Traitor's Moon

place looked strangely deserted. The scene shifted, and Alec recognized the view of the central atrium from the balcony by Nysander’s tower door. Sections of the dragon mosaic still showed the damage caused by the attack of Mardus and his necromancers. Here, too, there were fewer people than Alec remembered from his time there.
    â€œThis is how it looks now?” Seregil asked softly.
    â€œYes.” Thero changed the image again, showing them Seregil’s Wheel Street villa.
    â€œMy Skalan home,” Seregil said with a hint of irony.
    What would they see if Thero conjured up their true home? Alec wondered. Was the blackened cellar hole still there, or had some new establishment been built over the ruins?
    â€œI know a similar magic,” said Säaban. A servant brought him a large silver basin mounted on a tripod. Filling it with water, he blew gently across it. Ripples ridged the surface for an instant, then cleared, leaving in their wake a view of green forests below snowcapped peaks. On a hill overlooking a broad lake lay a white sprawl of interconnected stone buildings similar to the khirnari’s house at Gedre, but much larger and more elaborate. A town spread down the hill from it to the water’s edge. At the forest’s edge, a pillared temple stood in a grove of white birches, its domed roof gleaming in the brilliant sunlight that bathed the scene.
    â€œBôkthersa!” breathed Seregil. “I’ve forgotten so much.”
    The image faded and more turab was poured. Seregil drank deeply.
    â€œWe saw a bit of Akhendi magic as we passed through your fai’thast, Khirnari,” Klia told Rhaish í Arlisandin, holding up her left wrist to show him the carved leaf hanging there.
    â€œThey’re periapts, aren’t they?” asked Thero, who wore a similar one.
    â€œVery good,” the khirnari said, acknowledging him with a nod. “It is the knots as much as the amulet itself that hold the magic. Either by itself does not work.”
    â€œI’d like to learn how they’re made, if that’s allowed. We have nothing quite like them in Skala.”
    â€œBut of course! It’s quite a common skill among my folk, though some are better at it than others.” Rhaish turned to his wife. “Talía, you have a way with such things. Have you the makings with you?”
    â€œI’m never without them.” Amali moved to sit next to the wizard and produced a hank of thin leather laces from a purse at her belt. “It’s simply a matter of knowing the patterns,” she explained. Withone smooth gesture, she pulled the laces through her hand and produced a short band of intricate weave, far more complex than any the Skalans had seen so far. “The second pass sets the amulet, according to the needs of the intended wearer.” She took out a small pouch and spilled a collection of little wooden carvings onto her lap. She gazed at Thero a moment, then chose a simple, tapered plaque carved with an eye symbol. “For wisdom,” she told him, setting the charm into the weave and tying it around his wrist.
    â€œOne can never have enough of that,” laughed Klia.
    Amali quickly created another and presented it to her, this one with a bird charm very similar to ones Alec and Torsin wore. “It’s just a simple binding spell. It warns if someone is ill-wishing you.”
    â€œI’ve found those to be of use many times,” Torsin remarked, showing her his. “I only wish the Orëska wizards had the knack for them.”
    â€œCan you tell me what these are?” asked Klia, showing her the carved leaf charm and another made from an acorn strung on a few twisted strands. “I couldn’t understand a word of what the woman who made them said.”
    Amali examined them and smiled. “These are more trinkets or luck pieces than charms, but given with a loving heart. The leaf is for good health; the acorn symbolizes a fertile womb.”
    â€œI’ll take the health, but I’d best save this other for later.” Klia untied the acorn charm and tucked it away.
    â€œAnd you say this magic is possessed only by Akhendi?” asked Thero, examining a charm on his own wrist with interest.
    â€œOthers can sometimes learn a few tricks, but it’s our clan’s gift—magic using knots, weaving, or bindings.” Amali handed him a few laces. “Care to try?”
    â€œBut