Read Online Caught in Crystal: A Lyra Novel by Patricia Collins Wrede - Free Book Online Page A

she was clearly unimpressed by Islorran’s fat, city-bred secretary. “What is it?” she said in a bored tone.
    “Tell me, if you please, why it is you have come to see Mistress Kayl today.”
    Bryn glanced at Kayl in surprise. Kayl shrugged. “Don’t ask me what he’s hunting for.”
    “I came to fix one of the benches,” Bryn said, looking back at Utrilo. “If you’re that interested, you can watch me work. It’ll be a change; usually it’s only the children who enjoy watching a carpenter.”
    “A bench?” Utrilo said in an unpleasantly oily tone. “Not, not to visit a new arrival at the inn?”
    Bryn studied him. The short fur covering her face made it unreadable. “I think you’ve been standing too long in the sun,” she said at last. “I understand you humans have to be careful about such things. Why should I want to visit one of Kayl’s guests?”
    “Ah! But if the guest were a Shee?” Utrilo said. “What have you to say to that?”
    “I say you haven’t just been standing in the sun, you’ve been chewing efron leaves as well. There haven’t been Shee in Copeham in years.”
    “Prefect Islorran is not unskilled in magic,” Utrilo said. Something in his tone made Kayl look at him sharply. “Not at all unskilled. And he detected someone’s arrival yesterday, a sorcerer of great power. And—”
    “You mean a sorceress of great power,” said Corrana from the doorway of the inn.
    Kayl turned, and felt the blood drain from her face. Corrana stood regally on the step of the inn, clad in the silver robe of an Elder Sister of the Sisterhood of Stars. The heavy folds hung straight from her shoulders, leaving her arms bare. The cloth rippled over the silver-twined linen belt, hiding all but the dangling ends, and fell in long folds to her ankles. Her black hair was bound back by a net of silver set with diamonds. On her left shoulder the star-shaped badge of the Sisterhood shimmered and gleamed in the sunlight. And the years rolled backward in Kayl’s mind.
    She was a frightened six-year-old again, one of a handful of Thar left behind when the raid on the village went so suddenly wrong. Her hands worried at the coarse, prickly rope that bound them while the villagers debated angrily what to do with her. Their accent was barely intelligible to her; the sense of their conversation kept slipping away as she lost her concentration in twisting at the rope.
    Suddenly the harsh voices fell silent. Kayl looked up. A woman had come out of one of the houses and started toward the knot of angry people in front of Kayl. She wore a garment of shimmering silver that glittered and gleamed in the sunlight, surrounding her with a corona of light. Kayl gaped at her, full of wonder and fear. Even the Thar had heard of the Silver Sisters, the strange sorceresses who wore the color of magic.
    The woman frowned at the villagers and said something too rapidly for Kayl to follow. Then she looked down at Kayl. “I am Dalessi, of the Sisterhood of Stars. Would you come with me, child, and be raised by my sisters and me?”
    The threats of the villagers were forgotten. Kayl tried to speak and found she could only nod.
    The silver-clothed woman smiled like the mother Kayl had never known, and reached down to untie her hands.
    Utrilo cleared his throat uncertainly, and the memory vanished. It left behind a bittersweet tang and a feeling of precariousness. Kayl took a deep breath and forced her mind back to the present. She would have to deal with her private demons later; there was no time now.
    “I, um,” Utrilo said, and stopped. His eyes were fixed on Corrana. For an instant, Kayl thought she saw hatred in his expression; then his face settled into an almost comical dismay. Kayl could understand his reaction. The Silver Sisters were powerful, as well as respected, even in Mindaria. Utrilo must know that Islorran would have his hands if he antagonized one of the Sisters. He rocked backward slightly, and his sandals made