The Blue Sword CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the gob where they met Murfoth they place up their maiden proper bivouac. The hunting-beasts tot all toldy went push through that night, and any atomic number 53, non safe a virtually Riders, had good fresh meat for dinner. The kings zotar was site up, and it was obvious that it was the kings, for it was the biggest, plainly this unrivaled was plain, a dull dun color, and the limen was just a tent flap, and in nerve in that respect were a a few(prenominal) carpets, and hooks on side poles for lanterns, except that was all although the black-and- blanched superior excuse flew bravely from the peak of the roof. She and the king and Murfoth and most of the Riders Innath and Mathin among them slept within it just she lay awake a long snip watching to the early(a)s breathe. You didnt nab the person next to you brea topic if there wasnt a ceiling everyplace you to keep the noise closed in. She missed the stars.The next morning there was breakfast at a l ong table similar to the star where she had runner met the Riders they were all there once again, with a few others of those who had joined them over the last few days. Corlath explained what was immediately ahead of them how they would climb into the mountains again the break a sort of life was widest where the curve west was sharpest to meet the high plateau where the Lake of Dreams lay, and where Luthe lived. Luthe? impression blight. most of the phalanx would non climb all the way to the meeting-place, just right away authorize into the fo backup human in little groups and pretend to be invisible for, so far at least, Corlath and the come onriders be impositionved they had non been sighted. enkindle blinked and enquireed if the morning mists that delaymed to continue all day long e very day as a pleasant of dull haze had subsequentlyward all been much than a meddling local weather pattern. Luthe himself Mathin told her this du mobilize an interval w hile the household folk brought in hot malak had ways plain Corlath did not agnize of witnessing things, and Corlath wished to travel to and speak to him. precisely Luthe never left his lands, and so it was necessary to explore him there. Luthe claims that lowland stock confuses him, Mathin say, and shrugged the un redden Hill shrug. It is not for us to know. He picked up his cup.Yes, but who is Luthe? state lay waste to.Mathin regarded her with his inscrutable expression. No matchless knows, he tell. Luthe is nighone who lives in the mountains, who sees things things something desire what some of us see when we relishing the Meeldtar. He has been there a very long time. No one can remember when Luthe came, or when he has not lived on his mountain.And the Lake of Dreams?Mathin stargond into his cup. there is a spring that runs into the Lake of Dreams, and it is where the water system of Sight is found but sometimes the water from the spring is wholly water, and no one knows why although it is believed that Luthe knows. Water drunk from the Lake of Dreams does not give the Sight, as the true Meeldtar does but it is not kind of like boozing water. elicit sighed.Corlath explained briefly for the newcomers what the army was proposing to do. The Northerners must(prenominal), perforce, involve the one wide reelect in the mountains that led into the cracking profound plain and then the b atomic number 18 desert of damar, for it was the only gap cosmic tolerable to accommodate an armys numbers. The gap was a bit west of the centre of attention of the length of the mountains from the curve where the north-south mountains, the Ildik range, became the east-west Horfel Mountains. When the last of Corlaths little army had collected in the hollow at the elbow of the deuce ranges, they would ride as promptly as cavalryflesh would allow to the mouth of that pass, and prepargon to engage the competitor among the empty villages and deserted fiel ds of Damar. accordingly there was a silence, for all in the kings tent knew that Corlaths force could not win a achievement from the Northerners nor were they likely able to resist them to the point that the invaders would decide Damar wasnt value the trouble and return home. The best the defenders could hope for, and this they did hope for, was to cause copious trouble and loss that the Northern army would not induct the susceptibility left to seize all of Damar in quite so tight and effective a grip as Thurra would wish and that pockets of apostate Hillfolk might hide in the Hills, or under the kelar of the City. If they succeeded so more than, the passage of arms would be worth what it would cost them, for they would have preserved themselves a future. scourge s bulwarkowed uncomfortably. She haved, a little dizzily, what Corlath was saying somewhat the foothills the mountain pass gave into, and where the army would stand and she cast in her mind for her best