Maggie Furey - Harp of Winds

“Yes, and we’re all free now, Harihn is dead—but I’ll tell you later, I’ll find a way to reach you as quickly as I can,”

“I hope so. We are trapped down here, and soon must be discovered. Aurian, before you leave ...” Quickly, Shia told the Mage what had happened to Raven, It made grim hearing, but the Mage had too many other anxieties to waste pity on the girl who had betrayed her. Still, the information could come in very useful. The seed of an idea began to form in Aurian’s mind, “I must go now,” she told Shia hastily, “Take care, my friend, until I return,” With that, the Mage sought Chiamh once more, to return her to her body as quickly as possible.

The reunion that took place within the tower was boisterous, as Bohan rushed to embrace Aurian, tears streaming down his face, while the Mage tried to conceal her dismay at his wasted appearance, and the sores that disfigured his enormous limbs. Her heart hardened against Harihn all over again, and in that mood, she found it quite easy to deal ruthlessly with Raven.

She had Parric and Schiannath bring the winged prisoner down from the roof, and while a reluctant Nereni served hot soup and liafa to revive him, the Mage told him, without preamble, of Blacktalon’s death. Though he turned white at the news, Aurian thought she detected a glimmer of relief in his eyes, and hoped it would make it easier to gain his cooperation. In fact, she had already won his gratitude for Healing the wounds that Schiannath had inflicted, and when she offered to set him free to return to Aerillia, if he would deliver a message to Raven, he gave his promise readily.

As she stood in the doorway watching the Skyman take off into the snow-laden clouds, the Mage felt a presence behind her. Yazour was at her shoulder, plainly troubled. “Aurian, is it wise to put your trust in Raven once more?” he asked her.

Aurian shrugged. “I have no choice,” she replied. “I must get to Aerillia in person if I want to find out what happened to Anvar. Besides, what choice has she? From what Anvar told Shia about the damage that had been done to Raven’s wings, my Healing powers are the only hope she has of ever flying again. And if she wants my help, she’ll bloody well have to cooperate and send her winged warriors to bring us to Aerillia.”

“And who will you take with you?”

Aurian smiled at the warrior. “That sounds like one of Anvar’s questions—not really a question at all.”

Yazour nodded. “I will go—unless you do something drastic to stop me.”

“Yazour, I don’t have to do anything drastic. Your wounds would be enough.” Seeing the grave expression on his face, Aurian stopped teasing him. “Now that I have my powers back, however, I can Heal those for you in no time.”

She laid a hand on his arm. “I want you to come with me, Yazour. Apart from Anvar, there’s no one else I’d rather have at my side. As for the others—” She sighed. “Well, I’ll certainly take Chiamh, but I don’t know about anyone else. Not Eliizar and Nereni, for certain. After what they’ve been through I can’t part them, and I need Nereni to stay here and take care of Wolf.”

The Mage heard Yazour’s sharply indrawn breath. “Lady, you may have trouble there,” he said.

“Tell me.” Aurian appreciated the warning. Since her return, she had been puzzled, and not a little hurt, by the reticence of Eliizar and his wife. Though he had clearly been genuinely pleased to see her, the former Swordmaster said little, and seemed to shrink away from her touch, while Nereni had managed to avoid the Mage by pretending to busy herself with the supplies that their guards had left behind.

With a light touch on her arm, Yazour drew Aurian to one side to look back through the doorway into the firelit tower room. “Have patience with them, Lady. They are troubled by the wolfling.” He indicated the sleeping cub, now snuggled in a blanket and cradled in the arms of the beaming eunuch, who was delighted with the tiny creature. A slight frown creased the young warrior’s forehead. “I must admit, Aurian, when you told me—” He broke off his words and the Mage felt a shiver pass through his lithe frame.

“It’ll be all right, Yazour,” Aurian reassured him. “Once I get the Staff back from Anvar, it should be possible to revoke Miathan’s curse.”

“I hope so.” Yazour looked sadly at the wolf cub, and put an arm around the Mage’s shoulders. “Poor Aurian! After all your long waiting, and losing your powers, to be faced with this, instead of the child you longed for . . .”

In the face of his sympathy, Aurian felt a tightness in her throat. “There’s nothing wrong with Wolf!” she said fiercely. Yazour recoiled in surprise at her vehemence, and she shot him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry,” she sighed. “How could I expect you to understand? And worse still, how can I reassure Eliizar and Nereni with their fear of magic?”

That was only one of Aurian’s problems. Before the Skyfolk returned, as she prayed they would, to bear her to Aerillia, she had to somehow reassure the Swordmaster and his wife, find some form of sustenance for her child in her absence, and make some provision for Harihn’s surviving guards, who, thanks to the Cavalrymaster and his peculiar army, were now locked safely away in the dungeon below. And where would Parric and the Xandim fit into her plans? With a wry smile, Aurian remembered Forral’s advice from long ago:

“Take things one step at a time, and deal with the first thing first. Then you’ll find, more often than not, that the rest will fall into place.”

Unconsciously, the Mage resumed the burden of command that had slipped from her while she had lost her powers.

“Right!” she said decisively. “Yazour, I want you to go now, and talk to Harihn’s troops. You commanded them once—they should still trust you. According to Parric, it’s more than even he can do, as Herdlord, to persuade the Xandim to give sanctuary to their foes, but all is not lost. Many of the Prince’s soldiers left loved ones behind in the forest, and it’s a rich and sheltered land between the desert and the mountains. Say that we’ll set them free when we depart, and tell them to return to the forest and settle there.” For an instant, her face lit up in a mischievous grin, “Who knows—we may eventually be responsible for founding a whole new kingdom!”

“Lady, thank you!” Relief was plain on Yazour’s face. Aurian knew he had been worrying about those of his people who had remained in Harihn’s service. With alacrity, he left her, heading for the dungeons.

As for her son . . . Aurian walked out alone into the thicket that surrounded the tower, and sent forth her will to summon the wolves once more.

The pack had not strayed far from the tower, and were back with the Mage in a very short time. After a brief conference with the dominant pair, Aurian found another couple (for wolves, like hawks, had a life bond and stayed together) who would be willing to leave their brethren and tolerate humans, in order to help her rear her son. Though the wolves were between litters, Aurian’s Healing powers soon made it possible for the female to produce the milk that the tiny cub needed. Leaving the pack leaders with her heartfelt thanks, Aurian returned to the tower, with Wolfs new foster parents gliding like silent shadows at her heels.

Unfortunately, persuading Eliizar and Nereni proved to be more difficult. Only by threatening to leave the little one here in the wilds with the wolf pack did Aurian finally succeed. Nereni’s doubts helped solve the problem of Bohan, however, Aurian did not want to take him to Aerillia with her, yet she had envisioned having difficulty in persuading him to leave her side again, and was reluctant to hurt his feelings. As it was, the eunuch had already become fiercely protective of the wolfling, and readily agreed to stay as bodyguard to the cub.