Mage-Guard of Hamor

III

After an early breakfast in the mess on the Ascadya, Taryl and Rahl stood on the pier side of the bridge. Taryl handed Rahl a small square of iron. "Study it as you can with your order-senses."

Rahl did so, but so far as he could tell, there was nothing unusual about the iron.

Then the older mage handed him a second piece. "This one. What is the difference?"

With one in each hand, Rahl could immediately sense a difference, if not exactly what it might be. The second one was the slightest bit heavier, but that wasn't all. He tried to probe it. "It's a bit heavier and more resistant to probing."

Taryl offered a third and far more irregular square, one clearly blacker than the other two.

"This has to be black iron," Rahl replied. "It's resistant to order-sensing, and it's much harder."

"It's also more resilient to force and impact." Taryl paused, then asked, "What about the first two?"

"They're iron of some sort, but I'm not a smith or engineer."

"The first is a good steel; the second is iron ordered by pattern welding or forging."

"The second is stronger," observed Rahl.

"It is. It came from a broken blade. The last square came from Candar, although it was created in Recluce generations ago."

"Is Recluce the only place that forges black iron?"

"It is, but not because it could not be done elsewhere." Taryl smiled faintly, as if offering an unspoken question.

Rahl pondered for several moments. "Is that because Hamor needs too much iron and has too few mages to devote to it?"

"Partly. It's also because most uses of iron don't require the strength of black iron, and you can't cut or rework black iron without a mage. Hamor has engineers also, and they've been able to create an iron alloy that's stronger than most, without requiring magery."

"What about Fairhaven? Do they avoid black iron?"

"In Fairhaven, but their warships are iron-hulled as well." Taryl looked up and then out at the pier. "I believe someone is coming in response to our request."

Rahl turned. A silver-haired magister was striding toward the gangway. Rahl recognized him. "It's Tamryn. He was one of the magisters at the training center, and one of those who sentenced me to exile."

"Good."

Rahl wasn't so sure about that.

Taryl headed down the ladder to the quarterdeck, and Rahl followed.

Tamryn came to a halt short of the quarterdeck. "Permission to come aboard?"

"You're most welcome, Magister Tamryn," replied Taryl.

Rahl could sense Tamryn's surprise, but the silver-haired mage merely said, "Thank you."

Taryl gestured, and the three moved onto the main deck forward of the quarterdeck and outboard of the turret.

As Rahl studied both Tamryn and Taryl, he could see that within Taryl was far more power than within Tamryn, of a depth that Rahl could not have described exactly.

"I presume that you are here in response to our request to address the magisters of Nylan," Taryl prompted.

"That I am." Tamryn's eyes drifted to Rahl momentarily before he continued. "The magisters will receive you at the training center at the second glass past noon." Tamryn's eyes strayed to Rahl once more. "They will hear whatever you wish to convey from the Emperor. They asked me to inform you, however, that they can only represent the black city, and that anything involving more than that upon Recluce must be brought before the magisters in Land's End."

"That is understood," replied Taryl. "What information we bring is concerned with Nylan." The ordermage emphasized the word we ever so slightly.

The silver-haired Tamryn inclined his head to Taryl. "As an envoy of the Emperor and as an ordermage, you are welcome in Nylan for the duration of your visit, and the city is open to you." His eyes traveled to Rahl. "Rahl, however…"

Rahl could feel himself stiffening, and he tried to relax. Even before Taryl or he could explain, Tamryn was jumping to conclusions, just like the magisters always had. No wonder he'd gotten so angry at them so often.

Taryl cleared his throat gently. "Rahl is not here for pleasure. Nor is he seeking a revocation of his exile at this time. He would not be here were his presence not absolutely necessary, as affirmed by the Emperor. You can see that he harbors no chaos, and he is my aide. It would be to your benefit, and admittedly to Rahl's, that he be allowed the same access as you have granted me. As a mage-guard, he will remain in uniform, and thus there should be no misapprehensions that the intent of the orders of the magisters is being disregarded." The older ordermage smiled politely.

"I suppose, under those conditions… but we would ask that Rahl refrain from any active order-magery."

Rahl inclined his head. "Except in self-defense or as requested by Taryl or the magisters."

The hint of a sour expression crossed Tamryn's face. "That would be acceptable."

"What about the crew?" asked Taryl.