memory o f Damarian geography, for she had the forbidding sensition that something was being ignored, something that shouldnt be. Corlath was saying that they would decide more exactly at one time they arrived, but he seemed to know every stone and clump of fastball there, the exact lo computerized axial tomographyion of every farmhouse, as did those who listened no one reprehensible so low as to seek recourse to a map. She fr giveed in concentration. She could close see the Residency map of Dana it was very poor at the eastern end it barely admitted to the existence of the mountains where the kings City s besidesd the City itself was one of Jack Dedhams native legends but or so the west it was pretty true AhCorlath had fallen silent. Murfoth utter something and there was another(prenominal) silence, and Harry put in, shyly but stubbornly Sola, what of the pass just north-west of the of the Outlander berth? It is designate, but not so narrow that the the Northerners could not send a line through to come up behind us.Corlath frowned. Let them score the Outlander city it impart keep them amused long enough to delay them, by chance. Even the Outlanders will try to stop them when they are on the threshold. there was a silence so rigid that Harry matt-up that speaking words into it was like chopping holes in a frozen lake. They would do a better job act to stop them if they were warned, she said. Her words didnt convey much of a hole the ice thickened visibly. She didnt want to do anything so obvious as put her hand on her marque hilt but she did press her elbow surreptitiously against it, and stiffened her spine.They were warned, said Corlath, and Harry elevated her eyes to his and saw the favorable tide insurrection in them and wondered what that ineffectual conver sit dumpion in the Residency must have cost him. that he hadnt burned the Residency down with that golden glare of his, as she suspected he could have and so she blinked at him n ow and said, Colonel Dedham would listen to you. You did not know the Northerners were on the march then you know for accepted now. The pass is narrow he could hold it for you indefinitely but not if they have had time to come through and go where they will. Her voice was rising with business concern and perhaps anger was there anything but stubborn pride, the offend majesty of the absolute ruler of his small land, working in Corlath, that he should waste a chance to gain a little more time? How little she knew him after all, and how little she knew Damar, she who could not visualize every yellow blade of korf before the great pass in the mountains. And stock-s gutter she could see did she not truly see? the threat that this second, narrow pass seted a threat that the king and the com soldieryder of the army was choosing to overlook. She did not deduct she was born of a different hatful and she understood different things.No, said Corlath the word rang like an axe blow, and his eyes were as yellow as topazes. Harry stared back at him you great bully even wise to(p) what he could do to her, even as the sweat bust out on her skin with the effort of holding his eyes. Her elbow clamped desperately on Gonturan, and the delicate edge of the blue gem dug into her ribs and encouraged her. then he snapped his gaze from her and pointed it at the tent flap and shouted, though he rarely shouted, and fresh malak was brought in and fruit with it. The ice began, nervously, to break up, and Harry g landed at her cup and refused to be drawn into conversation, and listened to her heart beating, and wondered if she were a squealer and if so, to whom?The next morning thirty-five chosen buckmen, with Corlath at their head and Harry, let off somewhat sulky, among them, started up the track to Luthes holding. The rest of the army broke camp first, and melted into the scrub of the mountains feet, taking the hunting-beasts and the pack horses with them. Corlath an d the little band with him waited till last, overhearing them go, judging if their disappearance was effective looking to see if there were any too obvious paths broken in the undergrowth. A few fleeks broke cover, but that was the only sign of their passage. Corlath and whoever else might have a weather talent must have been satisfied, and Harry watched, with a few nipping fingers working their way up her spine in foulness of the heat for the loyal fog over them was blandly breaking up. The alternate was blue and clear. A britti burst into song, and Harry raised her eyes to watch the little brown speck zigzagging madly overhead. Corlath sent his big mouth forward, and thirty-four riders, and one obstinate hunting-cat, followed.Harry hung near the back. She had not slept the night before for destineing of the north-west pass and Jack Dedham Dedhams face ceremonial Corlath as he stormed out of the Residency and Corlaths face as he said, Let them take the Outlander city it w ill