The Complete Conclave of Shadows Trilogy: Talon of the Silver Hawk, King of Foxes, Exile’s Return

‘That’s one version,’ said Magnus with a wry expression. ‘I’ll tell you what really happened some other time.’

‘Are these people like us?’

‘As much as the Orosini are like the men of Roldem.’

‘Not very much, then,’ said Talon.

‘Enough like us that eventually we found common ground and ended the war. You can meet some of their descendants some day.’

‘Where?’

‘In Yabon Province of the Kingdom of Isles. Many settled in the city of LaMut.’

‘Ah,’ said Talon as if he understood.

They stood there in silence for another half an hour, then Talon said, ‘We don’t seem to be doing very well.’

‘At catching fish?’

‘Yes.’

‘That’s because we’re using the wrong bait.’

Talon looked at his teacher in surprise. ‘The wrong bait?’

‘We might hook a bottom feeder or a shark with dried meat, but if we wanted something lively, we should have put a fresh mackerel on the hook.’

‘Then why are we doing this?’

‘Because fishing isn’t about catching fish.’ The magician looked into the water and Talon felt the hair on his arms rise, which meant Magnus was about to use magic. ‘There,’ he said pointing. He motioned upward with his right hand and something large seemed to leap out of the sea. It was about the size of a small horse, and covered in red scales and had a lethal-looking array of teeth. Once out of the water it thrashed about in mid-air, attempting to bite at whatever unseen foe held it aloft.

With a flick of his wrist, Magnus let the fish fall back into the waves. ‘If I want fish, I take fish.’

‘Then why do we stand here with these poles?’

‘For the pleasure of it,’ said Magnus. ‘It’s a way to relax, to think, to ponder.’

Despite feeling completely silly holding the pole, Talon nevertheless found himself reverting to the lessons he had learned about the process of dragging a hook through the surf.

As the day grew late, he said, ‘Magnus, may I ask you something?’

‘How am I to teach you if you don’t?’

‘Well …’

‘Out with it,’ said Magnus, making another cast into the surf. The wind was picking up, blowing the magician’s white hair back from his face.

‘I’m confused about something.’

‘What?’

‘Women.’

Magnus turned to stare at Talon. ‘Something specific about women, or just women in general?’

‘In general, I suppose.’

‘You’re hardly the first man to say that.’

‘So I’ve come to understand,’ said Talon. ‘It’s just that among my people, things between men and women were … predictable. Your bride was selected before you returned from your vision quest, and you married shortly afterwards. You stayed with one woman …’ He lowered his voice. ‘I’ve already known two women, and I’m wed to neither.’

‘This bothers you?’

‘Yes … no … I don’t know.’

Magnus planted his pole in the sand and walked over to Talon. ‘I can tell you little, my young friend. My experience in this area is very limited.’

Talon looked at the magician. ‘You don’t like women?’

Magnus smiled. ‘No, it’s not that … I had some experience when I was young … about your age. It’s just that some of us who practise the magic arts prefer to stay aloof. Matters of the heart confound things.’ He looked out at the sea. ‘I like to think I gain clarity by avoiding such things.’ He looked back at Talon. ‘But you and I are set upon different paths. What is your question?’

‘I was … with Lela, for a while. I thought perhaps we might …’ Talon looked down at the sand, feeling very self-conscious. ‘I thought we might even wed.’

Glancing at Magnus he saw the magic-user betray an instant of amusement, but then his face became once again an immobile mask.

Talon continued. ‘But when I returned from Latagore with Caleb, she was gone. I barely had time to think about not seeing her again when Meggie …’

‘Ah,’ said Magnus. ‘You were with her when I woke you that morning, that’s right.’

‘Well, how can I feel so strongly for Lela, yet so easily find myself with Meggie? And I didn’t even think about Lela the whole time we were together.’

Magnus nodded. ‘Let me ask you, if I could bring either girl here this instant, who would you wish to see?’

Talon stood silently, holding his fishing pole. ‘I don’t know,’ he answered at last. ‘I thought I loved Lela … I do love her. But there’s something about the way Meggie … moves. She’s … ardent. That’s the word isn’t it?’

Magnus fell silent for a moment, then he said, ‘The ways of the heart are complex.’ He looked out at the ocean again. ‘The waves churn and break upon the rocks, Talon. So do human feelings. Passion can be a man’s undoing. With passion must come wisdom, otherwise your enemies have a weapon to use against you.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Most men are passionate about something, at some time in their lives. It may be about a woman he loves, or his calling or craft, or it may be about an ideal.’

‘An ideal?’

Magnus nodded. ‘There are men who would willingly give their lives for an ideal. Men who put the greater good ahead of their own personal gain.’ He looked at Talon. ‘Then there are the dark passions: ambition, greed, lust, a hunger for power.

‘What you feel for Lela and Meggie is somewhere between those extremes, between the ideal and the dark. At its worst, what you feel is blind lust, without regard for the complexities of the women you pursue. At its most ideal, you will fall under the spell of women too easily, thinking each worthy of selfless adoration.

‘Either extreme is a mistake.’