‘I take it you’d not have spoken up unless you had a new employer in mind for
me?’ Jarveena said at length.
‘You’re most perceptive.’
‘And if there were not some long-term advantage in it for yourself?’
Enas Yorl sighed. ‘There is a long-term purpose to everything. If there were
not, spells would be impossible.’
‘So there was a purpose behind Nizharu’s dropping of the scroll?’
‘Dropping … ?’
‘Oh! Why didn’t I think of that?’
‘In time, I’m sure you would have done. But you came to Sanctuary so recently,
you could scarcely be expected to know that in his boyhood Aye-Gophlan was
counted among the smartest dips and cutpurses in the city. How else do you think
he managed to buy himself a commission in the guards? Does he talk as though he
came from a wealthy background?’
They were at the gate, and being squeezed through. Clutching her writing-case
tightly with one hand, keeping the other folded over the silver pin which
fastened her cloak in a roll around her waist, Jarveena thought long and long.
And came to a decision.
Even though her main purpose in life up to now had vanished, there was no reason
why she should not find another and maybe better ambition. If that were so,
there were good reasons to try and prolong her life by quitting Sanctuary.
Although …
She glanced around in alarm for the magician, thinking them separated in the
throng, and with relief was able to catch him by the arm.
‘Will distance make any difference? I mean, if the doom is on me, can I flee
from it?’
‘Oh, it’s not on you. It’s merely that there were two deaths in the charm, and
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