the Chezru! Surely the Touel'alfar have not forgotten the way already!"
"Lady Dasslerond was the one who rescued you," Juraviel explained. ?She has ways, with her gemstones, to travel great distances quickly. When she had you in tow, though you remember it not, she and her attendants lulled you to sleep, then used the power of the emerald stone to turn a hun-dred miles into a short walk."
"Then why didn't Dasslerond do the same thing now?" Brynn demanded. ?We could have saved weeks of travel! And the mountains would be no barrier, while you sit there telling me that we might not even be able to get through them!"
"The road is preparation for the trials at its end."
Brynn snorted, obviously not impressed with that argument. ?And what do we do if we cannot find a way through the mountains? Do we sit in their shadows and share dreams that we know cannot come true? Do we turn back for Caer'alfar and beg Lady Dasslerond to do that which she should have done before?"
That last statement brought a glare of disapproval that reminded the voune ranger that there were boundaries concerning the Touel'alfar she should not cross.
She pressed on anyway, but in more reserved tones, trying to justify her outrage. ?My people are enslaved.
Every day that we tarry is another day of nisery for the To-gai-ru. The revolution could be taking place by now."
ge]Ji'mar Juraviel chuckled and shook his head, and Brynn, thinking that she was being mocked, narrowed her brown eyes.
"If Lady Dasslerond had summoned the power of the emerald and placed you within a To-gai-ru village enclave, do you believe that you would have stepped forward and simply taken control?" the elf asked. ?By what declaration would you have been named as hero and leader?"
"By the same declaration I must use, I suppose, when at last we arrive in To-gai," came the sarcastic response, and Brynn added under her breath, ?If we ever arrive in To-gai."
"If we find no way over the mountains, then we shall turn east along the foothills, all the way to the coast, to the city of Entel, where we will secure passage to Jacintha easily enough."
Brynn knew the name of the second city, Jacintha, and understood the extent of the hike.
"Jacintha," Juraviel said again. ?The seat of Behrenese power. The home of the Chezru Chieftain who rules the Yatols."
Predictably, Brynn's expression became one of intense anger.
"You are worldly in many ways," Juraviel said to her. ?And yet, in many others, you know so little of the wide world. Perhaps that is our fault, but we are, by need, a reclusive people. So, instead of begrudging the delays in returning to To-gai, consider this journey, and the one far to the east that we might well have to make, as a continuation of your training, as preparation for the trials you will soon enough face."
Brynn stared at Juraviel long and hard, but she had heard the words clearly, and could accept that explanation to some degree. She reminded herself that the Touel'alfar had rescued her from a life of certain slavery, an existence that would never have led to the possibilities spread wide before her. She reminded herself that the Touel'alfar had trained her in the arts she would need to make an attempt to lead her people.
In light of all that history and training and friendship, Brynn suddenly felt very foolish indeed for so severely question-ing Belli'mar Juraviel!
She looked down and gave a self-deprecating chuckle, then said, ?Perhaps I have spent too much time in the company of Aydrian."
She glanced back up as she finished and saw that her words had indeed brought a smile to the elf's fair face.
"Aydrian will find his own way in the world, I doubt not," Juraviel re-plied. ?But his temperament would never have proven suitable to the task you have at hand. You are a warrior, but foremost you are a diplomat, a leader with words above the sword, an inspiration through courage and..."
The elf paused, raising a finger into the air to signify the importance of his point. ?An inspiration through wisdom. Without the second quality, you will lead your people into nothing but disaster. It will take more than force to pry To-gai from the grasp of Behren, my young friend. It will take unpar-alleled courage and cunning, and will take a leader so elevated that her peo-ple will die for her willingly, gratefully. Do you fully appreciate the gravity of that position?"