OKAY SERIOUSLY SOMEONE NEEDS TO BUY ME A DRINK FOR POSTING THIS
Feel free to lol and tell me you're lolling, although on scrolling through it, if I changed Than into a dude, I have to admit I'd buy that BL manga.
....It's kind of terrifying to me how many times I was flipping through a notebook and found I was writing proto-Clow and Yuuko. ._____.
actually, just tell me you read it .____.
In two parts as it's about 19,000 words long. Oh God it's so terrible.
CHAPTER ONE
Than was not terribly fond of elves. They were better than orcs, definitely, and maybe even better than faeries, but they never seemed to grasp the concept of a happy medium. Either they were singing celestial fifteen part harmony, or they were doing something nasty involving virgins and very sharp knives. The advantage of dealing with them, however, was that their gold was good and promptly paid, and they actually preferred working with women. So when the High Queen From The North Bit of Her Territory asked her to escort her son to his wedding, Than agreed, for a healthy fee.
This particular prince had been betrothed to the daughter of the High Queen From The South Bit of Than’s Territory, and normally would have merely been escorted by a retinue of about 300. Unfortunately, there were rumors going around about elves being attacked with iron and steel, and the High Queen was taking no chances, even if the victims had mainly been Wood Elves. Thus, Than.
Than tried not to shift. Elves were notorious for noticing ever single stupid detail of what people did, and trying to use it against them - she’d never had a lot of trouble, but that was mainly because she knew and they knew that if they did try to pull anything, Than was going to make their lives completely miserable. She knew lots of ways to do it, too. The High Queen was speaking smoothly on about the politics of the betrothal and how this marriage would affect other alliances made several hundred years before, and projected alliances several hundred years into the future. Than listened with half an ear, but her mind was more fully occupied with the steel question. Odd, that. Why would anyone even bother? Nobody dared do anything to the Fair Folk, at least, not if they planned to wake up the next morning with all their bits in the same place, and it couldn’t be either species of elf, unless one of them had found a way to handle steel without wishing they’d burst into flame and die.
One of the blood mages? A possibility, but surely they would have been a bit more cautious. And usually they did the ritual sacrifices in their home territory, because if they didn’t, the rest of the mages came down on them like a ton of bricks, and if they didn’t, Than had made it clear that she didn’t approve of it, and even the blood mages weren’t stupid enough to mess around with their Wanderer. Well, never mind. This gave her a lovely excuse for looking into the matter discreetly, and she was going to take it.
She brought her attention back to the High Queen, who was saying, "And I trust you know Ysandra? Her mother drove back the Kaers from her territory, and Ysandra kept them out. Her daughter will be worthy of her mother’s throne. I was quite pleased to have her approach me for an alliance."
Than just bet she’d been. In fact, she was willing to bet that had the High Queen been just a trifle less canny, she would have jumped up and down screaming with delight at the prospect. As it was, she had probably smiled even more coolly than usual and purred that she was sure they could work something out.
"Ah," the High Queen purred now, "You must be eager to be on your way."
Than smiled coolly back. "I should never be EAGER to leave the presence of your court, Lady." The High Queen’s eyes narrowed, just a bit. Than smiled even more sweetly. Mere humans were supposed to call the High Queen Great Lady or Great Queen. Than had no intention of letting the High Queen think of her as a mere human. "However," she continued, "We shall have to leave very soon. I trust you wish your son safely delivered before the beginning of the storm season?"
The Queen leaned back in the great carved throne, like a tiger settling down in the bushes beside a water hole. "Oh, if you can," she said. "But the wedding date is not set yet. There are charts to cast and rituals that must be done in the presence of both to determine the correct date."
And allow either party to weasel out if something better came up in the meantime, Than thought.
"Ysandra knows that you are leaving soon, of course. Unfortunately the use of steel among the humans" - read, small disgusting worms - "has upset the ley lines, and we no longer have the clear communications we once did."
Ah. That explained quite a bit.
"So once we leave here you can’t reach us?" Than wasn’t sure that was going to be good or bad. On the one side, the High Queens couldn’t bother her while she was out trying to get him safely across - and on the other, if something did happen, she wouldn’t be able to get help from the High Elves, and lord only knew how the Wood Elves would react to the prospect of helping a High Elf.
"No," said the High Queen. "Wretched, don’t you think?"
Than wasn’t even going to touch that one.
"But let me call my dear son so you may depart," said the High Queen, smiling even more tigerishly. She touched a button on the throne.
Belatedly, Than wondered why they were alone in the throne room. Generally the High Queen liked to surround herself with several hundred of her dearest friends and sycophants. And Than would have expected a large crowd to see the prince off, even if he was a mere male...
"My son, Kieran," said the Queen, gesturing regally to the door.
Than turned.
***
Kieran took a deep breath before he pushed open the great door, carved with the deeds of the High Queens, and stepped into the echoing audience chamber. It was empty now, but made for several hundred people wearing court dress. Kieran had never liked it. He was large and awkward in court dress, and the room as well as all the courtiers seemed to be keeping one discreetly amused eye on the High Queen’s halfling son to see what he would do next.
His lady mother was sitting in her great throne. Before her stood a young human female that he recognized as the Wanderer - what was she doing here? Surely she wasn’t his escort. But she was snapping her mouth closed and turning back to his lady mother, and as he approached them and bowed quietly, she said, "Five hundred more." Her voice was flat and crisp, but still low and sweet. Contralto. Or second soprano if she really stretched it.
His lady mother forgot herself so much as to blink. "I do beg your pardon. I thought you said ‘five hundred more’?"
"A thousand would work, too," said the Wanderer. "I don’t like surprises, and I especially don’t like surprises that mean this much extra work."
His lady mother relaxed again, just a trifle. Kieran tried to melt into the floor. She was going to say something, he just knew it. "Extra work," she repeated gently.
"Lady," said the Wanderer, with exaggerated patience, "Shepherding a silvan prince across human, mage and Wood silvan territory was going to be nasty enough. The last thing I need or want sprung on me is the half-human son of one of the more powerful High Queens of the area. Every single idiot between here and Ysandra’s territory is going to be trying to either murder or rape him, or maybe both, and that means I’ll have to deal with them, and that makes me cranky, and so I want more money."
"Because the foolish humans are going to - how do you say? - rape or murder him."
"Lady," said the Wanderer even more patiently, "Let me introduce you to some facts of life here. Number One: Elves are no longer the dominant species, no matter what you and Ysandra are planning." His lady mother startled, very slightly. "Number Two: Humans are. Number Three: The human species has a built in reaction regarding crossbreeds and mutants: Kill them. Number Four: Human racial memory goes back longer than you might think. Not everyone’s going to cause us trouble, but I can guarantee that there is going to be at least three idiots whose connection to the racial memory is stronger than usual. There will also be several who aren’t idiots, but who have an equally good connection. They’re all likely to look at your son and say, Shit, that’s a CROSSBREED. Do we want that in OUR genetic pool? We’ll have mutants. They’ll be able to mindspeak over long distances and heal and create fantastic works of art and sing like angels, AND play with iron and steel. We’ve got to get rid of the bastard. Do you understand?"
His lady mother was staring at the Wanderer as if she had never seen a human before. She looked at her, starting from her neat black boots, up to her dark wool leggings and short dark blue over dress and vest and blouse, pausing at the silver torc that encircled her neck and dropping thoughtfully to the dark thing that encircled her wrist - a tattoo, they said - and back up to her face, [note: Kieran’s entrance is going to have to be fixed. Will have to come from back so he can stand beside and slightly behind HQ.] surprisingly fair and well formed, with dark blue eyes and a firm chin and lips. Her hair was black, with the true raven’s-feather blue gleam, braided and woven into an intricate crown. He wasn’t sure how old she was, but she looked to be in her early twenties, in human years. Still, there were tiny lines around her eyes and he almost thought he could see tiny threads of white in her hair.
"Really?" she said finally. "How very - interesting. I never thought of it that way."
"You’re going to have to if you plan on taking over the world with Ysandra," snapped the Wanderer. "Five hundred, or I walk out of here without him." She returned her glance to Kieran again, and he was subjected to a businesslike study. "I suppose he’s going to get drunk in taverns and disappear with serving wrenches, too," she added.
Kieran glared at her. He had only a vague idea of what disappearing with serving wrenches involved, but - "I," he said with killing politeness, "never get drunk."
The Wanderer shrugged. As an expression of her complete disinterest in what happened to him, his lady mother, the palace and the silvan world in general, it was perfect. His lady mother ought to copy it for when ambassadors were trying to get her on their sides.
His lady mother slanted a glance at him, then to the Wanderer, and then drummed her fingers against the side of her throne. There was a pause.
"Lady Than," she said finally, "My son is much beloved to me, and I wish to see him safe. But your fee is much too high for one simple trip across known territory." Than raised one eyebrow. His lady mother ignored it, and continued, "I have a jewel given to me, and it has come to my mind that it would be best to see it in a sacred place for protection. If you will take it to a shrine and give it into the holy people’s keeping, I will pay you the extra." She held out her hand and something popped into being. Kieran recognized it as the ruby called the Blood Rose, but he was too numb to think.
The prophecy had come true.
He was going with Lady Death.
***
Than didn’t know how Prince Kieran was keeping up with her, and she didn’t care. She wanted to run and run and run, and then find a good hollow somewhere and cry, but she had that stupid prince with her and so she merely crashed through the path as fast as she could. A hand fell on her shoulder and pulled her back, and she swung around, her knife slipping into her hand.
The prince flicked a glance at her knife, and backed up one tiny step - enough to make it clear he was aware she was armed, but not enough to show real fear - and then at her face. "Slow down," he said. His voice was quiet and calm, low, but not rumbling deep.
"Can’t keep up?" asked Than.
"I can keep up, thank you," said the prince, politely, "but if you go very much faster you’re going to run smack off the side of the cliff."
Than paused. Then she took a good careful look around the area. "Well, imagine that!" she said with a bright smile that could be into little bits and used to stab someone. "Here we are in this deserted area, right next to a cliff! I might have leapt off, or pushed my companion right off the side! And that would have been such a tragedy, yes?"
"Yes," said the prince, "Because if you had, I would have been forced to grab you on the way down and we would both be damp spots on the ground." He allowed time for this to sink in, and added, "Besides, this is fenya territory."
"There aren’t any fenyas in this area," said Than. "I come by every year and I haven’t seen so much as a bit of spoor. And before you ask, I do look up."
"What about right now?"
Than never could resist a dare. She craned her neck up, saying, "There’s nothing up ther - oh."
Several hundred pounds of black-furred grace, power and extremely sharp teeth and claws blinked lazily down at them. The way it lounged suggested it was bored at life in general but vaguely amused by the two humans below it, and if it continued to be amused, it would think about not ripping them to shreds.
"Um. Hello, kitty?"
"Rrr," commented the fenya. "Wow?"
"I’m trying to get him to his wedding, but he’s being a jerk. And you?"
The fenya yawned, an athletic yawn displaying all it’s teeth and stretching jaw and face muscles completely. The yawn traveled down the neck and stretched down shoulder and leg and paw, extended claws and arched spine, and went even to the fenya’s tail, which went straight out behind it and then relaxed. Fenyas had the zen of yawning down to a fine art.
"Ah," said Than. The prince gave her a strange look.
"I do so hate to bother you," he hissed, "But that’s a FENYA. Can we get out of here?"
"Wowowowow-ow-oww," said the fenya, in hurt tones.
Than suppressed a grin. "Now you’ve hurt it’s FEELINGS," she said. She widened her eyes innocently. "Look how upset it looks." The prince looked up, and the fenya hastily changed from Yawn With Teeth to I Am A Sad And Sorry Little Kitten Who Lost My Mummy. It did pretty well, too. "That pooooooor fenya. Look at how sad it is that you don’t like it." She dashed an imaginary tear from her eye, and the fenya purred appreciatively.
The prince looked from the fenya, to her, and then back to the fenya. The fenya pirred at him. He took a step back.
"It’s not going to hurt you," said Than.
"Lady Than," said the prince, "I trust you have noticed that that - that creature has twenty needles on four ends, and about fifty more needles on the fifth end. And, it is very large and it has muscles on it’s muscles, and it looks as if it can run quite fast."
