Page 13 of Sun Elves of Ardani

“I think you’ll find that most people from the homeland care very little about how Ardanians feel about us,” he said smoothly. “Humans have terrible judgement on most topics. Their opinion of me and my nation is the last thing on my mind.”

“Of course, sair,” she said, quiet and passive again.

There was a knock on the open door. Neiryn looked up to find Rhian in the doorway.

“This is a dump,” she muttered, watching the housekeeper hurriedly leave the room. “Can you believe people live this way?”

Neiryn glanced around the room. It was not what he was used to at home, but he’d dealt with much worse before. “We could always find accommodations in town,” he suggested reluctantly, hoping she wouldn’t agree.

But Rhian shook her head. “This will have to do. We need to be close to the work site. I don’t trust these idiots not to muck it up or break something valuable, accidentally or not, if we’re not supervising them. Do you know how stupid Ardanians are? When I was in the north just after the treaty was signed, the Ardanians would set traps on the road to destroy our convoys—the convoys that were bringing those same Ardanians food and medical supplies that they desperately needed. They always think they’re being clever, but they’re like children trying to steal from the sweets jar and thinking that mother doesn’t see exactly what they’re doing.”

She went to the window and gazed out at the horizon, where the sun was setting. She put her palms together and held them at her forehead for a moment, bidding the sun goddess Aevyr farewell for the night. Neiryn repeated the motion.

“About this mage,” she said, turning to him. “What an odd coincidence, finding someone you know here.”

Neiryn nodded mutely. You could call it a coincidence, or you could call it planning.

It had taken him ages to find her. When he’d heard of a mage named Kadaki living in a town just across the border, a town which was rumored to have unusual magical activity in the area, he had seen his opportunity. It had not been so hard to convince the right people that the town needed to be investigated, and to convince some more people that Rhian and a team of her favored soldiers should be assigned to the task.

“She is not what I expected,” Rhian said.

“What did you expect?”

“I’ve met mages from Ardani’s Mages’ Conclave before. They’re usually starstruck by Ysuran mages, and eager to prove themselves. But I get the impression Lady Kadaki doesn’t care whether she impresses us, and she seems completely disinterested in working with us. Do you think she will need convincing?”

“It seems that we’ve already convinced her.”

“Perhaps. You’re the only one of us with prior experience with her; do you think she’s dangerous?”

Certainly she could be dangerous to people who did her wrong. “I don’t think she’s especially patriotic, if that’s what you mean.”

Rhian shook her head, looking thoughtful. “After having met her, I expect she’s the sort who will turn on us at some point. The wounds from the war are still raw here in Ardani. You know there have been small rebellions against Ysuran forces here and there ever since the end of the war. Sair Caradoc, the commander in charge in Refka, has said he has suspicions of a rebellion being planned by the Ardanians in town as we speak. Lady Kadaki is an unusually capable mage, by your own words. Depending on where her allegiance lies, she could be a problem for us. We may have to take measures to control her.”

Neiryn took in a breath. “What did you have in mind?”

“A collar would do.”

He let out the breath slowly. He gave Rhian a stiff smile. “She won’t like that.”

“I’m sure she won’t.”

“Save it for a last resort. Let me talk to her first. I’ll deal with her.”

“You do that.”

Chapter 4

Kadaki couldn’t sleep. She lay in bed staring out the window until the blue moon had crested the horizon and the ghost moon was high in the sky before she gathered the courage to get up and leave her room.

Her house was no longer her own. It felt less comfortable, less safe. She didn’t like it. But in the depths of night, it was blessedly silent and still, and she was relatively certain she wouldn’t be bothered by anyone.

She padded down the hall, passing the rooms of their uninvited guests. There was no sound from any of them, and no light glowing from under the doors. She glanced toward the other end of the hall, at Roshan’s door. It wasn’t unusual for him to have someone over in the evenings once in a while, but tonight he seemed to be alone.

She followed the hallway until she came to her second favorite place in the house. In the hall on the second floor, on the opposite side of the building from the bedrooms, there was a large window split into panes that angled up into the roof, so that you could see the sky above as well as the fields and woods below.

She had not been there for more than a minute when a light suddenly flared behind her. She whirled around to find Neiryn standing a few steps away, holding a flame in his hand.

For a split second, she took the flame as a threat, but then the rational part of her mind kicked in and she realized he had merely been using it for light.

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