Mercedes Lackey - Mage Winds 1 - Winds Of Fate

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Winds of Fate [112-066-4.1]

By: Mercedes Lackey

Synopsis"

The first book of the trilogy, Winds of Fate features Princess Elspeth,

Skif and Need. Together they journey to the land of the mysterious

Hawkbrothers in their search to bring magic back to Valdemar.

NOVELS BY MERCEDES LACKEY available from DAW Books

THE BOOKS OF THE LAST HERALD-MAGE

MAGIC'S PROMISE MAGIC'S PAWN MAGIC'S PRICE

VOWS AND HONOR

THE OATHBOUND OATHBREAKERS

BY THE SWORD

THE HERALDS OF VALDEMAR

ARROWS OF THE QUEEN ARROW'S FLIGHT ARROW'S FALL

THE MAGE WINDS

WINDS OF FATE WINDS OF CHANGE* WINDS OF FURY*

*forthcoming from DAW Books in Hardcover

Book One of The Mage Winds

by jody Lee.

For color prints of jody Lee's paintings, please contact" jody A. Lee

P.O. Box II0 White Plains, NY 10603

Interior illustrations by Larry Dixon.

All the black & white interior illustrations in this book are available

as 11 x 14" prints; either in a signed, open edition singly, or in a

signed and numbered portfolio from" FIREBIRD ARTS & MUSIC, INC. P.O. Box

14785 Portland, OR 97214-9998 Phone: 1-800-752-0494

Time Line by Pat Tobin.

DAW Book Collectors No. 861

DAW Books are distributed by Penguin U. S.A. Book designed by Lenny

Telesca.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance

to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

First Printing, November 1991 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DAW TRADEMARK( REGISTERED U.S. PAT. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRM -MARCA

REGISTRADA. HECHO EN U.S.A.

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Dedicated to

the memory of Donald A. Wollheim A gentleman and a scholar

Prologue The Legend"

Long ago, in the days of the first King, for whom the Kingdom of

Valdemar is named, it came to the King that he was growing old. Now

Valdemar had led his people out of the hands of a tyrannical monarch and

had no wish to see them fall again into the hands of tyranny. He knew

that his son and Heir was a worthy, honest man-but what of his son's

sons, and theirs?

He longed for a way to determine who would be a worthy successor to the

throne, so that Valdemar the kingdom need never become less free than it

was at that moment.

So he went into the fields and gardens beside the Palace, alone, and

wrought what was half a prayer and half a spell, begging all benign

Powers for their aid in this desire of his.

And as the last rays of the sun died from the sky, there was a mighty

wind, and a shaking of the ground, and out of the grove of trees before

him came a being like unto a white horse. And it spoke into his

mind-Then came a second, and a third, and before Valdemar could think to

question why these came, his own son and his chief herald came to the

place as if they had been called. And these two beings spoke into their

minds, also, saying "I Choose you." So did the king know then that these

Companions would choose only worthy folk to bear them company, for all

their lives-and that these folk would be the instrument of justice and

honor for all of the Kingdom from this moment. So did he name those

Chosen by Companions to be Heralds, for only one could be a Monarch, and

only one could be the Heir, but all could aspire to be a Herald. And he

had made for them clothing of white, like the coats of their Companions,

so that all might know them at a distance, or in a crowd; and he decreed

then that only a Herald could be the Heir or the Monarch. And he decreed

that there should be one Herald always to advise and serve and befriend

the Monarch, so that his decisions be tempered with another view, and

that Herald was to be called the Monarch's Own.

So it was. And so Valdemar has prospered. The Heralds increased, and the

Monarch's justice spread.

The Chronicles"

In the first year of Herald Talia's investiture as full Queen's Own,

Prince Ancar of Hardorn slew his father and all his father's men in a

bloody and successful attempt to take the throne. He slew also Herald

Kris who was there as ambassador on behalf of Queen Selenay, and

imprisoned and tortured Herald Talia who was with him. She was rescued,

out of all expectations, by the power of Herald Dirk, the young Heir

Elspeth, and all the Companions together. Such a thing had never been

known before, that the Companions would all add their strength to the

Heralds to accomplish a task.

Ancar then made a trial of the strength of Valdemar, using both magic

and his private army, but he was thrown back.

Some two years later, he made trial of the borders again. This time he

was beaten back by the combined forces of the mercenary Company the

Skybolts, under Captain Kerowyn; the armies of Valdemar; and the army of

Rethwellan under Lord-Martial Prince Daren, who had come in answer to a

promise of aid long forgotten. In the heat of the battle, the Prince and

the Captain lost their horses and were both Chosen-and the Prince and

Queen were taken with a lifebonding, a circumstance that both pleased

and disturbed many.

Our ancient enemy, Karse, remains quiet, for Karse is beset with

internal troubles. Ancar makes incursions on the Border from time to

thing but feints, however.

So it has been to this day, some s years from the last battle, when the

events occurred that I now relate ...

