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[ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] cell… "I've got it, Uzun. The next weather magic I need to learn is how to keep the skies clear. Can you teach me that?" "Easily," Uzun assured her. a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r "Thank you," Mikayla said. "I've got a busy day tomorrow, so I'm going to bed now. Good night, Uzun." "Good night, Mikayla," the harp replied, its strings absent-mindedly starting to play a lullaby. Mikayla went down the hall, smiling as the music drifted after her. Chapter Thirteen Mikayla came down to the study early the next morning , just as the sun rose, carrying the spheres Haramis had given her. "I thought of something after I went to bed last night, Uzun," she said. "I may not need to have the servants here make me warm clothes. I can have Fiolon bring me some from home. Even if my own don't fit anymore, there are always the hand-downs from my older siblings—the housekeeper has several chests full of them." "The Lady won't like it," Uzun warned. "Won't like what?" "Having Fiolon here." "Then she should have stayed here and stayed healthy enough to be in a position to object," Mikayla snapped. "She can't very well train me to be the next Archimage when she doesn't even remember my existence!" "Maybe she does by now," Uzun said hopefully. "That's why I brought the spheres with me," Mikayla said. "We can bespeak Fiolon and see how she's doing." "Very well." Uzun sighed. "It's not as if I could stop you anyway." "You make it sound as though I'm proposing to practice black magic! What does Haramis have against Fiolon anyway?" Mikayla had wondered about this for a long time, ever since she had realized that Haramis disliked Fiolon. a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r "He's male." "And?" That's hardly a reason, and surely she has some reason for disliking him, though I can't imagine what it could be. He's always been better behaved than I am, and he was polite and respectful to her, which is more than I was . "I think that's all, really," the harp admitted. "The only male human sorcerer she ever met or heard of was Orogastus, which was not much of a recommendation." "It was also almost two hundreds ago!" Mikayla protested. "That's an awfully long time to distrust an entire sex based on the actions of one person!" "Haramis is a woman of strong opinions," Uzun said mildly. "Strong, unchanging opinions," Mikayla agreed grimly. "If you weren't being so polite, you'd call her unreasonably stubborn." She sighed. "Let's see if Fiolon can tell us how she's doing." Getting in touch with Fiolon was a bit more difficult than usual, since Mikayla had to wake him up in the process. But finally his sleepy face appeared in her sphere and he grumbled, "What do you want?" "Good morning to you, too," Mikayla replied. "First, Uzun would like to know how Haramis is doing." "The healers seem encouraged," Fiolon said, "but I was in there yesterday—very briefly—and she called me a Labornoki spy. She seems to be up to the point in her life where the invasion was taking place. She keeps asking where Uzun is, and why he isn't in attendance on her, so she obviously doesn't remember that she turned him into a harp." "Oh, I wish I could attend on her!" Uzun said passionately. "Do you suppose that if we packaged me very carefully…" a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r "No, I'm afraid not," Mikayla said. "You wouldn't fit in one of the sleep sacks she uses to transport Nyssomu, and you're the wrong shape to strap onto a lammergeier's back. And Haramis would be very upset indeed if you were damaged in the attempt. Besides, at this point, it might be quite a shock to her to find out that she had turned you into a harp." "I suppose you're right." Uzun sighed. "So, Fiolon," Mikayla continued hopefully, "she doesn't remember either of us and probably won't for quite a while, right?" "It looks that way." "Good," Mikayla said with satisfaction. "And nobody else is likely to question your absence if you say you're going exploring." "What am I exploring?" Fiolon asked cautiously. "You'll love it," Mikayla promised him. "Orogastus built this place on top of a series of ice caves filled with devices of the Vanished Ones. And then he collected everything of theirs he could find—and it's all in barrels and boxes in the level under the stables. It's an absolute trove of knowledge!" "Some of which may be extremely dangerous," Uzun admonished them. "If you're planning to poke around and mess with devices Orogastus collected, I'd better come keep an eye on you," Fiolon said with more enthusiasm than Mikayla had heard from him since Haramis sent him away. "Absolutely you should," she agreed promptly. "Who knows what sort of trouble I might get into without you here to restrain my enthusiasm for strange and new things?" "Shall I bring back the fronials the Archimage sent me here on?" Fiolon asked. a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r "No, leave them there," Mikayla said. "She may need them when she's well enough to come home. I've been talking to the lammergeiers, and none of them can bespeak her since she took ill." Uzun gave a gasp of dismay, and Mikayla hastily added, "Of course, that may change as she gets better. Right now she presumably doesn't remember that she's supposed to be able to speak to them, and that may be the only problem. "Anyway," she continued her instructions to Fiolon, "pack all the warm clothing you can get your hands on, for you and for me. Go into the clothing chests if you have to—I think I've grown a bit taller since I've been here. But what fits you will probably still fit me. Be sure to bring warm mittens and boots; it's very cold in the ice caves, and we'll probably have to spend quite a bit of time there. Then tell the servants something plausible to explain your absence—don't tell them you're coming here, not after that stupid scene Haramis made right before she took ill—and go east on the Great Causeway until it crosses the river. Then go north half a league on the west bank of the river, and a lammergeier will meet you there. Have you got all that?" "Yes," Fiolon said promptly, his sleepiness completely gone. "I should be there about midday or shortly thereafter." "Wonderful," Mikayla said. "I'll have Enya make up a room for you, but I may [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |