Tempest

by Mercedes Lackey

  Silence deafened Ryvik when Taven stopped talking. Then a second wave of noise took all of his hearing away as the crowd stood up and clapped for Taven, shouting his name and cheering. He looked at Taven, and Taven smiled back. Ryvik knew his work was done.

  After slipping off stage, Ryvik grabbed his pack by the door and his lute. Myriil was ready for their first stop back in Bakerston, and then the long journey back to Haven.

  A shadow appeared at the back door, and he recognized Sves. “It’s done, Sves. Let it go.”

  “You would support him?”

  Ryvik slipped his lute over his shoulder. “Taven didn’t try to have me killed, Sves. Twice. And for what? For stealing land that could be given freely? Let go of your mother’s death. I think when you do, you’ll find you can be at peace.”

  “Ryvik—”

  “It’s done. This was the easiest way. The town will support Taven, and he’ll leave you alone. He’s promised. You can choose to live here in anonymity, or you can be on your way. No one will know you tried to kill me for self gain, old friend. Not even the Queen.”

  “But you can’t let this happen!” Sves grabbed at Ryvik’s Whites.

  Ryvik spun and as he did, he put all of his weight into the punch he slammed into Sves’s jaw. His knuckles screamed in pain, but it was nothing compared to the satisfied feeling he got as he watched Sves crumple to the ground.

  Once outside in the cool mountain night, he wrung his hand out, bending his fingers. He’d broken skin. Great.

  :That wasn’t very Heraldlike of you.:

  “Nope,” he replied as he settled his pack on her saddle, then mounted into place and took the reins. “That was the Karsite blood in me.”

  In Name Only

  Kristin Schwengel

  “I’ll ssshow them. I’ll ssshow them all.” Sheski’s words were low and hissed, vibrating with determination. Her crest feathers flattened in fury as her mind replayed the overheard words.

  “Sheski? She’s barely a Silver at all. She was only approved because the ranks are so thin.” The voice had sounded like Cloudfeather—and the words did as well. He’d never bothered to hide his scorn for her, the smallest gryphon among the guards and protectors of White Gryphon.

  “The grrreat Ssskandrrranon’s mate Zhaneel was sssmall, the firrrst of the grrryfalconsss,” she muttered, her claws tearing deep furrows of frustration in the leaf-littered soil. “If ssshe could ssserve White Grrryphon, why not I?”

  “Why not, indeed?”

  Sheski’s head snapped around at the invasion of her secret hiding spot, then she relaxed as she recognized the intruder. “Sssneaky Haighlei,” she replied, her beak gaping in what passed among gryphons as a smile.

  Deavann, her partner in the Silvers, grinned back. “Clever beats brawn any day, and one day Cloudfeather will learn that.” She shrugged, a dark cascade of narrow braids rippling over her shoulder. “If he’s lucky, it won’t be a painful lesson. Or fatal.” Dea’s voice was deceptively mild, concealing her own anger. Unlike Sheski, Deavann had heard the rest of the tirade, and Cloudfeather’s disdain for the too-small gryphon extended to her human partner, still considered an outsider by some Kaled’a’in. She may have been adopted as ClanSib, but to those who thought like Cloudfeather she would only be Haighlei, and not worthy of the name of a Silver Gryphon.

  Shaking free of her dark thoughts, Dea reached up to scratch the gryphon’s golden-brown crest feathers, soothing her without words. “At least we’re finally going to get out of White Gryphon on an assignment.”

  “Guarrrd duty isss sssooo borrring.” Sheski dragged out the words to emphasize the tedium of stability. White Gryphon had stood now for generations, the cliff face and town above well-established, its alliance with the Haighlei kings strong.

  “King Obaseki is determined to have the treaty with the Khyrsmi renewed well ahead of the Great Eclipse, so that it can be confirmed at the Ceremony. I’m still not sure why he thinks it important enough to send one of his own sons to negotiate it.”

