The Hidden Masters of Marandur

Chapter Eight

She walked on, step after step, for how long she could never say afterwards. Her leg muscles burned until she thought she couldn’t stand it another second, and then they burned even worse. Her feet felt like inert sacks of sand, her lungs were seared with each breath of icy air she took, and her face seemed to be getting pricked with innumerable needles as the wind lashed it through the covering. The weight of her pack became unendurable, but she couldn’t shed it with her arm tied to Alain’s, so she hunched forward a little more and kept enduring the burden.

There came a moment in the endlessness of her torment when the wind slackened, as if they had come into the lee of some kind of shelter. Part of Mari noticed, but she couldn’t rouse the rest of herself to do anything but keep walking. Then her boots clumped on wooden boards instead of snow drifts. Then there was a light and she finally stumbled to a halt with Alain beside her, raising arms that seemed barely able to function to lift the covering from her head. Blobs of lantern light. Alain raising one hand to pound on a door until the door swung open and more light spilled out. Vague shapes of people.

Without the need to keep planting one foot in front of the other Mari found herself swaying, every ounce of her either numb or screaming with pain and no strength anywhere. Her legs gave way and she started falling, staring blankly at the doorway of light. Alain could not support her and fell with her. Hands grabbed at her arms and then there was nothing but a deep dark where she could feel nothing.

Mari woke surrounded by darkness and felt a moment’s stab of fear, wondering if her last memories had been a hallucination and she had actually collapsed in the open and now lay buried beneath the merciless snow. Then Mari realized she could hear the sound of the storm still raging, but muffled. She blinked into the darkness, her weary eyes having trouble focusing, until she could make out walls around her which shook occasionally as a particularly strong gust hit. She turned her head, making out the dim outlines of a very small room. A little window in one wall showed nothing but the backs of storm shutters closed tight, small drifts of snow nonetheless penetrating to the inside. Mari was surrounded by a softness and a warmth that even her numb, aching body could feel. I’m in a bed. We’re safe. We?

Where was Alain? Another bolt of fear went through Mari and she managed to prop herself up on one elbow, scanning the room. She almost missed him, then spotted Alain on the floor. He was rolled in a blanket, lying next to the bed, his face slack with exhaustion. Mari stared until she could be sure he was breathing, then collapsed back onto the bed and passed out again.

The next time she awoke the sounds of the blizzard had diminished a bit. A trace of weak light could be seen outlining the storm shutters over the little window. Mari lay still for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how someone could hurt this badly and still be alive. At least she was lying on a mattress, covered by a thick comforter. Then her conscience came to sit on her chest and stare accusingly at her. I’m in a soft, warm bed. The guy who saved my life is lying on the floor.

She pushed herself up again, seeing he hadn’t moved from his place next to the bed. “Alain.” Her voice came out in the barest whisper. She swallowed and tried again. “Alain.”

The Mage stirred, blinking around with bleary eyes, then looked up at her. Too exhausted to maintain emotional control, his cracked lips bent in a small, slow smile. “Mari.”

“Get in this bed.”

“What?” Alain blinked some more.

“Get up here. I won’t have you sleeping on the floor while I’m comfortable.”

“But, Mari…your bed…you said…not too close…”

“Listen, you silly Mage, we’re both fully clothed except for our boots, I hurt all over and can barely move, and the last thing on my mind is any form of exercise. Now get up here.”

“But…you are sure?”

“Alain, if you don’t get up here right now I’m getting out of bed and lying on the floor, too!”

That threat stirred him into motion. Groaning, Alain came to his hands and knees, then managed to pull himself up into the bed. He tried to lie right on the edge, as far from Mari as possible, but the bed was so narrow she had no trouble reaching out, grabbing him, and pulling him close, flipping the comforter over him as well as her. “Neither of us is a threat to the other’s virtue right now, Mage.” His body, tense at first, slowly relaxed in her arms. It felt good, even through the pain in her body. Holding Alain felt very good. “Why did I take so long to do this?” she murmured. “Are you all right, Alain? I mean, I’m sure you hurt as bad as I do, but are you all right?”

