Ynara knew the Vanse family a little. Sayfer Vanse was a strong summoner, his wife only a little less so. Orillin, as expected, followed in his parents' footsteps and had been enrolled in Summoner School at a young age. He was already shaping up to be one of his generation's stars.
But that didn't explain why he was attracting the attention of an obscure university faculty as far away as the realm of Nimdre. Dev's brief missive wasn't exactly clear. Being Dev, it hadn't occurred to him to explain how or why he'd left her house, where he'd gone to, or what he was doing now. His scrawled mess of a note merely babbled about some connection between Orillin and Llandry, saying that they shared a great many ancestors. Something to do with Llan's draykon shift? he had written. Ynara sighed a little. "Something"? Dev ought to be better at conveying information; he'd certainly had enough practice at it.
She could make some inferences herself. If Llandry's metamorphosis was a product of her ancestry in some way, then Orillin himself may have similar potential. She couldn't guess why Dev's university was especially interested in the possibility, but she could guess that it probably did not mean good news for Orillin.
There was a final note of warning in Dev's missive that unsettled her.
Get him out of Glinnery.
When she showed the note to Aysun, he looked grim.
'If this boy is anything like our Llan, he has a world of trouble on the way.'
Ynara couldn't disagree with that. 'Dev meant for us to do something about it,' she replied. 'I wish he'd been more explicit; it's hard to protect someone from a virtually undefined threat.'
Aysun shrugged. 'It doesn't matter. We know what Llan went through - what she's still going through.'
'We couldn't protect her.'
Aysun smiled grimly. 'Because she's a headstrong girl, like her mother. What we can do for this boy is get him out of here before somebody comes looking for him.'
'And take him where exactly? Hiding didn't work too well for Llan, as I recall.'
'I have an idea.'
Aysun's workshop was a cluttered mess. This was unusual, but Ynara didn't say anything. She watched as her husband searched frantically through the piles of objects, picking up and discarding sundry bits and pieces. At length he found what he was looking for. He attached a small piece of metal to a box that he held in his hands, tinkering with the mechanics for some minutes. Then he placed it down on the high surface of his workbench. The box emitted a crackling sound for several seconds, then the noise cleared.
Aysun pressed a button. 'Rufin. Rufin.'
Nothing happened. He tried again, repeating the name several more times. Then, to Ynara's amazement, another voice came out of the box.
'Ays? What the bloody hell? You made it work, you raging genius.'
'No time for that, Ruf. Get Eyas and get here, by tomorrow.'
'You going to ditch us again like last time?'
'No. Stop wasting time. You're not here by noon tomorrow, we're going without you.'
'Ah - where are we going?'
'You'll find out tomorrow.' Aysun switched off the box and the noises faded. Ynara looked at him for a long moment.
'You,' she said at last, 'never cease to amaze me.'
Aysun grinned like a schoolboy.
Orillin was in class when Ynara arrived at the school. As an Elder of the Realm, it was no trouble for her to gain access to his lecture. She had only to say a few things about "extreme importance" and "complete urgency" and she was ushered straight in.
Orillin was a bright young man with a shock of messy blond hair. He looked at Ynara with a mixture of interest and puzzlement as she was shown in.
'I'm afraid I need to borrow Mr Vanse,' Ynara said, addressing the tutor.
The tutor, a middle-aged Glinnish woman with a cheerful demeanour, looked at Orillin in amazement. 'Oh! Is there some problem?'
'Hopefully not, Ms Pelne.'
Orillin stood up slowly, his red face showing that he was conscious of the stares of his classmates. He left the room with her without looking back.
'Ah... I'm not in trouble of some kind, am I?'
Ynara shook her head. 'Truthfully, Mr Vanse, I hardly know. But possibly. Quite possibly, yes.'
That silenced the boy. He followed her outside, palpably nervous.
'Elder. Do my parents know about this?'
'You'll see your parents in a few minutes, Mr Vanse.' Ynara spread her wings and jumped. Orillin followed her into the air. To her relief, he asked no further questions as they flew to Ynara's home; the pace she set was extremely fast, but he didn't complain.
Aysun had collected the elder Vanses while Ynara extracted Orillin from his lessons. When she arrived, he gave a tiny, almost imperceptible shake of his head. She understood. He'd questioned the Vanses and discovered nothing; if there was anything unusual about their son, they knew nothing about it.
Orillin smiled nervously at his parents as he entered the Sanfaer living room. They stood up, looking at Ynara anxiously.
'Elder Sanfaer, what is this about?'
In answer, Ynara simply handed them Devary's note. 'This came from an agent stationed in Nimdre,' she explained. It wasn't too far from the truth.
The Vanses read rapidly. When they'd finished, they both looked up at Ynara with identical expressions of alarm.
'Ori is in danger? From who?'
'The precise identity of the enemy is not known,' Ynara replied steadily. 'But our Llandry has encountered considerable trouble since she discovered the cursed draykon bone. If her enemy is also Orillin's, then he must be removed from Glinnery with all haste. We propose to take charge of his safety. He will be taken to some relatives of ours; we do not anticipate that anyone will guess to look for him there.'
