two facts, however. What would Grandfather do if he were in my shoes? “The hell you don’t!” swore Will.
Isabel flinched as though she had been slapped. “Excuse me? What did you say?”
Will elaborated, “I said there’s no way in hell you aren’t a lady.” He paused, then added, “Milady.”
“Explain why you think that.”
“You called the Lord Commander by his name without an honorific, and he said nothing,” answered Will.
“That doesn’t mean…”
“And you had enough power to order him out of the room, despite the fact that it means you’re alone with a supposedly dangerous man,” added Will.
Isabel laughed. “Your hands are bound.”
Will looked up at her with cold eyes. “My feet aren’t, and I probably outweigh you by at least a hundred pounds. If I were dangerous it wouldn’t be wise for you to stand so close. The baron clearly thinks so, which means you had to have some serious authority to force him to leave us alone.”
Her foot shifted slightly, as though she were about to take a step back, but Isabel held firm. “You’re observant, I’ll grant you that. But you’ve overestimated the danger you pose. You’ve forgotten that most nobles have magic.”
He already knew that, but he decided to needle her a bit as he replied, “What, are you a wizard or something?”
“A sorceress,” she corrected immediately, and the two elementals hovering above her shoulders shifted, becoming visible in the physical sense. One appeared as an intricate, silvery crystal, while the other was an amorphous, watery mass.
Will tried to look fearful as he leaned away from her. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“Stop that,” snapped Isabel. “You aren’t a bad liar, but your acting is terrible.”
“I’m really afraid,” insisted Will, scrunching up his face and keeping his eyes downward.
“That’s really painful to watch,” she observed dryly. “Please stop. I feel embarrassed just watching you.”
Will gave up. Straightening up, he apologized, “Sorry.”
“That’s better,” she said, and Will thought he saw a hint of a smile cross her face. “Now, tell me how you got into my tent.”
“I didn’t—”
“That’s getting old,” she said, interrupting him. “Would you like to see how I know you were there?”
He shrugged.
Isabel held up the letter with her left hand while an intricate construction of runes appeared in the air above her right hand. A second later it moved across to dissolve into the letter, then a strange mist appeared in the air above it. The mist swirled for a moment before resolving into four faces, all of whom he recognized; Arrogan, his mother, Isabel, and his own visage. Isabel pointed at his face, “Who does this look like to you?”
“I’m not sure,” said Will. “It certainly resembles me a little.” Then he asked, “How did you do that?”
“The spell identifies the residual turyn people leave behind when they handle objects, showing their faces to the caster. It only works if the user already knows the people being identified, though. Fortunately, I had already met you,” explained Isabel. “Who are the other ones?” she asked, pointing at Erisa’s and Arrogan’s faces.
Will leaned forward, squinting. “A woman I’ve never seen before, an old man I don’t recognize—” He pointed at Isabel’s visage last. “This one, I’m not sure who it is, but I’m sure I would recognize a beauty like that if I had met her before.”
Isabel blushed slightly, then scowled. “That’s me, idiot.” She studied him for a moment, then went on, “You’ve given yourself away. I know you’re a mage of some sort now.”
“No, I’m not,” lied Will.
She smiled. “First, those images are completely invisible to non-mages. A regular person would have seen nothing. Second, you know all those faces. When I said the user had to already know the people shown, I didn’t mention what they would look like if you didn’t know them.” She pointed at Arrogan’s face. “For example, you said this one is an old man, but I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman. It’s just a blur to me.” She pointed at Erisa next. “This one I could see, but I don’t remember meeting her. Who is she?”
Flummoxed, Will clamped his mouth shut. Damn it! He’d been outsmarted, mostly because of his inexperience, but he had to admire Isabel’s cleverness. Then another thought came to him. When would she have met Mom?
“Are you determined not to answer?” she asked. “You realize my patience won’t last forever, don’t you? If you don’t cooperate, I’ll have the baron’s men back in here. Is that what you want?”
He