Valdemar 11 - [Owl Mage 02] - Owlsight Read online

  “It’s just as good doing metal work,” added another. “The hertasi haven’t got the strength to make anything large, or anything out of iron or steel. If you want a sword with a proper blade of twelve-folded steel, it has to be one of us who makes it—and who could get tired of that sort of work?”

  “The hertasi can’t blow glass either. It’s too dangerous for them to get that close to the furnaces,” said a girl with a profusion of scarlet-and-gold glass beads strung on the hair of one side of her head. “The glass work has to be done by humans.”

  The others chimed in with similar praise for their professions, and he now learned that most of the Hawkbrothers of k’Vala were actually craftspeople, with only minor abilities at magic. In this little group alone, there were the weaver and smith, both in training, as well as Nightbird who trained to care for the gryphons, Summerdance who was going to be a plant worker, and the girl glassblower and a young man who was already a practicing fletcher. A Vale was truly a largely self-sufficient organism; certainly as self-sufficient as Errold’s Grove had ever been.

  After they’d all finished eating, the group somehow stayed together, and went off to virtually take over one of the dancing circles. At that point, Summerdance found a partner with as much energy as she, and relinquished Darian’s company to Nightbird. Since Nightbird had not yet heard the tervardi sing, and Darian’s lessons had not included the complicated couple dances the others were performing, he went with her back to the platform and happily sat through two more sessions of their music.

  Finally, though, the long day began to catch up with him, and he caught himself yawning.

  “I’m ready for more dancing,” Nightbird declared, when the music group took another break. She glanced over at him, caught him in mid-yawn, and giggled. “You look more like you’d rather be asleep.”

  Since she’d carefully said “asleep” and not “in bed,” he took the comment at face value and not as another invitation. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and grinned sheepishly. “Well,” he temporized, “I was up at the break of day, and running from the time my feet hit the ground.”

  She laughed. “I’ll tell you what; partner me for one dance set, and then we’ll see how you feel.”

  He nodded agreement and helped her to her feet; they wound their way across the Vale until, quite by accident, they came across a third dance circle and joined it. This one, populated by people of Snowfire’s generation, wasn’t quite as rowdy as the one that Summerdance had gravitated to, but it was lively enough for Darian.

  Once again, these were dances that Darian had not learned, but they were easy enough to follow. This was a cross between a couple dance and a round dance, with each couple performing the moves of the set in turn while the others kept time, clapping. The dancers put Nightbird and Darian at the end of the line, which gave him seven chances to learn the next move before he had to do it. The dances moved briskly, with some pretty acrobatic moves as the dances grew more complicated with each new tune. There was quite a lot of twirling, turning, and lifting one’s partner, and Darian found himself running out of energy after a while. So did Nightbird, too, evidently; after that one set of dances, she retired from the field, declaring herself defeated by her own lagging energy. “I’m for a swim,” she decided after a moment. “What about you?”

  A swim seemed like a good idea; a fine way to cool off after all that dancing. Conveniently enough, the large swimming pond turned out to be just on the other side of the trees and bushes screening the dance circle; Nightbird just led him around the corner, and there it was. There were other people at the swimming area who’d had the same idea, but the place was quiet and only dimly lit with flickering lanterns with colored paper shades, and no one seemed bothered by two more joining them. Single swimmers drifted across the still surface with leisurely, slow strokes, barely making a splash, or floated on their backs, feathering the water with gentle movements of only their hands.

  Nightbird slipped out of her gown while he was still letting his eyes adjust to the relative darkness, and she plunged into the water without a backward look. He peeled off his clothing and followed, taking sensuous enjoyment in the silken feeling of the cool water on his hot skin: He concentrated only on making as little sound and turbulence as possible, to preserve the tranquil atmosphere.

  Darian crossed the pond a few times, then the last of his energy ran out completely. Spotting a pile of towels and robes at the side of the pond, he climbed out, dried off, and helped himself to a loose, comfortable robe from the piles beside the pool.

  Most of the other swimmers were gone, leaving the quiet pond, the soft light, and the sound of music drifting over from the dancing circle. Darian yawned. I don’t want to go to bed yet-but I’d like to find a place to lie down and rest for a little bit without getting in anyone ’s way.

