Chapter 29

Elf took extra care with her appearance as they prepared for the last leg of the journey. They had stopped just outside Haven at midnight rather than try to navigate the twisting warren of roads.

She had got up early to groom Dayna to a high shine. The Companion had deliberately not told her esteemed father they were coming so they wouldn't be told to go back, and for the extra drama when they showed up decidedly not dead. Dayna's mane was braided with some carefully hoarded ribbon Keka had already tried to steal before he had been chased off to hunt down some breakfast.

Elf had three scarves wound in her hair, about twenty bead necklaces and several bead bracelets and more that were silver. She dressed in her version of grays with two more scarves tied around the tops of her boots.

Silverdoe rolled over with a groan and spied Elf straightening her hair as best he could with her regular morning stiffness. "It's barely dawn." She groaned.

Elf blushed. "I'm nervous."

"Nervous?" Silverdoe propped herself up on her elbows. "Why?"

"I might see Deven." Elf blushed.

"Deven?" Silverdoe grinned. "Well, if you see him he is bound to be impressed, if he can find you under all the beads and scarves."

Elf's shoulders slumped.

Silverdoe pulled herself out of her bedroll and pulled on her clothing quickly. "Sa'vin, it's your turn to make breakfast." She said as she toed his still form.

She was answered by a groan and a dark muttering about letting sleeping men lie.

Silverdoe was yawning still as she pulled out all of Elf's scarves and brushed out her hair. "Your hair would look nice left down."

"Do what you think is best." Elf said as Silverdoe went to work.

Silverdoe used a strand of beads and braided it in with Elf's hair. Taking some of the white spattered hair at Elf's temple she braided it across her forehead.

"There, simple and a touch exotic." Silverdoe pronounced. Elf touched the braid across her forehead and the matching ones that hung down beside her face.

"Thanks." Elf stood. "What about the rest of me?"

Silverdoe eyed the ensemble critically. It was busy and colorful, but it was all Elf. "It looks perfect."

Dayna tossed her head. :Can we tie those spare scarves to my saddle pad? They will look so lovely fluttering in the wind.:

"Aren't you worried about Keka tangling them?" Silverdoe asked. "Speaking of the rascal, where is he?"

"Hunting breakfast." Elf answered. "When he comes back I am going to have to put his leash on, so I thought I would let him have some freedom and hope he doesn't come back with some farmer's pet goat."

Silverdoe yawned as she handed Elf the spare scarves and settled on a log next to the revived fire. "At least you made some tea; you can feel the fall in the air this morning."

Elf hummed happily to herself as she tied the scarves.

Sa'vin raised his head with a groan. "I think I see the value of traveling with your home on wheels." He said as he did most mornings. He had the graveyard watch. Even though they were in Valdemar, Silverdoe and Sa'vin insisted on maintaining the watch. Elf now had the morning watch since she was getting up anyway; her excitement at returning had multiplied each day of their travels.

Silverdoe handed him a tin mug of the strong tea. "You poor spoiled Shin'a'in." She said teasingly."

Keka bound into their clearing with a fat game bird hanging limp in his mouth and dropped it at Elf's feet and leapt to Dayna's back to groom the evidence of the hunt from his fur.

Sa'vin shed his blankets and collected the offering. "Charred bird it is, thank you little hunter."

Keka chirped in return.

"The traffic will be pretty bad by now, they can't have the large carts on the roads an hour after full sunrise, but Dayna thinks they will make way for us because she is a Companion. She's the expert so I would like to get going as soon as we can." Elf rambled.

"Will the trainees be up?" Silverdoe asked with a grin.

Elf flushed. "They will be by the time we get there."

"But that doesn't mean we are going to eat raw bird for you." Sa'vin pointed out. "Sit down and save your energy if you want to be able to walk without your cane when we get there."

Elf flopped onto the log and slumped her shoulders.

Sa'vin laughed at her mutinous expression. "Do you think Veki had a boy or a girl?" He asked.

"A girl." Elf answered promptly.

"How do you know?" Sa'vin challenged. "You don't have farsight, foresight, or anything like that."

Silverdoe sipped her tea and watched Elf stiffen and look slowly over. "There is scrying, or there is simply magic and she likely examined the child before we left. I did and knew it was a girl."

"And you never mentioned it?" Sa'vin said in annoyance.