The fenya looked distinctly flattered.
"The High Princess uses them for guards," said Than. She had got used to fenyas in her travels, but she could see his point.
-First Human Female disappeared. dam is trying to find her.-
Both Than and the prince turned and stared at the fenya. "What?" said Than. The fenya leapt lightly from the tree and in front of them, where it sat, arranging it’s tail artistically. Satisfied by the way it’s feet were arranged, it looked up and seemed to admire the shocked looks on Than and the prince’s faces.
-First Human Female disappeared. her dam was trying to get her to marry Nasty Human Male, and First Human Female went in middle of throne room. the Kind was surprised. not seen Human do that in ages. thought Humans had forgot. her own of the Kind followed her, but have not communicated. rest of Kind worried. left Great Big Place and spread out. thus, Nerean here. trying to get to Kappa and others here. is bad in Great Big Place. Nasty Human Male not pleased, dam of First Human Female not pleased, Harper Male having hernias, sire of Harper Male making nasty remarks, Jesacis-Human threatening action with Big Pride Counsel. is very messy right now. the Kind is trying to find First Human Female before it gets worse.-
"Well, shit," said Than.
CHAPTER TWO
The Lady Than had sent the fenya on to the path to the mage it was looking for, and charged it with a message to the effect of the mage could expect them within a week. Somehow, Kieran wasn't exactly surprised that she knew a mage, but he wasn't quite sure about visiting one himself.
Now, however, they were in Laran, a village that was big enough for one castle that doubled as an inn, several tradespeople, and a market on Fairday. It was a very small and humble affair, but one could generally find what one needed - which in Kieran's case was "some non-silvan clothes and a better cloak", according to the Lady Than. She cast a critical eye over him and added, "A new pack, too. Unless you want to put a sign on it that says Magic Pack: Please Steal on it."
"It’s keyed to me," said Kieran, frost dripping from his voice.
"You could add a line. Please Steal the Pack and Me, Too, So You Can Get Everything You Want From The Pack and Hold Me For An Insane Ransom."
"And the hair is going to change."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me." She was leading him rapidly across the market square - such as it was - and to a brightly draped booth. "Nobody has hair like that except for the High Elves."
Kieran took one long pace and ended up beside her. "I’ve been told that my hair is quite human," he said, keeping his voice neutral. His hair was a sore point. It was almost as fine as his lady mother’s, but it would wave and it was black as tar.
"Oh, the color is human enough," said the Lady Than, "but I’d like to see a human male wearing his hair half way down his waist, beaded and braided in fine ribbon."
Kieran thought about that. "Why would you like to see -- " he began, but Lady Than interrupted.
"Human males go for plain," she said. "At least, they do if they don’t want to have questions raised about their manly manhood. Trust me, prince, you need to do something else with your hair."
"I don’t have to cut it off, do I?" Kieran had a vision of himself coming before his bride, his hair grazing his ears, and felt a cold chill go down his spine.
"No, but you’d best club it up some-"
A commotion erupted in the area that they were headed toward. Kieran saw the green robes of a , just before Lady Than said something beneath her breath and dragged him to the side. The was standing in the center of the market, waving a green branch and chanting. Kieran didn’t recognize the words, but they were in a language he’d heard somewhere. The swept a glance over the crowd, "You foolish ones!" she - that was definitely a female voice, but the green robes didn’t reveal sex at all - cried, "Why will you not embrace wisdom?"
"‘She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,’" said the Lady Than, just loud enough so the people around her could hear, "‘Beside the way, where the paths meet.’" [Prov. 8:3] There was a discreet snicker from someone behind them.
"Listen to my words! The holy tree is the Way!"
"And the Truth, and the Light, and no one comes to the Father except by it." Someone giggled.
"It is the Living One! It gives eternal life! Many are the leaves and branches of the Tree, many are the ones who have found LIFE!"
"I don’t believe this," snarled the Lady Than. Kieran flicked a glance at her and prudently stepped back and pretended invisibility. "Those damned tree-huggers!"
Kieran decided not to ask what a tree-hugger was. The lady Than made a complicated hand gesture, and the crowd suddenly began drifting away. The looked confused, but was obviously determined to plow on. Lady Than made another gesture, and Kieran felt the sliding prickles of magic seep into the air. Not magery, nor silvan - but not normal, human power either. The shook her head dazedly and looked down at herself.
Kieran heard her think, ::I - don’t like green. Why am I wearing green? This is ugly. No. The priest says the "I" is--:: and then he shielded, but he could still see the confused look on her face.
The Lady Than grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the shop. Even in the dimmer light, he could see that she was shaking with rage.
"What did you do to her?" he asked.
The lady took several deep, slow breaths. Slowly, the aura of anger and power faded, and she calmed down. "I can - break things," she said. "Make things go away. I just made her doubt for a moment." She turned and surveyed the shop and then eyed him.
"Doubt," repeated Kieran.
The lady sighed. "It’s hard to explain, but sometimes these cults put magic on the members and you can neutralize it. Usually it doesn’t do much, but it does do something. I saw that amber thing on her neck, so I targeted it. I hope it works."
Kieran thought that over. "The amber thing held the magic?"
"Yes, like an amulet." She turned away and began to sort through a stack of clothing. "What colors do you like?"
---
Several hours later, Than had discovered that the prince liked natural fabrics, plain colors and silver fittings, and he hated hats. After some major snarling on both sides, he grudgingly agreed to a hood. And that was only in that one shop. By the time they’d gotten out of their and through a shoemaker’s shop (he "couldn’t like" the boots that the shoemaker suggested, and insisted on a pair of low, soft ones that the shoemaker was obviously planning to chuck in the near future as unsalable) and a leather shop (he fell in violent lust with a natural leather bag and practically clutched it to his bosom and refused to give it up), Than was ready to shoot him. He was perfectly polite, but once he got an idea into his head, be it about shoes or a shirt, he latched on to it and very courteously refused to budge an inch. And if he called or referred to her as ‘Lady Than’ again, she was going to hurt him. He "wasn’t sure what the Lady Than would like", he was sure "that Lady Than would not prefer" something, and he thought that perhaps "Lady Than would rather he got something else."
So they had an argument over that. Kieran claimed that he was merely being respectful, and Than said if he was respectful like that again, she was going to smash his head in with a chamber pot. Kieran thought this over, and then wanted to know why she would touch a chamber pot. Than gritted her teeth, and told him to stop calling her Lady Than. Kieran wanted to know if she had another title, then. Than explained that she didn't have a title, so he didn't need to act as if she had one. Kieran pointed out that she was a female, and thus entitled to respect. Than said if she heard the word 'respect' coming out of his mouth just once more, she wasn't going to be responsible for the consequences. Eventually Than convinced him to stop it, on the grounds that they were going through very dangerous territory and if people thought she was a noblewoman, she could get kidnapped and held for a non-existent ransom, and then where would they be? Kieran looked unconvinced. He would, he claimed, simply rescue her. Than gritted her teeth, again.
They checked into the castle, still arguing, and came to a screeching halt. The lady of the castle wanted to know if they wanted one room or two. Than looked at Kieran. Kieran looked at Than. Than hoped that the look on her face wasn't as horrified as Kieran's, but she wasn't willing to bet on it. "Suite," she said.
Lady Alys nodded. "Escorting him, love?" she asked as she filled out the form. "Don't see many halflings round any more, but I mind my gran telling me stories her mam told her."
"Er, yes," said Than, not daring to look at Kieran's face. "I, um, hadn't realized halflings were so common."
"Oh, they aren't, love. Used to be, though, people'd go out on a full moon and come back couple days later looking a bit shocked. This was when the Woodies were in control, though. They'd look at a body and go, hmm, wonder what they're like, and that's the last you see of them for a bit. The Highs are much more ladeda about those things. Your mother a High Elf, love?" This last to Kieran.
"Yes," he replied, shortly.
"Kind of unusual, that - with the Highs it's the males that go out looking for a bit of fun, usually, can't say I blame them though - I hear the females keep them toeing the line right smartly. I says to Lord Rob, says I, What would you do if I were to control you like those High Elves? and he says to me, says my Rob, Alys, if you tried I'd lock you up in the dungeon with the orcs, and wouldn't you like that? and I says to him, says I, You wouldn't, cos then you'd have to deal with the customers and wouldn't that be a laugh? and my Rob throws back his head and roars in that way of his, laughing, and that's the last we heard of that notion, that's for sure."
She finished filling out the little form and pushed it toward Than. "Good to see you again here, love. I was just saying to my Rob the other day - maybe the week before last - no, it was last week cos the cow got out that very day and got into the elfweed, and wasn't that a mess - said I, It's been a while since we've seen that nice Than, hasn't it, Rob? And he says to me, says he, Well, you see if she doesn't come through soon. It's her time of year. And here you are, and it just goes to show how good my Rob is at predicting this sort of thing."
Than signed and handed the slip back to her. Lady Alys accepted it and continued, "Were you at the market? My son Gil, he comes in and he says, Mam, there's some of those tree-huggers around, and I says, says I, Now don't you get in with that sort, Gil, and he says to me, says my Gil, Mam, you know me better than that, and I says to him, You best not, my lad, those tree huggers give me the cold chills, they do, and I don't want you to get mixed up with them."
"There was only one," said Than. "A female."
Lady Alys shook her head wisely. "Sad, isn't it. Bad enough when the men are getting mixed up with those things, but to drag in women, too...tsk! All right, love, here's your keys, on the back side, just what you like, although I do hope those nasty assassins don't come in, not that I blame you, of course, love, but that blood was terrible to get up - I said to my Rob, said I, I do like that nice Than but it seems like every time she comes in we have to shampoo the carpets and me without the cleaner every time. Ah, well, it's just life, I suppose, but I do think it's positively Providential that I managed to lay in a supply the last time the peddler came by, but I do hope you don't have any trouble."
Than risked a glance at Kieran. He had the glazed look of someone trying to follow Lady Alys's thoughts for the first time, but seemed to be holding up pretty well. "I hope so, too, Lady Alys," she said, sincerely. The assassins had been a true pain in the ass to get rid of. "We'll just go to the suite and come down for dinner, shall we? Are you still serving that divine roast and pudding?"
Lady Alys swelled visibly. "Of course we are, and I'll just trot round to the kitchen right now and tell Cook that you're here and you want some - Cookie'll be so disappointed if you don't pop in sometime, you will, won't you? Nobody appreciates her bikkies like you do." She bustled off, still talking.
---
"There goes the heroine of a great romance," said Than. Kieran raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Her husband was an enchanted bear, and she met him, fell in love, and broke the spell when she was pregnant with their first child."
Kieran looked at Lady Alys's retreating back, which was broad and capable. Her hair was greyish-blonde, and hung down to her waist in a severe and sensible braid. It seemed unlikely, but somehow, he could see her standing in the center of a mage storm, fighting for her mate. "She must been very brave," he said.
---
Kieran was dreaming, he knew he was. He'd had these dreams before. He was standing, watching something unfold, but unable to respond or change things. There was the brave Lady Alys, standing in the center of the mage storm that threatened her and her unborn child, and Lord Rob in the shape of a great black bear, lying still and cold. There was Than, crouched above them on a rock, staring the center of the storm, her lips forming words without sound. She turned and looked at something, and then the storm broke with screaming fury, and he had to look away. The dream changed again, and he saw his lady mother, pale and proud, standing before a man in the dark cloak of a mage, her arms crossed over her stomach, and heard her say, "The child is the mother's."
The child is the mother's, repeated a small, chill voice. Riddle me this, riddle me that, what's the matter with that?
Then he saw a young woman, almost like Than, but not quite, with long black hair woven down her back, dressed in sapphire blue and silver, crying out in a loud voice, "I shall not!" And fenyas roared their reply, and the voice whispered, This is also part of the riddle.
Than again, in strange clothing - a short sleeved black chemise tucked into blue pants, her hair short and spiky, her eyes sad and defiant, sitting in a chariot driven without horses. Beside her was a man with white hair, at her feet a leather bag, and he heard the man say, "Than, you must remember us." She looked at him and replied, "How am I to forget you?" And see that you do not forget as well, Queen's son, mocked the voice, and Kieran shivered in his sleep.
