The White Road - Lynn Flewelling [6]
"I'll look around as soon as I go back, but it's likely to take a long time, since I don't know what I'm looking for. There are a few people I could speak with, but you shouldn't get your hopes up."
"It would be an easier task for two people," said Thero. "I had a message spell from Prince Korathan's wizard, Norubia, last night. The prince is losing patience waiting for us to come back and account for ourselves. If I don't bring you back, then I'd better have a good story. Otherwise it's likely to raise questions you don't want asked."
"I hate to put you in that position," said Seregil. "But there's no way we can take Sebrahn to Rhiminee. It would be damn near impossible to hide anyone with a 'dragon aura' or whatever it is in a city full of wizards, and if Queen Phoria ever got wind of what Sebrahn is capable of, she'd have him and Alec caged like a pair of chukarees to use against the Overlord's armies in her endless war."
"Do you think that was the real reason Sebrahn was made?" asked Magyana.
Alec shook his head. "If Yhakobin had known about the killing power, he and his slave takers wouldn't have made a head-on charge against us. We have that secret in our favor, at least."
"Do you know anything more about the Hazadrielfaie, Seregil?" asked Magyana.
"Only that they took their reasons north with them when they left. Everyone in Aurenen knows the tale."
"Isn't it obvious?" Thero said, pointing at Sebrahn. "If I knew someone was going to use me for that sort of thing, I'd run, too." He paused, then gave Alec an apologetic look. "I meant no offense."
"None taken." Alec was too busy wondering how many people had been hung in cages and bled to make the white creatures before the prophet Hazadriel had her mysterious vision.
"Thero's right," said Seregil. "I've been up around Ravensfell Pass. It's the ass end of nowhere, and about as far from Plenimar as you can get. This must be why they've been so insular."
"They killed my mother for bearing a ya'shel child, and tried to kill my father and me, too," Alec told Magyana. "He spent the rest of his life on the move. I didn't know why at the time, but it must have been to keep them from finding us again."
"He never spoke of any of that to you?"
"No. He wasn't much of a talker, my dad. And if I asked about my mother, he'd just say it was better for me not to know. As I got older, I wondered if she'd broken his heart, maybe by running off with another man." He shook his head. "After the vision the Dragon Oracle showed me at Sarikali, I'm ashamed to have thought of her that way."
"You had no way to know, dear boy." Magyana patted his hand. "Your father was a wise man. He must have loved your mother a great deal to risk so much for her. And for you, as well. As for the Hazad, consider the consequences of a person of their blood finding his way south again."
"A dragon oracle, and a dragon child ...," murmured Seregil, wandering over to the window.
Alec suddenly gave a great yawn. Magyana laughed and held out a hand to Micum and Thero. "There's nothing to be gained by dwelling on such things now. Come along, you two, and let Alec rest. Thero, you must compose your response to the prince and send word to the captain of the Lark that we mean to sail tomorrow."
Seregil turned and headed for the door with them. "I'll be back in a little while."
"Where are you going?" asked Alec.
"To talk to my sister."
Before Alec could get more of an answer than that, Seregil was gone again.
It was still raining, so Seregil brought Adzriel up to one of the rooftop colos. Its domed roof kept them dry, but the tall window openings hadn't been shuttered and the wind off the sea was raw. Sitting down on one of the stone benches, Adzriel pulled her cloak about her and looked up expectantly.
"I have a favor to ask of you," he told her.
"Are you speaking to me as your sister or a khirnari?"
Seregil smiled slightly. "Both?"
She patted the seat beside her and took his hand. The familiarity of it make him feel like a child again,