keep them amused. for certain there was a reason none of the Hillfolk model that gap into Damar worth consideration? however if there was a reason, what was the reason? possibly this Luthe would show some sense. Perhaps his crystal ball or what-have-you would say, take care the northwest pass BewareAnd then again maybe it wouldnt. So, Harry, what do you propose to do about it then?She didnt know. She concentrated on Sungolds ears, handsome and pricked, framing the trail in bm of her, and the dark grey haunches of Innaths horse going on before. The scrub gave way to trees, and the trees to greater trees, till they were locomote in a forest heavy with age, where even the air tasted old. By the end of the afternoon all the riders were on foot, walkway with their sweat-dark horses up a steep uneven incline. Harry was panting, but she tried to do it quietly. Corlath in all likelihood never breathed hard. Tsornins nostrils showed red, but his ears were as alert as ever, and now and again he would rub his nest gently against the nape of her discern, just in case she was momentarily not thinking about him. Narknon ranged beside them like a dappled shadow. The trees were so big and grand that Harry, watching her, could believe that she was no bigger than a housecat that when she came up to be petted, she would twine round Harrys ankles, and Harry would pick her up with one hand and put her on her shoulder.The trees were so high overhead that the twilight at a lower place them might have been old, but might only be leaf shade and they were a silent company, for no one spoke and the footfalls were muted by leaves and moss. Harry allowed herself to wonder about the trail, as an alternative to her endless mental circles about northwest passes that it stayed clear enough that no one had to duck under low-hanging branches, or fight a way through an encroaching bush, but so little used that the moss underfoot was thick and smooth. And still smooth after th irty horses and thirty human unglamourouss have tramped over it, the thirty-first pedestrian thought, scuffing it curiously with one foot. Sturdy moss. Maybe Luthe is a botanist in his spare time.By nightfall Harry was still walking only by dint of holding a large handful of Sungolds mane in one hand. She had tried resting an arm a go after his back, but his back was too high for comfort and her sweaty hand kept sliding through his bonny hair. Even his head was hanging a little low, and Harry knew she was still in company only by the soft creaking of other saddles and the occasional flicker in the gloom immediately ahead that was Innaths horse flipping its tail.As she walked her eyes closed and the colors of exhaustion twinkled crosswise her eyelids. Then to her dismay they began to sort themselves out into patterns, but she was too tired even to open her eyes and disperse them. She saw a red-haired rider on a white horse. The horse was old, white with age, the bones of its face v ery clear and fair she thought it went just a bit ill-considered with its proper(ip) hind foot, but its neck was arched and its tail high. The riders shoulders were set grimly, the legs against the horses sides were determined, not eager. There was a smoky redness to the horizon beyond them, scarlet that did not look like dawn or sunset they were going toward it, and the light flashed off a chain around the riders neck and the helm tied to the saddle, and the riders hair, and the horses flanks. Harry wondered where they were going, where they had come from. The countryside could have been Damar. It could have been almost anywhere.She realized there was light give out through her eyelids it was setting the white horse on fire. The horse broke into a canter, a shining glistening wave of motion Harry dizzily opened her eyes. They were approach a clearing set with torches she could see Corlath halted, talking to a man as tall as he was, but narrower the mans hair was yellow. Innath broke into the lighted circle, and Harry came after, trying not to stumble, too tired even to take her hand out of Sungolds mane for prides sake. She looked around a little, and the faces she could see near her were haggard and drooping. Perversely, this gave her specialty she dropped her hand and straightened her shoulders. Sungold glowering his head to rest his chin on her shoulder. Whos reassuring whom here? she murmured, and Narknon immediately sat on Harrys feet and bumped her hand with her head as if to say, I am.Someone knew the way, for while Corlath finish speaking with the yellow-haired man the rest of the Riders were following someone else to someplace to lie down, Harry wished fervently. She stole a glance at Corlath as she passed him, and was solace by the hollows under his eyes and cheekbones. It might have been only the torchlight.When Harry woke up the sun was high, and for a minute she had no idea where she was. Her first thought was that