The Hidden Masters of Marandur

Chapter Four

A different kind of sound came from behind Alain, farther up the canyon, like the boom of the Mechanic weapons but louder and followed by a sustained rumble which grew rapidly in volume. A streak of smoke flew past over Alain’s head, soaring straight into the center of the dragon’s chest where its armor was strongest, ending in a flash of fire, a bigger gout of smoke and another crash of thunder.

Time seemed to pause then, Alain and the Alexdrian soldiers gawking at the smoke trail, the dragon staring down at its chest, the echoes of the explosion fading down the canyon. The smoke blew to reveal a crater in the dragon’s chest, not so much wide as deep, as if a huge, invisible lance had driven through the armored scales and well into the flesh inside.

The dragon raised its head slowly, glaring at Alain. Its remaining good arm began to rise, then the enormous spell beast started to lean forward. It kept leaning until suddenly it was falling, its whole length going limp. The body hit so hard the ground shook again, dislodging rocks which clattered down from the canyon walls. The massive head landed less than a lance length from Alain. The gleaming eyes were still fixed on him, filled with the need to kill him, but as Alain watched, the light in the eyes faded and went dark.

Alain just stayed there, still on his knees, trying to comprehend what had happened. Slowly he became aware that the Alexdrians were cheering. Racing up the canyon, streaming past the dead body of the dragon, they gathered around him to shout his praises as a hero until the canyon rang with them.

General Flyn was beside him, offering a respectful hand as Alain struggled to his feet. “Sir Mage, I would not have believed it if I had not seen it. We’ve never cheered a Mage before, but any other Mage would have run and left us to our fates and no other could have done what you did here. You’re twice the man I am, and I’ll flatten anyone who says otherwise!”

Alain shook his head, still bewildered. “I did not do it.”

“What? What’s that?”

“I did not kill it.” Alain pointed at the huge body sprawled almost literally at his feet. “I do not know what did.” He stared at the commander.

The Alexdrian cheers began faltering up-canyon, and Alain heard the sound of iron-shod hooves clattering their way. He stared as the ranks of the Alexdrians parted, making way for a single rider. The one they had seen earlier coming their way. A rider in the dark jacket of a member of the Mechanics Guild. A rider whose raven-black hair was cut short at her shoulders. Alain’s heart leaped. It cannot be.

But he felt the thread once again, the thing which had been hovering on the edge of his awareness as he faced the dragon. Insubstantial but now intense, it led straight to the Mechanic.

Mari rode up to Alain and dismounted a bit clumsily, her horse standing with the lowered head and sweat-soaked sides of a mount which has been ridden hard. Mari wore her usual clothing, a light shirt under the dark Mechanics jacket and a pair of trousers of tough material tucked into leather boots. She carried a large tube of some sort, almost as long as she was tall and with an opening in the end so big that Alain could easily have put his fist inside. A mist of smoke still drifted from that opening. A second tube was strapped to the saddle of her horse.

She walked a few more steps, the soldiers giving way before her. Finally stopping directly in front of Alain, Mari dropped the tube on the ground where it clattered like an empty container. Mari took a deep breath, then nodded to him. “Mage Alain.”

Still dazed, Alain nodded in return. “Master Mechanic Mari.”

Mari glanced at the Alexdrian soldiers standing around with wide eyes, all of them shocked at seeing a Mechanic and a Mage speak to each other. “A little room,” she asked, and even though her tone wasn’t that of an order, the soldiers hastily backed away several lance-lengths.

Looking at Alain again, Mari smiled and toed the empty tube. “After what happened in Dorcastle, I thought we might run into another dragon. I figured I ought to be ready for one this time.”

“It is fortunate for me that you were.”

“Are you hurt?” A rush of feeling came through in those words, even though Mari kept her expression controlled.

Alain spread his arms. “I am somewhat battered and bruised, as well as exhausted, but I avoided other injury.”

“You promised me that you’d stay safe,” she accused him. “Typical Mage. Your word isn’t worth much.”

