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 Not yet& Not if we have it outside.
His expression changed to disapproval.  No, Imi. It s too dangerous.
 But we could bring guards and hold it somewhere 
 No.
She pouted and looked away. Surely it wasn t that dangerous outside. From what
she had overheard in the pipe room, raiders weren t circling the islands all
the time. People went out every day to collect food or objects to trade.
Whenever someone was killed, it was on one of the outer islands, or away from
the islands altogether.
 Anything else? he asked. She could hear the false brightness in his voice.
She could tell when his smile was forced because the wrinkles around his eyes
didn t deepen.
 No, she replied.  Just lots of presents.
The wrinkles appeared.  Of course, he replied.  Now, with all these
suggestions to take care of, I have a lot of work to do. Go back to Teiti
now.
She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, then slipped off his knee and
walked back to Teiti. Her aunt smiled, took her hand, and led her out of the
room.
In the stream outside stood a large group of traders. She heard them muttering
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among themselves as she passed.
 & waiting for three days!
 It has been in my family for three generations. They can t& 
 & never seen such large sea bells. Big as fists!
Sea bells? Imi slowed and pretended to brush something from her clothes.
 The landwalkers have discovered them, though. They guard them well.
 Could we arrange a distraction? Then we& 
The conversation became too quiet to hear as she moved away. Her heart was
beating fast. Sea bells as big as fists? Her father loved sea bells. Could she
ask one of these traders to get one for her? She frowned. It sounded like they
were planning one big trip to gather lots of bells. When they did, bells the
size of fists would be on sale everywhere. They d be common and boring.
Unless I get someone to sneak in and grab one for me before the traders get
there. She smiled. Yes! I just need to find out where these sea bells are.
Which would be easy. Tonight she would make a trip to the pipe room.
:Auraya, are you coming? Juran asked.
Auraya jumped at the voice in her mind. She dropped the scroll she had been
reading a fascinating account of a sailor who had been rescued from drowning
by one of the sea people and leapt out of her seat. Her sudden movement
startled her veez. He gave a squawk, ran up the back of the chair he d been
sleeping on and scampered up the wall.
 I m sorry, Mischief, she said, moving to the wall and stretching a hand out
to him.  Didn t mean to startle you.
He stared at her accusingly, feet splayed firmly against the wall.  Owaya
scare. Owaya bad.
 I m sorry. Come down so I can scratch you.
He remained just out of reach, his whiskers now quivering in the way they did
when he was living up to his name.
:Owaya chase Msstf, a tiny voice said in her mind. She shook her head.
 No, Mischief. I 
:Auraya? Juran called.
:Yes. I m coming. Where are you?
:At the base of the Tower.
:I ll be right there.
She sighed and left Mischief clinging to the wall. Setting a goblet on the
edge of the scroll to stop it blowing off the table, she moved to the window,
unlatched the pane and pushed it open.
An awareness of the world came to her as she concentrated. She somehow knew
where she was in relation to the ground below, and the land and sky around
her. Drawing magic to herself, she willed herself to change position slightly.
A little higher, then outward. In a moment she was floating beside the window,
nothing but air below her feet. Shifting her position again, she turned around
and shut the window.
Below her lay the grounds of the Temple. Floating as she was, it almost looked
as though one of her feet was standing on the round roof of the Dome, and the
other on the hexagonal building known as the Five Houses where the priesthood
was housed. Aside from the White Tower behind her, the rest of the Temple
grounds were carefully tended gardens shaped into a pattern of circles the
circle being the symbol of the gods. Ahead and to her right she could see a
thread of reflected sky where one of the many rivers of Jarime made its way
toward the sea.
She willed herself to descend. When she moved like this, it did not resemble
flying at all. She called it flying only because she could not think of
another simple term to sum up what she was doing.  Moving in relation to the
world was a bit long-winded.
In addition to her awareness of the world was a new awareness of the magic in
it. During the last moments of the battle, when she had gathered more magic to
herself than ever before, she had become aware of magic in a way she had never
been before. If she concentrated, she could sense it all around her.
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Both Circlians and Dreamweavers agreed that the world was imbued with magic.
All living things could draw in some of that magic and channel it out into the
physical world. The uses it was put to were called Gifts and had to be
learned, just as any physical skill must be learned. Most living things,
including people, could draw only a little magic, and so had limited Gifts.
Some, however, were stronger and more talented. If human, they were known as
sorcerers.
I was an unusually powerful sorceress even before the gods enhanced my powers
to make me a White, she reminded herself, looking down at the ring on her
finger. I wonder what sort of life I d have lived in the days before Circlian
priests and priestesses.
She liked to think that she would have used her Gifts to help people, that she
would not have become corrupt and cruel, like so many powerful sorcerers in
the past. Sorcerers like the Wilds, who while powerful enough to achieve
immortality had been more inclined to abuse their power and positions of
authority. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]