Piers Anthony - Unicorn Point

Tania eyed him, playing the role of one who had not heard of this before. “Thy father, who opposes us. Be this good news or bad, to thee?”

“I joined this side because I lost the wager with mine other self. Fain would I have served my father instead, but I be true to my word. I knew naught o’ the powers o’ the children, and thought them slow. This be good news for me to find the children otherwise, bad news to find them lost.”

“But what news, to find them foiling the change in the balance o’ power?” Tania asked pointedly.

“I serve thy side loyally, but my heart be with the other. That thou hast always known.”

“Then must thou make thy most diligent effort to recover the boy for us,” she concluded.

“Aye,” he agreed grimly.

“Then shall we work together, and thine other self too, when he returns. Thy service to us was excellent, when thou didst have access to the Book o’ Magic; it must be the same, in this quest for thy nephew.”

“I shall look for my nephew. But I see no need to work with thee. Make thine own search.”

“Nay, that be inefficient. There be the whole o’ Phaze to search; two will cover it faster, with no duplication. Also, there be danger, in some locales; the one must guard the other.”

Bane grimaced. “Perhaps I made not my sentiment plain: I wish not to work with thee.”

At least he was straightforward! “Nay, mayhap it was I who was unplain: I mean to work with thee, and have the backing o’ the others.”

“Then thou dost have no objection if I verify.”

“None,” she said evenly. Already she was feeling the thrill of fencing him in.

He sang something, and disappeared. Tania was left alone with Fleta. “And thee, mare—willst join the search?”

“Aye,” Fleta said through her teeth.

“Why so negative? Methought thou wouldst welcome aid to recover thy foal.”

“Thine interest be more in Bane than in Flach!”

“And what if that be so? Be Bane thy man?”

“Bane be Agape’s man! We need not thee to interfere!”

“Methinks Bane be his own man. An he chooses one or t’other, that be his business.”

Fleta looked ready to skewer something with her horn, for all that she lacked most of her horn in this form. But then Bane reappeared, abating what might have become an interesting confrontation. “We search together,” he said. “But thou willst ne’er have satisfaction o’ it.”

“That remains to be seen, methinks,” Tania replied, satisfied. The Adepts were supporting her, as she had required. They checked the human settlements first. These were scattered all across Phaze; most were small, hidden hamlets whose inhabitants eked out their existence by hunting and farming. Bane conjured an accurate map, and they decided to cross out each village after checking it. The first one was typical. Bane conjured the three of them to the village of Gnomore, in the Gnome Demesnes. The name was not intended to be punnish; it related to the region, and indicated that the human villagers acknowledged the supremacy of the gnomes in this vicinity. In return, the gnomes tolerated the human presence, and even traded with the villagers.

They arrived in the center square, and caused an immediate stir. Word went to the village patriarch, who hobbled up to greet them. “Be ye Adept?” he asked nervously. “We have no quarrel with Adepts!”

“We be partial Adepts,” Bane explained. “I be Bane, son o’ the Adept Stile o’ the Blue Demesnes; this be Tania, sister o’ the Tan Adept; and this be Fleta, mate o’ the Rovot Adept. We come to question thee about new arrivals at thy village.”

“We take sides not between Adepts!” the patriarch protested. “We be far from the controversy, and minded so to remain!”

“An we be satisfied, we shall depart, leaving thy village so,” Bane said. “Please summon all thy members, that we may question them.”

“But they be widely scattered!” the patriarch protested. “Some in the fields, some doing service for the gnomes, some away trading with other villages—“

Tania spoke. “Man, look at me,” she said. The man looked at her. Her eyes widened slightly; that was all. But the patriarch was transfixed by her Evil Eye. “Do it,” she said, looking away.

As in a daze, the patriarch hobbled off, calling to others. Soon a younger man approached. “We are sending out word; all our members will gather. But some are far-flung; it will be two days before all are present.”

“Then prepare a residence for us for that interim,” Tania said curtly. “And bring good food.”

The natives scurried to oblige. The party had known it would be thus; only full Adepts could do things promptly. This was why this search promised to be extremely tedious. There were about a hundred villages scattered across Phaze, and if each took two days to check, over half a year would be expended in this single aspect of the effort. She was sure it would prove futile; the boy had shown himself to be too smart to risk using human form. But she was prepared to endure it, because it meant half a year of close association with Bane or Mach.

They shared a single residence, on the direct understanding that this would protect against possible treachery: one of them would always be on guard. There was also the tacit under standing that Tania was out to subvert Bane, and Fleta was out to prevent this, protecting the interest of her opposite number in Proton. Therefore the three were closely bound, though not exactly by friendship. It was also to the interests of Bane and Fleta to accomplish their mission as quickly as possible—and that was part of Tania’s strategy. She wanted them to want to find the boy, and they were surely the ones to whom the boy was most likely to come. Thus her approach to Bane was artful, and she made no effort to conceal it from the mare.

Indeed, as dusk came, she played it for what it was worth. “Do thou take the first watch, animal, and we human folk will sleep.” Before the unicorn, who was maintaining human form throughout, could retort, she turned to Bane. “And since it be cool, thou and I may share a blanket, and the warmth o’ our bodies. That be most comfortable.” And before he could protest, she pulled off her tan cloak, showing her body naked beneath it.

“I will make a spell for warmth,” Bane said. “With thy permission for the magic to be practiced on thee.”

“It really be not necessary to expend thine precious enchantments, when we have a natural alternative,” she said. “Willst not simply strip and join me?”

“Nay; I will warm the full chamber, so that all be comfortable.” And he singsonged, and it was so: the chill was gone.

“As thou dost wish,” she said, lying down on one of the pallets, and spreading her cloak over her body as a covering. “But methinks it be a shameful waste.” She had accomplished what she sought: to give him a good, solid, lingering view of her excellent body. He might affect not to notice, but she knew better than that; the image would remain in his mind long after the original was gone. The were-folk (and she regarded the unicorns as such) always had good human forms because they crafted them that way, but genuine human beings had to settle for what they started with. She was blessed with a trim form and ample secondary endowments, and understood the effect these had on men of any age; she had put it to the proof often enough. Her main liability was her face: it was ordinary. She did what she could to frame it with her hair, and she definitely preferred shadows for close contacts. She could of course fascinate men with her power of the Eye, but usually she didn’t bother, because it worked only once on a given man; she saved that for emergencies. It would not be long before Bane wanted more of her body than mere glimpses. She could wait.