  It occurred to him that there should be several lounging places here, tents made of insect netting draped over frames with flat cushions inside, just large enough for one or two to rest in after swimming, or for child watchers to sit in while keeping an eye on little ones playing in the pond. After a moment, he found several, tucked into a curve of foliage. They were all empty, and he parted the netting and settled himself down inside one, feeling luxuriously indolent but no longer sleepy—or so he thought.

  The next thing he knew, it was quite light outside his shelter, and there were hertasi moving about, picking up the odd plate, cup, or pair of breeches left beside the water. He felt entirely rested, so he must have slept soundly and well—so soundly that, whatever had gone on around him, it hadn’t disturbed him in the least.

  And, as he had expected, Kuari had found him. Apparently baffled by the enshrouding folds of the insect netting, the eagle-owl perched on the frame of the shelter, vaguely visible through the fog of netting.

  He found the opening in the net and fought clear of it, shaking the frame just enough to wake Kuari. The bondbird opened one eye halfway, then roused all his feathers with a pleased expression when he saw that it was Darian and he was awake.

  :Hunt?: Kuari asked eagerly, his huge golden eyes staring unblinking at Darian. : Real hunt, not stupid coop birds?:

  :Poor Kuari. It has been a while since we went hunting, hasn’t it?: he said with sympathy that was in no small part induced by the fact that he himself felt very good. : Come on, I’ll get changed. You go see if you can get Kel to go along, and we’ll go for a real hunt.:

  Kuari hooted with enthusiasm, and shoved off from the frame, which threatened to topple over as he left it. Darian saved it from imminent cohapse, then gathered his robe around him, picked up his clothing from where he’d left it, and trotted for his quarters.

  When he emerged from the door of the guest lodges, clean and dressed in one of his old sets of scout clothing, with a bow and quiver in his hand and a light pack on his back, Kelvren and Kuari were waiting for him. Kuari was fluffed up and standing on a branch with one foot tucked under his feathers, and Kelvren posed in a beam of sunlight.

  The young gryphon had actually grown a bit since Darian had first met him four years ago, adding muscle to his chest and legs. His head had matured as well; definitely aquiline, it no longer had that faintly “unfinished” look that young eagles and adolescent gryphons shared.

  Every gleaming, golden-brown feather was neatly in place, from his ear-tufts to the tip of his tail; his talons were freshly honed, and his bright eyes gleamed with sheer delight in living. Obviously, though others might be suffering from a little too much self-indulgence last night, Kel wasn’t one of their number.

  “Wind to thy wingsss!” Kelvren saluted him genially, his eyes flashing with good humor and eagerness. “And I hope yourrr courrting wass asss ssssuccesssful asss mine!”

  Darian laughed; Kelvren was as much a hedonist at heart as any other gryphon, and as frankly uninhibited. “And if it was?” he asked.

  “Then neitherrr of usss will have complaintss about ourrr homecoming,” Kel replied with a wink.
“Kuarri sssaid we hunt; that iss a good thought. Nothing much getss done the day afterrr a celebrrrration, even the herrrtassi do not do much but pick up a bit. No one cookss, mealss will be what wassn’t consssumed yessterday. Sssince I will make my own kill, I will make my own choice, and it would be good to get sssome frrresssh wild meat.”

  “That’s essentially what Kuari said, and I’m all for it.” Darian hefted his bow and quiver of arrows by way of confirmation. “Where should we head for?”

  “Norrth of the Vale entrance,” Kel replied promptly. “I hearrd good rrreporrtss of the hunting in that dimection.”

  “I packed up some of the leftovers from the feast for myself, so we don’t have to come back until dark—how do we post word of where we’re going?” When he and Kel had gone out hunting together back in Valdemar, that had been the inflexible rule—post where you are going, and be back no later than a candlemark after dark. That way, if something happened to you, people would know that you were overdue, and what direction you’d been heading when you ran into trouble.

  “I alrrready did,” Kel assured him. “With Firrrelance the chief trrrrondi’irrrn, with Peluverrr, the seniorrr grrryphon, and with both theirrr herrrtasi. Ssso sssince you have prrrovissionsss, we can go!”

