Now on to the story ... first, it's *after* Jon's king, Aquilla - good question, I didn't make that clear. Personally, I don't like Jon because I can never forgive him for the things he said to Alanna when she was with the Bazhir ... *shudders* Meanie.
Where you can find the Circle of Magic ... well, any bookstore should have it (Borders would probably be your best bet) but Amazon.Com or Borders.Com would also definitely have it, if you want to try online shopping. And look for the Circle Opens quartet, too - the time when Sandry, Tris, Daja, and Briar take their first pupils. ;)
To the one who reviewed as "Me": That is the ULTIMATE compliment, saying you couldn't tell my writing from hers!! *big grin* A million trillion thanks and of course, no offense meant to Tamora Pierce, one of the *BEST* writers in the world. And to Marina: Thank YOU for thanking me ... lol that sounds funny but it means a lot to have people review so wonderfully, and so FAST. This is for ALL of you!!
Okay, you can read now. Thank you SOOO much again - you guys are the *BEST*!!!!
"I didn't know you were a mage, Yifan," Duke Naryl remarked, watching his spell-casting of a huge search-square in the center of the forest.
Yifan grimaced. "Not exactly. I'm a reject at that, too."
"Still, Aidar could use your skills," Naryl told him slyly. Yifan smiled, the tension between them seeming to vanish.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Sir!" Yifan's sentry yelled, approaching him and bowing to the Duke. "Your Grace."
"Greetings," Naryl replied.
"Sir, twenty of the King's Own approaching, with the Knight Commander in front, looks like," the sentry informed Yifan, who frowned.
"So fast?" Yifan cast a glance at Duke Naryl.
"I had nothing to do with it," the Duke defended himself, holding up his hands in puzzlement. "Surely. They only sent me to do an appraisal of the province. Some dukes participate, once a year. The ones in the Duke's Conclave," he explained. Yifan nodded and turned back to the sentry.
"Tell the men not to arm themselves. We don't want to be seen as ... traitors," he ordered, shuddering at the word. The sentry nodded and went to tell the once-soldiers as the men of the King's Own became visible to Yifan's eye.
"Maybe I'd better go," Naryl suggested, swinging back onto his mare. "No offense meant, but they wouldn't take to kindly to you, with what I've heard of Aiyaliah." He smiled grimly as Yifan wished him good luck and patted his mare.
"Mithros, help me find this lost Princess," he whispered urgently. It was all he needed to be accepted back into the King's Own - he hoped.
Meanwhile, Tarnessa plowed through the forest, hoping to find the wall of men that the People had warned her of through Blackthorn, but she found no sign of them at all. She narrowed her eyes, forgetting that she was invisible and nobody would notice.
~Something worries you,~ Blackthorn noticed immediately. ~Is it the men the People promised?~
It's nothing, Blackthorn, she told him, avoiding the question. To the birds, she added, Where are they? Do you still see this ring of men around the search-square?
No, a finch replied, and the rest agreed heartily. They are moving, and they have put their weapons down. They are leaving.
You could have told me before, Tarnessa responded sulkily, but thought better of it and added, Thanks. She then remarked to Blackthorn, Well, they're leaving. Looks like they couldn't find me. She couldn't manage to keep the smugness out of her voice. Where should we go next?
~You keep forgetting that I wasn't always a half-immortal,~ Blackthorn told her. Tarnessa sighed, forgetting also that she made no sound.
I do not, she told him, but you're going to have to start acting like what you are instead of a starling. Use your contact with the other immortals to some good use! I can't speak to all of them, and not at long range.
~All right.~ There was a pause. ~The basilisks say to be wary of the men still. They leave the forest only for reinforcements - men of the King's Own and the Knight Commander.~ Tarnessa screamed, making no sound, of course, because of her well-cast spell, and started trotting a little faster through the underbrush. ~They want you, but if they get you, the Goddess will be angry at them. She will destroy Tortall.~ The firebird sounded like Tarnessa felt - frightened, and confused.
Why, Blackthorn? She asked. Do the basilisks say?
~No, just that they will be angry too. And that you will find out, but in the meantime, keep your invisibility and no-sound spells on and don't let them discover you. The Goddess has something to say for you, but that must wait until you are - somewhere. They won't say anything else.~
Well, I'm going to go see what they want, Tarnessa decided, making Blackthorn screech in alarm. She touched his vividly colored red-orange feathers quickly and the sound cut off sharply. Be careful!