"With the exception of any chaos-mages-"

"There are none aboard," replied Taryl. "We understand those limitations."

"… we would suggest that they remain close to the harbor area, but they can travel where they will within the black wall."

Taryl nodded.

Tamryn did not quite look at Rahl before he continued. "Either I or another black mage will be here for you both with a wagon at one glass past midday." He inclined his head to Taryl. "Good day, Senior Mage-Guard, and welcome to Nylan." He did not ever look directly at Rahl.

"Thank you."

Rahl merely nodded. Tamryn's presence had rekindled his anger at the close-mindedness and arrogance of the magisters, particularly the rage against Puvort, whose deception and smugness had triggered all the events that had led to Rahl's exile.

Once Tamryn was on the pier and headed toward the trap he had driven down, Taryl looked to Rahl with an amused smile. "He wasn't exactly pleased with you."

"No. I was a problem for them, especially after I exploded a section of the black wall by accident." He paused. "I'm not exactly pleased with them, either."

"That was obvious." The older mage looked hard at Rahl. "How did you do that to the wall?"

"I was just poking around, trying to see how they'd used order to link all the stones together. They kept telling me to investigate things."

Taryl shook his head. "Telling that to a beginning natural ordermage is about as smart as having a beginning gunner play with cammabark or powder. Do you know why?"

"I felt that, but I couldn't explain why."

"When a true ordermage creates black iron or something like the black wall, what he's doing is essentially confining chaos within order. The more order and chaos involved, the stronger the structure or material, but…" Taryl looked to Rahl.

"The more it can explode if the order's unlinked?"

"Exactly." Taryl shook his head again. "Idiots…"

"You don't have much respect for them, do you, ser?"

"As individuals, yes, but not as a land. They work as much against each other as against other lands, although they would claim otherwise."

Rahl wasn't so certain about that. He thought it might be true of the magisters he'd known, but some of the engineers and even Anitra the machinist had seemed to work together, but then, he hadn't actually worked with the engineers.

"I need to go over what I will say about matters, Rahl, and how best to address the magisters," Taryl said. "I'll meet you in the mess later."

"Yes, ser."

While Rahl had thought about leaving the frigate, he decided against it, at least until after their mission was completed. Instead, he spent the time reviewing in his mind exactly what had occurred in Swartheld with Shyret and Daelyt.

Then, after a quick meal, he donned the dress mage-guard uniform he had never worn. The trousers were still khaki, but of a far finer grade of wool, rather than cotton, and the shirt was crimson, rather than khaki, with khaki shoulder straps holding embroidered mage-guard insignia. The visor cap was the same as his working cap, except that the bill was high-gloss polished black leather, and all the insignia were gold-plated, rather than bronze.

He met Taryl on the quarterdeck, and they walked down the gangway to meet Tamryn.

The silver-haired magister's eyes again slid away from Rahl, and he said little to either mage-guard on the drive up to the training center. When he brought the wagon to a halt, Rahl studied the long, black-stone building, with the black-slate roof tiles. It was much as he remembered it, save that it looked smaller than he recalled.

"This way, envoys, if you please."

As Tamryn stepped into the building, Taryl murmured, "Remember, don't use any shields when you speak. They have to feel as well as hear the truth of your words."

"Yes, ser."

The chamber to which Tamryn escorted them was the same hearing chamber in which Rahl had been exiled. The same long, black-lorken table stood at one end, with the four chairs behind it. This time all were occupied.

Tamryn stepped to one side and bowed before speaking. "Magisters Lecoyat, Severyna, and Myanelyt, and Magistra Leyla, might I present Envoy and Senior Mage-Guard Taryl and his assistant Mage-Guard Rahl."

Even before Tamryn had made his introductions, Rahl recognized one of the magisters and the magistra-the gray-haired Myanelyt and Leyla, although neither looked directly at him.

Taryl stepped forward, bowing slightly, if gracefully. "Greetings. We are here on behalf of the Emperor and in the shared interests of assuring that our lands remain on amicable terms, and on behalf of His Majesty, we offer his felicitations and best wishes." Taryl smiled, and paused before continuing. "If you have not already received word from your own traders, you will shortly, I am most certain. The Nylan Merchant Association compound in Swartheld was totally destroyed by an explosion and fire as a result of actions by the Association director there and Jeranyi merchant vessel crews smuggled into the compound. Many of the Jeranyi died in the explosion, and the subsequent explosion of one of their vessels, but before they did, these same Jeranyi had earlier killed all those in the Nylan Merchant Association to cover their trail. When I am done, Rahl here, with whom some of you are familiar, will explain how this happened in detail, since he is the only one left alive who was a witness." Taryl paused just long enough to clear his throat. "That destruction was only the first part of a Jeranyi plan to burn the entire merchanting district of Swartheld and possibly even to set Hamor and Recluce against each other."