  “It isss a newer alliance,” Sheski pointed out, her diction clearing as her anger eased. “Perhapss there are Haighlei who do not look at the Khyrssmi fondly, and the King wishess to make his sstand clear?”

  Dea thought for a moment, nodding slowly. “The first treaty was barely agreed upon before the last Ceremony, so there must be some who do not believe it a proper alliance.” She shrugged again. “It may be a small, simple assignment, traveling with a full contingent of Haighlei warriors and Priest-Mages and several other Silver pairs, but it is something.”

  • • •

  As the diplomatic expedition traveled, one of the honor guard was clearly smitten with Deavann, and the Prince often invited the two Silvers to join his elite men at the front of the column, ahead of the other Silvers and the rest of the Haighlei. Sheski found it amusing, especially when she realized that Dea did not share Ewalen’s interest. Cloudfeather and his gryphon partner Harfryth were furious, as it meant that they were not the first of the Silvers—but because it was by the Prince’s invitation, they could say nothing.

  Despite the pouring rain that grounded the gryphons and turned the paths to sticky mud, they made good time to the great black-rock chasm dividing the lands of the Haighlei from the unclaimed lands between Haighlei and Khyrsmi. The meeting place was in this neutral territory, not quite a day’s journey from the chasm, and the Prince hoped to arrive first.

  The chasm was steep and slick, sharp rock walls dug out by ages of flow from the rushing river far below. In the downpour, the river itself was obscured in swirling mist. The winds that had tossed about those gryphons who dared try to launch were fiercer here, alternately flattening and mantling both feathers and clothing. A single wood and rope bridge was all that spanned the distance, and the heavier gryphons eyed it distrustfully.

  Prince Egharevba, however, barely paused before gesturing to the scouts of his honor guard, who stepped onto the bridge, hands clinging to the ropes as the winds surged around them. When those two had crossed and waved to indicate that the far cliff edge was safe, the rest of the honor guard started forward, the Prince among them. Ewalen was with the last pair of Haighlei, and Dea and Sheski followed him, beginning their crossing when the Prince was about halfway over.

  When Sheski and Dea were nearly to the far side, Cloudfeather gave the command to the rest of the Silvers, and Harfryth stepped forward.

  The moment Harfryth’s heavier weight settled on the bridge, Sheski felt a strange ripple through the wood beneath her claws, although it did not move.

  “Hurrrry!” she shouted, Sending a warning to Frostmoon, the oldest of the Silvers, and the one with whom she could most easily Mindspeak. The winds tore the word from her beak, but Dea and the last of the honor guard heard her and lunged for the end of the bridge. Harfryth took another step, and the bridge shuddered and collapsed as though it had split in its center. Two paces from the far side, Dea leaped as the wooden slats fell away from her feet, her arm snaking through the end of the rope lattice that remained secured to the rock. She had just enough time to brace her feet in front of her to prevent her momentum from slamming her into the solid rock. The other guards reached for the rope, pulling her up the cliff wall.

  Sheski’s wing muscles ached as she strained against the swirling winds, barely managing the half-dozen wingbeats that carried her to safety. Looking back, she could see Harfryth had done the same and now stood, as bedraggled as she, on the far side.

  :Are you well? And Deavann?:

  :Well enough,: Sheski replied to Frostmoon. :It must have been magic, set to trigger when something of a certain weight came onto the bridge.:

  :And the Mage Weather made sure all the gryphons were afoot.:

  :For once, it’s a good thing that I am small.: Sheski allowed a wry note to enter her mind-voice. :If they were targeting gryphons, whoever did this will be disapp
ointed that I made it across.:

  The Prince and the captain of his honor guard spoke rapidly in low tones. From Captain Onabu’s sour expression, Sheski guessed he was losing the argument, and this was confirmed when the Prince addressed the small group.

  “We must get to the truce field first, so we cannot wait for the bridge to be repaired. Among us, we have sufficient gear to manage, so if you—” He waved his fingers at Sheski and Dea. “—have what you need, we must move on.”

