The Forgotten Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 6)

Chapter 8.5

This time the dream was vague, as if she knew it was a dream, and yet it was wholly unfamiliar to her. She was trying to make her way through a room of people trying to kill her, using fists, elbows, and blaster to clear her path until she was brought up short by a searing pain just below her ribcage. She twisted painfully and withdrew the knife, shooting her assailant almost automatically, focused on her destination. Then she caught sight of her bloodied hand and recognized the Bathiran seal on the ring. I'm Ford—this is Ford's dream, she thought, and woke with a gasp.

"Ssh. It is all right," came a whisper from nearby.

Sabrina sat up and flung her arms around him. "Thank God. I thought you were dying!" she choked.

He chuckled, hugging her tightly. "Wake up, Sabrina. Niavar will be fine, but he is not awake yet."

"Tirqwin!" She hugged harder. "Thank you. I thought we were in real trouble this time!"

"You were." He sat back, then kissed her forehead. "The High Lord told us you and Niavar had been murdered by the We'edja. Which sounded extremely unlikely, considering Ambassador Meera's reports. Plus, Mara knew Niavar was alive, though she was unable to feel him strongly. But we were really afraid for you. It did not seem likely that Niavar could be badly hurt and you be much better off."

"I'm all right."

Khediva snorted. "Oh yes, clumsy surgery on your head and bruised organs left untreated. You were not all right. But you will be, now that I have set a few things to rights."

"Thank you, Khediva. Thank you both." She glanced over at Ford, whose color was much better, and smiled in relief. "Oh! Where's Stecklan?"

"He went with Mara, who is doing a formidable job of terrorizing the High Lord," Tirqwin said.

"Mara's here?"

"Where did you expect her to be, with you and Niavar in danger?"

"Oh. I just thought she'd sent you to take care of things."

Tirqwin smiled. "Well, this was a Realm mission. It did not seem diplomatic for a Wayfarer pair to sweep in and interfere. So we are merely the escort, and the Guardian is dealing with the situation on Fiersai."

Khediva said dryly, "And let that be a warning to anyone who would try to score political points by assassinating Realm observers."

Sabrina shook her head, unable to stop smiling. "Ford will be so disappointed. He had things so well in hand before the counter-coup."

"Yes. I was enjoying his reports enormously," Tirqwin agreed. "And I look forward to yours. I was worried about you, you know. It did not seem like you to be so completely inactive."

Sabrina suddenly remembered the huge secret she was keeping and wondered if Tirqwin and Khediva could sense anything amiss with the timeline. She forced out a chuckle. "Ford confined me to my sickbed. Everybody was too scared of him to let me up. He was more dictatorial than Mara even!"

Tirqwin laughed. "And I suppose you blame me for that! Well. It is good to have you back, Sabrina. But I have a quarrel to pick with you for giving away your emergency signal."

"I'm sorry." She hung her head. "I was just blaming myself for that earlier. I just thought that someone might come after Cynthia someday if they found out she'd helped me. I wanted her to be able to get help."

"And you were furious with all of us," Tirqwin said wryly. "No matter." He held out a necklace, this time with a pendant of blue topaz shaped like a teardrop suspended from a silver cap. "I hope you will not give this one away."