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."Will you allow him to be his own man?"The king smiled."I can.Will you stay?" He put his hand on hers."Only long enough to write a letter," she said."If, that is, you willdeliver it for me.""How can I? I've said I can't leave these isles.""You said you will not but there's a way, isn't there?"He nodded reluctantly."I'll deliver it if only because while you write it,you'll remain here a little while."He led her to a tall room with shiny tables and walls lined with shelvedscrolls, a hauntingly familiar room the original after which Anselm's libraryhad been patterned.Minho did not have to show her fresh vellums, or where wasa cabinet of inkpots and quills.Even the furniture was identical to her ownmaster's.She wrote, explaining what had to be done to drive the demon from Marie, andto keep it from the world.Minho put hands on her shoulders and smiled down at her."I wish you wouldreconsider."She enjoyed the warmth of his touch, and would have been glad for more ofit but shook her head."Would you give up your kingdom and come with me intothe much-changed world beyond?""You know I can't.""You will not.You could.As I could linger here.""I'll wait for you to finish your task.Come back, when you can and will.""And Ansulim?" she asked."I'll see what can be done.Now go, before I weaken and create a spell toPage 204ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlhold you here a spell to make you want to stay."She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, a mere brush of her lips but he turnedhis head and held her for a protracted kiss.His lips were feverish.Longmoments elapsed before she even thought of pulling away."Good-bye," she said, her cheeks flushed, her legs shaky.She did notrecreate her misty conveyance.Instead, a magpie fluttered upward with a greatcommotion of feathers and cries.* * *A magpie on silent wings alit beside the sleeping Guihen."You're back!" heexclaimed, immediately wide awake.Then he glared."You said you wouldspeakwith the king.You didn't tell me you were going to.""Oh, hush.I tried to send a voice on the wind, but my whispers echoed fromthe rocks of the coast, and only sea birds heard them.You can't imagine howdifficult it was.I combined seven spells to carry me, and seven more, onesnever before spoken, to slip past the confoundations that lie like mist aroundthe Isles.""Was Minho surprised that you defeated his defenses?""Guihen, it was so odd.As if he knew me; not just in Ma's dream, when I wasa child.He asked me to wed him.And I don't believe that his spells aloneisolate him the working of events in this world wall him away, though he won'tadmit it, and he said he'll try to help Anselm, and.""Ah, child, take a moment to breathe.Even my ears can't take in so much, soquickly.Now tell me one thing at a time."* * *"We must return to camp," Guihen said, rising."Time hasn't been stilled whilewe talked, and the others will be concerned.""Oh.Should I have.""No no more spells.You've amazed and frightened me enough."Pierrette had not thought her effort frightening.The magic had been complex,but here where all magics adhered precisely to their original postulates,precision was enough.There had been no need to dodge shifting, changingpremises, constantly on watch for the slightest unpredictable result."I fear your blindness," he added, "not the inconstant nature of spells.""Blindness? What do you mean?""You call what you have done `magic,' as if any masc could do it, but you didwhat few could making new spells on the wing, and shaping reality to yourrequirements.That's not magic, and you're more than a mage.You are asorceress."Was it true? Was that the difference shaping new concepts and connectionsinstead of reusing old? If so, she had realized her childhood goal.butshe felt no different.There had been no clear crossing from one state toanother.She had grown.So had her abilities, and the scope of the challengesshe took on, but there had been no qualitative change, only a continuum oflearning, study, and practice, of making connections between widely separatedparts of a greater whole.Everything had begun when she first opened her eyesPage 205ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmland made a simple association between her mother's face and the sweet milkfrom her breast [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]