she had missed breakf ast and her father would tease her about glowing midnight oil. Then she remembered, with the old lurch of the heart, that she was in Daria with Richard no, Damar, with Sungold, and Narknon, who sprawled crosswise her feet. And Corlath, and Gonturan. Her hand had rest lightly on her sword hilt again as she slept, and through the first upheaval of waking now her fingers noticed what they touched. She shivered, sighed, sat up.She was in a long narrow hall with a dozen or so low have intercourses in it high overhead, narrow but close-spaced windows let in a flood of sunlight. She only dimly remembered coming here, having seen Tsornin stabled and unsaddled and capable with a manger of grain and a heap of hay and falling into her bed, asleep before she touched it. Most of the other beds in the way were still occupied. The hall was make of large blocks of un fleeceed grey-and-white stone the equivalent sort of stone, she thought, as much of Corlaths City. The get on was cool, but it smelled clean and sharp, like young leaves.There were doors at all(prenominal) of the narrow ends of the room, and as she stood at the foot of the bed she could look through either of them. The flagstones were cold underfoot. She sat back down on the edge of the bed Its even a real bed, she thought and regarded her pillow a moment. Then she sighed regretfully and pulled on her boots. Narknon opened one eye and closed it again. The rooms on each side looked much like the one she was in, and full of still-sleeping bodies rolled in dark blankets. There was another door midway in the wall opposite the windows. This she went through.Here was a vast hall, taller than the ancient trees of the forest she had just walked wearily through, with windows cut at the very heads of the walls to open above the lower roofs of the sleeping corridors. At one end of this space was a fireplace that in any room less immense would have been itself long here it looked insignificant. There were seve ral massive wooden leaves before it, and a long trestle table beyond these the rest of the chamber was empty. Opposite the fireplace wall were doors, thrown open to admit sunlight and birdsong and the move up of leaves. She looked up at the ceiling. Curiously, there was no sense of oppression built by the stone and space rather there was peacefulness, the quiet of repose. at ease simply to be less tired than she had been the night before, she stood a moment, drinking in the sense of relaxation. For the first time since the confrontation with Corlath, the thought of the northwest pass left her freely, without her straining to push it aside even the knowledge of the coming war, of her part in her first battle, did not trouble her at present. Of the latter she did know it would trouble her later soon but she would attend to it later. For now she smiled. Her mouth felt stiff.She brought her gaze down from the ceiling and order it again toward the fireplace. Sleep and peace were all very well, but she smelled food, and she was hungry.The man with yellow hair who had stood talking with Corlath the night before was sitting in one of the great wooden chairs she did not notice him till she was quite near. Her footfalls dropped gently to silence no sullen echoes ran up the walls to disturb the birdcalls. She stopped. There was a tiny fire, barely two hands breadth, burning at the front of the cavern of the hearth. Over it hung a large cash pot on a chain, and on a stool nearby were a softwood of deep silver bowls, and a heap of shining silver spoons.Breakfast, said the man with yellow hair. Ive had mine eat as much as you like. I flatter myself its quite good, although I admit Im not much accustomed to cooking for so more, and one begins to lose count of how many potatoes one has already put in after the first armful. She sat down with her bowl, feeling that formal introductions were not wanted and that he would be amused if she tried to be conventionally polit e and she was so hungry. As she sat, he brought up a leather bag from the far side of his chair and poured into a flagon discovered at his feet. He handed it to her Goats milk, he said. There were brown flecks of spices floating in it. She smiled, not so bang this time.She looked at him as she ate and while she was sure he knew she watched him, he kept his eyes on the small leaps and dance steps of the firing beneath the pot, as if letting her look her fill was a good manners he did her along with filling her belly.He was tall, she knew sitting, he looked even taller, for he was so slender. His arms were spread wide from his sides to rest on the is of the chair but his long fingers reached well over the curled fronts of the armrests, and his knees were several inches beyond long seat of the chair. He wore a dark green adventitia, and a brown shirt beneath it, with long full sleeves gathered at the wrists with gold ribbons. He wore tall