Masques (Sianim #1)(68)

She knew that they were near the place Wolf had spoken of, from the tension in the muscles she balanced on. A stray wind brought the smell of the moat to cut through the smell of green things growing. It almost disguised another scent that touched her nose.

"Wolf!" Aralorn said in an urgent whisper. "Uriah. Can you smell them?"

He stopped completely, his dark clothes helping him to blend in. His ritual cleansing had left no human scent to betray him, only the sharp/sweet scents of herbs. Even a Uriah couldn't track in the dark, so unless they had already been seen they were safe for a moment. Wolf scanned with other senses to find where the Uriah were. It wasn't hard. He was surprised that they hadn't run into one before. His father, it seemed, had been busy. There were a lot of the things around, waiting.

Once he had watched a spider at her web. Fascinated, he had tried to see what she thought about, waiting for her prey to become entangled in the airy threads. He got the same feeling from the Uriah. He wondered if he were the victim of this web.

He thought about turning back. If the ae'Magi were aware that he was here, it might be better to return another time. In the end he shrugged and continued on with more caution. The ae'Magi knew his son well enough to know that he would be coming sometime; a surprise appearance would make no difference either way.

Aralorn buried her face in the pathetic shield of Wolf's shirt, trying to block out the smell. For some reason the smell of them was worse than the sounds that they had made outside of the cave. Hearing Talor's voice, seeing his eyes on that grotesque mockery of a human body, had made her want to retch and cry at the same time; it still did. By the time she'd gained control, Wolf stopped for a second time and set her on the ground, motioning her to hide herself. He hesitated and then shifted into his, familiar lupine form before gliding into the clearing.

The ae'Magi sat motionless on the ground, his legs and arms positioned in the classic meditation form. A small fire danced just between Wolf and the magician. The newly risen moon caught the clear features of the Archmage ruthlessly, revealing the remarkable beauty therein. Character was etched in the slight laughter lines around his eyes, and the aquiline nose. His eyes opened, their color appearing black in the darkness, but no less extraordinary than in full light. His lips curved a welcoming smile. The warm tones vocalized the sentiment in the expression on the ae'Magi's face.

"My son," he said, "you have come home."

Chapter Eleven

If Wolf wanted to believe that smile, Aralorn could see no sign of it from where she sat hiding under the large leaves of a plant that happened to be growing near the ae'Magi. Wolf lay down and began cleaning the toes of his front feet with a long pink tongue.

The ae'Magi's face froze at the implied insult and then relaxed into a rueful expression. "It was always so with you. Say walk and you run, stop and you go. I should have expected no joyous reunion, but I had hoped. It warms my heart to see you again."

The wolf who was his son looked up and said, "We have no audience here. Do you take me for a fool? Should I return as the long-lost son to his loving father? Let me know when you are through making speeches so that we may talk."

Aralorn marveled at the perfect response the magician made. A hint of tragedy crossed his face, to be supplanted by a look of stoic cheerfulness. "Let us talk then, my son. Tell me why you are come if it be not out of love for your father." It hit her then that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out just what it was. "I pray you be seated." He indicated a spot not too near him with his left hand. It was just in character to politely offer Wolf a seat, making him look like an unruly child if he didn't take it. If he did take it, it would give the ae'Magi the upper hand to have had Wolf obey his first request. He'd reckoned without Wolf, who looked not at all uncomfortable and made no move to come closer to the ae'Magi.

"I do not play your games. I have come to stop you. Everywhere that I go, I see one of your filthy pets. You are annoying me and I will not put up with it." Wolf put no force behind his words; the gravelly tone carried threat enough.

The ae'Magi stood and stepped slightly to his left so that the fire no longer was a barrier between himself and the Wolf. "I am sorry if I have caused you bother. Had I had known that the shapeshifter woman was yours, I would never have taken her. She didn't tell me about you until we were done and there was nothing I could do about it. Did she tell you that she cried when I ..."

Wolf rose to his feet with a growl of rage and stalked toward the figure. Abruptly Aralorn realized what it was that bothered her about the ae'Magi. He cast no shadow from the light of the fire. She noticed something else; Wolf's path would take him right across the place that the ae'Magi would have had him sit at.

"Wolf, stop!" she yelled as loud as she could in mouseform, hoping that he'd heed her. "He has no shadow. It's an illusion."

Wolf stopped, muting the feral tones in his throat. Her voice broke into his unexpected rage, forcing him to reason. He did then what he should have done first. Sniffing the air, he smelled only the taint of moat and Uriah; no life - no human.

Ignoring the pseudo-ae'Magi, Aralorn the mouse scampered to the space that Wolf had been baited toward. "There's a circle drawn in rosemary and Uiarrnud root here."

"A containment spell of some sort," commented Wolf. "It's probably best if we don't trigger it." His voice was calm but his body was still stiff. He growled a word and the image of the ae'Magi froze in mid-sentence.