The White Robe by Clare Smith Page B

and smiled. “Do you always ride with a healer?”
     
    “No, only when I’m on Federa’s business, then I take men with as many different skills as possible as I never know quite what we’ll run up against.”
     
    Jonderill looked around the camp. “Where are the rest of your men and the others you rescued from the slaver?”
     
    “All those we rescued were asked if they wished to join us at the goddess’s Enclave, but no one volunteered, very few do. So some of my men have taken them in a wagon to Vinmore where they will be safe. The rest of my men are either on patrol, on fatigues or are on an errand for me. We will stay here until they return.”
     
    He took Jonderill’s empty bowl from his hand, refilled it and led the way to the log they had shared at breakfast that morning. “Jonderill? That sounds Esslandian, is that where you’re from?”
     
    Jonderill shrugged. “I don’t know but it is unlikely; it’s the name that was given to me when I was a kingsward in Leersland. As far as I know I’ve never been to Essenland or anywhere apart from Vinmore, although I did set out to go to Tarbis once as I wanted to see the great ocean, but I never got that far.”
     
    “What happened?”
     
    “Some people I knew in Vinmore had a problem so I went back to help them.”
     
    “It’s a pity you didn’t get there; the great Southern Ocean is worth seeing. I went there once with my brother; his name was Jonderill too which is why I thought you might have come from Essenland.”
     
    Jonderill looked at him quizzically. “Where is he now?”
     
    “Dead. He was a protector like me but he died trying to protect his master, or at least that is what we believe. Neither his body nor the remains of his magician were ever found although we are pretty certain that Tallison destroyed his brother’s magician when he murdered his brother to take the throne of Sandstrone.”
     
    “I’m sorry.”
     
    It was Allowyn’s turn to shrug. “Don’t be, we both knew what could happen to us when we took up our calling as protectors, but neither of us would have it any other way, you wait and see.”
     
    “Have you always been a protector?” asked Jonderill curiously, not certain what a protector was.
     
    “Aye, nearly all my adult life. I was called by the goddess in my twelfth summer which is a bit old for a protector to start training, but I’ve always had a bit of magic, you know, enough to light a fire or move small objects a short distance or open the occasional door. I think it was that which brought me to the attention of the goddess. I trained at the Enclave for ten winters before I was eventually paired with Callabris. I was beginning to think I would never be called to serve and would spend the rest of my days as an armsman like these men you see here.”
     
    Jonderill looked thoughtful. “So not everyone who is taken to the goddess’s Enclave becomes a protector or a magician?”
     
    “Good goddess, no. If they did there would be magicians and protectors everywhere and that would cause chaos. No, there is a natural order to things, ordained by the goddess and controlled through the High Master who is Federa’s voice and the master of all those who live, work and study in the Enclave.”
     
    “Then if I decide to go to the Enclave with you I could spend the next ten winters learning to be just a man at arms?”
     
    Allowyn frowned and shook his head. “As I told you this morning, you have no choice in whether you go or not. The goddess has called for you and even the High Master cannot override her wishes, although I heard that he doubted the wisdom of taking you in. You see most acolytes are called before their tenth summer and some are even born in the Enclave in the shadow of Federa’s temple.
     
    “They all go there hoping they will become a magician, but those who have no power train to be the best at whatever talents they were born with, whether it’s blacksmithing, farming or healing