For her part, Elspeth was so dumbfounded she felt like the village idiot, unable to think at all coherently. I'm going to what-she's giving me-that's Need, it's magic, she can't mean me to have it! Why-what" But-" was all she could say; anything else came out as a sputter.
But-why?"
"why?" Kero shrugged with an indifference that was obviously feigned. "Right after you and I met, Need spoke for you. I couldn't do without her, not right then, and she hasn't said anything since, but there's never been any doubt in my mind that you're the one she was supposed to go to."
"Go to?" Elspeth repeated, dazedly. Now that the blade was in her hands, she felt-something. An odd feeling. A slight disorientation, as if there was someone trying such a delicate mental probe on her that it was at the very edge of her ability to sense it. It was a little like when she'd been Chosen, only not nearly as strong.
"It's something like being Chosen, I suppose," Kero said, echoing her thought. "She picks the one she wants to be passed to. Better that than just getting picked up at random, or so I'd guess, though women are the only ones that can use her. Grandmother got her from an old female merc when she left her mage-school; she gave Need to me, and now I'm giving her to you. You'd have gotten her from me in any case eventually, but since you're going out past the borders, I think it would be a good idea if you take her with you." Suddenly, the blade seemed doubly heavy.
"You mean the sword talks to you?" Elspeth replied vaguely, trying to sort out surprise, the odd touches at the back of her mind, and just a touch of apprehension.
Not exactly talks, no," Kero chuckled. "Though let me warn you now, she is going to try and exert a lot of pressure on you to do what she wants-which is to rescue women in trouble. Don't give in to her more than you have to. She'll try two things-she'll either try to take over your body, or she'll give you a headache like you've never had in your life. You can block it and her out; I learned to eventually, and I should think with all the training you've had in the Gifts you should be able to manage just fine. After all, when I faced her down, I was only half-trained at best. Whatever you do, don't give in to her, or you'll set a bad precedent, as bad as giving a troublesome falcon its own way. She manipulated my grandmother, but I never let her manipulate me if I could help it." Elspeth regarded the gift dubiously. "If she's that much trouble-"
"oh, she's worth it," Kero said, with a rueful chuckle. "Especially for somebody like you or me, somebody who doesn't know beans about magic. For one thing, she'll Heal you of practically any injury, even on the battlefield in the middle of a fight. That alone is worth every bit of bother she ever gave me. But for the rest of her abilities, if you're a swordswinger, she'll protect you against magic-and I mean, real protection, as good as any Adept I've ever seen. I had some encounters with some mages of Ancar's that I haven't talked about-there wasn't anything any of them threw at me that she couldn't deflect." Kero chuckled." ' Gave them quite a surprise, too."
"But your grandmother was a mage," Elspeth said.
"Right. If you're a mage, she protects you, too-but she doesn't do anything for you magically."
"She takes over your body and makes you a good fighter?" Elspeth supplied.
"Right! But she doesn't do anything for a fighter in the way of fighting ability." ~
"I think I remember something about your grandmother being a fighter in some of the songs, only I knew you said she was a mage," Elspeth said, looking down at the blade in her hands with a touch of awe. "I never could figure out how the confusion happened. From everything I've read, becoming a mage takes up so much of your time you couldn't possibly learn to fight well." Kero shrugged. "Yes and no. It really depends on how much you want to curtail your social life. If you want to be a celibate, you could learn to be both." Huh. Like Vanyel...
"Anyway, Need makes you a swordmaster if you're a mage, protects you from magic if you're a fighter. And if you aren't either-"
"Like in"Kerowyn's Ride'?" Elspeth asked, with a sly smile.
Kero groaned. "Yes, gods help me, like in that damned song. If you aren't either, she takes over and makes you both. Her way, though, which tends to make you almost as big a target as one of your'here I am, shoot me' uniforms." Elspeth chuckled; Kero was, as usual, not wearing Whites. Then she sobered. "But you said I can fight the compulsion, right?" Kero nodded. "I did it. It takes a little determination, if you don't know what you're doing, but it can be done. I had to threaten to drop the damned thing down the nearest well. And I've already told it that you'll do the same if it gives you too much trouble." Seeing Elspeth's hesitation, she added, "If you don't want it, don't draw it-it can't force you to take it, you know. If you don't draw it, it won't have any kind of hold on you." Elspeth wasn't entirely sure of that-not after the tentative touches in the back of her mind, but she was certain that the hold the blade had on her could be fought. If she chose to. If Kero could, so could she.
Carefully, she weighed all the factors in her mind. This was not going to be a decision to make lightly.
She'll have a hold on me-but she'll protect me from things I not only don't understand, but might not detect until it's too late. And the
Healing-that's damned important. If I'm hurt, I may not be able to get to a Healer, but I won't have to if I have her.
Not such a bad trade, really. And since Elspeth had already been Chosen, perhaps the hold would be that much less. Gwena would surely help fight it; she could be very possessive when she wanted to be.
Another good reason to take the blade suddenly occurred to her. One that Kero might not have thought of If I don't find a mage-I'm a woman, and Mother's a woman. How well would this magic sword work against Ancar, I wonder?
Given that scenario, how could she not, in good conscience, accept the blade?
Without hesitation, she pulled Need from her sheath.
For a moment, nothing at all happened.
Then-Time stopped; a humming, somehow joyful, gleeful, filled the back of her head. It is just like being Chosen, she thought absently, as the blade glowed for a moment, the fire coalescing into script, runes that writhed, then settled into something she could actually read.
Woman's Need calls me, as Woman's Need made me, she read, as her eyes watered from the fiery light. Her Need will I answer, as my Maker bade me.
The runes writhed again-then faded, the moment she had the sense of them. The hum in the back of her mind stilled, and Time hiccupped, then resumed its stately progress.
"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" she demanded, as soon as she could speak again.
Kero shrugged. "Damned if I know," she admitted. "Only the gods know her history now. Grandmother said that's what happens when she gets into the hands she wants. But that, my dear, is the first time she's roused since I brought her inside the borders of Valdemar." Elspeth slid the blade gingerly into her sheath.
Her. I doubt I'll ever call her "it" again..."What happens when I take her outside Valdemar?" she asked with trepidation. There had been such a feeling of power when Need had responded to her-a feeling of controlled strength, held back, the way a mastiff would handle a newborn chick.