"But… what would they gain?" murmured Lecoyat.

"What you may not know is that the Emperor is dealing with an insurrection in the province of Merowey, and that insurrection is tacitly being supported by the white mages of Fairhaven, we believe, as well as the Jeranyi. Had the destruction of Swartheld's harbor structures and warehouses been accomplished, the prices of Jeranyi goods would have increased markedly in value. More important, had you sent the black ships to Hamor, there would have been far fewer patrols to deal with Jeranyi pirates. As it is, the Emperor has been forced to cut back many of our patrols in order to shut down efforts to supply the rebels in Merowey."

"So you want us to take up the entire burden of dealing with the Jeranyi cutthroats?" asked Severyna.

"The Emperor would not wish to imply or impose any duty on Recluce. All we can say is that at present Hamor cannot deal as aggressively with such pirates as we have done in the past." Before any of the others could speak, Taryl stepped toward the long table and extended an envelope to Myanelyt. "This contains a more elaborate written version of what we have conveyed to you. It is a copy of the official and complete report on what occurred. The Emperor felt that you should have a copy as well." He turned toward Rahl. "Now, Mage-Guard Rahl will provide some of the details. These should be of particular interest to you." Taryl inclined his head to Rahl.

Rahl gave a polite half bow before speaking. "Magisters and magistra, as some of you know, I am an exile from Nylan, and I was sent as a clerk to the Nylan Merchant Association in Swartheld. At that time, Director Shyret was in charge there. I had not been there more than two eight-days when I became aware that the director was declaring excessive spoilage, then selling these 'spoiled' goods in local markets and pocketing the golds. The amounts were not small. At least, they did not seem so to me. On a single cargo, the director might declare two kegs of madder or indigo as spoiled, along with a bale or two of prime black wool. This was never less than thirty golds a cargo, and could be in excess of a hundred."

"Between thirty and a hundred golds a cargo?" asked Leyla.

"Yes, magistra." Rahl paused. "In addition, I discovered something else rather unusual. Director Shyret was receiving barrels labeled as Feyn River pickles and storing them at the warehouses, but these barrels were never shipped on Recluce vessels, but always on Jeranyi vessels…" Rahl went on to explain how he had been attacked one night, then drugged with nemysa only days later and lost all his memories and ended up in the ironworks, before Taryl had helped him recover his memories, then trained him and sent him back to Swartheld. He also told how he had realized that the barrels of "pickles" had actually contained cammabark packed in vinegar to keep it from exploding… and finally what had occurred after he had discovered the Jeranyi raiders and set off the cammabark in the Merchant Association courtyard. "… I managed to set off the powder in that one ship, but I had to jump into the harbor, and it took a while for me to recover."

The four exchanged glances. Finally, Leyla spoke. "You're admitting that you killed a superior officer and effectively destroyed our merchant compound?"

"Yes, magistra. Undercaptain Craelyt had already killed the captain, and he was working with the Jeranyi. If I hadn't set off the cammabark in the Merchant Association compound, we might have lost much of the harbor area."

After that, there were more questions.

"Can you be absolutely certain that Director Shyret was involved?"

"How did you know the Jeranyi were using these… pickle barrels?"

"Wasn't there any other way to stop them?"

"Why didn't you bring this to the attention of your superiors earlier?"

"Were there other indications that might have allowed earlier actions?"

Rahl answered each question as thoroughly and honestly as he could, trying not to become even more irritated by their skepticism and arrogance.

And finally, "Do you honestly expect us to believe this?"

At that point, Taryl cleared his throat. "You are all black mages. You all know that Rahl and I are telling the truth. You also should know that the Emperor would not send us across an entire ocean if he did not respect you and believe you should know the facts. We could easily have claimed that the fire and explosion were accidental and sent no one. Such fires do occur."

"Why are you here, then?" asked Myanelyt.