His voice sounded strained. “I will live. I will stay with you.” His arm tightened around her for a moment.

“Don’t get any ideas,” she warned drowsily, already feeling worn out from her burst of effort. “We still have to wait. But I know I’m safe with you beside me here. Once I can move again, I’m going to kiss you. I don’t care how bad my lips hurt. You’re going to get kissed like you’ve never been kissed before.”

“You are the only one who has ever kissed me.”

“Let’s keep it that way.” She sighed, feeling a joy at his presence through the pain in her body. “You saved my life. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

“Do you think I would have been able to keep going without you?” he asked.

Instead of answering, Mari smiled and snuggled her head against his shoulder, then surrendered again to her exhaustion.

A noise startled Mari awake. Alain was no longer beside her. She saw a middle-aged woman standing near the narrow door to the small room, watching Mari with a smile. Mari looked around frantically. “Where’s—?”

“Your young man?” the woman asked. “Getting a warm soak. He wanted to wait for you to awaken, but I told him the water wouldn’t be getting any warmer and he needed it. From the way he looks, I believe he’s still in shock.”

Mari tried to gather her thoughts. The way he looks? The lack of emotions showing! I have to cover for Alain. “He…he’s usually pretty impassive. That’s just the way he was…brought up.”

“Well, he smiled a little at you, so I’m sure he’s not a Mage.” The woman took a step closer. “I’m Jana. And I’m a healer. I took refuge in this inn, fortunately for you.” The healer shook her head in wonderment. “Maybe it’s because you’re young. You came out of that in better shape than you had any right to. You and your man.”

“My man? Inn?” Mari rubbed her forehead with both hands, trying to collect scattered thoughts. “The storm. We reached an inn?”

“That’s right. I can’t imagine how.” The healer sat down on the edge of the bed and patted Mari’s knee. “Even a Mage would have trouble finding a building in that blizzard.” The healer leaned closer and whispered. “We’ve got a few of them sheltering here, too. Staying well away from everyone else, thank the stars.” Then she straightened and spoke in a normal volume again. “But as I was saying, you and your man came out very well. A miracle, seems to me. How long had you been walking?”

Mari stared blankly at the wall. “I have no idea.”

“Huh. Strange how things work.” The healer leaned back slightly, gazing into the distance. “I’ve seen it before. People get caught on the plains. It’s the footloose ones, the ones without anyone to live for but themselves, that seem to die. Folks with someone close they love, they somehow keep alive more often than the others. In some way that gives them some extra strength when they need it.” She gave Mari an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I’ve been assuming because I found you holding each other in the bed. You and the lad, you’re traveling together like that?”

Mari nodded. Like that. We don’t have to remain at arm’s length anymore. I can trust myself with him. At least when I’m totally exhausted. “Yes. He’s all right, too, you said?”

“He’s in fine shape for a boy who almost died in a blizzard not much more than a day ago,” the healer remarked. “You slept a good long while. How’d you come to get caught out there? The skies warned of it.”

Still weary as she was, Mari couldn’t think of a good lie. “We’re not from around here.”

“I knew that from the accent, girl. Where did you come from?”

“Palandur.” That’s what the forged Imperial identification papers said, anyway.

“Palandur! City dwellers! And you survived a blizzard on the plains near Umburan! That’s one for the records.” The healer spotted Mari’s pack. “Can I get you some fresh clothing or anything else?” She reached for the pack.

“No!” Inside the pack, right on top, was her Mechanic’s jacket. Deeper inside were tools and her pistol. If anyone here saw any of that, it would be very hard to explain. However, arousing suspicions wouldn’t help either. For that reason, Mari instantly regretted her strong reaction. “I’m sorry.”

But the healer just paused and then pulled her hand back. “Personal things in there?” the healer suggested with a small smile. “Two young ones out in bad weather, far from home, like they’re running from something.” Mari tensed as the healer continued. “What’s the problem, dear? His parents or yours?”

