Valdemar Anthology - [Tales of Valdemar 02] - Sun in Glory and Other Tales of Valdemar (41 page)

Then Kantor's four hooves thudded on solid turf, and he was surrounded by friends and fellow Heralds, and he realized that the basket he held did not smell of
home
after all. It smelled of childhood memories, yes, and of things he thought of as comforts that he had not enjoyed in a very long time. But not of
home
.

Home was here, in a land whose language had become his in dreams, among people who were dearer than blood-kin, who would gladly give him anything they had, including their lives.

As he would, for them.

And as for his God—well, Vkandis had shown more clearly than in words that a border was nothing more than an artificial boundary, and names were just as artificial. Vkandis had been here all along, cloaked in the hundred names for Deity that the Valdemarans had for Him; Alberich just hadn't known it in his heart until now.

‘Welcome back!” said Eldan, relieving him of the basket so that he could dismount. The relief on his face said all that he would not say aloud—that despite all of the assurances, the guarantees, the others had been wound as tight with worry as
he
had been in the Temple. “I hope it all went all right?”

“Better, much, than all right,” Alberich replied, the cadences of Valdemaran coming strangely—for just a moment—to his tongue. He looked around, and saw that all of the Council as well as Selenay and the Prince-Consort had surrounded Talia and Dirk to get
their
version of the story. His own friends, including Myste, surrounded
him.
“Many tales, have I to tell,” he continued. “And tell them I shall, when we settled are, with good wine in hand.”

“How are you feeling?” Myste asked, taking his hand and looking into his eyes—perhaps looking for a sign that he regretted leaving.

“Well. More than well.” He smiled down at her. “It is good to be home.”

THE HERALDS OF VALDEMAR
ARROWS OF THE QUEEN
ARROW'S FLIGHT
ARROW'S FALL

 

THE LAST HERALD-MAGE
MAGIC'S PAWN
MAGIC'S PROMISE
MAGIC'S PRICE

 

THE MAGE WINDS
WINDS OF FATE
WINDS OF CHANGE
WINDS OF FURY

 

THE MAGE STORMS
STORM WARNING
STORM RISING
STORM BREAKING

 

KEROWYN'S TALE
BY THE SWORD

 

VOWS AND HONOR
THE OATHBOUND
OATHBREAKERS
OATHBLOOD

 

BRIGHTLY BURNING
TAKE A THIEF
EXILE'S HONOR
EXILE'S VALOR

 

VALDEMAR ANTHOLOGIES
SWORD OF ICE
SUN IN GLORY

 

Written with
LARRY DIXON:

 

THE MAGE WARS
THE BLACK GRYPHON
THE WHITE GRYPHON
THE SILVER GRYPHON

 

DARIAN'S TALE
OWLFLIGHT
OWLSIGHT
OWLKNIGHT

 

OTHER NOVELS
JOUST
ALTA*

 

THE BLACK SWAN

 

THE ELEMENTAL MASTERS
THE SERPENT'S SHADOW
THE GATES OF SLEEP
PHOENIX AND ASHES*

 

Written with Marion Zimmer Bradley
REDISCOVERY

 

 

 

And don't miss:
THE VALDEMAR COMPANION
Edited by John Helfers and Denise Little
*Forthcoming in hardcover from DAW Books