Heroes Return by Moira J. Moore Page B

it?” Daris drawled.
    “Not at all,” said Fiona. “You can stay if you like.”
    “I’d rather see what those louts are up to,” said Tarce, heading for the nearest door. “Obnoxious nest of twits, aren’t they?”
    Daris crossed her arms. “So talk,” she ordered in a tone of challenge.
    “Shintaro, Dunleavy,” said Fiona. “I felt tremors. Were they signs of an earthquake?”
    “Aye,” Taro answered.
    “Why did we feel them? Are we supposed to?”
    “No, we’re just adjusting to a new post.”
    “Does what you do to prevent earthquakes or whatever involve the casting of spells?”
    “Certainly not,” said Taro.
    “Are there any books about it?”
    “There are books that try to explain it,” I told her. “But they don’t tell anyone how to do it. There’s no learning how to do it. You have to be born able to do it, and at the academies we only learn how to control what we can do.” And ethics, and laws, and how to read and write and figure.
    “Are there any tools you use, or any little rituals?”
    “No, nothing like that.”
    “Shintaro, please tell me exactly what you do when you do . . . whatever it is you do.”
    Looking a little baffled, Taro described what he did when he channeled, going back over details when Fiona asked him to, answering questions that first got very precise, then went a little strange and irrelevant. After Taro had been questioned for quite some time, Fiona turned to me.
    Daris huffed and left.
    As soon as the door was closed again, having driven her sister away with trivial questions, Fiona stepped closer to us and whispered, “I have an important and dangerous favor to ask of you.”
    “All right,” said Taro.
    “There are spell books in the library,” said Fiona. “Some of them have been in the family for generations. I don’t want them lost.” She didn’t mention the fact that she could be flogged for having them. Or could she? It was a difficult thing to punish an aristocrat. “And I know some of the staff have little trinkets that might be considered tools for casting. I am sure the Guards plan to search the manor and I don’t want to see any of my people flogged.”
    “Of course not,” said Taro. “This is all nonsense.”
    “While Cekina is keeping the Guards busy, I would like to have everything transferred to your suite while the Guards are here.”
    That was a lot to ask. A whole lot to ask.
    “You can’t be punished for being in possession of these things.”
    “We can’t be sure of that,” I objected.
    “But I can be sure that anyone else caught with these things will be punished. If they do find it in your room, I will insist the Triple S council be contacted before any punishment can be meted out. There are only four of them. They can’t do anything if we stand against them.”
    “That won’t win you any favor with the Emperor,” Taro warned her.
    “He doesn’t have any favor for me now anyway. Will you do it?”
    Taro and I looked at each other. I hated the idea. I really did. “But when they search our rooms . . .”
    “Your rooms were used by a former duchess,” said Fiona. “She had a lot of secrets. There are places to hide everything. It’s highly unlikely the Guards will be able to find anything.”
    “But not certain.”
    “No, not certain. Look, I may not be able to protect my people if any of them are caught. I know I can protect you two because of your position. Please.”
    It was a horrible idea, but I couldn’t bear the thought of people getting flogged just because I wanted to be a coward. “It’s fine with me.”
    Taro nodded.
    Fiona grinned. “Thank you.” Then she shocked the hell out of us both by giving each of us a hug. “Go up to your suite. We’ll bring everything to you.”
    Feeling unnerved, I followed Taro back up to our suite. We waited a short while, and then there was a knock. Only it wasn’t a knock on our door. We looked around for a few moments, and then I heard something in the