Surely not. He knew she considered Leiard as much a friend as an adviser, but what if the feelings she had were stronger than friendship?

That would explain the secrecy, he thought.

What secrecy? Danjin shook his head and continued walking. All I know is that Auraya visited Leiard once and that she flies about at night. That is far from proof that she has a lover, let alone that the lover is Leiard.

As he neared his destination, he stopped and looked back at the white tarn.

Besides, he thought. Auraya’s no fool. She’d never risk all she’s achieved by taking a Dreamweaver as a lover.

The sun was low in the sky when Dyara and Auraya began to walk back to the road.

“So how am I doing?” Auraya asked.

Dyara glanced at her and smiled grimly. “Well enough. You have a natural talent for magic, but that’s no surprise. The gods would not have chosen you otherwise.”

“I thought it was my charming personality.”

To Auraya’s surprise, Dyara chuckled. “I’m sure they chose you for that as well. You won’t survive this war on charm alone, Auraya—and I know you understand that.”

Auraya nodded. “We covered almost everything I’ve learned since being chosen. What will we do tomorrow?”

Dyara frowned. “I have been thinking of ways that your flying ability might be used to your advantage. You know that when you draw a great deal of magic to yourself, you lessen what exists in the world immediately around you. Magic flows in to replace what is used, but too slowly if what you are doing uses a great deal of power quickly. To compensate, you need to draw magic from farther away from yourself, which takes more effort, or move yourself physically to where magic isn’t as depleted.”

“And avoid moving to where my enemy has been standing.”

“Yes. You are not restricted to moving across the surface of the land as we are. You have the entire sky to move through. Your source of magic will always be fresh so long as you remain airborne and in motion.”

Auraya felt a small thrill. “I see. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“The trouble is, Juran will want you with us as it will be easier to—”

:Auraya? Are you watching?

Auraya stopped. The mental call was weak and hesitant, but clear enough that she recognized the sender. Tireel, the Siyee ambassador who had come to Jarime, had volunteered to lead the scouts over the mountains. She had given him her link ring so he could contact her when they arrived.

:Tireel. Where are you?

:The other side of the mountains. We’ve found the Pentadrians. They’re a lot closer than you said they’d be.

She could feel his excitement and fear. Reaching out to Dyara, Juran, Mairae and Rian, she told them what was happening and channelled Tireel’s communication to them.