Alain had to pause a moment to think of a reply, realizing that Mari was using what she called her sarcasm. “I told you that I could not control where my Guild sent me, or what my contracts might be.”

She waved away his words. “Excuses.” Then she took another deep breath. “I’m so glad I got here in time. Blazes, it’s good to see you again. We need to talk.”

“We are talking.”

Mari shook her head in exasperation. “Alone, you literal Mage. We need to talk alone, just you and me.” She gestured to the crowd of Alexdrian soldiers still staring at them.

General Flyn, though apparently as stunned as his troops, had now recovered and stepped forward, his face determined. “Lady Mechanic, you are here alone?”

In response, Mari turned and looked back the way she had come. “Looks like it. Are you expecting anyone else?”

The general frowned, puzzled by her attitude. “No, Lady, but we were not expecting you, either. Mechanics do not normally travel alone.”

Mari shrugged. “These are not normal circumstances. Not for me, anyway. I came here after this Mage and would appreciate being left alone with him.”

Flyn stood his ground. “Lady Mechanic, this Mage is attached to my command. He has given his all to defend us and cannot protect himself now, but I will not allow someone hostile to his interests to make a prisoner of him or harm him. Not even a member of your Guild can order me to do that, not when a Mage is involved.”

Mari quirked an eyebrow at the Alexdrian commander. “A common is willing to fight to protect a Mage from a Mechanic?”

Flyn’s frown grew deeper. “I agree that is unusual, Lady Mechanic. But this is an unusual Mage.”

“I figured that out long before you did,” Mari replied. “You do realize that if I was hostile to this Mage’s interests, instead of killing that dragon I could’ve just let it turn him into a bloody smear on the rocks. You don’t have to defend him from me.”

“I hope that is true, but with all due respect, Lady Mechanic, the hostility between your Guilds is longstanding. We know this Mage, but we don’t know you. We owe this Mage our respect, for he has saved us by his efforts.”

“And I haven’t?” Mari asked. “How many dragons does a girl have to slay to get some respect around here?”

Flyn considered that, but he still sounded a bit reluctant when he answered Mari. “I apologize for appearing to disparage your actions, Lady. Killing a dragon is a feat which few ever achieve, especially a monster such as that one.”

Alain hoped his voice stayed properly emotionless despite his tiredness and elation. “That is the second dragon this Mechanic has slain, General.”

“You’ve slain two?” Flyn eyed Mari, visibly impressed now, but also clearly baffled. “I hope not to meet you on the field of battle at any future time, Lady Mechanic, unless we are fighting on the same side.”

“The first dragon was smaller,” Mari said, mollified.

“If I may say so, Lady, it is strange to hear a member of your Guild speaking of dragons. Whether or not the first was smaller, I’ve never met any dragon I wished to encounter again.” Flyn waved toward the carcass. “You have my thanks for the slaying of this, your second dragon.” He looked at Alain and stepped closer, speaking quietly. “Nonetheless, Sir Mage, we owe you much for your service to us, and I must be certain that you willingly choose to be with this Mechanic, strange though that seems to me.”

Alain nodded to Flyn and spoke equally quietly. “I am safe in the company of this Mechanic. This Mechanic is my friend.”

The general stared back at Alain in disbelief, then at Mari, then back at Alain. “This is your friend? The one you spoke of?”

“Yes.”

“A Mechanic?”

“Yes.”

“I never thought to see the day. I had wondered how to describe these events to others, but now I see no need for it. No one will believe a word.” Flyn stepped back again, trying to regain his composure. “Then I will no longer attempt to defend you from her, Sir Mage. But, Lady Mechanic, there is one thing I yet need to know. You have done a great deed here, and done us a great service. Now I would know what that deed will cost us.”

“Cost you?” Mari lowered her head, sighing loud enough for Alain to hear. “Of course, because I am a Mechanic, and Mechanics never do a deed for free, instead charging the maximum that they can get.”

“You said this, Lady, not me.”

“Then here is my price, General.” Mari looked up again, meeting his eyes. “You and your soldiers are to forget they ever saw me, no matter who asks.”

