Gail Martin - The summoner

"How is Kiara?" Tris asked, realizing that if he whispered, it didn't hurt quite so much to hear his own voice.

"She's sleeping it off," replied Taru. "Carina tells me that scryings have always gone hard on her. The attack was intentionally meant to be both terrifying and draining. Had you not intervened, she would not have survived." She paused. "Which reminds me," she added, her voice taking on an irritated edge, "what were you thinking to attempt this when I was gone?"

Tris sighed. "Kiara said she did it many times before, and since I wasn't the one doing the scrying, I really didn't think it would attract attention. We were wrong."

"You might as well have lit a bonfire." She bustled with some objects on the stand next to the bed and Tris opened his eyes again. He lifted his hands and saw that they were covered with fine cuts. "Here," Taru said, taking his hand. She smoothed ointment over the cuts, reducing their sting. Tris gratefully allowed her to do the same with his neck and face.

"Forcing power back through a breakable object isn't the most efficient move," Taru said.

"You were fortunate. If the power truly concentrated in the ball itself, and not in the sender's channel, you might have had a nice explosion on top of just spraying the room with shards of glass."

"Understood," Tris replied, abashed.

Taru's expression softened. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You did the right thing, in an unorthodox manner. It worked. However, there are reasons for the methods we teach you. Things mages have learned the hard way-like exploding scrying balls. Devin and I will confer. Your level of power creates dangers at this point in your training that would not normally pose a hazard until much later. We must reconsider."

"We can't stay here much longer," Tris said, as Taru helped him sit up and pressed a cup of Carina's headache tea into his hands.

"No, you can't," she agreed. "You cannot afford to be snowbound here. That is one of the reasons I went to confer with my Sisters. They have been monitoring your lessons from afar. They agree that you have completed nearly all that is possible here at the Library." She paused. "All but Argus."

"Now, there is a new danger," she said, drawing up a chair and settling herself. She poured herself a cup of the tea, and from her reaction as she sipped, Tris realized she was pushing her own energies as well.

"Because of what happened tonight? Can Jared reach us here? We're not in Margolan."

Taru shook her head. "That is true. But we are not yet far enough into Principality for the king's troops to patrol this area heavily. Arontala will not have a precise bearing on your location, but it will be close enough. The vayash mora tell us that there are already small squads of Margolan soldiers, traveling out of uniform beyond Principality's borders, searching. If they comb this area, it will make the road to Principality City more dangerous for you."

She paused again, deep in thought. "The most dangerous section will be the first day's ride, from here to Gibbet Bridge. Beyond the crossing, the king's soldiers patrol the riverbank. I do not think even Jared would dare send troops that far inside another sovereign state. It would mean war.

"Royster will come with you. Given the… unusual circumstances, I have gained the Sisterhood's permission to take texts with us, so that they may be used in your training. But you have one more task remaining."

Tris leaned back on his pillow, feeling the full fatigue from the last many weeks. "Mageslayer."

"That, also, was a part of my consultation with my Sisters," said Taru. "We are in agreement that you are the rightful bearer. But you must still win the sword."

"What makes you think that I can succeed?"

"None who have challenged Argus were Summoners."

Tris thought about that for a moment. "Is it worth the risk? As Jonmarc pointed out, getting myself killed before the main event accomplishes nothing," he said with a lopsided smile, thinking of Vahanian's original wording.

Taru must have realized the paraphrase, because a smile hinted at her lips. "Your friend hides his skills well, but there is good reason that the Lady chose him for this purpose."

"Don't tell that to Jonmarc," Tris said, sipping the rest of his tea. "He thinks he makes his own decisions."

Taru smiled. "The Lady permits our self-deceptions where it suits Her purpose," she replied. "But to your question, we believe the answer is 'yes.' I raised that point with the Sisterhood, and there was… debate," she allowed. "While I do not have great faith, as a general rule, in talismans and amulets, it is not wise to discount their power. Rarely are they sufficient by themselves; yet, the right tool in the hand of the Lady's chosen becomes a powerful weapon. We believe that Mageslayer has a role in your quest. The risk of failure in Margolan is greater, my Sisters believe, than the likelihood of defeat by Argus." She paused. "However…"

"However?"

"It would be unwise to underestimate the threat. Once you are rested, it will be time. If all goes well," she said, "we will leave for Principality City when you return."

If all goes well, Tris thought, thinking about all that Taru left unsaid. She's not completely comfortable with this, he thought, watching Taru. She's not sure that I'm up to it yet, but we're running out of time. We could go to the city, train further, but there's the risk we couldn't get back here. And if we can't go on without it, then there's no option. He watched Taru drink her tea. She's starting to feel boxed in, and the Sisterhood doesn't like to have their hand forced. Welcome to my world.

"Please don't tell the others about the risk," Tris said, leaning back into the pillows as he felt a wave of vertigo wash over him. "Whatever happens is beyond their control. They've come so far, risked so much-I don't want them to worry."

Taru removed the extra pillows so he could lie down. "I have already spoken with Carina and Devin. Their assistance may be required. But I will honor your request, although I suspect your companions will figure it out for themselves."

She might have said more, but Tris could no longer resist sleep and he let it take him, hoping it would be dreamless.

THE NEXT EVENING, Kiara and Carina took dinner in the former's room. Kiara was still recovering from the scrying, which had left her badly drained. Taru went to bring more herbs for Carina's salve to soothe the small cuts from the shattered orb. As they waited, Kiara and Carina sipped their tea, lost in thought.

Finally, Kiara spoke. "Taru says it is almost time for us to leave the Library. Then I guess we go on to Principality City." She saw a look of discomfort cross her cousin's face. "I know you'd rather avoid that if you could," she continued, quietly. Carina hesitated, and then nodded.

"It's just that it… brings back a lot of things I'd rather not remember," the healer said quietly. "It's been seven years since Ric died. I should be over it by now," she said in a voice above a whisper.

"You know," Kiara said gently, "even after all this time, you've never really told me what happened."

Carina was silent for a moment, staring into the fire. Finally, she spoke, almost too softly for Kiara to hear. "When we were sixteen, Cam and I signed on with an Eastmark mercenary troop. He was so big, no one even asked our ages. They needed a healer and were happy to get Cam in the bargain. We made a good living."

She smiled faintly, her gaze far away. "Ric was the troop's captain. Best swordsman in the company. He was five years older than we were, and a bit of a rogue," she chuckled sadly. "He took good care of us. He broke a lot of rules, but he looked out for his men. We'd have gone to the Crone for him." She paused again, longer this time. "I fell in love. The next winter, he asked me to marry him. I said yes. And then word came that there was some trouble on the Dhasson border. Raiders. It was supposed to be an easy skirmish. Only it wasn't," she said, looking down.