  He was obviously itching to be on the wing, because as soon as he had finished speaking, he launched himself up into the sky, sending clouds of dust and debris in all directions. Darian was used to his impatience by now, so he sent Kuari up after him with a nudge of his thoughts, then followed both of them afoot, a little eager and impatient himself.

  “Ahhhhhh—Kelvren spread his wings and legs out in the sun, flattening himself against the soft meadow grass, and started to get the glazed, half-conscious look he always wore when he was seriously sunbathing. He looked drunk, or drugged, or stunned, or—

  “You look like a gryphon-rug,” Darian observed, layering meat, cheese, watercress, and sliced peppers between two rounds of the flatbread he’d first tasted last night. He set out more of the honey-and-nut pastries on a broad leaf, and propped his flask of cool spring water beside them. Kelvren turned his head just enough to give him a disgusted look.

  “What a vile notion,” the gryphon replied. “Wherrre do you get thossse perrrverrrted ideasss?”

  Darian took a hearty mouthful of his meal, and made a point of chewing it thoughtfully before he swallowed it and responded. “Mostly from the fact that you’ve flattened yourself out until that is exactly what you look like. The only other comparisons I could make would be a lot less flattering than that one. The only thing round about you right now is your crop.”

  Since an entire young wild pig now resided in that crop, it might well bulge. Kelvren had not only been successful, he’d had just enough of a chase to give him some excitement, followed by a fine, clean kill.

  Kuari had been just as successful, snaring an unwary tree-hare, and he drowsed on top of a stump in the shade of a small tree on the edge of this clearing.

  The meadow itself, formed when one of the enormous Pelagiris trees toppled over and took several of its brethren with it, made a fine place for everyone to rest. Darian was going to come home just as much of a mighty hunter as the others, though he had no wish to eat his catch raw. He had four fine young brush-grouse, a delicacy that everyone enjoyed; he intended to present Starfall with one, Snowfire with two, and keep the fourth for himself. There was no reason at all why he couldn’t roast it on a spit for dinner tonight; he knew how to cook, and maybe Summerdance might be interested in sharing his meal. She’d probably want some of the handsome feathers, too, so he’d remember to save them.

  He’d hung them to bleed them out; he’d field-dress them before he put them in his now-empty pack. Kel and Kuari would probably clean up after him when he did.

  That would be later in the afternoon; for now, they would sunbathe and enjoy their holiday, because tomorrow, Darian’s education in magic would begin in earnest, and he expected to have few holidays for some time to come.

  He finished his meal and washed it down with spring water. Off in the distance, birds sang and a couple of crows yelled at each other; in the meadow, crickets and spring-frogs vied to see who could chirp the better mating calls. Darian lay back in the soft grass and shaded his face with a fallen, leaf-covered branch he’d stuck in the earth at his head.

  “So you had a lady-friend last night, did you?” he asked lazily. “Do I know her?”

  Kel revived from his trance, pulled in wings and legs, and brought his head up. “Do I know yourrrss?” he replied.

  “Probably. Summerdance?”

  Kel chuckled. “And yourrr courrting wass ssuccessful.” It wasn’t a question. He sounded knowing, and Darian raised his own head to look at his friend with suspicion.

  “And just what do you know?” he demanded.

  Kel examined his right front foot and daintily preened a talon with the tip of his beak. “Oh, jusst that Nightbirrd and Sssummerrdance arrre besst frriendsss and often nearrrr my lairrr. The otherrr day they werre therre, and both sspeaking—hmm—ssspeculatively about you. Gryphonsss,” he added wickedly, as an afterthought, “have verrry keen hearrring.”

  “And what did they say?” His own ears burned, but he couldn’t help but be interested. Kel wouldn’t be teasing me if it wasn’t good.

  Kel’s eyelids drooped lazily. “Who am I to rrreveal a lady’sss sssecretsss?” he demanded. “That would be ungentlemanly.” As Darian rose, outrage at being led on and impatience warring for supremacy on his face, Kel made haste to add, “I can sssay that they werrre flatterrring, and that Nightbirrd generrrousssly sssuggesssted that, sssince herrr sssisssterr might be a little too interrresssted in the matching of herrrssself and you—given that Snowfirrre issss yourrr elderrr brrrotherrrr—well, ssshe conceded the field to Sssummerrrdance, who hasss no such complicationsss with relationsss.”

