that you shouldn’t tell me this story?”
“Aye, she said you would not believe me, that I should seduce you and keep it from you until I had you eating from the palm of my hand first.”
“Why would she tell you that?”
“Because she was corrupted like I told you. Something bad happened to her, and I was taken away against my father’s will and handed over to Geron against my mother’s will. Now we are tasked by Loracia to do something together just like Geron said, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s right. Was Geron right? Are we seeing the whole picture?”
“If it’s from Loracia, it’s right.”
“But what if that wasn’t Loracia?”
Vesperin felt the anger stir within him, but he managed to suppress it. “I am a cleric of Loracia. You are crossing a dangerous line. I told you I have been in her presence before.”
“I don’t mean to belittle our faith. I merely have concerns. I am not ready to condemn everything yet.”
Vesperin thought for a moment. “All right, the next time we are in the presence of Loracia, we will ask her of this. I will ask her of the time at Signal Hill. There is something I can ask Loracia that an imposter would not know.”
She threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”
“I just hope she is understanding and doesn’t think it’s blasphemy when I ask her. I mean, I hope she doesn’t see my asking as a sign of wavering faith.”
“If she is our goddess, you know she will be kind and understanding. She is a force for good.”
When Fayne released him from her hug, he felt a longing to hold on to her. He suddenly realized he liked her being near. He didn’t, however, like the feeling. It was distracting. He decided if he changed the mood of the conversation, his feelings would pass. “Where is your father and sister now?” he asked.
Fayne went white as snow. “I . . . I’m not sure I should say.”
“More secrets? Do I know them or something? How can I trust you if you keep secrets?”
“Vesperin, Tatrice is my sister.”
Tatrice strapped on the last piece of her dragon armor and sheathed her dragon fang and dragon claw where she could easily get at them. The tiny Lora Daine she carried in her pocket was not powerful enough for her to travel far, so she used it to get to her armor and the horses. She made the realization that they would have to fight their way out of this predicament. She put Bren’s armor back on his horse and led both horses to the stables. No one had bothered to take care of them, which angered her. She felt lucky, however, that her armor was still on the ground where she left it. Once she stabled the horse, she pinched herself as hard as she could. She didn’t know if it would tell her if she was still under the influence of the mindwielder, but she tried it anyway. She was beginning to understand how dangerous mindwielders were. No wonder people feared users of wild magic if they ended up turning into mindwielders. Satisfied by her pinch, she took ahold of Bren’s armor and traveled back to the locked room. Bren was startled to see her suddenly pop back, but soon got over it and began putting on his armor without a word.
Tatrice turned the Lora Daine over in her hand. She concentrated on it and put her thoughts into it. Bren and I are okay. We do not need assistance. Coming to our location would be folly and dangerous for you, and we are in no danger. Please do not come to us. We are not injured. It was a trick.
“What are you doing?” Bren asked as he finished tightening a strap.
“Remember when you called Shadesilver to us when we needed help to get to Brightonhold and the Lora Daine you carried was too small to get us both there?”
“Aye, I hope you didn’t just call her here.”
“Of course I didn’t. I told her to stay away. Do you think it will work?”
“I doubt it. The senses that dragons get from it, as I understand it, are more feelings and premonitions, nothing solid and concrete. If Amadace and
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