'Where exactly?' Orillin's mother looked the way Ynara had often felt lately: alarmed, confused, and oppressed by a degree of fear she only felt when her child was threatened. She felt a stab of deep sympathy for the woman.
'Irbel,' Ynara said. 'As you know, my husband hails from there. Is there some story you can tell to explain Orillin's absence for a time?'
'Um.' Orillin's mother faltered, looking at her son with terrified amazement. 'We can say he is ill, perhaps.'
'He's in a specialist infirmary in Glour,' Ynara decided. 'Don't say which one.'
Mrs Vanse nodded, but her husband was not satisfied. 'I mean no disrespect, Elder Sanfaer, but can you protect our son? The two of you alone? Shouldn't he be placed under government guard?'
Aysun spoke up at that. 'A government guard did nothing for Llandry. Your son needs to be placed somewhere he can't be found. And we won't be alone.' He crossed the room in two strides and opened the far door. On the other side stood Rufin, cleaning his gun. He beamed and bowed extravagantly.
'We'll have help,' said Aysun.
Sayfer Vanse frowned. 'Where is your daughter?'
'Somewhere safe,' Ynara said firmly. She only wished she felt as sure of that as she sounded. As was too often the case of late, she really had no idea where Llandry was now.
Orillin himself asked considerably fewer questions than his parents. He was scared and it showed, in spite of his efforts to be cheerful. He stayed close to Ynara, watching the insouciant Rufin with a mixture of awe and dread.
'Time's wasting,' said Aysun gruffly. 'Let's go.'
Mrs Vanse clung to her son for a long time. After a while Aysun looked ready to separate them, but Ynara held him back. She understood the shock the Vanses were suffering; in some ways Orillin's danger would be hardest on them. They had the unenviable task of doing nothing, only waiting for Orillin to come home.
At last Mrs Vanse released Orillin. She and her husband left quickly.
'Your parents packed some of your things,' said Ynara to Orillin gently. 'Are you ready to go?'
He didn't say anything, just nodded. Ynara gave him a smile, squeezing his hand briefly. This boy was as brave as her Llandry.
They left the house on foot, on account of their wingless comrades. The boy walked along in silence for some time, his mind obviously busy. Ynara took up a station on his left, keeping him company without pressing him to talk. He would have enough to worry about soon; she left him his peace, for a brief space.
After perhaps an hour, he roused himself from his reverie and looked at her. 'Elder Sanfaer? How long will I have to be away? You see, my exams are coming up and I'm due to graduate soon.'
'I'm sorry about that, Orillin. I'll make sure you're given the chance to make up the lost time later. I really don't know how long you'll be away.'
The boy sighed a little and nodded. 'Ah, Elder?'
'Yes.'
'I don't understand any of this. You say I'm related to your family in some way?'
'You and my Llandry are distant cousins, yes.'
'Why does that put me in danger?'
Ynara debated briefly about how much to tell him. She didn't want to scare the boy, but he deserved to know why he had been suddenly pulled out of his comfortable life by a family he barely knew.
So she told him everything. About the draykon bone, about Llandry's transformation, and about Pensould. When she had finished, poor Orillin's eyes were very wide and he swallowed nervously.
'If anybody but you had told me such things, Elder Sanfaer, I'd say they were crazy. But those news reports... was that Llandry?'
'The grey was Llandry, yes.'
'And you think I may be able to do that too?' A note of excitement crept in and when he looked at her his eyes were shining.
'I don't know, Orillin, but it's possible.'
'I'd like to meet Llandry. Just to meet her, I mean in a sociable way, but also maybe she could - maybe she could teach me things.'
Ynara sighed. She didn't have to ask what "things" he meant.
'I want to see her too. Perhaps we will, soon.' She signalled to Aysun and he drew level with her.
'We're far enough along the Irbel road,' she murmured to him. 'Shall we move it along?'
Aysun nodded and turned off the road, heading into the trees. When they were well hidden from view, he smiled at his wife.
'Go ahead.'
Ynara looked at him for a second, trying to gauge his state of mind. For many years he'd hated it when she worked sorcery in his presence. She couldn't tell if he truly felt differently about it now; his face was, as ever, impassive.
Needs must, she thought. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting her mind slip into the working-trance. It had been a long time, but she had forgotten nothing. In an instant the paths to the Upper Realm were within her reach. A swift, sharp tug was all that was required, and a gate blossomed in the air before her. She inhaled, enjoying the heady fragrance of flowers and honey that drifted through.
'After you, Ruf. Eyas.' She watched as Aysun's friends stepped through first.
'Aren't we going to Irbel?' Orillin's excitement had faded; his fear was back as he hovered on the edge of the gate.
'Irbel isn't far enough away,' said Aysun. 'Don't be afraid. You'll be safe.'
Orillin swallowed, nodded, then he too passed through.
Brave boy, Ynara thought.
Aysun turned to her. 'You sure about this?'
She nodded. 'I want to. Are you sure about this?'
'No choice, really.' He kissed her briefly, then placed a gentle hand on her lower back, guiding her to the gate. Taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to be drawn into the portal.