He stared in mute amazement until she said, “It’s chilly and you didn’t seem inclined to offer me the blanket.” When he continued to stare mute, she said, “Well, don’t be addled. Get under here!’’
Pushing aside his momentary confusion, he obeyed the girl. She pushed him back out of the bed, and he landed on the floor. “What?’’
She giggled. “It’s easier if you get undressed before you get under the covers, stupid.’’
He quickly did as instructed, and slipped into the bed next to her. She put her arms around his neck and said, “Obviously, Lela didn’t teach you very well. We’ll have to do something about that.’’
Then she kissed him and all concerns for what was occurring in the common room below were forgotten.
MAGIC
Talon sat up.
His heart raced as he heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, and for a moment he was disoriented. Meggie stirred next to him, and he glanced over and felt more disorientation, though this time it was emotional. How easy it had been to let Lela become a dim memory while he was in Meggie’s arms.
The door opened to reveal Magnus standing there. He was wearing his slouch hat and holding his staff, and across one shoulder hung a large black belt, supporting a leather bag at his hip.
Meggie stirred, and her eyes came open. Suddenly they went wide as she spied the magician, and she pulled the blanket up to her chin.
Magnus ignored her. “Talon, get dressed and gather whatever personal belongings you have. We leave at once.’’
“Huh?”
But the door had already slammed shut behind the departing magician.
Talon stumbled out of bed and looked around. He didn’t have many personal belongings. He had two clean tunics and another pair of trousers, the boots beside the bed, and a small pouch with a few coins he had earned doing extra work for guests. Even the sword and dagger he used were not his, but belonged to Caleb.
He looked down at Meggie, who smiled shyly up at him. Not knowing what else to say, he said, “I’ve got to go.’’
She nodded. He dressed, gathered up his meager pile of possessions, and hurried down to the common room, where Magnus was waiting with Robert.
Robert said, “Talon, you’re to go with Magnus. Do as he bids as if he were speaking for me. I will see you again, but not for a while.’’
“Where am I going?” Talon asked, as all vestiges of sleep fell away from him.
“Everything will be explained to you after you arrive.” Robert’s manner precluded any more questions.
Magnus moved toward the kitchen, saying, “Follow me.’’
Talon did so, passing through the kitchen, where Leo and Martha were preparing the day’s food. He followed Magnus into the courtyard, where the magic-user said, “Stand next to me and hold on to my staff.”
Talon stood next to Magnus, shifting his pouch and clean clothing into the crook of his left arm so that he could grip the staff with his right hand.
Without a word, the magician withdrew a device from the folds of his robe, a sphere made from a metal that had a sheen of bronze or, perhaps, even gold. Talon saw Magnus depress a lever in the side with his thumb and the sound of a hive of angry bees engulfed them.
Talon felt as if the world had dropped away from his feet. His heart leapt into his throat. For a moment he thought he had gone blind, but rather than blackness, he found he could see a profound grey, a void of absolute nothingness. Then the ground was back below his feet, but felt as if it was shifting. He gripped Magnus’s staff hard to keep himself from falling. Suddenly he had the distinct feeling that he was far from the inn. It was still night. And he could smell a strange tang in the air, a pungency he had never encountered before, and in the distance there was an odd sound, like thunder, but low and rolling, repeating itself regularly as he listened.
The magician watched him for a moment, then said, “You’re hearing the breakers.”
Talon looked at him in the darkness. Magnus’s features were hidden in the shadow of the brim of his slouch hat, and the only light upon him was from the small moon which was setting. “Breakers?”
“Waves breaking upon the rocks.’’
“We are near the sea?” Talon asked, realizing as he spoke that it was a stupid question.
But Magnus did not chide him for his disorientation. “Come,” he said.
They walked down a path and up a rise, and found themselves before a small hut. For some reason the sound of waves upon the rocks here was louder. “At sunrise, you’ll be able to see the north shore of the island from here,” Magnus said, and entered the hut.
Talon followed and found himself in a small room inside a daub-and-wattle building, a thatched roof above his head. The floor was earth, but it had been hard packed. As he moved forward, he saw a faint shimmer of light reflected from the low fire in the stone hearth. He knelt and touched it.