（外文电子版资料）Lackey, Mercedes - Valdemar (1) - Heralds Of Valdemar 05 - Exiles Valor.doc

[Version History ] Exile’s Valor Mercedes Lackey Copyright ? 2003 by Mercedes R. Lackey. 1 Muted light, richly colored, poured gold and sapphire into the sparsely-furnished sitting room in Herald Alberich’s private quarters behind the training salle. Now that the colored window was installed, and the protective blanket taken off, it made that little room look entirely different. Alberich hardly recognized it. The four Journeymen glass workers who had helped their Master install the piece were gone now, leaving Alberich alone with the artist himself. Both of them gazed on the finished product in silence, while behind them a warm fire crackled on the hearth. It was a staggeringly beautiful piece of stained-glass work; in fact, Alberich thought, it would not be exaggerating to say it was a masterpiece. Not that he had expected less than a fine piece from the Master of the Glassworkers Guild, but this was over and above those expectations. The artisan responsible for its creation stepped forward and gave the top right-hand corner a final polish with a soft cloth, removing some smudge not visible to ordinary eyes. He flicked off an equally invisible dust mote as well, and stepped back to view the expanse of blues and golds with a critical eye. A man gone gray in his profession, he was tall, but not powerful, with wiry, knotty muscles rather than bulging ones. His expression was unreadable, a square-jawed, hook-nosed fellow whose face might have been stone rather than flesh. “It’ll do,” he grunted finally, his long face betraying nothing but a flicker of content. “A work of power and beauty, it is,” Alberich replied, unusual warmth of feeling in his voice. “It is exceeding my expectations, which were high already. Your skill is formidable, Master Cuelin.” “It’ll do,” the artisan repeated, but with just a touch more satisfaction in his own voice. “I’ll not praise myself, but it’ll do.” This was such understatement that Alberich shook his head. In so many ways, this was a p