Raven's Strike (Raven #2)(70)

Lehr groaned and muttered something that sounded rude to Phoran, but he rolled out of the bed in the loft and dropped to the main floor without bothering with the ladder. Staggering across the room, he stood next to his father and rubbed his eyes.

"Look at that map," Tier said. "Tell me what you see."

"Lines," said Lehr grumpily. "What am I suppose to..." He frowned, coming to alertness just as Tier had.

"It's the distance that helped me see what it was," Tier explained.

He walked over to the map and put his finger on the lower left-hand corner. "The lines are elevations," he said. "I bet they used to be different colors, but age turned them all dark."

"What do you see?" asked Phoran. "Can you tell where it is?"

"It's here," said Tier simply. "Not Colossae," he brushed his hand over the star that marked the wizards' city. He dropped his hand until he pointed to the lower left-hand corner again. "Right here, this is Redern Mountain and the Silver River. Here's our valley." He ran his hand up to a section about the size of his palm that had a single thick line running through the middle of it, but none of the thinner lines. "This must be..."

"Shadow's Fall," said Lehr. "If the distances are right for Redern and this valley, then that's right where Shadow's Fall would be."

Tier let his finger follow the line that bisected the flat plain of the battlefield. It connected to a second road, then took an abrupt turn north. About a finger length from Shadow's Fall, Tier's finger stopped and rested on the strange symbols that Hennea told them represented the ancient wizards' city of Colossae.

"I can take us there," he said.

Chapter 11

"You want journey bread?" Alinath came out of the baking room, her face tight with dismay after overhearing Tier's request to her husband, Bandor.

Seraph took a step back and let Tier deal with his sister.

Tier picked up a piece of bread left out as a sample and tried it. "I'll need it as soon as you can. You know, Bandor, if you put a bit less salt in this bread" - he motioned to the plate of sample offered - "it would allow some of the other flavors to come out."

"I'll try that," Bandor said. "Does the journey bread have anything to do with your guests?"

Tier nodded easily, but Seraph could feel his arm tense under her hand. "Who told you about them?"

Five strangers were a hard secret to keep, but they hadn't told anyone about them, and no one had been to the farm since Phoran and his men had shown up.

"Apparently some youngsters - who should have work to keep themselves busy - were out that way a week or so ago and came back into town spouting nonsense," said Alinath.

"Spying on us, are they?" Tier grinned, and Seraph could tell that he was honestly amused. "I hope they saw something more interesting than our guests."

"They said they were nobles," Bandor said. "And one of them the Sept's own brother. We had the tale from the steward, who was convinced you are after his job."

"Gods save me," exclaimed Tier with honest horror. "What idiot would want that job?"

"Exactly," said Alinath with satisfaction. "And so I told the steward when he came whining to me."

"Toarsen, the Sept's brother, is there with a group of bored young noblemen whom Tier met in Taela," said Seraph, having found a story that might satisfy some of the curious. "They had nothing to do, and knew Tier would come here too late for planting. They've asked him to take them hunting in the mountains."

"You can't take the Sept's brother up there," said Alinath, horrified. "If something happens to him, the Sept will - "

"It's all right," said Seraph. "We're all going. I doubt there will be trouble with all of us there."

Alinath stopped fussing and frowned thoughtfully at Seraph. "Very well," she said slowly. "Two dozen dozen loaves of journey bread. It'll be ready the day after tomorrow - I've put all the breadmother up for today." She gave Seraph a sudden conspiratorial smile. "And any who ask, I'll tell them about the nobles who are paying my brother's family for an adventure up in the mountains. Only you'd better make it somewhere more interesting - like Shadow's Fall. Bored young boys might very well be stupid enough to ride from Taela to have Tier take them to Shadow's Fall. They'd have the money to tempt anyone, too. I can take Rinnie, if you'd like."

"No," said Tier instinctively, and Seraph smiled to herself - then at Tier when he looked at her with second thoughts in his face. Is it fair to take her?

"She'll be as safe with us as she would be here with Alinath," Seraph said. "I think if we try to leave Rinnie again, she'll just follow us."

"Besides," said Tier, relaxing a little, "the summer's getting old. Up high it's possible we could run into early snow. A Cormorant might be a very useful thing to have."

Bandor patted his wife on the back. "She'll have a story to tell her children, if that's where you're going. I'd like to see Shadow's Fall once before I die."

"I'll take you there," agreed Tier. "But I've only been once myself. It's not easy to get to - and it is not a comfortable place to be. If you're serious, though, I'll take you next summer after the crops are in."