She managed to salvage the Brat—and succeeded well enough that Elspeth was Chosen herself just before Talia was sent out on her internship assignment.

During that assignment she and Kris, the Herald picked to be her mentor, discovered something frightening and potentially fatal—not only to themselves, but to anyone who happened to be around Talia. Due to the chaos just after her initial training in her Gift, she had never been properly trained. And her Gift was Empathy—both receptive and projective—strong enough to use as a weapon. It wasn’t until it had run completely wild that she and Kris were able to retrain her so that her control became a matter of will instead of instinct.

She still had moments of misgiving about the ethics of her Gift.

She also had moments of misgiving on another subject altogether; another Herald. Dirk was Kris’ best friend and partner—and Talia, after being with him only a handful of times, none intimate, was attracted to him to the point of obsession. There was a precedent for such preoccupation; very rarely, Heralds formed a bond with one another as deep and enduring as the Herald-Companion bond. Such a tie was referred to as a “lifebond.” Kris was certain that this was what Talia was suffering from. Talia wasn’t so sure.

This was just one minor complication for an internship that included battle, plague, intrigue, wildly spreading rumors about her, and a Gift that was a danger to herself and others.

At last the year-and-a-half was over, and she was on her way home.

Home—to an uncertain relationship, a touchy adolescent Heir, all the intrigues of the Court—and possibly, an enemy; Lord Orthallen, who just happened to be Kris’ uncle.

One

One

We could be brother and sister, Kris thought, glancing over at his fellow Herald. Maybe twins—

Talia sat Rolan with careless ease—an ease brought about by the fact that they’d spent most of their waking hours in the saddle during her internship up north. Kris’ seat was just as casual, and for the same reason. After all this time they could easily have eaten, slept—yes, and possibly even made love a-saddle! The first two they had accomplished, and more than once. The third they’d never tried—but Kris had heard rumors of other Heralds who had. It did not sound like something he really was curious enough to attempt.

They figured on making the capital and the Collegium by early evening, so they were both wearing the cleanest and best of their uniforms. Heraldic Whites—those for field duty—were constructed of tough and durable leather, but after eighteen months they only had one set apiece that would pass muster, and they’d been saving them for today.