Страница 187 из 234
So they had been willing to compromise. That told Tarrin a great deal. They wouldn't suffer outright defiance from any other Initiate.
Tarrin did indeed mean something to the Council. This was complete proof for his long-standing suspicion.
"Then can we go now? I guess I don't have that much time to see my father, so I can't waste any standing here."
"We just have one stop to make, Tarrin," Darvon told him. "At the Academy. Azakar here needs some new spurs."
Azakar gave Darvon a stu
"Did you think that we'd let a cadet have a job as important as accompanying a Sorcerer, Azakar?" Darvon asked with a grin. "You'll be going out there with the honor of the Knights to uphold. It's better for everyone if it's your honor too, now isn't it?"
"Welcome, my brother," Allia told the huge Mahuut with a gentle smile. "It is time for my class. Until later, Darvon, deshida," she said, giving Tarrin a quick kiss on the cheek, then patting Azakar's shoulder as she passed by.
"Well don't stand there looking like a fool, cadet!" Darvon barked at Azakar. "Let's move!"
Azakar looked almost about to explode with pride.
He was wearing a surcoat over his mail shirt and a pair of silver spurs that denoted him as a Knight, and he looked like he was about to faint. Tarrin mused at it with a chuckle as they approached the gate leading out, where Dola
Tarrin greeted Dola
The idea had crossed his mind a few times, but there was no telling what would happen to Allia and Keritanima if he did fly the coop. They would all escape, but it would be a time of their choosing, and when the Tower had the least chance of getting them back.
"Well, dear one, are you ready?" Dola
"I'm ready," he said. "I'm surprised they're even bothering to send you three with me."
"Why is that?"
Tarrin only smiled at her in return.
"Oh dear," she murmured. "Just be careful, my young one."
"Always, Dola
The four approached the Council members, who wordlessly linked into a circle. Tarrin could feel the co
Then, the hands of the four Council members started to glow in a ghostly white light. The radiance that marked the use of High Sorcery. A hole silently opened in the empty air in front of them. It was surrounded by nothing, but the borders of that hole were limned in a pulsating bluish energy. Tarrin could see that they had somehow punched a hole in the Ward, a hole that would allow him to pass through it. He couldn't see what weave they had used to perform such an act, but it obviously involved all seven Spheres. High Sorcery always involved all seven Spheres.
"Be back by the tolling of the noon bell," the Keeper said in a tight voice, staring at Tarrin intently. "Don't make us come look for you. It won't be pleasant."
"Like you could find me," Tarrin snorted as he stepped through the penetrated Ward. He waited until Dola
It was the first time he'd ever been in the city during the daytime. The streets were filled with people, dressed in all ma
It gave Suld a multinational aire that Tarrin couldn't miss. Suld was the capital of Sulasia, seat of the Lion Throne, but the city looked more like a crossroads of the world. In Suld, Tarrin's obvious exotic appearance didn't attract as much attention as he thought it might. Some people gave him second looks, but by and large, he was left alone. But then again, the hulking ten span tall menace travelling beside him may have alot to do with that.
The only think Tarrin didn't like about it was the smell. He'd grown used to that foul miasma since being on the grounds, since it carried over into the grassy, natural setting of the Tower. Out in the city, with the humans all bustling about, it intensified that pungent amalgamation of waste, sweat, anxiety, animals, weathered stone, wood, and fire. There would be no way he could backtrack even his own scent in that unpleasant riot of smells.
After they were about ten blocks from the Tower gate, well out of sight from the katzh-dashi, Tarrin stopped by a large tavern, whose weathered sign showed a mug resting on the skull of a Troll. Trollskull Tavern, it was called. It wasn't that far from Tomas' house, and it would be a good place for them to wait for him.
"This is as far as you go," Tarrin told Dola
"I have to accompany you, Tarrin," Azakar objected. "It's my duty."
"It's also your duty as my brother Knight to accede to my wishes," he told him calmly. "I'm not in any danger, Zak. Trust me. But I'm not leading the eyes following us back to my parents. I had them hide for a reason."
"Just let him go, Zak," Faalken told him calmly. "Tarrin can take care of himself, and he could lose us so easily that at least we look dignified this way."
Tarrin chuckled. "True enough," he agreed in a modest voice. "I'll be back soon. Just have a drink and some breakfast, and I'll come get you when I'm ready."