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surprised by unexpected visitors. Furthermore, she ad-mitted later that she
had no notion how many keys to her Portalher late husband had handed about. It
could be many, it could
be few, but the fact was they probably existed. And ifanyone was
likely to ferret those keys out, it would be Kyndreth, Tri-ana, or Aelmarkin.
As a result, he had not really been able to re-lax, even while on her estate.
And, of course, while on campaign he'd had no such luxuriesas this.
Just the thought of all the times he'd gone to bed aching and bruised and
bathless made this all the more pleasurable.
It might be a while before I get to enjoy it again.Although his hunt
for the non-existent Wizards was by its very nature awild-goose chase, he
would have to conduct it as if it was seri-ous. The bare essentials for
camping, no more than six men, and they would have to keep themselves fed off
the land asmuch as possible. There would be no hot, soaking baths outthere in
the forests.
He was, however, too energetic by nature to relax for toolong in a
hot bath when he wasn't bone-tired and wasn't cur-rently aching and bruised.
Soon enough he was out anddressed, and went looking for his father's notes.
They were still where he had left them, in the library. A quick glance
throughthem told him everything he needed to know.
He sent his bodyservant Lynder to find Gel. Just about now, Gel
should be frantic for a way to escape the two females who were planning a
wedding around him, will-he, nill-he.
Sure enough, within moments Lynder and Gel were back, Lynder's eyes
dancing with merriment, Gel looking distinctlyharried. "Before everyone gets
wrapped up in this festival busi-ness, I want you to help me pick out six of
our trackers for this pseudo Wizard-hunt," he told Gel. "I want men who didn't
go out as fighters, but who can still be spared. It's getting close tothe
first hay-harvest, and I don't want to leave Mother short-handed even by a
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trifle."
"I can tell you who without even thinking about it," Gel replied
immediately. "Kar, Tem, Shalvan, Resso, Halean andNoet. They're all the junior
foresters; they don't help with the harvest and their da's can live without
'em for a bit. Why somany? You plan on actuallydoing anything in there?"
"It's dangerous; it isn't going to be a pleasure trip,"
Kyrtianwarned. "Even if the new Wizards are a fabrication, there are
still a lot of deadly creatures in that area. And you aren't goingto
be along."
Gel's face fell, but he also looked resigned. "I was afraidyou were
going to decide that," he grumbled. "Damn it all,Kyrtian "
"Gel, you're a fighter, a tactician; you're neither a hunter nora
forester," Kyrtian pointed out. "You'd be of less use to methan one of those
boys. You'll be ofmore user here to me and Mother on the bare chance that
Aelmarkin tries something while I'm gone. Mother is many things but not a
soldier."
Gel's mouth tightened. "You're not thinking he'd convince Kyndreth to
put this place under siege?"
"I'm not thinking anything," he lied with a straight face be- cause
that was precisely what he was thinking. He didn't trustAelmarkin and he
didn't trust Kyndreth, either.Maybe he was still useful to the Great Lord but
maybe he wasn't, anymore. "Kyndreth still needs me as long as he thinks
there's a tribe ofWizards hiding right on our borders. I'm more worried
aboutwhat Aelmarkin might do or try. But between you and Mother, with Moth to
feed you gossip, you'll see throughany-thinghe tries before he's done more
than make a tentativeprobe." He clapped Gel on the shoulder. "I amnot trying
to putyou out to stud like my favorite warhorse, although I suggest you make
that charming little dancer into a very happy wife! Iam allocating my
resources where they'll do the most good. Ineed you and Mother here, watching
for trouble, while I go intothe forest and wait for the Elvenbane to contact
me again which she will, since the forest is the most logical place forthat."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "There's one otherthing before we had to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]