The Jewels Of Earda Part 21

He stepped back. "I only want what's best for your rule. Now, speaking of control, have ye located the renegade Yellow Holder?"

And the Blue, she thought. She hadn't informed the mage that the Blue Holder had been found and rode with her cousin. "What good will knowing where she is do me? Unless she swears to me, I cannot use her."

He arched a brow. "But, ye can learn how close your sister is to the White."

"She is not my sister."

His smile chilled her. "I'd forgotten ye refuse to acknowledge the relations.h.i.+p."

"See that ye remember. Since I cannot touch the White and I cannot destroy it until my cousin holds,

when she comes does not matter. I am prepared." "About the other Holders," Gregor said. "Will they freely cede their Jewels to your control?" "I have no doubts and they have no choice. They are sworn." "Even the Orange? Phila is ambitious. She believes she can hold what ye do." And ye are not as greedy for power as she is, Reena thought. "I'm aware of her desires but as ye know, I can control her."

He moved closer to the table and touched her hands with his long fingers. He stroked slowly and

sensuously. "I only wish to serve my dearest Queen. If ye would join with me, ye would have great pleasure and we would never be defeated."

His low and mesmerizing voice drew her to him. She felt her body respond with an urgency to yield to

his demands. Then Andalor's face flashed in her thoughts. "Ye are not my Chosen. As long as he lives, there can be no other."

"Mayhaps he does not live."

She rose. "What have ye planned? What do ye know? If ye harm him..."

"Why worry about me harming him? He travels with your enemies. Do ye think they will let him live?"

She strode to the tent opening. "He is alive. He sent a message with a Guard. My cousin crossed the Great Desert to reach the Hills. He went with them."

"Much can happen on the desert. There are sandstorms and fouled waterholes. There are Desert Riders

who are ever suspicious of those they do not know."

She closed her eyes and thought of Andalor. The face that flashed into her thoughts was gaunt, with skin burned by the sun. "He lives. I have seen him."

"And he has changed." The mage laughed. "If your aunt's Chosen could be fooled by a face like his

beloved's, do ye think the minstrel can resist your sister? How do ye know he doesn't share her bed?"

"Get out of my sight. Do not name the usurper as my sister again. I will not heed ye and if ye don't cease your trouble-making, ye will feel the power of the Black." She stood at the tent opening and watched until Gregor entered the one he shared with the other mages.

I should have rid myself of the Brotherhood before I left Pala. 'Tis too late-but soon, very soon- She sent for her horse. The sun had set and First Moon had risen. She rode across the plain toward the cliffs. The thoughts Gregor had planted took root. What if Andalor had succ.u.mbed to the spell of her sister? Nay, the woman was but a cousin. A sister would be harder to destroy.

As she rode along the palisade, she noticed several trails. In the morning, she'd send Guards to explore them. She pressed her hands against the rock face. The Hills screamed and the scream followed her to her tent.

CHAPTER 32.

From the Songs of Earda Life stretches long. Life holds no joy. Nights are endless. Each day an eternity. The sun is dim. The moons fade. A Chosen with no Holder Lives death in life.

Andalor staggered on. Disa's voice rang in his thoughts. "Don't do this. Don't do this." The Hills screamed the words until he was sure he would never hear again.

He had to find Reena. He had to make sure she was safe from the Brotherhood. And he had to beg mercy for those who had been his traveling companions. They were not evil, only misguided.

Foot after foot, he trudged. His skin felt as though it had been scalded. He crawled across sand and rocks. And all the while, the voices in the winds grew in intensity until he added his screams to those of the Hills. He stumbled and tumbled forward. Icy water engulfed him. His skin absorbed the moisture. He opened his mouth and allowed the fluid to slide between his lips.

He woke and found himself laying half in and half out of a narrow streambed. How long had he slept? Was Nalor near?

Though his body cried for rest, he dragged himself from the water. Rivulets poured from the desert robe and from his pack. He pulled off the robe and wrung the cloth. Then he opened his pack, ate the remaining trail rations and washed them down with gulps of water. He took the figurines of the lyrcat and the flutter and tucked them in the pockets of his breeches. Then he donned the damp robe. As he strode into the Hills, he pulled berries from bushes and ate them.

The sun set and he continued by the light of the moons. The sound of the Hills vibrated through his body and he ran to escape the cries of Earda's death.

He tumbled over the edge of the cliff and slid down the slope. Bushes broke his fall.

Silence, blessed silence. He lay on the ground and stared at the moons. He touched the stone statues in his pockets. Undamaged. Reena will like them. He struggled to his feet and though his body ached, he lumbered toward the black tents and the fires that burned on the plain.

"Who have we here?"

Andalor straightened. A pair of Guards grasped his arms. "Andalor, minstrel and Chosen of the Queen."

One of the men laughed. "The mage is her Chosen."

The other Guard shook his head. "Timir, remember me." He glared at the first Guard.

"I know him," Timir said. "Met him near the Great Desert. He gave me a message for the Queen. Earned

me my place in her special hand."

"Then we'd better take him to her."

