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Authors: Moira J. Moore
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not so embarrassed that I didn’t eat as much as I could.
The whole house seemed very tense. Lila had been silent as she built the fires in our suite. I wondered if she had a clue what was hiding in the overmantel she stood before. The maids laying the food in the sitting room barely looked at each other. Did either of them use spells? Did the staff know who had the tools of casting? Would anyone tell the Guards? So far, it appeared that no one had admitted to anything yet.
Fiona, Dane and Tarce were in the room with us. Tarce was sipping coffee and staring out the window. Fiona and Dane were pushing their food around their plates without eating anything.
“Dunleavy, Shintaro,” Dane said suddenly. “After you’ve finished eating, I’ll show you the shoreline. It’s important you know how dangerous it is, and you won’t know until you see it.”
“We’ve been to waterfront areas before,” I said.
“No waterfront like this, I’d wager.”
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go with you,” said Fiona. “The Guards, having found nothing of interest in the manor, have decided to violate the privacy of all our tenants. I think it best that I go with them.”
“But there are hundreds of tenants,” said Taro.
“I know. All of my footmen had to visit every single one of them to, ah, let them know the Guards would be coming.”
“I’ll accompany you on your little jaunt, Dane,” Tarce announced.
“That bored, are you?” Dane asked wryly.
“The air in the manor has grown foul.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
We left after breakfast by a rear entrance of the house. We crossed a large expanse of dark green grass, and I was entertained by the wide berth Dane gave the dowager house. I hadn’t heard him speak of Taro’s mother, but obviously she had made an impression on him.
The ground grew rocky, and it sharply rose up into the range of hills. We weren’t to climb over it, thank the gods. I had neither the will nor the boots for that. Dane led us to a small path that pierced through the range at the base, a strangely twisted little path through the rock, doubling back on itself a half dozen times, the walls of it worn smooth and showing hundreds of layers of multicolored rock.
On the other side of the range was a different world from what we’d left. A world without grass or trees, the rocky ground stretched out before us, and then a sudden drop to the shore lining the sea. Stone cottages were built against the ridge, but they all appeared to be empty.
The sea was beautiful, gray blue in color, waves jagged and frothy. I could hear the waves moving, fresh and harsh as they crashed against rocks. Through an unfamiliar, unpleasant odor, I could smell the sea and taste it, an edge of salt in the air. Above our heads, white birds whirled in the sky and screeched.
These were the sensations I had experienced while channeling the events of Flown Raven, though not as extreme. It wasn’t normal for me to see visions or perceive tastes. Did Taro have some kind of connection to the land that caused me to experience those sensations when we channeled? Was that sort of thing possible?
“I’m taking you first to meet someone very important,” Dane said. “You have to know what she does and recognize what she does, for your own safety.” With that mysterious announcement, he headed off toward a stone structure that I was surprised had survived the earthquakes.
It was a tower, about three stories high, and beside it was an odd structure. A kind of arch with something that looked like a slab of stone somehow suspended within it. A path had been worn in the rocks to the door at the base of the tower. Dane rang a bell hanging by the door.
After a few moments, we heard footsteps, and the heavy door was opened by a beautiful young woman with thick black hair, warm brown skin and lovely brown eyes. She was small, too, no taller than I.
I looked up at Taro, waiting for his reaction to this beautiful
The whole house seemed very tense. Lila had been silent as she built the fires in our suite. I wondered if she had a clue what was hiding in the overmantel she stood before. The maids laying the food in the sitting room barely looked at each other. Did either of them use spells? Did the staff know who had the tools of casting? Would anyone tell the Guards? So far, it appeared that no one had admitted to anything yet.
Fiona, Dane and Tarce were in the room with us. Tarce was sipping coffee and staring out the window. Fiona and Dane were pushing their food around their plates without eating anything.
“Dunleavy, Shintaro,” Dane said suddenly. “After you’ve finished eating, I’ll show you the shoreline. It’s important you know how dangerous it is, and you won’t know until you see it.”
“We’ve been to waterfront areas before,” I said.
“No waterfront like this, I’d wager.”
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go with you,” said Fiona. “The Guards, having found nothing of interest in the manor, have decided to violate the privacy of all our tenants. I think it best that I go with them.”
“But there are hundreds of tenants,” said Taro.
“I know. All of my footmen had to visit every single one of them to, ah, let them know the Guards would be coming.”
“I’ll accompany you on your little jaunt, Dane,” Tarce announced.
“That bored, are you?” Dane asked wryly.
“The air in the manor has grown foul.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
We left after breakfast by a rear entrance of the house. We crossed a large expanse of dark green grass, and I was entertained by the wide berth Dane gave the dowager house. I hadn’t heard him speak of Taro’s mother, but obviously she had made an impression on him.
The ground grew rocky, and it sharply rose up into the range of hills. We weren’t to climb over it, thank the gods. I had neither the will nor the boots for that. Dane led us to a small path that pierced through the range at the base, a strangely twisted little path through the rock, doubling back on itself a half dozen times, the walls of it worn smooth and showing hundreds of layers of multicolored rock.
On the other side of the range was a different world from what we’d left. A world without grass or trees, the rocky ground stretched out before us, and then a sudden drop to the shore lining the sea. Stone cottages were built against the ridge, but they all appeared to be empty.
The sea was beautiful, gray blue in color, waves jagged and frothy. I could hear the waves moving, fresh and harsh as they crashed against rocks. Through an unfamiliar, unpleasant odor, I could smell the sea and taste it, an edge of salt in the air. Above our heads, white birds whirled in the sky and screeched.
These were the sensations I had experienced while channeling the events of Flown Raven, though not as extreme. It wasn’t normal for me to see visions or perceive tastes. Did Taro have some kind of connection to the land that caused me to experience those sensations when we channeled? Was that sort of thing possible?
“I’m taking you first to meet someone very important,” Dane said. “You have to know what she does and recognize what she does, for your own safety.” With that mysterious announcement, he headed off toward a stone structure that I was surprised had survived the earthquakes.
It was a tower, about three stories high, and beside it was an odd structure. A kind of arch with something that looked like a slab of stone somehow suspended within it. A path had been worn in the rocks to the door at the base of the tower. Dane rang a bell hanging by the door.
After a few moments, we heard footsteps, and the heavy door was opened by a beautiful young woman with thick black hair, warm brown skin and lovely brown eyes. She was small, too, no taller than I.
I looked up at Taro, waiting for his reaction to this beautiful
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