Archer shook his head. “It doesn’t—”
“It’s the dragonmen,” Celestine persisted. “Kyre and Ilior. Connor knows that Kyre’s presence makes him different. Special. Only one other person—Selena Koren—has a similar companion. And Selena is not only a Paladin, but a Summoner. Once in a thousand years do the Aluren find a Summoner in our ranks. Connor knows this. He’s put it all together. He’s gone to find the one person who is as special as he is. I stake my Reverency on it.”
Archer held her gaze for a moment and she thought his legendary stubbornness was going to hold, but he crumbled almost imperceptibly. He picked up a parchment from among the countless strewn over his desk and handed it to her. “This came yesterday. From the Harbor Master. He was finally able to glean from the Tallstaff Company which vessel Connor took passage on. An eastern bound packet.”
“East,” Celestine said, scanning the paper.
“Aye,” Archer said. “The Tallstaff merchant said the packet’s final destination was the Lords in the Eastern Edge.” He rubbed his hands over his eyes. “Until this moment, I thought it meant Connor grabbed the first available berth on the first available vessel, figuring he could reroute on a different island. But now…”
“A vessel sailing to the Lords would have to pass by Isle Uago.” Celestine set the paper down and her heart ached to see the fear clouding her friend’s eyes. “The danger is great, but he is an expert swordsman. And he has Kyre. And he has his magic.”
“Magic he doesn’t know to use. And he has episodes. On Uago that kind of weakness…”
“You may yet find him on Devala,” she said, “but send a ship to Uago too.” She laid her hand on his across the desk. “For peace of mind, if nothing else.”
“Whose? Yours or mine?” Archer asked tiredly.
“Both. I love him too.”
The admiral met her eye and without looking away called for his page to bring in his officers. To Celestine he said, “Thank you, High Reverent, that will be all.”
The formality of his tone stung until she saw his half-grin and the light that warmed his brown eyes. She smiled back and took her leave.
In the hallway, Celestine felt a weight in her heart lift as she listened to Archer relay to his men a new set of orders that would send a flotilla to Isle Uago. She had no doubt that was where Connor had gone, and now that unease was settled, another took its place. Uago was far more dangerous and Connor far less world savvy than she had described.
Please, let it not be too late.
As she walked through the utilitarian Citadel, all brick and stone, inside and out, she distracted herself from worry with a different mystery. Why did the Cloud Isles send a Vai’Ensai to Connor? And did they send one to Selena ten years ago? She strove to remember what Kyre had told them upon his arrival; he’d been so reticent, answering few questions.
The stone and the fire sent me.
The words—describing some ritual—had meant nothing to Celestine and still didn’t, but she realized they weren’t important anyway.
“Why did they send you, Kyre?” she muttered aloud. “Why?”
The First Lesson
Selena awoke as her chamber window showed dawn’s rays glowing in the east. She sat up and stretched languorously. The bed was stuffed with stiff straw and the linens were scratchy, but she’d slept as if on a pile of silk pillows. The heat of Saliz made the stone walls weep and her chamber smelled of mold, but it also brought her a small measure of relief from the constant cold of her wound. She should not have been so comfortable, she thought, in the home of a Bazira, and yet the morning’s light seemed a shade of gold she’d never seen before.
The god has sent me, through Skye, on the path to healing.
She rose and splashed water on her face from the basin set out by Ori. As she washed her face and neck, she wondered how the rest of the crew faired. Julian hadn’t been pleased last night that the plans had changed, that was plain. But when the natives brought from the old kitchen a feast fit for an admiral and a case of rum to wash it down, he was left with little choice but to accept Accora’s hospitality.
Choice had very little to do with it, Selena thought. They had no idea where on the island they were and, as Ori had reminded them, Saliz was not kind to those wandered its jungles aimlessly.
Julian had fumed, or at least Selena guessed he did. The blank mask had fallen over his handsome features, rendering him expressionless. But for his eyes. The gray-green color had become a murkier shade, as if dark thoughts passed behind them. Likely he brooded over his ship, burnt and broken and left on the shores of Saliz for scorpions to scuttle over. He drank little and ate nothing, watching in stony silence while his crew enjoyed themselves in their quiet way.
But the quiet was short-lived when the natives had joined them, filling the keep’s small feasting hall with their thick-tongued speech. They had exchanged their reeds of poison darts for reedy flutes, and there was music. Even dancing. Cat, Selena remembered with a smile, had swung arm-in-arm with Whistle, her brilliant orange hair like a burst of flame in the night.
Accora had warned Selena that her first lesson would begin at dawn so Selena had retired early, glancing at Julian before Ori showed her to her room. He stared at a candle flame, one hand on a flask of something strong, the other on his dagger that he’d laid on the table. He didn’t look up as she left the small feasting hall, but she thought she felt his attention follow her. Or perhaps it was her imagination. She fell asleep with the image of his face half lost to shadow and his finger trailing along his dagger’s edge, but still her sleep had been deep and dreamless.
Now Selena wiped her face dry and considered herself in the mirror. The wound remained hidden behind her bedclothes, its ugliness unable to mar her reflection. Her eyes weren’t shadowed with weariness and her hair fell along her shoulders in soft waves.
But Accora must know that I’m the god’s warrior.
She braided her hair and, for the first time in weeks, pulled on her chainmail shirt over her linen blouse. Over that, she smoothed her wool tunic, and strapped her sword to her waist. Now the mirror revealed an Aluren Paladin ready for battle. She nodded once, satisfied, and left her small room in Accora’s keep.
Ilior waited for her in the hallway.
Dawn’s light had not yet found its way into the crumbling keep and her friend was a hulking mass in the dimness. Irritation flared. Ilior always knew when to rouse himself to join her.
But my impatience with him is new.
“I hope you’ve reconsidered,” he said without preamble. “It’s not right being here. It’s feels strange.”
“I thought so at first too,” Selena said, “but the situation has changed.”
“Just like that?”
“I know that I am on the right path, Ilior. I slept well. Untroubled.”