I pictured it in my mind as well as his drawing. “Do the mountains go all the way to the sea?”
“They do.”
Kendra said, “So, my home is protected from invasion from Kaon, and from slavers like you, even though it is the nearest kingdom to ours. The sea is the only way to reach us. I suppose we should thank the mountains for our security.”
Her smile was almost a snarl, but his was equal. He said, “Yes, you are well protected in your land, cut off from the rest of the world except by a sliver of a seaport.” His smile grew to an evil grin before he continued, “Unless, of course, there is a Waystone or two nearby.”
The mention of a Waystone stilled her as much as if she’d been frozen by a winter storm and spring hadn’t yet thawed her. Then her eye moved to catch mine. I heard Anna complaining that Emma was now throwing the stick farther than her but used magic to do it. I was torn as to who should get my attention.
“What if there is a Waystone?” I asked.
He turned to me. “Then, even if you close off that little port on the river the mages can reach you. They can wink into existence, do their dirty deeds, and wink out again before you know they’ve arrived. Although to be honest, there is usually only one of them at a time. I think Waystones have limitations.”
The Slave Master had accidentally passed us information while being just a little too cute while trying to be clever with my sister. His mention of the Waystones, and his foreknowledge of how that information would strike us was intentional. In his eyes, it was obvious he wished he could reach out into the warm air and snatch the words back.
That’s what happens when you try too hard to impress a pretty girl.
Kendra recovered first. “Waystones? I haven’t heard of them. Explain them.”
“They’re nothing. Just rumors and lies.”
She leaned closer and said, “Tell me.”
He was uncomfortable, and his voice came stilted and awkward as if they scared him. “Big rocks. Mages like them and some people think mages live in them. I know that sounds silly, but I’m just telling you what I hear.”
“Live in rocks?” Kendra asked. “Why would someone do that, even if it is possible? Why not in a beautiful little cabin on a mountain lake instead? That’s what I’d want.”
She had deflected his words back upon themselves and added her personal opinion. I’d watched Elizabeth and her practice that skill for endless sessions. First, they questioned, then added a second question before finishing with a personal anecdote. It assured the flow of more information.
“There are stories where nobody is around, and suddenly a mage is there. It always happens around Waystones.”
“There’s more,” she said simply, while leaning closer in a confidential and personal manner as friends sharing secrets might do. “Please tell me.”
For a large man with a wicked past, bad disposition, and nasty occupation, he wilted before the interrogation skills of my sister. “There’s some who say mages fly like birds. They use their magic for it. They know where they are because the can see the Waystones from way up high.”
I’d heard enough. The Slave-Master was hard as iron, killed ruthlessly and without hesitation, and he was superstitious when it came to mages. He didn’t like talking about them—and he didn’t know the information we wanted. Emma was still throwing the same stick and running after it. Anna sat under the shade of a stunted tree and watched, a scowl on her tiny face. I sat beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“Emma is a cheat.”
“How do you cheat when throwing a stick?”
“She’s doing something to it. When she throws, if you look carefully, you can see it speed up, so it goes farther.”
I fought to remain impassive. Her simple sibling jealousy had revealed three things. First, she had no idea that Emma was using magic to increase the distance. She didn’t understand magic in the least. And it seemed Emma was doing something Anna was incapable of doing. However, the most incredible thing was that Anna now spoke the Common language as well as me, and even a few of the inflections in her words were mine.
Using just my mind and not my lips, I said, *There are things you can do that she cannot.*
*I know. But she says she is a Dragon Tamer like Kendra, and that makes me angry. I want to be one too.*
I gave her a moment to fume, then continued, *Do you realize we are talking without words?*
She flashed me a know-it-all look she must have learned from my sister. “Of course.”
Emma returned, but Anna was pouting and wouldn’t talk to her. Emma looked at me and said, “No?”
“No, what?”
She grinned and held out her stick for me to take. I realized she still couldn’t speak Common, except for the few words we’d managed to teach her, a thousand at best. However, as of now, Anna spoke as well as me.
I threw the stick, and Emma chased after it, giggling and laughing as I raced to get there first. She beat me by a step, but as she reared back to throw it again, I saw the playful gleam in her eyes. As expected, her throw went farther than mine—with a little help of her magic.
I could have slowed her throw but didn’t. We ran to the stick again, but this time I got there first because I wanted to see her reaction when I used my magic. I comically wound up to throw, bringing both girls to tears with my wild arm waving antics, then I threw it into the air. As it sailed high, I touched the stick with my magic and pushed it along until it passed over the tops of the trees at the far end of the clearing and it disappeared into the forest.
While the girls watched the stick, I watched Emma from the corner of my eye. She finally turned to me and tilted her head as if she had learned something but was not sure what it was. I touched Anna’s mind. *How was that?*
*Good.* She smiled with smug satisfaction.
*You can never tell anybody but Kendra of your powers. You also have to make Emma understand that, too. Nobody must know what either of you can do. It could be dangerous if people find out.*
*The Slave-Master?*
*Especially him. Nobody. Ever. It’s very important.*
*Yes, sir.*
I walked back to Kendra and the Slave-Master and heard them deep into another discussion. However, I also heard the rustle of the approach of Kendra’s dragon. It flew lazily, circling back as I watched as if waiting impatiently. I suspected and hoped the Kaon guard and Flier would emerge from the scattering of trees we called a forest.
Kendra stood and caught my attention. She waited until Flier stumbled into the clearing, hesitantly, as if he didn’t believe what was happening. When his eyes found us, he ran in a shuffling gait. Even from a distance, I could see his raw ankles, and the blood seeping down them.
“Are you okay?” I asked, helping him to sit on a boulder.
His reply was in a defeated voice, tinged with hope. “Those ankle shackles are hard on a man.”
The guard came into view, and I walked to where he stood. “You are free to go. With the Slave-Master or without, we don’t care. You kept your word, and we’ll keep ours.”
He turned and walked away without ever looking at the Slave-Master.
I returned to Kendra and said, “Will you let him go now?”
She shook her head, drawing a look of astonishment from the Slave-Master. “Hey, I thought you were honorable.”
“I am,” she said. “But if I allow you to leave now, that guard will die before nightfall.”
The Slave-Master spat in the sand beside himself and snarled, “What difference does it matter to you if he dies by nightfall today or tomorrow. Either day he will not live to see another.”