65

No one showed any interest in leaving the field that was to become Hyam’s place of healing. The villagers and Elves brought together an impromptu feast. Shona settled down on Hyam’s other side, then refused to accept the orb when Dally offered it. As did Edlyn and Connell and Myron in turn.

Hyam explained, “There is a joining process that is required between an orb and its mistress. Give yourself time to fully understand what this means.”

Dally’s entire frame shook from the first fragmented implication. “The orb’s mistress?”

Ainya kept Hyam from needing to respond by stepping forward and gesturing to the orb. “Might I have that for a moment?”

When Hyam smiled and nodded, Dally handed it over. The Elven queen handed it to Vaytan, her aide. Dally decided there would be no better time to say, “Lady Shona, I would ask permission to offer fealty.”

To her utter astonishment, Hyam said, “I think not.”

“I agree,” Edlyn said.

“Why ever not?” Dally looked from one face to the next. “You all have.”

Connell settled down on Dally’s other side. “What they mean is, your quest is not yet clear.”

“I found the vial and brought it back,” Dally pointed out.

“The vial, the vial.” Hyam stretched out his legs. “I was lost in the darkness and the mists. Then they forced yet another dose between my lips and made me swallow. And Joelle spoke to me, calling me back.” His smile was tinted with genuine sorrow. “I suppose I should thank you.”

“You most certainly should,” Trace said. “You scamp. To even question it is to scorn your beloved’s gift.”

Dally sensed Connell’s closeness, a warmth that kindled the fires of her heart. She turned to him and found herself held by his gaze. He said softly, “May I have a word?”

She rose and followed him across the field, over to where a toolshed stood by a small pool. He stared intently at the water, as if seeking guidance or strength. “I don’t know how to say what I feel I must.”

Dally felt her heart hammer with such intensity she feared it might spring from her chest. Even so, she heard herself say calmly, “Speak the words, Connell. If you don’t, I will.”

He looked at her. “You too feel something between us?”

“Since the moment I first saw you.”

He sighed. “All this time I feared, well . . .”

“I had my fears as well,” Dally said. “You from a fine family, with a heritage that stretches back generations.”

“You with incredible gifts,” Connell replied. “And a role to play in all our futures.”

“Only if someone with more wisdom and experience will offer a guiding hand.”

Connell’s gaze burned with an uncommon flame. “Say there will be a time for us.”

“For us.” She both whispered the words and sang them. “And soon.”

They sat and stood, looking westward over the sunlit field. The shadows were lengthening now, the forest scents stronger in the hot air. Not a trace of wind touched them. Dally could still feel the flavor of Joelle’s gift upon her tongue, though it had been over a month since she tasted the elixir. For an instant she felt as though she could see the beautiful woman hovering there in the light. Dally wiped her eyes, hoping for a clearer look. But all she saw was sunlight, and then the Elven queen standing before her, smiling and holding a most remarkable staff.

“My lady.” Ainya held it out. “You may find this an easier way to carry your orb.”

The staff was as long as she was tall. Its entire polished length was inscribed with letters that looked as though they had grown into the wood. Dally accepted it, hefted it, and exclaimed, “It weighs nothing!”

“Here, watch what I do and how I speak.” Ainya chanted a brief plainsong, and the roots gripping the orb slipped back. She lifted the jewel, then settled it into position and chanted once more, regrowing the roots. “Now you try.”

As with all the other spells she had learned, Dally felt as though she did not speak the words but rather greeted them as they emerged from somewhere deep inside. All the mages stared at her in astonishment—all save Edlyn, whose smile competed with the Elven queen’s for brilliance.

Ainya said, “When you are ready, you must come and reside with my clan and learn our tongue.”

Dally quailed at the prospect of being surrounded by Elven magic and all that portended. But all she said was, “Thank you, Majesty.”

Bryna said, “First she will come as a guest of our people. We have much to discuss, this far-seeing human and I.”

Hyam said, “It is time for you to take the next step of bonding with your orb. Move away from us and speak a spell, and utter it using the orb as your focal point.”

“Here, first give me your wand,” Connell said. As she moved in close he murmured, “Do us all the great favor of aiming your force away from us, yes?”

As Dally crossed the field, alone this time, she felt as though the orb spoke with her.

Someone called out, “Is everything all right?”

She did not reply. She could not even say who had spoken. But she did not mind the interruption. In fact, their concern carried a welcome reassurance.

She was not exactly certain what was to happen or what she was to do, and then she was. It was that simple. She simply directed her unspoken question to the orb, which was far more than a vessel of power, she realized. It carried the ability to assist, to clarify, to instruct. The bonding was a process that reached in two directions. Dally now moved in keeping with her quest. She had never felt so vividly the link between her direction and who she was, this woman who had remained hidden inside the garden shed for years of lonely yearnings. Now she was alone once more, and yet it was by her own free will. Part of this chrysalis process. Growing her wings. Finding the power to lift free from the earth.

Dally shut her eyes and lifted the staff. The orb gleamed so strongly it blazed through her eyelids, illuminating the reaches where she sought to travel.

She would never again need to find an Elven portal to touch the power required to far-see. Nor would she ever again fear the action. Of that she was utterly certain.

Everything was changed now. She knew that as she accepted the orb’s gift of Elven forces and Ashanta far-seeing. Dally allowed herself to be swept away.

She had no idea how long she stood there. Only that when she returned, the forest shadows stretched across the oval field. She walked back to where the company waited, her way illuminated by the orb’s glow. She stood there, studying the myriad faces who had come to mean so much to her.

Finally she said to Edlyn, “I know the answer to the question you continue to ponder.”

Edlyn smiled so tightly her eyes filmed over. “Speak then, my dear.”

“You want to know why the enemy came to Three Valleys.”

“It could not be for this orb,” Edlyn said. “Otherwise he would already have it in his possession.”

“And yet he hunted such an orb,” Dally said. “Whose force was so strong he remained blinded by it. Unable to realize that yet another was here. Within his grasp.”

Connell said, “There is another orb in the Three Valleys?”

“No,” Dally replied.

Hyam smiled at her then. It was more than mere approval. He looked at her as . . .

An ally.

Dally said, “There are three. One in the valley’s heart. And two more together. Forged into one mightier than all the others. Where the five currents of power flow . . .”

Bryna exclaimed, “By our settlement?”

“Just outside your boundary stones, beneath the headlands.” Dally turned to Shona. “Where you will build your palace.”