Magic's Promise (10 page)

He paused a moment and bit into the bread; it was dripping with melted butter, and he closed his eyes at the unexpected pleasure the flavor gave him.

Oh, gods - fresh bread!

The taste was better than the manna that the priests said gods ate.
“
Bread
”
for the past year had meant rock-hard journey-bread at best, moldy crusts at worst, and anything in between - and it was
never
fresh, much less hot from the oven. There
had
been butter – sometimes -
 
rancid in summer, as rock-hard as the journey-bread in winter.

It's the little things we miss the most
-
I
swear it is! Ordinary things, things that spell “peace” and “prosperity.“
He thought briefly of the sword-comrades he'd left on the Border, and sent up a brief prayer.
Brightest gods, grant both, but especially peace. Soon, before more blood is shed.

After that he alternated between bites of food and adjusting of harness. The kitchen wench lingered to watch him saddle Yfandes, draped over the open half - door of the stable, squinting into the sunlight. There was something between hero-worship and starry-eyed romance in her gaze; finally Vanyel couldn't stand it any longer and gently shooed her back to her duties.

He noted out of the corner of his eye - with more than a little alarm-that she was clutching the mug he'd drunk from to her budding bosom as though it had been transformed into a holy chalice.

:
Looks like you've got another one, Chosen,:
Yfandes commented sardonically as he fastened his packs behind her saddle.

:Thank you for that startling information. That's just what I needed to hear. :

:It's not
my
fault you have a face that breaks hearts.: :But why - oh, never mind.:
He gave the girth a last tug and swung up into the saddle.
:Let's get out of here before someone else decides she's fallen in love with me.:

They got through the city as quickly as they could, and out onto the open road where it was possible to breathe without choking on the thick cloud of dust and other odors of the crowded city. It was a little strange to ride with the soft chime of the bells marking every pace Yfandes took; it made him nervous for the first few leagues, until he managed to convince his gut that they were
in friendly
territory, and in no danger of alerting enemy scouts with the sound. After that, the sound began to soothe him. Like muted, rhythmic windchimes -

I've always adored windchimes. And I never get to meditate to them anymore.

He slowly began to relax. Yfandes was in no great hurry, although her
“
traveling
”
pace would have run a real horse into the ground after half a day. This had been a gentle summer, turning into a warm and even gentler fall, just enough frost to ensure that the harvests ripened, not enough yet to turn the leaves. Once out of Haven, Exile's Road wound lazily through rustling, golden grain - fields, and fields of sweetly ripening hay. The morning air was slightly cool, but the sun was warm enough that Vanyel soon rolled his cloak and bundled it behind his saddle.

It was very hard to stay awake, in fact. His muscles relaxed into the familiar configurations of riding.

Memory flicker - the k'Treva Vale. Savil, schooling him on Yfandes.
“You think you're a rider now, lad. When I'm done with you, you'll be able to do
anything
ahorse that you can do on the ground.''

Himself, slyly. “
Anything?
”

She threw a saddlebag at him.

From here to the Border the land was the next thing to flat; long, rolling hills covered with cultivated fields, interrupted by fragrant oak groves that occasionally amounted to small forests.

:You really
could
sleep, you know,:
Yfandes chided him.
:I'm not going to let you fall off. It won't be the first time you've taken a nap that way.:

“
I'm hardly going to be company for you like that.
”

She shook her head, and the bells on her halter laughed for her.
:Your presence is company enough, Chosen. I ran lone for ten years before you bonded to me. Just having you with me, whole and healthy, is pleasure; you needn't think I need entertaining when we aren't working.:

With a brief flash of pain and pleasure he remembered how
he
had never needed anything but Tylendel's presence either....

:Yes,:
she agreed, following the thought. :
Exactly.:
So he hooked his leg around the saddle pommel, crossed his arms and tucked the ends of his fingers into his belt, then sagged into a comfortable slouch; chin on chest. It didn't take long.

He came awake all at once, his hand reaching automatically for the sword he wasn't wearing. There was an instant of panic before he remembered where he was going, and why he was going there.

“
Why did you stop?
”
he asked Yfandes, who had come to an unmoving halt-which was what had waked him-in the middle of the completely deserted road. There was nothing but open meadow on either side of him, dotted with sheep, though there was no sign of the shepherd. Crows cawed overhead, and the sheep bleated in their pastures; otherwise silence prevailed. The sun was low enough ahead of them to force him to squint.
It must be late afternoon, early evening.

:There's an inn just beyond the next curve, sleepy one,:
Yfandes said, a hint of amusement tingeing her thought.
:It's later than lunch and earlier than dinner, but I'm tired and I'd really like to stop before I go any farther.:

“
Havens, love, you should have-
”

:No, I shouldn't have. This is the first time you've really relaxed in I don't know how long. Have you thought about the way we resonate?:

He saw instantly what she meant.
“
So - you were relaxing with me.
”

:In very deed, and reveling in it. First journey
I've
been able to enjoy in a while. But I would like to stop now. :

“
Then so would I.
”
He unwrapped his leg from the pommel and stretched it; she waited until his foot was back in the stirrup, then resumed her easy amble, not quite a walk, not quite a canter.
“
Is this a temporary halt, or are we stopping for the night?''

