to stay around tonight, not after what I’ve done, so I’ll go back to the castle and leave you in peace. But I’ll wait to hear from you. If you need me, you only have to send for me.
“I really am terribly sorry.”
He turned and walked to the door, hoping she would call him back and hold out her arms to him. But there was no sound from her and he left the room despondently. He made his way back to the stables, apologizing to young Matty for undoing all his hard work on Bucyrus’s harness as the lad readied his mount.
He glanced up to the windows as he mounted and rode away. Was that her outline, watching him behind closed drapes? Or was it just his desperate heart, hoping against hope she’d forgive him?
Chapter Seven
“W ho will you take to the island?”
Brynne Sullyan considered her general’s query. It couldn’t be Robin; he had duties of his own at the Manor, and there was also Morgan to think of. One of them was always at the Manor to care for their son. She would, however, need another Artesan to stand for her. This was a given rule as well as a sensible precaution to take. Now that there were more Artesans at the Manor, it was easier to do. Yet of the four she could choose from, only two fitted her requirements. Bull, who would once have been her natural choice, was currently engaged in training the new College students. Besides, his weakened heart meant he rarely participated in strenuous duties these days. Jay’el was still very new to his powers and was there purely to learn, not to accompany Sullyan on missions for the King.
“I shall take Cal and Tad,” she said finally, and the general nodded. “I have informed Taran of my intention to leave this morning, and he has passed this on to the King. All I need now is the location of the nearest garrison, if you would be so good?”
Though the agreement between Pharikian and Elias concerning travel through the Veils made reaching far-flung portions of the realm a much simpler matter for those on their monarch’s business, it was still necessary for the Artesan concerned to know where they were going. It was not enough to know a place was in the north or south of the land. There had to be physical knowledge of the terrain and intended destination or the transfer couldn’t work.
Sullyan had never visited this particular garrison, but Mathias Blaine had, albeit many years ago. He could pass her an image of where she must go, and so he accepted her tacit request to mesh psyches and held the location of the remote outpost in his mind. Neither of them had ever been to the island where the Baron had spent his exile, so this garrison was the nearest point to which she could transfer. The soldiers stationed there would give her directions to the fishing village which served the clerics on the island. Once there, she could request the use of a boat to reach the island itself.
Fixing the image of the garrison firmly in her mind, she thanked the general and assured him of her swift return once she had satisfied herself as to the truth of the Baron’s demise. Blaine shared her opinion that the circumstances should be examined very carefully indeed. He was under no illusions as to the Baron’s feelings where Elias and Sullyan were concerned, let alone Artesans in general. If he yet lived and was free to work his schemes, the consequences could be catastrophic.
“Be careful,” he admonished.
Once all was in readiness, she made her way to the horse lines. Tad was waiting alongside three harnessed stallions, three packs at his feet. Cal was also there, giving Elisse one last hug, and Sullyan suddenly found herself enveloped by the arms of a small boy. She smiled down at her much-loved son and swung him up into her arms.
“Take care of Papa while I am away, and see that he gets some rest,” she told the giggling boy. “When I return, I want to hear how well you have behaved. Now, run along and find Uncle Bull. I believe it is
“I really am terribly sorry.”
He turned and walked to the door, hoping she would call him back and hold out her arms to him. But there was no sound from her and he left the room despondently. He made his way back to the stables, apologizing to young Matty for undoing all his hard work on Bucyrus’s harness as the lad readied his mount.
He glanced up to the windows as he mounted and rode away. Was that her outline, watching him behind closed drapes? Or was it just his desperate heart, hoping against hope she’d forgive him?
Chapter Seven
“W ho will you take to the island?”
Brynne Sullyan considered her general’s query. It couldn’t be Robin; he had duties of his own at the Manor, and there was also Morgan to think of. One of them was always at the Manor to care for their son. She would, however, need another Artesan to stand for her. This was a given rule as well as a sensible precaution to take. Now that there were more Artesans at the Manor, it was easier to do. Yet of the four she could choose from, only two fitted her requirements. Bull, who would once have been her natural choice, was currently engaged in training the new College students. Besides, his weakened heart meant he rarely participated in strenuous duties these days. Jay’el was still very new to his powers and was there purely to learn, not to accompany Sullyan on missions for the King.
“I shall take Cal and Tad,” she said finally, and the general nodded. “I have informed Taran of my intention to leave this morning, and he has passed this on to the King. All I need now is the location of the nearest garrison, if you would be so good?”
Though the agreement between Pharikian and Elias concerning travel through the Veils made reaching far-flung portions of the realm a much simpler matter for those on their monarch’s business, it was still necessary for the Artesan concerned to know where they were going. It was not enough to know a place was in the north or south of the land. There had to be physical knowledge of the terrain and intended destination or the transfer couldn’t work.
Sullyan had never visited this particular garrison, but Mathias Blaine had, albeit many years ago. He could pass her an image of where she must go, and so he accepted her tacit request to mesh psyches and held the location of the remote outpost in his mind. Neither of them had ever been to the island where the Baron had spent his exile, so this garrison was the nearest point to which she could transfer. The soldiers stationed there would give her directions to the fishing village which served the clerics on the island. Once there, she could request the use of a boat to reach the island itself.
Fixing the image of the garrison firmly in her mind, she thanked the general and assured him of her swift return once she had satisfied herself as to the truth of the Baron’s demise. Blaine shared her opinion that the circumstances should be examined very carefully indeed. He was under no illusions as to the Baron’s feelings where Elias and Sullyan were concerned, let alone Artesans in general. If he yet lived and was free to work his schemes, the consequences could be catastrophic.
“Be careful,” he admonished.
Once all was in readiness, she made her way to the horse lines. Tad was waiting alongside three harnessed stallions, three packs at his feet. Cal was also there, giving Elisse one last hug, and Sullyan suddenly found herself enveloped by the arms of a small boy. She smiled down at her much-loved son and swung him up into her arms.
“Take care of Papa while I am away, and see that he gets some rest,” she told the giggling boy. “When I return, I want to hear how well you have behaved. Now, run along and find Uncle Bull. I believe it is
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