Jack Campbell - The Hidden Masters of Marandur

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.