The Magic of Recluce by L. E. Modesitt Jr. Page A

opening my eyes with a start.
    The musical voice belonged to Krystal.
    â€œSure…I’m not certain I’m much company.”
    â€œThat makes two of us.” She tucked her feet under her and settled down with a cubit of grass between us, shrugging her shoulders as if to loosen her faded blue tunic. The long hair was bound up with silvered cords. When she wasn’t giggling or fiddling with her hair I enjoyed watching her. She was as graceful as Tamra, but without the arrogance, and behind the giggles I suspected there was more strength than either of us knew.
    Thimmmmm …The chime from the temple echoed once, calling those of the Brotherhood who wished to join the evening meditation. I wasn’t about to, and I’d noticed that Magister Cassius never did either.
    Krystal did not move, but the two men on the bench on the far side of the hedge left.
    â€œThey’re probably going to give thanks for being sent to Brysta, instead of Candar.” The words popped out of my mouth.
    â€œWhere do you think we’ll be sent?”
    â€œCandar,” I opined.
    â€œYou’re usually right…I mean, about facts…” She looked down at the grass.
    I straightened into a sitting position and stopped leaning against the oak. Both tree and ground were hard. The clouds above the eastern horizon showed gray, and the breeze from the west picked up, ruffling my hair. A hint of trilia tickled my nose, bittersweet orange.
    â€œWhat will happen to us?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. It seems like we’re a strange lot, but I suppose all dangergelders are. Myrten’s a thief, but how he lasted so long…Wryten’s really a soldier, probably belongs in the border guard. Sammel’s a missionary in a land that already has a faith that doesn’t place compassion above order. Tamra hates men, and half the world is male. Dorthae…I just don’t know…”
    â€œAnd you?”
    â€œMe?” I shrugged again. I didn’t want to talk about me. “Like Cassius says, I’m easily bored. What about you?”
    â€œI think you’re bored because you want to know everything and you don’t want to admit it.”
    Thimmmmm …The second chime from the temple rang, indicating the evening meditation had begun.
    â€œWhat about you?” I asked again.
    â€œMe?” Krystal giggled just slightly.
    I frowned.
    â€œYou don’t like it when I giggle.”
    â€œNo.” I looked over her shoulder and down the grassy stretch toward the small garden just before the wall. Dorthae and Myrten were seated on opposite ends of the bench, playing some sort of card game. That figured. Myrten would find something with odds in it anywhere.
    â€œI was contracted, you know. He didn’t mind the giggling too much.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” I hadn’t thought about that. I was young. What if Koldar or Corso had been picked for dangergeld? Krystal was announcing that the Brothers had pulled her away from her husband/lover, just like that. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œDon’t be. It was a good excuse to leave. He’ll be happier. I already am.”
    â€œJust leaving?” I couldn’t imagine my mother walking away from my father.
    â€œYou look at my hair. You see my breasts. So do all the men. Your looks are honest, at least.” Her voice was low, almost whispery, yet still musical.
    â€œTrue,” I admitted.
    She readjusted her position on the grass. Somehow the readjustment got her almost next to me. “Do you think about what I feel?”
    Actually, I was wondering how she would feel to hold and touch, but that wasn’t what she meant. “Not at first.”
    â€œOh, Lerris…” her voice died off.
    We sat there as the darkness drifted down upon Nylan.
    â€œWould you just hold me?” Her voice was like a child’s.
    I did, and that was all I did. Not that I didn’t think about