Then the voice surrounded him with the sound of a thousand winds, and it said, Webs and rumors and connections, lives and lives and lives again, you go with Lady Death. Be wary, Queen's son, lest you be taken. The Wanderers gather in the thirteenth house, they come together to pass judgment on one of their own, but cannot agree. Mage's get, the stone Death carries carries her. Beware. Beware. His amber eyes, his wild hair! Beware...
Kieran woke himself up. He lay for a moment, anchoring himself in reality, and then realized that there was something wrong. Something smelt wrong. It was a sort of green, flat smell, rusty and dangerous. He lay very quietly and listened as hard as he could. Very softly came the sound of feet treading as quietly as they could. Kieran took a deep, slow breath, and became a shadow sliding out of the bed, and into the furthest corner of the room.
::do you think he's out?:: came a mind-whisper. Kieran wanted to shield, but he knew he couldn't.
::should be. pumped in enough of that stuff. can you tell about the girl?::
::think she's asleep. she's just a female, you know. plain as dirt::
Kieran nearly laughed.
::let's take the halfling out, then get her. we've got to get the stone.::
Stone. The Blood Rose?
::ready?::
Kieran tensed.
The door opened quietly, and two shadows glided in and headed for the bed. Kieran leapt.
---
Than jerked out of sleep and a dark dream that faded as soon as she woke up. Someone was screaming in Kieran's room. She grabbed at the pouch around her neck that had the Blood Rose - still there - leapt out of bed, grabbed her knife and was halfway across the room in one movement. She rushed into Kieran's room and dove for one of the attackers, her knife singing eagerly as it flew for the shoulder.
"AAAHHH!" the person screamed. Than wrenched the knife out and struck again.
"'Ware!" shouted Kieran, and Than let go of her knife and rolled out of the way of the other person. She just barely saw Kieran fly past her and kick, and her attacker sunk to the ground.
Footsteps pounded outside. "Who attacked?" roared a voice. Lord Rob, by the sound of it. Than staggered to the door and unlocked it. Lord Rob pushed his way in and looked at Than, who leaned panting against the door, and Kieran, who had not so much collapsed as melted onto the bed. Then his eyes dropped to the two still figures on the floor, and then back to Than. "Good thing Alys got the extra cleaner," he said, displaying his usual lack of surprise. Lord Rob was well-known for not turning a hair in the face of anything, up to and including fireworks going off in his face. Than supposed that after one had been turned into a bear, fallen in love while in that state, and been rescued by one's pregnant lover and turned back, one rather lost the ability to be surprised.
"Sorry - 'bout - the mess," Than panted.
Lord Rob shrugged his massive, still bearlike shoulders. "Been meaning to get new carpet in here anyway. At least nobody got disembowelled this time."
CHAPTER THREE
Than and Kieran left Laran before dawn the next morning, followed by the sound of Lady Alys anxiously directing the shampooing of the carpet. Much to Than's regret, the attackers had not survived the night. Kieran had hit one just at the place to kill, and the other had gotten her knife through a vein and bled to death. She would have liked a little chat with them. [details: Can that happen? Would she have been able to pull her knife out again?] They travelled west by the main road, then switched to a cutback going south again. It was a quiet trip - only one idiot, who suddenly remembered that he had an appointment on the other side of the world, and couldn't imagine what he was doing with that large and very sharp knife in his hand - but her nerves were on edge, and Kieran's mood wasn't much better. That business with the thieves came much too soon after they had got the Blood Rose.
She lay down on her pallet and pulled the pouch out from beneath her shirt. She opened it, and the Blood Rose spilled out, with her own star sapphire and a pearl given to her a long time ago, and a smooth but very humble looking piece of rock. She fingered the rock for a moment, and looked at the Blood Rose. A pretty bit of red stone, yes, but not so obviously magical or valuable as to make it worth all the trouble of hiring two professionals capable of compounding that smoke and mind-speech, and getting them to go all the way to Laran.
The Blood Rose. A ruby carved or found in the shape of a full-blown rose. Often said - but she didn't know anything about it. She'd heard of it. Years back, there had been rumors over a high-magic ruby, which was sufficiently unusual to have stuck in her memory. Usually if there were going to be rumors of a high magic anything, it would be some sort of rare, huge diamond that demanded blood every time it switched owners. Those she could deal with. Being held over an iron smelter generally changed the diamond's attitude, and if it didn't, Than had got to the point where she simply shrugged and dropped it. Than put the stone she had been fingering back in the pouch and picked up the Blood Rose.
Kieran sat up. By the light of the fire his face was carved, almost severe, and strange, so strange. Everything was alien again, she hadn't made a life here in this world, she wanted to go home, where she didn't have to worry about rubies and killers and halfling princes. She looked down at the Blood Rose again. It seemed to pulse lazily - and that was another thing. At home, the only rubies that pulsed were ones in legend. She wanted to go home.
Foolishness. She did have a life here, she did. She was just tired, and upset over the assasins - which was ridiculous, because people sent assasins after her almost every month, and she just took care of them.
The Blood Rose was turning warm in her hands. She looked down, and saw color spreading richly through the stone, gathering in the heart, swirling. She could hear Kieran breathing, harsh and fast. The stone's color deepened again, and then spread until her hands were covered by a red glow. The glow darkened, and then began to seep into her skin. She could feel the warmth of it, beginning to fill her blood -
Than flung the stone to the end of her pallet and balled up, curling her knees to her chest and burying her head behind them, shuddering.
"Than?" said Kieran. "Are you all right?"
"Get it away from me!" she wailed. One distant, rational part of her brain said she was being foolish. The rest of her brain didn't care. She sensed rather than saw Kieran moving very slowly across to her pallet and picking up the Blood Rose.
"I've got it," he said, in a voice pitched for calming her. It did enough so that she was aware of resenting him trying to calm her, even while she knew it was working.
[discussion of why it scares her? Than brushes it off, but Kieran keeps Blood Rose. Also begins to realize they LIKE the other, as a person.]
--
Than had been very quiet since the night the Blood Rose had activated - not, Kieran amended, that she was ever loud or talkative, but she seemed to have withdrawn, somehow, and she pushed harder and harder on the trails. Kieran wasn't having any trouble keeping up, but he could see signs that she was beginning to tire. Than was a Wanderer. She was used to being on trails and traveling, and Lady knew she was strong enough. She'd disposed of those thieves easily enough, and the one highwayman who had dared attack was probably still trying to explain to his wife why they weren't having any more children. Surely she knew her limits. Kieran said nothing, but suddenly became clumsy - tripping over invisible roots, stumbling over tiny stones - which meant she had to stop and go back for him, and he could usually manage to drop at least one thing on the way down that required fifteen minutes worth of hunting through brush.
What was really worrying him, though, was that she was letting him. Than was much too observant to not realize what he was doing. Hadn't she told him to stop being sarcastic about deferring to her on the second day out? And nobody, but nobody, got that one.
Something was wrong.
---
The mage they were going to visit lived, as was traditional, in a dark and brooding obsidian tower. What was somewhat less traditional, however, were the riot of roses surrounding it and poking experimentally at the walls of the tower to see if they could take that over completely as well, and the cats hiding and leaping suddenly at each other, and occasionally dive-bombing each other. Kieran couldn't help but stare. He saw very few cats at his mother's court, and he had never, ever seen cats with wings.
"High magic area," said Than. "Cats change easily in magic fields."
"He did this deliberately?"
"No, but you try to get a cat to stay out of things. If they really disliked it they could change back - no, Stargazer, I'm here to see your human!"
Stargazer hovered in midair and looked disgusted. Then it took off again and soared to the top of the tower. Kieran watched it. It was beautiful and graceful, the wings spreading easily and joyously.
"She used to be in a feral colony," said Than, "Some idiot dumped her. Then she stumbled onto the portal here and got in with the mage."
"They all look happy," said Kieran. A kitten, still with down instead of feathers on it's wings, was climbing up his boot. Kieran bent and picked it up, and it purred like a very small beehive. Than tickled it gently behind it's silky ear, and it purred louder, if possible.
Than led the way to the entrance to the tower. It creaked open forbiddingly, and a dark-cloaked figure stood in the center of it. Thunder rumbled obligingly in the distance, and an aura of brooding menace filled the air.
---
"Knock it off, Ice Falcon," said Than. "People who want to be known as big bad mages shouldn't have cats and roses."
The mage deflated. "Weren't you just a little scared?" he asked, looking as wistful as anyone could wrapped in a huge dark cloak that hid their face completely.
"No," said Than, "I wasn't. And neither was Kieran, was he?"
Kieran blinked. "Scared of what?" The kitten had escaped his gentle grasp and was climbing toward his shoulder. "Er. You mean the thunder?"
"Damn," said the mage.
"The aura of brooding menace was quite good," said Kieran, trying to be helpful. "Except it helps if you use glamour to make yourself taller, like this." He cast an illusion, just a quick one, but respectable. He broke it, and looked at them. They were perfectly still and staring at him. "What's wrong?" They kept staring, and he grew uneasy. "Than? What did I do?"
"Well, hell," said Than. "Kieran, what do you know about your dad?"
CHAPTER FOUR
Poor Kieran looked even more confused. "But I always thought my father was a human," he said.
"He might have been human," said Ice Falcon, "But he was also a mage. Have another bikkie." He took his own advice, and crunched thoughtfully on it. Than took one, too. Most mages would rather face any fate you named than do something so mundane as cooking, but Ice Falcon was eccentric.
A soft paw patted her on the cheek, and she broke off a bit and offered it to Plato, a grave and regal winged tabby. It was sniffed at, pondered, and finally accepted. "Aren't most mages human?" she asked. "Or halfling human-mix?"
"Well, not exactly," said Ice Falcon. "It's the magic thing, again. You start out something and after a while you've had enough accidents and power radiation that species starts becoming a bit flexible, if you see what I mean. Like the cats."
"M'aow!" said Plato, looking insulted.
"You aren't felis domestica anymore, Plato," said Ice Falcon, as if this were an old argument. "We agreed. You are felis domestica var. avis, remember?"
Plato laid his ears back.
"As I was saying," said the mage, loudly, "We get enough radiation so that we're really a separate species, and that we can interbreed with most of the setinent species, but we usually look like the species we started out as."
"So if a cat became a mage, they'd still look like a cat, but - I'm confused," said Than. "If a cat mage married a human, would they have kittens?"
"No. The offspring would look like a mix of the two species. Like Kieran here has both silvan and human characteristics."
Than thought that over, and then, enlightened, said, "Is that why Valtr (or whatever the hell he's calling himself now) has whiskers? And fur?"
"Yes." Ice Falcon pushed Stargazer away from the pot. "You know, he purrs when he's happy?"
"Really. Is he ever going to get married?"
"This is all very interesting," said Kieran, "And I am quite fascinated, but what the hell made you think my father was a mage?"
Than looked at Ice Falcon, who looked back at her. Than sighed. "Put it this way," she said. "You know when you did the illusion bit?"
Kieran nodded. "It was just a bit of glamour," he said, spreading out his hands and raising his shoulders defensively. "I made myself taller and broader, but that was all."
"Not exactly," said Than. "You turned into a shadow-beast." She watched his face carefully. If he knew what a shadow-beast was, if he really knew his heritage --
Kieran looked more confused than ever. "What's a shadow-beast?"
"It's a long story," said the mage.
---
Once upon a time, the mage said, the worlds were less fixed in their places, and portals between them opened easily. That was the great age of the Wanderers, and of mages, who traveled between the worlds as easily as mortals traveled from room to room in their own houses. It was, as the poet so aptly said, an interesting time to live, and the mortals lived in high holy terror of the mages and the portals. The time came at last that one very foolish or brave mage opened one portal too many, and the first shadow-beast came over.
The shadow-beasts were swift and silent as darkness, and if not - quite - evil, certainly didn't operate by the same rules everybody else did. Some said they looked like huge wolves or panthers, some said they were like beautiful, dark men. Some people called them the sons of God. In any case, shortly after their arrival, the portals began to close, trapping them in the worlds. Some simply disappeared. Some became corrupted, and drank blood, and some became obsessed with purity. Most of them married mortals or mage-women. Eventually, there was a great magestorm, and they disappeared off the worlds, but their influence lingered in the children the mortal and mage women had borne them.
