Mercedes Lackey - Beauty and the Werewolf

“But Lorraine is our ally!” Sebastian objected, waving his fork wildly in the air. It was a good thing it was empty.

“So is Waldenstein,” Eric reminded him. “And Waldenstein has a bigger army.”

Sebastian rubbed his temples. “This is not good. Is the Godmother involved?”

“How would I know that? You tell me, you’re the magician,” Eric retorted. Then added, “I’d be surprised if she wasn’t, though.”

Sebastian muttered under his breath; Bella couldn’t make out what he was saying. Then he spoke louder. “What we need is a nice thaw along the border to make things mushy,” he said. “That would buy us time. Waldenstein has a lot of heavy cavalry, and they can’t move in the mush.”

“Why don’t you arrange that?” Eric’s tone made it clear he was joking, but Sebastian answered seriously.

“I just might be able to. I’m already the most powerful magician in this part of the country, and with Bella to help, it would be easier. Not easy, magic never is, but easier.”

Eric looked astonished. Probably as astonished as Bella felt. Sebastian was more or less assuming she would help with a major Work! That was incredible! She could scarcely believe he was trusting her with any part of something this big so early in her studies. Anytime you mucked about with weather, it was major. So many things to go wrong…so many things you could unbalance…

“I’ll have to consult with the Godmother first, of course. But if it’s a good idea, she will probably get others to join the effort…” Sebastian pushed away from the table, and Bella caught a flicker of satisfaction on Eric’s face.

It surprised her. Why would Eric be satisfied that Sebastian was going to undertake some major magic? This sort of thing needed days, weeks to set up in advance, and if you added more magicians to the mix, it would get even more complicated and add more time.

And he wouldn’t have any time to do anything else. This was, after all, a priority.

This might be another reason why Father has been looking so worried, and not just about me. War is never good for trade.

“Maybe you had better go back to the city and keep me informed,” Sebastian continued. “You’ve got my note making you my representative — that will get you access to the Court, or at least, the King’s officials. Take a lot more pigeons with you.”

Eric nodded. “I can do that. I’ve got ears everywhere.” He grinned. “Lots of them are attached to pretty little heads, too. There is nothing like a chambermaid for hearing what’s really going on.”

“You’ll need money for bribes and tips.” Sebastian pulled a small square of paper out of one of the capacious pockets of his over-robe, and took out one of his enchanted pens that made their own ink from a special holder on the left side of his chest. He wrote out something in tiny, meticulous letters, then waved the paper in the air to dry it. “Here. I’m authorizing the Factor to release as much as you need from the surplus.”

Eric folded it and put the paper into his pocket. “That will help. Palace servants aren’t cheap, only negotiable.”

“And accurate information is worth whatever you have to pay for it.” Sebastian stood up. “I need to go talk to the Godmother.”

“I’ll go pack for a longer trip.” Eric glanced over at Bella, and grinned. “And Abel will be the new Gamekeeper for a while, eh?”

Something about the way he said that, gave her an odd feeling. She couldn’t quite place what it was. A vague unease, but why?

“Don’t see why not,” she replied. “Have you spotted my collection of snares? I left them hanging in the barn on their own pegs so you would see them.”

He grinned. “I have. Keep up the good work.”

And with that, he pushed away from the table, leaving Bella to finish her dinner alone.

When she had, she went straight up to the workroom. She found Sebastian sitting in front of a mirror just about big enough to allow someone to walk through it if they stooped. Until they had consulted the Servant together the other day, it had been covered by a drape. At the moment, it was black.

He looked up at the sound of her footstep. “It seems the Godmother is already in the capitol consulting with the King. The Mirror Servant said that he would give her my message about using a thaw to make it difficult for Waldenstein to move its army on the border.” Then he frowned. “It’s odd. The Servant didn’t act as if the situation was as urgent as Eric thought.”

“Maybe the Godmother already has a solution in place,” she suggested. “Eric couldn’t possibly have known that, if he left the city this morning.”

“I suppose that’s possible — ” Sebastian brooded for a moment. “Perhaps the Mirror Servant just doesn’t think the possibility of warfare is imminent. But Eric did seem impatient to get back and find out what was going on.”

Or maybe Eric just wants to get back to the city and have a good time spending all that money you gave him access to. She thought that, but she didn’t say it. In the first place, it was none of her business, and in the second, he had been confined here just as long as Sebastian had.

That letter making him Sebastian’s representative… He would get what he had wanted for a very long time now. The respect of the nobles. And if he somehow made himself useful to the King —

Having a wizard you can call on as fast as the pigeon flies might do that —

Then the King could do what no one else could. He could ennoble Eric himself. Grant him a title of his own. “Knight” might be too much to hope for, but he could certainly get “Esquire.”

Of course, if the country went to war, “Knight” was not out of the question, either, provided you were useful enough. Much higher titles than that had been granted to bastards and even commoners who proved their worth to the King in war.

“Well, this gives me a chance to tell you what the Servant told me,” she said, feeling the excitement all over again, as she carefully laid out what she’d been advised.

He listened intently, his gaze brightening.

“This…this is brilliant reasoning,” he said, finally. “It makes perfect sense. And I really won’t care if I’m a wolf three days out of the month, as long as I’m still under control of myself. Mind? It’ll be useful! Witches take years to learn to transform themselves and I already have this form! Oh, granted, all I have is a single form, but it’s a powerful one. One that can attack and defend itself, travel for miles without having to stop for a rest, hide just about anywhere — ”

“First, you have to make this whole altering-curse thing work, and you are the only one who can,” she cautioned. “The Servant said it wouldn’t be easy, and it probably won’t happen the first time you try.”

His chin firmed. “I’m not giving up, no matter how many times it fails. It will only take one success to turn this werewolf curse into a blessing! And then — I’ll be able to go anywhere!”

“You’re going to alter your curse?” Eric said from the doorway, his brows furrowing. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before.”

“Just because no one has, that doesn’t mean that no one can,” Sebastian replied. “This has the sanction of the Godmother herself. She thinks I can alter it so that even though I make the change, my own mind remains, instead of reverting to the beast.”

“Oh, really.” Eric’s brows furrowed more. “I see what you mean by being able to go anywhere, then. You’d be just another magician who can transform himself.”

“Only three nights a month,” Sebastian reminded him.

Eric laughed. It sounded a little forced. “Three nights when you can be the nastiest thing in the forest — and almost the nastiest out of it,” he replied. “You’ll scarcely need me, then.”