Mari stared blankly at the healer for a moment. Then she got it. She thinks Alain and I are eloping. That’s as good a cover story as any. Better than most. Considering that our Guilds are the closest things we’ve both got to parents now, it’s even true in a way. “Both.”

“Ah, the worst of both worlds. Are you eighteen?”

“Yes,” Mari answered for herself, then remembered Alain’s words alongside the stream. “Both of us are eighteen.”

The healer shook her head. “Then you’re both legal and old enough they shouldn’t be trying to dictate to you. But I know sometimes it still happens. I won’t pry for details.” She sighed heavily. “Folks regret that sort of thing, you know, with time. The best advice I can give you is to offer them another chance some day. You and your man out there. Especially if a grandchild comes. Most people come around then.”

Grandchild? Mari hoped her reaction hadn’t shown. A grandchild to the mother who abandoned me without a second thought? Mari barely suppressed a shudder of apprehension and tried to keep her voice calm. “Thanks. I’ll remember that advice.”

“Good.” The healer’s face turned very serious. “Then I’ll give you one more piece. Or maybe just a warning. Since you came in during the storm, you don’t know who all’s sheltering here besides you. A girl your age should know there’s Mechanics staying here.”

Once again, Mari had to fight to suppress her reaction. “Mechanics?”

“I can tell you’re worried, and well you should be. A girl like you should be wary. Just like Mages, Mechanics have been known not to take no for an answer.”

Mari had seen that, intervening when she could, never liking it, never allowing it to go too far in her presence. But she had heard stories, and now, without her jacket, she was as vulnerable as any common girl and she liked it even less. Her initial reaction had been fear of discovery, but following that came a greater sense of outrage.

Her eyes must have betrayed her anger, because the healer shook her head. “We have to endure it. You know that. Maybe it’s different in Palandur with the emperor’s eyes on them, but up here the Mechanics often do as they please.”

“Mechanics don’t care what the emperor thinks,” Mari said in a low voice.

“That wouldn’t surprise me a bit, but if you know them that well, you know enough to keep out of their sight. The women, too. Sometimes they want a personal servant for a while who they don’t have to pay, or they just feel like humiliating us.”

“I know,” Mari said again, her eyes averted from the healer.

“Some bad memories, there?” the healer asked gently. “Sorry I brought them up.”

“That’s all right. Thank you. I’ll exercise care.” What were the Mechanics here like? Like the decent ones, or like the ones who enjoyed treating the commons as if they were slaves?

What would this healer think if she knew that Mari was a Mechanic? She would be afraid of Mari. She might well hate Mari. And both feelings would be justified by the healer’s experience with other Mechanics. The knowledge made Mari feel slightly ill again.

The healer fussed over Mari a little while longer, then left with advice that Mari and her man get some food in the inn’s dining hall as soon as they felt up to it. Mari sat in the small room, staring at the door.

After a while the door opened slowly and Alain stuck his head in, then managed another brief, tiny smile when he saw her awake. “I did not know if you were still asleep.” He had put on fresh clothes, which clashed with the weariness still apparent on his face. Alain shut the door, then he just stood there, watching her with a very un-Magelike amount of anxiousness in his expression, looking somehow younger then usual.

Mari smiled back. “You’ve been smiling more. I like it. How do you feel?”

“I have been better, but have taken no serious injury and suffer no illness. You?”

“I think I’ll be all right.” She patted the bed. “Come over here and sit down. I want you close.”

“Still?” The tiny smile flickered across his face again, and Alain came to sit beside her, his eyes on hers. “I wondered if you would regret taking me into your bed.”

“Uh, Alain, that’s not exactly what I did.” He started to say something. “Yes, I know you slept beside me, and it felt wonderful to hold you. But we didn’t sleep together.”

Alain seemed baffled. “Yes, we did.”

