Free Betrayals by Sharon Green Page B

happen. I hadn’t come through everything just to walk into the waiting hands of another enemy, not when my touch on the power was as firm and sure as ever. Lank hadn’t had to face my flames, but whoever lay in wait to trap me certainly wouldn’t be that fortunate. I hadn’t even produced a small fire to light my way along the footpath, just to be certain that I had enough strength in case of something like this….
    I was actually half a thought away from kindling a fire that would consume the coach almost instantly, when I noticed the human figure which had appeared beside the vehicle. The figure was engaged in pacing back and forth along the drive, and even more importantly it was female. Some woman waited there, and one who was certainly not tall enough to be either Eltrina Razas or my mother. A small woman, then, and one whose fingers moved nervously about each other….
    Curiosity took me silently nearer, but I had to close half the distance between us before I finally recognized the woman. Shock touched me briefly along with confusion, but there was only one way to find out what was going on. I left the footpath and crossed to the drive, and when I reached it I called softly, “Naran!”
    Naran Whist, Rion’s ladylove, whirled around in what seemed to be fright. Her case of nerves was apparently twice or three times worse than mine, and when she saw me she raised her skins and actually ran to meet me.
    “Oh, Tamrissa, I knew you would escape from there!” she sobbed, throwing her arms around me. “I did know it, but when hour after hour passed and you didn’t appear… I was nearly convinced that I’d missed you, and that made me frantic.”
    “Well, now I’m here so everything’s all right,” I soothed her, returning her hug. It felt so strange, me soothing someone else’s fright… “But how did you find me? Even I don’t know where I am.”
    “I can’t explain how I found you, at least not yet,” she said, releasing her hold on me as she visibly regained control of herself. “Among other things, we simply don’t have the time. I also know where Rion and Valiant are, but they can’t escape without help. They’re still under the influence of a horrible drug that affects both their talent and their bodies. You’re the only one who has gotten free, so you’re the one who has to help them.”
    “Are you saying someone made me designated hero when I wasn’t looking?” I asked, a bit overwhelmed by the thought that two big, strong men needed my help. “Well, I’d already decided to find the others… But what about Jovvi and Lorand? If you found the rest of us …”
    “I haven’t been able to locate them yet,” she replied with a headshake, her pretty face looking drawn in the faint moonlight. “I don’t know why I haven’t been able to because they’re definitely still alive, but—Let’s get into the coach, and I’ll explain where Rion and Valiant are.”
    “Where did you get a coach?” I asked as I moved toward the vehicle with her. “And one that has a driver,” I added as I saw the man on the box turn to glance at us. “Have you paid him enough to keep him quiet? When they begin to look for me, they may offer a reward for information.”
    “He’ll be well paid, but he doesn’t really need to be,” Naran responded as she opened the coach door and gathered her skirts before beginning to climb in. “He’s the driver of a very good friend of mine, and neither of them would give a noble the right time of day even for gold. Don’t most of the people you know feel like that?”
    “Before becoming a member of our group, the only people I’d ever heard talking about nobles were merchants like my father,” I replied, ignoring the trouble my skirts tried to give as I followed her into the coach. “My father’s associates always waxed really enthusiastic when it came to the nobility, but I don’t know if that was because of all the gold they made dealing with them, or