The Book of Mordred by Vivian Vande Velde Page A

her."
    "Yes," Alayna admitted.
    "Why?"
    "Because..." She took a deep breath and just said it. "Because she has magical ability."
    Halbert's eyebrows shot up.
    "We thought a wizard might seek her because of that."
    "There are a number of wizards," Halbert pointed out. But he didn't question why they had chosen him. Alayna was going to tell him that other parties had gone out to question other wizards, but before she had a chance to he said, "And one of them, apparently, is my enemy, too." He looked from her to Mordred. "I have a scrying crystal," he said, which he had already told them—it seemed so long ago. "I will get it. I will bring it
here,
"—he emphasized the word, and he looked at Mordred while he said it—"where you can watch me use it. We shall see, together, whether we can find this poor, lost child. And learn who is trying to get to
me
through her."

CHAPTER 9

    As soon as Halbert left the room, Alayna turned on Mordred. "What is the matter with you?" she demanded. She bit off what she'd been about to say, that he was acting almost as unreasonably as Galen had in the Great Hall.
    Mordred looked at her with that infuriating impenetrable expression.
    Galen was alive—despite all reason. And a wizard was going to help them find Kiera. They
would
succeed. They would, she knew it. Yet there was a little voice that intruded on her feeling of well-being, that insisted,
What now?
Desperate to still that voice, she said, "He looks better, don't you think?"
    "Yes," Mordred admitted—grudgingly, she thought, reluctant to be in Halbert's debt.
    He stepped over to the bed.
    "Let him sleep," she started, just as he leaned over to prod Galen. "He needs to gather his strength."
    "Galen," Mordred said.
    In any case, Galen gave no sign of reacting.
    Mordred looked annoyed: She couldn't tell whether at Galen or at her. He said, "You know—"
    But just then the door opened, and Halbert came back in. He had what appeared to be a jagged piece of quartz. It had the shape, roughly, of a short, squat, squared-off candle, rising from a jumble of candle parings. The upright portion was clear, the rest milky. This he set down on the chest at the foot of the bed. Then he came to stand by Alayna. "Still asleep?" He touched Galen's shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. She was willing to let him try, because he, better than she or Mordred, knew the limits of the healing spell he had performed. "Sir Galen," Halbert called.
    Galen groaned and turned slightly. Alayna was so relieved, she almost missed his words. "The girl..." he mumbled, "get the girl..."
    Alayna leaned closer. "Which girl, Galen?" she asked. "Do you mean Kiera? Yes, we're going to get her, as soon as you regain your strength."
    Far from reassuring him, her words seemed to agitate him.
Fool,
she chided herself. She hadn't meant to imply blame, but of course Galen would take it that way, fretting that he was delaying them.
    "Galen," Halbert commanded.
    Her brother's eyelids fluttered open.
    "You're safe. You are among friends. Your sister, Alayna, is here. And Sir Mordred."
    Galen glanced at each of them in turn, and Alayna grasped his hand.
    "Why don't you sit up?" Halbert eased him up, then said to them, "He'll probably be a bit stiff and confused at first."
    And, indeed, Galen looked dazed but unworned.
    She gave her brother's cold hand a reassuring squeeze and he smiled vaguely at her.
Is his hand supposed to be that cold?
she asked herself.
    "He is doing well," Halbert assured her. "Truly he is."
    "Truly," Galen repeated solemnly, and Alayna laughed with relief.
    Mordred removed Galen's battered breastplate from the chair where he had set it down, and put it on the floor with more of a clatter than was probably necessary. He placed the chair in front of the clothes chest and straddled it, his arms across the back, watching Halbert.
    Halbert's smile was tight. "So," he said. "As Sir Mordred has indicated, it is time we begin."
    He pulled the shutters closed