Free Caught in Crystal: A Lyra Novel by Patricia Collins Wrede Page B

woman, born among the Thar and raised from early childhood by the Sisterhood. She left our order some fifteen years ago, after a disagreement with the Elder Mothers. We have need of her knowledge and her skill. Her name was Kayl Larrinar, and I think you are she.”
    Kayl closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again. “I am.”
    Corrana let out her breath in a long, quiet sigh of relief. “We have need of you, Sister.”
    “Why?” Kayl was startled by the cold hardness of her own voice.
    “I think you can guess.”
    “No games, lady!” Kayl slammed a hand down on the tabletop with enough force to numb her fingers. “What do you want of me?”
    “Your help. The Elder Mothers think someone is tampering with the Twisted Tower.”
    Kayl’s face stiffened. “Impossible!”
    “So the Elder Mothers thought. But there is a shadow on the stars, and they believe the Tower is its origin.”
    “And you want me to help you find out who is doing things, what they’re doing, and how to stop them, because I was one of the ones who went to the Tower in the first place.”
    “I think that is a fair summary, though it is not as I would have put it.”
    The calm in Corrana’s voice angered Kayl, and she said sharply, “You’re forgetting something, Corrana. I’m not one of the Sisters anymore. I’m not even a warrior anymore. I’m an innkeeper and a mother with two children to raise.”
    “And if you refuse me, and our efforts fail, what then? Whatever is happening at the Tower, it can be nothing good.”
    “It’s no concern of mine.”
    “Is it not? The rot that is creeping through the lands of the Alliance is spreading. Will you go to your grave knowing that you could have tried to stop it, and did not?” Corrana’s voice tolled like a death knell, and her eyes were darker than a moonless sky at midnight. “Is that the example you would give your children? Is that the world you would bequeath them?”
    Kayl stiffened. “The decision isn’t that straightforward.”
    “We are asking for very little.”
    “You’re asking for my life! It would take months for me to get to the Windhome Mountains and back. By then there’d be nothing here to return to. Utrilo Levoil would be knocking at the door with a writ of confiscation before I was gone two days. And what would happen to Mark and Dara then?”
    “The protection of the Sisterhood—”
    “Outside the borders of the Estarren Alliance? You’re leaving four days sooner than you’d planned because you aren’t sure you can protect yourself from the Magicseekers. I’d trust the Sisterhood to take care of two children, but how are you going to protect a whole inn?”
    “We’ll build you a new one, if we must. We need you, Kayl.”
    “The Sisterhood has plenty of swordswomen,” Kayl pointed out. She was sure that Corrana had not yet told her everything, though she could not have given the reasons behind her certainty.
    “But none better suited to the task.” Corrana shook her head. “I feared that you would react unfavorably if I put my question too soon. I had intended to go more slowly, but that choice is no longer mine. I must leave tomorrow. Until then, think on what I have said. Your decision—”
    “Mother!” Mark’s shout came clearly through the unshuttered window. “I got the things you wanted. Did Bryn come yet?” The door opened and he came plunging into the room, covered with dust and laden with packages. “She said she’d be—” He stopped short as he caught sight of Corrana in her silver robes, and his eyes widened.
    “In a minute, Mark,” Kayl said. She looked at Corrana. “Is there anything else, Your Virtue?” she said politely. “I have work to do.”
    “Go, then.” Corrana rose, her face expressionless. Her eyes raked Kayl up and down. “But I shall ask for your answer tomorrow.”
    Mark looked uncertainly from Corrana’s back to Kayl’s set face as Corrana swept out of the serving room. “Is she really a