Kay Hooper - The Wizard Of Seattle

Her smile was filled with a terrible irony. "Your host and kinsman, Tremayne. Varian is my father."

The male guards and female wizard Sentinels were so astonished when Roxanne walked off with a male wizard that they were drawn several steps away from the gate as they looked after the shocking pair. That was how Kerry was able to slip through the gate and out of the city unnoticed.

On her back she carried a small pack that matched Roxanne's, and she walked with a stick that, also like Roxanne's, was nearly as tall as she was. She managed not to giggle and give her presence away as she snuck out behind the guards and Sentinels, but she was so excited, she could hardly bear it, and nearly danced with delight. In all her eight years, she had never been allowed for enough from the city to lose sight of the gate, and then never alone.

She hadn't been sure she could sneak out when Roxanne left, since children were never allowed out alone, but Tremayne's appearance had provided the distraction that had made her escape possible. And it was an even better game to follow Roxanne when she was with that tall male wizard with the smiling eyes and kind voice. He would tell her more about the sea beyond this valley's mountains; she just knew he would.

And Roxanne wouldn't be too awful mad, surely. After all, Kerry could take care of herself. She had a good sense of direction, she knew how to conjure something simple to eat if she got hungry, she was real good at conjuring fresh water for drinking and mirrors from sand, in case one became necessary, and she had Chloe in her backpack for company.

She slipped into the woods slightly north of Sanctuary's walls and made sure the trees screened her from sight of anyone standing near the gate, then she turned west in the general direction the other two had taken and marched on happily, wondering where Roxanne was going.

The morning air was a bit chilly even after the sun came up, but to Serena it felt good. Still, after she'd followed the stream a few yards and found a level place on the mountainside with a wide, deep pool suitable for bathing, she murmured a quick spell to warm the water to near body temperature to make the bath more enjoyable.

She stepped out of her slippers, then unbuckled her loose belt and dropped it to the bank. She wrestled the robe up over her head and tossed it aside with a sigh of relief; even though Merlin had lined the garment in silk, it was still the bane of her existence-heavy, shapeless, and making every move she made look and feel awkward. The white shift was better, though not by much; it, too, was shapeless, but it was thin, light, and rather silky to the touch. In Sanctuary she'd gotten used to sleeping in it. She drew it up over her head and dropped the garment to the ground, baring her body completely to the chilly, damp morning air.

The net confining her hair was quickly and easily unfastened and discarded, and Serena shook out the long, fiery tresses, running her fingers through them and briefly massaging her scalp. Then she stepped down into the warm water, wading out slowly to the center of the pool. There the water was just deep enough so that when she sat on a flat rock she absently conjured for a seat, it covered her breasts and nearly her shoulders.

She tipped her head back and splashed water on her hair until it was thoroughly wet, then conjured a dollop of her favorite shampoo. Even as she lathered her hair, she couldn't help smiling as she remembered how puzzled Merlin had been when she had carefully memorized the chemical composition of the shampoo.

"Why do you want to conjure shampoo?" he'd asked.

"I don't. But you never know when I might," she had answered blithely.

He'd only shaken his head when she had also memorized the chemical compositions of various other things, including conditioner, her favorite soap, and selected perfumes and cosmetics, but Serena was definitely grateful now to vanity or whatever other motive had urged her to do so.

She luxuriated in her large bathtub, washing and conditioning her hair, then stood up to soap her body from head to toe. After that she just sat on her rock, her clean hair floating about her in the warm, fragrant water, while she moved her arms languidly through it and looked around at her surroundings.

Even up here it was ugly. The trees were taller than those down in the valley, but they were twisted and bore leaves of weird shapes and colors. There wasn't much grass, just a blue-green moss that was thick and not attractive, and most of the area was rock. The rising sun painted the stone with faint gleams of iridescent color as it touched bits of quartz and mica, but even that didn't improve them very much.

The raw look of the stone reminded her that it probably was new, forced up to the surface as Atlantis twitched and heaved in its death throes. She wondered idly if one of the almost-daily earthquakes would open up a fissure to drain her nice bathtub, and grimaced at the thought. It was a necessary but unwelcome reminder of how unstable this place was. All of a sudden she wanted to go back to their camp and Merlin. But before she could get up, she heard a twig snap nearby, and turned her head slowly as the hair on the back of her neck quivered a warning.

"Well, well, well," Varian said, hands on his hips and feet braced wide as he grinned across the water at her. "Did Merlin roll you around in the dirt instead of providing a decent bed, bitch?"

"My name," she said evenly, "is Serena." The strongest reaction she had to this wizard was disgust and anger at being called a bitch.

He bowed slightly, mockingly, and responded in a hatefully soothing voice. "Serena, then. Shall I join you? It's always nice to have someone to wash your back."

"No, thank you. I would as soon share my bath with a herd of muddy cattle, six pigs, three disturbed skunks, and a few poisonous snakes."

His eyebrows went up, and he laughed. "Such an image of depraved and debauched desires, my sweet."

Serena felt her mouth twist in loathing. Naturally he would put a sexual connotation to whatever she said. Merlin had been right; Varian was the most amazingly libidinous creature. A bit fiercely she said, "What I meant is that even filthy, stinking, and poisonous animals would be preferable to you. Would you mind leaving now?"

He was smiling. "I'm going to enjoy taming you, Serena, no matter how long it takes. But you needn't fear-I never abuse my bitches. No, you'll be willing, and when you scream out in pleasure as I ride you, you'll be grateful that I decided to mark you as mine."

Silently Serena lifted one hand and pointed to the small, scarlet heart at the base of her throat, which she was constantly aware of.

Varian shrugged dismissively. "Do you think that's going to stop me?" He made a slight and not very graceful gesture with one hand.

The gurgle of moving water became louder, and Serena looked over to find that the narrow place where her pool spilled over this small basin and continued down the mountainside had been opened up, not by an earthquake but by Varian; the water level was sinking rapidly.

For a moment she considered going on with the charade of powerlessness, but Varian's arrogance made her so mad that all she thought about was taking him down a peg or two. So he thought she was virtually helpless, unable to withstand his powers or his supposed skills as a stud? So he thought she was just going to sit here meekly while the draining water left her naked and exposed to his greedy eyes?

Like hell she would.

Her discarded clothing lay on the bank some feet from Varian, but Serena ignored the garments-she was sick of them anyway. Instead she decided it was time to change her appearance.

Of course, being Serena and being mad as hell, she brought about her transformation with a bit of theatrical flair.