  Darian subsided, his ears and neck now so hot that he really didn’t want to hear anything more. “We had a good time,” he replied lamely. “What about you?”

  Kel chuckled again; if there was a way to embarrass a gryphon on the subject of “courting,” Darian had yet to find it. “Ah, my parrrtnerrr wasss the lovely and lissssome Arrrkeyla. Trrruly a magical crrreaturrre! Ssshe isss of my yearrrr in the Sssilverrrs, and told me afterrr that ssshe wissshed to make my homecoming trrruly memorrrable.” He sighed, and stretched out his talons, digging them into the grass in blissful happiness. “Sssuch a lady! Bright of eye, ssswift of wing, and sssso ssskilled! We matched each otherrr in the airrr, ssstrroke for ssstrrroke, rrracing againsst the moon in courrrting flight. Once we werrre alone, out of sssight of the otherrsss, ssshe—”

  “Kel, I don’t really need the details!” Darian interrupted, his embarrassment redoubled, if that was possible. “I’m just glad you had a good time together.”

  Kel cast an annoyed glance at Darian, and now finally noticed how fierce his friend’s blushes were; Kel’s annoyance melted away under his amusement. “You could sssay that. You could alssso ssssay that the sssummerrr sssun cassstssss reasssonable light, and be asss accurrrate. I tell you—”

  “Kel!” he said forcefully. “I believe you. You don’t have to say anything more!”

  Kelvren’s gurgling laugh did nothing to ease his embarrassment, but at least the gryphon was appeased enough to drop the subject.

  “I hearrd that you arrre expected to take yourrr Vale sssome time afterrr Midsssummerrr,” he offered, after Darian’s blushes finally cooled a bit.

  Darian seized the change of subject gladly. “That’s what they’ve told me,” he confirmed. “Of course, it won’t really be my Vale until I’m a lot older, but everyone seems to take it as written that I’ll eventually be the one in charge there. They want a permanent presence in residence before the first snow falls, so I expect they’ll be sending a group out there as soon as they think I’m ready.” He paused for a moment, then added, “Want to come along? We’ll need a good team, but one that’s committed
to permanent residence.”

  “I would be affrrrronted if you hadn’t asssked me, and I would have been forrrced to find a way to enssurrre you did!” Kel exclaimed. “I am all but cerrrtain that Nightwind and Sssnowfirrre intend to be parrrt of the grrroup. They ssshould have one grrryphon, at leassst.”

  “Well, I was wondering if you’d want to leave here so soon,” he teased, “After all, when your courting is going so well—”

  “And I am harrrrdly rrready to sssettle and nesst build!” Kelvren shot back. “I have no intention of choossssing a mate until asss many ladiesss asss possssible arrre contending forrr the honorrr. Besssidesss, the new Vale at Errrold’ssss Grrrove is not ssso farrr frrrom herrrre that a lady could not fly in forrr a visit—orrr a gentleman rrrreturrn the favorrr!”

  “Point taken,” Darian conceded. He rubbed at an insect bite and wished that the time for departure had actually been set; then he’d know how much time he had here and could make some plans of his own. “I wonder if this new teacher that Starfall wants for me is expected to come with us? For that matter, I wonder if Starfall’s been able to get him to agree to be my teacher! I haven’t heard a word, so far.”

  “Hmm. I have.” There was no mistaking that tone in Kelvren’s voice; he was quite ready to tease Darian all over again. He would have to be coaxed for every revelation.

  “So what have you heard?” Darian decided to play along; Kel loved to tease and be teased in return.

  “I have hearrrd—that the teacherrr in quessstion wasss reluctant at firrrsst, but agrrreed.” Kel considered a talon with a thoughtful expression that was entirely feigned.

  “Why was he reluctant?” Darian did want to know that much; was it because he was essentially an outsider to the Tayledras?

  “Becaussse he wissshed a holiday frrrom ssstudentsss. Ssso I hearrrd. Ssstill, Ssstarrfall convinced him.” Kel stretched his neck out and laid his head down in the grass. “I gatherrr that Ssstarrfall hasss sssome connection with him. Rrrelativesss, perrrhapsss. Enough to be of influence.”