Jack Campbell - The Hidden Masters of Marandur

“Because you were somewhere up here, and I had a growing fear that you were also in danger.” She waved toward the remains of the dragon. “I was right. In Kelsi, I paid a common to go to the Mage Guild Hall, letting him believe that I wanted to hire a young Mage whom I had heard of whose services didn’t cost as much as older Mages’. Because of what you’ve told me I knew the Mages in Kelsi would have known I was lying if I’d gone to them disguised as a common myself, but that common I hired thought I was sincere and so didn’t show any deceit when he talked to the Mages. Those Mages told the common that you weren’t available, that you had a contract in Alexdria. So I went there, where every man, woman and child was chattering about the secret raiding force which had recently left on a secret mission to secretly loot an Imperial town. And plenty of them were willing to talk about the young Mage who was accompanying that force.”

Mari made a face. “Do you have any idea how much junk a military column leaves in its wake? It’s like soldiers shed things as they walk. After picking up some medical supplies just in case a certain Mage had gotten himself hurt, despite his promise to me to take care of himself, I just followed the trail of trash at the best pace my horse could maintain until I heard gunshots ahead of me, and then I hustled faster, until I saw you facing that dragon. I dismounted, activated Alli’s weapon, took careful aim, and conducted a successful field test of the device.” Mari grinned. “I can’t wait to tell Alli how well it worked, even though I have no idea when I’ll see her again. Now, it’s your turn. Tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Alain took a moment to order his thoughts. “After we separated at Dorcastle, I took ship north as my Guild ordered. Since that time I have been moved from Guild Hall to Guild Hall, I suspect because many elders wished to evaluate me. I was closely watched everywhere.” He shrugged. “I did betray much more feeling than I should have, especially when I thought of you and of our time together.”

“Great.” Mari sighed. “That should be sweet, except it meant that you were ultimately marked for death.”

“Not right away,” Alain said. “I was given no assignments, though I kept asking for one. I…I had difficulty having no one to talk with, as we had. There is only one Mage I think I could talk with, though not like with you, but I do not even know where Asha is.”

“Asha.” Alain could not make out Mari’s expression. “You mentioned her a couple of times before.” Mari hesitated. “Does Asha have dark hair? And is she a little shorter than I am?”

Her voice revealed that those questions had some deeper meaning, but Alain could not think what that might be. “No. Asha’s hair is yellow. No. Golden. And she is about my height.”

“Asha is a tall blonde?” Mari asked, her tone of voice shifting very quickly.

“Yes. Despite her skills, she had trouble with the elders because of her appearance.”

“Her appearance?” Mari peered at Alain. “I thought Mages were taught not to care about their appearance.”

“Female Mages are taught to disregard any sense of personal appearance,” Alain agreed. “This was a problem for Asha. No matter what she did, she always looked very physically attractive.” After a long moment of silence, Alain looked closely at Mari. “Mari?”

“What?”

“You said nothing.”

“What would I have to say?” Mari asked in an outwardly casual voice that sounded oddly tense to Alain. “This Asha you keep talking about, this old friend of yours, is a tall, very attractive blonde. Why would I have anything to say about that?”

There had been times when Alain was an acolyte that elders posed questions to him, questions that seemed very simple yet had contained hidden meanings. Choosing the right answer could sometimes be extremely difficult. He wondered why Mari’s last statement reminded him of that. “Should I not speak of Asha?”

Mari made a gesture which seemed uncaring, but the jerkiness of it implied considerable stress. “I don’t care whether or not you talk about your tall, blonde, very attractive former girlfriend. Why should I care?”

“Asha…is a girl. We were never friends. Perhaps we could have been.” Alain thought he should drop it, but felt a need to explain. “The first day after the Mages took us from our families and brought us to the Guild Hall, we were very young, and we spoke together. We could have been friends, I think, in time. But we were taught not to speak, not to help. There could be no friends. I learned that Asha was a shadow. She learned not to see me as real. Anything that might lead us from wisdom caused punishment. We learned not to be anything, not to care.”

Mari held out one hand, touching his cheek. “I’m sorry. I forget the sort of things you went through. Sometimes I can be a real witch.”

Heartened, Alain nodded, even though he was not sure what had just been happening. “Asha was not one of those female Mages sent to me to see if I would act as expected in a young male.”

Her hand dropped abruptly, her eyes widened, and Mari’s face got tense again, but surely not from embarrassment this time. “Female Mages? Sent to you?” she asked in what was almost a whisper.

“Yes.” Alain nodded again. “To see if I would have physical relations with them. I showed no interest. This surely confirmed for the elders that I was somehow corrupted.”

Mari breathed in and out slowly a couple of times, her tension subsiding. “Just what does your Guild teach about men and women?” she asked.

“That physical relations are meaningless, only a matter of satisfying the demands of the body, while no emotional relations are permitted.”

“But you turned down all of these females sent to you?” Mari’s voice was outwardly calm, but once again he could sense the tension underneath.

“Yes.” Alain spread his hands helplessly. “I could not stop thinking of you, and when I did those others held no attraction.”

She finally smiled. “Good.”

“When I failed those tests, it must have been clear how far I had strayed from the path of wisdom,” Alain continued. He noticed Mari’s eyes narrowing again and hastily added more. “Wisdom as my elders see it, that is. A short time after the last such test, I received orders to go to Alexdria to accompany a military force. I understand now that the decision must already have been made that I must die, as my Guild had surely already put in motion the betrayal of the Alexdrian force and the large number of Mages to be arrayed against me.”

Mari exhaled slowly, then drew in a deep breath. “Why didn’t they just try to kill you? A knife in the back or something?”

“I am uncertain. I think my death may have been meant to send a message. Even a great Mage may be killed by a knife in the back at an unexpected moment, but if I died while on a routine contract, it could be blamed on my own failures as a Mage and my youth. It would be an object lesson on the dangers of succumbing to emotion, and a warning against granting Mage status to one as young as I. Then, too, I have heard discussions among the elders that the shadows of the Free Cities have been too bold of late and needed some rebuke to keep them under control. The total destruction of a force of that size would have had a strong impact.”

Her expression had been shifting to dismay, and now Mari lowered her face into both of her hands, her voice partly muffled by them. “If you had done what your Guild expected you to do with those women, it would have lessened your Guild’s suspicion of you. You didn’t have any commitment to me, Alain. You had promised me nothing. You didn’t even know whether or not you would ever see me again, since you say that vision in Dorcastle is only what might be some day. You would have had every right to do whatever you wanted with those women.”