Sayings of the People When a Healer gives ye advice, 'tis best to listen; when she makes a prophecy, ye must believe.

Disa woke at daybreak and fed the fire before walking to the pond to check the fish trap and to wash her face. With luck, there'd be enough for the morning meal.

She glanced at Andalor. A most handsome man, but too polished for her taste.

A short time later, she pulled the weir woven from willah wythes from the pool and cleaned the pair of rock fish it had trapped. Then she gleaned green briarberries from the low bushes beside the pond. Back at the fire, she set the fish to cook and mashed the berries to use as a side dish.

Andalor stretched. He rose and walked to the pond. When he returned, he sat by the fire to pull on his

boots. "Why bother to fish when we have plenty of supplies?"

"And who knows when we can replenish them? Have ye seen any villages lately? Or even farms with people? Strange, for the land seems lush."

He nodded. "And where did ye learn your method of catching fish?"

"From my da."

"He seems to have been a resourceful man."

She slid a fish onto a plate and added the mashed and cooked berries. "Aye, he was. He would have

been a wealthy man, but he left his family when they would not accept my mother as his wife. She came from Healer stock and some people think them strange."

"I've heard it said they don't marry."

She nodded. "Tis true, but they are not barren. My mother and her sisters were proof of that. My mum had no talent for healing, and then she met my da."

He tasted a bite of the fish and berry sauce. "'Tis delicious. Ye will have no problem finding work as a cook. Your uncle was a fool not to use your services in his kitchen. He'd have made a fortune."

"Fancher was a greedy fool. Thank the moons I'll never see him again."

She looked away. From whence had come that knowledge, and also the knowing that preparing food for others wasn't her destiny? She finished eating and helped Andalor break camp. Then she gathered a pan of briarberries and also picked mushrooms from amidst the roots of the willah trees.

* * * The sky grew dark and the wind blew briskly. "Looks like a storm," Disa said. Andalor shook his head. "Though I can't say I like the look of the sky, I don't think it will rain. I've a bit of the weather sense like my second brother. Still, I'd like it better if we found shelter for tonight. I think I see a hut ahead."

"Probably deserted like most of the places we've seen."

"Could be, but have we a choice? I've no desire to build a fire in this wind and I've little liking for cold

food."

As they neared the hut, Disa smiled. "'Tis a Healer's garden."

"How do ye know?"

"See the small beds where medicinals are growing and the paths laid out with stones? My mum and I

visited several of these gardens, for my da sold what they produced. A Healer's garden is where they cultivate and prepare their gleanings for use." "And will they take us in?" "I've no doubt we'll be welcome." By the time they reached the door of the hut, the wind had reached gale force. Disa rapped on the door. An elderly woman with appa cheeks and a ma.s.s of short white curls answered. "Been waiting," she said.

Andalor bowed low. "Old Mother, can we spend the night?"

"Ye be well come," she said. "Ye be on a quest and what ye find will surprise ye. Tested ye will be. Ye will do the right thing though it pains ye, but in the end what ye seek will be found."

"Thank ye for your prophecy," Andalor said.

The Healer took Disa's hand. "Ye be one of the Blood but ye are more than ye seem. A choice awaits that may a friendship mar, but to fail to choose is wrong."

Disa swallowed. Since she had no friends and Andalor was no more than a traveling companion, the

prophecy made no sense. "My thanks for your words and your hospitality." The Healer nodded. "There be a shed in back for the animals." Andalor grabbed the reins. "I'll care for both." Disa carried their packs into the hut and looked around in interest. She inhaled the pungent aromas of the medicinals that hung from the rafters. On one side of the room were shelves filled with bottles and wooden boxes of various sizes. A fire burned in the fireplace and Disa noticed the wood supply was low. "I'll fetch some wood and make dinner, if ye'd like," Disa said. "I've mushrooms, briarberries and some dried appas. The minstrel has trail rations, but I know ye don't eat meat."

The Healer nodded. "So she taught ye about us. 'Tis good. If this were a Healer's House and not a garden, there would be meat for sick people have need of such. In the cold room, ye'll find eggs, milk, cheese and vegetables."

Disa reached for the basket beside the door. "I'll fetch them."

As she headed around the corner of the house, she heard Andalor's voice and stopped short. "That I do not believe," he said. "I will tell thee if she meets in secret with anyone."

"Andalor," Disa called. "When ye come inside, bring firewood with ye."

He turned and glared. She glimpsed something in his hand but could not get a close look.

"I'll be in soon," he said.

Disa shrugged. Mayhaps he heard voices like the one that had called her. At least she didn't answer hers.

In the cold room, she put eggs, a jug of milk with thick cream on top, some root vegetables and some scallions in the basket with a cone of honey. The wind was bitter, almost like winter though the season was early spring.

