“Is that the real reason you saved him?” Aman asked.

“Not at all. He’s only the first of what I hope are many to be restored.”

“But you’ve only just met him. How do you know if you’ll get on?”

Thero smiled. “A wizard knows when he meets the right child.”

Tears stood in Aman’s eyes. “We only just got him back from the sleeping death. I don’t know what his mother will say. It will break her heart!”

“You and your wife will always be welcome at the House, and Mika can visit at home. Besides, I wouldn’t take him away so abruptly. He’ll need time to get used to the idea, just as you and your wife will. After Mourning Night and the winter festival is soon enough. In the meantime, you will all be my guests from time to time, and I will visit with Mika here, with your kind permission. I can teach him a few of the basics, and help him control his abilities.” Thero set his cup aside and stood up. “But I’m afraid I must have your answer now.”

“He could really kill someone?”

“Untrained wizard-born have no skill at controlling or channeling their powers. And if Mika is spontaneously manifesting that kind of ability at so young an age, then yes, he

will be dangerous and is likely to be killed. You have my oath on it.”

Aman cast an unhappy glance in the direction of the bedchamber, where Mika was chattering away with his mother. Her weeping had turned to laughter. “Not until after the festival? Perhaps that will be enough time for her.”

Thero resisted a loud sigh of relief. “Thank you, Aman. I promise you, Mika will have a very good life with me. I must go now, but I’ll return soon, and ask Mika myself if he wants to be my apprentice. Will you explain it to him in the meantime?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Thero extended his hand and Aman took it. The bargain was struck.

“What took you so long in there?” Micum demanded as they set off down the street.

“Discussing a few last details with the father.”

“Do you think Mika will be all right now?”

“Yes.”

“What did you learn from your magic? I saw the way you reacted.”

Thero explained the brief vision and what he’d felt.

“So we know how to cure Illia!”

“We’ll see.”

Micum’s face fell. “What do you mean by that?”

“The child is wizard-born. That might have had some effect, as well as the conditions under which I released him. He was very confused at first. I more or less told him how to get home. We must keep that in mind with the next one.”

Thero and Micum returned to the inn to find Seregil asleep on the couch and Kari pacing the sitting room carpet. Elsbet was asleep beside Illia. The little girl had been tucked into bed in one of Seregil’s nightshirts.

“Did you find the boy?” Kari asked.

“He’s alive!” Micum said, going to her. “Thero saved him.”

She rested her head on his shoulder as his arms went around her. “Thank the Maker!”

“And Illia?”

“Still the same.”

Thero went to her and took her hand in his. “We will save her, Kari. Even if it costs me my own life, I swear to you, we’ll save Illia.”

CHAPTER 42. Plenimar

FROM where she sat her horse in the front ranks that morning, Beka could see Klia just down the line, conferring with the queen and the other officers of her army. Phoria’s gold-chased breastplate and helm glinted in the light, and her tabard was the color of flame. Between that and the great white Skalan stallion she rode, you didn’t need the royal standard to find her in battle. Klia said something to her half sister and Phoria laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. Everyone was in good spirits today. Or almost everyone; down the line Beka could see Danos, grim and haggard as he sat his mount. In recent battles and skirmishes he’d been bold, but not foolish, yet it was clear the disgrace of his family and his severed relationship with Princess Elani weighed heavily on him.

The cold autumn wind off the Inner Sea made the myriad army standards snap on their poles, their varied colors bright against the blue Plenimaran sky. Black-headed gulls sailed overhead, mingling their shrill cries with the hiss of the wind through miles of long dry grass. Before Phoria’s massed army, the rolling hills of the Plenimaran frontier stretched into the distance, becoming foothills and then the jagged mountain ridges of the peninsula that connected Plenimar to the mainland. Between the Skalan army and the crucial pass there, what was left of the Overlord’s army stood in full array.

In less than three months since Klia’s troop had captured the vital ford, Phoria and her combined regiments and

warships had made a concentrated push, decimating the Plenimarans, and driving them back to their own doorstep.

Looking south, Beka could make out Plenimaran warships far out at sea, trying to stop a flotilla of Skala’s navy from making landfall. From this distance they looked like toys in a great tub.

There was movement in the rank behind her. Nyal emerged from the press and reined in his bay beside hers. His dark hair flowed loose beneath his scarred helmet, and Aurenfaie chain mail glittered above the front of his corselet.

“It’s a good day to fight, and good ground,” he remarked.

“It is.”

Their eyes met briefly, conveying all that they could not say here.

“A damn good day!” Sergeant Rylin exclaimed just down the row.

Others started to cheer, but Beka held up her hand for silence.

The Overlord left his lines and rode forward with a phalanx of officers under a flag of parlay. Phoria’s standard-bearer raised another and the queen galloped out with Klia and her guard to speak with him.

“This is it!” someone said among the ranks. “He’s got to capitulate now! We’ve got ’em!”

An excited murmur spread out from there, but Beka kept her eye on the queen. Klia had spent hours with the other officers in Phoria’s tent last night, and come away tight-lipped and silent.

The queen and the Plenimaran Overlord spoke for some time, small figures at this distance deciding whether or not any more blood was to be spilled.

They parted at last and each group rode back to their own lines. Klia rode back to Beka and Nyal, while Phoria remained out in front of the line.

Turning to face her army, Phoria addressed them in a ringing battlefield voice.

“My Skalan brothers and sisters, the Overlord has refused to surrender, despite our greater numbers. This-” She swept a gauntleted hand dismissively at the not inconsiderable

Plenimaran line. “This ragged company is all that stands between us and Benshal-between us and total victory!”

A great cheer rippled back through the ranks. The queen’s words were passed back over shoulders.

Phoria held up her hand again and silence fell. “You’ve all fought brilliantly this summer. Thanks to your valor, we have come farther than any Skalan army since the days of your great-grandparents. I ask you now to go farther still. Give me another victory today and I promise you, you will see the hidden lands of Plenimar through the eyes of conquerors!” She paused as another cheer went up, not quite as enthusiastic as the last one.

Beka glanced over at Klia, but the commander kept her gaze on the queen. She wasn’t smiling now.

More than the Plenimaran forces stood between them and Benshal; the mountains loomed ahead, the passes perhaps still crawling with defenders, and winter coming on. Snow showed on some of the higher peaks already. Even without resistance, it would take more than a few days to traverse those heights-and who knew what lay beyond? More troops in reserve? An armed populace? Unless they captured the Overlord and paraded him before the army, the chances of resistance were high.

“My brothers and sisters!” Phoria continued. “This day we have the chance to secure the lasting safety of Skala. No more will Plenimaran armies march on us. No more will their ships plunder our vessels and coast, carrying Skalan citizens off into wretched slavery. No more will they choke off the Gold Road and starve our treasuries, our people. In our beloved homeland, people are suffering now, this very day, from the deprivations caused by Plenimar’s boundless aggression. Our people! Our loved ones! And those who have spilled their blood to keep us free of Plenimar’s yoke! My brothers and sisters, will you stand with me this day to preserve the future of our homeland?”