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shrugged. “Angus believes it is important that I be with the patrol,” she
said. “I trust his judgment. So should you.”
    Commander Garret glanced at Darby, who nodded slightly and
wiggled his right forefinger. When the Commander settled his steady stare back
on Embril, it was unreadable. Then he said, “Lieutenant?”
    “No,” Lieutenant Jarhad said at once. “We have one wizard;
we don’t need two. She will be a burden, and whatever benefit we gain from her
presence will be offset by that burden. We must ride quickly, and our task is
too important.”
    “Darby?”
    The other man frowned and shook his head. “I only know that
she believes what she said. Other than that, I can say little. It may be wise
to agree with her request.”
    “There is no place for a woman in a patrol,” Lieutenant
Jarhad said, “even if she is a wizard. If the fishmen are there, they will see
her at once, and they will assume she is either important or powerful or both.”
    Commander Garret nodded, considered the advice for several
seconds, and then said, “Tell me, Embril, will you cut off that beautiful red
hair of yours?”
    Embril almost jumped. Cut my hair! Whatever for? “Why?” she demanded.
    “Soldiers are men,” Commander Garret said. “They don’t have
long luxurious hair; they have sweaty tangles or short-cropped hair. If you
want to go with them, you have to look like them. A soldier’s uniform and short
hair at the very least. It won’t do for a close inspection, of course, but at a
distance, you’ll look like one of the men. You will also have to perform the
tasks expected of a soldier, but I’m sure Lieutenant Jarhad will make sure they
are not excessive. Won’t you Lieutenant?”
    Lieutenant Jarhad frowned, but there was no doubting that it
had been an order. He stiffened and said, “Of course, Commander.”
    “Well?” Commander Garret demanded.
    Cut off my hair? she moaned in her mind, and then a
fleeting image of Angus smothered the thought and she said, her voice soft,
firm, resigned, “If I must.”
    Commander Garret raised his eyebrows. “It must be important,
indeed,” he said, his voice softly amused. He set his right hand on the table
and tapped his fingers a few times, the last of which was decisive. He snapped
off a nod and said, “A cap might work, but we would have to see what it looks
like first. Lieutenant?”
    Lieutenant Jarhad nodded and left the room at a dignified
pace, each step a rigid unforgiving one. As he passed Embril, his deep-set
brown eyes snarled at her.
    “She will need a horse, Darby,” he continued. “Make sure it
is a docile one.”
    Darby nodded and hurried from the room. He didn’t look at
Embril as he stepped past.
    When they were both gone, Commander Garret went to the
doorway and checked the hallway. He closed the door and locked it, and then
returned to his position at the head of the table. He gestured for her to sit
and when she had, he sat down as well.
    Embril wriggled in the uncomfortable chair. It was nothing
like the one she used in the library, which had a cushion and a back that
seemed to have been shaped to suit the curve of her spine perfectly. This chair
had a hard wood base, and the back was arched in a way that forced her to sit
with her neck bent slightly forward. Once she settled into a somewhat tolerable
position, she turned to meet Commander Garret’s exasperated gaze.
    He shook his head and said, “Now that we’re alone, why don’t
you tell me the real reason why you want to go with the patrol.”
    Embril frowned. Since she had read the scroll Angus had
given her, she had wanted desperately to tell someone about what was in it, but
she couldn’t risk it. Angus was right; if a wizard knew what he had found, he
would be tempted to go there, to use it, maybe even take it away from its
proper position in the nexus. Even she was tempted by it, and she had no desire
for power. Most wizards had a strong desire for power, and the Tiger’s