The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

and purple.
    “Calm down, Jack,” Jaylor ordered. “What happened?” He looked more relaxed and coherent than the last time Jack had summoned him. The twin girls had made their entrance into the world. One came screaming, kicking, and protesting the transition. The other was much smaller and more placid, almost listless. Not all of Jaylor’s worries had ended, just the worst of them. Brevelan and the new babies slept . . . for the moment.
    Jack took three deep breaths, almost triggering a deeper trance that would take him into the void then and there. A haunting Song drifted through the blackness of the void, tempting him.
    (Answers can be found in the void. Are you ready to learn and accept what you find, pleasant or distressful?) Baamin asked. In his current existence Baamin wore magician blue on the tips of his dragon wings. He had befriended Jack more than once.
    Jack couldn’t see the wise dragon at the moment, but would recognize his voice anywhere.
    He held himself tightly to this world.
    “Talk to me, Jack. Don’t revert to your old habits of silence. In this case, keeping your mouth shut will not solve the problem,” Jaylor coaxed. He’d known Jack when he was a nameless kitchen drudge. He’d stood by Jack when he became an arrogant apprentice magician who chose the magnificent name Yaakke out of history. But Jaylor was not there when Jack had to live up to the name he chose. Jack had learned most painfully that the humbler shortening of the name suited him much better. Jaylor could not know how important Katrina had been to his survival through that long and grueling process.
    “She’s gone,” Jack choked out. Slowly, he found the words to explain how and why Katrina had fled rather than face the intimacy of marriage. “I have to bring her back!”
    “You need to follow her, certainly,” Jaylor replied. “But believe me, you can’t force her to come back to you. All you can do is wait patiently by her side and allow her to make the first move.” The Senior Magician smiled. His attention drifted as if he remembered something wonderful.
    Jack had to remind himself that Jaylor might hold authority over all members of the Commune of Magicians, but he was only a few years older than Jack. And a new father, for the third and fourth time. Balladeers had been singing of his deep and abiding love for Brevelan for four years now.
    “Then I’ll follow Katrina now.”
    “No. You will complete your duty to Coronnan, the Commune, and our king! That is our oath as members of the Commune.”
    Jack’s sense of duty to Coronnan, Commune, and king had seen him through years of slavery, terrible dangers, and persecution. It had brought him many rewards, including Katrina’s love.
    “She’s not safe. I can’t fulfill my duties to anyone as long as she’s in danger.”
    “I’ll send Margit to catch up with her. My apprentice is most anxious to get out in the world. She says that she finds life at the University or at court stifling—she can’t breathe properly indoors. But I suspect much of her anxiety centers around the missing Marcus and Robb—Marcus in particular.”
    “Margit has no training. The only spell she can work is a weak summons. How can she protect Katrina?”
    “Margit has learned a lot in the last few moons, and as long as her breathing isn’t stifled while indoors, she does have more magic than we thought. She’s the best person to be with Katrina right now. They are the same age. They are both in love and having difficulty with the relationship. Margit can talk to her. They can share female secrets, where a man will just frighten your ladylove.”
    “But . . .”
    “No buts. Do your research and planning. Then transport Mikka and Darville to the lair three days hence.”
    “But . . .”
    Jaylor broke off the summons.
    Jack slumped against the king’s desk. His spine no longer had the stiffness to hold him up.
    “Be safe, Katrina. Be safe until I can come to you.”

Chapter 19
     
    “B ut I haven’t finished writing the paper you requested,” Margit half-protested Jaylor’s exciting news. Dawn had barely crested the horizon. She hadn’t expected anyone to be out and about so early. The Senior Magician had surprised her in her favorite study perch in an oak tree on the edge of the University compound.
    A quest! A chance to journey like a true journeyman . . . er—journeywoman. Could she be considered a journeywoman if she had not undergone the trial by Tambootie