  Dea nodded. “Sheski and I are accustomed to carrying our essential equipment with us at all times.”

  Sheski relayed the Prince’s orders to Frostmoon, bracing herself for his outraged denial.

  :We cannot allow the Prince of the Haighlei to travel so unprotected, even though the Khyrsmi are already allies. Surely it will take no more than a day or two to rebuild enough of a bridge to at least allow the humans to cross. The Prince must not travel on alone, without the rest of his men and the Silvers.:

  :We are Silvers.: Sheski’s mind-voice was flat with her own anger. :The Prince is right. When we camp tonight, I shall use the teleson, for we will soon be beyond my range.: With that, she closed her mind, blocking out Frostmoon for the first time in her life.

  Dea watched her closely, reading the language of her flattened crest feathers and nodding when Sheski bowed her head to the Prince, who had watched the silent exchange with visible unease.

  “Let usss go forrrth,” Sheski said, and the small group moved into the thickening trees and pounding rain.

  • • •

  The winds and rain began to ease when they had traveled barely a candlemark from the chasm and stopped entirely before they had finished another mark. The dense forest brightened, and cheery birdsong rippled around them. At the next clearing, Captain Onabu called a rest, and all began spreading out soaked gear to dry.

  Sheski shook herself, then launched to the air.

  :What in the hells do you think you are doing? Your feathers are still wind-damaged, and we don’t know what might be watching the skies. You’re not even wearing any of your protective gear.: Dea’s mind-voice was furious, the depth of her concern revealed by the fact that she used Mindspeech. Generations of alliance with the Kaled’a’in and gradual change among the Haighlei had still not made it possible for most of them to accept its casual use. Even among those like Dea, who had become ClanSib Kaled’a’in, it went against their centuries-old horror of the Gift and was only used when absolutely necessary.

  The gryphon glanced down at her partner, but her wingbeats never slackened. Dea’s face was impassive as she watched the takeoff. Sheski gryph-grinned—the Haighlei would not be able to read her expressions, but Dea had to preserve the image of the two Silvers.

  :I’m only going just above the canopy to orient myself.: And to look at the weather, she thought silently. A few more wingbeats, and she burst through the top of the trees and began a low circle to look behind them.

  As she suspected, the dark clouds were very isolated. Frostmoon and Priest-Mage Aisosa knew the weather was Mage-driven, but she didn’t think they realized that the rains surrounded the traveling party so closely. Her own Mage Gift was minimal, so she hadn’t even attempted it, but those who looked while they journeyed had failed to track the source of the weather.

  Banking around in her slow loop, she turned her eyes from where they had come from to where they were going. With the gryphon patrols grounded, they relied upon rough maps and knowledge of the land from the few Haighlei who had journeyed this far into these wilds. Now, she could clearly see the line to the south where the land climbed higher and thick forest thinned to the grassland the Khyrsmi tribes traveled, with the rise of great mountains beyond. Among the pale grasses, she identified movement, the darker shape of the Khyrsmi negotiating party. Much nearer to the Haighlei, though, she saw what could only be the truce field, a broad, flat plateau between forest and grassland, cleared and devoid of any vegetation or rock-forms that might be used for an ambush. Having seen what she was looking for, she folded in her wings and descended through the treetops to where the rest awaited her news.

  “I saw what may be the Khyrsmi in the far distance on the grassland, Highness,” she reported after her landing. “We are nearer to the truce field than they, but not by much. With haste, we should arrive and be able to set camp before dusk.” She did not relate what she had observed about the weather clouds.

  “It is good, then, that we did not wait,” Captain Onabu admitted. “We must press on and keep the advantage of arriving first and receiving them.”

  Protocol and appearances, Sheski thought with a hidden smile. But are the Kaled’a’in that much different?

  The Prince nodded briskly. “We can dry out later. For now, we move, at pace.”

  The Captain barked out a few commands, and the Haighlei sprang into action, gathering up the oiled capes and canvas that draped over every nearby branch. In minutes, the group packed up and began a rapid march through the trees.

