Raven's Strike by Patricia Briggs Page A

instead.”
    She nodded. “There were ten of them originally—nine now. Benroln—I told you how his clan was one of the ones who were preying upon solsenti . He felt he had reason enough for it; solsenti had killed his father and the rest of the clan’s Order Bearers. He thought he could force me to help him by taking Jes and holding him with a foundrael . While I dealt with Benroln, Hennea managed to destroy the foundrael .”
    â€œNot an easy task?” Tier’s voice was neutral.
    Seraph shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.”
    â€œJust how powerful is Hennea?” he asked.
    â€œI don’t know. There’s no measuring stick for magic”—she frowned and continued irritably—“though solsenti wizards seem to think there ought to be. Training means as much as power, really—though less for Ravens than for wizards who don’t bear the Order. She’s been well trained; you can see it in her demeanor. People say ‘self-contained as a Raven,’ and that centered peacefulness of hers is what they’re referring to.” She couldn’t keep the wistfulness out of her voice.
    Tier heard it because he rubbed her nose playfully. “You do controlled well enough that most people don’t think you have a temper at all. Now, me, I enjoy a good screaming fight once in a while.”
    She laughed. “You do not. I have a miserably hard time picking a good fight with you.” She waited a heartbeat or two. “So what do you think of Hennea?”
    â€œHow old is she?” he asked.
    It was not what she expected him to say, though it seemed to bother Hennea that she was older than Jes.
    â€œI don’t know,” she told him. “She looks about ten years younger than I am. Twenty-four or -five maybe? Their age difference is less than ours.”
    He rolled until his shoulder was under her head. “I think she’s a good deal older than she appears.”
    â€œWhy do you say that?”
    â€œIt’s in her eyes. When my eyes aren’t reminding me of her apparent age, I feel that she is an old, old woman.”
    Seraph thought about what he’d said for a moment.
    â€œThe control that Ravens strive for usually only belongs to the very old,” she told him. “I’ve seen it in other Ravens besides Hennea, though I’ve never managed to get it right.” People thought Seraph cold, she knew, but it was so hard to keep her emotions at bay—and if she didn’t, she would be very, very dangerous for everyone. Magic required a cool head, and her temper was too easily lit. “Hennea’s control is the reason, I think, that Jes can tolerate her touch when most people bother him.”
    â€œMagic can make people live longer,” said Tier. “I once met a seventy-year-old wizard who looked no older than forty.”
    â€œWizardry, yes, but, as I told you, the Orders don’t work like that. Healers like Brewydd can perhaps extend their lives, but not past reasonable limits.”
    â€œYou said that wizardry runs in the Traveler clans,” said Tier. “Could Hennea be a wizard, too?”
    Seraph sat up, crossed her legs, and stared at his face in the dim light. “You seem awfully certain that she’s old.” Owls could tell when someone lied, but that was as far as their truth-seeing went—or so she’d always supposed.
    â€œIt’s just a feeling,” he said half-apologetically.
    â€œAll of the Raven Bearers are wizards,” she told him. “Just as all Guardians are empathic. So, yes, Hennea is a wizard as well. But a Raven restricting herself to magic without using the Order . . . it would be like stuffing cotton in your ears to sing, Tier.”
    â€œI know difference between wizards and Ravens is that wizards use ritual magic and Ravens don’t have to,” said Tier. “But I’ve seen you use