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.“Good Sir Knight,” she said, “You are a long way from the Sea!”And the Eilif lord and all the Fair Ladies burst into laughter at her timid jest.The room rocked with merriment; they applauded Gael and patted her hands with a touch so light it could not be felt.Luran was with them all again, and he nodded approval at her.“Well, Mother,” he said to the Lady Ethain.“You have heard our dear Ylmiane speak.Captain Gael Maddoc could indeed serve us!”“If we undo this foolish working at Silverlode,” said Myrruad in a low voice.“It was a rash deed,” said Hugh McLlyr, “and in a dark season.Let the dark child of Coombe undo the knot I will ride with her if it would help.”Luran sat down at the round table and his mother, the Lady Ethain, poured wine into his silver cup when it appeared.“We accept your bargain, Captain Maddoc,” she said.“We will assist you in bringing these poor Eildon souls out of Silverlode.”“In return you must ride on quests for us,” said Luran.“Some would say this was an honor for one of the dark race …”“Indeed I feel it as the greatest honor …” said Gael.She looked as closely as she dared at the old ones and began to share with Luran feelings of helpless pity for them.All the light folk spoke a little apart in that Old Chyrian she could scarcely understand, then between one breath and the next they had swirled away, leaving only Luran to parley with her.She could not have sworn how they left the chamber—through the open door or simply by vanishing away.“All!” said the youngest of the Eilif lords sternly, fixing Gael Maddoc with his golden eyes.“All of them, all of us … do you understand me? Only folk of the half-blood will remain, here and there in the lands of Hylor.”“I have heard,” said Gael Maddoc, almost whispering, “of the Sea Children, and of other magic beings … like the Afreet and the Djinni …”“True,” said Luran.“And the Children of the Sea, Hugh McLlyr’s close kin, are flourishing in their watery element.But the Shee are, to all intent, a lost race.Lost as surely as the unicorn and the white mountain deer, the pied winter geese, the ring adder and the great grey bears—the last one died in Night-wood by the Danmar when Yorath Duaring was still a young lad, roaming that patch of forest.”“Lord Luran,” said Gael, “how may I serve the light folk?”“There are certain tasks yet to be done,” he said plainly.“The tying up of loose ends—the settling of certain debts.Enormous discretion is required and boldness and complete truthfulness, as in a good envoy.“This wandering messenger of the Shee must go far and wide, not only riding like a kedran, but crossing larger distances in the light or magical fashion as we did to come here, to our home, that Tulach Hearth of which you were bold enough to speak in your summoning.”“I can do all this,” said Gael Maddoc, “if you put your trust in me.How far have we come as the dark folk measure distance?”“We are in the region of Goldgrave,” smiled Luran.“You will think this a foolish question,” said Gael, “but can a horse and rider be transported in this way?”“Not foolish at all,” said Luran, though he smiled a little.“The magic is strong.With a grand working, one could take the Halfway House and set it down in the market place at Krail, to the stupefaction of Val’Nur and his henchmen.”There was another overtone here and Gael was careful to mark it; although Luran distanced himself from the doings of the race of men, “the dark folk,” he was not altogether averse to show his leanings.He seemed not to care for the Lord of the Westmark, Knaar of Val’Nur.“But first of all we must ‘untie the knot’ and rescue your Eildon visitors,” he continued.“It is time for a first swearing, Gael Maddoc.What would you swear by for a binding oath?”“Why, we swear at home, I mean in our house, ‘by the Goddess and the waters of Holywell,’” she said.“We have always done so.My father and I used this form before the reeve one time … and he laughed and said it was very old.”“Excellent!” smiled Luran.“Lay your hand on this holy jewel, for a reminder of the Goddess and her mercy …”He gestured, and there was a golden round, about the size of a small food bowl, and in it was set a huge jewel, unfacetted, glowing with a blue white light.Gael reached out and laid her right hand upon the cold surface of the jewel and repeated the words of the oath of silence that he gave her.Luran did not veil the jewel from sight again but left it in the middle of the table, allowing it to add its own light to the shadowy chamber.“The light folk have suffered in ages past from the diggings on the high ground,” he said, seeing her gaze linger upon it “We made every allowance for the dark folk and their mining of precious metals and their search for jewels.“Indeed we do not scorn these things ourselves and have dealt with those of every race who were gold and silversmiths, jewelers—but it was a relief, certainly, when the veins of gold and silver diminished, when the rubies were gone.“Two years past, the ground moved up here, in our domain, not far from Silverlode, and we were afraid.Our servants told us that at least one new vein of pure silver has been revealed.We will not have it taken out, mined by the dark folk round about, until the Shee have gone … you understand me?”Luran sighed deeply and sipped his wine.He waved a finger at the fire so that it burned up a little; the big vaulted chamber was cold.Bran, the hound, crept close to Luran and laid a paw on his knee, asking for comfort.“Poor Bran would do better with dark folk,” said Luran.“Is he not one of the Huntress’s Own?” asked Gael [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]