"I was checking to see if the child was going to be as gifted as Elf." Silverdoe explained. "If she was Gifted, I was going to suggested to Veki they talk to the clans and arrange for teachers down the road."

"And is she? Gifted I mean." Sa'vin prodded.

"Very." Elf answered. "My grandmother told me. She said she is going to watch over her closer than she did me because she is so close to the Tayledras and she doesn't want one of her grandchildren to be forced into anything."

"Her grandmother." Sa'vin shook his head. "Someday I want to meet this mage who doesn't seem to be hampered at all by the magestorms."

"White Gryphon was far enough out that much of their leylines and nodes have recovered on their own faster than ours have." Elf explained. "All her healing spells were destroyed, but much of the tainted magic they were meant to cure was cleansed by the storms. A few of her human patients didn't fare well but the damage was not as bad as it could be. Now she is recreating smaller versions of her healing spells to fix what damage was done by the new storms and those circles it left behind and trying to figure out how to reverse the changes they've found in people and animals with less power than she had before."

Sa'vin's bored look was enough to remind Elf that not everyone was fascinated by the workings of magic. Elf and her Grandmother had long discussions about magic and theories.

"How's the bird coming?" She asked.

Sa'vin held up the newly plucked bird. "Getting there."

Elf heaved a sigh as Sa'vin set the bird over the fire.

"Little Kayvia, a problem following orders have you." A raspy voice observed.

"Alberich!" Elf shrieked and nearly sprinted to the older Herald who was standing next to his Companion, Kantor. "I missed you." She greeted him in Karsite.

"Stand back and let me look at you." He ordered with a fond smile. "You have grown like a weed."

"You don't have to tell me." Elf said as she tugged down her sleeves. "How did you know we were here?"

Alberich favored her with an enigmatic smile.

"Oh, I brought you a gift." Elf said and scrambled to her saddlebags.

"Care to join us?" Silverdoe invited. "As for following orders, she had no explicit orders to stay there. I've heard tales of the dread Alberich of the Heralds, somehow they are hard to mesh with the stories Elf tells of you."

"Most are true not." Alberich said uncomfortably as he sat down.

"Right." Sa'vin drawled in accented Valdemaran. "Rumor has it you are a harsher teacher than Cousin Kerowyn and would do a Swordsworn proud. I've been looking forward to seeing your abilities."

Elf returned with a leather wrapped package, pushed it into his hands, and plopped onto the ground next to the fire, watching Alberich intently.

Alberich peeled back the leather to reveal a goblet with a sun in glory set in amber on the side.

"I thought it might match your window." Elf explained. "I haven't seen it so I had to guess."

Alberich admired the craftsmanship on the piece. "I don't recognize this design work."

Elf leaned over so she could see it. "They don't have any special meaning that I know of but I thought it looked masculine. All angles and geometric. It had a twin with a moon in moonstone on it with swirls than I gave to a Tayledras mage back in the tower as a farewell and thank you gift for teaching me some magic. They have much blurrier borders between the genders. I bought gifts for all the mages the summer before last since I knew I wouldn't be staying too much longer. Oh, we ran into one of the bandits, they knew I was on the Plains but he's not a problem anymore. Keka killed him, severed a couple arteries in his neck and he bled to death before I could question him."

"What?" Alberich stared at her in horror. Silverdoe and Sa'vin had missed the conversation since it was in Karsite.

"Magic or bandit?" Elf asked.

"Bandits." Alberich clarified.

"One of the survivors had a bunch of bandits set to ambush us but Silverdoe and Sa'vin, oh, I haven't made introductions—"

"Finish explaining the bandits." Alberich ordered.

"Silverdoe and Sa'vin killed most of the bandits and Keka killed the one from here in Valdemar." Elf explained quickly.

"Who is Keka?" Alberich asked.

Elf whistled and Keka raised his mostly silver head and peered at Alberich with his great golden eyes, before springing to the ground and bounding over to Elf.

"This Keka." Elf introduced. "I guess you can say he is my pet but it's more like a familiar I think. I accidentally called him with magic. I can't lie; I have had some mistakes, but no more frogs raining from the sky. And a few weren't really mistakes but I probably shouldn't have done it. No harm was done, except to Darkice and I still have no idea what the spell did to him."

Elf looked over at her escorts who were looking rather amused.

"Sorry, Alberich these are my dear friends and teachers Silverdoe and Sa'vin." Elf introduced in Valdemaran. "Silverdoe, Sa'vin, this is Herald Alberich."