"To confirm for you that the Jeranyi were working through your own director, and, as Rahl tells me the magisters in Land's End have already acknowledged and acted upon, that the Jeranyi do not have the best interests of Recluce in mind. We also wished to confirm by our presence, and by our allowing you to question us as necessary, that they were using your facilities to strike against Hamor. We thought you should know this and that you should learn of it in a manner in which you could verify the truth for yourselves. It is well-known that no one can lie to the magisters of Nylan without it being more than obvious to them."

Finally, Myanelyt rose and bowed. "Envoy Taryl, you have been more than patient, and we appreciate your forbearance. We will convey these findings to the Merchant Association as well. While it is premature for us to make any decisions, not until we have evaluated what you have presented, if matters are as you have indicated, it would seem unlikely that we would wish to engage in any actions that would be interpreted as hostile. We wish you a speedy and safe return to Hamor."

"Thank you," replied Taryl. "It is likely that we will depart tomorrow, but that will depend upon the weather and whether Captain Jaracyn has been able to fill all the bunkers."

All the Nylan mages rose, concluding the meeting. Rahl followed Taryl from the chamber.

Tamryn was waiting in the corridor outside. "I would be happy to drive you back to your ship."

"I will avail myself of that offer," Taryl said.

As they walked out of the building, Rahl looked to Taryl, and said in a low voice, "Would you mind if…?"

Taryl laughed softly. "I thought you might. Just remember that Captain Jaracyn will wish to leave close to dawn tomorrow."

"Because the Ascadya is needed in Hamor? To deal with the rebellion?"

"And more, I fear." Taryl smiled. "There's a lady, isn't there?"

"She's a healer."

The older mage reached into his belt wallet, then extended a coin. "Take her to dinner, and be back on board before midnight."

Rahl almost swallowed as he realized Taryl had given him a gold. "You…"

"No, I don't, but you conducted yourself well, and we were provided coins in case of need. This is a need." Taryl nodded. "Nothing in life is certain, and you may never see her again. So give her something she can remember."

Rahl could sense Tamryn's amazement and concern, but he just smiled, then watched as the magister drove Taryl back toward the black ship piers. After a moment, he turned and began to walk toward the infirmary.

He could sense the puzzled gazes as he passed the mess and turned westward on the stone walk. When he entered the foyer, he recognized the younger healer. "Kelyssa?"

She looked at him, staring at the unfamiliar dress uniform, as if she could not remember but should. She started to frown, as if to suggest that he was not welcome.

"I'm Rahl. Is Deybri here?"

"Rahl?" Kelyssa's mouth opened, but she said nothing for several long moments. "Rahl?"

"The same one you had to pick up off the weapons training floor," he added. "Is Deybri around?"

"Is someone asking for me?"

Rahl turned at the sound of her voice.

As Deybri walked toward him, Rahl just watched, taking in the brown hair, the gold-flecked brown eyes, and the warmth within.

She stopped two cubits from him, then laughed, abruptly, but warmly.

Rahl could sense that she was pleased, but not exactly why, and he found himself smiling, if quizzically.

"Oh, Rahl… that look was the greatest compliment I've ever had."

He found himself flushing. "You deserve it."

"That's a Hamorian mage-guard uniform, isn't it? You didn't mention that in your letter." Her eyes did not quite meet his.

"I wasn't a mage-guard then. I was working to be one, but I didn't know if I'd make it, and I wrote as soon as I could… after… everything happened."

"Everything?"

"Is it possible that I could take you to dinner somewhere? I only have tonight. Then I could tell you…"

"I…" Deybri turned and looked at Kelyssa. "Would you?"

"How could I not?" The younger healer grinned. "It'll make a great story."

"Kelyssa…"

"Someday, anyway," added Kelyssa.

Deybri looked hard at the other healer.

"In a few years?"

Deybri nodded.

Rahl managed not to grin as he turned and accompanied Deybri. Outside the infirmary, he glanced sideways at her once more. If anything, she was more beautiful than he recalled.

"Before I forget," Deybri said, "I did send a letter to your parents-"

"Oh… can I post one from here, if I pay for it? I wrote one to them on the ship."

"We could stop by the bursar's study," Deybri said. "It might cost a copper or two more, but it would be easier than going down to the Merchant Association."

"That might be best, for several reasons."

"Oh?"

"That's part of the everything I'm going to tell you."

