asked, as the men went back down the stairs to make themselves as comfortable as they could.
“I would,” said Giselle. The bed could easily fit five, it wasn’t as if they were going to be crowded. She got in and let Elfrida take the outside. With three people in the bed it warmed quickly.
But she lay on her back, staring up at the sylphs on the rafters, unable to sleep. Listening to the storm tear at the tower, and feeling the anger, and the hate, behind it.
17
THE storm died away to nothing just after noon. By that time, everyone—except the six conspirators—had eaten two meals with food cooked in the oven, and the effects on everyone who had gorged on fresh bread and butter, baked sweet noodles, and applesauce at breakfast and baked squash, oven-roasted sausages, and roots at lunch were . . . obvious. The howling of the blizzard and the snow piling up past the windows bothered them not at all. Several made jokes about being perfectly happy to be warm and inside until spring, or about wanting to hibernate like bears. Most of them decided that once the animals were fed, there was nothing pressing enough they needed to do and elected to take a nap. The ones that remained awake might as well have elected to take a nap, since they were all settled around the stoves, bundled in shawls or blankets, discussing tobacco, food, beer, and women. Well, attempting to discuss things, since a great deal of the conversation was conducted in sleepy monosyllables. Even the children were drowsing.
Elfrida had cooked everything they ate in frying pans, and they were making do with what was left of yesterday’s baking. If things had not been so tense, watching the others in their little spell-haze might have been amusing, but Giselle, at least, felt as tense as a taut bowstring, and from their expressions she was sure the others felt the same. The sylphs were still terrified and there were more of them crowding up, not only in her rafters, but in the storage loft over the kitchen. From the way they were acting, it would be impossible to persuade them out.
Five gathered in Giselle’s room at the top of the stairs, all the conspirators but Elfrida, who said she had nothing to contribute, and went to put similar spells of calm on the horses, cattle and buffalo. “And then I’ll have to make sure the other cooks don’t muddle up dinner,” she explained. “Or chop off a finger, or the like. It’ll take twice as long to make dinner, but better this than dealing with a lot of hysterics.”
Rosa had rummaged through the cupboard of Mother’s magical items, supplies, and books, and brought up a circular black plate of what looked like glass, like the one Giselle had seen in her trunk, but much more refined. “It’s an obsidian mirror,” Rosa explained to Giselle, as they went up the stairs to join the others. “It’s just about the only way an Earth Magician can scry.” Giselle examined it with curiosity; the back was still rough rock, though flat, but the stone was highly polished on the other side, and slightly concave.
“How are you going to find them?” Giselle asked, handing it back to her. They joined the others who were all sitting in a circle on the floor, as they had last night. Rosa placed the mirror in the middle, then took her own place in the circle. “They could be anywhere out there.”
Rosa frowned. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I suppose I’ll just have to search until I find them . . . I can’t think of any other way.”
“You couldn’t get my sylphs to budge out of the rafters,” Giselle told them all. “They’re terrified. I think that Air Master out there has them near hysterics.”
“I have a suggestion,” Fox put in. “My spirits are all birds. None of mine seemed frightened, not even at the height of the storm. I believe this Air Master does not realize that they are spirits of the air. I believe a raven is common enough that no one would notice it even if it ventures quite near. I will send out a raven to search for them. It will not take long.”
“Oh that would be splendid!” Rosa said, her shoulders sinking a little as she sighed in relief. “If we link the raven to the mirror, we could even see and hear what it does, which would