The funny thing about shadow-beast blood, and the dangerous thing, was that it was never neutral. Sometimes it wouldn't pop up for generations, and then all of a sudden some poor woman would give birth to a panther or wolf or a child with long fangs and an evil aura, or, what was almost worse, a child who was gentle and loving and good, sweet and beautiful - who was nearly certain to die before puberty. The blood was gradually dying out but it still popped up occasionally.
Now, for example, the only person known to have shadow-beast blood was Valtr, and that was thought to be pretty far back. There was a rumor going round that one of the branches of the High Princess's family had shadow-beast blood, but nobody had managed to confirm anything beyond the fact that one branch had a tendency to produce dark haired girls who died young, which could happen to anybody. And now Kieran had shown up.
"Thing is," said Than, "This makes things really complicated."
"I should like to know how," he snapped. "It only makes me more of a freak than I am already, after all."
"You aren't a freak," said Than calmly. "But this does bring up the interesting question of why and how your mother met up with your father."
"What the hell does that matter? My lady mother met a mage with shadow-beast blood, decided to lie with him and had me nine months later. What difference does it make about which way she found him?" The kitten in his lap shifted and gave a small squeak, and he realised that he was holding it too tightly. He relaxed his hold and began to stroke it's back. The kitten began to purr again.
"The matter is," said the mage quietly, "Did your mother know that she was lying with a mage with shadow-beast blood? And if she did, why did she do it?"
---
It was supper before Than remembered about the Heiress and the fenya. "Did Nerean get to you?"
"Yes. He took Kappa and Ker with him. It doesn't look very good. If Saphirine doesn't want to be found, she won't be, even by the fenyas. I'm surprised Stelli and Bagheera managed to follow her." He took a sip of wine and shook his head. "I don't like it. The College knew that Saphirine had a strong gift, but it's lain dormant til now."
"Nerean didn't seem to like the man her mother chose for her very much," said Than, carefully.
"He's an ass," the mage said shortly. "He might be dangerous, except he's too vain."
"Hmm," said Than. "If he's not dangerous, why would she not want him?"
"Because he wants to take over the world." The mage raised a significant eyebrow.
"Oho!" said Than. "That sort?"
"Yes," said the mage. "That sort. He's got her mother completely under his thumb - and I'm not going to say I don't know why, because I do - but can't marry her because she doesn't need a heir, and even if she did, she'd have to get the Council's approval and they would give that only if flying pigs flew over Lywyn singing a hymn to the Lady."
"Hmm," said Than. Things were beginning to look more and more complex. "Damn."
"Of course," the mage said carelessly, "The Wanderer has no responsibility for the doings of the High Princess, and thus no interest."
"I do when it comes straight on the heels of ritual sacrifice," said Than bluntly. The mage sat up.
"Ritual sacrifice?" he repeated. "But none of the blood mages around here have done rituals since the last blue moon."
"Someone's attacking elves with steel," said Than. "I don't like things like that happening in my territory, and the blood mages know it. Then this thing comes up with the High Princess, and now the prince I'm escorting looks to have mage blood - and shadow-beast blood."
Kieran stirred. "Nice to know one is more than an inconvenience," he murmured politely. Than ignored him. He was still upset from the afternoon. "Don't forget the thieves," he said.
"Thieves?" said the mage.
"And the Blood Rose, and the reaction you had," continued Kieran.
"Kieran, shut up," said Than.
Ice Falcon froze. "I beg your pardon," he said finally, "I thought you said 'Blood Rose'?"
"You know of it?" said Than. "I'd heard of a high-magic ruby, but that was it."
"You could say that," said Ice Falcon. "Put it this way: What the hell was a silvan High Queen doing with one of the major artifacts of the shadow-beasts, and why did she only give it up when the son she had by one of them left?"
--
Too many questions.
Kieran was in the high, cold place again, watching the questions parade past him in neat rows and lines. If he could read them, he could answer them, but they went past in a blur, and all he could make out were What and Why and Where and How and an endless amount of question marks. He turned away in despair, and was sucked away into a vortex
The young woman, her hair razored off now, begging for food. he tried to find something for her to eat but it was impossible, so he looked around and found a sharp rock, so he could cut off some of his flesh for her, but before he could make the first slice, someone took the rock from him. He looked and saw a young man, dressed in the clothing of a harper, but with the silver circlet of a prince, raise the rock and cut off his own right hand before Kieran could stop him
lady, said the young man, here I am, and he offered the hand to the woman, who had grown thinner even as Kieran watched. She took an eager step forward -
and stopped.
don't give in don't give in don't give in, Kieran tried to scream, but he had no voice, and the princess had to decide
by herself.
She was, always and forever,
by herself.
Kieran bowed his head in the face of her pain, and when he raised it again, he saw her carefully fitting the harper-prince's hand back to his wrist. It healed, and the only trace left was a thin red line.
He felt the touch of the cold wind again, and it said, Well, shadow-born, what do you think of that?
And he replied, She is dying of despair, isn't she?
Observant of you, shadow-born, very observant of you indeed. What shall she do, shadow-born? Take the flesh, or be alone?
He looked again and saw that the harper had detached his hand again and offered it to her again, and she had grown so thin her skull showed through her fragile skin, and her wrists and jaw showed like sharp razors through her flesh. She lifted her head and looked straight at Kieran, and her eyes asked him, What shall I do? If I take it, he will die, and if I do not, I will starve. He opened his mouth to answer, and stopped.
It is not for me to decide, he said, hating himself for his answer even as he replied.
The wind howled over and over again and he was flung against glass walls and back against the vortex.
how would you like to be
the savior of the world
shadowborn?
how would you like to be
SOMEBODY?
how would you like, hissed the voice
To be a MAN?
I'm not a man, he tried to scream, I'm a halfling
halfling, the word echoed, halfling halfling, halfling...
halfling
"Kieran!"
Something grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him. Still in the dream, he flung himself away, but the grip remained.
"Kieran! You're dreaming! Wake up!"
Than. That was Than. He dragged himself up and looked around. He was still in the mage's tower, in bed. He wasn't in the high cold place. "Oh, gods," he said. He was still cold, so cold. Than was kneeling on the edge of the bed, staring at him with wide eyes.
"You were screaming," she said. "First you told someone not to give in, and then you kept saying you were a halfling." She started to reach out to him, and hesitated. Kieran was beyond pride. He took her hand before she could draw it back. He felt her warmth and strength flowing through him, and he tried to stop it. He couldn't take it. It was wrong.
"No," said Than, "It's all right. Be still."
He tried to say, But I'll take too much, but her grip tightened and he realized that the flow was going both directions. As she flowed into him, he flowed into her.
They sat there for a long while, holding hands and listening to the beat of their hearts.
---
Kieran swore, and flung his razor away. Than, lying on her pallet, reflected that she was probably a bad influence on him. "I don't see why you even bother," she said, keeping the winged kitten away from her face and her avowed goal of washing Than's nose off. Ice Falcon had talked them into taking Aria with them when they left - not that he had to talk very hard to convince Kieran. Kieran was desperately in love with the kitten, who was perfectly aware that she had him wrapped around her pretty little paw. Than had taken a bit more convincing. The only reason she had agreed was because she knew that Aria could get to safety via Scrod-space any time she needed to.
"I always shave," said Kieran, in the same tone someone would say they always breathed.
"You hate doing it, and it's nearly impossible to do with that little mirror," she pointed out. "At the rate you're going, you'll look like you went through a meat chopper before we get to Ysandra's territory."
Kieran made a face - whether at the thought of a meat chopper, or getting to Ysandra's territory, Than couldn't tell. "I've always shaved," he repeated. "And elves don't have facial hair, so of course everyone noticed." He picked up the razor and the small mirror and studied the latest bleeding cut. "Buggrit," he said absently, "I'm out of the sticking plaster."
Than whooped with laughter. Aria, insulted, hopped down from Than's convulsed figure and went to Kieran, who stared at Than. The look on his face, when she finally settled down, set her off again.
"I should like to know what's so funny," he said, coldly.
"You don't know what 'buggrit' means, do you?" asked Than, wiping her eyes.
"No, but I am quite sure you are going to enlighten me," he said. Than reflected he was awfully cute when he tried to stand on his dignity.
Than told him. She even sang the song.
Kieran's brows drew together, a sure sign he was trying to think too hard. "Why would you -" he began, and then shook his head. "I don't want to know."
Than looked at him, and then around at the area. It was dark forest, abandoned and brooding. The trees rustled sinisterly, and the air smelt of loam and leaf mould. Hmm. "You know," she said, casually, "It might be safer if you didn't shave for a while."
"Safer?" repeated Kieran. "(Aria, get off, please.)" The kitten grudgingly fluttered down to his lap instead of his shoulder. "(Thank you.) Why would it be safer?"
Than thought about being tactful, but decided there was no good way to do it. "Vampires," she said. "Shifters. Nasty things that like blood. No use encouraging them."
"Really," said Kieran.
"Really," said Than. "Last cycle, some idiot came through this way and got half torn to bits. I found him two days later, still babbling."
"Then why are we going this way?" Kieran began to stroke Aria carefully.
"Because," said Than, "If any of them dared bothered me I'd have them over a hot rowan barbecue, and they know it. Still, better safe than sorry."
"Well," said Kieran, "If it's safer..."
Than suppressed a smile. "Much, much safer," she said, solemnly.
Kieran slanted a glance at her. He didn't usually look related to his mother at all, but sometimes he got a look or an air that was her, set in masculine flesh. This was one of those times. "It would be interesting to see how many things are actually out there," he said. He even sounded like her, Than thought. He had the same cool, haughty and polite ironic tone.
On cue, Aria froze, hissed and disappeared. Kieran cast his eyes to the heavens. "Stop taking me literally!" he yelled. Than would have laughed, but she was too busy scooping up her bow and an arrow and getting ready to aim. Something bounded into the circle of fire. It was more lupine than human, a thing from the very back of mankind's collective nightmares. It smelt of decay and wet dog. "Foooood," it hissed, through fangs as long as Than's finger. "Maaaate. Huuuuungrrry."
"Oh, for God's sake," said Than, disgustedly. It turned its red, glowing eyes toward her, and tried to smile. Despite herself, Than felt a cold chill slither down her spine. She lifted the bow and shot. The arrow sang toward the beast and imbedded itself to the beast's shoulder. Than swore.
Kieran came up behind her, a silent shadow holding a wicked dagger. Than had just enough time to wonder where the hell he'd gotten it before it flew toward the beast. The song it sang was lower than the arrow, but just as deadly. It didn't miss. It sank, deep and true, into the thing's breastbone. It was just their rotten luck that it only made the thing more maddened. It roared, a sound of pain and anger. "FOOOOD!" it shouted, "MAAATE! HUUUNGRRRY!" and lowered its head and charged.
This was going to be a really lousy way to die.
---
Kieran didn't want to die. Life was just getting interesting.
More to the point, he didn't want Than to die. There was something in that thought that he needed to reason through. He didn't have time, though. "MOVE!" he shouted. Than rolled just in time to avoid the creature's grasping claws, and Kieran threw himself into the gap. "Run!"
"Are you MAD?" screamed Than. "You'll die!"
He was too busy ducking the creature's grasp to answer, but if he hadn't he would had said, Better me than you. He forced an illusion into being - not the one that Than and the mage had called the shadowbeast, but the other, the icy one. And, as always, time slowed to a frozen crawl.
Well, shadowborn, said the voice, unpleasantly, You call me.
Save Than! he screamed.
What will you pay?
Kieran rolled away from the creature in agonizingly slow motion. He was about to answer, Anything, when he paused. The voice couldn't be trusted. He knew that. And yet Than must be saved - there must be another way, there must, there must. The passion of his desire burned him, burned the icy illusion away, and he became a flame. He was a golden fire that stepped into the flames of the camp fire and felt nothing, that beckoned the creature to him, and burnt the evil away.
The creature screamed anew, and flung itself out of the fire. Kieran-fire followed him and stood between it and Than. The creature reached for him and wrapped its claws around him, and Kieran felt himself fading away into blackness.
No good, he thought dully. No good. Even his best wasn't good enough. He tried and tried, but he was never good enough. He had failed. Run, he tried to say, Run before it finishes me. Best Beloved, I am sorry...
