lift my arms to see if I could wrap the cloth, but my shoulders knotted with pain.
That
wasn't going to work.
"Had you been stone, it would not have cost you, Evumeimei. It would have killed you."
"Instead it milked every drop of magic I have." I couldn't even braid my hair.
Jayat saw. "My master has arthritis. And I have little sisters. Now, shall you have a turban like Azaze Yopali, or a band and braids, or a wrap like your old one?"
"Anything, as long as it's out of my way." I rested my face on my hands. Jayat wrapped my hair in my cloth, and coiled and tied it as I would do it. I said, "You didn't have to stay here. You must have been frightfully bored."
"Tahar gave me spells to practice. I did that for a while. Then I gathered some mushrooms and herbs she's been wanting. And there are garnets around here I can sell down in Sustree, for extra cash. Once you were back in your body, Master Luvo told me about where he's from, and the things you have done since you met. Your friend Briar sounds like quite the fellow."
"He's usually the first to tell you so, too." I sat up and managed to plant my feet on the ground, which was a start. "Are we ever going to meet Master Tahar?"
"Not if she has anything to say about it. Her attitude is that it's bad enough the people who live here know who she is and bother her." Jayat frowned, then said, "You know, Master Luvo
could
mean the source of the heat that feeds the hot springs."
"What?" Maybe the time underground had slowed my brain. I couldn't understand what he was talking about.
"There are hot springs on the far shore of the lake from Moharrin. People go there for curative baths, or to get warm when the winter's really cold. My master says they draw their heat from deep within the earth. That's probably what you found." Jayat hung the lantern on a tree branch and looked at me. "Can you ride? I'm starting to get really cold, and you have to face her sometime. I can maybe smuggle you into Oswin's house, or the barn behind the inn, if you'd rather face her tomorrow."
I lurched to my feet, hanging on to the rocks for balance. "No. If she has to wait to tell you what she thinks of you, she just gets worse. And she's right to be angry. I don't know what possessed me. It wasn't ghosts."
"It was the heat fever." Luvo shifted on his feet. "The excitement of magma and the earth's strength, so close to the air. I felt it in the closed-off sources of the power you had once used, Jayatin, but I did not recognize it, at first, because it was so faint. I knew it a little better in the dead trees canyon, because it was so fresh there. By then it had moved into Evumeimei's blood. When I saw it in her, my fear overtook me."
"But the ghost of power like that can't hurt you, Master Luvo. Can it?" Jayat levered me into my horse's saddle with a grunt. I nearly slid off the other side. Then I tangled one arm in the reins and grabbed the saddle horn with the other. The horse looked back at me. I saw white around its eye in the dim lamplight.
"I'm sorry." I patted the animal's neck clumsily. "I don't blame
you
for being angry, either."
Jayat didn't trust my control over my body. He walked around the horse to make sure my feet were in the stirrups. Under the circumstances, I was kind of grateful. My feet seemed far away and not exactly connected to me. Once I was settled, he set Luvo's pack on his own saddle, then put Luvo on it.
"Oh." I felt like an idiot. "
That's
how you got here."
"Actually, I found him halfway down the road." Jayat secured the pack to his saddle. "He ran after you. I was held up because I had to ready my horse and bring your gear." He took down the lantern.
"Thank you," I said. "And how did you know we'd need a light?"
"I didn't. Your Rosethorn sent it with one of the boys from the inn. Is she going to beat you?"
We rode out onto the road as I goggled at his back. "Does your master beat
you
?"
"She did when I was younger and wouldn't mind her," Jayat explained, "or
That
wasn't going to work.
"Had you been stone, it would not have cost you, Evumeimei. It would have killed you."
"Instead it milked every drop of magic I have." I couldn't even braid my hair.
Jayat saw. "My master has arthritis. And I have little sisters. Now, shall you have a turban like Azaze Yopali, or a band and braids, or a wrap like your old one?"
"Anything, as long as it's out of my way." I rested my face on my hands. Jayat wrapped my hair in my cloth, and coiled and tied it as I would do it. I said, "You didn't have to stay here. You must have been frightfully bored."
"Tahar gave me spells to practice. I did that for a while. Then I gathered some mushrooms and herbs she's been wanting. And there are garnets around here I can sell down in Sustree, for extra cash. Once you were back in your body, Master Luvo told me about where he's from, and the things you have done since you met. Your friend Briar sounds like quite the fellow."
"He's usually the first to tell you so, too." I sat up and managed to plant my feet on the ground, which was a start. "Are we ever going to meet Master Tahar?"
"Not if she has anything to say about it. Her attitude is that it's bad enough the people who live here know who she is and bother her." Jayat frowned, then said, "You know, Master Luvo
could
mean the source of the heat that feeds the hot springs."
"What?" Maybe the time underground had slowed my brain. I couldn't understand what he was talking about.
"There are hot springs on the far shore of the lake from Moharrin. People go there for curative baths, or to get warm when the winter's really cold. My master says they draw their heat from deep within the earth. That's probably what you found." Jayat hung the lantern on a tree branch and looked at me. "Can you ride? I'm starting to get really cold, and you have to face her sometime. I can maybe smuggle you into Oswin's house, or the barn behind the inn, if you'd rather face her tomorrow."
I lurched to my feet, hanging on to the rocks for balance. "No. If she has to wait to tell you what she thinks of you, she just gets worse. And she's right to be angry. I don't know what possessed me. It wasn't ghosts."
"It was the heat fever." Luvo shifted on his feet. "The excitement of magma and the earth's strength, so close to the air. I felt it in the closed-off sources of the power you had once used, Jayatin, but I did not recognize it, at first, because it was so faint. I knew it a little better in the dead trees canyon, because it was so fresh there. By then it had moved into Evumeimei's blood. When I saw it in her, my fear overtook me."
"But the ghost of power like that can't hurt you, Master Luvo. Can it?" Jayat levered me into my horse's saddle with a grunt. I nearly slid off the other side. Then I tangled one arm in the reins and grabbed the saddle horn with the other. The horse looked back at me. I saw white around its eye in the dim lamplight.
"I'm sorry." I patted the animal's neck clumsily. "I don't blame
you
for being angry, either."
Jayat didn't trust my control over my body. He walked around the horse to make sure my feet were in the stirrups. Under the circumstances, I was kind of grateful. My feet seemed far away and not exactly connected to me. Once I was settled, he set Luvo's pack on his own saddle, then put Luvo on it.
"Oh." I felt like an idiot. "
That's
how you got here."
"Actually, I found him halfway down the road." Jayat secured the pack to his saddle. "He ran after you. I was held up because I had to ready my horse and bring your gear." He took down the lantern.
"Thank you," I said. "And how did you know we'd need a light?"
"I didn't. Your Rosethorn sent it with one of the boys from the inn. Is she going to beat you?"
We rode out onto the road as I goggled at his back. "Does your master beat
you
?"
"She did when I was younger and wouldn't mind her," Jayat explained, "or
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