Heart of the Exiled Read Online Free PDF Page B

shifted his attention to the fletching. Balance and steadiness in flight, suppleness, and durability; he layered them each in turn and had just finished when he heard the small sound of the timekeeper bowl contacting the bottom of the basin.
    Rephanin withdrew his focus from the arrow and opened his eyes. “Cease working.”
    The mages stirred, some blinking as they returned their awareness to the chamber. Rephanin gathered the arrows, shifted them around in his hands to disturb their order, then laid them out across the table and ran his hand through the air just above them.
    He chose one that felt dark, as if little khi had gone into it. His hand paused above another that emitted such brightness as to seem almost hot, but he thoughthe sensed Heléri’s khi upon it, so he passed it by and selected an arrow that was nearly as vivid.
    “These two arrows are quite different. Pass them around the circle and observe their state.”
    He handed them to Valani—a female of arresting beauty with large, dark eyes that missed little—who was seated at one end of the circle. She held them briefly, a slight frown of concentration on her face, then her brows rose. She handed the arrows to her neighbor and glanced at Rephanin.
    He watched as each mage compared the arrows, and paid close attention when they were handed to Sulithan, the newest member of the circle, who he suspected had built the weak focus in the dark arrow. If the mage recognized his own work, he did not show it or give any sign of embarrassment. If this was modesty, Rephanin approved; if not, it boded ill for Sulithan’s ability to understand the work.
    When the arrows had passed around the circle, he took them back. “What differences did you perceive?”
    Jholóran answered at once. “One arrow lacked khi.”
    Others in the circle nodded, and a discussion ensued in which Rephanin occasionally asked a question aimed at causing the adepts to reiterate the principles of focus-building. He hoped the restatements would help Sulithan grasp the ideas, for he could not accept work so poor as the dark arrow.
    Heléri refrained from joining the discussion. Rephanin saw that she was watching him and took care to keep his gaze from straying toward her. At length he ended the discussion and went to a large wooden chest that stood near the door. It contained guardians’ cloaks, finely woven and lined, clasped withsilver Greenglen falcons. Rephanin took one from the chest and shook it out, pale green with a soft silvery lining, the colors warmed by firelight.
    “The principles here are the same. The qualities to focus are protection, concealment, warmth. Take two cloaks each, though you might only complete the focus in one by tomorrow evening. Remember, it is better to work thoroughly than in haste.” He folded the cloak in his hands and took out another, offering both to the nearest mage, who stood to receive them.
    “You are welcome to work in this chamber at any time. I will be here most of the night.”
    Working in the same chamber tended to enhance the effectiveness of the khi in use, even if each mage was creating an independent focus. For this reason Rephanin kept the magehall’s main chamber open at all times, available to any of the circle who wished to work there.
    When the rest had collected their work, Heléri came forward. Rephanin handed her two of the cloaks. “It is good of you to assist us.”
    She smiled softly. “I am glad to be of service.”
    Rephanin watched her go to a table near the back of the chamber. He returned to the timekeeper and removed the metal bowl from the basin, carefully drying it with a soft cloth before setting it with its fellows.
    The arrows lay loosely scattered over the table where he had left them. He could sense the intensity of the khi focused in a certain arrow and let his fingers brush the fletching as he moved away. The tingle of khi in the feathers was unmistakably Heléri’s.
    He returned to where he had left his two