words was written clearly in her expression.
Mero reached out and patted her hand, comfortingly. She smiled shyly at him, calling up a reassuring smile in return. He did not remove his hand from hers.
Oh, really? Was Lorryn’s startled thought. And for just an instant, all the instincts of the protective brother rose up in him—
But they subsided just as quickly. Why not, after all? When had she ever met any fullblood who’d treated her with a fraction of the courtesy that Mero had, even in the few moments since they’d met? He could simply be offering kindness to her—
Oh yes. And my Ancestors on both sides will rise up out of their graves and declare peace between the races.
—and what if something more did develop between them? Was it any of his business? The little he knew of Mero personally, he liked. Certainly no one could live around Shana for long and continue to harbor the usual elven prejudices about females.
But what was Shana going to do about this? Had she even noticed?
A quick glance in her direction told him that she had noticed. Her eyes were on the linked hands—and she was smiling, ever so slightly.
Well, well, well. If Shana didn’t mind, if she approved, who was he to interfere?
And nothing at all may come of this anyway, he reminded himself, and turned his mind and attention back to the topic at hand. After all, nothing could come of this until they were all free and away from this place.
* * *
Myre was altogether pleased with the way things were going. At the Citadel, old Caellach Gwain was slowly undermining the authority of those that Shana had left in charge—and with every day that passed that did not bring Shana’s return, even those loyal to her lost some of their confidence. Careful never to go where one of the dragons might spot her, she moved among them in the guise of a former human slave, dropping little hints, fragments of doubt. Perhaps Shana had deserted them. Perhaps she had been captured by the elven lords. Perhaps she had fallen victim to some horrid monster of the wilderness, something no one had ever encountered before.
With care and guile she spread the insidious doubts—that, no matter what the cause, Shana, the Elvenbane, was never coming back.
Caellach Gwain, bless his twisted old heart, was quick to pick up on the rumors and spread them further. Denelor and the Senior Wizard were hard put to keep their hold over the others at this point. Let them come up against the first real danger or hardship, and the unity of the wizards would shatter like shale.
And as for Jamal…
She waited for him in her dead-end canyon. He had not yet been ready to ally with her at their last meeting, but she sensed he was close. He was probably waiting to find out just what it was that she wanted, like any properly cautious creature.
The soft thud of hooves warned her he had arrived, and she settled herself for a nice, productive talk. She had decided, if he asked her what her “reward” would be for her aid, that she would tell him the truth. It was a truth that he would certainly understand.
The war-bull, with Jamal leading it afoot, plodded around a bend toward her. He stopped at a prudent distance from her.
“I am here,” he said simply.
“As am I,” she replied, with a nod of her head. “So. I have offered alliance, War Chief. You said that you wished to think on it. Have you thought?”
“I have.” His heavy brows drew together. “You have not said what it is that you will gain from this alliance. It is said, ‘an ally who asks for nothing expects everything.’ That is not a bargain I am prepared to make.”
Myre hissed laughter. “And a wise man you are. But you, War Chief, will surely understand what it is that I want—for although to some it may seem insignificant, it is a reward beyond price for me.”
He waited, silent, for her to name that reward.
“Revenge,” she breathed, and saw his entire face light up with understanding and appreciation. “You have as captives my enemy and my brother. That is my reward; a free hand with each.”
“Done,” he said instantly, and grounded the butt of his spear in the earth. “I swear it by the red earth and the black, by the Forge and the Fire. Now—how are we to make use of this alliance?”
He cocked his head to one side, quizzically.
“You know, for I have shown you, that I can take any form I please,” she replied. “So—first, I shall go among your people in a form that none would suspect, and I will listen and learn who is your friend, who is your foe, and who is undecided. Then, when the time is right, you declare for yourself the full power of the Clan leadership, with a dragon to ride as proof of your mastery! You select a few who most oppose you and—” She delicately examined her talons. “I think I need say no more.”
He nodded, pleased. “I doubt that many will continue hi opposition once the first lessons have been dispensed,” he said with a bloodthirsty chuckle that would have sounded well in the throat of a dragon. “And after, if you continue to walk in that form-with-no-suspicion, we will continue to learn who opposes in silence. Hmm?”