Read Online The Magic of Recluce by L. E. Modesitt - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: L. E. Modesitt
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own doors."
"As you wish, lady."
"And I'm certainly no lady, not in the way you meant."
"I didn't mean anything, other than courtesy. If you don't like simple manners ..." I let go of the black wood of the door and stepped back into the hallway toward the washrooms where my staff and pack were stored.
"Touchy, too. You should have red hair."
I ignored her comments, although I could feel the flush in my face.
"Healthy circulation, if thin-skinned."
Did the bitch needle everyone, or just those she could bully? I wished my thoughts were as quick as hers, but trying to match her would just make the situation worse.
The staff was where I left it, the lorken wood a shade ' warmer to my touch. Was that because we were in Nylan? Did it have some response of its own to magic or danger? I shook my head.
"Why the frown?" Sammel's voice was concerned. He probably always sounded concerned. He looked like his vocation was trying to do good whether anyone wanted it or not.
"Just thinking . . . wondering about all the black, whether , it meant magic."
"It probably does. The Brotherhood couldn't have shaped the harbor or the cliffs without some fantastic forces. But they : mean well, I think."
"So did Heldry the Mad."
Sammel smiled. "The Brotherhood doesn't hold mass executions."
I shrugged on my pack. "They settle for dangergeld and exile. That way the deaths are on someone else's hands."
"You are rather bitter for someone so young."
"That's easy when you're forced on a dangergeld for a reason you don't know by a group that enforces unspoken rules \ in unsaid ways."
That stopped him long enough for me to step around him and past Myrten. Tamra's back was in front of me as she passed by the table. No one was left there. Even Krystal had left several of the delicately-cut apple slices on her plate, where they were now turning brown.
I followed Tamra into the waiting room beyond.
"... That's no choice." The voice was Dorthae's, and she was facing Talryn.
Talryn smiled a smile that wasn't really a smile, since his black eyes were hard as the stone of the paved floor underfoot. "You can choose either. Your actions already made that choice necessary."
"What . . . because I wouldn't stay with a man who turned out to be an unfeeling and unthinking brute?"
"No. Because you crippled him before you left him."
I winced. While there was a hardness to Dorthae, I hadn't seen just how hard she was.' Yet she looked vulnerable standing before Talryn, even though he was no taller than she was.
Dorthae turned away, her lips tight.
Myrten and Sammel had followed me. Only Wrynn and Krystal were missing.
Dorthae glanced at me, saw my black staff and stumbled back toward Tamra, also carrying her staff. Dorthae cringed away from the redhead.
Tamra and I exchanged glances. She shrugged. After a moment, so did I.
Clearly, as I had recognized from the encounters with Shrezsan and the trader, I had some power, associated with the staff. What it was . . . that was another question. Unfortunately, everyone else thought I had some power, too, and they were just as clearly very wary of it. Wonderful-heading into a dangergeld cursed with an ability I hadn't even known I'd had, with the whole world ready to pounce on me for it. Sent for reasons I still didn't understand and which no one would explain. Just wonderful.
As I pondered, Krystal and Wrynn had appeared.
"You are all here. Good," said Talryn. "Follow me."
VIII
PRETTY MUCH IN silence we walked up a set of wide black I stone stairs. The side walls were of the same black stone. All the stone was smooth but unpolished, and it seemed to absorb light with almost no reflection. Each stone was set so tightly in place that the mortar between each was less than half a fingertip in width. That thin line of mortar was black. So clean were the steps they bore no trace of dust, although ; the light from the overhead skylights did not fall on the steps directly.
Talryn and Sammel were at
"As you wish, lady."
"And I'm certainly no lady, not in the way you meant."
"I didn't mean anything, other than courtesy. If you don't like simple manners ..." I let go of the black wood of the door and stepped back into the hallway toward the washrooms where my staff and pack were stored.
"Touchy, too. You should have red hair."
I ignored her comments, although I could feel the flush in my face.
"Healthy circulation, if thin-skinned."
Did the bitch needle everyone, or just those she could bully? I wished my thoughts were as quick as hers, but trying to match her would just make the situation worse.
The staff was where I left it, the lorken wood a shade ' warmer to my touch. Was that because we were in Nylan? Did it have some response of its own to magic or danger? I shook my head.
"Why the frown?" Sammel's voice was concerned. He probably always sounded concerned. He looked like his vocation was trying to do good whether anyone wanted it or not.
"Just thinking . . . wondering about all the black, whether , it meant magic."
"It probably does. The Brotherhood couldn't have shaped the harbor or the cliffs without some fantastic forces. But they : mean well, I think."
"So did Heldry the Mad."
Sammel smiled. "The Brotherhood doesn't hold mass executions."
I shrugged on my pack. "They settle for dangergeld and exile. That way the deaths are on someone else's hands."
"You are rather bitter for someone so young."
"That's easy when you're forced on a dangergeld for a reason you don't know by a group that enforces unspoken rules \ in unsaid ways."
That stopped him long enough for me to step around him and past Myrten. Tamra's back was in front of me as she passed by the table. No one was left there. Even Krystal had left several of the delicately-cut apple slices on her plate, where they were now turning brown.
I followed Tamra into the waiting room beyond.
"... That's no choice." The voice was Dorthae's, and she was facing Talryn.
Talryn smiled a smile that wasn't really a smile, since his black eyes were hard as the stone of the paved floor underfoot. "You can choose either. Your actions already made that choice necessary."
"What . . . because I wouldn't stay with a man who turned out to be an unfeeling and unthinking brute?"
"No. Because you crippled him before you left him."
I winced. While there was a hardness to Dorthae, I hadn't seen just how hard she was.' Yet she looked vulnerable standing before Talryn, even though he was no taller than she was.
Dorthae turned away, her lips tight.
Myrten and Sammel had followed me. Only Wrynn and Krystal were missing.
Dorthae glanced at me, saw my black staff and stumbled back toward Tamra, also carrying her staff. Dorthae cringed away from the redhead.
Tamra and I exchanged glances. She shrugged. After a moment, so did I.
Clearly, as I had recognized from the encounters with Shrezsan and the trader, I had some power, associated with the staff. What it was . . . that was another question. Unfortunately, everyone else thought I had some power, too, and they were just as clearly very wary of it. Wonderful-heading into a dangergeld cursed with an ability I hadn't even known I'd had, with the whole world ready to pounce on me for it. Sent for reasons I still didn't understand and which no one would explain. Just wonderful.
As I pondered, Krystal and Wrynn had appeared.
"You are all here. Good," said Talryn. "Follow me."
VIII
PRETTY MUCH IN silence we walked up a set of wide black I stone stairs. The side walls were of the same black stone. All the stone was smooth but unpolished, and it seemed to absorb light with almost no reflection. Each stone was set so tightly in place that the mortar between each was less than half a fingertip in width. That thin line of mortar was black. So clean were the steps they bore no trace of dust, although ; the light from the overhead skylights did not fall on the steps directly.
Talryn and Sammel were at
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