Flyn regarded her for a long moment. “No matter who? Including members of your own Guild, Lady?”

“Especially including members of my own Guild.”

Another long pause, then Flyn nodded. “That part of the price we can pay. And?”

“Oh, you want to pay more?” Mari asked. “My horse. The poor beast has been ridden hard for a few days and needs proper treatment. I’m neither experienced nor good at handling horses, so if someone else would take care of her now it would be to the horse’s benefit and mine.”

Flyn nodded again. “And?”

Mari gestured. “And a private campsite, fire and food for myself and the Mage.”

“The Mage has already earned that for himself, Lady. We can do that for you as well, but I must tell you that after our reversal and retreat our provisions are neither extensive nor of great quality.”

Alain saw Mari run her eyes across the beat-up soldiers. Alain wondered if the commons could see the sympathy in those eyes. “As long as I get the equivalent of what your own soldiers receive I’ll be content, general.”

“Lady? Perhaps I was not clear as to how limited our means are at the moment-”

“I will not eat better than men and women who have been through what these soldiers obviously have recently,” Mari snapped. “I will have the same as them, General, nothing more.”

Flyn regarded Mari once more with outright astonishment. “Very well. And?”

Mari narrowed her eyes at Flynn. “And, General, you will immediately cease to ask me ‘and?’. If you say that word one more time, my price will go up dramatically.”

The general gazed at her, then nodded. “Very well, Lady Mechanic. I accept your price, ridiculously small though it is. I do have one other question.”

“Which is?” Mari asked.

“Am I allowed to use that prohibited word in other contexts?”

Mari kept her hard look for a moment longer, then grinned at him. “Certainly, General. Use the word ‘and’ in as many other contexts as you desire. It appears to be your favorite word and I’d hate to deny you the use of it.”

Flyn barked out laughter. “A most unusual Mechanic and a most unusual Mage, and both are here with me this day. Sir Mage, if you, and the Lady Mechanic can but wait a short time, we will attend to your camp as soon as possible.”

Mari shook her head. “Ensure that your injured are looked to first, General. There are some medical supplies in my saddlebags. Not a lot, but all I could carry. Since this Mage has no need of them, you may take what you require.”

“Medical supplies?” Flyn paused, looking at her.

“Don’t say it,” Mari added before he could speak. “There’s no charge.”

Flyn watched her again before replying. “Lady Mechanic, you have my thanks, and I say that this time not because I must but because you have truly earned it.” General Flyn looked east, toward the Empire. “I sent some scouts back down the pass a little ways, but they haven’t signaled any warnings. No Imperial forces are following close upon that monster.”

Alain nodded. “The dragon could too easily have turned upon them. Any Imperials continuing their pursuit into these mountains would be far behind to ensure their own safety. More likely the Imperials left the destruction of the rest of this force to the dragon.”

“A good estimate, Sir Mage, and a reasonable assumption by the Imperials if not for the arrival of a Lady Mechanic whose name I shall honor.” He bowed toward Mari. “I’ll post sentries down the pass and we’ll camp here.” His gaze went to his battered force, and Flyn’s smile vanished. “We paid a high price and have little to show for it but our lives. I need to send someone back to check on that forlorn hope we left behind as well, in case the dragon passed them by and left some alive. The medical supplies we have been so graciously given might serve to save even those hurt as badly as they are. By your leave, Sir Mage and Lady Mechanic, I must see to my soldiers.” This time Flyn saluted them, then walked off, calling out orders.

As the general and his surviving officers directed their remaining soldiers in setting up a camp, everyone moving away from Mari and Alain, she turned to Alain and smiled broadly. “I’ve missed you so much. Did you miss me?”

“Every moment we were apart,” Alain replied. “But how did you come to be here? It is not that I am not very…very…”

“Happy?”

“Is that the right word for what I feel?”

“I hope it is,” Mari said.

“Then that is what I feel,” Alain assured her. “But I thought we were agreed that it was not safe for us to be together. You are in danger when you are with me.”

