Disa grinned. "Do I look like I can afford them?" She strolled away. At another stall, she saw a broad-shouldered man with hair the color of hers, the first such coloring she'd seen in her travels. Curiosity pulled her toward him for a closer look.

"I need several mounts and this one won't do." he turned and stared at Disa. His eyes were amber, too. "Who are ye?" he asked.

She braced to flee. "A tavernmaid. Mayhaps we are distant kin. Are ye of Healer stock?"

He shrugged. "I know little about my parents lines." He turned back to the seller. "I need several mounts with stamina."

"There are hill ponies over there." Disa pointed to the fenced yard she'd just left.

"I doubt I can afford them," the young man said.

"They've been ill-treated. I might buy one but I don't know much about riding beasts."

He frowned. "What do ye want with a riding beast?"

"I am called."

He stared, then nodded. "Show me these ponies and mayhaps I know where ye can find what ye seek."

He touched her hand and a spark leapt between them. "Sorry." "No fault." Words formed in her thoughts. How could she say them when she owed the minstrel a life? "I am Disa."

"Brader. Show me the ponies."

She watched as he examined the s.h.a.ggy beasts and listened to him bargain with the seller. A short time later, the bargain was struck.

"My thanks," Brader said. "Would ye help me take them to where I'm staying?"

She nodded. "I've nowhere else to be." She grabbed three of the leading ropes and followed him. A sense of rightness settled over her. He was a stranger and yet she knew him.

After they left the city gates, Brader helped her mount the pony that had chosen her. He mounted another. About a kil from town, they came to a walled estate. Brader pa.s.sed the large front gate and opened one hidden by a patch of briars.

Another young man with hair bleached to silver and skin burned by the sun stepped from the stable. "The beasts I expected, but who is your friend?"

Brader slid from the saddle. "'Tis my concern, not yours."

"Is it wise to bring a stranger here?" the man asked.

"I believe it is." Brader turned to Disa. "Come with me. There is someone you need to meet."

"I do not think-" the silver-haired man said.

"I said 'tis not your concern."

The undercurrents between them made Disa uneasy. "I'll leave. I won't tell anyone ye are here."

Brader shook his head. "Come, you are called and what ye seek is here."

Her eyes widened. The other man grabbed the lead ropes from her hands. "Sorry. I'm Valmir."

She frowned and then realized he'd offered his name. "Disa."

She followed Brader into the kitchen of the villa. Two women sat at the table packing medicinals. They looked up. A wave of dizziness swept over Disa. She grabbed the back of a chair. One of the women left her seat. "Ye are well come. I have a gift for ye."

"A gift?" A dozen voices shouted in her head and made a sound like a swarm of hummers.

The other woman reached her side and slid her arm around Disa's waist. "Sister... Come with us."

The voice was like and unlike the one she'd heard in her head. "I need..."

"Come with us and ye will have all ye need." The other woman took her arm and led her into a room

where several cots stood. She turned. "Brader, we will be awhile."

"I'll see to the ponies. There are six and they've been ill-used." He touched Disa's shoulder. "Do not fear. All will be well." Warmth and comfort flowed from his touch. Once again, she wanted to name him-What? "I am Liara." The woman's blue eyes showed kindness. "Be at ease." The other woman led her to one of the cots and opened the shutters to allow the rays of the setting sun into the room. "I am Stilenta and from this day, I am your sister."

Liara placed a silk-wrapped packet in Disa's hand. She smiled. "Aye." She turned to Stilenta. "Do ye know what to do?" Stilenta nodded. "My mother drilled me in the steps of the ritual I must follow when the time comes for me to choose a successor. The rite is the same for all." Disa looked from one to the other. "What do ye mean? I don't understand." "Ye will hold the Yellow," Stilenta said. "The Yellow? Ye mean a Jewel? How? I am but a tavernmaid from Pala." Liara smiled. "Who is now in Quato. Was it happenstance that ye came here and that ye met Brader?" "I am called." Disa opened the ties of the packet. She freed the gem and stared into its depths. Alive. Yellow bright and yellow pale. An eagerness to be part of the light made her hands tremble. Stilenta knelt beside the cot. "'Twill be best if ye lay back, for the energies of the Jewel will overwhelm ye. Ye must to the Jewel be bonded and it to ye. For 'tis yours and ye are the Jewel's. Place the gem to your heart." Heat and cold combined to spread along her skin in waves. For the first time in her life, she felt complete and as though a missing piece of herself had been found.

"Now, place the Jewel to your forehead. Be sealed to your Jewel forever."

The voice sounded distant. Disa's arms felt heavy but her heart was light.

A golden glow surrounded her. She saw faces of smiling women. One resembled Brader. "Come," they

called. "Ye are well come to our sisterhood."

