Sarabande: River of Falcons Book 4

9. Tea and Biscuits

They sat in Onuma's cottage discussing the situation over a pot of peppermint tea and fresh biscuits. Onuma often served ginger biscuits with her tea, and Drift particularly liked them. However, long before she had managed to clean the plate of its stack of buttery biscuits, June stood up and said, "Jasper, we had better be going. I don't want to draw an attack onto the Garden."

Onuma frowned and waved them back to their chairs. "No, no, please stay a little longer. There are things we need to discuss. Besides, where will you go? The whole valley is probably swarming with search parties right now."

June exchanged a glance with Jasper. "I'd rather go out and meet them than wait for them to corner me here," she said. "And anyway, if we can make it back to the Palace in one piece, we'll be fine. It's all set up to repel an attack. They'd be crazy to try to get us there."

Drift nodded her agreement. "The Artulans are still guarding the walls, and the Queen, I mean, Mother, sees to it that there is always a magic-worker on guard to help out. Sarai has been doing the night shifts, and the rest of us take turns on the walls during the daytime."

"It's moderately well defended," Onuma said, "but not as well as it ought to be. And your journey back may be quite hazardous. Would you like me to fly with you? I can ask Maya and Purslane to come along, too."

"No, you should stay here and keep an eye on your students," Drift said. "We'll be fine. Oh, but just one thing. Don't tell anyone that Jasper is going to stay with us. Okay?"

Onuma looked at Jasper. "That's a wise policy. I think you should stay out of sight for a while. You're the one they are going to be most eager to capture, since you were living right amongst them and giving away their secrets. I should imagine that Magus takes it rather personally."

Jasper nodded. "I've made an enemy for life. But then again, so has he." He grinned. "We'll have to see who strikes first."

"Now, now," Onuma soothed. "Don't do anything rash. Just stay out of sight for a while and let things calm down. They can't spare search parties for very long. Eventually they'll give up and go back to their regular work, whatever that might be."

"I have some news about that," Jasper said. "Nautilus showed Magus where an ancient mage's ship is lying in deep water just beyond the outermost reef at the mouth of the river."

"A mage's ship?" Drift asked, a note of surprise in her voice. "Is it the same wreck Nautilus found when she was young?"

"I don't know," Jasper said. "But I do know that they believe there are treasures on board, and they want to lift the entire ship and retrieve them. Magus thinks there's something very powerful in that ship, something he wants to control."

Onuma frowned. "Powerful? How so?"

"They've been using an old scrying-mirror they found in a ruined building down by the salt marshes. It must have belonged to an ancient mage. Anyway, it shows sources of magical power. They appear on it like glowing spots on a map. For instance, First Garden shows up on it as a silvery glow, and Falcon Palace glows with gold light."

Onuma leaned forward and said, "I've read about such things. They were used back in the old days to keep track of the major sources of power. Most people do not have enough magic in them to show up on such a map, but a very powerful mage would be visible. The mages used to keep track of their rivals in mirrors like that."

"I heard Magus and Nautilus talking about it, and they said they could see Drift in the mirror sometimes," Jasper continued. "When you go out of the Palace, Drift, a lot of the gold light breaks off and goes with you. The scrying mirror is too cracked and old to show your position precisely, but it does indicate your general location, so be careful not to stay out in the open in one place for too long."