"Before we leave this place, I will make sure you've seen every text that could serve your need, my lord," Royster said to Tris.
"We?" Kiara asked.
Royster grinned. "Of course. I've been waiting for something like this to happen for fifty years. I intend to tutor him in Principality City." He looked at Tris. "Not being a mage and all, I'd do you no good in battle," he said apologetically. "Kessen chose me well—I'm not suited to work that strains the heart. But the head," he said, tapping his forehead, "now that's where I can help. I always had a weakness for the stories of Bava K'aa," he admitted. "I've been scribe to every Sister who has wanted to add to the record over the years. So having me along is just like packing up a good bit of the Library, and a whole lot easier to carry," he said with a wink.
"We would be honored to have your company," Tris replied. "Although I can't promise that the road to Principality City will be safe."
"That's an understatement," Carina murmured.
"I must take leave of you now," Gabriel said, with a courteous bow. "I will see you again. Mikhail is a servant of the Lady; he will be of great help to you. But I warn you," he said gravely, "there are traitors among my kind. Trust no one who is vayash moru unless I send you to them. Arontala's reach is far. Those he has made, and those he has bound, will do his bidding. Do not travel lightly by night."
Then with a rustle of wind, the vayash moru was gone.
One evening at the start of their second month at the Library, Tris was working his way through a stack of books in the third-floor study. He glanced up when the door creaked open. To his surprise, Kiara slipped into the room with a teapot in one hand and a small cloth sack in the other.
"May I come in?"
Tris smiled and set aside his book. "Please," he said with a gesture that welcomed her to a chair near the fire. Kiara brought the teapot over and set the cloth sack down on the table, out of which tumbled a piece of crusty bread, a wedge of cheese and a sturdy mug.
"Carina sent me up with some of her headache tea," Kiara said. "Since I was headed this way, Royster added the food—seems he and Kessen got into a row in the kitchen and dinner will be late tonight," she added with a chuckle. She sank gratefully into a chair, and declined his offer of food.
"No thanks. I grabbed a bite for myself while I was in the kitchen," she confessed. "Although I might take a sip of that tea—I have been reading until my eyes feel crossed!"
She paused. "Sister Taru says that Cam and two friends of yours reached a keep of the Sisterhood in northern Margolan."
"They're alive? That's the best news I've heard in a long time," he said.
"Carina was so relieved, I thought she'd never stop crying." She paused. "Taru says that your friends will meet us in Principality City," Kiara added. "She sent them on to start recruiting troops. Cam rode for Isencroft with an elixir to keep the illness from getting any worse. But they can't heal father while the mage lives who cast the illness."
"Do you know who sent the spell?"
Kiara met his eyes. "Arontala. He wants father dead—that way, we have no choice but to ally Isencroft with Margolan to survive."
"I'm sorry," Tris replied.
She looked away. "You're doing all you can. The elixir buys us time. Carina has found some other things in the books that may also ease his suffering and give him strength until..."
"Until I can destroy Arontala," Tris finished her sentence.
She met his eyes, then looked down and nodded. "Yes." She was silent for a while longer. "I want to do a scrying," she said finally. "To see if Cam arrived safely and see if father is doing better. " Tris poured a cup and slid it toward her. She took a few sips, and closed her eyes.
"I never had the chance to ask you more about your magic," Tris said, watching her in the firelight. Jae hopped down from his perch on her shoulder and Tris offered him bits of cheese. Jae snapped up the treats before curling into a ball on the edge of the desktop.
Kiara shrugged. "It's not really sorcerer-caliber talent," she admitted. "The gift is very limited. Scryings, some battle divination—things directly related to the safety of the kingdom," she said. "It shows only snatches of information, out of context." She sighed. "On the future of Isencroft, it has been silent."
Tris sipped his tea. It began at once to ease the tension in his shoulders and the reaction headache that throbbed in his temples. "Maybe the future is yet in motion," he said gently. "Maybe we alter it, even now, by what we do."
"Perhaps," she said. "I'd like to think so."
Tris slipped another crumb of cheese to Jae, who gobbled it then stretched out lazily, lolling to one side to invite a belly scratch. "He isn't like that with just everyone," Kiara observed. "You've made a real friend."
"I hope so," Tris said, meeting her eyes. She looked away, her cheeks coloring slightly, as if she caught the full intention of his comment.
"Thank you," he said. "For the tea. And the company. It gets too quiet up here."
"You're welcome," she said, daring a glance back at him. She held out her arm, and Jae waddled toward her, making a gurgle of protest as he lighted on her shoulder.
"Kiara," he said seriously, "please don't scry without me. Just a feeling I've got... Taru went back to the citadel to confer, Gabriel is gon I wish you'd reconsider."
Kiara shook her head. "How could we be any safer than here, behind all of the Sisterhood's spells? Carina's desperate to see that Cam is safely home, and I'm as lonesome for a glimpse of father as I am anxious to see how he's doing."
Tris sighed. "We're probably as safe as we'll ever be. But please, wait for me."
"All right," she said, "you've got a deal."
After supper, Carroway favored them with several new stories; then three of the Keepers joined him for a candlemark of chamber music. Tris drank another mug of the mulled wine and breathed deeply, enjoying the first chance to relax. He was enjoying Kiara's company as much as the entertainment, and could see that Carroway was relishing the opportunity to entertain with the lute the Keepers had given him.
When the program ended at the tenth bell, everyone congratulated Carroway and the other musicians. As the group filed from the room, a handful remained behind.
"What's going on?" Vahanian asked as he passed Tris.
"Kiara wants to do a scrying to see how her father is doing," Tris replied. "She'll need a few of us to hold the circle, but we've got enough that you're off the hook."
Vahanian gave him a sideways glance. "I think I'll stick around outside the circle and watch your back, if it's all the same, Spook," he said. "After all, if you get your royal ass fried to a crunch with some magic-gone-wrong, the rest of us have a one-way trip to the hangman's noose."
"I want to watch," Berry chirped.
"No," Tris said.
"Absolutely not," Carina echoed.
"Isn't it late for you to be awake?" Vahanian asked. Berry made a sour face.
"I don't have a bed time," she announced. "I've never seen a scrying. It will be fun."
"It can be dangerous," Tris said.
Berry dismissed him with a gesture that looked oddly like one of Vahanian's mannerisms. "I'm not afraid. I've fought slavers and seen ghosts and vayash moru."