"They are a gift.... " Jakoby began.
Miryum interrupted, stilted and awkward. "Well, that's all right then." She took the ropes from the Sadorian's hand.
The man gave her a look of such burning intensity that her polite thanks faded. Then he turned and walked away. Miryum looked even more bewildered.
"They are his bondgift to you," Jakoby had told the astonished coercer then. "That you accepted them means you have accepted him as your ravek. When he is ready, he will come for you. That is the Sadorian way."
Miryum's mouth fell open.
Jakoby turned to Rushton, standing a little behind me.
"I ask a boon of you, Leader of the Misfits."
This was the last thing we had expected.
"What is it?" Rushton asked.
"Brain and I ask that one of your empaths remain in Sador as a guest of the Earthtemple. We would have speech with you, for there is much about your people that intrigues us. That one would be greatly honored and shown tilings none has seen before who was not of our people."
She and Brydda had withdrawn a little at this, so that we could discuss it among ourselves.
"I will stay," Dameon had said without preamble. "This must be my task, for there has been nothing else for me to do. This must be why I was sent here."
Miky and Angina had chorused horror, offering themselves in his place.
"You don't understand," he said. "I want to stay. I am not sacrificing myself. It is ... a selfish desire. I can learn much of these people, and perhaps teach them something. They are such a strange mixture of barbaric instincts and true wisdom. There is much in them that calls to me. The very fact that they regard empathy so..."
Rushton reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Dameon, I... I know why you would remain here."
To my surprise, the empath flushed. "Then you must let me stay."
There was a long moment and I wondered at this strangeness between them. Rushton expelled a breath of air. "Very well. One season. When wintertime is over and the pass is thawed, we will come for you. The two horses will stay here as well for, in any case, they would not like the sea journey."
I shivered. So already there was talk of returning. I seemed to see the ruined face of the overguardian of the Earthtemple.
"When the Seeker returns in search of the fifth sign with one of the Kasanda blood..."
"You cannot stay alone," Rushton was saying to Dameon. "Someone must stay with you to be your eyes and guard you."
"I will stay," Fian offered eagerly. "I will protect Dameon with my life and soul. And I can research this region for Garth."
"I can protect him best," Hannay said, flexing his muscles.
There was some more talk and more offers to accompany the Empath guildmaster, but in the end Dameon and Fian stayed because it was felt there would be no need for guards. The Sadorians had too much honor to let anyone harm a guest.
Saying goodbye to Dameon had been harder man I could have imagined. I would have opened my mind and heart to him, but he had set a wall between us. Perhaps, so that he would not be hurt by our sorrow at this parting; perhaps, because he still felt Matthew's loss.
"It will not be the same without you," I had whispered, holding him tightly.
"Ever was Obernewtyn empty when you were not there," he had said. "Yet I survived and you will survive."
"Rushton needs you, especially now."
"He does not need me, especially now," the empath said. "He has what he has long desired."
I felt the blood surge in my face.
He smiled, his blind eyes turned to me. He reached up and touched my hair and face, running his fingers over me lightly. Seeing. I made myself smile so that he would think of me that way. His fingers had reached my lips and seemed to tremble before he took them away.
He had embraced a tearful Miky and a pale Angina men, reminding them that they would rule the Empath guild in his stead.
"Only until you come back," Miky choked.
Dameon kissed her cheek and then farewelled Freya, who had not known him long and yet wept too.
"I am ready now," he said. Smiling farewell, Fian had offered his arm to the empath. As they departed, Rushton put his arm around my shoulders and held me tightly. "He will be well, Elspeth. He ... he needs to do this. It is but a season."
Then Brydda had come to bid us farewell. "I wish things might have been different."
"Perhaps this is for the best." Rushton clasped the big rebel's wrist. "I thought an alliance was the answer, but we would want such different tilings after it was over and we will always be Misfits to them. We must be what we are."
Rushton's eyes had shifted to me fleetingly, and this time I had not flinched from the desire in them. If there was a loss in loving, I was learning that there was a finding in it too.
