Sianim 01 - Masques

show him that it wasn’t him she’d distrusted but her own perceptions. Once she’d started talking, she couldn’t stop. “I have never been so frightened in my entire life,” she whispered. “I always thought that I was strong-willed, but even with my mother’s blood to help me resist the spells, I couldn’t completely block the feeling that I wanted to please him.” Her voice died.
    For a long time there were only the sounds of the forest—the wind in the trees, a creek nearby, and a cricket singing.
    She sighed. “I might have been able to block it entirely toward the last—when I knew what the spells were and how he worked them; but I couldn’t, because I had to act as if the spell were having its effect on me. Sometimes I think . . . that maybe I didn’t want to block the spell because it made me feel so much better . . .” She knew that she would have bruises in the morning from gripping herself so hard. She took a shuddering breath and put her forehead down on her knees. “I can’t get him out of my mind. I think some of it is still his magic, but I see his face every time I close my eyes.”
    Slowly, Wolf stood up and left his place. He sat down and leaned against her. She loosed her grip on her legs and ran a hand in the thick pelt.
    A cold nose worked its way under her arm, and his warm, wet tongue licked at her chin until she squealed and pulled away with a quavering laugh, wiping at her face with her sleeves.
    The wolf smiled, as wolves do, and rolled over against her on his back. She rubbed his stomach (something that he didn’t allow in public) and one back leg snapped rapidly back and forth as she caught just the right spot.
    After he felt he had cheered her up, he said in his usual cool voice that sounded wrong coming out of a wolf getting his stomach rubbed, “Don’t worry about it, Lady. Living in that place for any length of time will twist your thoughts and feelings until what you feel and what he wants you to feel are tangled together in a knot that would baffle a sailor.” His voice was gentler, sounding like velvet on gravel. “Time will help.”
    “I know,” replied Aralorn, then continued in a lighter tone, “but I’m not looking forward to the next decade or so.”
    Wolf rolled over with improbable quickness and nipped her lightly on the hand in response to her quip, tacitly agreeing with her unspoken decision that the discussion was too serious.
    Aralorn tilted her head to the side, a slow grin twisting her lips. “So you want to fight, do you?” She tackled him and began a wrestling match that left them both flat on the ground and panting.
    “Will you be able to sleep now?” he asked, rather hoarsely, even for him. “I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.”
    She nodded and rolled over until she was on the bedding, unwilling to use enough energy to get up and walk. She mumbled a good night that lost most of its consonants. He touched his nose to her cheek and woofed softly before curling up against her.

    In the end, it was the stallion that woke them both. The high-pitched whistle split the night.
    Aralorn leapt to her feet and had the bed rolled up almost before she opened her eyes. Bridling and saddling took somewhat longer as the obstinate beast wouldn’t stand still. As she worked, she kept an eye on the wolf as he stared into the night. At his signal, she left what was not already attached to the saddle and mounted the stallion, who was already trotting. Although not built for running, Sheen managed a very credible speed as he followed the wolf’s lead. The Uriah were close enough behind them that they could hear the howls the beasts made when they found their camp.
    Aralorn had fought the Uriah before, and she knew that they were faster than any horse—certainly faster than Sheen. The creatures were too close behind and gaining quickly. She drew her sword and slowed the stallion in preparation for facing them.
    Noticing that Sheen was slowing, the wolf darted back and nipped at the stallion’s heels, nimbly dodging the war-trained horse’s well-placed kick.
    “No,” Wolf snarled at her. “You don’t stand a chance against the number that we have behind us. If you keep going, I can lure them away.” With that, he began to veer off, but Aralorn guided Sheen to block his path.
    She shook her head and shouted over the sounds of the Uriah, “It’s me that they want. They won’t follow you, and even if they did, it would mean that you would