~It's you who should be careful,~ Blackthorn said, upset. ~They told you to evade capture, not to walk right into them!~
I'll be careful, she assured him irritably. Chiron's taught me more than that.
The mention of Chiron, the town healer and also a secret great mage, Tarnessa's teacher, calmed Blackthorn somewhat. It was Chiron who had enchanted her to become a firebird, but it was also Chiron who had realized that that was the only way to save the injured starling and befriended her. Blackthorn stopped screeching soundlessly, and Tarnessa hesistantly let go of her.
Let's go then, Tarnessa announced hastily. Blackthorn cautiously followed as she crashed through the forest to reach the soldiers of the King's Own on the other side.
"Ah, Yifan," Aiyaliah greeted the renegade soldier. "I wondered if you'd be doing anything worth doing with your wasted time spent training." Yifan winced at this cold hello, but forced himself to smile falsely and bow, knowing better than to kiss her hand. If it hadn't been King Tetimus attempting to do that the first time they met, the man would have been dead. Aiyaliah Slanderran was not to be reckoned with.
Duke Naryl smiled slightly as Yifan bowed, guessing what he was thinking and glad of his good sense. The reject's four men - one was on his way to Corus, informing the King of the search - and the village men that had surrounded the forest before were approaching to greet the new arrivals as Aiyaliah explained why they'd come.
"No news from you for days, Naryl," she scolded. "No wonder Tetimus thought something was amiss. You could have the sense to send a messenger."
"Ah, but one is on his way as we speak, sir," Naryl told her respectfully, controlling his facial expression so that he wouldn't have to hide a grin. Aiyaliah grunted and steeled her eyes even more.
"And now you think you've found the lost Princess," she continued, glancing briefly at Yifan and then turning back as if he was not worthy of a longer gaze. "How interesting. And ambitious, trying to redeem yourself. Well, now you've got help, but we'll see how you do in this little venture. Perhaps it's well enough for me to reconsider my decision." She glared at everyone present, as if daring anyone to chuckle at the way she'd gone back on her dismissal of the soldiers. Not a sound came out of any mouth, although Yifan had to struggle to keep down his whoop of joy. Aiyaliah accepting them back was something he'd dreamed about, of course, but it was the first time she'd come close to admitting she shouldn't have sent any trainees away. It was almost more than he could bear, and he was determined to find Tarnessa if it took a stab at his life. Being a Knight of the King's Own was his childhood dream, and something always caught in his throat as he looked up at them carrying the tall banners and posts of different colors and styles to mark nobles and commanders of varying authority.
"So. Duke Naryl of Aidar tells me you've set up a search-square in the center of the forest which the People will no doubt inform the lost Princess of, drawing her to it, and then, theoretically, your men can close in on her." Yifan nodded, still a little agitated at the fact that she refused to look at him. Mad that she has to "reconsider," he supposed, and tried to let the matter drop. "Hmm. Interesting plan. But it's impossible to surround the entire forest, tiny as it is in the span of the country, even with my men." She gestured back to the King's Own, and Yifan felt a pang of longing. "And they tell me she has both common and wild magic. So who's to say she can't turn invisible on us and sneak through the guards?"
To this, Naryl had an answer. "She is not trained, Aiyaliah," he told her. "There is no possible way -"
"Yifan seems to suppose otherwise, assuming that he figured the People would inform her of the search-square immediately," Aiyaliah cut him off, finally locking her cold icy-blue eyes into Yifan's friendly hazel.
"Yes, I do ..." Yifan began cautiously, not wanting to anger Naryl. "There is a possibility that her magic is so strong she can master the basics without training, or that she has been trained in secret," he told them carefully. The Duke's eyes lit up in shock.
"Well, if that's a possibility -"
"And it is," Aiyaliah interruped again, agreeing with Yifan - he thought his eyes would pop out! - at last.
"Then she could be doing, well, pretty much anything! This girl's got extraordinary amounts of magic, and I shudder to think ..."
"Well then, we can waste absolutely no time planning," Aiyaliah stated firmly. "Soldiers! ... Including yours, Yifan ... Station yourselves all around our camp area and keep a close watch on anything unusual around you! Look for invisibility!" While the knights, villagers, and rejects were digesting the confusing orders, she screeched, "FAST!" They moved.
Tarnessa, after hearing the entire conversation except the icy introductions, looked around in terror at the soldiers assembling a guard. How could she get past their vigilant eyes? She was trapped - in the camp of the enemy.