Alberich offered a hand to Keka to inspect; he sniffed it carefully, used his little hands to turn it over and made certain there was no treat before he dismissed Alberich.

"Let's eat and be on our way." Sa'vin suggested. "You can corner her for explanations later." He tore off a chunk of meat and handed it to Elf and another to Alberich.

Elf chattered on about their travels, seeing her extended family, her studies, and her friends on the plains as they ate but somehow managed to demolish her share of the food.

Alberich merely nodded and watched her. He had not been expecting to find Elf as she had been when she left but her improvement was more than he hoped for. It was reassuring that for all her changes he could still see the girl in the young woman before him. However, now he could sense a darkness in her. He'd sensed it first when she had tried to gloss over the incident with the bandits. Her eyes had hardened briefly and she had given him nearly no details. She also had yet to explain why she was here and not back on the plains where she was safe. Now was not the time to press her. He had a feeling her reasons were not something that could be explained to a nonHerald.

~*~

The sun was well clear of the horizon by the time they neared the palace gates. Elf and Dayna had been silent for the last half candlemark allowing Sa'vin and Silverdoe to share a few of the more humorous escapades of Elf's exile. Even he blanched at the idea of the Lytharean clan.

Elf ignored the stories.

:Who is first person you are going to search out?: Dayna asked. :Dirk or Deven?:

Elf's cheeks grew pink. :Deven probably doesn't remember me. Besides, I have a lot to tell Dirk. Are you going to wait for your father to come to you or are you going to search him out?:

:I won't have to look for him, trust me.: Dayna said almost ruefully. :I am going to be in sooo much trouble. But I have to follow my own heart and instincts, not even he can argue with that, and I will tell him so too.:

:And some of what we did was worth the trouble, right?: Elf chuckled.

:If you get in trouble for leaving early, you can blame me. I felt we needed to return just as badly as you did.: Dayna said seriously. :Unfinished business and all that.:

:From what I have read, Heralds doing their own thing has been expected since the dawn of Valdemar. Although the Circle does appear to be cracking down more now. They are better off herding cats according to Chronicler Asus.: Elf grinned at the memory of the chronicler. He had been brutally blunt about the failures of his time and as he got older he became more critical about where things were headed.

:He always was a grouchy curmudgeon.: Dayna snorted. :You know, I forgot how bad the city smells. I think someone relieved himself in that alley.:

Elf wrinkled her nose. :I have smelled worse. At least here is no blood or rotting body smells.:

:You're still having nightmares, aren't you.: Dayna commented with worry in her voice.

Elf twisted in the saddle to scratch Keka's ears. :It will fade eventually. And it's nothing compared to the ones I have about my family. Now enough fretting, how long until we are at the gates?:

:At least another candlemark with this traffic. I'd rather not take a shortcut because Sa'vin and Silverdoe wouldn't be able to follow on those horses without risking damage to passersby.: Dayna explained.

Behind Elf, Gorgeous snorted as if in agreement.

:Trainees rarely leave the grounds so this may be the last time we get to ride through the city for some time.: Dayna commented. :Most trainees don't have money until they get their Whites anyways. Speaking of money, you may want to be careful about flaunting your money like you did in Kata'shin'a'in.:

:I needed the clothing!: Elf protested. :And compared to prices elsewhere those were great prices.:

:Just reminding you to be considerate. The Collegium is the great equalizer for Heralds. Everyone does equal work and gets equal treatment.: Dayna said loftily.

Elf rolled her eyes. :You sound like your father.:

Dayna stopped in her tracks. :I do not!:

Behind them Alberich chuckled and Sa'vin and Silverdoe shook their heads.

:All officious and self important.: Elf persisted.

:Want to walk?: Dayna threatened.

:What would all your friends say if they saw you making your crippled Herald walk?: Elf asked.

:That she walks well for a cripple.: Dayna retorted.

"Are you two ready to keep going?" Sa'vin asked.

Dayna looked over her shoulder at the warrior and stuck her tongue out but resumed walking.

"I hope Heralds are allowed to argue with their Companions." Silverdoe said to Alberich.

Kantor snorted.

"They are allowed." Alberich assured her. "Companions are perfect not."

Kantor ignored his Chosen but Dayna snorted and trotted faster.