“I was in danger when we were apart, Alain.” She looked at the nearby, immense carcass of the dragon. “And you were supposed to stay away from me to keep yourself safe, and that obviously didn’t work either. I’ll explain it all later. You’re obviously very tired, and I don’t want to talk when some passing common might overhear.” She bit her lip, gazing at him. “I really want to hug you, but that’ll have to wait, too. Seeing a Mage and a Mechanic embrace might be too much for these soldiers to handle.”

After everything else, after having her appear, her last words were almost too much. Feelings nearly overwhelmed Alain. “You wish to embrace? You still feel as you did in Dorcastle?”

“I never stopped feeling it, not for instant, my dear Mage.” Mari grinned. “I’ll whisper it so no common will hear. I love you.”

He stared at her, trying not to smile here where the commons could see. “You said it again. I had feared you had changed your mind, that you must have changed your mind.”

“I don’t say ‘I love you’ lightly, Sir Mage,” Mari said, looking severe for a moment but then smiling again. “I meant it then and I mean it now. I’m hoping you still feel the same way.” Even though Mari was trying to appear casual, Alain could see her gaze on him turn anxious.

Alain started to attempt to control his voice, but then decided not to try. “Yes. I have carried that feeling with me since we parted.”

“You even sound a bit like you mean it. Have you been practicing?”

“I have. In private. It is hard to show emotion when I spent so many years trying to avoid that, but I think I am learning how to do it again. But, Mari, the danger—”

“Later, Alain.” Her smile faded, and he saw on her the stress of weeks of worry. “There’s a lot to cover.” She beckoned toward the dead dragon. “Things may be even worse than I thought, though.” She bent to pick up the empty tube, then hurled it off to one side, where it clattered down among the rocks. “Single-shot. That one’s useless now. I can handle one more dragon if it shows up.”

“I do not sense another dragon near.” Alain could not stop watching Mari, the way her hair rippled in the breeze, her eyes, her lips—

“Hello?” Mari said. “Alain? Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Seeing you, I am better than I ever thought I could be,” Alain told her, and for some reason those words brought another smile from Master Mechanic Mari. “You are well?”

She shrugged. “Mostly. My thighs and my butt are killing me thanks to the last few days riding hard to try to catch up with you. I am not looking forward to sitting down again. But other than that, I’m still in one piece so far.” Mari gave him a fond look. “You are so tired. Sit down. Relax. I’ll keep an eye on things for a while.”

“I will not sit while you stand,” Alain objected.

“A Mage who’s a gentleman! I told you that I’m not interested in sitting at the moment. It may be days before I want to sit down again. Now relax, my Mage.”

My Mage. Alain liked the sound of that from her. He sat down reluctantly, feeling the weariness of the retreat and the fighting and the spells overcoming him. Alain leaned his back against a boulder as Mari stood close by like a sentry, watching him, watching the Alexdrian soldiers at work, and occasionally gazing eastward. He saw her draw the Mechanic weapon she called a pistol from under her jacket, checking it in clear view of the soldiers about, then returning it to hiding, but keeping her jacket loosely open so the weapon was easily reachable.

At some point Alain fell asleep from tiredness, waking when it was nearing sunset, Mari still stood nearby on guard, arms crossed, looking down as she heard him move. “The camp is almost ready. I think we’ll have a fire and something to eat before long.”

Alain tried to struggle to his feet, finding it unexpectedly hard. Her hand reached out and he took it without thinking, accepting her help and feeling a great sense of comfort in her touch. When he had first met her, Alain had not even remembered what “help” meant, had forgotten the very idea of offering aid to another. She had countered his long and bitter years as an acolyte, countless harsh lessons. He still could not understand how Mari had done it. “All is well?” he asked her.

“Yep.” She gave him a smile, as if sensing his feelings. “Though my feet are starting to hurt now,” Mari added, “and my butt still hurts, too, so it looks like I can’t win. We’ve gotten quite a few looks from commons.” Mari seemed amused by that. “What do you suppose they’re thinking right now?”

“I cannot imagine.” Alain let out a sigh of his own before he could block it. “I was taught the thoughts of others did not matter, so I am not accustomed to considering what their thoughts might be.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t change, Alain.”