Deybri led the way back to the main building and down a side corridor off the main corridor and on the east side-well away from where Rahl and Taryl had met with the magisters.

The bursar, an older woman in dark gray, looked up with a clearly startled expression on her face as Rahl and Deybri appeared in the door to her study.

"Elyssa?" Deybri said with a smile. "This is Rahl. He was trained here, and he's now a mage-guard in Hamor, but his ship is in port here. He wanted to send a letter to his parents in Land's End. He can just pay you, can't he?"

"Oh… that won't be a problem." The graying bursar tilted her head. "From what I heard, he's not just an ordinary mage-guard."

Rahl found himself flushing as he extended the envelope. "How much will it be?"

"Oh… not that much. Four coppers. We'll just put it in with everything to the portmaster at Land's End." Elyssa took the envelope and the coppers from Rahl. "Good hand, best I've seen in years."

"I was once a scrivener," Rahl admitted.

"It shows."

"Thank you." Rahl inclined his head.

"That's what we're here for… among other things."

Deybri was smiling and shaking her head as they walked back outside into the late-midafternoon sunlight filtering intermittently through scattered clouds to the west.

Rather than ask what Deybri was thinking, Rahl took a half silver from his wallet. "Thank you for letting my parents know. I said I'd repay you when I could. Will this do?"

"It's more than enough. It's-"

"It's not," Rahl said. "I can't thank you enough." He pressed the small coin on her.

Deybri finally took it. They walked on the west sidewalk of the stone-paved road that led down to the harbor, leaving the training center behind.

"You don't mind walking, do you?" Rahl asked, after they passed an older large stone dwelling he did not remember. "I'd thought we could get an early meal at the place where your uncle took us…"

"If you let me pay for myself."

Rahl shook his head. "I was given coins for a meal here. There's enough for both of us."

"So long as you're not paying. Mage-guards aren't wealthy. I do know that."

"The pay's not bad, better than what I would have gotten as a journeyman scrivener in Land's End." And far better than he'd gotten as a clerk at the Merchant Association or as checker at the ironworks. "How have you been?" He really wanted to tell her that the past did have a hold on him, but something told him not to rush that, and not to blurt it out-much as he wanted to do just that.

"I'm fine. Nothing much has changed here. Thankfully, we haven't had anything like that boiler explosion since you left. I understand that the harbormaster has refused landing to several older ships. They've had to moor offshore."

"Did they ever fix the black wall?"

Deybri laughed. "About a season after you left. Tamryn and Kadara were muttering about it for weeks after that."

Across the road from them, a patroller stopped and stared, clearly startled by a couple where the woman was in the green of a healer and the man in a Hamorian dress uniform.

"You still do manage to startle people, I see," Deybri said.

"They're just not used to seeing Hamorian mage-guards. We might be the first ever actually to walk through Nylan."

"That's possible. Where is your ship?"

"At the naval piers. The engineers moved out all the black ships. We came on a frigate-the Ascadya. I think the idea was to get us here quickly on a warship to convey the presence and concerns of the Emperor, but on one that wouldn't be seen as a threat."

Rahl glanced to his right, toward the small park he had often passed on his way to the harbor. He had thought he might see children playing hoop tag, but the only person in the park was an elderly man feeding bread crumbs to the traitor birds.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" she asked softly.

"It has been a long year," he admitted. "The hardest part was finding out that Shyret was betraying Recluce and not being able to do anything about it."

"Oh?"

"The Hamorian Codex doesn't look at things in the same way. There are great penalties for selling shoddy goods or spoiled ones, or for misrepresenting them. But there are no penalties for things like what Shyret was doing. He was telling the Association here that a portion of the goods had spoiled, and then selling them on the side. So the Association had to take the losses…" Rahl tried to explain what had happened and why it wasn't against Hamorian law, and how he had had no real proof of what Shyret was doing. "… and it would only have been my word against his. That was why I'd decided to see the mage-guards on oneday." He shook his head wryly. "You'd think I'd have learned not to wait on something like that. That was how I ended up in Nylan, you know. I waited till oneday to see Magister Puvort in Land's End."

"There's a fine line between when to wait and when not to," Deybri said quietly.

That, Rahl had learned, but he wasn't sure he could always discern when to wait and when not to. He gestured toward the lane on the east side of the road. "Your house is down there, isn't it?"

"It is. Well… it's not really mine. It's Uncle Thorl's, and I pay him rent. Healers at the training center don't make that many coins, either."

