Sharon Shinn - Reader And Raelynx

She opened her other hand to show him the moonstone pendant she had been given by the Coravann lord. “I wanted to see if I could steal some of your visions away,” she said. She looked a little nervous, as if she thought he might wrench out of her hold or yell in fury. She also looked stubborn and determined, as if she would yell right back.

He swallowed. “You succeeded.”

Now she looked anxious. “And is it all right? Should I let you go? It’s just that-you seemed so far away-and it seemed dangerous. I was afraid you would slip away completely, and I didn’t know how you would get back.”

“I don’t know. That’s never happened before, but it’s never been so intense before,” he said, his voice a shade closer to normal. “Now-I can still feel them, but it’s a little more bearable.” He attempted a smile. “That’s a trick I would use on somebody. How did you learn it?”

Her smile was timid. “I don’t know. I just thought I’d try.”

With his free hand, he gestured at the moonstone. “And how did you keep it from burning me this time?”

She shook her head. “I just tried to. I didn’t know if that would work, either.”

Despite his pressing worry, despite his continued abstraction, he felt a tremendous excitement begin to build up in his chest. “Amalie,” he said. “Do you realize what you’re doing? You’re teaching yourself to use your magic. And you’re using it to help and to heal. You’ve been afraid of it, but Ellynor was right. You can make it benevolent. And you can figure it out completely on your own.”

Now her smile widened. She was pleased that he was pleased with her. “And I helped you come back? I made you feel better?”

He put his free hand on the back of her neck and drew her forward so that their foreheads were touching. She released his wrist, but only so she could lace her fingers with his. The conflict at Danan Hall was still playing out on the edge of his vision, but Tayse was convinced of victory, and even Kirra had grown calmer. “You made me feel wonderful,” he said.

That was how they were sitting when Valri came back in the room and found them.

THEafternoon passed in a tangled blur. Baryn wanted whatever details Cammon could supply, and Cammon had to repeat them all to Tir when the older Rider came in for a briefing. They were already armed for war. There was little else they could do to prepare for an assault on the palace, should one be coming, but everyone was shocked at the news from Danalustrous.

More bad news was to follow. As the day wore on, Cammon became oppressed by other intimations of hostility, and he spread his attention outward toward all the borders of Gillengaria. Violence had always been what registered most sharply in his consciousness, and violence was unfolding throughout the Houses. He had never been good at geography, never been able to tell exactly where something was occurring, but he could tell that blood was being shed in multiple locations throughout the realm.

After all, Amalie brought Justin into her study. The Rider unrolled a huge map on the floor and weighted its four corners. Then he made Cammon stand on the spot marked as Ghosenhall and face the northern border. “Give me directions,” he demanded.

Cammon waved to his right. “That way. Not very close to us.”

“Kianlever,” Justin guessed, placing a rock on Kianlever Court. “Where else?”

“That way. East. But farther up. North, I guess.”

Justin’s voice was grim. He placed another stone. “Brassenthwaite.”

“Although it’s not as intense there,” Cammon added. “I think the battle is already over. Maybe it was just a skirmish.”

“Where else?”

Cammon pointed behind him. “Pretty far. Almost at the edge of what I can sense, so maybe at the coastline.”

“Rappengrass.”

“And that way. Toward the Lireth Mountains.”

“Coravann.” Justin’s voice was cold with fury. “Uprisings at all the loyal Houses, timed to occur on the same day. To make the marlords think twice about sending any reinforcements to the palace once they learn that Ghosenhall is under attack.”

“Merrenstow’s a loyal House,” Amalie said. She and Valri had watched this whole exercise.

Justin laughed mirthlessly. “Royal forces have been bivouacked on Merrenstow land for the last six months. It would be difficult to plan an uprising there.”

Valri was on her feet and pacing. “So does this mean that the Houses where there have not been confrontations are Houses that are not loyal to the crown? So many of them! We always knew that Fortunalt and Gisseltess were against us, and Nocklyn and Tilt have been questionable for a long time, but Storian? Helven?”

Justin looked grave. “I don’t know. Perhaps those Houses have maintained better relations between the marlords and their vassals.”

Valri pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Baryn must know.”

Justin nodded. “I’m assuming the marlords will send word as soon as they can to confirm Cammon’s suspicions.”

“They’re not suspicions ,” Cammon said.

Justin’s face almost relaxed into a smile. “I know. You’re always right.” He sighed. “I wish Senneth and Tayse were here.”

So does Senneth , Cammon thought. “They’ll be on their way tomorrow.”

THEnext day, Cammon was briefly confused by the pace at which Senneth and Tayse were covering the ground on their return journey, for he could tell they were keeping up with Kirra and Donnal, which was hard to do.

“They’ve been changed ,” he told Justin that night. Just the thought of it had given him his first true smile of the day. “ Tayse let Kirra change him! Can you imagine?”

“Are they birds, then?” Justin wanted to know. “Because that’s fast, but, gods! It’s a tricky body to master.”

“I can’t tell what they are. Just that they’re all together and they should be here tomorrow night.”

“Finally you have good news.”

Ellynor made him bundle up for the long walk back from the cottage to the palace. It was almost spring, but the nights were still uncomfortably cold, and Cammon moved as briskly as he could without actually breaking into a run. By habit, he let his mind search the palace to locate the people who mattered to him. For once, Valri did not seem to be in the same room as Amalie; he thought she was with the king, for he could catch the stately aura that he associated with Baryn.

I’m on my way back to the palace, Cammon sent hopefully to Amalie. If you’re alone and you’d like to meet me somewhere. But she stayed stationary in her room, and he sighed. She might be asleep already. She might-with the kingdom in such turmoil already-be unwilling to add any more drama to her life. He couldn’t say he blamed her.

But as he entered the palace and climbed the stairs, it became clear that each step was bringing him closer to Amalie. As he turned down the hallway toward his own room, he felt her presence more strongly still. His pace quickened; he was almost running as he reached his door and pulled it open.

Amalie stood inside.

Even more hastily, he shut the door behind him.

Then he turned to stare. She was wearing a long white nightdress and holding a single white candle. There was no other light in the room. She looked like a column of moonlight topped with a halo of sculpted fire.

“How long have you been here?” he demanded.

“Maybe an hour.”

“If I’d known that, I would have come back much sooner!”

She smiled. It occurred to him that she was a little nervous. “I hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t exactly ask you.”