“I have already changed a great deal.” Alain tried another smile.

She reached out both hands, using her forefingers to push the corners of Alain’s lips upward. “Like that. And I disagree, Sir Mage. You were always like this inside. You’re just letting it show now.” Mari blew out a long breath, looking upward at the peaks around the pass, her expression pensive. “No. You haven’t changed. But other things have to change.”

“You will make that happen. You will stop the storm.”

Mari gave him a questioning frown. “That’s the same sort of thing you said before we parted in Dorcastle. What . . . We’ll talk about it later. Here comes your General.”

Flyn strode up and bowed. “We have a site prepared for you, Lady Mechanic, in that direction, and one for you, Sir Mage, over there.”

Mari’s frown deepened. “Two locations? I asked for one.”

The general just watched her for a long moment. “One camp. For the two of you?”

“Is that so hard to understand?” Mari demanded.

“Yes, Lady, it is. I am sorry I misunderstood, but surely you realize why I assumed that you and the Mage wished to sleep apart rather than together.” A moment later the general flushed as he realized the other possible meaning to what he had said.

Mari’s face darkened as well, but she kept her voice level. “We’re not exactly sleeping together, General, not that it would be anyone’s business but ours if we were.”

“My pardon, Lady Mechanic, I did not mean to imply otherwise.”

Mari eyed him for a long moment. “Do you respect me, General?”

Flyn nodded. “Yes, Lady. Anyone who has slain two dragons has earned my respect, even apart from the other services you have rendered us. I truly did not mean to imply anything. But I admit that I don’t know how to handle you.”

“I tend to do that to people.”

“If your question is, do I still respect you because you don’t act like every other Mechanic that I’ve encountered, then the answer is still yes. Indeed, I respect you the more because you treat me with courtesy.”

“Thank you, General.” Mari frowned toward the main camp. “Do you have any broken Mechanic equipment?”

The general took a moment to think. “We have a couple of Mechanic rifles which no longer work. They are all that remain to us.“

“Bring them to me once we’re settled. I’ll see if I can fix them with what I have.”

Flyn nodded again, studying her. “Am I still prohibited from asking that question?”

Mari smiled. “Yes. But I’ll answer it anyway. No charge. This Mage’s life is worth a great deal to me, and it seems I owe that life to you.”

Instead of replying, Flyn smiled, shook his head, and left.

“I believe that you have rendered the general speechless,” Alain observed.

“I’m sure it’s just temporary,” Mari said. “I can use the distraction of working, Alain, and it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to fix something. Do you get a little restless if you haven’t worked spells for a while?”

Alain thought about that. “I do not know. If so, I have always tried to repress it, like every other feeling.”

Mari looked at him, her face somber, then away. “I never know what to say when you say things like that.”

“You have said the things which showed me that another road existed, a road that I could follow,” Alain said.

One corner of her mouth rose in a lopsided smile. “I guess we’re even. You certainly helped put me on a road I never expected to follow.”

A short time later Flyn returned to escort them both to a small depression sheltered by boulders on two sides, a fire already blazing in the center. Two soldiers with him tentatively offered Mari the Mechanic weapons they were holding, but she took them without comment, pursing her lips as she examined each quickly. “This one has a broken lever action. I can’t do anything about that. You need a replacement part. But the other one just has a jam in the spent cartridge ejector. That’s easy to fix.”

Alain watched as Mari knelt, placing the Mechanic weapon on the ground and pulling out some of the metal devices she called tools. Within moments she had removed pieces from the apparently solid weapon and was prying at something, eventually giving a sigh of satisfaction and holding up a bright object. By the time soldiers returned with some food, Mari had the weapon back in one piece. “I’ll trade you,” she suggested dryly as one soldier offered her a tin cup filled with thin stew.

“Thank you, Lady Mechanic. Is there anything else?” The soldier took the weapon, once again uncertain.

“No,” she assured him. “Thanks for the food.”

The soldier stared in amazement at receiving courtesy from a Mechanic, then bowed toward her. He left with an occasional glance back at Mari, who was drinking the hot stew slowly.

