Captain's Fury (Page 80)

Araris frowned. "I don’t remember much of it."

"She healed you without using a tub."

Araris’s eyes widened slightly. "She… didn’t mention that."

"I saw Lady Placida do that once," Tavi said quietly. "But that’s all. I mean, I knew Isana was a skilled healer, even when compared to Citizen healers, but this is the second time I’ve seen her do something on such a large scale that wasn’t healing."

Araris nodded slowly. "When she flooded that little river, just before Second Calderon."

"Exactly. What she did out there wasn’t exactly new. But it’s certainly more than she’s ever done before. More than even she thought she could do, I’m certain."

Araris drummed his fingers idly on the hilt of his sword. "A lot of times, you don’t really know where your limits are until they’re tested. I’ve known any number of people who had a tremendous gift in metalcraft, but who, for whatever reason, never used it." He shrugged his shoulders. "How often is one called upon to hurl an attacking shark onto the deck of a pirate ship, Tavi?"

Tavi flashed Araris a wry grin. "You’ve known her longer than I have," he said quietly. "Have you ever seen anything else like this? Something that would indicate that her crafting might be a more significant gift than anyone knew?"

Araris shook his head. "You mean to ask if your father ever said anything about it."

Tavi glanced away, suddenly uncomfortable. "Well. Yes."

Araris folded his arms and was silent for a long moment. "It was a long time ago. And… for a long time, it wasn’t anything I cared to dwell on."

"But if there’s anything you remember…"

Araris held up a hand and closed his eyes for a moment. "Once. When we were talking about what Sextus would say, when he learned about Isana. Your father had just told me of his intention to marry her and…" Araris glanced at Tavi, and the young man felt a flash of the singulare’s discomfort and shame. "And I told him that there would be the crows to pay if he did. Gaius wouldn’t have minded a bastard or two running around-the bloodline has never been a particularly fruitful one. But he definitely had plans in mind for Septimus’s wife. He’d have chosen someone not only for political gain, but for their skill at furycraft as well, to keep the royal bloodline strong."

Tavi sighed. "I’m not holding advice you gave my father against you, Araris. Bloody crows, man, you know me better than that. Just tell me what he said."

Araris nodded. "He said that Isana was more than he expected. And that she would be more than Gaius had bargained for, either." He sighed. "But he wasn’t necessarily talking about her crafting."

"It sounds like he was. What else could he have meant?" Tavi asked.

"There weren’t many people willing to stand up to Septimus, but she was one of them. If she thought he was wrong, she’d call him on it. Not argue, exactly, but… he could get most people to go along with him through sheer force of personality. He couldn’t bull his way through Isana like that. She never raised her voice, never really seemed to be in conflict with him-but she’d never give an inch, either." Araris shrugged. "Tavi, your father never set much store by furycraft when it came to the important things."

"He never had to work without it, either," Tavi said.

"True enough." Araris’s frown deepened. "But… Tavi, I don’t know if you know this. But the House of Gaius has always been gifted with… not prophecy, precisely. But a measure of insight, foresight, that went beyond what could be explained away as simple wisdom."

Tavi frowned. "I’ve never heard about that."

"It isn’t something that’s casually bandied about," Araris said. "Septimus was particularly… intuitive. He would just casually mention things that were going to happen, weeks or months later. Miles used to write them down. Keep track of them. Sometimes, Septimus would hardly remember mentioning it. I don’t think it was anything he had control over."

"What’s that got to do with Isana?" Tavi asked.

Araris shrugged. "Just that he might have made the remarks based on an intuition." The singulare smiled faintly. "You’ve got to admit, Isana’s done quite a bit more than Gaius would expect out of a woman from a steadholt. She was instrumental in the events of Second Calderon. If not for her, in fact, Gaius would have died the night the Vord attacked his meditation chamber. And according to Countess Amara, only her warning saved her and your uncle from being killed by Kalarus’s Immortals-and their actions helped tilt the balance of power in Kalarus’s initial attack." He shook his head. "Or maybe he was talking about her furycraft. Maybe she had more power at her disposal than she knew. Or…" He frowned.

"What?" Tavi asked, intent. "Or what?"

"Or maybe… maybe your father placed more furies at her disposal. Before he died."

Tavi frowned. "Could… can that be done?"

"Oh, yes," Araris said, nodding. "The way furies can be passed from generation to generation on a steadholt. Remember when Old Frederic passed Thumper to Young Frederic?"

"I thought that only happened, you know. Out in the country, where people name their furies."

"As far as I know, there’s no reason that someone couldn’t pass more furies along to someone else, whether they were discrete beings or amorphous. It’s just rarely done among the Citizenry. A child with a high potential generally attracts many furies to himself all on his own, of course-Septimus certainly did. But his power would have been significantly greater when his father died or stepped aside and willed the majority of his power to pass on."

Tavi frowned. "And… what? You think my father might have willed some of his furies to her when he was killed?"

Araris shook his head. "I just don’t know, Tavi. But I think it’s significant that both times she demonstrated extraordinary strength, your life was in danger." His eyes went distant, and he smiled very faintly. "It would be just like Septimus, to find a way to protect his son, even years after his own death."

Tavi frowned at that. Araris had said more about his father in the past moments than he had in most of the previous two years. It was a lot to think about.

He closed his eyes for a moment as a sharp little ache went through him. Was his father still there, somehow, watching over him? The very thought was incredibly reassuring, almost unbearably sad, sweetly painful. It was the kind of thing he had dreamed about when he was lonely, uncertain, or afraid.

Like now. He was about to set out to break Varg out of the most secure prison in all of Alera. The Grey Tower was home to some of the most dangerous swordsmen to be found-and, partially in thanks to his own recommendations, its furycrafted defenses were some of the most deadly to be had. And even if the rescue was successful, they would have to elude the pursuit that was sure to be sent after them. As if all of that wasn’t enough, there was Varg to consider. Tavi was not at all certain what the Canim warrior’s reaction would be once he was free. Varg might well decide his best course of action would be to tear Tavi’s throat out and make his own way from there.