pale boots that reached just above his knees, where the tunic fell over them. The tunic was slit up the side to his waist, and the leggings beneath it were the gold of the ribbons. He wore no sash rather a narrow band of dark blue cloth made a cross over his breast, and wrapped once thinly about his waist. The ends of it were tassels, midnight blue uncertain with gold. A huge dark red stone hung on a chain around his neck.His face was thoughtful as he stared at the fire. His nose was long and straight and his lips thin his eyes were heavy-lidded and blue. His hair was curled as well as bright gold, and it grew low over his apprehension and ears although he was clean-shaven. He should look young, Harry thought. But he did not. incomplete did he look old. He turned to her as she set down her bowl and cup, and smiled. Well? Did I know when to stop adding potatoes?Hill potatoes were golden and far more flavorful than the pale Homelander variety that Harry had eaten obediently but without en thenceiasm when she was a child, an d here they blended most satisfactorily with the delicate white fish that was the basis of the I stew. It was the first time she had eaten fresh fish since she had left her Homeland, where she had often brought supper home after a few hours beside a pool or stream on her fathers solid ground and she was pleased, now, to notice that remembering this fact caused no nervous ripples of emotion about her past or her future. Yes, she said peacefully.Their eyes met, and he asked, as though he were an old friend or her father, Are you happy?She thought about it, her gaze drifting away from his and coming to rest on the tip of Gonturan, as she leaned against her sols chair for she had, without thinking about it one way or another, slung Gonturan around her as soon as she stood up from her bed. No, not precisely, she said. But I dont believe I wish to complain of unhappiness. She paused a minute, looking at the thoughts that had been with her constantly for the weeks since she had left her o ld life as a bundle across Firehearts withers. It is that I cannot see what I am doing or why, and it is unsettling always to live only in the moment as it passes. Oh, I know one never sees ahead or behind. But I see even less. It is like being covered when everyone else in the room is not. No one can see outside the room but everyone else can see the room. I would like to take my blindfold off.The man smiled. It is a reasonable wish. No one lives more than a few moments either way even those fortunate or dispossessed ones who can see how the future will be cast and perhaps they feel the minutes passing the most acutely. But it is comforting to have some sense of the probability of choices, perhaps?Yes, she sighed, and tapped a finger on Gonturans hilt, and thought of the red-haired rider on the white horse. He had looked as though he knew where he was going, although she had to admit that he had besides looked as if the knowledge gave him no joy.Not he, said the man with yel low hair. The Lady Aerin. You should begin to recognize her, you know you have seen her often enough.She blinked at him.You carry her sword, and ride to a fate not entirely of your own choosing. It is not surprising that she in some manner chooses to ride with you. She knew much of fate. Not surprising. It act to perplexity her. She would prefer that it surprise her, in fact. She permitted herself just briefly to think about her Homeland, with the wide grassy low hills and blue rivers, when the only sword she knew was her fathers dress sword, which was not sharp and which she was forbidden to touch and where the only sand was at the seaside. She rediscovered herself staring at a silver pot over a tiny fire.Im afraid I cant comfort you very much with predictions it is pleasant when I can comfort anyone with predictions, and I always enjoy it as much as possible because it doesnt happen too often. But I can tell you even less than I can normally tell anyone, and it hurts my pride. His hand closed around the dark stone at his neck it glowed through his fingers like fire.She looked at him, startled.You have already begun to see the hardness of the choices that you will soon be forced to make and the choosing will not be any easier for your not knowing why you must choose. His voice took on a singsong quality, the red light of the stone pulsed like a heart, and the heavy eyelids almost closed.Take strength from your own purpose, for you will know what you must do, if you let yourself trust your horse and the cat that follows you, for there are none better than they, and they love you and trust your sword, for she holds the strength of centuries and she hates what you are learning to hate. And trust the Lady Aerin, who visits you for your reassurance, whether you believe it at present or not and trust your friendships. Friends you will have fill of, for in you two worlds meet. There is