The Silver Mage - Katharine Kerr [85]
“Laz! What about Laz?
“Now that’s a splendid idea. I don’t much like him, but the gods all know he’s a learned man and a scholar.”
“Can we trust him?”
“I can trust him the better the farther away he is. Sidro will doubtless be glad to see his horse’s rump as he rides away, too.”
“No doubt. Do you think Voran will accept him?”
“If I write a letter to recommend him, he will. I won’t even have to lie. Laz can read and write, and he’s a man who understands fine words and courtly manners. Whether he chooses to use the manners is another matter entirely, but that’s not our concern.”
“He’s a fistful of arrows short of a full quiver, if you ask me. I hope he doesn’t do anything rash in the prince’s presence.”
Grallezar paused to look across the open grasslands in the direction of Laz’s camp. “I met his mother once or twice. She was enough to drive any son mad, always pushing, always scheming for her mach-fala no matter whose hopes she trampled on. Her First Daughter, she was another such, too, and she wielded her position over Laz like a whip, or so our Sidro tells me.”
“That would drive any man a little mad. Well, I’ll go talk with him.”
“I wonder what he’ll say?”
“No, probably.” Dalla paused for a smile. “I’ll have to think up a few good arguments.”
Dallandra doubted Laz’s willingness to leave on such an errand simply because he’d be riding off with men he didn’t know to join up with a prince of the country he’d always considered his enemy. Much to her surprise, however, and before she brought out her first argument, Laz agreed.
“That gladdens my heart,” she said. “You look positively eager to go.”
“Joining Voran will get me away from Sidro,” Laz glanced away, his eyes dark. “That’ll be better all round.”
“I’m afraid that’s true.”
“And then there’s the dragon book,” Laz went on. “Neb tells me that Voran’s going to invest the Boar dun. If I go with him, I may be able to coax those Spirits of Aethyr into bringing it to me.”
“I’d not thought of that. My thanks, Laz. That’s an admirable thing to do.”
“I shall endeavor to bring the book back to you and lay it at your feet.” Laz smiled at her in a way that struck her as entirely too warm.
“That won’t be necessary, truly.” Dallandra felt like taking a step back, but she feared insulting a man who was, after all, offering to do her an enormous favor. “The best thing would be to take it back to Haen Marn. Well, assuming you can even get the wretched thing.”
“Why Haen Marn?”
“It strikes me as the ideal place to perform whatever this ritual is, if I can work the dweomer at all.”
“And without, I hope, it killing you.”
“I hope that, too.” Dallandra paused for a wry smile. “If somewhat does go wrong, then maybe you and Marnmara can set it right again, with the power of the island behind you.”
“Very well, then. No doubt the Mountain Folk will help me get there, since I’ll be doing a bit of work for them.”
“They pay their debts, truly.” She patted him on the arm, a gesture such as she’d use to soothe a nervous horse. “And may luck ride with you.”
With a little wave, Dallandra turned and hurried away. The prince will be glad to hear this, she thought. And I’ll be glad to have Laz gone.
Laz turned away rather than watch Dallandra leave. Had there been anything near him to kick but grass, he would have sent it flying. Ye gods! Here I am, riding all over the wretched Northlands to do the bidding of another woman who doesn’t want me! Sidro, on the other hand—he calmed himself with a couple of deep breaths. If he returned the dragon book to Dallandra, wouldn’t Sidro find that impressive? Perhaps, assuming she’d be at Haen Marn to see his triumph, which was not, he told himself, very likely.
But a sudden thought soothed his mood. If he got the