Dreamer's Daughter by Lynn Kurland Page B

I’m just curious.”
    â€œAnd we all know where that leads,” she said grimly. “Very well. What shall I try?”
    â€œWhat is your magic called?”
    â€œHow would I know?”
    â€œI thought you might have asked it at some point.”
    She attempted a glare but she feared it had only come out as a weak sort of whimpering thing. “We didn’t have time to find ourselves on a first-name basis while you and I were coming very close to dying.”
    He smiled. “Fair enough. Try Croxteth. It’s a very sturdy, sensible magic that Cothromaiche likely won’t find objectionable.”
    â€œI forgot the spell.”
    â€œAnd I imagine you haven’t forgotten anything, but I’ll let that pass and give it to you again.”
    She suppressed a shiver when he taught her the spell, then forced herself to repeat the words. It wasn’t terror that gripped her, it was the feeling that she was a child in a roomful of things belonging to her elders and she was contemplating touching something she’d been specifically instructed not to play with.
    A ball of werelight appeared in front of them, spluttered, then disappeared.
    She looked at Rùnach. “See?”
    He frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t think that was any lack on your part.”
    â€œYou try something so we’ll know for sure.”
    He considered, then tried his own spell in Fadaire. The light that appeared there was beautiful, true, but there was something about it that seemed . . . strange. As if she were seeing the light through a window made of glass that was slightly flawed.
    The light disappeared abruptly, leaving behind a shadow of something that faded so quickly, Aisling was certain she’d imagined it. She looked at Rùnach, but he was only continuing to look without expression at the place where his ball of werelight had lingered.
    â€œPerhaps ’tis something I did,” she offered.
    â€œWhen you spun my magic out of me, then did me the very great favor of helping to put it back in my veins?” he finished. He shook his head. “Aisling, this isn’t anything to do with you. There is no darkness in you. For all we know, Uachdaran decided to drop a shard of obsidian in my veins as punishment for all the spells I poached from him in my youth.”
    â€œPerhaps ’tis just a shadow,” she said. “From the light coming in the window, of course.”
    â€œOf course.”
    Though she had the feeling it might not be. The look he gave her said he was thinking the same thing.
    â€œI think it might be wise to discuss this with Soilléir before we go any further,” he said reluctantly. “I’m not sure he’ll offer an opinion, but we can try. I’m sure he’s loitering uselessly about somewhere in the palace.”
    He rose, but she shook her head. “I think I’d like to stay here and spin a bit longer, if you don’t mind.”
    He shot her a look. “Stalling?”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    He laughed a little, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’ll come fetch you for supper, shall I?”
    â€œNo need,” she said, looking up at him. “I’ll find my way there.”
    â€œWhat you mean is that you’ll find a way to remain in the kitchens,” he said dryly, “which whilst I agree with thoroughly, I can’t condone. Come to table or I’ll come find you.”
    â€œYou, Your Highness, are a bully.”
    â€œI was hoping to hide behind your skirts, which makes me less a bully than a coward.” He walked toward the door. “Pleasant dreams, Aisling.”
    She looked at his back in surprise. “I wasn’t planning on napping.”
    He turned around slowly and looked at her. “What did I say?”
    â€œYou said,
Pleasant dreams
.”
    He drew his hand over his eyes, then smiled weakly. “We need to get out from under Seannair’s