no one on both sides with you, so you must learn to take your own counsel an d not to fear what is strange, if you know it also to be true. He opened his eyes. It is not an enviable position, being a bridge, especially a bridge with visions. I should know.Youre Luthe, of course, she said.Of course. I told Corlath in occurrence to bring you although he has always brought his Riders if he brings anyone. And I knew you had been made a Rider. I dont ask for anyone often you should be pleased.I can see the two worlds I am between, she said, unheeding, although why the second one chose to rise up and snatch me I still dont perceive Ask Colonel Dedham the next time you see him, Luthe put in.The next ? But she said, bewildered, and thrown off her thought.You were about to ask me a question chief(prenominal) to you, for you were trying to put your thoughts in order, when I interrupted you, said Luthe mildly, although I wont be able to answer it. I told you I am not often comforting.What are your two worlds? she said, almost obliterating the question as she co ntinued But if you cant answer it, why should I ask? Can you hear everything Im thinking?No, he replied. Only those arrow-like thoughts that come flying out with special(prenominal) violence. You have a better organized mind than most. Most people are distressing to talk to because they have no control over their thinking at all, and it is a constant barrage, like being attacked by a tangle of backbushes, or having a large litter of kittens walking up your legs, hooking in their claws at every step. Its perhaps also an effective preventative to having ones mind read, for who can identify the individual thorn?Harry laughed involuntarily. Innath said you lived where you do, high up and away from everything, because lowland air clouds your mind.True enough. It is a little embarrassing to be forced to drama the enigmatic oracle in the mountain fastness, but I have found it necessary.Corlath, for example, when he has something on his mind, can knock me down with it at arms length. Hes often asked me to come stay in his prison that he calls a city, saying that I might like it as it is made of the similar stone as this He gestured upward. No thank you. He smiled. He does not love the stone walls of his city, and so he does not understand why I do love my walls to him they look the same. But he knows me better than to press it, or to be offended.If it is only within arms length you bring Corlath overwhelming, I have no sympathy for you, Harry said ruefully, and he laughed.We soothsayers have other means of resistance, he said, But I shall be sure to tell him you said so.She sobered. Id rather you didnt, if you dont mind. Im afraid were were not on the best of terms just now.Luthe drummed his fingers on the wooden armrest. Yes, I did rather suspect that, and Im sorry for it, for you need each other. He drummed some more. Or at any rate he needs you, and you could do a lot worse than to believe in him. Luthe rubbed his forehead. But I will grant you that he is a stubborn man at times.He was silent a moment. Aerin was a little like that but she was also a little like you Aerin was very dear to me. He smiled faintly. Teachers are always vain of the students who go on to do great things.Aerin? said Harry. Aerin? Lady Aerin of this sword? and she banged the hilt of Gonturan.Yes, said Luthe gently. The same red-haired Aerin who troubles you with visions. You asked me about my two worlds you could say that they are the past and the present.After a long cold moment Harry said, Why did you ask Corlath to bring me here?I told you that, surely. Because I knew he needed you and I wanted to find out if you were the sort of vessel that cracks easily.Harry took a deep breath. And am I?I think you will do very well. He smiled. And that is a much more straightforward answer than anyone consulting an oracle has a right to expect. I shall stop feeling guilty about you.Corlath and his Riders spent two days in Luthes hall the horses grazed in a large meado w, the only wide stretch of sunlit green within a days journey of the tree-filled valley where Luthe made his home. Harry found Sungold tearing across the field, head up and tail a banner, on the first morning, the sonorous way up the mountain apparently forgotten. He galloped over to where Harry leaned on the frame of the open stable, where a few of the horses still lingered inside, mirror image over their hay. You make me tired, said Harry absently, thinking of her conversation with Luthe. You should be recuperating, not bounding around like a wild foal. Tsornin thrust his nose under her chin, unrepentant. You realize we will have to do the whole thing again shortly? And then go on and on and on? You should be harboring your strength. Sungold nibbled her hair.The other Riders and the fifteen other horsemen slowly seeped out of the tall stone house. Harry tried to decide, watching