Story of her life, come to that.
After thanking Linwe for the tour, Pia chose to go back to their rooms. The others played chess, did sit-ups and push-ups and napped. Johnny coaxed Pia into playing a game of chess too, but she knew little beyond the basic moves and she was too preoccupied to focus well, and he trounced her thoroughly. Afterward she went to her bedroom to pace.
Calondir did not grant her an audience. Neither Beluviel nor Ferion appeared. Pia did not hear anything from Dragos or about him. Beluviel did send a note of apology and promised to see Pia the next day, but other than that nothing at all happened for the rest of the day.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
NINE
The group had lunch brought up to them and by evening Pia couldn’t stand the sight of the apartment any longer.
They went to the main hall for supper, which was filled with quite a few more people than had been present at breakfast. Supper was robust winter fare, hot and filling: roasted deer, rabbit and pheasant, white and sweet potatoes, roasted chestnuts, loaves of chewy honey nut bread, pumpkin and cranberry tarts, baked apples and plenty of wine, beer and water.
Linwe joined them, along with a few of the other Elves that had traveled with them on the previous day, and the meal passed with plenty of lively conversation. Most of the people in the hall didn’t leave when they had finished dining. Instead a few fetched musical instruments, and soon the sound of flutes, fiddles and drums filled the hall.
After several people called out in encouragement, a slender male with a sensitive-looking face stood to sing a ballad in Elvish. Even though Pia didn’t understand a word of the song, the music and the flow of the lyrical words were haunting.
Pia watched and listened in silence. Everyone was friendly, the music was excellent and she had not heard anything bad, not from Dragos, Hugh or Calondir.
So that meant everything was fine, right? The evening should have been pleasant.
Table lamps and the firelight from both massive hearths gave the hall a warm, golden illumination. Sparks of Power from individuals glowed in her mind’s eye like fireflies lighting a warm summer night, and the wild, secretive Wood’s presence blanketed them all. She could sense so much Power, and it was all undiluted by distractions from technology like television, cell phones and street traffic.
A few especially strong glows seemed to shine in the distance. Perhaps those were Linwe’s “ancients.” Two of the glows might even be Calondir and Beluviel.
But underscoring everything was a sense of dread and anxiety she could not overcome. She had to force herself to unclench her fists. Then only a few minutes later she discovered that she had clenched them again. She ate because she was starving and eating was compulsory these days, but the food sat in her stomach like a rock. An unseen pincer gripped her by the back of the neck, causing a dull, throbbing ache.
Her tension roused the peanut whose awareness draped around her neck, his bright, loving energy unsettled. She put a hand over her abdomen, whispering silently, I’m sorry, baby. She tried to soothe him, but she didn’t really know what she was doing, and she was still tense and filled with dread herself. His presence sharpened until it felt spiked with invisible claws. For the first time since she had become aware of his existence, he felt dangerous.
Oh great, go ahead and scare the dragon baby, why don’t you? Knucklehead. She breathed deeply and evenly. Calm down.
She could just see how the future was going to go. If the peanut really turned out to be dangerous after he was born, Dragos might have to be the one to take care of him whenever he had a toddler tantrum. Yeah, it was going to be fun to get the answer to that question. For the first time that whole, rotten day she felt an evil, sneaking sense of cheer.
Gradually the baby calmed down again. As she turned her attention away from him she felt again the sense of something lying stealthy and quiet underneath all the other sparks of Power, and her fists clenched.
Realization struck. Yes, she was worried and anxious, and she missed Dragos horribly, but whatever the hell she was sensing, it wasn’t her own fear. It definitely existed outside of herself.
Had it always been there, only she had been too preoccupied to notice? Or had it crept in since they had arrived? The words dark and light didn’t seem quite accurate when describing nonphysical qualities, but that stealthy, quiet thing felt like the antithesis of those sparks of Power that glowed so brightly against her mind’s eye.
She turned to Eva, who sat beside her and murmured, “Do you feel anything odd?”
Across the table James’s gaze flickered to them even as he laughed at something one of the others said. Beside him, Miguel shifted his seat back and settled into a lounging position that, Pia noticed, also happened to free his legs so that he could leap easily to his feet. Even though the others appeared relaxed and were clearly enjoying themselves, they had not sacrificed an iota of their alertness.
Like Pia, the captain had also been silent as she listened to the conversation. Eva sat in her chair at an angle, legs crossed at the ankles. She rested one elbow on the table, chin in her hand as she watched not only their group but also everyone else in the hall. Her black, alert gaze considered Pia thoughtfully.
Eva asked telepathically, Like what?
Following Eva’s lead, Pia switched to telepathy. How strong is your magic sense?
This time Eva didn’t bother with any taunting street talk. Pretty good. Miguel is the real magic user in the group, though, so his is the best out of all of us.
Pia rubbed the back of her aching neck as she tried to come up with the right words. I just picked up on something. It’s very quiet.
Hold on.
As Pia waited, she ran her gaze over the main hall again. Whatever it was, she didn’t think it was in the hall, but pinning a physical geography to the feeling was as difficult and slippery as trying to explain it with physical descriptors.
Then Eva said, None of us are sensing anything. Can you get any more specific?
She thought of how she had sensed the Goblins who had kidnapped her and Dragos in May. Dragos hadn’t sensed the Goblins either. Frustration gripped her. The feeling was growing all too familiar on this trip.
I can feel different Powers in the area, she said. Some of them are definitely people, although I can also sense the Wood. This other thing is lying underneath all the rest. It’s like a patch of black ice on the road. You might not be able to see the ice very well even though you know it’s there.
How dangerous do you think it is?
Dragos had thought her sensitivity to the Goblins might be connected to her Wyr form. Should she open that can of worms with Eva?
She shook her head. I don’t know. I’ve never felt it before. It’s making my stomach knot. I don’t know if I just became aware of it, or if it’s something new to the area since we arrived. She looked into the other woman’s sharp gaze. The last time I felt something strange, I was beaten and nearly killed. But this is a different situation. I don’t think this . . . thing is physically here in the hall. I’m not even sure that what I’m sensing is active.
Yet, Eva said. It might not be active yet. Bombs are inert until they go off.
Pia grimaced. Point.
Think we should take a walk, see what you pick up from different areas. I’d like to get an idea of how localized it is, if we can. Maybe Miguel can get bead on it somewhere else, or we can get a direction on it.