The Darkling Child

You could do it, he told himself. You know you could.

Yet something told him he couldn’t. Arca

He slouched in the chair, his mind working, his doubts and fears roiling in dark waves, and wished he had never started any of this. He should have found another way, back when he was still in Portlow and there was a chance. Now he was trapped, not only by the sorcerer’s expectations and demands, but also by his attraction to Lariana. Even knowing she might not feel toward him as he had hoped, even believing it was all a game.

He was still worrying it like a dog would a bone when he fell asleep.

And found it waiting for him when a hand rested on his shoulder and shook him awake. “Reyn.”

Lariana.

He opened his eyes to find her bending over him, her smile heartbreaking, the sound of his name on her lips so welcome it brought tears to his eyes.

She started to kiss him, but then Arca

“What word?” the sorcerer asked, eyes only for her.

“It went as expected,” she answered, glancing back at Reyn, sensing his reluctance, her expression suddenly uncertain. “They wanted me to lead them to you, so I let them think I was. I followed your instructions, disappeared when the magic allowed it, and left them to find their way out. What happens now?”

“You go out again.” He walked over to the table. Picking up the invitation he had taken such pains to compose, he brought it over, folded it twice, and gave it to her. “Take it to the Command Center at the Red Slash compound and present it. Don’t linger, don’t give them a chance to detain you. Now, go.”

And with a final look at Reyn, her expression unreadable, she was out the door and gone.

Dallen Usurient was sitting alone in his office, trying to make sense of what had happened earlier on the coast of the Tiderace, attempting to put all the seemingly disco

But he was hardly whole. Nothing had turned out as expected save for one thing—Arca

But the boy and the girl—who were they? What sort of power did the boy possess that he could turn those animals against their handlers so effortlessly? Where had he come from? And the Druids! How had they found their way to Arbrox? Had they been tracking him all along, somehow alerted to where he was going and what he intended? Or had they learned of Arca

He stood up and paced the room for a few moments, trying to still the thoughts that roiled through his brain, sharp daggers that pricked and cut at his confidence. What did he do now? He had to deal with matters as they were, and he wasn’t at all sure how to do that.

But Arca

He sat down again at his worktable and began considering choices for how he would handle his affairs from now on. Deny all involvement in whatever was discovered at Arbrox. After all, those who knew the truth were dead. Arrange to have the bodies discovered and file a report with the Federation Army High Command that did not implicate him. Track down Bael Etris, if he was still alive, and quietly put an end to him. Pretend that he knew nothing …

A knock sounded at his door. It caused him to jump, and he was instantly enraged. “What is it?” he screamed.

His aide entered, his face terrified, holding a folded sheet of paper. “A street boy just delivered this. I was told you would want to see it right away. Said it was a matter of life and death.”

Usurient rose. “Give it to me.” He snatched the paper away and motioned his aide out of the room. When the man was gone and his door closed again, he opened the paper slowly and read:

ARBROX IS HERE

Sunrise

Horn of Honor

That was all. But that was enough. Usurient read it again and again, trying to make it mean something other than what it clearly did. No amount of twisting or turning of its words could change the essential truth of it.

Arca

And Arca

He looked down and found his hands were shaking once more.

TWENTY-FOUR

REYN FROSCH WAS STILL STRUGGLING WITH THE MIX OF EMOtions generated by Lariana’s abrupt reappearance and even more abrupt departure; everything had happened so quickly, there was no time to sort it out. Then Arca

It caught the boy by surprise; he hadn’t expected any answers at all until the girl returned and wouldn’t have been surprised if Arca

But Arca

Reyn felt his throat tighten. Tonight? “What do you mean? What’s going to happen?”

The sorcerer cocked his head slightly. “You’ve done well enough with images, but your magic has so much more potential. Let me tell you a little about its history. Once you understand what is possible, you might be better able to accept what I intend for you to do.”

He leaned back again, his gaze drifting off into the shadows of the room. “Lariana’s worked so hard with you. Tell me. Do you like her? It appears that you do. A great deal, in fact. Isn’t that so, Reyn?”

“I like her a lot,” the boy answered. There was no point in pretending otherwise. Surely Arca

He made it a statement of fact rather than a question. Arca

Arca