Nevertheless, it was a long time before she was willing to open her mind to the blade again, and to do so required more courage than she had ever mustered up before.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," the sword said, peevishly, the moment she reestablished contact.
"What?" she replied, startled.
"Close me out like that. I thought I made it clear; I can only see through your eyes, hear through your ears. When you close me out, I'm deaf and blind."
"oh."' She shivered with the recollection of that shared moment of pain, disorientation-and then, nothing. What would it be like for Need, in those times when she was not in contact with her wielder?
Best not to think about it. "Can you always do that?" she asked instead. "As long as you aren't closed out, I mean." Skif showed some signs of coming out of his stunned state. He shook his head, and looked at her, with a bit more sense in his expression, as if he had begun to follow the conversation.
"Once I soul-bond, the way I did with Vena, and most of my other wielders, yes. Unless you deliberately close me out, the way you just did. I had forgotten that there were disadvantages to bonding to someone with Mindspeech." Need seemed a little disgruntled. "You know how to shield yourselves, and unless you choose to keep me within those shields with you, that closes me out." Given some of what Kero had told her about her own struggles with the sword, Elspeth was a little less inclined to be sympathetic than she might ordinarily have been. Need had tried, not once, but repeatedly, to get the upper hand and command the Captain's movements when she was young. And she had taken over Kero's grandmother's life from time to time, forcing her into situations that had often threatened not only her life, but the lives of those around her. Granted, it had always been in a good cause, but-But Kero-and Kethry-had occasionally found themselves fighting against women, women or things in a woman's shape. Creatures who were frequently the equal in evil of any man. And when that happened, Need had not only not aided her wielder-she had often fought her wielder.
More than once, both women had found themselves in acute danger, with Need actually helping the enemy.
Given that, well-it was harder to be in complete sympathy with the sword.
Poor Kero, Elspeth thought. I'm beginning to understand what it was she found herself up against, here...
And that made something occur to her. "Wait a minute-Kero had Mindspeech Why didn't you talk to her before this?"
"I was asleep." the sword admitted sheepishly. "there was a time when all I could bond to were fighters, with no special abilities whatsoever. During that rather dry spell, there was a long period between partners. I am not certain what happened; I didn't get a chance to bond properly, because she didn't use me for long. Perhaps my wielder put me away, perhaps she sold me--or she might even have lost me. I don't know. But my bond faded and weakened, and I slept, and my wielders came to me only as dreams."
"What woke you?" Skif asked. He sounded back to his old curious self.
"I think, perhaps, it was the one before you. Kerowyn, you said? She began to speak to me, if crudely. But because I had been asleep for so very long, I was long in waking. Then, as I gradually began to realize what was going on and came to full wakefulness, she brought me to your home." Need fell silent, and all of them-Elspeth Felt Gwena back with her again-waited for her to speak. Gwena finally got tired of waiting.
"Well?" she snapped. "what then?" Elspeth clearly felt the sword react with surprise. what then? I stayed quiet, of course! The protections about your land are formidable, horse. Someone has changed the nature of the vrondi there. they-"
"The what?" Elspeth asked, puzzled by the strange reference.
"The vrondi, child," Need responded, impatiently. "You know what they are! Even though you have no mages within your border, you use the vrondi constantly, to detect the truth!" Unbidden, the memories of first learning the Truth-Spell sprang into her mind.
"Think of a cloud with eyes," said Herald Teren. "think of the spell and concentrate on a cloud with eyes." She must have spoken it aloud, for the sword responded. "Exactly,..
Need replied with impatience. "Clouds with eyes. those are vrondi. Did you think they were only creatures of imagination?" Since that was precisely what she had thought, she prudently kept that answer to herself.
:Someone, somehow, has changed the nature of the vrondi, and they are not the same in your land,: the blade said peevishly :they look now, they look for mage-energies. when they see them, they gather about the mage, and watch, and watch, and they do not stop watching unless they see that the mage is also a Herald, and has one of your talking horses with him.: If a sword could have produced a snort, this one would have. :So I kept silent. What else was I to do? I did not wish to call attention to myself. that was when I drifted back to sleep again.:
:Not as deeply, I trust,: Gwena responded, dryly.
:Well, no. And I waited, not only to be able to leave your land, but to be passed to the one I had sensed-you. Not only a fighter, but one with Mage-Talent as well, and Mindspeech.:
"Then I took you out-"
:And I woke. just as well, I think. If you will forgive me, child-you need me.: Elspeth groaned inwardly, though not at the pun. The last thing she had any use for was yet another creature with an idea of what she "should" be doing.
Oh. gods, she thought. just what I wanted. Another guardian. Someone else with a Quest.
That was not the end of her troubles, as she soon learned.
Both she and Skif were exhausted, but Skif seemed a little more dazed than she. Possibly it was simply a matter of sex; Need had shown herself to be a little less than friendly to males, and Elspeth had no doubt that the sword had not made mental contact easy on him.
Skif lay down on the bed, his face a little dazed. Elspeth, though she was tired, also felt as if she needed to get on with her plans quickly, before Need could complicate matters.
It was possible, of course, that Need could prove to be the magic-teacher she so eagerly sought. Possible-but a last resort, to be considered only when she had exhausted all others. Including seeking the Adept in Lythecare. She wasn't certain of Need's powers, and she wasn't certain if the blade was entirely to be trusted. If she would run roughshod over Skif, what would she do to handicap other Valdemaran males?
Would she actually sabotage their training? Elspeth couldn't be sure, so she wasn't going to take the chance.
When the sword had been put in her sheath, with a promise that Elspeth would not again block Need out of her mind without ample warning and cause, she went out for a breath of air, and to begin to explore the tent city. As she had been expecting, there was a logical pattern to the "streets" of Kata'shin'a'in. The farthest tents, those all the way downwind, belonged to the beast sellers. Near to them were those who sold the things one would need for a beast, everything from simple leads and halters for sheep and collars for dogs, to the elaborate tack for parade horses.
Then came leather workers in general, then the makers of glass, metal and stonework.
Then textile merchants, and finally, nearest the core city, sellers of food and other consumables.