She plunged into the light and felt herself joined to the sun and the sister moons. Yellow tinkled as a merry melody. Yellow tasted sweet and tart. The scent and touch of Yellow flowed through her body. She soared until she brushed the burning sun and embraced the icy moons. When she looked down, Earda glowed like a many-hued gem.

"Rest now," Stilenta said. "Once ye have rested, your training will begin." * * * Disa rose and walked to the kitchen. How many days had pa.s.sed since her arrival? She had learned so much and she had reveled in the friendship of the others. Liara and Stilenta stood at the table, stowing dried foods into packs. Disa sat on the bench. "What can I do?"

Liara turned. "We have been warned and must make haste to leave. 'Tis said in the market there are those who look for us...and for ye."

"Andalor," Disa said. "How could I have forgotten him? I owe him a life."

"One ye must pay?"

Disa nodded. "I'll go to him."

Brader lifted a pack from the floor. His scowl surprised Disa. "He saved my life. I would have died without his a.s.sistance," she insisted.

Liara touched Disa's hand. "Do ye trust him?"

Disa frowned. She wasn't sure trust had a place in the bond she shared with the minstrel. "I don't know.

He swears he's the Queen's consort, but there is the life I must return." "Then ye must seek him, but do not tell him what you hold for if he is indeed the Queen's consort, he will want ye to go to her."

Disa nodded. "Ye are right."

"What if he betrays us to the Guards or the mages?" Brader asked.

"We will leave by the secret gate," Stilenta said. "I will show ye and Valmir where to wait for me. Liara can go with ye." Brader shook his head. "I'll stay. Show me this gate. If the minstrel betrays Disa, she will need a fighter at her side."

Liara nodded. "He's right. Come. Disa, take every caution for I will need ye before this is done."

Disa embraced Liara. "Ye speak true. Fare well until we meet again. How will I find ye if what we fear comes to pa.s.s?" "I will be with ye," Brader said. "I know not the route Stilenta speaks of but I know the route we must take to reach our final destination."

Disa left the estate and rode a hill pony into the town. As she hurried through the market, she heard rumors about a movement of Guards into the town. Whispers about the return of the Blue Holder abounded. Tales of the mage's search for the Queen's cousin were on many lips. What if Andalor wasn't at the inn? Should she wait for him?

She spotted the minstrel in the inn's courtyard. His horse was saddled and the one she'd ridden bore a number of packs. "Andalor, I'm glad I found ye."

"Where have ye been?"

"With friends."

"I thought ye knew no one here."

"These are newly met friends." She dismounted. "One of them helped cure my limp. They're leaving Quato and I want to go with them. But there is the life."

"Aye, there is that. I have no desire to remain here. The town crawls with Guards and mages. Where are your friends?"

"In a villa outside town."

"Is one of them a Desert Rider?"

"Aye."

"Then I will speak to them."

She wondered what the expression on his face meant. She didn't ask, but mounted and led the way out of town.

CHAPTER 19.

From The Armsmen's Guide When ye spend your time searching the shadows, ye can miss the enemy in front of ye.

Brader crossed the courtyard to Stilenta's side. "Ye should go. I will stay and we will meet ye."

She shook her head. "My Jewel will warn me if the mages are sniffing."

"Then let me go and look for Disa."

"She will come with danger on her heels."

"Do ye mean the minstrel?"

"Mayhaps, but I think not. All she has said of him makes me feel he hates the mages. While there is a life between them, she will not be free." Brader shook his head. "I do not understand that kind of bond. Armsmen would never be able to fight if such a thing held them. Mayhaps we should forget about Disa."

"Liara has need of her and what she bears."

Brader held up his hand. "Someone comes at a gallop." He opened the side gate.

Disa rode through. A man with copper-colored hair followed.

"Brader, Stilenta, this is Andalor. He will come with us, but we must hurry. There are Guards and mages on the way."

Stilenta mounted her pony and started toward the grove of oka trees. "Come. Brader, take the lead. I will be in the rear."

Brader led them along a path that twisted through the grove. He heard pounding on the ma.s.sive front gates and then a crash. The Guards must have broken down the gate, he thought. He freed his sword and noticed the minstrel did the same.

He reached the hidden pa.s.sage, dismounted and sent his pony through. Disa dismounted, as did Andalor.

Stilenta reached them. "Go," she said. "Lead the horses through. Minstrel, go with her. Once ye are through, Brader and I will follow."

"Mayhaps I should stand and lend my sword," Andalor said.

"Swords will not be needed. Now go."

CHAPTER 20.

From The Lore of the Jewels In the days of yore, the Queen's oldest daughter found the secret place of the Brotherhood. Though she was a woman, they admitted her to their stronghold. The Master Mage believed he could use her to gain control of the Jewels. But she was not one to trust anyone. Still, she worked with the mages.

Liara and Valmir returned from taking the ponies to the hidden meadow beyond the cave entrance. "Do ye think they will be all right?" he asked.