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male intelligence?
 Ser Fornal, the engineer said slowly,  the copper on these wagons is
worth several dozen golds, maybe more. Your sister and your sire need those
golds to supply you. They also need to claim some victory to the holders, as
you have pointed out. Sending the wagons to Lornth will do both. Nylan paused
and added.  Especially with your armsmen guarding them.
After a moment, Fornal nodded, slowly.  That does make sense, ser angel,
and I could send a request for more armsmen to replace our losses, also.
Nylan could sense both the anger and discomfort from Ayrlyn, as well as a
feeling of grim amusement.
 The other thing is that we re going off for a few days- call it a magely
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quest. Nylan held up his hand.  It s important, but I can t tell you why.
 You will be taking your squads?
 No. I d thought perhaps three men, and, of course, Sylenia and Weryl.
Three would not make a difference here.
 A magely quest-that I could scarcely deny. Not after such a handsome
result from your arms.
And you ll need us more than ever when the whites finally react. Which they
will. Nylan locked eyes with Fornal, until the regent looked away. Then he
turned his mount toward the corral.
Ayrlyn followed, chill still radiating from her.
XCIV
& AND WHEN THE white lancers of Cyad had come at last to the copper mines of
the north, those of Lornth threw down their picks and shovels and their
blades, and fled into the Grass Hills, for they well knew that the copper
mines were not theirs, and they were sore afraid of the righteous wrath of the
Lord of Cyador.
The white lancers rebuilt and refurbished the mines, and brought order and
discipline back into the Hills of Grass, nor did they afflict the peoples nor
their hamlets.
The wily Nylan, like the mountain cat who cannot face the well-prepared
hunter in the light of day, advised the guileless council of Lornth behind
heavy doors, saying, If the Cyadorans cannot eat and they cannot sleep, they
will not hold to the mines that your fathers and forefathers have worked. And
they will depart.
The delvers and diggers of Cyad labored long and with great effort to bring
forth the copper from the mines, trusting in the honor of the Lornians and in
the forces of the most honorable white lancers.
For in that time, none believed that even the wily Nylan would stoop to
slaughtering innocent horses, nor to murdering hapless wagoners, nor to
raising fireballs in the night and dropping them upon lancer and digger alike
while they slept. All this did Nylan, and more, terrible and dishonorable
deeds better lost in tumult of time. Yet remember we must, for this is how the
dark angels came to power in Candar&
Colors of White
(Manual of the Guild at Fairhaven)
Preface
XCV
THE ANGELS REINED up at the crest of the low hill, where Nylan unfastened his
water bottle and took a deep swallow. Sylenia twisted in the saddle and
offered water to Weryl, who swallowed, splashed water across his tanned legs,
and then thrust the bottle back before Sylenia was ready. The bottle slid off
the saddlebags and bounced into the dust of the road.
Even before Nylan could put down his own water bottle, Fuera had vaulted
from his saddle and recovered the water bottle, handing it up to Sylenia. A
dark splotch remained in the road.
 Thank you. The black-haired nursemaid smiled.
 Just tell Tonsar that we looked out for you. Fuera flashed an openly
charming grin.
Sylenia shook her head, but the smile remained as Fuera remounted with the
same dash.
Ayrlyn offered the faintest of ironic smiles. Nylan smothered his own
smile, then looked at the vista before them.
Under the mid-afternoon sun, and a green-blue sky with a few scattered and
puffy white clouds, the road wound down the hill to the right, and then angled
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up yet another grass-covered hill, topped by a small grove of low trees. A
flock of sheep grazed on the mostly green meadow west of the road, and beyond
the animals were several low buildings and a sod-roofed dwelling.
 Still that way? asked Nylan, inclining his head in the general direction
of the road ahead.
 There s a hint of order. It s stronger that way, suggested Ayrlyn.
Nylan let his own order senses follow hers, feeling a thread of order, and
something more, still to the northwest.
 It s stronger now.
He nodded, restowing the water bottle and wondering if they would reach the
order grove, if that was what it was, before sunset.
Perhaps ten kays and three lines of hills later, the group reined up at the
top of another low hill, looking out over the patchwork of continuing meadows
and scattered flocks of sheep.
 We re close, Ayrlyn said.
Nylan glanced downhill, and his eyes wandered back to the opposite hill
crest. He frowned. He d meant to look downhill.
Rather than look, he listened in the stillness broken only by the hint of a
breeze. Was that the gurgling of a brook or stream?
He started to look downhill again, and his eyes blurred.
 There s something there. The redheaded healer frowned.
 I know. It s shielded somehow.
 There are trees, pines of a sort, and they re tall.
Out of the corner his eyes, Nylan could sense Sylenia s puzzlement as she
squinted out into the glare of the low sun, trying to make out whatever the
two angels discussed.
 Just a hillside& 
 Why are we sitting here? asked Fuera.
 The smith and healer see something, answered Sias.
 Don t see anything, added Buretek.
 They see a lot we don t. He sees inside metal. She sees inside people.
The apprentice smith and armsman paused.  I m not sure it be good to see
everything they see.
 We ll see, said Buretek cheerfully.  They see something, or they don t.
Except it wasn t that simple, thought Nylan. Nothing that involved the
order and chaos fields was-that he d already discovered, unfortunately.
 There s nothing there, said Ayrlyn.  I mean, no animals, no big ones.
There are the trees, and the stream.
 Let s see. Nylan turned his mount to the left and off the road, heading
downhill.
 & not even a road& 
 & knows where he s going& 
 & so does she& 
As they rode downhill toward the well-sensed but unseen valley, if a place
that tried to fool human vision could be claimed to be unseen, Nylan noted a
growing sense of calm, of balance before him, and a growing consternation in
the saddles behind.
 & something there& but my eyes& 
 & told you& 
Finally, he turned.  It s just a grove of trees. There s some sort of magic
shield around it to protect it from being logged or destroyed. That s all.
Not quite.all, by a long shot, but nothing to harm them. Whether it might harm
Ayrlyn or him was another question. And it isn t really a shield, either. He
took a deep breath.
 Not quite all, murmured Ayrlyn as she eased her mount closer.
 I know. I can feel it, but it s not harmful.
Abruptly, when the ground flattened near the base of the hill, they no
longer had to use their order senses to force their eyes to see the grove.
 Oh& 
 Where& the trees come from?
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