Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [65]
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the chef shudder. "Well, we are a very old people."
Raphael gave me a curious glance. "You think of yourself as one of them?"
"I am one of them," I said firmly. "No matter where I am or how far I go, I carry the spark of my diadh-anam inside me."
His eyes gleamed in the candlelight. "Are the old stories true? Can you take on the shape of a bear?"
I cut a piece of roast and chewed thoughtfully. "No," I said at last. "The old stories are true, aye. But we lost that gift generations ago, when Berlik broke the oath he swore on behalf of all the Maghuin Dhonn. He was the last to wield it." I put down my fork. "We are also a dwindling folk, my lord Raphael. What magic left to us is small and insignificant, meant to protect and conceal us. I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"On the contrary." He reached out and held one hand several inches above mine. "Can you feel that?"
The air between us vibrated. I nodded.
"Energy." Raphael took his hand away. "It is the essence of all things. It flows through us and around us. With great practice, one can learn to control and manipulate it." He applied himself to his dinner, continuing to talk between bites. "I studied traditional medicine at the Academy in Marsilikos, but in the past year, we've been honored to have a great teacher from Ch'in at the Academy here, Master Lo Feng. It is a wondrous opportunity, for his folk almost never venture this far abroad, and they admit few foreigners to their country. Did you know that the Ch'in have a very different view of the healing arts?"
"No," I said.
"They do." He pointed his fork at me. "And under his tutelage, I've learned there is far more to healing than meets the eyes. After months of practice, I've learned the rudiments of controlling my own energy and using it to help heal others. But you—" He shook his head. "What you're capable of, you do without even thinking."
"Aye, but it's not the same thing," I said. "What I do is a gift of the Maghuin Dhonn."
Raphael shrugged. "Mayhap it has applications you've never dreamed. We could explore them, you and I." He smiled at me. "Mayhap it was destiny that placed you in that very street at that very moment."
My diadh-anam pulsed in my breast as though in agreement. "That," I said, "may be a more real possibility than you know."
He resumed eating. "When you're feeling stronger, I'd love to have you meet him. Master Lo Feng, that is."
"Why not?" I agreed. I'd never met anyone from Ch'in.
"And of course I'll introduce you at Court…" Raphael started. "Oh! Name of Elua, I'm an idiot. Your father."
My heart quickened. "You found him?"
He nodded. "I think so, or at least his name. I'm sorry, Moirin. It went clean out of my head when I saw you… sparkling." Somewhere in the background, there was a commotion and raised voices. Raphael frowned and beckoned to a manservant standing by with a jug of wine. "Gerard, go see what that is."
Gerard set down his jug and bowed, exiting the dining hall. Raphael watched him go, still frowning.
"My father?" I prompted him.
"One moment," he said absently.
Gerard returned and bent down low, murmuring in his lord's ear. Raphael looked at once grim and oddly satisfied. "I'll speak to him." He dabbed his lips with a linen cloth. "Forgive me," he said to me. "I'll be back straightaway."
Curiosity got the better of me without even trying. I waited all of three heartbeats before following him. As soon as I'd slipped past the watching eyes of the servants in the dining room, I used the memory of Elua's Oak to focus my thoughts, and managed to call the twilight without too much effort. I trailed behind Raphael as he made his way to a large marble foyer I vaguely remembered from my dazed arrival.
There were three D'Angeline men awaiting him clad in some manner of livery. I couldn't make out the color in the twilight, but their doublets