In The Beginning, Gail Daley [red white royal blue .TXT] 📗

knees buckled. Glaring his resentment, Firewalker allowed her to read his intentions.

After several minutes, Rebecca said, "Well enough. He is arrogant, but he bears us no real malice. He resents the need to run away and hide. He thought himself too powerful to fear the Magi Proctor until they came for him. He was wrong. Best we are rid of him as soon as possible."

They assigned Firewalker one of the cottages, where he could have privacy. "Tomorrow morning, we will expect you at the keep to discuss assisting you on your journey," Lewys told him when they had seen him to a guest cottage.

"What about us?" Amber asked.

"It will be best for the two of you to stay in the house," Rebecca told her. When she instructed Sarsee Jinks to assign them rooms, she requested the housekeeper also make sure they had clothing, and to bring them down for dinner with the family.

"I wanted to separate them from Firewalker as soon as possible," she explained to Andre. "He is just a child like Selene, and if he doesn't have relatives waiting for him somewhere, he must stay here with us. He needs a home."

Andre dropped a kiss on her brow. "I expected you to say that, and I agree. What about the girl though?"

"I want to talk to her a little more and find out what plans she has. It's possible she could be useful if she wants to stay here."

"I am so tired of traveling," Amber told Rebecca when she interviewed her in the library after dinner. "I just want to feel safe again."

"What skills do you have?" Catrin inquired.

"Well, my mother was a teacher, I used to help teach the younger children."

Rebecca smiled. "We do have a position open for a teacher for younger children. Right now, the older children are being taught by Dracho Corkian and his grandfather, but they could use help with the younger ones. I will introduce you to them tomorrow. Take a few days to get your bearings. You can begin classes on Monday."

Suspecting Tyrel might be more open with someone his age, Rebecca had asked her youngest sister to reach out to him. He responded diffidently to Selene's questions about what he liked to do, and when she discovered he enjoyed a good story, she dragged him to the library to show him the books.

It was after they had interviewed Amber that Tyrel approached Andre and asked to speak to him privately.

"Selene says you would like me to live here with the family. I don't want to be a charity case, sir," the boy said stiffly. "I need to earn my keep."

Andre nodded understandingly. "I see. Well, the position I have in mind is a little unusual, but I think you are suited for it. We need some to look after Selene. You see, she is a Seer, and she hasn't learned how to control the visions yet. The first time one came on her, she fainted afterwards. We don't know why it happened, and she recovered quickly, but she could have hurt herself falling when it happened if Rebecca hadn't been there to catch her. We don't want to restrict her activities, so the best solution is for a friend to be with her if one comes on."

"Will she know why I'm following her around?"

"I'll get Rebecca to explain it to her," Andre said. "Now, the pay will be room, board and clothing, with a stipend of thirty coins a month."

Tyrel's eyes widened. "That is generous."

"It might not seem so after you've spent some time with Selene. She has already been exploring the lower caverns on her own, as well as riding over the hills between us and the village. I hope you can ride a unicorn."

"What did he want?" Rebecca asked after the boy had gone up to bed.

"A job," Andre said. "He wants to earn his keep. He is a proud boy, and he will make a fine man someday."

"He seemed happy when he went up to bed,' Lewys remarked. "What job did you give him?"

"He is going to be a friend for Selene and accompany her in her explorations. I don't want her exploring on her own. Not after her encounter with Serle in the tunnels. If the protection amulets hadn't worked so well, she could have been badly hurt."

"Surely, he didn't intend to hurt her," Lewys protested, looking unhappy.

"Maybe not, but from what she told me, he didn't particularly care if she was hurt or not. He won't make that mistake again, but she could get hurt down there. We don't know what defenses are in place. She might trigger one accidentally."

Lewys nodded, still looking unhappy. "I can't believe Mort's grandson could truly intend to hurt a little girl."

Andre said nothing.

Rebecca laid a hand on her grandfather's shoulder. "Grandpa, sometimes a man grows up differently than his family."

Lewys sighed. "I suppose."

The next morning, Andre, Jors Swordsmith and three of his men arrived at Firewalker's cottage. When he came to the door, Andre told him to get dressed.

"There is a ship in the harbor now whose next stop is Merson. The Captain agreed to wait for you, but he is anxious not to miss the tide."

Hardly giving Firewalker time to shave and don clean clothes, they set off for Lands End at a brisk trot.

As the crew were loading Firewalker and his meager possessions into a boat to be rowed out to the waiting ship, Andre slipped the Captain a stack of gold coins. "Thank you," he told the man. "The Draconi will remember this."

"Is he dangerous?" the Captain asked.

"I doubt it," Andre told him. "According to my—to Rebecca, he resented having to run from the Proctors. I doubt he will give you any trouble."

Knife Play

MORT CORKIAN WAS DELIGHTED to have Amber's assistance with teaching the younger children. "I'm afraid my grandson, doesn't have the patience for them," he confided to her. "And I simply don't have the energy. Do you have much experience with children