Dragon Prince 03 - Sunrunner's Fire Read Free

know.
    He’ll get over it.
    Why did he go to you, I wonder?
    A rhetorical question, I assume. Ah, dear old friend, I feel your sadness tonight. It grieves me.
    Don’t worry. I have a very large flask of your brother’s best wine waiting for me in my rooms. I intend to get good and drunk tonight in Andrade’s memory.
    To blot out the memories, Sioned corrected gently. I wish I could be there with you.
    No, you don’t. You have quite enough to occupy you, High Princess. Well, on with the festivities.
    And he was too suddenly gone. Sioned ached for him, watching his face in the Fire as he announced that Andry had indeed completed a Sunrunning to Stronghold. The fifth ring went onto his right thumb, a circle of the special reddish-gold used only by faradh’im.
    It was a ring Andry had never before worn. Up until that moment, he had only been reconfirming skills already betokened by the four rings he had earned before this night. But now he was a full Sunrunner, with all the rings, the honors, and the responsibilities this implied.
    And there would be more to come, too quickly.
    The scene in the brazier continued, showing Andry as he proved his skills at weaving moonlight, attested to shortly thereafter by Urival. Sioned did not know to whom Andry spoke; she suspected it would be someone approximately as far away from Goddess Keep as she herself was at Stronghold. The faradhi at Balarat in Firon, perhaps, or Meath at Graypearl. The idea was for Andry to prove his strength; from the expressions of respect on Sunrunner faces as confirmation came from Urival, he had succeeded admirably.
    And here came the next departure from tradition. Instead of the silver ring, the sixth, given for the right little finger, Andry had directed Urival to present him with that plus another silver for his left middle finger. This reflected the change Andry had made in the order of things: now, the sixth would be for an apprentice, and the seventh for full abilities as a Moonrunner. Formerly, the seventh had been for the ability to conjure without Fire. Andry had not yet learned that skill from Urival. Rather than show himself lacking, he had altered the rules.
    Sioned tensed as she stared into the flames. She knew what was to come next. The eighth had always been for the teachers, those skilled and subtle enough to instruct others in the faradhi arts. Andry conformed to ritual by calling forward a student of one ring and showing the boy, only a little younger than he, how to call Air. But rather than silver for the left thumb, Urival placed there another gold and pronounced Andry a Master—a distinction formerly reserved for the ninth ring.
    Andry had other plans for that ninth ring.
    As for the fifth, the Sunrunner’s ring, Andry as a Master was now required to make the circuit of faradh’im. Sioned’s apprehensions betrayed her. As she watched, the Fire flickered and she felt Hollis’ hand on her arm to steady her. But the flames died out, leaving them all in the silvery darkness of moonlight.
    “Sioned?” Rohan asked in a low voice, concerned.
    “It’s nothing.” She reached for the cup of wine.
    Hollis put her fingers over it, frowning. “You must rest. Please, Sioned. I know what dranath can do.”
    “I’m not tired. Not exactly, anyway.” She smiled at her nephew’s wife. “I’m all right, I promise.”
    “Hollis is right,” Rohan said briskly. “We’ve seen enough. And you’ve certainly had enough.”
    “We have to see what he’ll do,” Sioned replied stubbornly. “I’ll take a few moments to rest, but I’ve got to renew the conjure.”
    Maarken, leaning around Ostvel and Hollis, plucked up the wine. “I’ll do it.”
    “No!” Hollis exclaimed.
    “Don’t be a fool!” Chay rasped.
    “I want to know,” Maarken said simply, and drained the cup to the dregs.
    Sioned tightened her lips over a furious protest. She met Rohan’s gaze. He said, “ ‘I want to know.’ That’s probably the most dangerous