Storm Rising by Mercedes Lackey Page B

matter-of-factly. “In that, I cannot blame him too much. Grim, gray, gloomy, and chill! I hope that the farmers are able to get their harvests in, or we all shall be wearing tighter belts come spring.”
    “I don’t know. I haven’t heard that things are any worse than previous years, but no farmer anywhere admits to a good yield,” Karal replied. “I
have
heard that things have improved, now that the breakwater is up.” That gave him an opening he’d been looking for. “An’desha—you were outside the Iftel border. Did you see anything when I went in?”
    “How do you mean? I saw a great deal, both with Mage-Sight and my own two kitty-slit eyes.” An’desha pointed to them, then crossed his legs gracefully and leaned forward a little. The wood of his seat creaked as he moved.
    Karal thought carefully and phrased his question as clearly as he could. “Did it seem to you that the magic barrier at the border actually …
recognized
me in some way?”
    “Oh, there’s no doubt of that!” An’desha told him firmly. “It touched and tested you before it allowedyou to pass within. I Saw it myself. Short, then longer tendrils.” He frowned a little as he concentrated. “The area you were in brightened, and I Saw things—it is hard to describe—I saw the energies touching you, and I knew from some of—of Falconsbane’s memories that they were what he called ‘probes,’ ways to test someone. Though
what
, precisely, you were being tested for, I cannot say.”
    “But why did it recognize me?” Karal blurted. “Altra was very firm about that, remember? He said the border would only recognize
me
of all of us. So why me?”
    “It wouldn’t have been only you,” An’desha pointed out. “He said that it had to be a Karsite Sun-priest of a particular kind. Ulrich would have been the first choice. And obviously, Solaris would have served as well.”
    “But what is the connection between the magic at the border of Iftel and a Karsite Sun-priest?” Karal asked, frustrated. “And just what
is
Iftel? No one can get in or out, except for a very few, all of them selected traders and Healers, and you couldn’t get one of them to talk if you tortured him, which is the point, I suppose. I’ve asked Altra—
when
he happens to show up, which isn’t often since we got back—and all he does is switch his tail and tell me that I’ll find out when the time is right.”
    :I can’t help you; I’m as baffled as you are,:
Florian admitted.
:Sorry, but there it is. Neither Altra nor Vkandis Sunlord have bothered to confide in this insignificant Companion.:
    “I suppose we’ll just have to be patient. Frankly, if your Vkandis is anything like the Star-Eyed, I’m afraid He’s probably going to insist that you figure it out for yourself.” An’desha shrugged. “Deities seem to be like that. If I were one, I’d have a little more pity on my poor, frustrated, thick-headed followers.”
    Karal had to laugh at that, and reflected again how much he himself had changed. A year ago such a joke would have had him white with shock at the irreverence, not to say blasphemy.
    An’desha smiled. “Good. Finally, I’ve made you laugh. You should be laughing more; you look as if haven’t had a good laugh in days. And why haven’t you been spending any time down at the Compass Rose with Natoli and the other students? I was down there last night. They’ve been missing you.”
    “I’d like to,” Karal replied wistfully, “but I don’t have the time. I’m doing my old job and Ulrich’s, too. And having to learn all the things he knew about protocol without having the leisure to learn them over the course of a year or more.” He shook his head as Florian’s ears dropped sympathetically. “It started almost as soon as we got back from the border, and it hasn’t let up any. I can’t just be a place-holder, An’desha, I have to be a
real
envoy, whether I’m ready for it or not.”
    :Too true.:
Florian nuzzled him,