Tonight? he asked. She replied in a wavering but clearly disappointed negative.
Soon, then, he said, and that made her smile again.
She disappeared with Valri, Baryn, and Romar Brendyn once the meal was over. Cammon headed down to Justin’s to await the arrival of Senneth and the others.
“Senneth will be interested to hear that one of her new mystics caught Ellynor this morning,” Justin said.
“Turned himself into a raelynx,” Ellynor confirmed. “He couldn’t find me when he was in any other shape.”
“Makes sense,” Cammon said. “Become a Lirren animal to catch a Lirren woman.”
“But the true question is, what kind of animals would catch spies from overseas?” Justin asked. “Since we’re not as worried about Lirrenfolk at the moment.”
“Oh, now I suppose you want me to remember some kind of bird or dog that can only be found in Arberharst,” Cammon said.
“Well, you might try to make yourself useful once in a while,” Justin answered with a grin.
“The princess says there’s a library full of books at the palace,” Cammon answered. “Maybe we can find some with pictures of exotic creatures.”
Ellynor settled next to Justin. “Will a mystic from Gillengaria be able to take the shape of an animal from another country?” she asked.
“Maybe not,” Cammon said. “But it might be worth a try.”
They kicked around other ideas, tried to guess what Halchon Gisseltess’s next move would be, and wondered what his sister, Coralinda, would be up to now.
“She’s not just sitting quietly in the convent,” Ellynor said positively. “She hates mystics too much. She’s planning to join this fight.”
“Then we have to plan how to stop her,” Justin said.
During their entire conversation, Cammon was tracking the progress of the travelers. He wasn’t good with geography or distance, but he could tell they were steadily drawing nearer. “Almost here,” he said when they crossed into the city and began angling down for a landing. Passing the wall that surrounded the palace grounds, gliding low over the barracks. He flung open the door and dashed out as two owls softly landed and deposited small burdens to the ground.
And then Senneth and Tayse were standing there, and Kirra and Donnal. All seven of them, gathered together again. For a moment, Cammon almost felt whole.
Till he realized there was a part of him that was now missing, and would always be missing, unless Amalie was in the room, too, and that for the rest of his life he would be incomplete, no matter how close he could hold the rest of his friends.
SENNETH had spent the morning with the king, relaying her story. Cammon waited for her outside the study door, and he followed her the rest of the day. There was a great deal to tell her, though, of course, he didn’t repeat the most important news. Senneth, I’ve become Amalie’s lover. No, he told her how he had watched the battle at Danan Hall through four sets of eyes, how he had felt similar skirmishes unfolding across the kingdom. Indeed, the messengers from Kianlever and Coravann had already arrived bearing the grim news. Slaughter at the Houses, followed immediately by outrage and fear. Eloise Kianlever had sustained heavy losses but reported that some of her most loyal vassals had ridden to her aid.
“And she says she’ll be sending troops to Ghosenhall,” Senneth added. “And part of me thinks, ‘Defend yourself! Even if the royal city falls!’ It’s what Malcolm would tell her. But I’m afraid we’ll need her troops.”
“Don’t leave again,” Cammon said to her.
She gave him a sad smile. “Not to save Brassen Court itself. I am here till the city surrenders or triumphs.”
They spent part of the afternoon with Jerril and some of the shape-shifters Senneth had recruited from Carrebos. Jerril was pleased with their progress and told Senneth three times how they had sniffed out Ellynor even when she was cloaked deep in Lirren magic. “What about the others?” she asked him. “Are they trainable?”
Jerril gave her an affable smile. “Indeed, they have both ability and eagerness. If I had a year-”
“You might have three days,” she interrupted.
“They will be at your disposal whenever you need them.”
Cammon had spent some energy cloaking his own thoughts from Jerril, but that didn’t stop the older mystic from giving him a few curious looks. Jerril was sensitive enough to pick up the gist of the story, Cammon thought-and smart enough not to ask questions in front of Senneth.
“I’m not entirely sure how one deploys a mystic army,” Senneth said.
“I imagine you tell them broadly what you wish they would accomplish, and then let them go,” Jerril replied. “It’s not like you can send them into battle in formation.”
“What do you think about this?” Senneth asked him, and launched into a discussion of strategy.
Cammon stopped paying attention. He heard a door open on the far side of Ghosenhall. Or-not exactly. He felt a brush of wind as if someone had walked past him at a rapid pace. That wasn’t it, either. There was a moment of silence in a crowded room. There was a glint of metal from a weapon smoothly drawn.
There was nothing. No sound, no movement. Just a cool day on a brown field where a few green stalks of grass were pushing their way up through the hard ground.
When Cammon focused on his surroundings again, Jerril was watching him strangely. “What is it?” the other mystic asked.
Cammon shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Jerril’s question had caught Senneth’s attention. “What? Did you sense something?”
“Not exactly. At least-I can’t identify it.”
“Danger?” she asked. “A new assassin come to town? That would make sense, from Halchon’s point of view.”
Cammon spread his hands. “Usually I can sense violent intent, but-did a stranger just ride into Ghosenhall? I don’t know. Something slipped, that’s all I can tell you. Something shifted.”
“Something magical?” Jerril asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“Something anti-magical, perhaps,” Senneth said. “That’s what happens when Halchon Gisseltess touches me. I lose all my power. It’s like he cancels me out. Maybe something like that?”
“Maybe,” Cammon said uncertainly. He looked at Jerril. “Did you feel anything?”
Jerril shook his head. “You’re far stronger than I am. If you can’t read it-”
“But you have more experience than I do! Just concentrate. It seemed like-a door opened. Or closed. Or someone walked by. Somewhere in the city.”
Jerril turned his hands palm upward, then took a deep breath and let his mind expand. Cammon mentally followed that journey, tagging along beside the older mystic, peering around the corners and down the alleys that caught Jerril’s attention. There it was again-a silence that filled with echoes, a scent that dissipated too quickly to be analyzed.
“That,” Cammon whispered. “Did you catch it?”
Jerril nodded and let his mind snap back. Senneth was watching both of them with her gray eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what it is,” Jerril admitted. “I don’t even know if it’s dangerous.” He glanced at Senneth. “If I were a hare, I’d say the shadow of a hawk had passed over the ground.”
“I’m telling Tayse that something alarming has come into the city, but nobody knows what,” she said, already striding off. “We will act as if the city is full of enemies.”
Cammon was left staring at Jerril. “But it might not be.”
Jerril shrugged. “But it will be soon enough.”
WITHIN the hour, the Riders had mobilized. Two each had been assigned to stand over Baryn, Valri, and Amalie; twenty had been dispatched to roam the streets of Ghosenhall, looking for anything untoward. The rest of them roved over the palace grounds like guard dogs let loose, randomly and ceaselessly patrolling.