Dragon Prince 01 - Dragon Prince (19 page)

“It won’t,” she promised but did not think it wise to tell him just yet that it would be because Sioned was to teach her the uses of her gifts.

The Sunrunner arrived within moments of the summons, as if she had been waiting for it—or fearing it. She wore the same gray gown of the previous night, though the veil was gone; by the sand clinging to the material below the knees and the harsh circles beneath her eyes, Tobin knew she had not slept and probably had not even lain down on her bed. Sioned bowed deeply, sat down in a chair near the bed when invited to, but would not look at either of them.

“There’s nothing to forgive,” Tobin began. “It was an accident, if I understand correctly what happened.”

“I wish somebody’d explain it to
me
,” Chay muttered.

Sioned stared at her tightly laced fingers. “Some days ago Lady Andrade communicated with me on the sunlight back at Goddess Keep, my lord. Princess Tobin was part of that sunrunning, and I learned her highness’ colors.”

“My wife is not a
faradhi
,” Chay said.

Tobin shrugged. “Do you remember the only time you ever took me sailing? I was sick the instant I stepped into the skiff.”

“That was because you were pregnant and we didn’t know it yet,” he replied stubbornly.

“No, love,” she said gently. “That wasn’t the reason.”

He glared at her, then at Sioned’s bowed head. “All right,” he said at length. “Tell me what happened.”

“I’m unfit to wear my rings,” Sioned murmured. “The prince was right.”

“It was
not
your fault, and my brother is a fool,” Tobin said. “And Andrade should have known I’d be caught up in it.”

“Not even she knows everything,” Chay observed.

“But she’s always known I have the gifts.” Tobin watched his eyes for a moment, then turned to Sioned again. “It was indescribable, Sioned. I’ve never seen or felt such beauty in my life.”

“You sensed what we were doing and wanted to be part of it, your highness. But you were never trained. Because we’d touched each other before, you recognized my colors and I yours. It’s very hard to explain, my lord,” she went on, finally looking at Chay. “Think of it like a Fironese crystal window, with sunlight and moonlight shining through it. Every person is made of a unique pattern of colors that
faradh’im
can touch. I know it sounds odd—like being able to touch a scent.
Faradh’im
learn their own colors very early, and keep the patterns in their minds so they can return to their own light.”

“And because you and Andrade knew Tobin’s colors, you could bring her back. Otherwise, we would have lost her.”

“It shouldn’t have happened, my lord. I’m sorry.” She paused, twisting her hands together in her lap. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“It was beautiful,” Tobin said wistfully. “So much light, threading all through itself like a great tapestry of jewels.”

“And the shadows they cast,” Sioned added quietly. “We’re all made up of shadows, too.”

Chay shook his head. “I’m not sure I understand it, but. . . .” He met Tobin’s gaze and she glanced to the door. “I don’t want any more apologies from you, my lady,” he told Sioned as he got to his feet. “It happened, and it’s over. And now I think I’ll go check on the boys.” He bent over to kiss Tobin, and left.

Tobin sat up straighter in bed, wishing Sioned would look at her. “Subtle, isn’t he?” she said by way of easing the tension.

The Sunrunner finally met her gaze, a little smile teasing one corner of her mouth. Tobin took a quick survey of her features, seeing passion and stubbornness, intelligence and pride. Rohan just might have met his match as well as his mate, she told herself whimsically.

“I’ll have to learn some things about being
faradhi.
Will you teach me, Sioned?”

“If Lady Andrade says I may—”

“I think she will. She never lets anyone or anything of potential use get away from her. I know my aunt very well. I want to ask you about another thing that happened last night. I sensed someone calling out, someone who wasn’t a part of the group here.”

The Sunrunner frowned. “Calling out how?”

She thought for a moment. “It was terrible to be torn away from the weaving,” she said slowly. “He seemed to understand that. There was such despair in his voice.”

“His?”

“I don’t know how I could tell, but I’m almost positive it was a man.”

Sioned rose and walked over to the windows that overlooked the fountain down below in the gardens. “You’re more gifted than Lady Andrade suspects. It’s not easy to tell sex from a person’s colors. Which did you sense?”