Mari sighed. “No, we didn’t. We slept next to each other, which means we slept. ‘Sleeping together’ means the same thing as saying that a woman has taken a man into her bed, and both of those mean a lot more than sleeping has been going on.”

Alain nodded, his face serious. “I see. Physical relations. Then if someone asks, I should say we sleep next to each other but not together?”

Mari was sure her startlement showed. “If anyone asks, you tell them that it’s none of their business! What you and I do in bed, or don’t do in bed, is our private affair.”

“Private? Is this one of the social skills things?”

Are you sure you want to get in a very serious relationship with a Mage, Mari? “Mages don’t understand privacy? The idea that some stuff is personal and doesn’t have to be shared with other people?”

Alain appeared to be having trouble with the concept. “There are no other people. That is what Mages are taught. I have told you that. Why would a Mage speak to shadows of anything but what was absolutely necessary to say?”

“Oh. That makes sense, I guess. Don’t Mages have things they keep from other Mages?”

“Secrets.” Alain nodded. “We are not supposed to keep secrets from elders, but elders can order Mages not to tell things to other Mages.” His eyes lit with understanding. “Like the secrets I have kept about you. This is privacy?”

“Yes,” Mari said. “Things you shouldn’t tell other people.”

“I will remember,” Alain said.

For some reason, that made her giggle. “You know, you really are perfect. Except for a few things I can fix. Strong enough to keep me alive no matter what is trying to kill me, but willing to listen to me. What did I do to deserve you? And that reminds me. I owe you something.”

She leaned forward and kissed him, wincing as her badly chapped lips met his, but didn’t pull away. Her arms went around him, holding him tightly. The kiss lasted, and she felt his hands leaving her back and drifting downward. “Alain…”

The flash of disappointment was human enough that Mari was glad to see it. “No more. I understand.”

“I don’t expect you to like it, my love.” She laughed. “Just respect it. Don’t push me. I don’t handle it well when people push me.”

Alain’s hand tentatively stroked her hair. He was holding her clumsily, unused to this amount of human contact and probably rendered more awkward by his feelings. “You are difficult. I already know that. I accept it, because it is part of you.”

Mari smiled. “You might feel differently after living with it for another few months.”

“I do not believe so. I would…what were the words you used? I would give you my promise now, if you would like that.”

Mari went rigid. Her eyes locked on the fabric of Alain’s shirt and her breathing speeding up. “You just proposed to me. Do you know that you just proposed to me?”

“Is that wrong? The blizzard made it clear in my mind. I wish to spend all my days with you. Just as the vision in Dorcastle showed.”

She couldn’t help smiling again, despite the anxiousness she felt. “Alain, I can’t give you my answer yet. We need to know each other better. If we make promises now, we might regret it later. There’s things about me that you don’t know yet, that you may not like or may not be able to live with. I don’t want you to feel bound to me by your promise, especially when I don’t know what we’ll face in the future.”

“You are worried about a Mage feeling bound by a promise?”

She made a fist and rapped his shoulder. “You’re not a Mage in that way. You’re Alain. And yes, I don’t want you ever to stay with me because you feel bound to me. I want you with me, but I want you there because you want to be there.”

“That will never change,” Alain said.

“Never say never, Alain. Things can change very quickly sometimes.” Mari pushed aside the sudden feeling of sadness as thoughts intruded of the family she had once had. “Not that I ever want them to change for us, except for the better. But we’re facing a…very difficult situation right now. We ought to concentrate on staying alive, and on getting the job done.”

He nodded. “A task of great difficulty lies ahead. You are still weary and I have been keeping you from the bath the healer has ordered. Once you are better, we can go in search of the dining hall together.”

“Yeah.” The time in the bath would probably help her get her head together again, too. Mari straightened and stood cautiously, finding she was wobbly on her feet but could stand. “The healer told you about the Mechanics and Mages here?”

“Yes.” Alain looked downward and to the side, as if he could see through the intervening floor and walls to wherever the Mages were inside the inn. “I already knew those Mages were here, for they are making no attempt to hide themselves. It is taking some effort for me to remain hidden from them, but I believe I am succeeding.”

