Which made them all laugh again.
The dance was over, the musicians were taking a break.Orval and Amari returned to sit and clean themselves up, looking so happy it made Halithe’s heart ache.Amari was trying to explain the joke, and Mother Berice just rolled her eyes.Halithe took the chance to slip away.
There were quiet corners, hay bales where one could sit and have a private chat, or maybe steal kisses from a lover.Halithe pressed herself out of sight and pulled her spoon from her pocket.
What a special thing it would be, to have that kind of connection in one’s life.She mused on it as she polished the spoon, making it gleam in the light.
She sheltered it in her lap, cupping it in her hands so that no one could see what she was doing.
“Show me,” she breathed, and focused her will.
The image flickered, then wavered, and then solidified.Caris, warm and lovely, walking down a hall lighted with candles and glowing in her golden gown.Halithe cradled the spoon in her hands, looking down with delight.She sighed, thinking on—
“Impressive,” Rye towered over her, craning his head to look over her shoulder.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Waerington
Halithe jerked, but the image in the bowl of the spoon never wavered.
“Even more impressive.”Ritathan sat on the hay bale near her.
“I have been practicing,” Halithe insisted, but guilt made her admit completely.“Just, not so much with candles.”
Aramal sat down opposite Ritathan and leaned in to peer at the spoon.“Who is that?”he asked.
Halithe glanced at Ritathan, who nodded.
“It’s Caris,” she blurted out.“She is one of Queen Satia’s—” she hesitated, not quite knowing what to say.
“Bondmaidens,” Ritathan finished for her.
“Hand-maidens?”Aramal looked confused.
“Also known as mage-slaves.”Ritathan said.“We don’t know how it was done, but there is a taint of blood magic to the bond.It was probably done at birth, or at least when she was a babe.”
“But,” Halithe clutched the spoon tight and the image shimmered and broke apart.“She’s not, not completely.She has a spark of resistance, and she is smart and lovely and,” she brought the spoon to her chest, “I’ve seen it, I know she does, and if we can find a way to break it I know she will—” She cut herself off, not wanting to speak of her hope for the future.
“Ah,” Ritathan said sadly and slowly.“Leeda, I don’t want to discourage you, but…” his voice trailed off, and in the distance, she heard the music start up again, something slower and stately.Aramal crossed his arms over his chest.
“Those mage bonds have been in place for a very long time,” Ritathan said.“Neither I, nor Guildmaster Forterran, have any clue as to how to break that bond, not for her nor for any of the others.”
“Others?”Aramal asked.
“There are…or were…five.”Ritathan explained.“Each Bound with golden cords tinged with red traces and all tied to Satia.They can only be seen with mage-sight.”
“But we saw that one was cut off,” Halithe protested.“At the rim of the Wastes.”
Ritathan nodded.“We did, and we don’t have a clue what happened to the maiden, do we?”He rubbed his face.“Leeda, even if you could break the bond, Caris might be injured in the process.And even if she wasn’t hurt physically, she might be damaged in other ways.”It was his turn to fold his arms over his chest, pressing his hands into his armpits as if suddenly cold.“She is enslaved, and sudden freedom is not an easy thing.”
Halithe opened her mouth to protest, but he held up his hand.“It also might take you years to accomplish this goal.”
Halithe thrust the spoon in her pocket and folded her arms over her chest.“She is worth waiting for.”
“I’m not sure that is true,” Ritathan said.“You have your whole life ahead of you and I don’t want you to waste it on waiting.”
“I waited for you,” Aramal said.