"Oh… I didn't know."

"You wouldn't have, Rahl. I never told you."

There was so much about her that he really didn't know, Rahl reflected, and yet… beyond all that, there was something beyond her warmth and beauty that drew him to her. But, to say that would be so presumptuous… but would he ever have another chance to utter such words in person?

As they entered the restaurant, Rahl saw a slender graying man with his back to the entrance talking to a server. Even so, Rahl recognized him. As before, the proprietor was dressed in spotless khaki trousers and shirt, but this time his vest was chartreuse edged in silver thread.

"Kysant, I know you may not have a table," began Rahl in Hamorian, with an apologetic smile, "but I would be most grateful…"

The proprietor turned… and froze, looking at the mage-guard uniform. After a long moment, Kysant looked from Deybri to Rahl and back to Deybri.

"He's from Recluce, Kysant," Deybri said softly. "He's eaten here with Thorl, and he was exiled for a time. So they sent him back as an envoy to the magisters."

"Would it help if I spoke Temple?" Rahl asked in that language, accompanied by a sheepish grin.

"You… startled me, ser. You…"

"Could we just have a table?" Rahl asked. "The last meal I had here was so good…"

"Oh… of course…" Kysant escorted them to a corner table, one with no one seated nearby, not that there were many in the place, not when it was still late afternoon and not an end-day. He seated Deybri.

Rahl sat across from her.

"Can I get you something to drink?" asked Kysant.

Rahl looked to Deybri. "Leshak?"

She nodded.

"Two, please."

After the proprietor hurried away, Deybri looked to Rahl. "You scared Kysant. He saw you in that uniform, and it terrified him."

"I think his parents must have told terrible stories about the mage-guards," reflected Rahl. "He didn't grow up in Hamor, from what your uncle said."

"That's true." She paused, as if uncertain what to say next.

Rahl could see Kysant preparing a pitcher and two tall goblets. "Kysant will be back with our drinks before long. Why don't you order for us both?"

"You trust me with that?" The words were accompanied with a smile.

"I'd trust you with far more than that, and you know it."

"You do make things difficult, you know?"

Rahl wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. So he just shrugged

… helplessly.

Kysant returned with a tray that held the glass pitcher of leshak and two crystal goblets, then set a goblet before each and half-filled both goblets.

"Kysant," said Rahl with a smile, "you can tell people that your place is so good that a Hamorian mage-guard traveled all the way here to eat."

"Ah… yes, ser. Have you decided… a light lunch… or more?"

Rahl nodded to Deybri.

"The pashtaki and kasnya for appetizers, and the cumin fowl with sweet rice, with a side of biastras…"

Rahl watched and listened. Once Kysant had left, he lifted his goblet. "To the loveliest healer in Recluce."

Deybri actually blushed. Then she shook her head. "You're impossible."

"You already knew that."

She sipped the leshak, and so did Rahl. It was better than he recalled, smooth and cool, bearing hints of pearapple, greenberries, honey, and an even tinier trace of pine.

"How did you know that I was an envoy?" he asked after several moments. "I hadn't gotten around to telling you."

She smiled. "You've changed. Once that would have been one of the first things you said."

"It didn't seem so important. Not now." Rahl waited for her to go on.

"Tamryn told everyone that the Emperor had sent two envoys to Nylan, and that they were both black mage-guards. Everyone was cautioned to be most courteous." Deybri laughed. "I had no idea you were one of them."

"They sent me because I'm the only one who knew about the smuggling and the theft in the Nylan Merchant Association in Swartheld. That was how I ended up in the ironworks at Luba. Director Shyret dosed me with nemysa because he didn't know I was a sort of mage…" Rahl went on to outline quickly his progression from loader to clerk to mage-clerk and finally to mage-guard. "… couldn't have done it if Taryl had not found ways to help me regain some of my abilities, and to train some of the others."

At that point, he stopped because Kysant arrived with a large circular platter bearing the deep-fried pashtakis and what looked to be small pastry crescents.

"Uncle Thorl doesn't like kasnya." Deybri picked up one of the crescents. "He thinks they're bland, but their taste is just more subtle."

Rahl took one and nibbled it. After a moment, he nodded. The taste was a combination of almond and other spices that he could not identify, but he enjoyed the flavor. "It's good. I like it."

"You're not just saying that?"