them, if any had had bewildering conversations with their host but she couldnt guess, and it did not seem the sort of thing one might ask. They all looked only semi-awake, as if the journey so far this was the first real halt since they left the City combined with the sweet peacefulness of Luthes electron orbit prevented the lot of saddle-hardened warriors from feeling anything but pleasantly drowsy. They smiled at one another and leaned on their swords, and even tended their precious horses nonchalantly, as though they knew that the horses did not need them here. Narknon, so far as Harry could tell, never moved from her bed she merely stretched out when Harry left it, and reluctantly permitted herself to be shoved to one side when Harry re-entered. Harry, although she felt the same gentle air around her, was impress whatever it was, it had less effect on her.Corlath himself strode around in his usual high-energy fashion if any sense of ease was trying to settle on him, it was having a hard time of it, for he was no different than he ever was, although he did not seem surprise d at the condition of his followers. Harry stayed out of his way, and if he noticed this, he gave no sign. Mostly he spoke to Luthe Harry saw with interest, on the occasions she saw them together, that Corlath seemed to do far more talking than his mate or muttered to himself. The mutter-ings couldnt have been pleasant, for he was often scowling.The two days were fine and clear warm enough during the day to make bathing in the pool at the edge of the horses meadow pleasant, cool enough at night to make the blankets on the beds in the sleeping-chambers of comfort. The torches that formed a ring outside the front gates of the hall were not lit again Luthe was willing to welcome his guests, but did not deem further glow necessary.On the second afternoon Harry followed the stream that spilled out of the bathing-pool, and after a certain amount of fighting with curling branches and tripping over hidden hummocks she burst out of the undergrowth to a still silver beach bordering a wide lake. The Lake of Dreams. The stream stopped its chattering as it left the edge of the woods, and slid silently over the silver sand and slipped into the wet of the lake. Harry went to the edge of it and sat down, looking at the water. There was a step at her side she looked up and it was Luthe. There is a path, he said. You should have asked. He bent down and detached a twig from her hair, and another from the back of her tunic. Then he sat down beside her. I will show you the way to return.Do you live here only if? Harry said, extracting a leaf from the neck of her undershift.No, he replied, but my housemates are even shyer than I am, and have a tendency to retreat into the undergrowth when visitors are anticipated. There are quite a number of visitors, now and again.The oracle is a popular one, said Harry, smiling.Luthe smiled back, but sidelong. Yes I think it may be private dismay that sends my companions away at such times they have something of kelar and the Sight themse lves.He did not seem given to go on, so Harry said Does everyone who comes here behave as though theyre half asleep?No again I and my friends are generally quite sharp. But yes, most visitors find it a sleepyheaded sort of place a reputation I, um, encourage, as it makes their thoughts sleepy too, and thus easier to dodge.Harry said, Encourage?Luthe said, You are not a sleepy one, are you? The source of the Meeldtar taints all the water here and the air that passes over the Lake of Dreams carries something of sleepiness with it. Only those bearing much kelar of their own do not find that faintest touch of the Water of Sight a little drowsy. Like you. And Corlath.Harry, at that, caught a thought just as it was streaking out, and stuffed it back behind her eyes. very(prenominal) good, said Luthe. I thought you might prove apt. I didnt catch a glimpse of that one.Harry smiled faintly.I suspect, however, that it might make you more comfortable to ask me it nonetheless, Luthe said, l ooking into her face but she turned away.Corlath, eh? Luthe said gently.Harry shook her head, not denying it, but as though she could campaign herself free of her anxieties but Luthe said no more. At last she stood up, gazing across the lake she could not see its farther shore. It is so large, she said.Luthe rose to stand beside her. No, not so large, he said, but it is a private sort of lake, and hard to see. Even for me. He was quiet a moment, looking across the water. I think perhaps the reason I stay in this particular uninhabited valley of all the uninhabited valleys in the Hills is that it comforts me by reminding me of things I cannot do. I cannot see the farther shore of the Lake of Dreams. He turned away. Come I will show you the path. Unless you prefer fighting your way through the poor trees, which are accustomed to being undisturbed.