As We Go Along, Ch. 15

 "Glowing?" I asked, my voice squeaking the tiniest bit. I looked down and saw a rapidly fading white aura around me. "I didn't know I was doing that."

I looked back at him. Braydon, Vesperzo, and Carrington peered over his shoulder. Lovely, the whole troupe was here.

"Why were you sitting there with your eyes closed?" Vesperzo asked suspiciously.

"I was tired. Colin was taking a long time, so I took a nap," I said. "I don't know why I was glowing." At least the last part was true.

"I had to find all of them," Colin mumbled. "Sorry."

"Glowing is a side effect of telepathic communication," Vesperzo said.

Good to know, I thought. "That's weird."

"Certainly," Carrington said. "Who would have been communicating with you in your sleep?"

"I don't know," I said.

"Did you have any strange dreams, perhaps?" Carrington asked.

"I always have strange dreams, but I wasn't really asleep long enough to have any this time," I said. I'm not a bad liar--it's all about telling a plausible story with a straight face.

Braydon shoved through the knot of men and put a hand on my forehead. "No fever," he said.

"Why would I have a fever, exactly?" I asked. "I'd have to get a lot hotter than the human body can endure in order to start glowing."

Vesperzo snickered. Braydon glared at both of us. "High temperatures can occur alongside the glow, Vesperzo," he growled. "I'm not an idiot."

Carrington stepped between the two before Vesperzo could something smart-alecky that he would live to regret. "Gentlemen, a lady is present," he said.

"I don't really mind," I said. "Unless you're just using me as an excuse to make them stop arguing. In that case, carry on."

Braydon and Vesperzo looked accusingly at Carrington, who winked at me. Suddenly I liked Carrington a lot better.

"Miss Harper, if someone is communicating with your mind without your knowledge or permission, you could be in danger," Carrington said. "If you begin to glow again, call one of us and we will expel whoever is intruding on your mind."

"Okay," I said, trying to look freaked-out. "Why would someone be tampering with my mind?"

"Not for anything good," Braydon grumbled.

"Why don't I glow when the dryads whisper to me?" I asked.

"They're trees, not magic-users. It's a different kind of magic," Vesperzo said. "Dryads are far more powerful than human magic-users--or they were once."

I'd have to be careful when I communicated with Kevayss--if I began to glow whenever she spoke to me, I couldn't communicate at night. Direct sunlight would be the best place.

"Miss Harper, how is your head?" Carrington asked.

"About as good as it looks," I said. "I'm kind of tired."

Carrington exchanged worried glances at the others. "Perhaps you should rest a while longer."

"Okay," I said. Yes! I'd gotten rid of them! Now I could sneak out the window and find the library.

The men trailed out of the room, Colin last. He gave me a funny look as he did so. A look that said, You were fine before I left the room. He suspected something. I'd have to watch out for invisible people on my way to town--wherever that was.

I was starting to realize I had no idea what I was doing.