two entities ascertain that you are innocent, they will make their reports and depart, and all will be well again."
"It has never been well," she said. But she seemed reassured.
Kade turned an inscrutable look upon Herald and the Witness. Without further word, he spun on his feet and departed.
Whirl settled on his side wheels. "I merely witness," he said. "I do not interfere."
Herald understood that there was a great deal he had not been told. But he preferred to obtain his information in his own fashion.
"Lady, may I touch you?" he asked, unsmiling. A smile was a stretching of the human mouth to suggest happiness or good intent, but at this stage it would have been hypocritical. He had been presented as an agent of the enemy, tolerated only because of terms imposed. Already he knew that the social or political situation was a large part of the problem. This girl might be an innocent focus, attacked by the enemy because she was dear to the Duke.
She put out one delicate hand as though suffering its amputation, while averting her gaze. Herald extended his own hand slowly, so as not to startle her into flight, and touched the tips of her small fingers.
She had a respectable but not remarkable aura of twenty-five, its type typical of a rare but established aural family. It exhibited the patina of stress, but was essentially normal and healthy. She was certainly not possessed by any alien aura.
She felt the tremendous healing power of his own aura, like none known in the Cluster for three thousand yearsâand melted. Her face turned to him, the large eyes focusing. They were orange, like her father's. The sunrise of hope emerged from the vacant gaze and seemed to illuminate her golden hair. In that slow moment she expanded from the forlorn child into a shining young woman, a truly regal Lady.
The Earl lifted on his wheels. "Supercircular!" he exclaimed. "With one touch you have transformed her! Even I, alien to your form, can perceive the miracle!" Then he broke off, stopping his communication wheel. And spun it again, momentarily. "Apology. I promised not to interfere."
The Lady turned to the Sador, but retained contact with Herald. "How is it that you, the Enemy Witness, react so positively to my pleasure? Do you not wish to burn me?"
"No, Lady, no!" the Earl exclaimed. "I wish you cured , that this unhealthy strife may be gone from fair Keep. Kastle Kade was ever the bulwark against deceit and oppression, the strongest and truest wheel of the King. Only thisâthis misfortune prevents it from being so again. I am enemy not to you or to your father, but to the demon possession that took your illustrious mother and threatens you. Be as you are at this instant, and we are all friends."
There was no mistaking the sincerity of the Earl's expression. Yet this was strange, for there should have been no need to summon a healer if the opposing factions were so eager to settle their differences.
"This girl suffers no possession," Herald said. "Her aura is rare but normal."
But now the Sador became adamant. "She is normal now , Healer. And perhaps with your help she will be normal always. But she has been possessed, and this is our concern."
"Perhaps we suffer a confusion of terms," Herald said. "By 'possession' I refer to the inhabitation of a host by a hostile, malevolent aura, what was historically termed 'hostaging.' "
"Precisely."
"This is not the case, here. Since an aura can be removed from a given host only by Transfer, the Lady cannot have been possessedâunless there is a Transfer unit in this castle. Then of course the hostile aura could have directed her to that instrument, and departed. But normally a good host is not given up so readily. And of course a foreign aura cannot control a host without the acquiescence of that hostâ"
"A demon can," Whirl said. "We of Keep know of cases."
Local superstition, Herald was sure. "Still, the other restrictions remain. Without a Transfer
"It has never been well," she said. But she seemed reassured.
Kade turned an inscrutable look upon Herald and the Witness. Without further word, he spun on his feet and departed.
Whirl settled on his side wheels. "I merely witness," he said. "I do not interfere."
Herald understood that there was a great deal he had not been told. But he preferred to obtain his information in his own fashion.
"Lady, may I touch you?" he asked, unsmiling. A smile was a stretching of the human mouth to suggest happiness or good intent, but at this stage it would have been hypocritical. He had been presented as an agent of the enemy, tolerated only because of terms imposed. Already he knew that the social or political situation was a large part of the problem. This girl might be an innocent focus, attacked by the enemy because she was dear to the Duke.
She put out one delicate hand as though suffering its amputation, while averting her gaze. Herald extended his own hand slowly, so as not to startle her into flight, and touched the tips of her small fingers.
She had a respectable but not remarkable aura of twenty-five, its type typical of a rare but established aural family. It exhibited the patina of stress, but was essentially normal and healthy. She was certainly not possessed by any alien aura.
She felt the tremendous healing power of his own aura, like none known in the Cluster for three thousand yearsâand melted. Her face turned to him, the large eyes focusing. They were orange, like her father's. The sunrise of hope emerged from the vacant gaze and seemed to illuminate her golden hair. In that slow moment she expanded from the forlorn child into a shining young woman, a truly regal Lady.
The Earl lifted on his wheels. "Supercircular!" he exclaimed. "With one touch you have transformed her! Even I, alien to your form, can perceive the miracle!" Then he broke off, stopping his communication wheel. And spun it again, momentarily. "Apology. I promised not to interfere."
The Lady turned to the Sador, but retained contact with Herald. "How is it that you, the Enemy Witness, react so positively to my pleasure? Do you not wish to burn me?"
"No, Lady, no!" the Earl exclaimed. "I wish you cured , that this unhealthy strife may be gone from fair Keep. Kastle Kade was ever the bulwark against deceit and oppression, the strongest and truest wheel of the King. Only thisâthis misfortune prevents it from being so again. I am enemy not to you or to your father, but to the demon possession that took your illustrious mother and threatens you. Be as you are at this instant, and we are all friends."
There was no mistaking the sincerity of the Earl's expression. Yet this was strange, for there should have been no need to summon a healer if the opposing factions were so eager to settle their differences.
"This girl suffers no possession," Herald said. "Her aura is rare but normal."
But now the Sador became adamant. "She is normal now , Healer. And perhaps with your help she will be normal always. But she has been possessed, and this is our concern."
"Perhaps we suffer a confusion of terms," Herald said. "By 'possession' I refer to the inhabitation of a host by a hostile, malevolent aura, what was historically termed 'hostaging.' "
"Precisely."
"This is not the case, here. Since an aura can be removed from a given host only by Transfer, the Lady cannot have been possessedâunless there is a Transfer unit in this castle. Then of course the hostile aura could have directed her to that instrument, and departed. But normally a good host is not given up so readily. And of course a foreign aura cannot control a host without the acquiescence of that hostâ"
"A demon can," Whirl said. "We of Keep know of cases."
Local superstition, Herald was sure. "Still, the other restrictions remain. Without a Transfer
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