The Lesser Kindred

I hardly paid them any heed. That tall lass had been right—"adore" was the right word. I sat and talked to Salera until the sky began to lighten, and I found I had to touch her somehow—just my hand on a wing, or admiring her size and strength. She was half again the size she'd been when last I saw her. I couldn't help it, I kept telling her how beautiful she was. I don't know that she understood, but she dropped her jaw and hissed at me—that's a kind of dragon laugh, I remembered when she did it—and kept wandering around me, always touching. She was as bad as I was, after so long apart we almost needed to be reminded that the other was real.

"Ah, my girl," I said finally, when the sky outside the window began to brighten in earnest. "I'll need a little sleep at least. Are you weary then, however far you've travelled?" She just gazed at me. "Ah, you look fresh as spring itself, lass," I said, gri

I don't know if anything I said meant anything to her, but when she saw me lie down she more or less wrapped herself about the bed, with me on it, and rested her head on my chest, gazing at me. I kept my eyes open as long as I could.

Soulfriends. I liked the sound of that.

It was a blessing and a wonder to wake to life and health and sunlight. I lay for a moment just revelling in the feeling of not being in pain any longer. The voices had receded to the merest whisper for the moment, though they had not gone away. I was almost begi

Then I really woke up.

"Varien! Varien, we've found them!"

A bleary voice issued from the other side of the back I was looking at. "Found whom, my dearling?" The back uncurled, turned over and became a groggy semblance of a man. I had to smile—what a difference from the first day of our wedded lives! He looked more than a little dishevelled now, rather than being a vision of perfection. His face was acquiring lines of character, his skin was no longer nearly so soft for our travels had kept us out in all weathers, and his travails of late had put dark circles under those glorious green eyes. I put my arms about him and kissed him. He had been stu

I had certainly found the way to waken him, for he kissed me back with a will and—well, we were but lately wed, and I had been so ill...

"And a good morrow to you, Lanen Maransdatter," he said sometime later, when we were recovering our breath. "I am as ever your willing pupil. Fool that I am, my thoughts began to chasten you for waking me when first I heard your voice. Blessed be the Winds that I learn swiftly! However," he said, sitting up. "I am left in suspense. Whom have we found?"

"The Lesser Kindred, of course," I replied, not moving. Even his back was lovely. Oh, Lanen, you're deep in, aren't you? I thought to myself, and sat up. "The little dragon, Salera. She's amazing, isn't she?"

"Alas, my love, I bespoke her but she did not respond," he said.

"And did you expect her to?" I asked indignantly. "She's so young. And I'd swear she understands Willem, at least a little." I gri

He laughed as I had hoped he would. "It is hardly the same, though, dearling." He stared at nothing for a moment, thinking. "They are soulfriends, it ca

"I'll believe you. How wonderful, when she just curled about him! Come on," I cried, bounding out of bed, "let's go see if she's still here."

Varien rose and caught me to him, holding me far too tight, as usual. "Lanen, my Lanen, it is good to have you back," he said.

"Believe me, I'm glad to be here," I said. I kissed him as hard as I could and then leaned back in his arms. "I love you with all my heart and soul, my Varien, but I'm absolutely starving. Food and dragons, in that order."

We were in the common room in five minutes. That's when we realised that it was nearly midday. And that we were not the last to emerge.

Jamie and I had kept the watch together, before and after the little dragon appeared. True, we were best suited to the task, but it was also one of the best ways to find a little peace and time to talk. Such things are far simpler when you are young; there are no complications and no lurking comparisons, and the wounds to be healed are generally not so deep. I will not bore you with all our talk. We were honest to the point of pain with each other and with ourselves. The eventual result was an unarmed truce, which for two old fighters is not a bad start.

When dawn came I was all for waking that lazy dragon Varien and letting him stand watch for a change, but Jamie tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at the shutters. I opened them and found that the sun had come up, quietly, behind a screen of light grey cloud.

"Hola, mistress, a good morrow to you!" said a loud voice from outside and away to my left. "You rise with the sun! A moment and I will have the fire—oh."

I turned and enjoyed the scene. It was the i

"We've kept it in, I thank you," said Jamie, very kindly I thought. "But breakfast sounds wonderful. I'd cheerfully maim for a pot of chelan." The i

We looked at each other and laughed. "Not yet," I said. "But after I've eaten I'm going to go and give it a damn good try."

You grow used to such strangeness when your life is lived as it comes instead of according to a plan. Neither Jamie nor I had trouble falling instantly asleep after we'd broken our fast and knew that the i

When we finally wakened again the early cloud had dispersed and the sun was bright and high. We both felt rested but wondered why none had sent to waken us. We washed quickly in cold water and entered the common room together—

—to applause. Lanen and Varien sat next to the two healers. Varien, I noticed, was wearing his circlet openly now. Will sat a little apart from the rest with the most amazing expression on his face.

"Well done, Jamie," called Lanen, laughing. "For once in your life you're later up than I am. I'm proud of you!"

"Be silent, wench, and pass me some of that chelan," he growled. She laughed again and brought mugs for Jamie and me. We sat with Will at the other table.

The i

I turned to Lanen. "My girl, you're looking fine for a change. How do you feel?"

"Like spring after winter," she said. "Mage Vilkas, I—"

"Please, just Vilkas," that young man said. He seemed pleasant enough, if only he'd smile now and again.

"Vilkas, I owe you my life," said Lanen simply. "How can I possibly repay you? What fee can you charge for such a gift?"

"None," he said. "For you were not the only one whose life was changed last night." And my wish was granted, for he smiled then, a broad glorious smile that lit up his face and showed the joy that danced behind his eyes. "In fact it seems that few of us escaped unscathed by the whirlwind of the powers that were abroad last night. Will here is away with that dragon of his, no matter where his body might be."