"First he needs to be cleaned up. We wouldn't want her to think we set upon him. Her temper grows

stronger with each day. I've no wish to face punishment." Reena-a temper? She was sweet and kind. She'd never be cruel. And yet-He pushed away thoughts of the times she'd shown her anger when they'd spoken through the now-shattered crystal. The men ushered him into the bath tent. The heated water stung his sc.r.a.pes and cuts and relieved some of the soreness of his muscles and bones. While his wounds were treated, Timir returned with food and drink.

He ate little but drank two mugs of tragon. More of his pain vanished. "I need to see the Queen. I have information she will need." "First dress and I'll escort ye," Timir said. The mage Andalor had encountered in the palace strode into the tent. "Ah, minstrel, I did not expect to see ye. I fear I have some bad news for ye. When ye permitted the destruction of the com-crystal, your brother, one of my most talented mages, died. Now ye must take his place."

Andalor straightened. "To be a mage is not my calling and Reena will never release me."

"Do ye think a Chosen cannot be a mage? And as to her wishes, do not be so sure she will not welcome ye as a mage. Now, tell me why ye have come."

Andalor closed his eyes. To look into the mage's eyes was to court disaster. In their depths, he saw evil.

"I have news for Reena."

"Mayhaps ye should tell me. I am her most trusted advisor. Ye would not want to upset her at this crucial time."

The coldness of the man's voice made Andalor's skin p.r.i.c.kle. "'Tis words of love and encouragement I bring to her."

Gregor laughed. "I think not." He waved the Guards away. "Have ye any idea what power the Brotherhood wields? Ye have a family. Ye have friends. Would ye see them destroyed?" Andalor pressed his lips together. He recalled Nalor's tale of the loss of his family. He thought of Reena's refusal to bar the Brotherhood from the palace.

Gregor refilled Andalor's cup. "Should ye join the Brotherhood, your position as the Queen's Chosen would give ye a high place in our ranks and ye could aid our cause." "Just what might that be?" "Until ye are sworn into our ranks, I cannot tell ye." Andalor fought to keep his voice even. "Surely ye will give me time to consider your offer?" The young Guard, Timir, entered the tent. "The Queen wants the minstrel at once." "By whose order did ye inform her of this man's presence?" "I knew she would want to see him." He gestured to Andalor. "Come." "Think carefully," Gregor said. Andalor followed the Guard to a large black tent. He entered and bowed low. "My love." "Andalor." She held out her hands.

He gathered her close. "I have missed thee."

"'Tis been too long since I have seen thee." He pulled the small figurines from his pockets. "I found these and thought of the day I sang their song for thee."

She took the whimsical statues and placed them on the table. "'Twas a lovely day and we will have more in the future. I must know about my cousin."

"She nears the Screaming Hills. I did all in my power to slow her but I failed."

"Ye did not fail, for she must reach the Hills and she must bond with the Jewel so I may destroy her.

How soon will she be in the Hills?"

He shook his head. "Today, tomorrow. I don't know."

"And the Yellow and the Blue Holders, will they come to me?"

"They are loyal to her. Nothing I said would change that. Though Disa owes me a life, she refused to

come to thee."

"Then thee should have taken her captive. Thee are my Chosen and thee must put me before all others.

Why have thee failed me?"

He felt her body tense. When he looked into her eyes, they were no longer the crystalline blue he

remembered. Her hair had darkened as well. "I haven't failed thee. Thee have my heart and my soul." "Traitor." She stepped from his embrace and raised the Black Jewel. "I have done all thee asked and thee have done nothing thee said thee would. The land and the people still suffer. The Brotherhood still rules." "Thee are wrong. I am Queen and I rule. Show me these women's faces so I can control their Jewels." "Do not ask that of me. They are my friends." "Thee are my Chosen. There should be no other for thee." Andalor's body jerked. He fell to his knees. Exquisite pain racked him and he descended into a black void.

* * * "Reena, what have thee done? What have thee become?" The cry flowed from Andalor. He opened his eyes. A single light showed he lay on a cot in a small tent.

With a groan, he sat up. His body ached worse than after his tumble from the cliffs. He staggered to the tent opening. A single Guard sat at a small fire with his back to the tent. With one blow, Andalor knocked the Guard unconscious and dragged him into the tent. He looked on Timir's face. "Sorry," Andalor whispered. "There is something I must do." With the Guard's sword in his hand, he crept away from the camp.

CHAPTER 33.

From The Armsmen's Guide Sometimes ye must make a decision based on instincts, though knowledge points in a different direction.

Brader soaked in the cold water near the waterfall and thought of how good it felt to be cool and wet. Liara, Stilenta and Valmir frolicked nearby. Nalor had left the camp to forage for game. Disa braided vines into some kind of net. Brader paddled to her.

She looked up and smiled. "Ye seem to have lost your fear of water."

"'Tis not above my head and 'tis a welcome change from sand. When I must travel by sea again, I won't look forward to the journey. The way from Thanis to Quato was not one of my finest times."

"But ye survived."

"Aye, I did."

Liara swam over and waved for Stilenta to join them. "We must discuss our strategy for the