Free Reign of Shadows by Deborah Chester Page B

breathed
fire. They were merciless savages who pillaged and destroyed. There had been
none in Trau in Caelan’s lifetime.
    “But—”
    “Quick
hunt-and-strike raids,” Beva said grimly. “If the emperor wants to use them
against his enemies, that is one thing, but he should not turn them loose on a
peaceful and loyal populace.”
    “But
why are they raiding us? Are you sure it’s not just rumor to liven up winter
days?” Caelan asked with a skeptical laugh.
    “I
have seen their work,” Beva said. “Two holds burned so far and one village.
People slaughtered or carried off. The few survivors are in no shape to bury
the dead, and that of course brings the wolves.” His mouth tightened with the
little twist that always came when he failed to save a patient.
    Caelan
was ashamed now that he’d laughed. “But the army has moved on, hasn’t it? I
mean, when I saw them they were marching fast, not living off the land or
raiding as they went. Wouldn’t the Thyzarenes go with them?”
    “Who
is to say what such savages will do?” Beva asked. “Trau joined the empire for
protection, not to be pillaged for sport.”
    “When
we get home we’ll have to open the arms room,” Caelan said. “We need to make
preparations to fight if necessary. Did you bring weapons today for protection?”
    Beva
stared at him in disapproval. “The idea of fighting pleases you.”
    “Well,
I think we should defend ourselves, not—”
    Beva
turned his pony and rode on through the trees without another word.
    Caelan
scowled, feeling the dismissal as strongly as the blow of a proctor’s staff.
His words, his opinions were not worthy enough to be heard. To his father, he
remained a child of no standing. Resentfully, Caelan sat a long while, reining
his pony when it tried to follow the other one.
    Finally,
reluctantly, he kicked his mount forward.
    Fuming,
he glared at his father, who refused to face reality. Beva wasn’t going to bend
principle one tiny bit, not even to be practical. How could his father wander
the forest unarmed and unprepared with these raiders bringing real danger to
the area? How could Beva depend on inner harmony, on severance against barbarians who
probably had never heard of such enlightened philosophies?
    Maybe
Beva wasn’t as wise as he’d always thought. Maybe Beva didn’t know everything.
Maybe Beva was capable of making mistakes just like everyone else. It sure
looked like his father was making some now.
    When
his pony caught up, Caelan glanced at his father’s stern profile. “I’m sorry
your opinion of me is so low. I’m sorry you don’t want to hear what I have to
say.”
    Beva
tucked his chin deeper into the folds of his hood. “It is actions, not words,
that speak truth.”
    Caelan
frowned and tried to hold onto his temper. “Whether you approve of fighting or
not, it doesn’t change the fact that we may be forced to defend our hold. What
can we do to protect ourselves?”
    “We
have the warding keys.”
    Astonished,
Caelan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “They aren’t enough!”
    Beva
glanced sideways at him. “They are from the old ways, yes. While I do not
approve of them, they do work. Someday, when all men are enlightened into the
paths of severance, we shall not need warding
keys or weapons.”
    “But
that day has not yet come,” Caelan said impatiently. “And until it does, we
have to be strong and defend what belongs to us.”
    Beva
sighed. “I had hoped the school would tame this wild spirit inside you. This
craving for excitement, for things beyond the ordinary. Why can you not
understand that excitement equals danger, that danger destroys, that
destruction takes away all that is good and harmonious, leaving only chaos and
harm in its wake?”
    “But,
Father, when the danger comes to us, what are we to do? Just let it destroy us?”
    “To
admire danger is to summon it. You have been warned of this, boy.”
    Caelan
frowned. “So are you saying the Thyzarenes are my