Part Two of Meg's Awful College Novel here, read and review plz omgkthx :(
....It's kind of terrifying to me how many times I was flipping through a notebook and found I was writing proto-Clow and Yuuko. ._____.
actually, just tell me you read it .____.
In two parts as it's about 19,000 words long. Oh God it's so terrible.
CHAPTER ONE
Than was not terribly fond of elves. They were better than orcs, definitely, and maybe even better than faeries, but they never seemed to grasp the concept of a happy medium. Either they were singing celestial fifteen part harmony, or they were doing something nasty involving virgins and very sharp knives. The advantage of dealing with them, however, was that their gold was good and promptly paid, and they actually preferred working with women. So when the High Queen From The North Bit of Her Territory asked her to escort her son to his wedding, Than agreed, for a healthy fee.
This particular prince had been betrothed to the daughter of the High Queen From The South Bit of Than’s Territory, and normally would have merely been escorted by a retinue of about 300. Unfortunately, there were rumors going around about elves being attacked with iron and steel, and the High Queen was taking no chances, even if the victims had mainly been Wood Elves. Thus, Than.
Than tried not to shift. Elves were notorious for noticing ever single stupid detail of what people did, and trying to use it against them - she’d never had a lot of trouble, but that was mainly because she knew and they knew that if they did try to pull anything, Than was going to make their lives completely miserable. She knew lots of ways to do it, too. The High Queen was speaking smoothly on about the politics of the betrothal and how this marriage would affect other alliances made several hundred years before, and projected alliances several hundred years into the future. Than listened with half an ear, but her mind was more fully occupied with the steel question. Odd, that. Why would anyone even bother? Nobody dared do anything to the Fair Folk, at least, not if they planned to wake up the next morning with all their bits in the same place, and it couldn’t be either species of elf, unless one of them had found a way to handle steel without wishing they’d burst into flame and die.
One of the blood mages? A possibility, but surely they would have been a bit more cautious. And usually they did the ritual sacrifices in their home territory, because if they didn’t, the rest of the mages came down on them like a ton of bricks, and if they didn’t, Than had made it clear that she didn’t approve of it, and even the blood mages weren’t stupid enough to mess around with their Wanderer. Well, never mind. This gave her a lovely excuse for looking into the matter discreetly, and she was going to take it.
She brought her attention back to the High Queen, who was saying, "And I trust you know Ysandra? Her mother drove back the Kaers from her territory, and Ysandra kept them out. Her daughter will be worthy of her mother’s throne. I was quite pleased to have her approach me for an alliance."
Than just bet she’d been. In fact, she was willing to bet that had the High Queen been just a trifle less canny, she would have jumped up and down screaming with delight at the prospect. As it was, she had probably smiled even more coolly than usual and purred that she was sure they could work something out.
"Ah," the High Queen purred now, "You must be eager to be on your way."
Than smiled coolly back. "I should never be EAGER to leave the presence of your court, Lady." The High Queen’s eyes narrowed, just a bit. Than smiled even more sweetly. Mere humans were supposed to call the High Queen Great Lady or Great Queen. Than had no intention of letting the High Queen think of her as a mere human. "However," she continued, "We shall have to leave very soon. I trust you wish your son safely delivered before the beginning of the storm season?"
The Queen leaned back in the great carved throne, like a tiger settling down in the bushes beside a water hole. "Oh, if you can," she said. "But the wedding date is not set yet. There are charts to cast and rituals that must be done in the presence of both to determine the correct date."
And allow either party to weasel out if something better came up in the meantime, Than thought.
"Ysandra knows that you are leaving soon, of course. Unfortunately the use of steel among the humans" - read, small disgusting worms - "has upset the ley lines, and we no longer have the clear communications we once did."
Ah. That explained quite a bit.
"So once we leave here you can’t reach us?" Than wasn’t sure that was going to be good or bad. On the one side, the High Queens couldn’t bother her while she was out trying to get him safely across - and on the other, if something did happen, she wouldn’t be able to get help from the High Elves, and lord only knew how the Wood Elves would react to the prospect of helping a High Elf.
"No," said the High Queen. "Wretched, don’t you think?"
Than wasn’t even going to touch that one.
"But let me call my dear son so you may depart," said the High Queen, smiling even more tigerishly. She touched a button on the throne.
Belatedly, Than wondered why they were alone in the throne room. Generally the High Queen liked to surround herself with several hundred of her dearest friends and sycophants. And Than would have expected a large crowd to see the prince off, even if he was a mere male...
"My son, Kieran," said the Queen, gesturing regally to the door.
Than turned.
***
Kieran took a deep breath before he pushed open the great door, carved with the deeds of the High Queens, and stepped into the echoing audience chamber. It was empty now, but made for several hundred people wearing court dress. Kieran had never liked it. He was large and awkward in court dress, and the room as well as all the courtiers seemed to be keeping one discreetly amused eye on the High Queen’s halfling son to see what he would do next.
His lady mother was sitting in her great throne. Before her stood a young human female that he recognized as the Wanderer - what was she doing here? Surely she wasn’t his escort. But she was snapping her mouth closed and turning back to his lady mother, and as he approached them and bowed quietly, she said, "Five hundred more." Her voice was flat and crisp, but still low and sweet. Contralto. Or second soprano if she really stretched it.
His lady mother forgot herself so much as to blink. "I do beg your pardon. I thought you said ‘five hundred more’?"
"A thousand would work, too," said the Wanderer. "I don’t like surprises, and I especially don’t like surprises that mean this much extra work."
His lady mother relaxed again, just a trifle. Kieran tried to melt into the floor. She was going to say something, he just knew it. "Extra work," she repeated gently.
"Lady," said the Wanderer, with exaggerated patience, "Shepherding a silvan prince across human, mage and Wood silvan territory was going to be nasty enough. The last thing I need or want sprung on me is the half-human son of one of the more powerful High Queens of the area. Every single idiot between here and Ysandra’s territory is going to be trying to either murder or rape him, or maybe both, and that means I’ll have to deal with them, and that makes me cranky, and so I want more money."
"Because the foolish humans are going to - how do you say? - rape or murder him."
"Lady," said the Wanderer even more patiently, "Let me introduce you to some facts of life here. Number One: Elves are no longer the dominant species, no matter what you and Ysandra are planning." His lady mother startled, very slightly. "Number Two: Humans are. Number Three: The human species has a built in reaction regarding crossbreeds and mutants: Kill them. Number Four: Human racial memory goes back longer than you might think. Not everyone’s going to cause us trouble, but I can guarantee that there is going to be at least three idiots whose connection to the racial memory is stronger than usual. There will also be several who aren’t idiots, but who have an equally good connection. They’re all likely to look at your son and say, Shit, that’s a CROSSBREED. Do we want that in OUR genetic pool? We’ll have mutants. They’ll be able to mindspeak over long distances and heal and create fantastic works of art and sing like angels, AND play with iron and steel. We’ve got to get rid of the bastard. Do you understand?"
His lady mother was staring at the Wanderer as if she had never seen a human before. She looked at her, starting from her neat black boots, up to her dark wool leggings and short dark blue over dress and vest and blouse, pausing at the silver torc that encircled her neck and dropping thoughtfully to the dark thing that encircled her wrist - a tattoo, they said - and back up to her face, [note: Kieran’s entrance is going to have to be fixed. Will have to come from back so he can stand beside and slightly behind HQ.] surprisingly fair and well formed, with dark blue eyes and a firm chin and lips. Her hair was black, with the true raven’s-feather blue gleam, braided and woven into an intricate crown. He wasn’t sure how old she was, but she looked to be in her early twenties, in human years. Still, there were tiny lines around her eyes and he almost thought he could see tiny threads of white in her hair.
"Really?" she said finally. "How very - interesting. I never thought of it that way."
"You’re going to have to if you plan on taking over the world with Ysandra," snapped the Wanderer. "Five hundred, or I walk out of here without him." She returned her glance to Kieran again, and he was subjected to a businesslike study. "I suppose he’s going to get drunk in taverns and disappear with serving wrenches, too," she added.
Kieran glared at her. He had only a vague idea of what disappearing with serving wrenches involved, but - "I," he said with killing politeness, "never get drunk."
The Wanderer shrugged. As an expression of her complete disinterest in what happened to him, his lady mother, the palace and the silvan world in general, it was perfect. His lady mother ought to copy it for when ambassadors were trying to get her on their sides.
His lady mother slanted a glance at him, then to the Wanderer, and then drummed her fingers against the side of her throne. There was a pause.
"Lady Than," she said finally, "My son is much beloved to me, and I wish to see him safe. But your fee is much too high for one simple trip across known territory." Than raised one eyebrow. His lady mother ignored it, and continued, "I have a jewel given to me, and it has come to my mind that it would be best to see it in a sacred place for protection. If you will take it to a shrine and give it into the holy people’s keeping, I will pay you the extra." She held out her hand and something popped into being. Kieran recognized it as the ruby called the Blood Rose, but he was too numb to think.
The prophecy had come true.
He was going with Lady Death.
***
Than didn’t know how Prince Kieran was keeping up with her, and she didn’t care. She wanted to run and run and run, and then find a good hollow somewhere and cry, but she had that stupid prince with her and so she merely crashed through the path as fast as she could. A hand fell on her shoulder and pulled her back, and she swung around, her knife slipping into her hand.
The prince flicked a glance at her knife, and backed up one tiny step - enough to make it clear he was aware she was armed, but not enough to show real fear - and then at her face. "Slow down," he said. His voice was quiet and calm, low, but not rumbling deep.
"Can’t keep up?" asked Than.
"I can keep up, thank you," said the prince, politely, "but if you go very much faster you’re going to run smack off the side of the cliff."
Than paused. Then she took a good careful look around the area. "Well, imagine that!" she said with a bright smile that could be into little bits and used to stab someone. "Here we are in this deserted area, right next to a cliff! I might have leapt off, or pushed my companion right off the side! And that would have been such a tragedy, yes?"
"Yes," said the prince, "Because if you had, I would have been forced to grab you on the way down and we would both be damp spots on the ground." He allowed time for this to sink in, and added, "Besides, this is fenya territory."
"There aren’t any fenyas in this area," said Than. "I come by every year and I haven’t seen so much as a bit of spoor. And before you ask, I do look up."
"What about right now?"
Than never could resist a dare. She craned her neck up, saying, "There’s nothing up ther - oh."
Several hundred pounds of black-furred grace, power and extremely sharp teeth and claws blinked lazily down at them. The way it lounged suggested it was bored at life in general but vaguely amused by the two humans below it, and if it continued to be amused, it would think about not ripping them to shreds.
"Um. Hello, kitty?"
"Rrr," commented the fenya. "Wow?"
"I’m trying to get him to his wedding, but he’s being a jerk. And you?"
The fenya yawned, an athletic yawn displaying all it’s teeth and stretching jaw and face muscles completely. The yawn traveled down the neck and stretched down shoulder and leg and paw, extended claws and arched spine, and went even to the fenya’s tail, which went straight out behind it and then relaxed. Fenyas had the zen of yawning down to a fine art.
"Ah," said Than. The prince gave her a strange look.
"I do so hate to bother you," he hissed, "But that’s a FENYA. Can we get out of here?"
"Wowowowow-ow-oww," said the fenya, in hurt tones.
Than suppressed a grin. "Now you’ve hurt it’s FEELINGS," she said. She widened her eyes innocently. "Look how upset it looks." The prince looked up, and the fenya hastily changed from Yawn With Teeth to I Am A Sad And Sorry Little Kitten Who Lost My Mummy. It did pretty well, too. "That pooooooor fenya. Look at how sad it is that you don’t like it." She dashed an imaginary tear from her eye, and the fenya purred appreciatively.
The prince looked from the fenya, to her, and then back to the fenya. The fenya pirred at him. He took a step back.
"It’s not going to hurt you," said Than.
"Lady Than," said the prince, "I trust you have noticed that that - that creature has twenty needles on four ends, and about fifty more needles on the fifth end. And, it is very large and it has muscles on it’s muscles, and it looks as if it can run quite fast."
The fenya looked distinctly flattered.
"The High Princess uses them for guards," said Than. She had got used to fenyas in her travels, but she could see his point.