:The night?:
she asked, wistfully. There was a hint of something more there than she was sending.

“
You're not telling me everything,
”
he accused.
“
Why
this
inn?
”

:Well
-
you won't be the only Herald there. Herald-Courier Sofya is there
-:

“
Chosen by?
”
He had a shrewd hunch where this was leading.

She curved her neck coquettishly, and looked up and sideways at him out of one huge blue eye.
:Gavis. :

He shook his head at her.
“
Ah, yes-the one that has been setting all the courier-records lately. Why this penchant for over-muscled courier-types, all legs and no brains-
”

:He is
not
over-muscled,:
she replied indignantly, breaking into a teeth-rattling trot to punish him.

“
But brainless?
”
he taunted, feeling unusually mischievous.

:He just doesn't speak up unless he has something to say. Unlike certain Herald-Mages I know.:
She kicked once, jarring every vertebra in his spine, before settling, all four feet braced in the dust of the road, and plainly going nowhere.

He reached forward before she could stop him, and tweaked her ear.
“
Well, since you want to arrange a little assignation, don't you think you'd better get the cooperation
of your
Chosen?
”

:I
can't imagine why,:
she replied.

“
We
could
move out of the center of the road, and I
could
groom you so that you looked your usual lovely self when we rode into that inn yard, instead of being all covered with road dust. I
could
even braid your tail up with some of the blue and silver cord that was with the barding.
If
I
felt like it.
”

:-
Vanyel-I-:
she floundered.

“
And I
do
feel like it, you ridiculously vain creature,
”
he said, leaning down and putting both arms around her neck, resting his cheek on her crest.
“
And to think that they call
me
a peacock! Has it been so long since I teased you that you've forgotten what it sounds like?
”

:Oh, Vanyel
-
it
has
been a long time.:

“
Then we'll have to remedy that.
”
He dismounted, still a bit stiff from his long doze, and opened the pack with the currycomb in it. Something else occurred to him as he wormed his hand down inside the pack.
“
Just-do me a very big favor, sweetling-
”

:Hmm?:
She turned her head and blinked back at him.

He fished out the comb and the cords.
“
Please,
please
remember to shield me out of your trysting, all right? You forgot to, the last time. Here, let's get out of the road.
”
He stifled a sigh, as they moved under the shade of tree beside the roadway.
“
I don't grudge you any pleasure at all, but it's been a very long time since I did any number of things - and teasing you is only one of them.
”

Yfandes twitched, the closest to blushing a Companion could come.

Vanyel allowed no hand to tend Yfandes but his own, no more than he would have permitted a stranger to see to the comfort of his sister, the cloistered priestess. 'Fandes frequently protested this wasn't necessary, but this afternoon she wasn't complaining. Especially not when young Gavis pranced up to the fence of the inn's open wagon - field with a proud curve to his neck and a certain light of anticipation in his eye. Vanyel kept his amused thoughts to himself as Yfandes flirted coyly with the handsome Companion, and wished her nothing more risque than a
“
pleasant evening
”
when he opened the gate into the meadow for her.

She gave him a long look over her shoulder.
. - Vanyel, you aren't made of stone. I wish you would find a
-
comrade. You would be much happier.:

He winced away from the idea.
:I've been over this with Savil. And you. Until I can
stop
trying to replace 'Lendel, I'm not going to cheat myself and my would-be partner. :

:I don't see that. If you're friends, it wouldn't be cheating . . . never mind.:

:Go, and enjoy yourself.:

:Oh, I think I can manage that,:
she said with deliberate innocence, gave him a slow wink, then frisked off with Gavis in close attendance.

The tack he
did
entrust to the stableboy, though the lad's wide - eyed awe in his presence left him feeling just a bit uneasy.
“
Awe
”
was not something he wanted aimed in his direction. It felt too close to
“
fear.
”

He stepped into the open door of the inn's common room with his packs over one shoulder, and stood blinking in the sawdust - scented gloom, waiting for his eyes to adjust. The lean and nervous innkeeper was at his elbow in a breath, long before Vanyel could see anything other than shadows, more shadows, and a dim white form in one corner that was probably Herald Sofya. It seemed as if he and the other Herald were the only guests this early in the afternoon, but this
was
harvest-season. The locals were undoubtedly making the maximum use of every moment of daylight.

“
Milord Herald, an honor, a pleasure. How may this humble inn serve you, milord?
”

“
Please -
”
Vanyel flushed at his effusiveness.
“
Just dinner, a room if you've one to spare, use of your bathhouse, food for my Companion - I took the liberty of turning her loose with Companion Gavis.
”
Now his eyes had adjusted enough that he could see what he was doing; he fumbled in his belt-pouch and pressed coins into the innkeeper's hand.
“
Here; I'm on leave, not on duty. This should cover everything.
”
Actually it was too much, and he knew it - but what else did he have to spend it on? The man gaped at the money, and began babbling about the room:
“
Royalty slept there, indeed they did, King Randale himself before his coronation -
”
Vanyel bore with it as patiently as he could, and when the man finally wound down, thanked him in a diffident voice and entrusted everything but the lute to the hands of one of the servants to be carried away to the rented room.