Elvenblood by Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton

apparently that wasn't the way this new order operated. "Anyone who is able-bodied will have to take care of himself," he'd been told, rudely. "We'll get you started, but you'll have to make your own quarters after they're roughed in, and you'll have to see to your own needs.
    The nerve of them
, he seethed. That had to have been on that Shana's orders! She had never liked him, because he'd put her in her proper place more than once. He'd be willing to bet that her own master Denelor wasn't doing without the services of his apprentices!
    And just what was he supposed to do to make this into something livable, anyway? He couldn't steal what he wanted from the elves, the way he had in the old days;
that
was part of the bad bargain that Shana had made to get the elves to agree to leave them alone.
Anyway, the moment I did, they'd know where we are now. That would be stupid, even by that brat's standards
. Was he supposed to go cut down trees and build his own bed, chests, chairs? Was he supposed to weave his own blankets? Were they all mad?
    Of course, they're all mad
, he told himself, grinding his teeth.
They wouldn't have done this if they weren't mad. They wouldn't have fought the elves in the first place, they'd have rendered that Shana creature unconscious and left her for the elves to find. They had no reason to suppose there was more than one halfblood, after all. She should have willingly sacrificed herself to save the rest of us! It was her duty! Not dragging us into a war we didn't plan on and never wanted! Not turning our whole way of life upside down just because she thinks she's better than her elders
!
    He felt a flush of anger crawling up his face, and forced himself to calm down.
    It won't be this way forever
, he promised himself.
It may not even stay this way for long. The other senior wizards have been listening, lately, when I've tried to show them reason. There are probably a lot of them looking at holes in the stone and thinking now that I was right. Shana brought all
this on us; there's no reason for us to listen and obey when Shana and those dragons start upsetting the proper order.
    There was every reason for the older and wiser wizards
to
start returning things
to
the proper order. They were no longer under a state of siege, nor were they trudging through the wilderness. It was time to set things right again.
    And if Parth Agon would not take care of the task, Caellach Gwain was just the man to see that things
did
get back to normal.
    But meanwhile—
    He surveyed the hard stone floor with ill grace. Supposedly—provided that their so wise "leader" hadn't appropriated the children for some other "necessary" task—the human children had been sent down to the river in the valley to cut reeds for bedding. Supposedly they should have made several trips by now, and there should be many bundles stacked up on the riverbank, waiting for someone to come get them. That floor was going to be cursed cold to sleep on without something between him and it.
    He started to call for one of his apprentices to start fetching bundles of reed down here, recalled that he
had
no apprentices now, and stopped himself with a growl.
    Well, at least she can't forbid me to do this the logical way
, he thought hotly.
Cursed if I'll carry all those bundles down here by hand
!
    He didn't need a scrying crystal to locate the bundles of reed; that was for mere apprentices.
He
was a senior wizard and above such crude necessities. He simply concentrated and called upon his powers—
    A glowing, ball-shaped haze of light appeared in the center of the cave, and within a heartbeat or two, the unmistakable shapes of reed bundles formed within it.
    He wondered for a moment, as the power drained from him a bit, how many he should take.
    As many as I can fetch
! He decided.
And we'll just let them see who the senior wizards are
!
    He made a mental "grab" for his target, and with an audible thud, a dozen bundles dropped to the stone floor,