-First Human Female disappeared. dam is trying to find her.-
Both Than and the prince turned and stared at the fenya. "What?" said Than. The fenya leapt lightly from the tree and in front of them, where it sat, arranging it’s tail artistically. Satisfied by the way it’s feet were arranged, it looked up and seemed to admire the shocked looks on Than and the prince’s faces.
-First Human Female disappeared. her dam was trying to get her to marry Nasty Human Male, and First Human Female went in middle of throne room. the Kind was surprised. not seen Human do that in ages. thought Humans had forgot. her own of the Kind followed her, but have not communicated. rest of Kind worried. left Great Big Place and spread out. thus, Nerean here. trying to get to Kappa and others here. is bad in Great Big Place. Nasty Human Male not pleased, dam of First Human Female not pleased, Harper Male having hernias, sire of Harper Male making nasty remarks, Jesacis-Human threatening action with Big Pride Counsel. is very messy right now. the Kind is trying to find First Human Female before it gets worse.-
"Well, shit," said Than.
CHAPTER TWO
The Lady Than had sent the fenya on to the path to the mage it was looking for, and charged it with a message to the effect of the mage could expect them within a week. Somehow, Kieran wasn't exactly surprised that she knew a mage, but he wasn't quite sure about visiting one himself.
Now, however, they were in Laran, a village that was big enough for one castle that doubled as an inn, several tradespeople, and a market on Fairday. It was a very small and humble affair, but one could generally find what one needed - which in Kieran's case was "some non-silvan clothes and a better cloak", according to the Lady Than. She cast a critical eye over him and added, "A new pack, too. Unless you want to put a sign on it that says Magic Pack: Please Steal on it."
"It’s keyed to me," said Kieran, frost dripping from his voice.
"You could add a line. Please Steal the Pack and Me, Too, So You Can Get Everything You Want From The Pack and Hold Me For An Insane Ransom."
"And the hair is going to change."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me." She was leading him rapidly across the market square - such as it was - and to a brightly draped booth. "Nobody has hair like that except for the High Elves."
Kieran took one long pace and ended up beside her. "I’ve been told that my hair is quite human," he said, keeping his voice neutral. His hair was a sore point. It was almost as fine as his lady mother’s, but it would wave and it was black as tar.
"Oh, the color is human enough," said the Lady Than, "but I’d like to see a human male wearing his hair half way down his waist, beaded and braided in fine ribbon."
Kieran thought about that. "Why would you like to see -- " he began, but Lady Than interrupted.
"Human males go for plain," she said. "At least, they do if they don’t want to have questions raised about their manly manhood. Trust me, prince, you need to do something else with your hair."
"I don’t have to cut it off, do I?" Kieran had a vision of himself coming before his bride, his hair grazing his ears, and felt a cold chill go down his spine.
"No, but you’d best club it up some-"
A commotion erupted in the area that they were headed toward. Kieran saw the green robes of a , just before Lady Than said something beneath her breath and dragged him to the side. The was standing in the center of the market, waving a green branch and chanting. Kieran didn’t recognize the words, but they were in a language he’d heard somewhere. The swept a glance over the crowd, "You foolish ones!" she - that was definitely a female voice, but the green robes didn’t reveal sex at all - cried, "Why will you not embrace wisdom?"
"‘She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,’" said the Lady Than, just loud enough so the people around her could hear, "‘Beside the way, where the paths meet.’" [Prov. 8:3] There was a discreet snicker from someone behind them.
"Listen to my words! The holy tree is the Way!"
"And the Truth, and the Light, and no one comes to the Father except by it." Someone giggled.
"It is the Living One! It gives eternal life! Many are the leaves and branches of the Tree, many are the ones who have found LIFE!"
"I don’t believe this," snarled the Lady Than. Kieran flicked a glance at her and prudently stepped back and pretended invisibility. "Those damned tree-huggers!"
Kieran decided not to ask what a tree-hugger was. The lady Than made a complicated hand gesture, and the crowd suddenly began drifting away. The looked confused, but was obviously determined to plow on. Lady Than made another gesture, and Kieran felt the sliding prickles of magic seep into the air. Not magery, nor silvan - but not normal, human power either. The shook her head dazedly and looked down at herself.
Kieran heard her think, ::I - don’t like green. Why am I wearing green? This is ugly. No. The priest says the "I" is--:: and then he shielded, but he could still see the confused look on her face.
The Lady Than grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the shop. Even in the dimmer light, he could see that she was shaking with rage.
"What did you do to her?" he asked.
The lady took several deep, slow breaths. Slowly, the aura of anger and power faded, and she calmed down. "I can - break things," she said. "Make things go away. I just made her doubt for a moment." She turned and surveyed the shop and then eyed him.
"Doubt," repeated Kieran.
The lady sighed. "It’s hard to explain, but sometimes these cults put magic on the members and you can neutralize it. Usually it doesn’t do much, but it does do something. I saw that amber thing on her neck, so I targeted it. I hope it works."
Kieran thought that over. "The amber thing held the magic?"
"Yes, like an amulet." She turned away and began to sort through a stack of clothing. "What colors do you like?"
---
Several hours later, Than had discovered that the prince liked natural fabrics, plain colors and silver fittings, and he hated hats. After some major snarling on both sides, he grudgingly agreed to a hood. And that was only in that one shop. By the time they’d gotten out of their and through a shoemaker’s shop (he "couldn’t like" the boots that the shoemaker suggested, and insisted on a pair of low, soft ones that the shoemaker was obviously planning to chuck in the near future as unsalable) and a leather shop (he fell in violent lust with a natural leather bag and practically clutched it to his bosom and refused to give it up), Than was ready to shoot him. He was perfectly polite, but once he got an idea into his head, be it about shoes or a shirt, he latched on to it and very courteously refused to budge an inch. And if he called or referred to her as ‘Lady Than’ again, she was going to hurt him. He "wasn’t sure what the Lady Than would like", he was sure "that Lady Than would not prefer" something, and he thought that perhaps "Lady Than would rather he got something else."
So they had an argument over that. Kieran claimed that he was merely being respectful, and Than said if he was respectful like that again, she was going to smash his head in with a chamber pot. Kieran thought this over, and then wanted to know why she would touch a chamber pot. Than gritted her teeth, and told him to stop calling her Lady Than. Kieran wanted to know if she had another title, then. Than explained that she didn't have a title, so he didn't need to act as if she had one. Kieran pointed out that she was a female, and thus entitled to respect. Than said if she heard the word 'respect' coming out of his mouth just once more, she wasn't going to be responsible for the consequences. Eventually Than convinced him to stop it, on the grounds that they were going through very dangerous territory and if people thought she was a noblewoman, she could get kidnapped and held for a non-existent ransom, and then where would they be? Kieran looked unconvinced. He would, he claimed, simply rescue her. Than gritted her teeth, again.
They checked into the castle, still arguing, and came to a screeching halt. The lady of the castle wanted to know if they wanted one room or two. Than looked at Kieran. Kieran looked at Than. Than hoped that the look on her face wasn't as horrified as Kieran's, but she wasn't willing to bet on it. "Suite," she said.
Lady Alys nodded. "Escorting him, love?" she asked as she filled out the form. "Don't see many halflings round any more, but I mind my gran telling me stories her mam told her."
"Er, yes," said Than, not daring to look at Kieran's face. "I, um, hadn't realized halflings were so common."
"Oh, they aren't, love. Used to be, though, people'd go out on a full moon and come back couple days later looking a bit shocked. This was when the Woodies were in control, though. They'd look at a body and go, hmm, wonder what they're like, and that's the last you see of them for a bit. The Highs are much more ladeda about those things. Your mother a High Elf, love?" This last to Kieran.
"Yes," he replied, shortly.
"Kind of unusual, that - with the Highs it's the males that go out looking for a bit of fun, usually, can't say I blame them though - I hear the females keep them toeing the line right smartly. I says to Lord Rob, says I, What would you do if I were to control you like those High Elves? and he says to me, says my Rob, Alys, if you tried I'd lock you up in the dungeon with the orcs, and wouldn't you like that? and I says to him, says I, You wouldn't, cos then you'd have to deal with the customers and wouldn't that be a laugh? and my Rob throws back his head and roars in that way of his, laughing, and that's the last we heard of that notion, that's for sure."
She finished filling out the little form and pushed it toward Than. "Good to see you again here, love. I was just saying to my Rob the other day - maybe the week before last - no, it was last week cos the cow got out that very day and got into the elfweed, and wasn't that a mess - said I, It's been a while since we've seen that nice Than, hasn't it, Rob? And he says to me, says he, Well, you see if she doesn't come through soon. It's her time of year. And here you are, and it just goes to show how good my Rob is at predicting this sort of thing."
Than signed and handed the slip back to her. Lady Alys accepted it and continued, "Were you at the market? My son Gil, he comes in and he says, Mam, there's some of those tree-huggers around, and I says, says I, Now don't you get in with that sort, Gil, and he says to me, says my Gil, Mam, you know me better than that, and I says to him, You best not, my lad, those tree huggers give me the cold chills, they do, and I don't want you to get mixed up with them."
"There was only one," said Than. "A female."
Lady Alys shook her head wisely. "Sad, isn't it. Bad enough when the men are getting mixed up with those things, but to drag in women, too...tsk! All right, love, here's your keys, on the back side, just what you like, although I do hope those nasty assassins don't come in, not that I blame you, of course, love, but that blood was terrible to get up - I said to my Rob, said I, I do like that nice Than but it seems like every time she comes in we have to shampoo the carpets and me without the cleaner every time. Ah, well, it's just life, I suppose, but I do think it's positively Providential that I managed to lay in a supply the last time the peddler came by, but I do hope you don't have any trouble."
Than risked a glance at Kieran. He had the glazed look of someone trying to follow Lady Alys's thoughts for the first time, but seemed to be holding up pretty well. "I hope so, too, Lady Alys," she said, sincerely. The assassins had been a true pain in the ass to get rid of. "We'll just go to the suite and come down for dinner, shall we? Are you still serving that divine roast and pudding?"
Lady Alys swelled visibly. "Of course we are, and I'll just trot round to the kitchen right now and tell Cook that you're here and you want some - Cookie'll be so disappointed if you don't pop in sometime, you will, won't you? Nobody appreciates her bikkies like you do." She bustled off, still talking.
---
"There goes the heroine of a great romance," said Than. Kieran raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Her husband was an enchanted bear, and she met him, fell in love, and broke the spell when she was pregnant with their first child."
Kieran looked at Lady Alys's retreating back, which was broad and capable. Her hair was greyish-blonde, and hung down to her waist in a severe and sensible braid. It seemed unlikely, but somehow, he could see her standing in the center of a mage storm, fighting for her mate. "She must been very brave," he said.
---
Kieran was dreaming, he knew he was. He'd had these dreams before. He was standing, watching something unfold, but unable to respond or change things. There was the brave Lady Alys, standing in the center of the mage storm that threatened her and her unborn child, and Lord Rob in the shape of a great black bear, lying still and cold. There was Than, crouched above them on a rock, staring the center of the storm, her lips forming words without sound. She turned and looked at something, and then the storm broke with screaming fury, and he had to look away. The dream changed again, and he saw his lady mother, pale and proud, standing before a man in the dark cloak of a mage, her arms crossed over her stomach, and heard her say, "The child is the mother's."
The child is the mother's, repeated a small, chill voice. Riddle me this, riddle me that, what's the matter with that?
Then he saw a young woman, almost like Than, but not quite, with long black hair woven down her back, dressed in sapphire blue and silver, crying out in a loud voice, "I shall not!" And fenyas roared their reply, and the voice whispered, This is also part of the riddle.
Than again, in strange clothing - a short sleeved black chemise tucked into blue pants, her hair short and spiky, her eyes sad and defiant, sitting in a chariot driven without horses. Beside her was a man with white hair, at her feet a leather bag, and he heard the man say, "Than, you must remember us." She looked at him and replied, "How am I to forget you?" And see that you do not forget as well, Queen's son, mocked the voice, and Kieran shivered in his sleep.