"No. Especially with you, I wouldn't do that."

Rahl enjoyed the appetizers, but not so much as just looking at Deybri.

At that moment, Kysant escorted three men into the room, seating them at a round table in the corner farthest from Rahl and Deybri. One was clearly a trader, and he kept looking at Rahl, finally murmuring something to the others.

"You'll have everyone in Nylan talking for eightdays after you've left," said Deybri in a low voice.

"It might help Kysant." Rahl didn't really want to think about leaving.

Before he could say more, Kysant arrived with the main course-the cumin fowl and the biastras.

The fowl breasts had been cut into thin strips, then braised and laid on a bed of sticky rice. Deybri served them each several strips and rice.

Rahl found the meat tender, moist, and piquant-as well as slightly smoky and pearapple sweet. The rice carried the same flavors, with a hint of crunchiness. "I like this."

"I'm glad."

While Rahl was careful to wrap the spicy biastra in the thin flat bread, after a mouthful he realized that it was nowhere near as hot and spicy as he had recalled. Then he glanced across at Deybri, who had taken a cloth and was blotting her forehead.

"These are spicier," she said, "and you're not even noticing." She laughed softly. "That's another way you've changed. I still remember the expression on your face when you took the first bite of a biastra."

"I've had to eat hot food for more than a year. Some of it wouldn't have been edible if I'd been able to taste it."

"Luba? That must have been awful."

"I wouldn't recommend it to anyone," Rahl said slowly, "but it wasn't as bad as people say. The guards and overseers were more patient than you'd think. I once watched a mage-guard tell an overseer that if he didn't take better care of his men, he'd be one of them."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was every bit as bad as they say," Deybri replied. "You just learned how to handle it."

"I suppose I did, but I only saw one or two cases where the overseers were cruel, and I wasn't the only loader who got promoted to checker."

"Checker?"

"A low-level clerk who keeps track of the iron shipments. That was how Taryl found me." Rahl went on to explain, concluding, "… and I was reading about Recluce and the magisters when the rest of my memories came back, and I sent word to Taryl, and I became a clerk at the mage-guard station. As soon as I had enough coins, I wrote you."

Deybri just nodded.

After several long moments of silence, Rahl said, "Thank you again for letting my parents know." He managed a smile.

"You could have sent a letter to them… rather than me."

"I could have, but I could only afford one letter," Rahl said slowly, looking across the table into her gold-flecked brown eyes. "You told me that the past had no hold on me. That might have been true once. It's not any longer. It hasn't been for a long time, now."

Deybri met his eyes without looking away. "I know."

"And?"

"Rahl… you have come back to Nylan, and you may again… but already, you are not truly of Recluce… or even of Nylan."

"You might be right, but why do you say that?"

"You're different. Stronger within. I don't mean in order, although that is also true, and it may come that you will become even more powerful in time." She paused as Kysant arrived to take the empty plates and platters.

Rahl realized that the light had dimmed in the room because it was twilight outside. He hadn't really paid any attention.

"Any sweets?" asked the proprietor.

"The orange cake, if you have it. Two slices," replied Deybri.

"An excellent choice, lady." Kysant bowed, but his eyes avoided Rahl.

Once Kysant had left, Deybri added, "I like it because it's sweet, but not cloying."

"And there's no aftertaste of the rest of the meal?"

She nodded.

"I'm different now," Rahl prompted her. "That's what you were saying."

"You think you love me. That's obvious, and I can't tell you how flattering it is to have someone as talented and handsome as you are in love with me. But… it won't work out."

Rahl could sense the turmoil within her. What could he say? "I'm not asking that. I'm only telling you what I feel."

"Rahl… I told you I had to spend time as a healer in Hamor. I was in Atla. I can't tell you how unhappy I was. I kept counting the eightdays, and I almost ran to the ship that took me back to Nylan. You… you're strong. I'm not. I know I'm not. I'm not worthy of you." Her eyes were bright in the dimming light of the dining chamber.

"You're more than worthy of anyone. Not feeling comfortable in a strange land when you're young isn't exactly weakness. I didn't feel at all comfortable in Swartheld for the whole time I was first there." He offered a smile. "Besides, you feel something for me."

"I always have." She looked down for a moment. "That doesn't change anything. You won't come back to Nylan, and I can't live in Hamor."

"Healers are always welcome there," he said mildly.

