Disclaimer as usual, in chapter 1.

Chapter 4

:I have no idea where or when I was born; I have been told that I am around 23 summers old. My name is
Llyria, again, or so I have been told.:

Here she paused.

:I don't really know what you want to know of me. Ask of me what you will and I will do my best to
answer as I can:

Vanyel was thoughtful.

:You might want to tell us how you came to be here: he said, not unkindly.

She paled at this but answered bravely.

:I was held by a very strong but evil mage. He was killed, or at least we think he was, as he never
returned from his last outing. That was almost 2 years ago. It took all this time for us to regain our
strength and try to break free, but only I was able to be freed: she Mindspoke as she began to cry softly.

:I miss my friend. He was the one who decided he would try to help me gain my freedom, even if it meant
his life. Kaneem wasn't well when he started the spell and I think...: she stopped, her hands covering
her face, still crying.

Vanyel felt that even though he knew that one could not lie mind to mind, he was having a hard time
believing what he was hearing.

:First things first. What is the name of the mage who held you and your friend Kaneem: he asked her.

Her reaction wasn't what he expected. She turned white and collapsed into Tantris's arms. The two Heralds
looked at each other in confusion.

"I think I'd better call for the healers," he said quickly and Mindspoke the healer on duty.

All of a sudden, the room was full of healers. Both Tantris and Vanyel were escorted from the room to
stand in the corridor outside as they dealt with the aftermath of Vanyel's questioning.

He apologised to his friend.

"It was not my intention..." he began but Tantris cut him off.

"I would have asked if you hadn't, Vanyel, you know that," he said.

"I didn't know that she was going to faint on us though. I thought it was a perfectly logical question
to ask," he continued but stopped when a healer came out of the room and walked towards them, livid
with anger.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" he demanded of them in fury. "She is not up to whatever you
were doing yet, and now I don't know that she will be. If anything happens to her because of this, I
will have you up on charges before the King," and with that he stalked down the hallway, the anger
evident in his face making people move out of his way.

They looked at each other again, this time with Tantris's worry plainly showing on his face.

"I think I should go in and make sure she's all right," he told the Herald-Mage, who nodded thoughtfully.

"I'll wait out here. I don't think they'd let me in just now anyway," Vanyel replied with chagrin.

Tantris patted him on the back.

"Don't worry, you never meant any harm. I know that, and I'm sure they will eventually. It's not like
they can do anything about it now anyway," he said as he went through the door.

Once back in the room, he stood by the door, out of the way of the healers as they helped Llyria. He
felt guilty, yet he didn't know what else they could have done. They had no idea that their questioning
was going to cause her to react in this way but they would take care in the future not to cause any
more distress to her or to the healers. Getting on the bad side of the healers was never a good idea,
Herald or not, he thought ruefully. One of the last healers through the door told him that it was
simply a case of shock, but that he wasn't to distress her any more than she could handle, and with that
warning ringing in Tantris's ears, she left him alone with Llyria.

Finally they finished and with dirty looks at him, they left the room. He sat down once again in the
chair he'd been in before and looked thoughtfully at Llyria. At least they now knew her name, he thought
and waited for her to wake up again. It didn't take as long this time as she opened her eyes and smiled
sadly at him.

:I'm sorry, we didn't know this would happen: he apologised.

She nodded.

:I know you didn't. I didn't know either. I know the healers are not happy, I could feel it as they were
trying to help me just now, but I would like to get this over with now, just in case I don't get another
chance. I know Vanyel is still here, please ask him to come back: she pleaded with him.

He was unsure.

:I am not sure that's wise, Llyria: he said apologetically. :The healers would have my head if anything
more were to happen to you. I know I would in their situation. I am very sorry but anything more will have
to wait for now, however much we want to know. Unless you can think of anything that you know won't cause
you any more pain, either physically, emotionally or mentally: he said.

She thought for a while, staring at her hands.

:There isn't really anything more I can tell you now I'm afraid: she said sadly. :Most of what I can
remember is not very nice to hear, and even worse to tell: she added.

Tantris nodded. :That's all right, we can wait. What is important right now is for you to recover fully
so we can put you into classes:

:Classes: she asked in faint alarm.

Tantris smiled. :It's all right, we know you have some of what we call Gifts. You have Mindspeech for one.
You also have a very strong Empathic gift, as well as what we call the Bardic Gift: he gave her an ironic
look.

She laughed. It was the first sound he'd heard from her since she'd woken after he found her. It sounded
like music to his ears and he smiled back at her.