“Mari,” Alain said, “is it wise to act in such a way with commons?”

“I want to see how they react, Alain.” Mari looked at him over her cup. “One of the things my Guild taught was that the commons had to fear Mechanics in order to respect us. I’m trying to see what happens if I treat commons differently.”

“I know you must add commons to your allies, but such behavior may cause them to suspect who you are.”

She lowered her brow at him. “And just who am I?”

“You said you did not wish to speak of it,” Alain reminded her.

“Our relationship is no one’s business but our own, Alain. People are going to gossip regardless, but I don’t think any commons will guess what is really going on between us.” She settled into a sitting position, wincing. “Oh, my poor rear end. I hope you appreciate what I went through to get here.”

Alain watched her anxiously. “You have hurt your…”

“My butt. Yeah.” She returned his gaze, puzzled. “I’ll survive. Why are you blushing?”

“Blushing?” His face felt warm. What did that mean?

“Yes.“ Mari laughed. “Does talking about my butt embarrass you? I’m sorry. It’s nothing special.”

“I…” His face felt even warmer. “I think it is.”

“You do, huh? Where have you been all my life?”

This time he gave her a mystified look. “I spent almost all of it inside a Mage Guild Hall. The one in Ihris. You know this.”

Mari laughed again. He had forgotten how good it felt to hear her laughter. “That’s called a rhetorical question, Alain. That means you’re not really expected to offer a literal answer.”

“Is it like your sarcasm?”

“It can be.” She leaned back against the nearest rock. “Where were we before we started talking about my butt? Oh, yeah. I’ve spent a lot of time recently among commons while hiding from my Guild. They’re not stupid. Well, most of them aren’t stupid. It made me realize that just about everything I know about commons is stuff I was told by my Guild superiors. How much of it is true? I want to find out for myself. Especially considering the things we speculated about in Dorcastle, that the world is headed fast for a big smash. I wanted a better grasp of what commons were thinking.”

She gave him a sidelong look. “It’s like learning about Mages. Some of what I was taught is true. I wouldn’t trust another Mage than you. But a lot of what I was taught was false, so I’m experimenting and gathering more information. I suppose studying something that way doesn’t make any sense to you, though, because of your Mage training.”

Alain tried his own stew as he thought about her words. After being trained to pay no attention to the food he ate, Alain had begun trying to taste it again, one more effect of having spent time with Mari. In this case, though, the best that could be said of the meager rations were that they would stave off hunger. “It does make some sense, because it is acceptable for a Mage to learn about aspects of the world illusion. To manipulate the illusion, a Mage must be able to see it. That is how I justified my own time studying history and the world: to be better able to grasp what I had to ignore.”

“I’ve been around a Mage too long. That actually sounded reasonable.”

Alain gazed at her. “Your idea is an interesting one. You help me see things I never see on my own.”

Her smile shone white in the growing dark. “I love it when you say things like that, because I know you really mean them. You never learned the silly games most men learn growing up.” Dusk was falling rapidly as the sun sank farther behind the mountains. Mari sat looking at him, light and shadow rippling across her face as the fire flickered to one side of them. “Alain,” she asked in a suddenly tense voice, “can anybody see us right now?”

He looked about carefully, seeing his view blocked by the boulders around them. “I do not think so, as long as we are sitting.”

“Good. Put down your cup. Over there a bit.”

Alain did so, wondering why he had to put down the cup and why it had to be a little distance from him.

Mari sat down her own cup a long arm’s reach distance from herself, then lunged forward, wrapping her arms about him as her lips sought his.

Alain had never imagined anything like this. No wonder the elders warned both male and female acolytes against kissing. All wisdom would crumble in the face of such a feeling.

Her hands ran down his back, her body pressed against him, and as the kiss went on and on he heard Mari gasp and then sigh softly. His own hands caressed her, touching lightly, then pulling her hard to him.

But then Mari finally broke the kiss, pushing backward to separate them, breathing heavily. “I’ve been wanting to do that so bad. But that’s enough. We have to stop.”