Brydda had looked from one of us to the other, and then had leaned across to embrace me. "Goodbye, little sad eyes, though they are not so sad now."
"You will always have our friendship, Brydda. No matter what," I said.
He had crushed my hand then. "Friends. Always," he said gruffly. "No matter what."
And so we had gone our separate ways. He to his rebellion, and we, first by sea to Sutrium, only to find that Domick had not yet returned, and then home to Obernewtyn. Where I belonged; where Dragon lay in her endless coma; where Matthew might one day return; my home, which I must someday leave forever to take up the dark burden of my destiny.
"What if the oldOne calls before this answer is found?" Maruman asked. "Will you obey? Will you walk the dark road?"
I shivered as the bitter wind changed direction slightly, pressing its icy fingers through the folds of my cloak. The snow was falling more heavily now, blurring the jagged darkness of the mountains; making them seem far away. "All roads are the one road. I gave my promise," I said soberly. Then I smiled. "But there are five secrets to be uncovered and I must go to Sador, and I must meet a gypsy whose life is bound to mine and who will stand with me in battle. These things will not happen in a moment, and so there is time in the midst of this for me to live.
"Atthis has not summoned me yet and perhaps the call to walk the dark road will not come until I am old and gray. I have promised to go, but I have not sworn to live out my life in the dark shadow of that vow. I have learned that happiness is like the sun. It must be enjoyed when it comes and while it shines."
But Maruman was not listening. He was looking up, searching for the moon's cold face.
Glossary
Beast guild: A Council of animals at Obernewtyn led by the mountain pony, Avra.
Beasting guild: Beastspeaking is the ability in animals to produce an idiosyncratic combination of images, human words and feeling impulses on a level of the mind which may be reached by Talented humans. There is far greater ease of communication between humans and creatures who have lived among them than with wild beasts who have had little contact with humans. Common to all beasts are dialect words which appear to derive from a rich cycle of myths and legends, whose origin is a mystery.
Beasting-guilders possess a particular combination of limited empathy and farseeking Talent, that enables them to receive and project their thoughts in beast-speech. They can also communicate at a basic level with non-beastspeaking animals. Beasts who have developed beasts-peaking abilities do not appear to have coercive powers, but many more beasts than humans possess futuretelling ability, though again this is often largely idiosyncratic. The guild charter of the beastspeakers is to promote the harmony and true equality of all creatures. It administers the extensive farms and orchards that produce Obernewtyn's vital wintertime stores.
Coercer guild: Coercing is the ability to enter and manipulate other minds. Coercers use the same root ability to deep probe as many of the other Talents, but it is honed for use as a manipulative tool to alter and control both Talented and unTalented minds. Members tone their bodies and train with weapons, for they regard themselves as the physical protectors of Obernewtyn. They
vigilantly patrol the highlands and the mountain valley, gathering intelligence.
Empath guild: Empathy is the ability to read or project emotions rather than conscious thought. Empath guild-members strive for emotional and ethical harmony. Many use music to enhance their concentration, particularly when projecting emotion.
Farseekers guild: Farseeking is the power to communicate mind to mind, even over long distances. The prime charter of this guild is to find and organize rescues of other Talented Misfits.
Futuretellers guild: Again using the root ability to deep probe, futuretellers turn their powers on themselves, sinking into their own minds so deeply in their search for self-knowledge that at the deepest level where all minds merge, and close to mind death, they are able to see fragments of the future. Any tedious or monotonous job is welcomed by them, because it aids the continuation of their inner cogitations. They manage the household at Obernewtyn.
Guildmerge: The decision-making body made up of guildmaster or guildmistress, guilden and ward of all guilds at Obernewtyn, and chaired by Rushton Seraphim, Master of Obernewtyn.
Healerguild: Healers use the ability to deep probe, shaping it into thin tendrils which are used as conduits into the molecules of mind or body to repair and heal. Deep probing is the ability to go beneath the conscious levels of the mind, and healers are also able to use it in reverse, to siphon off pain and heal it within their own bodies. Their charter forbids the opposing of nature. They are skilled in the use of herb lore.
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