Andalor carried in wood until the box was full. He sat at the table and strummed his lute. Disa beat the eggs with some of the milk, added mushrooms, scallions and cheese. She sliced the roots and set both dishes on the fireplace grill. She cut the appas, added honey, briarberries and ryn meal and set them to bake.

While they ate, Andalor entertained with stories. The sound of the wind beating against the walls of the house made Disa glad they had found shelter. Andalor took the skin of tragon from his pack and added a measure to his kaf.

The Healer's eyes closed. "Save the tragon, for ye will need it. Wounds washed with tragon heal better than those that aren't."

"Mayhaps my wounds are inside," Andalor said.

"Any wounds ye have or will have may be of your own making." The Healer rose and went to her bed.

Disa cleared the table and then retired to her blanket. She fell asleep with the notes of a melancholy tune the minstrel played sounding in her dreams.

* * * Disa woke and found Andalor at the table. He cradled a mug. "Ryn porridge on the hearth. Help yourself."

"Where's the Healer?"

"Gone just after I woke, but the food was ready. The wind's down but the sky's dark as ebonwood.

The Healer said there's an inn about a day's ride ahead." He frowned. "She gave another prophecy."

"What?"

"Ye will face a test of courage and then one of loyalty. To fail one is to fail all."

"Do ye believe?"

He shrugged. "The only test I've ever faced at an inn was in knowing obscure songs." * * * By early evening, they reached the inn, a ma.s.sive sprawling building. The stable held several dozen horses, and draft animals milled about in a fenced pen. The yard was filled with wagons and carts.

"What goes on?" Andalor asked.

"Fanged apes," the stable boy said. "Ye'll have to bunk in here. Rooms are filled."

Disa moved to unload their packs. "Where?" The boy pointed to the loft. Disa looked at Andalor. "Do we stay?"

"I'm not much for night travel, and if there are fanged apes attacking, I'd rather go by day."

Disa shook her head. "Aren't they solitary creatures?"

"Not no more," the boy said. "They slaughtered a double hand of Guards and tore a merchant's caravan in shreds."

Andalor joined Disa in the loft. "What do we do now?" she asked. "Is there another way to Quato?"

"Not without returning to Pala."

"So what do we do?"

He winked. "Have no fear, squire. Let's eat. Then I'll entertain."

After they ate, Disa listened to Andalor's songs of courage and bravery. The minstrel's plan became clear. She begged a long knife from one of the merchants' armsmen. She would not be left behind.

CHAPTER 11.

From The Queen's Diary I am bonded to the Black and have come into my rightful place. I did not know the binding would take me from this time and place into an ebony world for nearly a day. While I was entranced, she escaped. How could one weak from childbirth have the strength to flee? Who were her accomplices? When I learn, they will pay. And the first will be her Chosen-my Chosen. Then wherever she is, I will find her.

The throne room was ablaze with lights. Reena paced like a caged cairn leopard. "I will not be controlled. The Black is mine. The rule is mine. Gregor and the Brotherhood want to use the Guards to rule every town and village." Where is Andalor? Days have pa.s.sed since he last reported. Has he deserted me? He was the one person I thought I could trust. He is my Chosen and a minstrel-a wanderer who has no taste for power. Was it all a lie? Her memories of the manor house faded day by day. She saw his face, heard his laughter, but all else seemed shadowy. What had they talked about and what had they done?

The wide doors opened. Gregor and his entourage of mages strode into the room. "My Queen." He bowed and the others moved like a storyteller's puppets. "Did I summon ye and is there a need for an audience?" She looked beyond him and studied his five companions. One bore a remarkable resemblance to her Chosen. Another looked like-she frowned and tried to set a name to the face.

"But my Queen, we heard ye were troubled. We have come to offer comfort and counsel."

She pressed her hand over the Jewel beneath her gown. This was her protection from the man whose presence brought anxiety and a foreboding sense of danger.

"I have no worries, and if I am troubled, 'tis because ye have failed. Where is my cousin? Where are the Jewel Holders? Why have they not been a.s.sembled to swear their allegiance to the Black?"

"The Red, Green, Orange and Violet Holders are on their way."

"What of the Yellow and the Blue?"

"The Yellow Holder has died. Even now, the mages arrive to take her Jewel."

She snorted. "No man can touch one of the Jewels. Would ye have them destroyed or the Jewel ruined?"

He tapped his foot in a steady beat on the floor. "Every precaution will be taken."

She reached for a cup of wine from the table beside the throne. "And the Blue?"

"Gone. The Holder vanished years ago. When the Holder died, your mother could not touch the gem.

So it is lost."