:I did tell you that I could still speak as well as sing, did I not: she asked impishly.

He laughed sheepishly. :Yes, you did. I'd forgotten that. I'm not used to dealing with someone who can't
hear very well: he reminded her in return with a smile.

She grinned. "I can still speak," she said slowly and slightly slurred, much to his surprise.

He found he rather liked her speaking voice, her accent was different but not as noticeable as some he
could think of and he told her this.

She blushed under his praise and demurred.

"I am nothing special," she said.

:Will you sing me something: he asked in curiosity and hope.

He liked a good song as much as the next Valdemaran.

She looked thoughtful and nodded slowly.

"Ask Vanyel to come back, please, I'm sure he'd like to hear this as well," she said softly.

Beckoning his friend to come back into the room, he paused at the door, speaking low even though he knew
she couldn't hear.

"I wouldn't ask her any more questions just yet, I don't think she's going to be able to tell us much
at this point, however much she wants to. Just give her some time to recover from her ordeal and we'll
take it from there," he said to the Herald-Mage, who nodded.

Tantris took a seat at the foot of the bed, giving Vanyel the room's only chair, as she waited for them
to get comfortable.

"The songs I like to sing are not always very happy ones," she said, startling the Herald-Mage. "I prefer
the dramatic or thoughtful ones over happy songs, they allow more room for personal expression, don't you
agree?" she asked him with a smile.

Though still startled by hearing her voice, he nodded and smiled back.

Settling into the pillows, she sang a short song in a language unfamiliar to the Heralds. It sounded
lovely and made their hearts ache with longing as she sang. Even the usually-unemotional Herald-Mage
looked about to weep. Silence hovered over them as she finished the song and looked down at her hands.

Both Heralds looked at each other and smiled tentatively at their reactions to a simple song.

:That was beautiful: they all heard the distinctly feminine voice in their heads.

Vanyel looked shocked but recovered quickly. He'd never heard Yfandes speak to anyone other than himself
before.

:Yes, that was a very beautiful song: he echoed his Companion's sentiments.

Llyria blushed, looking flattered, and thanked them both.

Tantris simply hugged her and beamed with pride. He knew he was starting to fall in love with his life-
bonded and smiled to himself. While it wasn't strictly necessary, he still felt it and it overwhelmed
him at times. All of a sudden, he remembered their meals, which were now cold and congealed on the
windowsill where they'd been moved out of the way.

Llyria followed his eyes and his thoughts and laughed softly.

Vanyel looked at them suspiciously.

"What's so funny?" he asked Tantris, his mouth twitching.

Tantris smiled and nodded to the forgotten food.

"We forgot to eat our lunches in all this," he laughed. "I don't suppose you could go get us something from the kitchens?"

Vanyel grinned.

"Of course," he replied. "It's almost time for the evening meal now anyway so once I've eaten, I'll bring
you both something back."

Tantris nodded his thanks.

"We'll see you later then," he said, noticing that Llyria was looking tired and trying to hide it from him.

He frowned.

"Let me know when you're coming, I think Llyria might need to sleep a bit first, she's not looking very well,"
he commented.

Vanyel looked over at the girl who was starting to wilt noticeably, nodded and left for his own duties before dinner.

As Tantris stood up, Llyria looked at him curiously.

:Is something wrong: she asked him.

He smiled down at her.

:No, not at all. I do think that you need to sleep for a bit however. I know you're trying to hide it, but
I can tell you're still not well right now. You shouldn't overdo it: he reminded her sternly.

She looked down and nodded slowly.

:Please don't go: she pleaded with him. :I don't want to be alone. I'm...I just don't want to be alone: she
looked almost in tears again.

He instantly sat down again and took her hands in his.

:I won't leave you alone if that's what you prefer: he said quickly.

He wasn't so sure this was such a good idea, but he helped her lay back down, arranging the pillows to her
satisfaction and made sure that she was comfortable, before sitting beside her on the bed, holding her hand
as she fell asleep soon after.

He was starting to feel a bit tired himself, he realised with some concern. Then he thought back on the
events of the past few days and realised he'd not had a proper night's sleep in some time himself and with
that thought in his mind, he carefully laid down beside her in the bed and promptly fell asleep himself, his
arm automatically draping over his newly discovered lifebonded.


OK, I know I said there'd be answers but this was the best I could do LOL. There will be more revelations in the chapters to
come, I promise grins but for now this'll have to do. The next chapter should be out soon...