The Spirit Stone - Katharine Kerr [93]
That evening, when she arrived at Loddlaen’s tent for her dweomer lesson, Loddlaen had returned to his usual self. Still, when she considered asking him about his afternoon’s fit of temper, some feeling from deep in her mind warned her off. She concentrated on that evening’s lesson instead. By the time she left him, he’d made several small jests and seemed in a very good mood indeed.
In the long hot summer afternoons, Nevyn, Aderyn, and Valandario fell into a routine. After a scant meal they would walk upriver away from the noisy camp and work with the dweomer scroll, trying out the various incantations and discussing the results with one another until the images held steady in everyone’s mind. Loddlaen generally managed to find one excuse or another to skip these sessions. Much to Nevyn’s relief, Aderyn eventually stopped asking him to join them.
At first Val brought her obsidian gem along, but whatever its mysterious dweomer attributes might have been, working with the scroll was apparently not one of them. While either Aderyn or Nevyn intoned an invocation, she would study its various surfaces, but she saw nothing of any value.
‘Every now and then,’ she said in her careful way, ‘I see a flash of light, but it reveals naught. It comes and goes at random, not in response to any words.’
‘Very well then,’ Aderyn said. ‘Apparently Evandar’s two gifts aren’t related. It was a good guess that they might be, however.’
‘I shan’t bring it any more,’ Val said. ‘It will be safer in my tent. I should hate to drop it or suchlike.’
The danger lying in wait for the stone, however, had naught to do with chips and cracks. Late one afternoon, after the three dweomerworkers had returned to camp, Nevyn and Aderyn were sitting in front of Aderyn’s tent, taking the last of the sun and saying very little. They heard, above the usual noise and bustle, a piercing high shriek of mingled rage and fear that could only have come from a woman’s throat.
‘That’s Val!’ Aderyn sprang to his feet. ‘Ye gods!’
Nevyn got up and followed him as Aderyn ran through the camp. They found Val standing in front of her tent, fists clenched, tears running down her face, while Javanateriel held her in his arms and murmured soothing words in Elvish. When Aderyn spoke to them in the same, she answered him with a burst of fury that made him step back.
‘Val?’ Nevyn spoke in Deverrian. ‘What happened?’
‘My pyramid is missing, Master Nevyn.’ Val gulped for breath. ‘I know Loddlaen stole it, and no one wants to believe me.’
‘Val, beloved,’ Jav said, ‘we can’t accuse someone without a shred of evidence.’
Aderyn crossed his arms tightly over his chest and pinched his lips together.
‘I suspect that Val and her gem are linked strongly enough that she knows where it is,’ Nevyn said. ‘But “steal” is rather a harsh word. I suggest that we simply go and ask Loddlaen if he wanted a look at it.’
Both Aderyn and Valandario relaxed into smiles and nods. Javanateriel let his breath out in a long sigh of relief. They all trooped off to Loddlaen’s tent at the edge of the encampment, where, to Nevyn’s surprise, Morwen and Ebañy were keeping Loddlaen company. Eba˜ny was sprawled on a patch of grass and playing some elaborate game with sticks and pebbles, while Morwen was stirring a kettle of soup at Loddlaen’s fire.
‘Ah, there you are, lad,’ Aderyn said. ‘Val seems to be missing her black gem, and I was wondering if you’d seen it.’
Loddlaen got up slowly, his face a mask. ‘Why would you think I had?’ he said.
Morwen stopped her stirring and turned to look at him. Loddlaen abruptly shoved his hands into his pockets. Nevyn had the nasty suspicion that they were shaking and he was trying to hide them.
‘Well, no real reason—’ Aderyn began.
‘I know it’s in there!’ Val pointed at Loddlaen’s tent. ‘I can feel it call to me, and it’s in there.’
‘It is not!’ Loddlaen snapped.
‘Don’t lie!’ Jav stepped forward. ‘Don’t make it worse!’
Valandario moved so fast that Loddlaen could only make a futile