Free Storm Warning by Mercedes Lackey Page B

look at him, as if surprised that he was back behind his master. Perhaps Rubrik had forgotten him?
    Karal was far more pleased than offended, for if that was what had happened, it meant that he had achieved his end of being “invisible.” Ulrich had told him that a good secretary would develop the knack of vanishing into the background; that would make him less intrusive, especially to people who might be nervous about a third party being present at a delicate negotiation.
    “That would be very much appreciated, my lord Rubrik,” Karal replied, ducking his head in an approximation of a bow.
    But Rubrik shook an admonishing finger at Karal. “Not ‘my lord,’ youngling,” he chided gently. “Just ‘Rubrik.’ Among Heralds, there are no titles—with the sole exception of the Lady Elspeth, the Queen’s daughter. My father—was something of a landowner, a kind of farmer.”
    “Ah?” That clearly caught his master’s attention. “And what did he farm, if I may ask?”
    “Root crops, mostly, though he had some herds as well,” was the ready answer. That set the two of them off on a discussion of the condition of farms and farmers in both Valdemar and Karse, and it was Rubrik’s turn for questions, mostly about the weather, and whether or not it had affected the Karsites as badly as it had their Valdemaran counterparts.
    Karal wondered if Rubrik realized how much information he was giving with the way he phrased his questions.
    The moon rose, silvering the road before them. Karal listened and made mental notes for later. If all that Rubrik told them was true, Valdemar had been suffering from truly horrible weather until very recently—storms and disturbances out of season that were somehow connected with the magics Ancar of Hardorn had been working.
    “But now that we’ve got a few mages doing weather-working, things are getting back to normal. In time to save the harvests, we hope,” Rubrik concluded.
    If he hoped for a similar statement from Ulrich, he was not going to get one. “Vkandis has always cared personally for the welfare of His people,” Ulrich replied, and Karal was very glad that it was dark enough that he did not have to hide a smile. That was certainly a double-edged statement, and quite entirely the truth as well! It could be taken by an outsider as the simple pious mouthings of a Priest—but the bare fact was that Vkandis did care personally for the welfare of His people. What His Priests could not deal with, using the powers of magic He had granted them, He might very well take care of Himself. Karse had not suffered more than inconvenience from what Ulrich called “wizard weather,” precisely because Priests who could control the weather had been sent out to make certain that people, crops, and property were safeguarded properly.
    If Rubrik was taken aback by this bland statement, he said nothing. Instead, he described some of the damage that had occurred in Hardorn, which was evidently much worse than that in Valdemar or what had been prevented in Karse.
    Ulrich had taught his pupil that unshielded use of powerful magic disrupted the weather, but Karal had never had that lesson demonstrated for him. Now he heard what had happened, and he was appalled at the level of destruction that had taken place. And Ancar had done nothing to prevent it.
    “Ah, look!” Rubrik said, pointing ahead of them. Karal squinted against the darkness and thought he saw lights. “There’s our inn at last. We’ll be there in less than a mark!”
    “And it won’t be too soon for me,” Ulrich sighed, with feeling.
    Nor for me, Karal added silently. His behind hurt so much he was sure that he had saddle-sores, something that hadn’t happened since he was a child. The lights in the distance grew brighter and more welcoming with every moment, and the aches in his legs and back grew more persistent. No one had ever warned him that being the secretary to an envoy was going to involve this kind of work! I