Free The Hidden City by David Eddings

objected.
    â€˜I don’t think he’ll have to,’ Sephrenia replied. She looked speculatively at Xanetia. ‘Do we trust each other enough to co-operate, Anarae?’ she asked. ‘I’m talking about something a little deeper than we’ve gone so far.’
    â€˜I will listen most attentively to thy proposal, my sister.’
    â€˜Delphaeic magic is directed primarily inward, isn’t it?’
    Xanetia nodded.
    â€˜That’s probably why no one can hear or feel it. Styric magic is just the reverse. We alter things around us, so our magic reaches out. Neither form will work by itself in this particular situation, but if we were to combinethem …’ She left it hanging in the air between them.
    â€˜Interesting notion,’ Aphrael mused.
    â€˜I’m not sure I follow,’ Vanion said.
    â€˜The Anarae and I are going to have to experiment a bit,’ Sephrenia told him, ‘but if what I’ve got in mind works, we’ll be able to make Berit look so much like Sparhawk that they’ll be able to use each other for shaving mirrors.’
    â€˜As long as each of us knows exactly what the other’s doing, it’s not too difficult, Sparhawk,’ Sephrenia assured him later when he and Berit joined her, Vanion and the Anarae in the room she shared with Vanion.
    â€˜Will it really work?’ he asked her dubiously.
    â€˜They haven’t actually tried it yet, Sparhawk,’ Vanion told him, ‘so we’re not entirely positive.’
    â€˜That doesn’t sound too promising. This isn’t much of a face, but it’s the only one I’ve got.’
    â€˜There will be no danger to thee or to young Sir Berit, Anakha,’ Xanetia said. ‘In times past it hath oft been necessary for my people to leave our valley and to go abroad amongst others. This hath been our means of disguising our true identity.’
    â€˜It works sort of like this, Sparhawk,’ Sephrenia explained. ‘Xanetia casts a Delphaeic spell that would normally imprint your features on her own face, but just as she releases
her
spell,
I
release a Styric one that deflects the spell to Berit instead.’
    â€˜Won’t every Styric in Matherion feel it when you release your spell?’ Sparhawk asked.
    â€˜That’s the beauty of it, Sparhawk,’ Aphrael told him. ‘The spell itself originates with Xanetia, and others can’t feel or hear a Delphaeic spell. Cyrgon himself could be in the next room and he wouldn’t hear a thing.’
    â€˜You’re sure it’s going to work?’
    â€˜There’s one way to find out.’
    Sparhawk, of course, did not feel a thing. He
was
only the model, after all. It was a bit disconcerting to watch Berit’s appearance gradually change, however.
    When the combined spell had been completed, sparhawk carefully inspected his young friend. ‘Do I really look like that from the side?’ he asked Vanion, feeling a bit deflated.
    â€˜I can’t tell the two of you apart.’
    â€˜That nose is really crooked, isn’t it?’
    â€˜We thought you knew.’
    â€˜I’ve never looked at myself from the side this way before.’ Sparhawk looked critically at Berit’s eyes. ‘You should probably try to squint just a little,’ he suggested. ‘My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. ‘That’s one of the things you have to look forward to as you get older.’
    â€˜I’ll try to remember that.’ Even Berit’s voice was different.
    â€˜Do I really sound like that?’ Sparhawk was crestfallen.
    Vanion nodded.
    Sparhawk shook his head. ‘Seeing and hearing yourself as others do definitely lowers your opinion of yourself,’ he admitted. He looked at Berit again. ‘I didn’t feel anything, did you?’
    Berit nodded, swallowing hard.
    â€˜What was it like?’
    â€˜I’d really rather not talk about