“But—”

“No more, Alain.”

He would have argued further, but then looked into her eyes, startled by what he saw there. Passion, he guessed, but also something he easily recognized. “You fear me?”

Perhaps his dismay could be heard in his voice, because Mari quickly shook her head. “No! I’m not afraid of you.”

“I could see it,” Alain said, his voice low. “Fear was in your eyes. I do not want to ever cause you to feel fear. But I am a Mage, and I know how others fear Mages.”

Mari cringed, then reached out to grasp his hand. “No! That’s not it. I don’t look at you and see a Mage. Not that way, anyway. What you saw wasn’t fear of you. I swear it. I was afraid of…myself.”

“Yourself?”

“Yes.” She sat back, running her free hand through hair tousled by their encounter. “I’ve really missed you, and…well, there’s been some physical longing there, too. Wanting to hold you and…all that. But when I finally had you in my arms and we were kissing and touching and…let’s not go there again right now. Anyway, it surprised me how much I wanted you. That’s all.”

Alain could see some deception in her, but did not want to accuse Mari of lying. “I did not see surprise,” he finally said.

She flinched again, looking away. “All right. It scared me. It scared me how badly I wanted you. It was so hard to stop myself, and it would have been so easy to just surrender to it. To surrender myself to you. I’ve never felt that before. There have been plenty of men who have tried to pressure me or charm me into bed, but I never had any trouble resisting that kind of thing. Not until just now, when all my defenses and my smarts dissolved into a hot flame. And it scared me, even though I still want you. But we can’t, Alain. We’re not promised yet. And…and I can’t afford to take any risk of getting pregnant.”

His mind fixed on one word. “Pregnant?”

“Yes. Not…not when I’m running for my life.”

There was something else. He could tell that Mari was not saying everything. There was at least one other reason left unspoken. But even if Alain had been inclined to press her, he could not because of the strange paralysis that seemed to have gripped him.

“Alain?” Mari peered at him, worried. “What’s the matter?”

His voice began to work again, but only haltingly. “You…children…me…”

“I don’t—” She looked away, then back at him. “Maybe. I don’t know. If there was anyone, it would be— Look, I’m not ready to talk about a family. All right?“

“A…family?” Where for long years a narrow, solitary path had loomed before him, now a wide plain seemed to stretch, uncounted possibilities awaiting depending on the steps he chose. Alain blinked at Mari, amazed by the change her words had wrought. “It does not happen to Mages. We do not have family. Only the Guild. But now…could this happen? With…with you?”

Mari blinked too, then wiped away tears. “Maybe. I really can’t talk about it now. We shouldn’t even be thinking about it. I mean, how long have we known each other? And we’re in danger of our lives and fighting dragons and stuff and…have you known any other girls, Alain?”

He nodded, trying to keep up with Mari as she jumped from topic to topic. “Acolytes.”

“I don’t mean, did you know them,” Mari said, sounding awkward. “I mean, have you known them.”

“I do not understand.”

“Never mind. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know how many or anything else. Understand? You say things that other people wouldn’t say. Don’t tell me that.”

Alain stared at her. “Do not tell you what?”

“Forget it.” Mari ran both of her hands through her hair this time. “Can we talk about something else now?”

He felt confused again. “But you—”

“Something else, Alain. Get your mind off my body.”

“My mind was not there before,” he objected.

She laughed. “Oh, sure. I saw how you were looking at me. I know a look of male lust when I see one aimed in my direction, even though yours is the first look like that I’ve welcomed.”

“Perhaps you are right,” Alain admitted.

Mari grinned this time, her mood shift startling him. “I always wanted a boyfriend who would tell me that I was right as often as you do.”

Alain tried to think straight again. “What is it we must speak of?”

Her smile went away. Mari settled back against the boulder behind her again, looking outward. “I wasn’t sure I’d find you and be able to tell you again that I loved you before they caught me. It’s weird, but I spent more time worrying about not ever being able to say ‘I love you’ to you again than I did worrying about dying.”

“Dying?”

“Yeah. My Guild must know. They’re trying to kill me.”