~*~

Dirk dismissed the two students in his class and settled in the chair behind his desk. Some days nothing seemed to go right. Both of his students were struggling with the basics. One was almost paralyzed with fear that he would make a mistake and someone would be hurt. The other was a Farseer who was there to learn how to link with a Fetcher. Deven, was under pressure from his family to actually leave the ranks of the Heralds and marry some girl they had picked out for him. He refused any offers of help from his teachers to intervene, insisting he had to deal with them on his own but his scholastic performance was suffering.

Deven was the youngest of three boys in that family. The eldest had died during the war with Ancar. The other brother was completely uninterested in his family's business of spice imports; instead he was following in his elder brother's footsteps and in the army. Deven had a knack to numbers and dealing with people so his parents had settled on him carrying on the business only to have him stolen away by the Heralds.

"How are your students?" A fellow teacher asked from the doorway.

"They're struggling." Dirk admitted. "Deven is so distracted he rarely finds his target and Justan is panicking anytime he moves something so much as an inch."

"What are you doing about them?" The other Herald took a seat in one of the student chairs.

"Justan will come around. It will just take patience. Deven however…" Dirk shook his head. "He refuses all help when it comes to his family and has yet to take a firm stand against them."

"Have you tried talking to him?" The other teacher asked.

"Several times. He listens then says he will take care of it." Dirk rubbed his temples. "The boy has a lot of potential, if only he would stop focusing on his parents."

"Sounds like he feels guilty over his brother's death to me. Have you talked to him about it?"

Dirk nodded. "I just don't think its guilt over his brother that is holding him back. I think it's his parents."

"No one knows your strings better than the people who tied them there, right? How long has he been distracted like this?"

"About a month. But his parents have been after him to leave since he was Chosen."

"I say give him another fortnight and then interfere. He is seventeen, he could be trying to fix it on his own and you just don't see what is being done." The teacher advised. "Until then focus on Justan."

"That was what I was planning on doing but I hate the idea of neglecting a student."

A student charging past the doorway was the first sign something was going on.

"Was that Deven?" The other Herald asked.

"It was." Dirk stood and strode after him.

Deven hadn't closed the door as he charged out into the courtyard so Dirk could see a pair of Companions passing through the gate. Alberich he recognized but the other girl looked more like a Shin'a'in than a Valdemaran. Behind her was a Tayledras with a merlin on her shoulder and Shin'a'in swordsworn dressed in dark brown.

Deven slid to a stop and gaped.

Dirk stopped next to him. "Alberich, do we have a new trainee?"

The young woman laughed and slid to the ground. "Do I really look that different?"

"It's the beads." The Tayeldras teased in heavily accented Valdemaran. "The glitter is blinding him."

"Elf. They said you were dead." Deven said in awe.

Elf turned bright crimson and fiddled with a ribbon in Dayna's mane. "We had to lie to everyone so they could hide me."

Deven stepped forward to help Elf out of her saddle.

"Elf? My gods girl, you look incredible!" Dirk said in belated recognition.

Elf turned to give him a hug. "I couldn't stay there any longer."

Dirk noticed her glancing at the other trainee out of the corner of her eye and caught a glimpse of an odd, yet familiar look on Deven's face.

"I'll get your bags." Deven said and started to reach for the furry bundle on the back of her saddle only to have the bundle stretch and reveal a full set of wicked claws then raise a round head with fuzzy ears and wickedly long teeth.

Elf turned back and scratched the creature's ears. "This is Keka. He's my familiar or pet or something."

Keka leaped to the ground revealing his long, lean body and limbs. His long tail swished a few times as he surveyed the small welcoming party before sitting down and leaning against Elf for a scratch.

"Here my boy." The Shin'a'in pressed a leading rein into Deven's hand. "Her luggage."

Deven glanced at her one more time before leading the horse to the stables.

"Why are you here?" Dirk asked, his voice hard.

Elf sighed. "I couldn't stay there. I can defend myself with magic and Keka doesn't flinch when it comes to defending me."

"The bandits knew she was there." Alberich said suddenly.

"What?" Dirk's voice was loud enough to cause Gorgeous to side step nervously.

"A crowd is gathering." The Tayledras informed Dirk. "You two can question her later. But unless you want everyone knowing why she was sent away you best be silent on the topic."

"Oh, Dirk, this is my teacher, Silverdoe, and Sa'vin, the brother of my host. They were kind enough to join me." Elf quickly introduced.