“I’d forgotten you said Mages could sense other Mages. Why didn’t they find you when you were passed out?”

“Sleeping Mages send out few signs of their presence,” Alain explained. “The elders of the Mage Guild debate the reasons, but we are taught how to maintain some shield of our presence without thinking of it, so perhaps that shield remains in place when we sleep. If the Mages are making no attempt to search for other Mages, they would be unlikely to sense me. My practice at hiding myself also seems to have improved my ability to conceal my presence at all times. I have been working at that.”

“That’s my Mage,” Mari said with a grin, then noticed an almost-expression cross Alain’s face. “What?”

“When you called me your Mage. I like when you say that.”

Mari’s grin widened. “Good. I’ll do that more often. Speaking of Mages, though, how did you find this inn during the blizzard? Is that another Mage skill?”

Alain shook his head. “To find a building? A place? No. It is possible I sensed the presence of the other Mages here and unconsciously moved toward them. But I was so tired I do not see how I could have done that. It may have just been destiny,” Alain continued. “Our fates may have led us here, just as they once led each of us to the same caravan.”

“Mages don’t believe in anything, but they believe in destiny?” Mari asked, knowing her tones sounded sarcastic again. “I’m sorry, but I’m the one controlling my fate, not some mysterious force called destiny.”

“I do not disagree that our decisions matter,” Alain said. “Mages speak of the road we choose to walk. I believe that we are given choices, places where decisions may be made to walk one road or another. We do not know what provides these choices, but we may call it destiny to give a name to that which is unknowable. Destiny offers the choices, but we choose the road.”

Mari frowned in thought. “I hadn’t thought about it in those terms. You mean like when we first met while the caravan was being attacked, you and I both had choices of whether to stick together or strike off on our own. Both of our futures would have been a lot different if we’d separated then. But why would destiny care about whether or not you and I lived, or ended up together?”

Alain shook his head. “Whether or not destiny cares—and if it cares, why it cares—is a question beyond the wisdom of anyone to answer for certain.”

“I’m an engineer, Alain. I believe every problem has a solution, every question has an answer. I guess we’ll learn our futures when we get to them.”

His eyes were hooded with concern even she could spot. “The task before you is very dangerous.”

“I already know that,” Mari said, thinking of the Imperial security forces that would need to be avoided, the dangers from her own Guild, and whatever the Mage Guild might try. In their own ways, each of them wanted to be in control of things and tell everyone else what to do. “Not in detail, of course, but that’s probably just as well at the moment.”

“If you wish to speak of it,” Alain began.

“There’s not much sense in that, Alain,” Mari replied. “I need to learn more before I know what to do. All you and I could talk about now is…our fears of what might happen.”

“This is so,” Alain agreed. “Mari, I must tell you, your calmness in the face of what you must do is the equal of the greatest Mage.”

“Not a compliment I ever thought to receive!” Mari pulled some fresh clothing out of her pack. “Don’t let anybody else look in my pack while I’m gone.”

Alain nodded this time, his face reflecting concentration. “Privacy.”

“Right. That and the fact that any common seeing the jacket and tools would know instantly that I’m a Mechanic.”

The soak proved amazingly refreshing. Jana the healer had ordered some more hot water brought in to refresh the small tub, and Mari just sat in it for a long time letting physical and emotional stresses drain off and out of her. Finally, she managed to drag herself out of the bath. After that, the chill gusts of air that found their way through the inn’s walls made it easy to dry off quickly and get dressed fast even though her muscles still protested mightily.

As she reached the door to their room, Alain opened it. “I sensed you coming.”

“Yeah. How did you—? The thread?”

“Yes. It is very strong now.”

That thread thing was a bit unsettling, but she would have to get used to it. Mari knelt by her pack, digging inside it again until she surfaced with her pistol and holster. “Can we be in the same dining hall with any Mages here without them knowing you’re a Mage?”

