Maggie Furey - Aurian

“What have you done?” Aurian whispered. “How could you do it?”

Anvar could not repi^s. He felt oddly elsewhere, as though a fathomless space surrounded him in place of the close silken walls of the tent. A space into which he might so easily fall. The floor seemed to ripple and melt beneath him, and he seized the Mage’s hand in panic.

Aurian sat up, peering at him intently. “Close your eyes,” she said, her tones suddenly crisp and businesslike. “Concentrate on your body. You came back too quickly, and you aren’t quite with yourself. Feel your body, Anvar. Feel your heart beating, the solid ground beneath you, the heat of the tent on your skin ...” She leaned forward until her face was close to his own.

Anvar looked into the green depths of her eyes, saw the long, curling sweep of her lashes, the clean arch of her brows, the proud, chiseled sculpting of her high cheekbones and jutting nose. Gem dust glittered like a starfall in the slumbering fire of her hair, and he had a sudden, vivid memory of her standing on the Tower stairs on a long-ago Solstice morn, her head crowned with snowflake diamonds.

“Think of your body—not mine!” Aurian said tartly.

Anvar blushed. He had not considered that she might see his thoughts as clearly as he could see hers. “It’s all right, I feel better now.” He couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Good,” she snapped, “because you’ve some explaining to do.”

Just then Bohan entered, his eyes screwed up against the growing glare outside. He carried their food and water, his expression reproaching them for their forgetfulness.

“Bohan, what would we do without you?” Aurian said. The eunuch’s face was alight with pleasure as he left.

“Eat,” Aurian urged Anvar. “Traveling out of your body uses a lot of energy,”

Anvar found he was trembling, and took a hasty bite out of a strip of dried meat. “Is that what I did?”

Aurian sighed. “Yes, Anvar,” she said with labored patience. “That is what you did. Now in the name of all the Gods, will you please tell me what’s going on?”

At the reminder of his narrow escape from the Archmage, Anvar froze, “He—he couldn’t follow us, could he?”

“No.” Aurian spoke reassuringly. “I hit him too hard. It’ll take him a while to find his body again. I wish I could have finished him, but when we are out of our bodies, we’re on another level of reality. A Mage can be trapped there if his body is destroyed in his absence, but he can’t be killed. Anyway, forget Miathan. Let’s talk about you.”

In a voice that shook with emotion, Anvar told her of Ria’s death, which had resulted in the discovery of his powers. He went on to describe what Miathan had done to him, and ended with his escape from the kitchens and his meeting with Aurian at the Garrison.

The Mage was staring at him openmouthed. “That’s monstrous!” Aurian struck the floor with her fist. She looked utterly shaken. “How could Miathan have done such a thing! If only I’d known. If only you could have told me!”

Anvar shrugged. “I probably wouldn’t have. I didn’t trust you then. I thought you were like the others, and in league with Miathan. I know better now.” He swallowed hard.

“I’d like to know how you broke Miathan’s spell.” Aurian was suddenly all practicality again. “And also, what happened when you—went off like that!”

“I can answer the second part.” And he told her what he had done.

“You took your powers back?” Aurian looked thundecj struck. “No wonder Miathan was furious!” She snapped fingers. “Furious! Of course! Anvar, I’ve just worked out hoi you did it. In order for a spell like the one that Miathan laid you to work, you had to believe you would suffer if you said anything. Today you were so angry that it blinded you to the consequences—and your rage gave you the impetus you needed to break free!”

Anvar was appalled. “Do you mean,” he said slowly, “that I brought that suffering on myself all those years?”

“Of course not. Your acceptance was only part of the spell. If you had still been within Miathan’s vicinity, I doubt you would ever have won free. But he is far away, and his power must have been weakened by my attack on him. That and your anger gave you the opening, and your powers drew you back to them.” She fell silent, staring at him as though he were a stranger. “I still can’t believe it, Anvar. You, a Mage.”

“Does it make that much difference?” It came out sharper than he’d intended—and Anvar realized that he was afraid, mortally afraid, that she would react as Miathan had done, and see him as some kind of monster.

“No!” Aurian’s denial was swift and indignant—then she looked away. “Yes,” she sighed. “I—I can’t believe it, Anvar— you . . . His son . . .”

“Don’t ever say that!” Anvar snarled. “I’m not Miathan’s son, and never will be! My mother was one of the Mortals he despised. You know what he did to me—to you and Forral. Do you think I could ever be like him?”

Aurian glanced away from him, shamefaced. “Fool that I am!” she said at last. “You’re right—oh Gods, you’re right! You could never be capable of Miathan’s evil. You were as much a victim as Forral and I.” She held out her hand to him. Can you ever forgive me, Anvar?”

Weak with relief, Anvar took her proffered hand. “My own dear Lady! I don’t ever want to become a Mage like Miathan, but I’m not afraid to become a Mage like you. On the contrary, I hope I will. That is, if you’d teach me?”

“Me?” Her eyes sparkled with delight.

“Well, I must admit, I’m a bit stuck for choice . . .”

“Why, you-—” Aurian burst out indignantly—and Anvar grinned. Aurian broke into peals of mirth. “Wretch!” she jrowled. “I can see that this will take some getting used to. I fwould be proud to teach you, my friend, if you’re sure you really want me.”

“Of course I do. Of all the Magefolk, you’re the only one I’d ever choose.”

After that momentous day, their journey settled into a regular pattern. Anvar and Aurian continued to share a tent through the daylight hours with Shia, who guarded their privacy while the Mage began to teach Anvar how to use and control his power. Now that Aurian’s pregnancy was well into its fourth month, they knew their time was short. There would be a limit to the theory she could teach him when she could not demonstrate it herself. Their first task was determining where Anvar’s talents lay, and Aurian was amazed to discover that he too had powers that crossed the whole spectrum of magic, though his strengths and weaknesses-seemed to lie in different areas from her own. While her dominant talents lay in the domains of Fire and Earth—not surprising, with her parentage —Anvar found these harder to master. But he excelled at Air-magic, and Aurian suspected that when they had more water available for manipulation, he would be adept at Water-magic, too. Since these two domains naturally combined to produce Weather-magic, it seemed that Eliseth might eventually find herself with some competition. But that was for the future. Anvar was a raw beginner, and he had a long way to go.

Each day, through the daylight hours when the rest of the camp slept, Aurian would drill him mercilessly until they were both exhausted. During her time at the Garrison, Parric had taught the Mage thejjj^k of snatching valuable sleep whilst on horseback, and this too she taught to Anvar. They spent their nightly journeys riding in a light doze, secure in the knowledge that the horses would remain with their companions. It earned them a good deal of teasing from Yazour, Eliizar, and particularly Nereni, but they soon learned to play up to the ribald speculations about their activities during the rest periods. It was safer than letting out the secret of Anvar’s newfound powers.