Then the voice surrounded him with the sound of a thousand winds, and it said, Webs and rumors and connections, lives and lives and lives again, you go with Lady Death. Be wary, Queen's son, lest you be taken. The Wanderers gather in the thirteenth house, they come together to pass judgment on one of their own, but cannot agree. Mage's get, the stone Death carries carries her. Beware. Beware. His amber eyes, his wild hair! Beware...
Kieran woke himself up. He lay for a moment, anchoring himself in reality, and then realized that there was something wrong. Something smelt wrong. It was a sort of green, flat smell, rusty and dangerous. He lay very quietly and listened as hard as he could. Very softly came the sound of feet treading as quietly as they could. Kieran took a deep, slow breath, and became a shadow sliding out of the bed, and into the furthest corner of the room.
::do you think he's out?:: came a mind-whisper. Kieran wanted to shield, but he knew he couldn't.
::should be. pumped in enough of that stuff. can you tell about the girl?::
::think she's asleep. she's just a female, you know. plain as dirt::
Kieran nearly laughed.
::let's take the halfling out, then get her. we've got to get the stone.::
Stone. The Blood Rose?
::ready?::
Kieran tensed.
The door opened quietly, and two shadows glided in and headed for the bed. Kieran leapt.
---
Than jerked out of sleep and a dark dream that faded as soon as she woke up. Someone was screaming in Kieran's room. She grabbed at the pouch around her neck that had the Blood Rose - still there - leapt out of bed, grabbed her knife and was halfway across the room in one movement. She rushed into Kieran's room and dove for one of the attackers, her knife singing eagerly as it flew for the shoulder.
"AAAHHH!" the person screamed. Than wrenched the knife out and struck again.
"'Ware!" shouted Kieran, and Than let go of her knife and rolled out of the way of the other person. She just barely saw Kieran fly past her and kick, and her attacker sunk to the ground.
Footsteps pounded outside. "Who attacked?" roared a voice. Lord Rob, by the sound of it. Than staggered to the door and unlocked it. Lord Rob pushed his way in and looked at Than, who leaned panting against the door, and Kieran, who had not so much collapsed as melted onto the bed. Then his eyes dropped to the two still figures on the floor, and then back to Than. "Good thing Alys got the extra cleaner," he said, displaying his usual lack of surprise. Lord Rob was well-known for not turning a hair in the face of anything, up to and including fireworks going off in his face. Than supposed that after one had been turned into a bear, fallen in love while in that state, and been rescued by one's pregnant lover and turned back, one rather lost the ability to be surprised.
"Sorry - 'bout - the mess," Than panted.
Lord Rob shrugged his massive, still bearlike shoulders. "Been meaning to get new carpet in here anyway. At least nobody got disembowelled this time."
CHAPTER THREE
Than and Kieran left Laran before dawn the next morning, followed by the sound of Lady Alys anxiously directing the shampooing of the carpet. Much to Than's regret, the attackers had not survived the night. Kieran had hit one just at the place to kill, and the other had gotten her knife through a vein and bled to death. She would have liked a little chat with them. [details: Can that happen? Would she have been able to pull her knife out again?] They travelled west by the main road, then switched to a cutback going south again. It was a quiet trip - only one idiot, who suddenly remembered that he had an appointment on the other side of the world, and couldn't imagine what he was doing with that large and very sharp knife in his hand - but her nerves were on edge, and Kieran's mood wasn't much better. That business with the thieves came much too soon after they had got the Blood Rose.
She lay down on her pallet and pulled the pouch out from beneath her shirt. She opened it, and the Blood Rose spilled out, with her own star sapphire and a pearl given to her a long time ago, and a smooth but very humble looking piece of rock. She fingered the rock for a moment, and looked at the Blood Rose. A pretty bit of red stone, yes, but not so obviously magical or valuable as to make it worth all the trouble of hiring two professionals capable of compounding that smoke and mind-speech, and getting them to go all the way to Laran.
The Blood Rose. A ruby carved or found in the shape of a full-blown rose. Often said - but she didn't know anything about it. She'd heard of it. Years back, there had been rumors over a high-magic ruby, which was sufficiently unusual to have stuck in her memory. Usually if there were going to be rumors of a high magic anything, it would be some sort of rare, huge diamond that demanded blood every time it switched owners. Those she could deal with. Being held over an iron smelter generally changed the diamond's attitude, and if it didn't, Than had got to the point where she simply shrugged and dropped it. Than put the stone she had been fingering back in the pouch and picked up the Blood Rose.
Kieran sat up. By the light of the fire his face was carved, almost severe, and strange, so strange. Everything was alien again, she hadn't made a life here in this world, she wanted to go home, where she didn't have to worry about rubies and killers and halfling princes. She looked down at the Blood Rose again. It seemed to pulse lazily - and that was another thing. At home, the only rubies that pulsed were ones in legend. She wanted to go home.
Foolishness. She did have a life here, she did. She was just tired, and upset over the assasins - which was ridiculous, because people sent assasins after her almost every month, and she just took care of them.
The Blood Rose was turning warm in her hands. She looked down, and saw color spreading richly through the stone, gathering in the heart, swirling. She could hear Kieran breathing, harsh and fast. The stone's color deepened again, and then spread until her hands were covered by a red glow. The glow darkened, and then began to seep into her skin. She could feel the warmth of it, beginning to fill her blood -
Than flung the stone to the end of her pallet and balled up, curling her knees to her chest and burying her head behind them, shuddering.
"Than?" said Kieran. "Are you all right?"
"Get it away from me!" she wailed. One distant, rational part of her brain said she was being foolish. The rest of her brain didn't care. She sensed rather than saw Kieran moving very slowly across to her pallet and picking up the Blood Rose.
"I've got it," he said, in a voice pitched for calming her. It did enough so that she was aware of resenting him trying to calm her, even while she knew it was working.
[discussion of why it scares her? Than brushes it off, but Kieran keeps Blood Rose. Also begins to realize they LIKE the other, as a person.]
--
Than had been very quiet since the night the Blood Rose had activated - not, Kieran amended, that she was ever loud or talkative, but she seemed to have withdrawn, somehow, and she pushed harder and harder on the trails. Kieran wasn't having any trouble keeping up, but he could see signs that she was beginning to tire. Than was a Wanderer. She was used to being on trails and traveling, and Lady knew she was strong enough. She'd disposed of those thieves easily enough, and the one highwayman who had dared attack was probably still trying to explain to his wife why they weren't having any more children. Surely she knew her limits. Kieran said nothing, but suddenly became clumsy - tripping over invisible roots, stumbling over tiny stones - which meant she had to stop and go back for him, and he could usually manage to drop at least one thing on the way down that required fifteen minutes worth of hunting through brush.
What was really worrying him, though, was that she was letting him. Than was much too observant to not realize what he was doing. Hadn't she told him to stop being sarcastic about deferring to her on the second day out? And nobody, but nobody, got that one.
Something was wrong.
---
The mage they were going to visit lived, as was traditional, in a dark and brooding obsidian tower. What was somewhat less traditional, however, were the riot of roses surrounding it and poking experimentally at the walls of the tower to see if they could take that over completely as well, and the cats hiding and leaping suddenly at each other, and occasionally dive-bombing each other. Kieran couldn't help but stare. He saw very few cats at his mother's court, and he had never, ever seen cats with wings.
"High magic area," said Than. "Cats change easily in magic fields."
"He did this deliberately?"
"No, but you try to get a cat to stay out of things. If they really disliked it they could change back - no, Stargazer, I'm here to see your human!"
Stargazer hovered in midair and looked disgusted. Then it took off again and soared to the top of the tower. Kieran watched it. It was beautiful and graceful, the wings spreading easily and joyously.
"She used to be in a feral colony," said Than, "Some idiot dumped her. Then she stumbled onto the portal here and got in with the mage."
"They all look happy," said Kieran. A kitten, still with down instead of feathers on it's wings, was climbing up his boot. Kieran bent and picked it up, and it purred like a very small beehive. Than tickled it gently behind it's silky ear, and it purred louder, if possible.
Than led the way to the entrance to the tower. It creaked open forbiddingly, and a dark-cloaked figure stood in the center of it. Thunder rumbled obligingly in the distance, and an aura of brooding menace filled the air.
---
"Knock it off, Ice Falcon," said Than. "People who want to be known as big bad mages shouldn't have cats and roses."
The mage deflated. "Weren't you just a little scared?" he asked, looking as wistful as anyone could wrapped in a huge dark cloak that hid their face completely.
"No," said Than, "I wasn't. And neither was Kieran, was he?"
Kieran blinked. "Scared of what?" The kitten had escaped his gentle grasp and was climbing toward his shoulder. "Er. You mean the thunder?"
"Damn," said the mage.
"The aura of brooding menace was quite good," said Kieran, trying to be helpful. "Except it helps if you use glamour to make yourself taller, like this." He cast an illusion, just a quick one, but respectable. He broke it, and looked at them. They were perfectly still and staring at him. "What's wrong?" They kept staring, and he grew uneasy. "Than? What did I do?"
"Well, hell," said Than. "Kieran, what do you know about your dad?"
CHAPTER FOUR
Poor Kieran looked even more confused. "But I always thought my father was a human," he said.
"He might have been human," said Ice Falcon, "But he was also a mage. Have another bikkie." He took his own advice, and crunched thoughtfully on it. Than took one, too. Most mages would rather face any fate you named than do something so mundane as cooking, but Ice Falcon was eccentric.
A soft paw patted her on the cheek, and she broke off a bit and offered it to Plato, a grave and regal winged tabby. It was sniffed at, pondered, and finally accepted. "Aren't most mages human?" she asked. "Or halfling human-mix?"
"Well, not exactly," said Ice Falcon. "It's the magic thing, again. You start out something and after a while you've had enough accidents and power radiation that species starts becoming a bit flexible, if you see what I mean. Like the cats."
"M'aow!" said Plato, looking insulted.
"You aren't felis domestica anymore, Plato," said Ice Falcon, as if this were an old argument. "We agreed. You are felis domestica var. avis, remember?"
Plato laid his ears back.
"As I was saying," said the mage, loudly, "We get enough radiation so that we're really a separate species, and that we can interbreed with most of the setinent species, but we usually look like the species we started out as."
"So if a cat became a mage, they'd still look like a cat, but - I'm confused," said Than. "If a cat mage married a human, would they have kittens?"
"No. The offspring would look like a mix of the two species. Like Kieran here has both silvan and human characteristics."
Than thought that over, and then, enlightened, said, "Is that why Valtr (or whatever the hell he's calling himself now) has whiskers? And fur?"
"Yes." Ice Falcon pushed Stargazer away from the pot. "You know, he purrs when he's happy?"
"Really. Is he ever going to get married?"
"This is all very interesting," said Kieran, "And I am quite fascinated, but what the hell made you think my father was a mage?"
Than looked at Ice Falcon, who looked back at her. Than sighed. "Put it this way," she said. "You know when you did the illusion bit?"
Kieran nodded. "It was just a bit of glamour," he said, spreading out his hands and raising his shoulders defensively. "I made myself taller and broader, but that was all."
"Not exactly," said Than. "You turned into a shadow-beast." She watched his face carefully. If he knew what a shadow-beast was, if he really knew his heritage --
Kieran looked more confused than ever. "What's a shadow-beast?"
"It's a long story," said the mage.
---
Once upon a time, the mage said, the worlds were less fixed in their places, and portals between them opened easily. That was the great age of the Wanderers, and of mages, who traveled between the worlds as easily as mortals traveled from room to room in their own houses. It was, as the poet so aptly said, an interesting time to live, and the mortals lived in high holy terror of the mages and the portals. The time came at last that one very foolish or brave mage opened one portal too many, and the first shadow-beast came over.
The shadow-beasts were swift and silent as darkness, and if not - quite - evil, certainly didn't operate by the same rules everybody else did. Some said they looked like huge wolves or panthers, some said they were like beautiful, dark men. Some people called them the sons of God. In any case, shortly after their arrival, the portals began to close, trapping them in the worlds. Some simply disappeared. Some became corrupted, and drank blood, and some became obsessed with purity. Most of them married mortals or mage-women. Eventually, there was a great magestorm, and they disappeared off the worlds, but their influence lingered in the children the mortal and mage women had borne them.