“As long as I maintain my control and do not cast any spells.”

“There’s no chance any of them will recognize you?” Mari asked.

Alain gave her a questioning look. “Why would a Mage look at the face of a common?”

“Good point.” Mari stood up, adjusting the holster and pulling on her common coat to hide it. “Hopefully the Mechanics at the inn will act the same way. We’ve got to eat.” Her stomach felt like a vast pit now. “When did we eat last? At least a day ago.”

The dining hall wasn’t too hard to find. They just had to follow the scent of food and the roar of conversation. Every table was filled, but Mari’s eyes went to two in particular. At the far side of the hall, a small group of Mages sat, anonymous in their robes with the hoods up, silent and ignoring everyone else. At a table as far away from the Mages as possible sat a larger group of Mechanics, talking loudly and dominating their half of the hall with their noisy arrogance just as the Mages dominated the other half with their mysterious menace.

Mari stood there a moment, uncertain what to do. As a Mechanic, she had grown used to commons quickly making room for her or simply joining a table with other Mechanics. But then a common woman at one of the tables closer to the Mechanics than to the Mages gestured to Mari and shoved her husband to one side on the bench to make room for Mari and Alain. “Thank you,” Mari said, letting Alain take the outside where he had less contact with the commons and less chance to betray that he was a Mage.

The husband nodded briefly at her as he swallowed a bite. “I helped carry you in when you got here,” he grunted. “Thought you were done for.”

“Thank you,” Mari repeated.

The woman shook her head. “What were you two doing out there on the plains?”

“Hiking,” Mari explained. “We’re students from Palandur.”

“Palandur!” The woman seemed awed. “Have you seen the emperor?”

“At a distance,” Mari admitted.

Before she could say more, a frazzled-looking server dumped a bowl of stew in front of her and another in front of Alain. “No more bread,” the server said before leaving as quickly as she had come.

Mari couldn’t help glancing at the Mechanics’ table, where fresh loaves were steaming. The woman spotted it and nodded ruefully. “They’re having to save what bread is left for the rulers of all creation over there.”

“Hope they choke on it,” her husband grunted.

“Hush! One of them might hear.”

The woman kept talking, something about the emperor and how grand Palandur must be, while Mari started eating as fast as she could ladle in the stew. It looked as though the inn, overrun with guests seeking shelter from the blizzard, had simply been dumping anything available into the cauldrons of stew to keep them topped off. Mari didn’t mind, though, since she was eating so fast she was barely tasting it.

Most of the way through her second bowl, Alain leaned close to whisper in her ear. “One of the Mechanics keeps taking quick looks toward you.”

Mari’s spoon froze in motion for a moment, then she managed to swallow and lower the spoon. “Man or woman?”

“It is a male Mechanic.”

“Can I take a look without him seeing me looking back at him?”

“It would be difficult, since his glances are growing longer.” Alain paused. “His companions have noticed. They are laughing and speaking loudly to him.”

Mari didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. It sounded like the Mechanic had been watching her because he thought she was attractive, and his tablemates were now giving him a hard time. That was better than him recognizing her, but it could still be a problem.

The woman had noticed now, too. “Girl, one of them black jackets is looking at you. He’s starting to get up. You’d best leave quick. You know what they’re capable of doing.”

“Thanks.” Feeling shame at how the commons felt toward Mechanics mixed with worry now, Mari bolted to her feet, hauling Alain with her and walking quickly out of the dining hall. The roar of conversation had lowered considerably as the commons watched the little drama playing out, so Mari could hear the Mechanic’s boots coming on fast behind her, hear the Mechanic’s fellows urging him on with shouts of encouragement. She got through the door, shoving Alain ahead of her, then felt a hand on her shoulder as Mari reached for the pistol under her coat.

“Hold on,” the Mechanic said.

Mari stopped moving as she heard the voice. Can it really be him? She spun around and looked at the Mechanic. “Calu. It’s been a long time.”