“Sapphire, mostly—and something that felt like a black diamond, if such a thing can exist. Why?”

“You think in gem tints,” Sioned commented, turning to face her. “That’s a very ancient way of identifying
faradh’im.
Color patterns stay the same, but the shadings can change sometimes. Urival has a theory that when paler colors grow dark, like this black diamond you sensed, then something has happened to alter a Sunrunner’s personality. Sometimes it’s a reflection of mood.”

“Do you know who this man might be?”

“No, your highness. But I’ll tell Urival about it, if you like.”

“It was probably just an echo of my own loss. It really
was
an incredible experience. One I’d like to repeat, after you’ve taught me a few things. Now, before Chay gets back, and speaking as woman to woman—what do you think of my brother?”

The unexpected query brought a crimson flush to Sioned’s cheeks. “You know the colors of my thoughts, your highness,” she said with admirable control. “You should know that, too.”

“I’m afraid you found out more about me than I did about you. You’re sapphires and emeralds and something else besides, but that’s not what I’m interested in right now. What do you think of Rohan?”

Her spine stiffened and her green eyes shifted to the open windows again. Before Tobin could think up a way to put the girl at ease and coax the information out of her—and had she just accused Chay of being unsubtle?—the door burst open and her sons ran into the bedchamber. She pulled them close for a hug, and when she had settled them beside her on the bed, she saw that Sioned had slipped silently out of the room.

L
ady Andrade lingered at Stronghold long past the date when she had intended to return to Goddess Keep. Some of her reasons were personal, others political. Her duty to her bereaved sister demanded her prolonged stay, and keeping Milar from succumbing to her grief became her chief occupation. She wanted to lend the weight of her presence to the assembly of Rohan’s vassals when they arrived for the Hatching Hunt—and, not incidentally, amuse herself by watching him deal with them. She allowed it to be hinted, rumored, and then reported as fact that she would be honoring the
Rialla
this year by attending, a piece of news sure to irritate Roelstra no end and have the other princes on their best behavior. But personal and political aims were combined in her intention not to go home until Rohan and Sioned were firmly married. This had been her goal for years now, and she would see it through. Besides, Sioned’s white silences and withdrawal from the daily life of the castle worried her.

Rohan was far too busy to worry about Sioned. This was just as well; Sioned worried enough for both of them. The near disaster of the moonrunning had shaken her badly. She had lost confidence in her abilities as a
faradhi
, and if she was to be of any use to Rohan in that capacity she would have to regain her faith in her own powers. To this end she asked his permission to study in Stronghold’s small but impressive library. The vast majority of the books had been collected by the young prince himself, and the breadth of his interests astounded Sioned. History, geography, agriculture, geology, metallurgy, botany, animal husbandry—he owned at least three and often a dozen volumes concerning each, and on many other subjects besides. Sioned spent a long time going through the collection, gaining a feel for the tenor of his mind. But after satisfying herself that he had more formal education than any prince had ever had before him, she ignored the books and used the library instead as a private study. Seated with Urival at Rohan’s long fruitwood desk, she relentlessly questioned, practiced, and reviewed with the older Sunrunner those things she had learned at Goddess Keep. Apart from his position as Andrade’s chief steward, he was a teacher of note and had more than earned his nine rings. He understood her need. He took Sioned through the most basic lessons, guiding her, refining her technique, showing her subtle variations that most
faradh’im
were not taught until they wore at least seven rings.

She called Fire, lighting candle after candle until the study was ablaze, then snuffed the wicks out with a single thought. She wove her own complex pattern of colors into the sunlight streaming through the open windows, called Air to cool the room during hot afternoons. She reviewed everything taught her over several years of training until she had once again reached the third ring, the level of apprentice Sunrunner. But the next step, a Fire-conjure, proved difficult. The only vision she could produce in the candleflame was Rohan’s face. Urival made no comment on her choice of subject that was not really a choice, and urged her on to the next level.

