Page 65 of Valdemar

“That is more than alarming,” Silvermoon acknowledged. “We lost track of her completely for years. To be honest, most of us hoped she was dead—that would have been a tragedy, but all too often, death is a mercy. What the Pelagirs can do to someone is unspeakable. If she was alive, why would she have avoided coming back to the Vale unless she was up to things she knew we would not tolerate? And now here she is again. In charge of a city. We knew of temple complexes and keeps, but no cities, north of you. I cannot personally think of any way she could have undergone that drastic a transformation—without us finding trace of it—that is not alarming.”

Kordas felt cold all over, despite the heat of the sunshine in the sheltering Grove. “Possession?” he ventured. “I mean—I’ve never actually seen anyone who was possessed. . . . In the Empire, possession is a sort of wonder tale you relate around a winter fire to scare everyone. Though . . . some say that all succeeding Emperors allowed themselves to be possessed by the spirit of the first Emperor when they felt the need. But no one could ever confirm that.”

“We simply don’t know,” Silvermoon admitted. And then he looked at the two Companions.

:That is not knowledge that has been shared with us,:Ardatha admitted. :I am very much afraid that we don’t know everything.:

“Do you know anything at all about her?” Silvermoon asked boldly.

:No. I wish that we did. But I hope you understand that we have limitations, by design.:

“So we’ll muddle through as best we can,” Kordas said, raising his chin. “For now . . . let’s make a visit to the Old Men. And Jonaton will be very happy to see you again, and meet Starbird. They at least have a view of her city. Maybe your eyes can make out something we haven’t.”

Silvermoon stood up. “That is as good a plan as any,” he replied.

Kordas turned to his son. “Restil, get your mother, and both of you go meet up with the Lord Martial and work on that proclamation the Heralds are going to take out. If he has any questions, ask me through Ardatha.”

Restil jumped to his feet. “Yes sir,” he replied, and immediately swung up on Darshay when she knelt, and headed for the Palace at a trot.

“Before we panic, let’s discover what we can,” Silvermoon cautioned. “It might not be her. She might not be as powerful as we fear; she may not be an Adept at all, she may simply be claiming that she is. And—there are two things in our favor.”

“She doesn’t know about the Companions—” Kordas offered.

Silvermoon nodded. “And she knows very little about you, other than what your defectors have told her. So we have advantages.”

“Then we’ll have to make our best use of them.” He headed for the mages’ quarters, which were, of course, in the wall. “And the sooner we start, the better.”