"But it was your idea to use pure-tones in dissonance," she said immediately." I had just thought of using volume, or maybe make it sound like the cave was falling in." He allowed himself to feel pleased about that part of it. "Well, I guess that I'm going to have to admit that you are right about trying new things even in magic. just because they aren't the way we've always done something, that doesn't mean new ideas aren't going to work.
Change comes to the Vales; quite a concept." She laughed heartily. "I thought I'd never hear you say that! But I have to make a confession to you, though. I have been pushing you, just because you were being such a-mud-turtle about things. Not wanting to try anything new. But-well, now I know that there's good reasons why some things aren't done in the Vales and in this one in particular.
Hydona's been explaining things to me..
Her voice trailed off, and he thought she was finished, until she spoke up again. "You know, Hydona reminds me a great deal of Talia." that old friend of hers. The one that's some kind of aide to her mother, and not the one that's the weapons teacher.
"In what way?" he asked.
She waved steam away from her face. "She made me give her a promise back when I was a child-that I would never simply dismiss anything she told me just because I didn't want to hear it, or that I was angry at her or anything else. That I would always go away and think about it for a day. Then if I couldn't agree with any of it, I had the right to be angry, but if I could see that she was right in at least some of what she'd said, I would have to come back to her and we'd talk about it as calmly as we could." Well, if that isn't an opening chance to talk about her attitude" I know we don't know one another as well as you and Talia do," he said tentatively, "but could you grant me that same promise as a wingsib?
"oh, dear," she said, her voice full of ironic chagrin. "Been a bitch, have I?
He wanted to laugh, and decided against it. Still, he smiled. "Not exactly a bitch. But your attitude hasn't been helping me teach you.
That was one reason why, when the gryphons volunteered to help, I agreed." ' Attitude?" she asked; her voice was carefully controlled to the point of being expressionless. Not a good sign.
"Attitude," he repeated, getting ready for an outburst. "You're very self-important, Elspeth. Very aware of your own importance, and making sure everyone else is aware of it, too. Take what you just said, about being a bitch. You laughed about it; deep down, you thought it was funny. You think you are so important it doesn't matter if you're offending those around you. You just make some
perfunctory apology, smile and laugh, and that's that. But nothing has really changed." She was quite silent over there in the steam~ but he wondered if he'd just felt the temperature of the water rise by a bit. That silence was not a good sign, either.
"The truth is, Elspeth, right now you're an enormously talented liability." She wasn't going to like that, one bit. "I never heard of your land, outside of something vague from the old histories. You could be a bondslave from Valdemar, and we would be treating you the same as we are now. Your title doesn't matter, your country doesn't matter, and your people don't matter. Not to us." Little waves lapped against him as she shifted, but she remained silent.
" What does matter is that you did help us; for that, we made you a Wingsib. Because we made you a Wingsister) you became entitled to training. Not because of a crown, and not because of a title. Not even because you asked us. Because you are part of the Clan. And what's more, the only ones willing to train you were myself and the gryphons.
Everyone else has more important matters to attend to."
That wasn't precisely the truth, but it was close enough that it might shake her up a bit.
"So." No doubt about it, she was angry." I don't matter, is that it?"
"No, that's not it. You matter; your title doesn't." He hoped she could see the difference. "So you might as well stop walking around as if there was a crown on your head. Kings don't mean much, out here.
Anyone can call himself a king. Having the power to enforce authority that's something else again. Until you have that, you'd best pay a little closer attention to the way you treat those around you because we are not impressed."
"oh, really?" He sensed an angry retort building.
But then, she said nothing. Nothing at all. He tensed, waiting for an outburst that never came. He wondered what she was thinking.
Finally she yawned and stretched, water dribbling from her arms.
"I'm tired," she said, yawning again. "Too tired to think or react sensibly. I'll sleep on what you just said."
"Please do, and carefully, Elspeth. More could depend on it than amiable learning conditions." He looked down and sighed. "I do like you, and would prefer not to spend my time with you deciphering what you really mean under the royal posturing." She rose, surprising him, and hoisted herself out of the pool, wrapping a towel around her wet hair, then bundling one of the thick, heavy robes around herself. She turned and looked down at him.
"You've said quite a bit," she told him quietly. "And I'm not sure what to think. Except that I'm certain you weren't being malicious. So good night, Darkwind. If there's anything to say, I'll say it tomorrow." She gathered her dignity about her like the robe, and walked off into the darkness, leaving him alone.
*Chapter Ten - The Heart-stone
mm~
Twice Darkwind tried to wake up; twice he turned over to climb out of bed. Twice he closed his eyes again, and fell right back to sleep. And since no one came to fetch him, and there was hardly ever any noise around Starblade's ekele, he slept until well past midmorning unaware of how long he'd been dreaming.
When he finally awakened and stayed awake, he lay quietly for a moment, feeling confused and a bit disoriented. The light shouldn't have been coming in at that angle...Then it finally occurred to him why it was doing so.
I haven't overslept like this in I can't think how long.
Feeling very much as if he'd done something overly self-indulgent, he snatched his newly-cleaned clothing from a shelf and hastily donned it.
There was no one in the ekele except Vree, who was still dozing. He vaulted the stairs to the ground and hurried down to Elspeth's ekele only to find her gone.
He was both embarrassed and annoyed. Annoyed that she had left Without him; embarrassed because she'd needed to. She had at least left a note.
It looked like gibberish, until he realized that she had apparently spelled things the way they sounded to her.
Takt tu Starblaad n Winrlit sins we r not owt. Taa sed tu werk on bordr majik wit grifons. We r al waading fer u wen u waak up.
It took him a moment to puzzle out that she had checked with Starblade and Winterlight about what she and he should do since they weren't on patrol. He surmised that they had both asked her to work on border protections under the gryphons' tutelage. All three of them were expecting Darkwind whenever he got there. She hadn't even told him where they were working. They could be anywhere.
Once again, as with everything Elspeth did, he had mixed feelings.