The High Druid's Blade (The Defenders of Shannara, #1)(21)

He looked down momentarily, considering her words, and then met her steady gaze once more. “All right,” he said. “I’ll do it.”

She rose and extended her hand to him. “Welcome to your new home, Paxon Leah,” she said.

And immediately he knew he had made the right choice.





[page]SEVEN




SO PAXON WENT BACK TO THE HIGHLANDS OF LEAH, DEPARTING Paranor with the young Druid Sebec at the helm of the same two-masted clipper that had brought him there. The Ard Rhys had given him two days in which to make his arrangements at home before returning to the Druid’s Keep and his new life, and he was aware of how little time that allowed him to do what was needed. To begin with, he had to figure out how to tell his mother and his sister what he had committed to, and he had to do so as soon as they returned.

Which meant, in turn, that he had to figure out how much he was going to tell either one of them about why Aphenglow Elessedil had asked him to come to Paranor at all.

After all, neither one knew anything about the magic contained in the Sword of Leah. He had kept that secret from both. His mother didn’t even know what had happened to Chrys in her absence—his sister’s kidnapping and rescue. Everything surrounding that episode was still just between himself and Jayet.

But he had to offer some sort of explanation about why the Ard Rhys of the Fourth Druid Order had suddenly decided that Paxon was a candidate for training with weapons and magic until he could serve as a protector and paladin on quests to seek out errant and stolen magic for collection and storage at Paranor. Or, even if he left out the part about training with magic, why she would even have known about him in the first place. It wasn’t as if the Leahs had maintained a close personal relationship with the Druids over the years.

He thought about it all the way home, and he was still mulling it over when they landed at the airfield and Sebec sent him on his way.

“I will be here again in two days at midday, waiting for you,” the other told him, and then added cheerfully, “Don’t be late.”

Then he was off, the clipper lifting away and disappearing north. Paxon watched it go and set off for the cottage. He would talk to his sister first. Whatever he ended up telling his mother, he wanted to be sure Chrys would not contradict him.

Neither she nor his mother was home when he arrived, so he dumped his backpack on his bed and went off to Brew Tide, the tavern where Jayet now worked and where he imagined he might find his sister. He went down into the valley and the city, angling east, away from the airfield and toward the army barracks. Upon reaching the tavern and stepping through the doors, he found the girls engaged in conversation at the far end of the bar.

They rushed over to welcome him back, hugging and kissing him, though it seemed to him that Jayet did so with a little more enthusiasm. After exchanging a few words with both, he separated his sister from Jayet and sat her down at an empty table. The tavern was quiet in the midafternoon hours, so they were able to talk uninterrupted and in private.

“Does Mother know anything yet about what happened to you?” he asked.

“Not from me,” she announced flatly. “I wouldn’t tell her.”

“Then we won’t start now,” he said. “But I do have to tell her something because I’ve been asked to come train at Paranor by Aphenglow Elessedil.”

Chrys gave a surprised gasp. “Paranor?” she whispered, leaning close. “How did that happen?”

What he told her was that word had gotten back to the Ard Rhys about what had happened at Dark House. Because she knew of Arcannen and considered him an enemy of the Druids and opposed to their efforts to find and reclaim magic throughout the Four Lands, she had paid close attention to the news and made an effort to find out more about Paxon. Having done so, she decided she wanted him to come to Paranor to train in the use of weapons—and perhaps, one day, with magic, as well. After his training was complete, he was to take a position for a period of three years in the service of the order, aiding Druids in their efforts to track down rumors of magic, acting as protector and companion to them while they were away from the Keep.

“You’ve decided then?” she asked. “Are you certain about this?”

“She made me the offer and said I had to make up my mind right away. Otherwise, I would have come back and discussed it with you and Mother first. But the truth is, I knew this was what I wanted. I’ve felt trapped in the airship freight business. It was a living for us, but I never wanted to do it forever, and now I don’t have to. You and Mother will be given money to live on. I’ll find someone to run the freight business in my absence. If you want, you can help with this. And you don’t have to worry about Arcannen. For a few months, there will be someone from the Druid order living in Leah to keep an eye on you, just in case Arcannen decides to pay a return visit. You won’t know who is looking after you, but you will be safe while I’m gone.”

“I’m not worried anyway,” his sister declared, looking irritated. “I won’t be caught off guard like that again.”

Paxon almost said, Magic can always catch you off guard, and that’s what happened the last time, but he decided to keep his mouth shut.

“Will you be all right if I do this?”

She grinned. “I want you to do this. I want you to be happy. If this is what you’ve been looking for, then you should go. Mother and I will be fine.” She paused, turning suddenly serious. “But you’ll come back to visit us, won’t you?”