Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html Spirits White as Lightning Table of Contents ONE: THE SIMPLE GIFTS TWO: THE TREES THEY DO GROW HIGH THREE: A DARK HORN BLOWING FOUR: THE GLASS CASTLE FIVE: THROUGH DARKEST ELFLAND WITH GUN AND CAMERA SIX: TO RIDE THE NIGHT--MARE SEVEN: WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GO SHOPPING EIGHT: IT'S A SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WORLD NINE: PUT YOUR HAND INSIDE THE PUPPETHEAD TEN: (I'LL STOP THE WORLD AND) MELT WITH YOU ELEVEN: YOU WANT TO DRESS IN BLACK TWELVE: CELTIC HOTEL THIRTEEN: YESTERDAY UPON THE STAIR Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html FOURTEEN: TOGETHER WE FIFTEEN: THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK SIXTEEN: WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE SEVENTEEN: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN EIGHTEEN: JOURNEY'S END Spirits White as Lightning by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. Copyright ? 2001 by Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. A Baen Books Original Baen Publishing Enterprises P.O. Box 1403 Riverdale, NY 10471 www.baen.com ISBN: 0-671-31853-5 Cover art by Stephen Hickman First printing, December 2001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lackey, Mercedes. Spirits white as lightning / by Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html p. cm. ISBN 0-671-31853-5 1. New York (N.Y.)--Fiction. 2. Musicians--Fiction. 3. Wizards--Fiction. I. Edghill, Rosemary. II. Title. PS3562.A246 S65 2002 813'.54--dc21 2001043349 Distributed by Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH Printed in the United States of America DEDICATION This one's for Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Anderson, my high school English teachers, without whom I wouldn't be doing this for a living. --Rosemary Edghill BOOKS IN THIS UNIVERSE BY MERCEDES LACKEY & HER FRIENDS Bedlam's Bard Series Bedlam Boys Ellen Guon Knight of Ghosts & Shadows Mercedes Lackey & Ellen Guon Summoned to Tourney Mercedes Lackey & Ellen Guon Beyond World's End Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill Spirits White as Lightning Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill SERRAted Edge Series Born to Run Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon Chrome Circle Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon Wheels of Fire Mercedes Lackey & Mark Shepherd When the Bough Breaks Mercedes Lackey & Holly Lisle Stone Souls(forthcoming) Mercedes Lackey & Esther Freisner Diana Tregarde Series Jinx High Mercedes Lackey Burning Water Mercedes Lackey Children of the Night Mercedes Lackey ONE: THE SIMPLE GIFTS The Spirits White as Lightning Would on my travels guide me The stars would shake and the moon would quake Whenever they espied me --Tom O' Bedlam (traditional) Sir Eric Banyon, the Queen's Knight, known as Silverflute wherever soldiers of fortune gathered together, strode manfully through the thronging crowd, determined to leave the memory of his disgrace at the hands of the foul Frenchman Black Levoisier behind him as surely as he had left the dastardly minions of his Great Enemy in his dust. . . . Eric dodged around a bicycle messenger just dismounting on the sidewalk, then grinned, startling the bike messenger into an answering smile.Heh. Banyon, m'lad, you ought to go in for writing Hysterical Historicals in your off-hours. He actuallywas striding--though not exactly "manfully"--through the noontime crowd, heading for the subway and home. His classes at Juilliard were over for the day and no rehearsals (for once!) were scheduled for this afternoon. He could practice as well, or better, at home than in one of the practice rooms, anyway. And hewas determined not to sour a perfectly good day with the memory of one jealous teacher trying to make a fool out of him in front of the entire class. Well, all right--maybe not the entire class. Just most of it. And anyway, Levoisier hadn't succeeded, though he'd Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html certainly done his best. Missing his midterm last winter (he'd been off saving the world, necessary though it had been) had given Professor Rector the chance he had been hoping for all term. He'd failed Eric, banishing him from Introduction to Music Theory with unprofessional glee. Fortunately, Eric's work in his other classes and in ensemble had been good enough that he had been given the opportunity to make up the lost Music Theory credit during summer term, and he had taken the chance to add a few more courses in order to lighten next fall's course-load. Still, this hadn't quite been the way he'd envisioned spending his July and August, which was out on Fire Island with a pitcher of virgin margaritas by his side. And Levoisier made Ethan Rector look like a prince of transpersonal fairness by comparison. Parisians. Feh. Paris would be such a lovely place without all the Parisians in it,Eric thought grumpily. And the man had certainly been on form today, baiting Eric unmercifully in hopes he'd lose his temper. Once he'd lost it, the professor would have taken him apart in a cool and scientific dissection rendered without benefit of anesthetic. Levoisier had begun with sarcastic comments about Eric's depth of experience--on the RenFaire circuit. (Why did they always obsess about that? It couldn't be jealousy.)Not exactly a concert-hall environment, as the professor had repeatedly pointed out. Nor were the customers who so praised his playing sober . . . or necessarily bright . . . or able to distinguish Bach from Bacharach . . . or a flute from a clarinet. Certainly even an idiot with three tunes in his repertoire could win acclaim on the RenFaire circuit--which only proved, to Eric's mind, how little Levoisier knew about the RenFaire circuit. As the professor had expounded on each and every way in which he felt that Eric resembled half-drunk Fairegoers--at exhaustive length--Eric stood there silently. Every single word was calculated to get Eric to explode with temper. And that would have worked, once, but Eric was a far different person now than anyone that the professor had ever encountered before, at least within the hallowed halls of academe. He had waited, quietly and calmly, until the professor grew frustrated by Eric's lack of agitation, embarrassment, or any other identifiable emotion. When Levoisier finally ran out of insults, Eric had simply said, "The Review Committee and the Entrance Committee were satisfied with my performances, Professor, as are the rest of my teachers," and sat down again. And at that blessed moment, the change-of-class bell sounded, and he was free. Not as satisfying, perhaps, as telling the professor off would have been. Notnearly as satisfying as pointing out the professor's own deficiencies as both a musician and a teacher--many of which Eric had already heard for himself during faculty recitals. Yehudi Menuhin, the professor was not. Yahoo Menudo, maybe. But the point wasn't to get the better of the arrogant Frenchman. The point, in fact, was not to even bother with making a point. The point was to take what was good, leave what was bad, and pass through all the name-calling and innuendo like the wind through the grass. Be Teflon. That's the only way to handle guys like this. He's insecure, ignorant, and arrogant. Just let everything slide right off until he gets tired of not getting a rise out of me. By then he'll probably have gone far enough to expose himself as the trivial goon that he is. That might take the full eight-week summer session, but Eric didn't mind--while Levoisier was heckling him, he wasn't picking on the younger and more inexperienced students, who were not equipped to deal with him. The bastard had already reduced Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html Midori to silent tears before he'd turned on Eric. Well, let him wear himself out on me. Levoisier doesn't know half o...
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