she drank. It took all of her self-control to keep from gulping down the entire bottle at once. Finally she lowered the bottle, gasping for breath but feeling a tremendous sense of relief. “How can I ever repay you?”
“Repay?”
“You know,” Mari said. But Mage Alain looked back at her as if he didn’t know at all. “I’m in your debt,” she said. “For the water. So I asked how I could pay you for it.”
“Pay.” The Mage shook his head. “That is a matter for elders to deal with.”
“I wasn’t talking about giving you money.”
He eyed her with that unrevealing expression. “I have no use for money.”
She felt a twinge of fear, and let her expression harden as she gazed back at him. “I hope you don’t think you’re going to get anything else from me.”
Was that puzzlement in the Mage’s eyes again? “I do not want anything from you. Why do you prepare to fight?”
Mari realized that one of hands was gripping her pistol. She let go of the weapon and forced herself to relax. “I— Sorry.” That earned another blank look. “You don’t know what ‘sorry’ means?”
The merest hint of a frown line appeared on the Mage’s brow, as if he were struggling to remember something. “It is forbidden,” he finally said.
“Forbidden,” she repeated. “Why?”
The Mage shook his head. “The teachings of my Guild.”
“Guild secrets?” Not too many hours ago she would have laughed, thinking that the only secret the Mage Guild had to keep was the fact that it was all a fraud. But she had seen some inexplicable things since then. “It has something to do with that heat you created?”
He gazed back at her silently, no trace of emotion visible.
“Guild secrets,” Mari answered herself. “Fine. I understand that you can’t talk about that. Whatever the reason is, I wasn’t trying to insult you or hurt your feelings. ‘How can I repay you’ is just an expression, another way of saying thanks.”
“Oh.” The Mage sagged back against a rock. His expedition seemed to have exhausted him again, as if whatever he had done to stay hidden had cost him a lot of extra effort. “I am unused to different ways of…of saying thanks.”
“I’d noticed,” Mari said. “What’s it like down there?”
“There are still some bandits present. I got close enough to overhear their conversation.”
“I’m not sure I would’ve had the courage to do that,” Mari admitted frankly. She saw a hint of surprise on Mage Alain’s face, then a trace of embarrassment.
When the Mage gets tired, he doesn’t hold his mask as well. Good. I prefer being with someone who acts at least a little human. Too bad being exhausted and getting out of this alive are mutually exclusive.
Mage Alain pointed back down the way the caravan had come that morning. “They believe you must have stolen a mount from one of the guards and fled down the road. Most of them have pursued on their own mounts, feeling sure they will run you down by morning at the latest.”
Mari inhaled deeply, trying to suppress a shudder. “They are after me. Did you hear why?”
“No.”
“They didn’t track us up the side of the pass, then? They didn’t find where you had killed those three bandits?”
The Mage nodded. “Yes, they found that place. But since it was clearly the act of a Mage, and none of the weapons were taken, their leaders believe that is the way I fled. They believe I will soon die alone in the desert waste, and assume since I went that way no Mechanic would willingly have taken the same path.”
She smiled at the chance that had misled her pursuers. “It wasn’t entirely willingly, I have to admit. We were under some pressure.”
“I do not understand why you keep saying ‘we’ or ‘us’ when you speak of you and I,” Mage Alain said. “The two of us are together, but hardly companions.”
Mari bent her head, resting her forehead on one hand and feeling incredibly weary now that her thirst had been
“Repay?”
“You know,” Mari said. But Mage Alain looked back at her as if he didn’t know at all. “I’m in your debt,” she said. “For the water. So I asked how I could pay you for it.”
“Pay.” The Mage shook his head. “That is a matter for elders to deal with.”
“I wasn’t talking about giving you money.”
He eyed her with that unrevealing expression. “I have no use for money.”
She felt a twinge of fear, and let her expression harden as she gazed back at him. “I hope you don’t think you’re going to get anything else from me.”
Was that puzzlement in the Mage’s eyes again? “I do not want anything from you. Why do you prepare to fight?”
Mari realized that one of hands was gripping her pistol. She let go of the weapon and forced herself to relax. “I— Sorry.” That earned another blank look. “You don’t know what ‘sorry’ means?”
The merest hint of a frown line appeared on the Mage’s brow, as if he were struggling to remember something. “It is forbidden,” he finally said.
“Forbidden,” she repeated. “Why?”
The Mage shook his head. “The teachings of my Guild.”
“Guild secrets?” Not too many hours ago she would have laughed, thinking that the only secret the Mage Guild had to keep was the fact that it was all a fraud. But she had seen some inexplicable things since then. “It has something to do with that heat you created?”
He gazed back at her silently, no trace of emotion visible.
“Guild secrets,” Mari answered herself. “Fine. I understand that you can’t talk about that. Whatever the reason is, I wasn’t trying to insult you or hurt your feelings. ‘How can I repay you’ is just an expression, another way of saying thanks.”
“Oh.” The Mage sagged back against a rock. His expedition seemed to have exhausted him again, as if whatever he had done to stay hidden had cost him a lot of extra effort. “I am unused to different ways of…of saying thanks.”
“I’d noticed,” Mari said. “What’s it like down there?”
“There are still some bandits present. I got close enough to overhear their conversation.”
“I’m not sure I would’ve had the courage to do that,” Mari admitted frankly. She saw a hint of surprise on Mage Alain’s face, then a trace of embarrassment.
When the Mage gets tired, he doesn’t hold his mask as well. Good. I prefer being with someone who acts at least a little human. Too bad being exhausted and getting out of this alive are mutually exclusive.
Mage Alain pointed back down the way the caravan had come that morning. “They believe you must have stolen a mount from one of the guards and fled down the road. Most of them have pursued on their own mounts, feeling sure they will run you down by morning at the latest.”
Mari inhaled deeply, trying to suppress a shudder. “They are after me. Did you hear why?”
“No.”
“They didn’t track us up the side of the pass, then? They didn’t find where you had killed those three bandits?”
The Mage nodded. “Yes, they found that place. But since it was clearly the act of a Mage, and none of the weapons were taken, their leaders believe that is the way I fled. They believe I will soon die alone in the desert waste, and assume since I went that way no Mechanic would willingly have taken the same path.”
She smiled at the chance that had misled her pursuers. “It wasn’t entirely willingly, I have to admit. We were under some pressure.”
“I do not understand why you keep saying ‘we’ or ‘us’ when you speak of you and I,” Mage Alain said. “The two of us are together, but hardly companions.”
Mari bent her head, resting her forehead on one hand and feeling incredibly weary now that her thirst had been
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