“That is my thinking.” She arched one eyebrow. “Though we might need to do a little more early on.”
“But my mother and sister depend on me to work the airfreight business,” he said. “There is no money for them if I leave.”
“We will give them money to replace what your departure will cost them, enough so that they can live comfortably. You can either sell the business or ask someone to run it for you in your absence. I will repeat what I said before. You needn’t worry for your family’s welfare. If I deem it necessary, I can provide them with someone to help look after things.”
She was promising an awful lot, and it suggested that she badly wanted him to accept her offer, which was both reassuring and a bit intimidating. What would she ask of him as an agent of the order? How much would he be expected to do in her service?
“What if, after you’ve trained me, you ask me to do something I don’t feel right about, something I can’t make myself do?”
She regarded him steadily. “I won’t ask you to do anything like that. We aren’t what some people say we are, Paxon. We don’t act in ways that bring harm to those who don’t invite it. And should you feel we are crossing a line you yourself would not cross, we will let you step aside.”
“But I will be expected to fight?”
“Mostly, you will need to be prepared to fight. Your presence alone should help deflect most of the violence.”
Paxon wasn’t sure that was true, but he saw no point in arguing about it. What really mattered was whether or not this was something he wanted to do badly enough to take whatever risks the work offered. “I don’t know if I’m up to this,” he admitted. “I don’t know if I’m good enough to do what you expect. What if I’m not?”
The smile returned. “Paxon, I’ve lived a long time, and I’ve come to be a pretty good judge of character. I’ve been wrong about people, but not very often. So when I tell you I believe you are what we need and will be able to do what’s expected, you can feel confident that I am right. I think you should consider giving it a chance. If we are both wrong, you can walk away.”
She held up one cautionary finger. “You’ve been looking to do something more with your life; I could see it in your eyes when I told you what I wanted you to do. You want a chance to do something important, something that matters. You want your life to have real purpose. Why not see if the opportunity I am offering you isn’t what you’ve been looking for? Why not discover if it isn’t the chance you are seeking?”
“You make a persuasive argument,” he admitted, smiling back at her. “How long do I have to decide?”
“Do you really need time to make this decision?” she asked gently. “Don’t you already know the answer? Isn’t the answer in your heart?”
He stared at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected this. He had believed she would tell him to take the remainder of the day to think it over, maybe more. He waited for her to say something more, but she remained silent, watching him.
He looked down momentarily, considering her words, and then met her steady gaze once more. “All right,” he said. “I’ll do it.”
She rose and extended her hand to him. “Welcome to your new home, Paxon Leah,” she said.
And immediately he knew he had made the right choice.
SEVEN
SO PAXON WENT BACK TO THE HIGHLANDS OF LEAH, DEPARTING Paranor with the young Druid Sebec at the helm of the same two–masted clipper that had brought him there. The Ard Rhys had given him two days in which to make his arrangements at home before returning to the Druid’s Keep and his new life, and he was aware of how little time that allowed him to do what was needed. To begin with, he had to figure out how to tell his mother and his sister what he had committed to, and he had to do so as soon as they returned.
Which meant, in turn, that he had to figure out how much he was going to tell either one of them about why Aphenglow Elessedil had asked him to come to Paranor at all.
After all, neither one knew anything about the magic contained in the Sword of Leah. He had kept that secret from both. His mother didn’t even know what had happened to Chrys in her absence–his sister’s kidnapping and rescue. Everything surrounding that episode was still just between himself and Jayet.
But he had to offer some sort of explanation about why the Ard Rhys of the Fourth Druid Order had suddenly decided that Paxon was a candidate for training with weapons and magic until he could serve as a protector and paladin on quests to seek out errant and stolen magic for collection and storage at Paranor. Or, even if he left out the part about training with magic, why she would even have known about him in the first place. It wasn’t as if the Leahs had maintained a close personal relationship with the Druids over the years.
He thought about it all the way home, and he was still mulling it over when they landed at the airfield and Sebec sent him on his way.
“I will be here again in two days at midday, waiting for you,” the other told him, and then added cheerfully, “Don’t be late.”
Then he was off, the clipper lifting away and disappearing north. Paxon watched it go and set off for the cottage. He would talk to his sister first. Whatever he ended up telling his mother, he wanted to be sure Chrys would not contradict him.
Neither she nor his mother was home when he arrived, so he dumped his backpack on his bed and went off to Brew Tide, the tavern where Jayet now worked and where he imagined he might find his sister. He went down into the valley and the city, angling east, away from the airfield and toward the army barracks. Upon reaching the tavern and stepping through the doors, he found the girls engaged in conversation at the far end of the bar.
They rushed over to welcome him back, hugging and kissing him, though it seemed to him that Jayet did so with a little more enthusiasm. After exchanging a few words with both, he separated his sister from Jayet and sat her down at an empty table. The tavern was quiet in the midafternoon hours, so they were able to talk uninterrupted and in private.
“Does Mother know anything yet about what happened to you?” he asked.
“Not from me,” she announced flatly. “I wouldn’t tell her.”
“Then we won’t start now,” he said. “But I do have to tell her something because I’ve been asked to come train at Paranor by Aphenglow Elessedil.”
Chrys gave a surprised gasp. “Paranor?” she whispered, leaning close. “How did that happen?”
What he told her was that word had gotten back to the Ard Rhys about what had happened at Dark House. Because she knew of Arcannen and considered him an enemy of the Druids and opposed to their efforts to find and reclaim magic throughout the Four Lands, she had paid close attention to the news and made an effort to find out more about Paxon. Having done so, she decided she wanted him to come to Paranor to train in the use of weapons–and perhaps, one day, with magic, as well. After his training was complete, he was to take a position for a period of three years in the service of the order, aiding Druids in their efforts to track down rumors of magic, acting as protector and companion to them while they were away from the Keep.
“You’ve decided then?” she asked. “Are you certain about this?”
“She made me the offer and said I had to make up my mind right away. Otherwise, I would have come back and discussed it with you and Mother first. But the truth is, I knew this was what I wanted. I’ve felt trapped in the airship freight business. It was a living for us, but I never wanted to do it forever, and now I don’t have to. You and Mother will be given money to live on. I’ll find someone to run the freight business in my absence. If you want, you can help with this. And you don’t have to worry about Arcannen. For a few months, there will be someone from the Druid order living in Leah to keep an eye on you, just in case Arcannen decides to pay a return visit. You won’t know who is looking after you, but you will be safe while I’m gone.”