She rode the sunlight as far as her childhood home of River Run and returned with perfect control. The same night she wove the thin moonlight into a path leading as far as Goddess Keep, and when she came back she found Urival looking at her with a sour smile.

“I don’t know what you’re so worried about,” he grumbled. “How many times do I have to tell you that you weren’t to blame for what happened to Princess Tobin? Everybody knows that except you.”

“I have to be sure of myself,” she replied stubbornly. “I have to know exactly what I’m doing.”

He leaned back in his chair, light from a single candle flickering over his craggy face with its large, beautiful, golden-brown eyes. “Why don’t you stay on at Goddess Keep if Sunrunner’s rings are what you truly want? You’ve always been mind-hungry, Sioned, ever since you first came to us. What are you after?”

“If I decide to marry Rohan, I won’t bring him land or gold or anything else a prince usually marries for. His vassals will be unhappy about that. I have to show them I’m worth their trust and their loyalty. And if it happens that I don’t marry him, then I’ll have to know how to practice my craft at another court.” She shrugged. “I don’t belong at Goddess Keep anymore, Urival.”

“So what you’re really after is a seventh ring, and an eighth.”

“Yes. Will you teach me?”

He spread his hands flat on the table. All but his left ring-finger wore gold or silver, most of the circles set with tiny gemstones.

“You want dangerous things. Tell me why—and no more stories about marriage, either. You may be able to fool Cami and Ostvel, and perhaps even Andrade, with this nonsense about not being sure. But not me.”

Sioned took a long time about replying. “When I first came to Goddess Keep, all that mattered was that I wasn’t thought of as a freak, or fey, or an outsider in what should have been my own home. My brother’s wife made me feel that way, and her servants followed her example. I don’t blame her for thinking as she did, Urival. To her, I
was
strange. And through her I was sent where I belonged. Where I could learn. Once I found out what I could become if I worked hard enough, the thought of
not
learning all I could hurt more than the lessons ever could.”

“So you want your rings for yourself alone?”

“Not completely. For myself, and for Rohan. It’s not just that I have to make up for my lack of lands and wealth. I have to protect him, and all the Desert. I owe it to his people if he takes me to wife.”

Urival said nothing for some moments. Then, quietly, he told her, “I will teach you nothing more.”

Sioned jumped up from her chair and cried out, “But why? What have I done wrong?”

“You want your rings for the wrong reasons. Had you considered that a
faradhi
who is also a princess is another kind of freak, Sioned? Do you think more rings will give you power enough to ignore those who, like your brother’s wife, will think you strange—even dangerous? Peace between the princedoms depends on the balance of power between rulers. The
faradh’im
thread that web of power together, hold it steady.”

“Andrade’s web!” she said furiously. “Andrade, who ordered me to leave Goddess Keep and be Rohan’s wife!”

“Andrade,” he agreed calmly, “whose reasons are many and perhaps not the same as yours.”

“Then what does she want? Explain it to me!”

He got to his feet. There was pity in his eyes but his voice was cold as he said, “Do not order me, Sunrunner. You are not a ruling princess yet.”

She watched him go, rigid with fury. What did they want from her? Rohan had commanded her to play a role that hurt her; his cruel remark about her training could still make her flinch, for it implied a lack of trust in the only advantage she could bring him as his wife. Andrade was set on the marriage for reasons she did not trust Sioned to know. Urival refused to teach her things he did not trust her to use wisely. None of them believed in her except insofar as she could be useful to them.

She ran down the hallways to Urival’s chamber and demanded to be let in. Urival sat by the windows, gazing at her with quiet compassion. All her anger drained away, and she whispered his name, humiliated when her voice trembled with threatening tears.

“Ah, Sioned,” he murmured, and held open his arms to her. She knelt beside him and buried her face against his knee, shaking. Urival smoothed her hair, saying nothing until she was calm again and lifted her face to his. “Do you understand now? Do you see how difficult it will be for you?”

“I—I see Andrade on one side, and the
faradhi
traditions of the past. And Rohan is on the other, with my future and my heart. But if she doesn’t want me to use my gifts on his behalf, why did she command me to come here and be his wife? I don’t understand any of this, Urival! Help me!”