  Sheski and Dea, as usual, kept the rear guard in silence.

  :?: Sheski Mindsent inquiry to Dea, always respectful of her partner’s Haighlei horror of Mindspeech. But Mindspeech was the only way to be certain no one overheard them.

  :Fool of a gryphon. You’re lucky you didn’t damage any major feathers with that flight.: While Sheski made her report, Dea had been her trondi’irn, carefully checking her flight feathers for harm.

  :I didn’t look only for the truce field and the Khyrsmi,: Sheski replied, ignoring Dea’s worry. :The clouds of the Mage Weather are very local to where we were, a tight knot around the gorge.:

  Dea frowned. :Can a Mage control the weather for that long, and over distance?:

  :He—or she—would need to be a great Adept indeed to control clouds so tightly from a long range. I know little about the Khyrsmi, but the Haighlei do not act as though they have great Mages. Certainly not like the Kaled’a’in. Could there have been a traitor and a Mage among the Haighlei contingent?:

  :Never.: Dea’s mind-voice was emphatic. :Not a Mage, at any rate. A traitor, perhaps, but no Mage could have been among them that Priest-Mage Aisosa would not have found.:

  Sheski pondered what she knew. Unless the Khyrsmi had far greater Mages than the Haighlei suspected, or Priest-Mage Aisosa was far less skillful than Dea believed, there must be some other explanation, a third group or individual that had an interest in breaking up the alliance.

  :When we camp and set up the tent, I shall use the teleson.:

  Dea nodded. None of the Haighlei Priest-Mages were among the honor guard, so Sheski’s Mindspeech was the only way for the small group to stay in contact with the others. “Even Prince Egharevba would not object, although I am sure he would prefer not to observe the sacrilege,” she murmured with a small smile.

  • • •

  :It is the only explanation that makes sense,: Sheski repeated, hoping her mind-voice didn’t reveal all her frustration to Frostmoon. Had Cloudfeather somehow convinced the elder Silver that her brain was inadequate as well as her size?

  :I would look among the Haighlei for one who might be carrying something unusual. Just because the Kaled’a’in are far too respectful of the natural balance to create a portable device to affect weather doesn’t mean no one else has considered it. The pool of magic is certainly powerful enough in these lands to create something that strong, and perhaps even to hide it, as the Mage of Silence could.: She paused, but there was no reply from Frostmoon.

  :We expect the Khyrsmi to arrive tomorrow,: Sheski continued. :Dea and I will be observers only to the negotiations, unless absolutely necessary.:

  In fact, she and her partner had decided between them that the gryphon would not even be in the negotiating tent, leaving Dea to represent the Kaled’a’in. Sheski herself would stand outside, playing the role of trained guard-beast. If the Khyrsmi didn’t know much about gryphon
s, she might overhear something helpful.

  :Agreed, Silvers,: was Frostmoon’s only response, before Sheski deactivated the teleson. She wondered briefly if Frostmoon had been sharing his mind with others of the Silvers, as she had been with Dea, and if his final words were a pointed reminder to them.

  • • •

  The next day dawned bright and clear, weather that was more typical for the region. A dry wind blew toward them from the plains, which explained to Sheski why the trees of the forest so rapidly dwindled and disappeared into scrub. The higher elevation of the grasslands meant rainwater drained toward the rich forests, and the uninterrupted winds of the plains increased the dryness. Only grasses and low brush could survive such conditions.

  Standing near the small cluster of white tents the Haighlei had set up on the northern side of the truce field, Sheski didn’t even need to take to the air to see the approaching tribesmen. A cloud of yellow dust rose from their horses’ hooves to give a clear track of their course. When they neared, her critical eye studied their mounts, comparing them to the magically altered Kaled’a’in steeds.

  Small, barely larger than pony size, the animals were bred for endurance and survival with minimal resources. Sheski kept herself from nodding in approbation and giving away her own intelligence. From the way the Khyrsmi handled them, the compact horses were well-trained, but not exceptional.