Rolan cantered up to the group and slid to a stop in front of his daughter.

Elf watched him worriedly but Dayna tossed her head and didn't back away so she assumed Dayna was not in trouble, yet.

"A new trainee? Welcome to Haven." The teacher Dirk had been talking to strolled up. "My name is Larin."

"Pleased to meet you Herald Larin." Elf smiled up at the Herald. "But I'm not new, I've been a trainee for three years. By the way, I am Elflet Lytharean."

"Must have had quite the adventure these last couple years, being invisible." Larin said lightly.

"I was sent to the plains since I am absolute brilliant with languages." Elf explained.

Larin brightened. "Really? What languages do you know?"

Before the conversation could trot down that tangent, Dirk broke in. "Let's get you settled."

~*~

Elf peered out her window at the Field and nearly whooped with joy. It was bare as any inn room but considerably cleaner with a desk and a wardrobe. There was even a tiny fireplace on the outside wall.

Keka had taken a perch on the desk to oversee the act of settling in.

Herald Larin had taken up the chore of seeing her settled as Dirk hurried off to inform everyone who needed to know that Elf's deception was over and she was back home.

"It's a little small but you probably won't be spending much time here." Larin commented.

"It's wonderful. I can see Dayna from here." Elf leaned out. "Looks like her father is giving her the 'there are rules for a reason' lecture."

Larin peered out at the pair. "I can't picture Rolan giving a lecture."

"That's because you aren't a Companion." Elf pointed out. "Dayna told me it's his job to keep all those Companions on the straight and narrow and enforce their rules. But since he is a father rather than a respected leader to Dayna, he has his hooves full."

"So, why don't you tell me about your studies? Then we can figure out what classes you need to take." Larin suggested.

"Well, let's see." Elf opened her bags, they had been delivered by a stable boy rather than Deven much to her disappointment. "I think I have covered the majority the classroom courses up until fourth year. You'll have to ask Dirk exactly what books I missed. I did buy many of my own books for the basics of diplomacy and such. It seemed appropriate."

"Who taught you all these languages?"

Elf shrugged. "I learned to speak them as we travelled and since we used a lot of contracts for special orders I learned to write and read it. Did I mention I was a trader before I was Chosen?"

"A trader? As in wagons and such?" Larin asked.

"Exactly."

Larin took a seat in her chair and watched as she tucked her clothing into her wardrobe. "There have been several Heralds that were from wagon families over the years. A Queen's Own among them."

"Really?" Elf paused with an armful of scarves.

"A Herald can come from anywhere. Some seem to come from nowhere." Larin explained. "But in the end they are all at home here."

"You wouldn't believe how much I wanted to come back." Elf put her scarves over a hook in the wardrobe. "I didn't see much outside of the healers but this was the only place I have wanted to come back to."

Larin studied her face thoughtfully. "What was it like at the healers?"

Elf cheerfully told him about her friends, who were probably either shocked to discover she was alive or as yet unaware. He asked several more questions about her family, her time on the plains, and her classes with Silverdoe before the dinner bell rang.

Elf opened the door to find Deven standing there with his hand raised to knock.

"I was wondering if you had a mentor yet." Deven explained.

Elf shook her head. Keka jumped from the desk and moved to sit next to Elf, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Larin cleared his throat. "If you wouldn't mind showing her the ropes I would be grateful."

Deven offered his arm to her, only to have Keka grab his hand and pull him away.

Elf laughed and followed as Deven and Keka led the way to the dining room, leaving Larin to make his way downstairs.

Dirk was in his classroom again looking thoughtful and a bit broodish.

"Charming girl." Larin commented. "But a little worried about her reception among the Heralds."

"She's always been worried about being accepted, no matter what we have said to assure her." Dirk commented. "Remember the raining frogs incident a couple years ago? That was her. She was just reading and accidentally cast a few charms. She was scared to death we would get angry."

"Have you had her talk to mindhealers?" Larin asked.

"Yes, but that was before we sent her to the plains and there was a lot that needed to be covered. Her family, the bandits, the injuries, being inside stone walls, not to mention a desperate need to belong that is not healthy." Dirk rubbed his forehead.

"What about her family? Where they abusive?" Larin asked. "That would explain why she is so desperate to belong."

