The Shadow Isle - Katharine Kerr [26]
“We want four gems each of the five colors,” Val told her new apprentice. “They represent the elements and the Aethyr, of course.” She put the rest of the gems away. “Now, if we were considering an important matter, we’d add other colors, but this will do for now.”
Valandario spread out the scrying cloth, a patchwork of Bardek silks, some squares embroidered with symbols, others plain. Sidro listened carefully as Val explained each symbol.
“I’ll repeat this on the morrow,” Val said, “so you can write it down. At the simplest level, a gem that falls upon its own color represents what most people would call good fortune. It’s all based on the compatibility or incompatibility of the elements.”
“I see.” Sidro leaned a little closer to study the cloth. “So if a blue stone, it do fall upon a fire square, then that be a dangerous sign?”
“Exactly. Very good!”
Valandario shook the gems in her cupped hands like elven dice, then strewed them out with a careful motion of her wrist. For a moment she studied the pattern formed.
“What do you think this means?” Val said. “I know you don’t know all of the system yet. Just give me an impression.”
Sidro frowned, tilting her head this way and that as she studied the layout from different angles. “Forgive me,” she said at last, “but I can see naught in it.”
“Then you’re going to do well at this.” Val grinned at her. “I can’t either. This is the most confused reading I’ve ever seen, probably because we’re doing it just as a lesson.” She let the grin fade. “I hope, anyway.”
“What would it mean if you were asking it about the future? Aught?”
“I’d have to say that it signified some sort of standoff, a balance of forces that were locked together like this.” Val held up her hands, hooked her fingers together, and made a pulling motion. “I couldn’t say between what or whom, since we never focused our minds on a particular question.” She felt a sudden irritation, as if a stinging insect were flying around and around her head. The feeling was so strong that she lifted a hand to brush it away but found nothing. “Let’s put these back in their pouch. I must be more tired than I thought.”
“It were a long day, truly,” Sidro said. “I’ll fetch the banadar so he can carry his lady to their tent.”
That night Valandario dreamt about Jav and the black crystal pyramid. They stood together on a sea-cliff and looked down at a heap of stones on the beach below. He was trying to tell her something, but she couldn’t hear him over the sound of the waves. Finally she woke to a sudden understanding.
“The place where he found the crystal. That’s what he was trying to show me.”
The gray light of dawn filled the room. Valandario got up and dressed while she considered the meaning of the dream. Could there be another crystal at the tower? But Aderyn had told her, all those years ago, that Evandar must have found the black stone elsewhere and merely placed it in the ruin. She left the house on the chance that walking along the cliffs might clear her mind and allow her to delve further into what the dream-cliffs had signified.
To her surprise, she found Prince Daralanteriel there ahead of her. He was standing and looking out to sea with his arms folded across his chest. As she walked up to him, her footsteps crunched on the sand among the beach grasses, and he turned to greet her with a wave of one hand.
“Dar?” Valandario said. “Is something wrong?”
“No, not really,” Dar said. “Just thinking about the road ahead.”
“Will we be going to the trading grounds?”
“No, we’ll be traveling north along the Cantariel. There’s a Roundear lord—Samyc’s his name—who’s my vassal now. We should make sure that he’s safe. I’m thinking of asking for volunteer archers to spend the summer in his dun, just in case Horsekin raiders come his way.”
“Do you think the Horsekin will dare?”
“No, but I’d rather not be proved wrong. And then we need to cut east to visit Tieryn Cadryc.”
“That’s a long ride away.”
“Yes, it certainly is.” Dar got a harried look about the eyes. “I’m thinking that I need to build a