Raven's Strike (Raven #2)(44)

"No, sir."

Akavith put the mare back in the stall and led Lehr to his tack room. As he sorted through bridles, he said, "Had a man in here today from Redern. Told me Olbeck - the steward's son, do you mind him?"

Lehr knew Olbeck, but Akavith continued speaking without waiting for an answer.

"He killed a lad - a merchant's son, Lukeeth it was."

Lukeeth was one of Olbeck's sycophants, a Rederni merchant's son. Lehr hadn't known him well, nor liked what little he knew, but he hadn't wanted him dead either.

"Storne Millerson bore witness against him, I heard. If Olbeck's father weren't the Sept's steward, Lukeeth's father would have demanded his head and gotten it, too. But all he managed was to banish Olbeck from Redern. I imagine it won't take a month for the steward to have that judgment put aside." He spat on the floor of the stables. "Makes me glad I don't live in a town. One of my boys kills another, I take care of it."

"If you can't control your worries, I can do this," Hennea told Seraph as she sat beside Tier on the floor by the fireplace after they'd all eaten.

If someone was going to muck about with Tier's Order, Seraph preferred to do it herself. She knelt beside her husband and shifted until she was as comfortable as she was going to get on the slat floor.

When she was settled she took a couple of deep breaths and buried her fear and anger deep so that she could control her magic. Emotions made magic unreliable and dangerous.

"I am fine," she told Hennea.

Jes and Rinnie sat on the floor and leaned against a wall where they wouldn't interfere with anything Seraph had to do.

"Lie down," she told Tier, who was sitting up. "And relax."

She began by looking. Usually an Order appeared to her like a set of transparent clothes that covered the whole body, though she knew that all Ravens didn't see the same way. Her teacher Arvage had seen small crowns of woven vines, each Order bloomed with a different color flower. Only the colors were the same for each Raven. She wondered how her old teacher would have seen the damage to Tier's Order.

"What do you see when you look at his Order, Hennea?" she asked.

"Light," she answered. "With areas of darkness."

Seraph touched Tier's chest lightly, where her magic told her one of the holes was. "I see a break here," she told Hennea.

Hennea nodded. "That's one of the dark patches."

"Keep an eye on him," Seraph asked. "If you see any change at all, let me know."

Until this past season, Seraph would never have thought that there was anything that could alter an Order. When she'd been young, she'd tried, and she supposed that she wasn't the only one. She'd wanted to see if she could change the appearance of her Order so that any Raven who happened by would not automatically know what kind of Order Bearer she was.

Nothing had worked. Magic had just slid off the surface of the Order without affecting it.

Magic worked with patterns, she thought, patterns and symbolism.

Seraph stared at Tier's Order and pulled her magic to her as if she were spinning yarn at her wheel. She felt it soft and fine, like the best lambswool as it spun itself beneath her fingertips. She saw the Order as clothing, so she'd pattern her magic after that and see if it worked.

"Tier," she said. "Tell me if you feel anything - but most especially if something hurts."

"I'll do that." His wry tone made her smile, as he'd intended it to.

She set her yarn of magic against his Order, but her fingers sank through to touch his neck.

"Cold," said Tier.

"Very funny," she muttered, glaring at his uncooperative Order. Pulling her fingers away, she saw the glittering violet of her own Order, and it gave her inspiration. This time she took the end of her yarn with the lightest of touches, so light her fingers did not touch it at all, only the thin veil of Raven Order.

She laid the thread against Tier, and this time it rested lightly on Bardic Order and, at her will, the thread she'd spun began to take on the texture and green-grey color of the Bardic Order. When she tugged lightly on the yarn, it fell away from Tier. It wouldn't merge with the Tier's Order - she'd have to weave it through. Even as she put the yarn back to lie against Tier so that it could all absorb the aspects of his Order, she had an idea of how she might be able to repair the damage.

She hadn't darned socks or sweaters for a long time - not since she'd taught Rinnie how. Sewing had never been her favorite part of solsenti life. Travelers darned their clothing as well, but a Raven's time was too valuable to be taken up in such mundane tasks. For Tier, though, she'd have darned a patch that covered the farm with room to spare.

When all her yarn was blended with Tier's Order she pulled it away. From magic she formed a darning egg, visualizing a hard surface rounded just right to turn the edge of her needle away from Tier's skin.

Now all that she needed was a darning needle.

The only thing that had been able to affect Tier's Order was her own.

"Hennea," she said. "Would you sort through the Ordered gems and bring me one of the Lark gems? The tigereye ring, I think." That was the one that sometimes warmed in her hand when she and Hennea were working with them.

"You're going to try and use the gems?" Hennea's voice was neutral - a good indication of her disapproval.