Sherri stretched slowly and admired the view from her window. Her uncles were off defending Valdemar again. Favram, Ethen, and Degane, the three youngest, were actually in Hardorn trying to convince the people there that it was a good idea to accept Tremane as king. Avren was still with the Lord Martial, now training to become his successor. Ciro was on what he termed 'mop up duty' with his men finding Change creatures and either killing them or helping them as was needed. Some actually begged to be killed. Buren was now teaching weapons work in Haven to new recruits.
Sherri chuckled for the countless time at her Grandparents' humour to name all their boys in alphabetical order. Her mother, as the only female born to them, was Amelie but if she had a sister her name would have started with 'B'.
She pulled on a forest green dress and trotted down the stairs. This was the first year that the Fortress was filled and she had every intention to host a grand party for all the people who had come to the keep since the Mage Storms started.
People greeted her warmly as she passed them. She greeted most by name.
"My lady, we have the pit dug, should we started the meat?" A woman asked timidly.
"You best ask Cook. She would know better than I." Sherri answered kindly.
The woman dipped into a curtsy and hurried off.
"My lady, a package has arrived for you." A young Guardsman said as he offered her a box. This young man had been a scout with her uncle Ethen and when the war was over had come to work for her.
"Please place it in my office. I will deal with it later."
"The Herald who brought said you should see it immediately, my lady."
"Very well, put it in my office, I will go meet the Herald." Sherri felt a stab of hope that it would be Kevyn. He had told the Queen about her unique gift and over the past two years she had received six boxes with contents they hoped she would Read. Each time a Herald had delivered it and waited for her Readings to take it back.
Apparently True Sight was a very rare gift.
She found the tall dark haired Herald standing in the snow blown courtyard. "Kevyn! It is good to see you."
The handsome Herald smiled as she approached. "It looks like you have your hands full here."
Sherri looked around her bustling courtyard. "It is nice. The keep feels more alive. Please come in."
"The Queen sends her regards. Do you mind that I told her?"
"I wouldn't expect a Herald to do anything else." Sherri assured him. "I am a resource that can benefit Valdemar immensely. What's wrong this time?"
"You may be able to stop a bloody feud this time. Two families in the south are warring over who owns a strip of rich land. They have refused to consider marrying off two children and giving them the land. They each have a map to prove the land is theirs but one is forged."
"And you want me to tell you which one is fake." Sherri finished for home. "That should be quite easy."
"It is a remarkable forgery. No one has been able to figure out which it is."
Sherri led him to her small office and opened the box. Lifting out the first roll she Read the map then replaced it in the box. Then she picked up the other map.
"Which is the forgery?" Kevyn asked after a few moments.
Sherri laughed. "Both are."
"What?" Kevyn looked at her in disbelief.
"Both maps are ancient but both were forged at the same time." Sherri explained. "The land belongs to an extinct noble family and technically reverted to the crown."
Kevyn laughed, a warm, rich sound.
"It gets better. One man made both maps. He made a small fortune off the two families."
"Any suggestions for what I should tell the Queen?"
"Just what I said. They are both forgeries, created by the same man, and the land belongs to the Crown. You can find an original record in a dark brown book between a red book and a green book with gold lettering in the library here."
"Here?" Kevyn said in disbelief.
"Yes, several centuries ago, when the war with Karse was going badly, they sent many records out of the capital and up here. It was held by the monarch's brother. When the danger passed not all the books made it back down south. Some got lost in the library."
"You are very good."
"It was a pleasure. Rather amusing really. Would you care to stay for our little celebration? It will take a while to find the book."
"It would be my pleasure."
"Wonderful. I would also like to hear all the news from Haven." Sherri looped her arm through his.
"Elspeth has gone to Hardorn as an ambassador. Some envoys from Iftel joined them, all gryphons."
"Have you actually seen real Gryphons?"
"Actually, they are my teachers. After the barrier came down the hawk brother mages said I had Adept potential. Not on the level of what Elspeth, Darkwind, and Firesong have but that is still a lot of power."
Her uncles had continued writing often since the end of the war and she had learned a great deal about what was happening from their letters, even if they still only gave her the barest details in writing. They had been at first suspicious then amazed at what the mages could do. Favram was the least surprised but most suspicious, he had seen many mages in Hardorn and still thought they could become a threat.
"Are they making any head way against the Storms?"
"We hope so. We have some of the most brilliant minds alive down there working on the problem. They have discovered the Mage of Silence's old work room. I did suggest you go down and help them by reading the weapons but it was too late to gate and they are unwilling to use the Firecat to transport humans, too dangerous."
"Firecat? Is that a Pelagir Beast?" Sherri asked.
"No. He is from Karse. From what I understand, he is an avatar of their God."
"You are being awfully forthright with me." Sherri commented. "I doubt you have told anyone else such detail."
He shrugged. "All it would take is a slight brush of your hand you would probably know even more detail. The way I see it, you are going to know either way."
Sherri smiled and guided him around a patch of construction. She had ordered some ancient stairs replaced since elaborate carvings and age had weakened them. "It is getting easier to block out casual contact. Not that I go around shaking hands. Too many people were severely damaged by the war and the images they conjure are very unpleasant."
"I am glad you were never at the front." Kevyn said seriously. "You would probably have been driven mad. Many Healers who were Empathic couldn't take it."
"I still wish I could have done more." Sherri admitted.
"The people who tended the hearth are just as important as those who fought. You stayed and made certain the people of the area were fed. You ordered crops planted. You watched for trouble on this border, ready to defend Valdemar with what ever came to hand. I also suspect you were having some rather odd lessons no one else in Valdemar was receiving." Kevyn said the last with a glint in his eye.
Sherri stopped and stared up at him. Was he referring to her magic lessons with Vanyel? "I beg your pardon?"
"You are a mage, are you not?" Kevyn asked. "And you are trained. I can See it."
Sherri bit her lip. "I just have a powerful True Sight gift."
"And you are an adept."
Sherri grimaced. She invoked her own Mage sight and surveyed Kevyn. There was the strong glow she associated with Vanyel's ghost. He probably saw thing same thing around her. That must be how he knew she was an adept. "I had some strange teachers."
"Stranger than Gryphons?"
"I think so." Sherri debated how much to tell him. She stalled for time by leading him to the massive library.
"You look ready to panic." Kevyn commented with concern.
"Not panic. That would be pointless." Sherri assured him. "My teacher wasn't going to teach me anything about magic until I killed a deer by accident. I have had True Sight since I was very young but when I was about thirteen I tried using one of the glowing cords I saw to heal an injured doe. Instead she died. He decided it would be best if he taught me to keep me from doing that to a human."
"Who is your teacher? We are still looking for more mages who are willing to come south to Haven. Maybe he will be interested."
Sherri debated telling him a lie and claim a barbarian had taught her. It was too easy to get up one's own web of lies so she decided with the truth. Kevyn was a Herald after all. "A ghost. A Herald's ghost to be more precise."
"Herald Vanyel?" Kevyn asked.
Sherri nodded.
"Was he the reason you collapsed when Elspeth came home?" Kevyn asked shrewdly.
"I get the feeling you are here less for the maps and more to discover what I am." Sherri refused to answer.
"I was suspicious about that incident when I saw the timing."
The dinner bell peeled through the library before she said anything more.
"Shall we go eat?"
"Will you answer my questions?"
"Maybe later." Sherri answered vaguely and opened the door.