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A bird claw? I don t understand.
The spell itself. The sorcery that transformed the firebird. It might have been deadly to the mage.
The Holder stared at her. I thought it was his spell.
So did I, until I saw him wounded. I think Meguet may be somewhere in Saphier with an injured mage
on her hands,
The Holder was silent. She turned abruptly, found the nearest chair and sat. Then whose spell is it? Are
we to expect yet another mage who won t bother to use the gate?
I don t Nyx s voice shook suddenly with worry. I don t know what to expect next. She leaned
against the massive fireplace, gazing down at her mother, and finding some comfort from the solid stones.
I ve never asked your permission to leave the house before.
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I know.
I ve rarely even told you where I was going. I m your heir, yes, but I m also all you ve got for a mage,
and I must be free to work. Though I realize I ve hardly given you much, these past months, to have faith
in. The Holder shifted, gestured wordlessly, her ringed hands flashing, falling. All you ve seen me do
here is turn the Hold Signs back into embroidery and silence a bird, which rumor already told you I could
do.
Nyx
All I seem to do with the firebird in the tower is to fail- It does seem a simple thing to do: change a bird
back into a man, something any mage could do.
It must, the Holder said, be a very subtle sorcery.
Oh, it is. Very subtle. And so stubborn, it seems to me at times that Brand himself cast the spell,
masked himself behind the firebird, and refuses to relinquish it.
The Holder made a noise, staring at her daughter. He enchanted himself?
I don t think so. But I am beginning to think he has some very powerful reasons to avoid becoming
himself again. And I think the truth of the matter lies in Saphier. He cannot return on his own; the
timepaths on his wrists have been damaged. I must take him.
I don t like this, the Holder said. A ruler s son, ensorcelled and exiled it sounds dangerous. It s not
your business to solve Saphier s problems.
No. But Brand has given me no reason to believe his father won t want him back. If I were missing in a
strange land, you would be grateful if someone brought me home,
Yes, but
Also, there is Meguet. I can t leave her there.
No. But
But, why me? Because you have no one else who can do these things.
You are my heir.
I am your mage. This is what mages do.
I don t like it. The Holder rose abruptly to pace again, down a woven path of flowers and ivy to its
edge and then back again. You are too much like me, she said abruptly. Strong-willed and prone to
wander. What if I lose you to Saphier? Where will I go to look for you? You can t even tell me where
this land is, assuming it exists now, at this moment and not some other, which occurs to me to wonder
about since it doesn t exist on any map.
The problem, Nyx said carefully, wondering herself, may not exist either. It s not something to worry
about until we must,
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That, the Holder said explosively, is the kind of muddy thinking that has led you into trouble before.
Perhaps. But I ve always found my way home. Somehow, She put her hand on her mother s arm.
Please, she said softly. I didn t run away nine years for nothing. I am a sorceress. Let me do some
sorcery.
The Holder came with her to the tower. The midnight bells had not yet rung; Brand, whirling mid-pace
as the door opened, was still human. Nyx cast a glance around the room; he answered her unspoken
question.
No one came. No one that I could see.
All right, she said tautly. We ll go there. She turned, looked at the Holder a moment, wordlessly.
She said with wonder, I ve never said goodbye to you before.
Don t say it now, the Holder said fiercely. She touched an errant strand of Nyx s hair, then dropped
her hand, stepped back- Just go. Return Brand to his father, find Meguet, and come home. Nothing
more complicated than that. Promise me.
I ll come back as soon as I can. She drew the ivory ball out of her pocket, gazed into it. She could see
the key floating in the dark; she touched it with her mind. Pages turned, time-paths wandered through
them, through her thoughts, into me room itself- She was vaguely aware that Brand had knelt at the
Holder s feet He said something, rose again through a misty net of silver. Something else happened as he
stepped to Nyx s side and the room itself wavered, dreamlike, beyond the widening silver filigree: There
were unexpected sounds, sudden movements. A door opened; faces appeared, then faded into a soft
darkness that grew so deep it swallowed even me bright stars of candlelight Nyx, paths rushing
everywhere around her, struggled a moment to remember the faces. Not Meguet, though one had her
hair. Not the mage. She was aware of Brand with her, a presence and a name, though he had moved
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