The Eighth Warden Bk. 04 Ch. 21-22

"They gifted it to the dorvasta?" Nariela said.

"We were still called vasta then. It was before the split with the nilvasta." That information had come from Ariadne rather than the visions, but this wasn't the time to go into the ancient history of the elven people. "I wanted to return it to its rightful place."

The gray-haired woman nodded. "You did the right thing. If it can grow tershaya this easily, it must be kept safe in Terrillia."

"I'll take it there when I can, but first, I've made other commitments." Shavala kept her voice firm, hoping her confidence would project itself through the tree bond. "I grew a small forest in Cordaea, but it's in the middle of a barren land. If I don't return, the trees will die."

"You must care for them, of course, but Cordaea is far away. Can you safeguard the staff?"

"I'll be careful," Shavala said. "And one more thing--I promised Ellerie di'Valla that I would grow tershaya in Terevas."

Nariela and Zhailai exchanged startled glances.

"You spoke to the queen's daughter about it?" Nariela asked. "I wish you hadn't done that. There's no point in giving tershaya to the nilvasta. We've tried, but they can't care for them without the tree bond."

"Tershaya don't require constant care as long as they're root-bonded to enough others of their kind," Shavala said. "Ellerie asked me to try. And the nilvasta still have the tree bond--it just doesn't work right anymore."

"Because they turned their backs on our ways. They left the forest and lost the bond, just like the dorvasta who live outside our borders. That's why we discourage all but the druids from going on the travels, and why we don't talk about those who've left the forest. We don't want to encourage others to do the same. The nilvasta serve as a warning to us all. They want nothing more than to regain the bond, but it's too late. There's nothing we can do for them."

That was why the dorvasta villages were kept secret?

"The nilvasta didn't lose the tree bond because they left the forest," Shavala said. "They lost it because of their human blood. Human and Chosar."

"What are you talking about?" Nariela asked. "Why would you think that? And who are the Chosar?"

"You've heard of the Ancients?"

"It's a word sometimes used to refer to the first peoples."

Shavala shook her head. "We think the Ancients were the Chosar. They lived among elves and humans, but they were separate. They died out a long time ago, but the abandoned city I told you about belonged to them."

"That doesn't explain what you said about the nilvasta bloodline. Where did you hear that?"

Shavala wasn't certain whether she should mention Ariadne, and in any case, she hadn't paid close attention to all the details. "Isn't the point of our travels to learn new things?" she asked. "I traveled to Cordaea with Ellerie di'Valla. She's a scholar and historian, and she was looking for information about the Ancients. We found it."

Before they could ask any more questions, there was a flicker, and then Leena suddenly appeared from nowhere. The rangers cursed in surprise and reached for their bows, but Shavala stepped around her and held up her hand to stop them.

"Wait, she's a friend!" she told the others, then asked Leena, "What are you doing here? It's dangerous--the dragon from the free lands has been flying overhead."

"Yes, I know," Leena said. "Hello," she said to the rest of the scouting party in careful Elven before turning back to Shavala. "The dragon's come almost as far north as Four Roads. Ellerie and Corec and the others are going after it. Corec was hoping you would help. He thought you were going to join us before now."

"I was held up here. Everyone is in Four Roads?"

"Yes, but they'll be leaving in about a week, heading down the Farm Road toward the keep where the dragon is nesting."

Four Roads was nearly two weeks of travel through rough terrain, but if Shavala tracked Corec through the warden bond, she'd be able to meet him along the way and cut several days off that time. She'd have to travel light, and she'd need clothing that would blend in with the surroundings so the dragon didn't notice her.

"Tell him I'm on my way."

#

Yassi found Kolvi down in the practice room with Sir Barat. The large chamber beneath the palace had been converted from a series of storage rooms nearly three hundred years earlier, back when elder magic had first found its way into the royal bloodline. The family now used the secret location to train their witches.

In Larso, being a mage was dangerous. If the family had been gifted with wizardry, perhaps it would have been safer to ignore it, allowing the magic to remain dormant. With elder magic, though, that wasn't possible. Elder magic always came out, and the witches had to learn enough about their abilities to keep them under control. Even Prince Rikard, who'd had little interest in magic, had practiced down here until his father was sure he wouldn't light something on fire by accident.

Rusol had spent much of his youth in this chamber, learning from the old witch woman Marten had recruited to train him, though Yassi's husband had outgrown his teacher's abilities even before he'd been chosen as a warden.

Kolvi was gesturing to one of three wooden buckets at the far end of the room. A small column of water rose up to the height of a man and then froze in place.

"Melt it," the witch told Barat. "Try to reach it from here."

The knight braced his feet and thrust his hands forward, flames billowing ten feet out. The bucket and target remained untouched, thirty feet away. "Is too far," he said in his heavy accent as he let the fire die.

Kolvi held one hand out and launched a delicate streamer of flame all the way to the target. It curled around the thin pillar of ice, melting it through the middle. The upper half of the column crashed to the floor, shattering into tiny pieces.

"You need to practice more," she said. She raised another column of ice, from the next bucket over. "This time, create the fire in the air near the ice, and sustain it with just magic alone. Don't burn the bucket."

A burning ball of flame the size of a man's head appeared at the other end of the room. Barat's outstretched arm trembled as he attempted to hold the fireball in place near the target.

Kolvi saw Yassi waiting. "Keep doing that," the elder witch said to the knight. "Once it's melted, try to freeze the water in the third bucket. You can move closer if you need to."

While he focused on his task, Kolvi came over to Yassi. "Well?" she asked. "What do you think?"

"Will he really need to learn all that now that we know the wardens didn't kill Rikard?"

Kolvi's eyes grew cold. "I didn't come here for the wardens. With enough strong elder witches, the Church won't stand a chance."

Yassi looked down, unable to meet the other woman's gaze. Not counting Merice, Kolvi was the closest thing Yassi had to a friend in the palace, but it was a very tentative friendship. Was Rusol aware of the woman's plans? His hold over the witch had always been shakier than his control of his other bondmates. Thankfully he'd never ordered Yassi to spy on the others.

"Can I speak to you alone?" she asked, drawing Kolvi farther from Barat. "I missed my bleeding last month," she whispered.

"Ahh, and you want me to check?"

"I've been tired and sick to my stomach, but I don't want to say anything until I know for sure."

Kolvi's gaze went out of focus as she laid a hand on Yassi's belly. A moment later, she spoke again. "Yes. Congratulations, I suppose."

Yassi's heart thudded in her chest. "Then I'm...?"

"You're with child."