armory.
For all the time she had spent disguised as a man, she had never wanted to be one, but there were times it had to be more convenient, and by the gods, this was one of them. At least Kalgri wasn’t here to make observations.
Once she had finished, Caina returned from the corner, a plan forming in her mind.
“I carried Annarah’s pyrikon for months before we found her in the Inferno,” said Caina.
“I remember,” said Morgant. “So?”
“I asked it to do things, and it did them,” said Caina. “If I ask Annarah’s pyrikon to shield Annarah from detection, it will probably listen.”
“And then it will stop maintaining the ward, the nagataaru will swarm inside, and kill us,” said Morgant.
“Not if we elude them,” said Caina. “We can manage to carry Annarah between us for a little while. If we can get to the library, maybe we can work up a sled from the shelves, and…”
Annarah took a deep, heaving breath, and then sat up, her green eyes blinking open.
“Oh.” She looked at her glowing pyrikon, at the ward over the door, and then at Caina and Morgant. “We’re still alive. That’s good.”
###
Morgant was surprised to find himself smiling.
Annarah’s death would not have sent him into a pit of despair, or driven him on a mad quest for bloody vengeance. He was not the Kylon of House Kardamnos, for the gods’ sake, and he was too old to feel such emotions vividly.
Nevertheless, he was glad she was still alive. He liked her, and he could not say that of many people. That, and he had devoted such energy to searching for her that he would hate for it to go to waste so soon.
“Did you enjoy your nap?” he said.
“Not particularly,” said Annarah, rubbing the heels of her hands over her forehead. The light from her pyrikon bracelet threw shifting shadows over the walls.
“How do you feel?” said Caina.
“As if I have just run twenty miles while carrying buckets full of sand,” said Annarah. She offered Caina a shaky smile. “Which is still better than how a knife in the neck felt. Thank you. I would have died if you had not acted.”
Caina shrugged. “You saved my life many times. You tended to me when I was recovering in Drynemet. It would be a poor show of gratitude if I failed to repay you.”
“If we tried to repay you for all the lives you have saved, we shall be here until the sun burns out,” said Annarah, trying to rise. Caina helped her to stand.
“How did you wake up so soon, by the way?” said Caina. “Kylon was out for days. I was out for nearly a month.”
“I am a loremaster of Iramis,” said Annarah, “and learning to wield the Words of Lore trains us to handle sudden surges of arcane power. Elixir Restorata generates a tremendous amount of heat and fire, as you have seen…”
Morgant laughed. “An understatement. Ask anyone in Rumarah.”
“So I was able to channel that power into a form of attack,” said Annarah. “For you, the power reacted to your damaged aura, and you needed longer to recover, though you did become a valikarion in the process.” She blinked, and then laughed a little.
“What is it?” said Caina.
“It is a silly thing, but I am grateful it did not burn away my clothes,” said Annarah. “When you were naked in front of all those men in Rumarah…by the Divine, in your place, I would have died of utter embarrassment.”
Caina smiled. “It helps that I don’t remember any of it.”
“The only man who has seen me undressed has been my husband,” said Annarah, “and I wish for that to remain so.”
Caina blinked, seemingly puzzled. “Your husband? Why…” She frowned for an instant, and then shook her head. “Never mind. We have more immediate problems.”
“Yes,” said Morgant. “Like getting off this damned island.”
Annarah nodded and looked at the warded door. “They’re waiting for me, aren’t they? I’m the only one they can sense at the
For all the time she had spent disguised as a man, she had never wanted to be one, but there were times it had to be more convenient, and by the gods, this was one of them. At least Kalgri wasn’t here to make observations.
Once she had finished, Caina returned from the corner, a plan forming in her mind.
“I carried Annarah’s pyrikon for months before we found her in the Inferno,” said Caina.
“I remember,” said Morgant. “So?”
“I asked it to do things, and it did them,” said Caina. “If I ask Annarah’s pyrikon to shield Annarah from detection, it will probably listen.”
“And then it will stop maintaining the ward, the nagataaru will swarm inside, and kill us,” said Morgant.
“Not if we elude them,” said Caina. “We can manage to carry Annarah between us for a little while. If we can get to the library, maybe we can work up a sled from the shelves, and…”
Annarah took a deep, heaving breath, and then sat up, her green eyes blinking open.
“Oh.” She looked at her glowing pyrikon, at the ward over the door, and then at Caina and Morgant. “We’re still alive. That’s good.”
###
Morgant was surprised to find himself smiling.
Annarah’s death would not have sent him into a pit of despair, or driven him on a mad quest for bloody vengeance. He was not the Kylon of House Kardamnos, for the gods’ sake, and he was too old to feel such emotions vividly.
Nevertheless, he was glad she was still alive. He liked her, and he could not say that of many people. That, and he had devoted such energy to searching for her that he would hate for it to go to waste so soon.
“Did you enjoy your nap?” he said.
“Not particularly,” said Annarah, rubbing the heels of her hands over her forehead. The light from her pyrikon bracelet threw shifting shadows over the walls.
“How do you feel?” said Caina.
“As if I have just run twenty miles while carrying buckets full of sand,” said Annarah. She offered Caina a shaky smile. “Which is still better than how a knife in the neck felt. Thank you. I would have died if you had not acted.”
Caina shrugged. “You saved my life many times. You tended to me when I was recovering in Drynemet. It would be a poor show of gratitude if I failed to repay you.”
“If we tried to repay you for all the lives you have saved, we shall be here until the sun burns out,” said Annarah, trying to rise. Caina helped her to stand.
“How did you wake up so soon, by the way?” said Caina. “Kylon was out for days. I was out for nearly a month.”
“I am a loremaster of Iramis,” said Annarah, “and learning to wield the Words of Lore trains us to handle sudden surges of arcane power. Elixir Restorata generates a tremendous amount of heat and fire, as you have seen…”
Morgant laughed. “An understatement. Ask anyone in Rumarah.”
“So I was able to channel that power into a form of attack,” said Annarah. “For you, the power reacted to your damaged aura, and you needed longer to recover, though you did become a valikarion in the process.” She blinked, and then laughed a little.
“What is it?” said Caina.
“It is a silly thing, but I am grateful it did not burn away my clothes,” said Annarah. “When you were naked in front of all those men in Rumarah…by the Divine, in your place, I would have died of utter embarrassment.”
Caina smiled. “It helps that I don’t remember any of it.”
“The only man who has seen me undressed has been my husband,” said Annarah, “and I wish for that to remain so.”
Caina blinked, seemingly puzzled. “Your husband? Why…” She frowned for an instant, and then shook her head. “Never mind. We have more immediate problems.”
“Yes,” said Morgant. “Like getting off this damned island.”
Annarah nodded and looked at the warded door. “They’re waiting for me, aren’t they? I’m the only one they can sense at the
Similar Books
![[Queen of Orcs 02] - Clan Daughter](/res/aob/book1.jpg)
