Bastion

a very select audience, the living proof that the gods favored him. And that he intended to keep Mags on that pedestal, regardless of what Mags wanted. But he really did intend the best for Mags, and being at Bey’s side would be . . . a rather luxurious life. Bey was never going to do what had been done to his uncle, Mags’ father. Bey was never, ever, going to tell him to kill, and he was going to do his best to shelter Mags from that part of the Sleepgivers’ lives.
    And Bey meant every word about wanting to restore honor to the Sleepgivers. He intended to use Mags’ Gifts to make that possible. It was a very reasonable idea, and probably would work, and work very well. Mags could covertly implant Bey’s ideas in anyone who didn’t possess a talisman against Mind-magic; he could easily manipulate people to Bey’s way of thinking, if he chose.
    And although it would be violating the ethics he had been taught as a Herald . . . how much good would he be doing?
    Quite a lot.
    But it would be violating the ethics he had been taught as a Herald. . . .
    And so he opened his mind to Bey’s, and flooded him with everything it meant to be Chosen, and a Valdemaran, the good right along with the bad. The incredible bond he shared with Dallen—how it meant that he had someone with whom he had a deeper bond even than family. His love for Amily, how here you could find someone who was your friend, your lover, your partner, and your equal. What it meant to be a Herald; how you were never weak, because there was always someone strong to prop you, as you would prop someone weaker than you. How it felt to make peoples’ lives better, every day, even when they didn’t know you were doing it. How, in the end, blood was unimportant; it was the bond of brothers and sisters of the spirit that made you more whole than mere relations ever could. At the last, he stopped showing, stopped telling, stopped even images. He just was, and flooded Bey with the deep and certain joy of that simple being.
    Then he opened his eyes. A moment later, Bey opened his. And sighed.
    “You win, cousin,” he said, a little sadly. “You win.”

15
    M ags unearthed the talisman and gave it back to Bey, who put it on. They clasped arms in the manner of the Sleepgivers, and Mags felt a deep pang of sorrow. Not at what he was giving up—but at what Bey was losing.
    “Put on that talisman when you decide to ‘die.’” Bey told him. “It will take about a day to come to life. No one will be able to find you while you wear it.”
    “What about you?” Mags asked a little anxiously. “Are you going to be all right?”
    “I will manage.” Bey grinned crookedly. “As you saw, I am a schemer. I can always manage. I will not be put off by a little setback from achieving my goal.”
    And then he was gone. And not long after he left, the blizzard blew itself out. Mags broke out of the cave and slogged his way to where his friends were waiting, only now being told of what had happened by Dallen and Jermayan.
    And that was when the real storm began.
    •   •   •
    “I don’t know whether I think you’re insane, or just incredibly stupid,” Jakyr said, arms crossed tightly over his chest. “Or both. What in the hell were you thinking, trusting that man?”
    “Dallen said it was worth it. So did Jermayan. Just ask him,” Mags said wearily. The recriminations had gone on all day and well into the evening. Eventually Amily had come over to his side, but no one else had. Bear had railed at him until he was hoarse, and then he stamped off into the caravan, taking Lena with him. Lita had called him every variation on stupid and reckless that her inventive mind could come up with, and she was a Bard, so she came up with quite a lot. Jakyr had just hammered at him for candlemarks, until he felt just about as miserable as he had felt good as Bey left.
    “What gave you the right to risk all of us?” Jakyr asked again. “Risk your own life with a member of a known assassin tribe, fine; you can do whatever stupid thing you want with your own life. But you were risking all of us! What if he’d come over here and began picking us off one by one? What if he’d taken us hostage? Or killed all of us and taken Amily?” The cavern echoed as he shouted.
    “Dallen and Jermayan said if he made one false move, they’d take him down,” Mags repeated wearily. “If you can’t trust your Companion, who can you trust?”
    “Right at the