Song Magick Read Online Free

first time since I came of age. Afterwards, I was alone in
the music room putting away my instruments, and I heard someone
enter. It was one of the young lords. He was drunk, and he said my
song magic had...inflamed him. When I refused him, he struck me and
forced himself on me. I fought back, and in the struggle, I wounded
him gravely with his own dagger.” She lifted haunted eyes to meet
his at last. “I killed him.”
    Mithrais stared at her, and Telyn turned away
from the horror in his expression, unable to bear it—but it was not
for the reason Telyn feared.
    “Surely you were not dismissed for defending
yourself against a rapist,” he said quietly. “Magic or not, there
are offenses which cannot be excused. I can’t imagine the King
would have ignored this.”
    “The King truly had no other choice than to
send me away,” she told him. “The boy’s father is a very powerful
lord, and he demanded vengeance. King Amorion forbade it, but he
knew I was no longer safe in Belthil. I left that night.”
    “Did no one defend you?” Mithrais’ voice held
outrage.
    Here at last was the crux of the matter that
had so wounded her. “Taliesin couldn’t even bring himself to speak
to me until I came to say farewell.” Tears finally overflowed to
trace slow tracks down her face, and she wiped them away
impatiently. “He told me that I had brought about the end of our
family’s honor with my carelessness. I didn’t stay to hear
more.”
    “Your family?” Mithrais asked carefully, and
she nodded.
    “The Royal Bard is my father.” Telyn saw his
eyes widen. “The title would have passed to me in time, but no
longer.”
    Mithrais joined her at the edge of the circle
where firelight and darkness merged. “What will you do now?”
    “Go to Rothvori. That hasn’t changed. I
refuse to live in fear.” Telyn turned and managed a smile in spite
of the chill in her heart. “Thank you, Mithrais. You saved my life
tonight. I don’t understand how you knew to come back at just the
right moment.”
    He paused a moment before answering, “I am
only grateful that we were still near enough to aid you.”
    A yawn shook her involuntarily, and Telyn
swayed. Mithrais steadied her with warm hands on her shoulders. She
stiffened a moment, but the panic did not come; there was only a
strange comfort in his touch, soothing and somehow familiar.
    “Sleep now. You’re exhausted. Aric is
conducting a reconnaissance to make certain no others are lurking
about. We’ll stay here and keep watch tonight, and in the morning I
will escort you to Rothvori.”
    “I can’t ask you to do that.”
    His eyes reflected silver in the moonlight.
“It’s my duty as Westwarden to see you safely out of the Wood after
having been attacked. Until I know that you’re out of danger, my
place is at your side.”
    A stubborn flare of indignant pride rose
inside Telyn, and she moved past him and away from the distraction
of his touch. “I told you, I can take care of myself.”
    “So I have seen, but your enemy knows your
strengths as well. Lady Bard, who is it that sends paid assassins?
If the King forbade revenge, he should know of this.”
    Telyn shook her head in negation. “I don’t
want to think about it tonight.” Another yawn convulsed her. “Good
night, Mithrais.”
    She heard the resignation in his sigh. “Rest
well. We shall be here.”
    As she returned to the wagon, a repeat of the
disconcerting, visceral drumbeat that Telyn had felt earlier that
night abruptly passed over the bard’s skin, leaving gooseflesh in
its wake. The sensation was much stronger than before, and Telyn
gasped involuntarily. She half-turned in the direction from which
it had come, knowing she would see nothing, but compelled all the
same.
    “You felt that.” Mithrais’ soft statement
held an edge of surprise, and Telyn stared at him. His expression
registered no concern, only an intense interest.
    “All day long. What is it?” she asked, and
the warden