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from when you vis-
ited Homana-Mujhar two years ago."
"Aye, but she came to me late. Don't be forget-
ting, lad I was Erinn-raised. The magic there is different. I'm different
because of it."
Fever-clad weakness proved pervasive. Kellin squinted at his cousin through a
wave of fading
ISO Jennifer Roberson vision. "I'm different, too, like you . .. will I get my
lir late?"
" Tis between you and the gods." Blais' callused palm was gentle as he
smoothed back dampened hair. "Hush. now, lad. Don't waste yourself on
talking."
Kellin squirmed. "The Lion "
" 'Twas a bear-trap, lad."
Kellin shut his eyes because it made him dizzy to keep them open. "An Ihlini
Lion . .." he as-
serted weakly, "and it was after me."
"Lad."
" was " Kellin insisted. "The Ihlini killed Ur-
chin. And Rogan."
"Kellin."
"They were my friends, and he killed them."
"Kellin!" Blais caught Kellin's head between two strong hands, cupping the
dome of skull eas-
ily- "No more of this. The healing comes first, then we'll be talking of
deaths. D'ye hear?"
"But "
"Be still, my little prince. Homana has need of you whole."
"But "
And then the others were there, crowding into the pavilion, and the wave of
exhaustion that en-
gulfed Kellin was as much induced by the earth magic as by his fever.
Voices intruded. The murmurs were quiet, but they nonetheless broke apart
Kellin's tattered dreams and roused him to wakefulness.
" harsh for any man to lose his closest com-
panions," Blais was saying from outside as he pulled aside the door-flap. "For
a lad, that much the harder."
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Light penetrated the interior, turning the inside of Kellin's eyelids red. The
answering voice was
A TAPESTRY OF LtOfVS
III
well-known and beloved. "Kellin has always seemed older than his years,"
Brennan said as he entered the pavilion. "Sometimes I forget he is naught but
a boy, and I try to make him into a man."
" 'Tis the risk any man takes with an heir, espe-
cially a prince." Blais let the door-flap drop, dim-
ming daylight again into a wan, saffron tint.
Brennan's voice was hollow. "He is more than that to me. I lost Aidan " He
checked- "So, now there is Kellin. In Aidan's place. In all things, in
Aidan's place. He was made to be Prince of Ho-
mana before he was even a boy, still but an infant wetting his napkins."
Kellin cracked his lids slightly, only enough so he could see the two men
through a fuzzy fringe
of lashes. He did not want them to know he was awake. He had learned very
young that adults overheard divulged more information than when asked straight
out.
Blais' laugh was soft as he settled himself near the pallet. "You had no
choice but to invest him when you did. Aidan had renounced the title al-
ready, and / had come from Erinn. D'ye think I
am deaP I heard all the whispers, sufali ... had you delayed Kellin's
investiture, my presence here in Homana might have given new heart to the
a'saii. Your claim on the Lion would have been threatened again."
"I might have packed you off to Erinn," Bren-
nan suggested mildly.
"Might have tried, my lord Mujhar." Blais' tone was amused as he gestured for
his guest to seat himself. "When has a warrior been made to do anything he
preferred not to do?"
Brennan sighed as he knelt down beside his grandson. "Even Kellin. Even a
ten-year-old boy."
The humor was banished. "He spoke of a lion, and an Ihlini."
112 Jennifer Robersoa
The line ofBrennan's mouth tautened. "The lion is something Kellin made up
years ago. It is an excuse for things he cannot explain. He is fanciful;
he conjures a beast from the lions in banners and signets, and the throne
itself. And because he has been unfortunate to witness Ihini handiwork, he
interprets all the violence as the doings of this lion."
"What handiwork?"
"The death of a fortune-teller. He was a for-
eigner and unknown to us, but his death stank of sorcery."
"Lochiel," Blais said grimly.
"He knows very well Kellin offers the greatest threat to the Ihlini."
"Like his father before him."
"But Aidan no longer matters. He sired the next link, and that link now is the
one Lochiel must shatter." Brennan's fingertips gently touched Kel-
lin's brow. "It all comes to Kellin- Centuries of planning all comes down to
him."
Blais' tone was dry, for all it was serious. "Then we had best see he
survives."
"I have done everything I could. The boy has been kept so closely it is no
wonder he makes up stories about lions. Had my jehan kept me so tied to
Homana-Mujhar, I would have gone mad. As it is, I am not in the least
surprised he found a way to escape his imprisonment. But Urchin and Rogan are
also missing; I can only surmise they, too, were lured away. No Ihlini could
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get in, and Kel-
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