Dragon in Exile - eARC by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee Page A

schedule him as light entertainment.”
    “I will mention that to Liz when I see her,” Natesa said, rising. She stepped to the side of the desk and bent to kiss his cheek.
    “I will be back in good time for dinner.”
    He caught her hand, and looked up into ebon eyes.
    “Be safe today, my love.”
    “Always,” she said lightly, and left them.
    “OK, then,” Cheever McFarland said, after the door had closed behind her. “What’s on the schedule that’s fun, today?”
    * * *
    They sat ’round the hearth, the grandmother, her grandson, and his brother. Tea had been brewed and poured. Sensing that the brother of her grandson yet needed some time to order his thoughts, and himself, Silain had opened the basket they had brought, and exclaimed over the contents. She directed Rys to cut and butter three of the rolls, to go with the tea, while she continued to loudly, and perhaps, just a little, outrageously, praise the giver of the gifts.
    “Certainly, I am everything that is virtuous and good,” Val Con yos’Phelium said at last, a smile lurking at the corner of his mouth. “Even the Bedel must fall under my sway.”
    “No,” said Silain, well-pleased with him. “There, you go too far. The Bedel may love you, and the Bedel may find for you this precious thing or that. But the Bedel go their own way, as we always have.”
    “Now, come,” she continued, returning the various packets of food, and spice, and scented soaps to the basket. “Tell me what you think of this dream Rys has made.”
    He swallowed some of the strong black tea, and smacked his lips, as if he was of the kompani in truth. Then he set the cup by his knee and let his gaze touch Rys before he looked to her.
    “It is a…powerful dream. I do not think that I would have had the strength to have made it. However, I wonder how Rys knew to make the assignment…peculiar to myself, let us say.”
    Rys frowned, as well he might, who knew so little of the technicalities of dream-making. Silain, who knew very much of such things, leaned slightly forward.
    “There are codes that the one who tends the recording device inserts at the proper points. The core lesson is marked out by a fixed set—that never changes. Certain details are malleable. The assignment, for instance, must be tuned to the dreamer, or dreaming is all for nothing. The technician sets the code.”
    “I understand you to say that every dreamer will receive a different assignment.”
    “Peculiar to herself,” Silain said, nodding. “Yes.”
    He took a deep breath. It seemed to Silain that he was…distressed. She sipped tea, waiting for his next question, which was not long in coming.
    “May one ask how this is done, on the level below the setting of codes?”
    “That,” Silain admitted, “goes beyond me. I know that dream and dreamer interact, but the mechanics of that interaction…”
    “I will ask Pulka for the way of it,” Rys said. His mouth quirked into a half-smile. “Though you risk having another dream given you, Brother.”
    Val Con shook his head.
    “In that case, allow me to consult my own resources, first. One would prefer not to disturb Pulka at his work.”
    “That is wise,” Rys agreed solemnly.
    “My question then becomes—can the dream be…edited?” He looked fully at Rys. “Understand me, I do not wish you to dream again! You have done enough. I only wish to know if the existing…experience…may be manipulated.”
    Rys looked to Silain; she nodded.
    “We may copy the dream,” she said. “We may extract segments, or rearrange the whole. What is in your mind?”
    “The segment in which we are…recaptured and bound anew. Those we seek to rescue have been acquired and remain in thrall. I believe that all we need do is offer the choice.”
    “Yes,” Rys said, before she could speak. “It is the choice that is key. But choice alone…may be too abrupt. There must, I think, be some context.”
    Silain nodded again.
    “That is so, else the choice