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steady the ship.”
    Nervously the man nodded, perspiration dripping down his forehead in the dry confines of the wind shield he’d erected. The other people beneath the shield, even Ciardis, were dry and warm.
    Perhaps the momentousness of the occasion was making the man nervous?
    It wasn’t often that a Sahalian dragon made an appearance anywhere near the Algardis Empire. They didn’t view humans as equals, and given the history between Sahalia and Algardis after the empire’s founding, preferred to stay away. Ciardis eyed the Weather Mage more closely. Her mouth set in a thin line as she glanced back and forth between the oncoming dragon and the man set to smooth its way. She was loath to take her eyes from the magnificent dragon but the Weather Mage looked almost...ill.
    He stood, swaying slightly, as if the spell he’d made to steady the ship had no effect on him. Pulling a looped chain from under his robes, he picked up the talisman at the end. The Weather Mage stepped forward through the edge of the wind shield and into the downpour on the deck. Once he reached the ship’s rails, he lifted his hands from the talisman and pushed outward. As his hands pushed outward, the sleeting rain surrounding him arced backward as if pushed by an invisible wall. Quickly the wind shield grew larger, encompassing first the entire ship and then the ocean immediately surrounding it in a circle. 
    With a short nod to himself, the Weather Mage licked his finger and held it up to the sky. Was he testing the wind? Or changing the current with such a simple gesture? It didn’t look like anything significant was happening. He licked his lips nervously and Ciardis knew something was wrong.
    No , thought Ciardis. He’s stalling .
    And yet he’d completed one task successfully. She slipped into her mage sight to get a gauge on his core. Even from a distance she could see the power in his mage core dwindling rapidly. The Weather Mage couldn’t possibly be able to stabilize such a turbulent natural force as the ocean in the midst of a gale. She wasn’t an expert on weather magic but even she could see that he couldn’t do another task as momumental as the one asked of him with his depleted core.
    The next minute, the Weather Mage stepped back from the rail and looked over his shoulder at the gathered retinue. He gave a short bow to the assembled group, specifically looking at Prince Heir Sebastian for acknowledgement.
    Sebastian gave a short nod in return and turned aside to speak with the waiting general of the Imperial forces. The Weather Mage turned back to his task, and just for a moment, fear swept over his face. He picked up the talisman again. Even though he was still facing her, Ciardis couldn’t see the markings on the disc he held at the end of a length of a gold chain. She wasn’t close enough to figure out if it was the relic she thought it was, and, more importantly, if it stored magic.
    Glancing sideways, Ciardis noted that Sebastian was still speaking quietly with his compatriot. She decided to see if she could escape notice and leave. Unfortunately for her, while she and Sebastian had been apart for weeks, he was just as aware of her every movement now as he had been when they’d been miles underground in the vale near the White Mountains while trying to reach the cavern of the Land Wight.
    He didn’t move an inch but she felt his presence reach out. They couldn’t talk mind-to-mind now that he’d released her hand. But she could still sense his concern. Oddly enough, that momentary feeling of worry was enough to soothe her anxiety about them. It showed that underneath that cold, princely exterior he hadn’t changed. He was still the same boy she’d walked through fire for. Although he managed to surprise her this time. Months of no contact and it was almost like they hadn’t been apart at all. With a wicked grin that he couldn’t see, as he was still turned aside to face his compatriot, she opened her thoughts