Herald-Chronicler Myste PCHAPTER One ELSPETH

'"But-," Elspeth protested weakly. The empty salle echoed back her words

faintly. She stared at Herald Kerowyn and tried to make some sense of

what she'd just been ordered to do. Repair armor? Why should I repair

armor? I don't even know the first thing about repairing armor! And what

does that have to do with anything? She sat down, her arms sagging

beneath the weight of a set of worn-out leather practice armor, a set

long past its useful lifespan, and smelling faintly of sweat,

leather-oil, and dust. "But I-"

"You know leatherwork, don't you?" Kerowyn asked, her generous mouth

twitching as if she were trying not to laugh. Elspeth squirmed

uncomfortably on the wooden bench, feeling very much like a tiny brown

mouse facing a bored cat.

"Yes, but-" You've seen me and Alberich repair armor before, haven't

you?" the mercenary-captain-turned-Herald continued with patient logic,

arms folded across her chest. Elspeth looked from Kerowyn's

weather-tanned face to the dust motes dancing in the sunlight to the

whitewashed walls of the salle in hope of finding an answer.

She was unable to come up with one. She'd been put directly under

Kerowyn's command this week, in lieu of the "usual" duties of a Herald.

Those "usual" duties-riding circuit on a Sector, acting as lawbringer,

occasional judge, paramilitary advisor, and general

troubleshooterbrought a Herald into areas of significant risk-risk the

Council was not willing to take with the Heir to the Throne.

So her assigned duty at the moment consisted of doing whatever Herald

Kerowyn told her to do. She'd assumed her tasks would be things like

acting as an assistant trainer, perhaps. Learning command tactics.

Perhaps even acting as liaison between Kerowyn's mercenary Company and

the Council.

Especially since the Council members still weren't certain what to do

with a mercenary Captain who was also a Herald.

These were all things she knew how to do-or at least make a start on.

After all, those were the kinds of things Heralds were supposed to do.

They were not supposed to be repairing armor.

"Yes, but-" she repeated weakly, not knowing what else to say.

"You don't happen to think you're too good to repair armor ..."

Kerowyn's tone held a certain silky menace that told Elspeth that

someone had given Herald Kerowyn chapter and verse on the ill-tempered

Royal Brat. Of course, the Brat was a phase she had long ago outgrown,

but some people couldn't seem to forget that stage of her life.

"No!" she said hastily. "But-"

"But why do I want you to repair armor-especially when it's someone

else's job?" Kerowyn unbent enough to smile and shifted her weight to

her right foot. "Let's play 'just suppose' for a moment. Let's suppose

you are-for some reason-out in the back of beyond. Not even alone.

We could have a situation like the one that brought me up here in the

first place-where you're with a fighting force, maybe even in command,

but there aren't any armorers around." She gestured at the pile of

leather in Elspeth's arms. "Your gear gets damaged, and there's nobody

free to fix it. What are you going to do, wear something with a weak

spot and hope nobody notices? Hope you can find somebody to fix it

before the next engagement?"

"Did you ever have to fix your own gear?" Elspeth countered. She had so

been looking forward to a free afternoon.

"I assume you mean after I made Captain?" The Herald laughed out loud,

displaying a fine set of strong, white teeth. "My dear child, the

Skybolts were so badly off that first year that I helped make armor. And

arrows and lances and even some horse-gear. No, dear, you aren't going

to wiggle out of this one. Leather armor isn't that hard to repair;

merely time-consuming. So I suggest you get to it. As for how, you take

apart everything that doesn't look solid and replace it." The former-and

currentCaptain of "Kerowyn's Skybolts" nodded her blonde head

emphatically and turned away toward the heap of practice armor that had

been tossed into the "needs repair" pile.

Resigned to the situation, Elspeth watched Kero toss her blonde braid

over her shoulder, thought of her own dull brown hair, and sighed a

little enviously. If I weren't the Heir, nobody would ever pay any

attention to my looks. Mother is gorgeous, the twins are adorable, my

stepfather is the handsomest man at Court-and I'm the little brown

sparrow. why couldn't I have been born looking like her?

Kerowyn was certainly an amazing person. Lithe, strong, and with a face

even her critics had to call "striking," she would have had dozens of

suitors if it hadn't been for the fact that she and Herald Eldan

discouraged even the most persistent with their devotion to one another.

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摘要：

WindsofFate[112-066-4.1]By:MercedesLackeySynopsis"Thefirstbookofthetrilogy,WindsofFatefeaturesPrincessElspeth,SkifandNeed.TogethertheyjourneytothelandofthemysteriousHawkbrothersintheirsearchtobringmagicbacktoValdemar.NOVELSBYMERCEDESLACKEYavailablefromDAWBooksTHEBOOKSOFTHELASTHERALD-MAGEMAGIC'SPROMI...

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Mercedes Lackey - Mage Winds 1 - Winds Of Fate

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