Masques (Sianim #1)(66)

"Yes, she's listening."

"Then, daughter of my brother's line, you must go with him to the ae'Magi's castle and take what is yours with you." Aralorn felt a hand on her cheek and then she heard the rush of air that signaled the shape shifter's exit.

Once they'd left her, she found that she wasn't as sleepy. She sat up and waved on the lights. "So now you are hearing voices. It is sad to say, Aralorn, but you have definitely lost whatever touch of sanity you once had. That bodes well for the corning adventure, though - only an insane person would go to the ae'Magi's castle three times. Once was enough, twice was too many, but my little voices tell me that I'm going to make it three." She shook her head in mock disgust. Knowing that she wasn't going to get any more sleep she got up, strapped on her knives and began working out. By the time she had warmed up she knew how she was going to arrange to accompany Wolf.

Before first light hit the mountainside, she snuck out on four feet, following her nose to the small cave Wolf occupied. She'd never been in it before and was distracted from her intended goal by the opportunity to see a different side of her mysterious magician. He kept a small magelight glowing to keep the room from the total darkness that was natural to the cave. Wolf himself was lying with his back to her on a cot against the far end of the room. Although it was spartan and immaculate, she could tell by the smell that Wolf had occupied it for a long time. Being a mouse had its advantages.

Fascinated, she wandered around, noticing that for all of its surface plainness there were touches that showed an appreciation of beauty in small things. A small knob of rock reaching up from the floor was polished to a high gloss. A large clear glass vessel was placed in a secure nook: the tiny fractures that spiderwebbed the glass glittered even in the dim light. Wolf moved restlessly on the bed. Aralorn waited to make sure that he was still sleeping before she crept into the pack that lay out of place near the entrance, trusting that its position signified that it was something that he was going to take with him.

She made a place for herself amongst the various items and sat very still. She didn't have to wait long. Although he had announced that he would leave at first light, she wasn't at all surprised that he was leaving well before that. It had been obvious that neither she nor Myr had been particularly happy with his decision to go and face the ae'Magi alone.

To her relief he swung the pack up and carried it with him when he left. She hadn't quite figured out what she would have done if he'd left it.

She felt the roar of dizziness that signaled the magical leap from one place to another. When the sensation passed she scrambled for a secure position where the shuffling contents, which seemed to consist of nothing but hard angular objects, were not as likely to squish her. Even in human form it seemed that Wolf's favorite gait was a ground-eating run.

Apparently he transferred to a point several miles from the castle, as he ran for a long time. Battered and bruised, Aralorn was beginning to wish that she'd never heard voices in the first place when he stopped.

When Wolf opened the pack, the first thing that he saw was a bedraggled grey mouse, who looked at him with reproachful eyes and said, '"Would it have hurt to pack something soft, like a shirt or something?"

He picked her up out of the bag and held her at eye level in the palm of his hand. He shook his head with reproach. "When one comes along without being invited, one cannot complain about the accommodations."

"Oh, dear," said the mouse, in a shocked voice. "I hope I am not intruding."

He took off the silver mask and sat cross-legged on the ground - careful not to knock her off her perch on the palm of his hand. "I don't suppose that you would go back, would you? I trust it has occurred to you that it would be very easy for the ae'Magi to use you against me."

She ran up his arm and poised for an instant on his shoulder. "Yes," she replied, cleaning her whiskers, "but it also occurred to me that my friend was going off alone to kill his father. Granted that he is not the typical father, but I don't think this is as easy for you as you'd like everyone to believe."

She hesitated for a minute before she continued. "I know how he is. How he can twist things until black seems white. His power is frightening, but it is not as dangerous as his ability to twist thoughts with words. I was only there for a short time; you were raised by him. It doesn't seem to me that exposure would make you immune to him; rather the opposite, I think. Perhaps having someone with you might make it easier."

Wolf was still. Aralorn abruptly jumped to the ground so she could see his face. She might as well have saved herself the trouble, because his visage revealed no more than it usually did.

"I couldn't have lived with myself if something happened to you and I was not there." She shrugged and twitched her whiskers. "Besides, why should you have all the fun? He will see only a mouse, if he looks. I will do nothing unless you are killed: then I will destroy your body so that he cannot work his will."

He wanted to send her away, not just for her safety, but because he didn't want her to know what he'd been before, even though he'd done his best to tell her himself. These feelings that she brought out in him were so painful and confusing. It was easier when he had felt nothing, no pain, no guilt. No desire. His father had taught him how to be that way. When Wolf had seen what he was becoming, it had terrorized him into escaping. The desire that he felt, to return to what he had been, left him with a touch of the same terror. Aralorn was right. He needed her to keep him from returning to his old ways. The knowledge that she was watching might be enough to strengthen him.