"I don't feel welcome there." Her smile was strained. "Can we leave it at that?"

"Until after the orange cake." Rahl forced a smile.

"You don't deceive any better than I do." An unsteady laugh followed her words.

"I'm not trying to deceive anyone. I couldn't come here and not tell you how I feel. The letter… I didn't want to say too much, or not enough…" He shook his head.

"You said enough."

"Too much?"

Deybri was the one to shake her head. "If you were an engineer here, even a stevedore on the docks, I wouldn't hesitate a moment to consort you."

Rahl could sense the cost of the admission. "But I'm not, and you're not someone who can do things halfway or partway or with an ocean between us."

"No. I can't. I just can't… and I hate myself for that weakness… but I can't."

Rahl considered her words. Her ability to recognize where she was weak was another strength, and held an honesty he had not considered.

Kysant reappeared with two small plates. "Would you like a brandy or something hot, as well?"

Rahl looked to Deybri, catching the slightest shake of her head before replying. "No, thank you."

Neither Rahl nor Deybri said anything as they slowly ate.

"The cake is better than the khouros, I think," Rahl said after finishing the last moist crumbs on his plate.

Deybri smiled. "I think so, too, but Uncle Thorl doesn't. But he's never liked oranges. That might be because his father had an orchard, and Thorl's job was to take care of the spoiled and rotten ones."

"I can see that might give him less liking for oranges," replied Rahl with a laugh.

"That's just the excuse he gives." She paused just slightly. "He does ask if I hear from you. He said you were one of his best students, that you had the gift for languages."

"He has the gift of teaching them."

"He's never asked about anyone else."

"That's because he's never had another student in love with his niece," Rahl answered lightly.

"Please… Rahl. No more. Not now."

"For now. How is Aleasha?"

"She's close to becoming an arms magistra, I think. Before she does, though, she'll have to learn more about order and how it affects weapons."

"Has she started building that house yet?"

"Not so far…"

In the end, the dinner cost three silvers, with a tip, and Rahl felt strange keeping the seven, but he'd return them to Taryl the next day.

He did offer Deybri his arm once they left the restaurant, and she took it, gently. They walked through the early evening, uphill toward her small dwelling. Rahl tried to keep his words away from what he really felt.

"… never realized how small Recluce is… almost as far from just Swartheld to Cigoerne as it is from Land's End to Feyn.. "

Deybri fell silent, and Rahl quickly went on. "I saw my first Kaordist Temple in Swartheld… all the words about twinners suddenly made sense. You know that they have twin spires, one that's twisted and strange… and that's the female one…"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" She shook her head.

"Men think of women as chaotic everywhere, you think?"

"In most places, from what I've heard and seen."

"I don't."

"You're one of the few," she said dryly.

All too soon, they reached the low stoop before her front door.

Deybri let go of Rahl's arm and stepped back. "I know I must be a disappointment to you. You've crossed an ocean and laid your heart at my feet. But…"

Rahl could sense the unshed tears as he looked at her standing before the doorway… so strong, and yet, in ways, so fragile. "Thank you for this afternoon and tonight." What else could he say? That there would be no one else? That sounded stupid. That without her, life seemed empty. True as it felt, that was almost as bad. He swallowed, then took her hands in his hoping, that she would not mind. "You know how I feel…"

"Rahl… I can't… I can't do this." Tears streamed down her face. "When will I see you again? A year from now? Five? Ten?"

He had no answer to that. Mage-guards, even senior ones, had neither the time nor the coins to make personal voyages across the Eastern Ocean. And-after having seen Tamryn's reaction to his presence-he doubted that he would ever meet the magisters' criteria for returning permanently to Recluce. Yet… how could he leave Deybri?

He wanted to shake his head. He knew she had some feeling for him, more than just some feeling, or she would not be crying, but…

She raised her hand, and her fingers touched the side of his face and then his cheek. "I told you before…"

"You did." His voice was ragged. "But… it didn't help much. Not to forget you. When I was in Luba, even before I remembered who I was, I had dreams of you." He forced a laugh, but the sound was shaky. "I kept hearing and seeing you say that the past had no hold on me, and it was so strange because you were all I could remember of the past."

Abruptly, her arms were around him. "Hold me. Just hold me."

He did.

In the end, that night, it was all he did, except mingle tears with her, before he finally left and walked the long and lonely way back to the Ascadya.