“How do you know that?” Kara asked.
“Because Ishak could have burned up all four of us without any control,” Alanna replied. “Because if you couldn’t rein in your magic, the village would have been destroyed by winds or rain. And Kourrem could have blown me apart with what she did just now.”
“Then why do you take such chances teaching us?” Kourrem demanded. “You didn’t know I wouldn’t hurt you, did you?”
Alanna grinned. “I may not be able to raise the weather or see the future, but I know something about protecting myself; and each of you, if I must.” She scratched her head. “I think we’d better practice the focusing exercise I taught you. Then you’re going to get the tents I asked for and set them up by mine.”
“Why do you want us to set up tents?” Kara asked as they sat on the ground obediently.
Alanna settled beside them, crossing her legs beneath her. “As my apprentices, you should properly live with me,” she replied. “But since there are three of you, I had the tentmaker give me one larger tent for the girls and one smaller one for Ishak. Oh, stop that!” she cried as they threw themselves on her, hugging her frantically.
After the evening meal, the apprentices went to furbish up their new homes, and Halef Seif came for Alanna. “The night is cool,” he told her. “Will you go riding with me?”
She didn’t need to be asked twice. It took them a few moments to saddle their horses and tell the sentries which direction they planned to take. Once free of the village, Alanna drew a deep breath of relief. She could smell desert plants, dust, and horses—a dry, reassuring scent that told her more than anything else her life was very different these days.
“I want them to sit with me at the campfire,” she said abruptly, keeping her voice low in case predators, animal or human, were near. “That’s their right as my apprentices, isn’t it?”
“Two of them are girls.” There was little light with which to read his face, and his voice was bland.
“I’m a girl, too.”
“I have noticed.”
Alanna suspected him of teasing her. “I don’t care if they’re three-headed toads,” she whispered tartly. “They’re all going to be shamans, and the tribe must learn to—”
The Bazhir hissed for silence. Faithful was erect in his cup on Moonlight’s saddle, his fur standing up, his tail lashing. Alanna tuned her ears to the night sounds and heard it—rock falling against rock as men made their way through the small gorge just below. Soundlessly she and Halef Seif dismounted; with a touch, she made Faithful stay put. She followed the man to the edge of the gorge, where they flattened themselves on the ground, peering over.
Her eyes had adjusted to the moonless night, and now she could see the shadowy forms of five hillmen stealing along the ground below her. One tripped on a rock and cursed softly while his companions hushed him; Alanna sneered, knowing she would have received months of punishment duty if she had made such a mistake even as a page.
“Raiders looking for our herds.” Halef’s breath stirred the hair by her ear; had she been a few inches farther away she could not have heard him. “I think we will not disturb the guards.” He made as if to rise, then flattened himself beside her once more. “Some light would be useful—shaman.” He was smiling.
Swiftly Alanna reached inside herself, finding that small bit of fire that always burned deep where only she could find it. She drew the fire out, feeling a rush of excitement as it grew swiftly to meet her need. Violet-colored light burst from her palm, making everything brighter. The hillmen yelped, shielding their eyes. Halef Seif scrambled down into the gorge, screaming war cries. Pressed for time and needing both hands, Alanna looked around frantically. Spotting a stone, she pointed at it and gave her magic the command. She didn’t know if it could be done, but there was no time to think. The violet fire streamed into the big rock, filling it as it had filled her. For a moment it seemed to flicker and die—then it became part of the stone, a huge beacon shining on the battleground below.