"No, her family life seems to have been almost idyllic. Loving parents, younger brother, another on the way. Not a stable life but she was happy. The problem is she saw them tortured and murdered before the bandits who did it locked her in the wagon and torched it. She leveled all but three of at least thirty five with pure magical power." Dirk explained. "She has refused to talk about her feelings of guilt about her family and killing the bandits."

"I think I heard about her now that you mention it. Did she tear apart the Council room?" Larin asked after a moment of silent thought.

"That was her doing too." Dirk confirmed.

Larin leaned back in his chair and stayed silent a few moments longer. "She was telling me what she's studied. At least some of it. I want to help her catch up to her year mates and teach her diplomacy and such."

Dirk was surprised. Larin was a diplomat when he wasn't teaching the art of diplomacy to students, and a good one. If he thought Elf had the makings of a good diplomat, despite her history, it would be foolish to nay say him. "I'll talk to the Dean but I see no problems, except for when you are sent off on missions."

"She's used to studying alone and she can join me if time permits. I think her major problem is going to be physical self-defense. Can Alberich teach her?"

Dirk shook his head. "Alberich is an uncle or a father figure to her. It would be cruel to both to force them to that situation. Perhaps Tashti or Kerowyn."

"Tashti's style is all movement, something Elf is limited in. Kerowyn would be a better choice I think." Larin said. "She's better at making do styles of fighting. I better get going. Gods only know what she and that pet of hers are up to now."

"Good luck with her." Dirk said with a slight grin.

~*~

Elf was in the library, in ecstasy over the shelf after shelf of books when Alberich and Dirk cornered her.

"Elf, we'd like an explanation." Dirk said firmly.

"About what?" Elf asked distractedly but didn't look away from the books. "Deven just went to help make supper but said I am free to read whatever I like, so long as I don't bring Keka up here or use any flame sources for light. Why didn't you tell me there were so many books here, Dirk? The books I've read barely fill three of these shelves."

"About the bandit and about why you are here." Dirk clarified.

"We must know." Alberich added. "In case you are in danger."

Elf looked away from the books. "Oh, that. My grandmother, who has foresight, and my grandfather, who is a priest, foresaw an ambush and warned me. I figured they would be camping the main road, expecting me to use it and would probably attack all passers through, not just me, this was not the brains of the group after all. He was neither the lordly one nor the mage."

"Mage?" Dirk repeated.

"One was a mage, remember? I swear I told the council that. Now that I think about it he must be a blood mage, why else would a mage capable of casting shields strong enough to stop my blast be with bandits? Didn't I mention him? Those days are still a bit of a haze, the drugs and all. And the backlash from destroying the council room." Elf turned back to the shelves. "My original plan involved being stupid but instead Sa'vin, who is sword sworn and Silverdoe, who is an Adept, took care of the majority of the bandits leaving just the cowardly leader. Unfortunately, Keka killed him before I had a chance to question him."

"How did your pet kill him?" Alberich asked.

Elf turned back to them with a sigh. "He tore out the man's throat. He died quickly and relatively mercifully considering the surviving members of the band had their hands chopped off and most bled to death, the rest succumbed to infection from the jail."

Dirk and Alberich winced.

"Not every country believes in second chances." Elf pointed out. "Personally I would have decapitated them or hanged them. They were murderers after all. So now that you know why I am here, am I welcome? I have been invited to call upon the ties of kin and join k'Vala and the mages at the tower would be glad to have me back not to mention joining my cousins or my grandmother."

"Of course you are welcome." Dirk said and ruffled her hair. "You have been missed, Elfling."

Alberich grinned slowly, a rare sight according to any Herald. "You belong with us little Kayvia so no more talk about running away and joining your wandering kin." He said in gruff Karsite.

Elf grinned and threw her arms around the men. "I missed Haven, even its stone walls. Oh, I have so much to show you and my copies of the books from the tower will be here by midwinter. We gutted my floating barge and filled it with copies of scrolls and books the likes of which you have never seen. I even found an old spell book made by my grandmother before she wed grandfather filled with useful spells and a description of a much more primitive version of my healing spell. It was designed to reverse changes in change children that had been born human. Oh, and I picked up so many books on everything in Kata'shin'a'in I am going to need some bookshelves. I want to read them all before I let them get put up here. Most nobody else here could read them anyways. Except maybe somebody in the Mage Collegium."

Alberich clamped his hand over her mouth. "Speak at dinner."

Elf nodded.

Alberich patted her shoulder and walked away.

Elf turned to Dirk. "How's Wind?"