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‘That’s really none of your business, Sir Knight I can bring it back after the storm passes’

‘If it passes,’ Kalten added ‘And I wouldn’t be at all surprised that when it does, this broken-down barn’s going to be surrounded by several thousand armed fanatics’

They all looked at each other

‘I think maybe we’d better move on, storm or no storm,’ Vanion said He looked at Flute ‘Can you still…? I mean, will this wind interfere?’

‘It won’t lumly

‘I don’t want you to hurt yourself,’ Sephrenia told her

Flute waved her hand as if brushing it aside ‘Don’t worry aboutlady’ Sephrenia’s tone was stern ‘I know exactly what all this wind’s going to do to you’

‘And I know exactly what trying to carry it around will do to ourto chase us with a hurricane on his back will exhaust hi ten people on horseback will exhaust me – and I’m faster than he is They don’t call , you know I can run even faster than Talen, if I have to Where would you like to go, Lord Vanion?’

The Preceptor looked around at theood as any place in a hurricane,’ Kalten said ‘At least the beds are dry’

‘And the beer is wet?’ Ulath s,’ Kalten ad, but the inn was a sturdy stone structure, and the s had stout shutters Sparhawk chafed at the delay, but there was no help for it

Sephrenia had put Flute to bed immediately upon their return to the inn, and she hovered over the little girl protectively ‘She’s really concerned,’ Vanion reported ‘I guess there are liht of it, but I know exhaustion when I see it’

‘She won’t die, will she?’ Talen asked in a shocked voice

‘She can’t die, Talen,’ Vanion replied ‘She can be destroyed, but she can’t die’

‘What’s the difference?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Vanion admitted ‘I am sure that she’s very, very tired We shouldn’t have let her do that’ He looked around the hallway outside the roo the weary little Goddess ‘Where’s Kalten?’ he asked

‘He and Ulath are down in the tap-roouess One of you o easy on theh’

They went on downstairs again and periodically checked the weather outside If anything, the wind actually began to blow harder

Sparhawk finally went back up and knocked lightly on the door to Sephrenia’s room ‘Could I have a ith Flute?’ he asked when his tutor came to the door

‘No Absolutely not,’ she whispered ‘I just got her to sleep’ She came out into the hallway, closed the door, and set her back protectively against it

‘I’ers on that all over Daresia,’ she told hilint in her eyes ‘What did you want to ask her?’

‘Could I use Bhelliom to break up this storm?’

‘Probably’

‘Why don’t I do that, then?’

‘Did you want to destroy Jorsan? – and kill everybody in town?’

He stared at her

‘You have no real idea of the kind of forces involved in weather, have you, Sparhawk?’

‘Well, sort of,’ he said

‘No, I don’t think you do, dear one Whoever raised this hurricane is very powerful, and he knows exactly what he’s doing, but his hurricane is still a natural force You could use Bhelliom to break it up, certainly, but if you do, you’ll release all that pent-up force at one time and in one place You wouldn’t even be able to find pieces of Jorsan after the dust settled’

‘Maybe I’d better drop the idea’

‘I would Now run along I have to keep watch over Aphrael’

Sparhaent back down the hallway feeling a little like a small boy who had just been sent to his rooot a minute, Sparhawk?’ he asked

‘Of course’

‘I think you’d better keep a close eye on Kalten’

‘Oh?’

‘He’s beginning to have so out of hand?’

‘You knew about it, then? – about the feelings he has for your wife’s maid?’

Sparhawk nodded

‘The et, you know – and there’s nothing else to do during this storm except drink Is there any real substance to those suspicions of his?’

‘No He just pulled theirl’s very, very fond of hiht be the case Berit was already having enough trouble with the E in search of more Does Kalten do this very often? Fall desperately in love, I mean?’

‘So far as I know, it’s the first time He’s always sort of taken affection where he could find it’

‘That’s the safest way,’ Ulath agreed ‘But since he’s waited so long, this is hitting him very hard We’d better do e can to keep hiet back to Matherion and Alean has the chance to straighten it out’

Khalad cahtly disgusted look on his face He held up Kalten’s florin ‘This isn’t going to work, Sparhawk,’ he said ‘I could cover the stone with it easily enough, but it’d probably take you a half-hour to pry it open again so that you could use the ring I’ive oldsreat reluctance to part with the ring ‘Can’t you just…?’

Khalad shook his head ‘Whatever the goldsuess it gets down to how hed ‘You had to put it on that basis, didn’t you, Khalad?’