The funny thing about shadow-beast blood, and the dangerous thing, was that it was never neutral. Sometimes it wouldn't pop up for generations, and then all of a sudden some poor woman would give birth to a panther or wolf or a child with long fangs and an evil aura, or, what was almost worse, a child who was gentle and loving and good, sweet and beautiful - who was nearly certain to die before puberty. The blood was gradually dying out but it still popped up occasionally.
Now, for example, the only person known to have shadow-beast blood was Valtr, and that was thought to be pretty far back. There was a rumor going round that one of the branches of the High Princess's family had shadow-beast blood, but nobody had managed to confirm anything beyond the fact that one branch had a tendency to produce dark haired girls who died young, which could happen to anybody. And now Kieran had shown up.
"Thing is," said Than, "This makes things really complicated."
"I should like to know how," he snapped. "It only makes me more of a freak than I am already, after all."
"You aren't a freak," said Than calmly. "But this does bring up the interesting question of why and how your mother met up with your father."
"What the hell does that matter? My lady mother met a mage with shadow-beast blood, decided to lie with him and had me nine months later. What difference does it make about which way she found him?" The kitten in his lap shifted and gave a small squeak, and he realised that he was holding it too tightly. He relaxed his hold and began to stroke it's back. The kitten began to purr again.
"The matter is," said the mage quietly, "Did your mother know that she was lying with a mage with shadow-beast blood? And if she did, why did she do it?"
---
It was supper before Than remembered about the Heiress and the fenya. "Did Nerean get to you?"
"Yes. He took Kappa and Ker with him. It doesn't look very good. If Saphirine doesn't want to be found, she won't be, even by the fenyas. I'm surprised Stelli and Bagheera managed to follow her." He took a sip of wine and shook his head. "I don't like it. The College knew that Saphirine had a strong gift, but it's lain dormant til now."
"Nerean didn't seem to like the man her mother chose for her very much," said Than, carefully.
"He's an ass," the mage said shortly. "He might be dangerous, except he's too vain."
"Hmm," said Than. "If he's not dangerous, why would she not want him?"
"Because he wants to take over the world." The mage raised a significant eyebrow.
"Oho!" said Than. "That sort?"
"Yes," said the mage. "That sort. He's got her mother completely under his thumb - and I'm not going to say I don't know why, because I do - but can't marry her because she doesn't need a heir, and even if she did, she'd have to get the Council's approval and they would give that only if flying pigs flew over Lywyn singing a hymn to the Lady."
"Hmm," said Than. Things were beginning to look more and more complex. "Damn."
"Of course," the mage said carelessly, "The Wanderer has no responsibility for the doings of the High Princess, and thus no interest."
"I do when it comes straight on the heels of ritual sacrifice," said Than bluntly. The mage sat up.
"Ritual sacrifice?" he repeated. "But none of the blood mages around here have done rituals since the last blue moon."
"Someone's attacking elves with steel," said Than. "I don't like things like that happening in my territory, and the blood mages know it. Then this thing comes up with the High Princess, and now the prince I'm escorting looks to have mage blood - and shadow-beast blood."
Kieran stirred. "Nice to know one is more than an inconvenience," he murmured politely. Than ignored him. He was still upset from the afternoon. "Don't forget the thieves," he said.
"Thieves?" said the mage.
"And the Blood Rose, and the reaction you had," continued Kieran.
"Kieran, shut up," said Than.
Ice Falcon froze. "I beg your pardon," he said finally, "I thought you said 'Blood Rose'?"
"You know of it?" said Than. "I'd heard of a high-magic ruby, but that was it."
"You could say that," said Ice Falcon. "Put it this way: What the hell was a silvan High Queen doing with one of the major artifacts of the shadow-beasts, and why did she only give it up when the son she had by one of them left?"
--
Too many questions.
Kieran was in the high, cold place again, watching the questions parade past him in neat rows and lines. If he could read them, he could answer them, but they went past in a blur, and all he could make out were What and Why and Where and How and an endless amount of question marks. He turned away in despair, and was sucked away into a vortex
The young woman, her hair razored off now, begging for food. he tried to find something for her to eat but it was impossible, so he looked around and found a sharp rock, so he could cut off some of his flesh for her, but before he could make the first slice, someone took the rock from him. He looked and saw a young man, dressed in the clothing of a harper, but with the silver circlet of a prince, raise the rock and cut off his own right hand before Kieran could stop him
lady, said the young man, here I am, and he offered the hand to the woman, who had grown thinner even as Kieran watched. She took an eager step forward -
and stopped.
don't give in don't give in don't give in, Kieran tried to scream, but he had no voice, and the princess had to decide
by herself.
She was, always and forever,
by herself.
Kieran bowed his head in the face of her pain, and when he raised it again, he saw her carefully fitting the harper-prince's hand back to his wrist. It healed, and the only trace left was a thin red line.
He felt the touch of the cold wind again, and it said, Well, shadow-born, what do you think of that?
And he replied, She is dying of despair, isn't she?
Observant of you, shadow-born, very observant of you indeed. What shall she do, shadow-born? Take the flesh, or be alone?
He looked again and saw that the harper had detached his hand again and offered it to her again, and she had grown so thin her skull showed through her fragile skin, and her wrists and jaw showed like sharp razors through her flesh. She lifted her head and looked straight at Kieran, and her eyes asked him, What shall I do? If I take it, he will die, and if I do not, I will starve. He opened his mouth to answer, and stopped.
It is not for me to decide, he said, hating himself for his answer even as he replied.
The wind howled over and over again and he was flung against glass walls and back against the vortex.
how would you like to be
the savior of the world
shadowborn?
how would you like to be
SOMEBODY?
how would you like, hissed the voice
To be a MAN?
I'm not a man, he tried to scream, I'm a halfling
halfling, the word echoed, halfling halfling, halfling...
halfling
"Kieran!"
Something grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him. Still in the dream, he flung himself away, but the grip remained.
"Kieran! You're dreaming! Wake up!"
Than. That was Than. He dragged himself up and looked around. He was still in the mage's tower, in bed. He wasn't in the high cold place. "Oh, gods," he said. He was still cold, so cold. Than was kneeling on the edge of the bed, staring at him with wide eyes.
"You were screaming," she said. "First you told someone not to give in, and then you kept saying you were a halfling." She started to reach out to him, and hesitated. Kieran was beyond pride. He took her hand before she could draw it back. He felt her warmth and strength flowing through him, and he tried to stop it. He couldn't take it. It was wrong.
"No," said Than, "It's all right. Be still."
He tried to say, But I'll take too much, but her grip tightened and he realized that the flow was going both directions. As she flowed into him, he flowed into her.
They sat there for a long while, holding hands and listening to the beat of their hearts.
---
Kieran swore, and flung his razor away. Than, lying on her pallet, reflected that she was probably a bad influence on him. "I don't see why you even bother," she said, keeping the winged kitten away from her face and her avowed goal of washing Than's nose off. Ice Falcon had talked them into taking Aria with them when they left - not that he had to talk very hard to convince Kieran. Kieran was desperately in love with the kitten, who was perfectly aware that she had him wrapped around her pretty little paw. Than had taken a bit more convincing. The only reason she had agreed was because she knew that Aria could get to safety via Scrod-space any time she needed to.
"I always shave," said Kieran, in the same tone someone would say they always breathed.
"You hate doing it, and it's nearly impossible to do with that little mirror," she pointed out. "At the rate you're going, you'll look like you went through a meat chopper before we get to Ysandra's territory."
Kieran made a face - whether at the thought of a meat chopper, or getting to Ysandra's territory, Than couldn't tell. "I've always shaved," he repeated. "And elves don't have facial hair, so of course everyone noticed." He picked up the razor and the small mirror and studied the latest bleeding cut. "Buggrit," he said absently, "I'm out of the sticking plaster."
Than whooped with laughter. Aria, insulted, hopped down from Than's convulsed figure and went to Kieran, who stared at Than. The look on his face, when she finally settled down, set her off again.
"I should like to know what's so funny," he said, coldly.
"You don't know what 'buggrit' means, do you?" asked Than, wiping her eyes.
"No, but I am quite sure you are going to enlighten me," he said. Than reflected he was awfully cute when he tried to stand on his dignity.
Than told him. She even sang the song.
Kieran's brows drew together, a sure sign he was trying to think too hard. "Why would you -" he began, and then shook his head. "I don't want to know."
Than looked at him, and then around at the area. It was dark forest, abandoned and brooding. The trees rustled sinisterly, and the air smelt of loam and leaf mould. Hmm. "You know," she said, casually, "It might be safer if you didn't shave for a while."
"Safer?" repeated Kieran. "(Aria, get off, please.)" The kitten grudgingly fluttered down to his lap instead of his shoulder. "(Thank you.) Why would it be safer?"
Than thought about being tactful, but decided there was no good way to do it. "Vampires," she said. "Shifters. Nasty things that like blood. No use encouraging them."
"Really," said Kieran.
"Really," said Than. "Last cycle, some idiot came through this way and got half torn to bits. I found him two days later, still babbling."
"Then why are we going this way?" Kieran began to stroke Aria carefully.
"Because," said Than, "If any of them dared bothered me I'd have them over a hot rowan barbecue, and they know it. Still, better safe than sorry."
"Well," said Kieran, "If it's safer..."
Than suppressed a smile. "Much, much safer," she said, solemnly.
Kieran slanted a glance at her. He didn't usually look related to his mother at all, but sometimes he got a look or an air that was her, set in masculine flesh. This was one of those times. "It would be interesting to see how many things are actually out there," he said. He even sounded like her, Than thought. He had the same cool, haughty and polite ironic tone.
On cue, Aria froze, hissed and disappeared. Kieran cast his eyes to the heavens. "Stop taking me literally!" he yelled. Than would have laughed, but she was too busy scooping up her bow and an arrow and getting ready to aim. Something bounded into the circle of fire. It was more lupine than human, a thing from the very back of mankind's collective nightmares. It smelt of decay and wet dog. "Foooood," it hissed, through fangs as long as Than's finger. "Maaaate. Huuuuungrrry."
"Oh, for God's sake," said Than, disgustedly. It turned its red, glowing eyes toward her, and tried to smile. Despite herself, Than felt a cold chill slither down her spine. She lifted the bow and shot. The arrow sang toward the beast and imbedded itself to the beast's shoulder. Than swore.
Kieran came up behind her, a silent shadow holding a wicked dagger. Than had just enough time to wonder where the hell he'd gotten it before it flew toward the beast. The song it sang was lower than the arrow, but just as deadly. It didn't miss. It sank, deep and true, into the thing's breastbone. It was just their rotten luck that it only made the thing more maddened. It roared, a sound of pain and anger. "FOOOOD!" it shouted, "MAAATE! HUUUNGRRRY!" and lowered its head and charged.
This was going to be a really lousy way to die.
---
Kieran didn't want to die. Life was just getting interesting.
More to the point, he didn't want Than to die. There was something in that thought that he needed to reason through. He didn't have time, though. "MOVE!" he shouted. Than rolled just in time to avoid the creature's grasping claws, and Kieran threw himself into the gap. "Run!"
"Are you MAD?" screamed Than. "You'll die!"
He was too busy ducking the creature's grasp to answer, but if he hadn't he would had said, Better me than you. He forced an illusion into being - not the one that Than and the mage had called the shadowbeast, but the other, the icy one. And, as always, time slowed to a frozen crawl.
Well, shadowborn, said the voice, unpleasantly, You call me.
Save Than! he screamed.
What will you pay?
Kieran rolled away from the creature in agonizingly slow motion. He was about to answer, Anything, when he paused. The voice couldn't be trusted. He knew that. And yet Than must be saved - there must be another way, there must, there must. The passion of his desire burned him, burned the icy illusion away, and he became a flame. He was a golden fire that stepped into the flames of the camp fire and felt nothing, that beckoned the creature to him, and burnt the evil away.
The creature screamed anew, and flung itself out of the fire. Kieran-fire followed him and stood between it and Than. The creature reached for him and wrapped its claws around him, and Kieran felt himself fading away into blackness.
No good, he thought dully. No good. Even his best wasn't good enough. He tried and tried, but he was never good enough. He had failed. Run, he tried to say, Run before it finishes me. Best Beloved, I am sorry...
Part Two of Meg's Awful College Novel here, read and review plz omgkthx :(