“Look at me.”
She met his gaze evenly, unafraid, wishing he would stop talking.
“You know this changes nothing, don't you?”
She shook her head wordlessly, wanting to deny him, not trusting herself to speak.
“Nothing can be altered, R'shiel. Whatever happens, if you succeed or fail, I cannot alter the bargain I made.”
“But —”
“There are no buts. No loopholes. No way out. Do you understand that?”
R'shiel felt fresh tears prick her eyes as she nodded her reluctant agreement.
“Then understand this, too. You are part-human, R'shiel, but you are also part-Harshini. There is so much you don't understand. So much you have yet to learn. You can't send Sanctuary out of time until sunrise. We have one night. I can show you a part of being Harshini that you cannot possibly imagine. But I'm not doing this for payment and I don't want you doing it out of guilt, or to get even with Tarja. Tomorrow, you will still be the demon child, he will still be the Lord Defender, and I will still be the half-breed who will die as soon as you succeed. There is no future. There is only now. The choice is yours.” His eyes bored into her, demanding an answer. Then he added huskily, “Stay, or stay out of my way until morning.”
The decision was harder than she imagined. But tomorrow was a lifetime away, and deep down, despite everything she had seen, everything she had done, R'shiel was still not convinced that she was ruled by her destiny.
“I want to stay.”
He searched her face, looking for some sign that she was uncertain. When he found none, he smiled briefly and his eyes began to darken as he kissed her again, harder, and more hungrily. R'shiel followed his lead and kissed him back, opening her mouth to his and her mind to the power. Her eyes blackened until they were orbs of glittering ebony as the intoxicating sweetness filled her. Brak reached for her, not with his hands but with his mind. The space between them blurred as he wove an enchantment around them that left no room for anything but a sweet, seductive desire that had no parallel in the human world.
This was what the legends spoke of. This was the gift of the Harshini that ruined humans for any other lover. She'd heard stories about it. The Novices had whispered about it in the dormitories late at night, fascinated and repelled by it. The Sisterhood had tried to destroy the Harshini for fear of it. All the violence they could not contemplate, all the conflict they could not confront was transformed into this offering, this all-consuming, passionate inferno that consumed every thought, every fibre of one's being in the pursuit of mutual pleasure. It was the ultimate expression of the Harshini quest for happiness.
R'shiel lost all sense of time; could not separate reality from fantasy. She did not know how they got to the bed or how long the night lasted. She could not distinguish touch from desire, or pleasure from pain. Nothing she had experienced in the past had prepared her for this and nothing would ever come close to it in the future.
It was the first time she truly understood the meaning of magic.
Brak shook her awake at sunrise. She turned in his arms, a little surprised that she was still holding onto the power. It filled her with a heavy, languid weariness.
“Time to get up and do your good deed for the day, demon child,” he reminded her with a smile.
“Brak, I...”
“No,” he said, placing a finger on her lips to silence her. “Don't say it.”
She smiled and nodded. “I was going to ask if there's anything to eat. I'm starving.”
“I'll find something while you're getting dressed.”
By the time Brak returned with a platter of impossibly perfect fruit, grown here in Sanctuary where even the grubs were considerate of others, R'shiel was dressed and ready to leave. They ate as they walked through the silent halls. Brak made no attempt at conversation and R'shiel didn't try to engage him. There was nothing to be said. He had laid down the conditions of their one night together and they bound her, despite what it would cost her in the future. There was nothing to be gained by talking about it.
The sun was almost over the peaks as they stepped through the Gateway and out into the chill, snow- covered mountains. They walked some distance from the fortress before R'shiel stopped and turned to look back at Sanctuary.
“I wonder how long it will have to remain hidden?”
“Not as long as the last time, I hope.”
She frowned. “If I get this wrong, we may never be able to find it again.”
“Then don't get it wrong,” he suggested dryly.
She hesitated a moment, framing her next question carefully. “Can I ask you something, Brak, about last night?” When he did not answer, she chose to take his silence as permission. “When we... well, could the other Harshini feel it?”
“Yes.”
She felt her face redden with embarrassment, but that was not what she wanted to know. “What about the demons?”
“If they were paying attention.”
“And the gods?”
“Certainly.”
“So Kalianah would know?”
“Oh, yes, Kalianah would know.”
“Would Xaphista have felt it?”
“Undoubtedly.”
She tossed her apple core to a curious squirrel come to investigate them. “Good.”
He stared at her curiously.
“I
“If it's any consolation, he was probably squirming the whole night. When he rose to power the first thing he did was forbid his people to indulge in anything so wantonly pleasurable. They call all sex a sin now in Karien, but his original intention was to stop his people consorting with the Harshini. He had that in common with the Sisterhood. They too were afraid of the effect it had on humans. It's like a drug, in some ways. As the only way to get more of it is to have a relationship with a Harshini who can't abide violence, the end result was a fairly peaceful and very happy community - back in the days before Xaphista and the Sisters of the Blade.”
“And a lot of half-breeds,” she added with a grin.
“That too.”
“So Xaphista despises pleasure.”
“He's afraid that it will distract his people from him.”
R'shiel nodded, filing the information away for future reference. Then, unable to delay what she was planning any longer, she drew even more of the power she was still channelling and turned her attention to Sanctuary. The fortress glittered in the sunrise, as if it had put on its best face to bid them farewell.
With infinite care, R'shiel wove the glamour Shananara had taught her, sending the threads of power over and around Sanctuary. In the background, she could feel Brak linked to her, guiding her hand. He had the training to help her envelop Sanctuary, but only she and Shananara had the strength to fling it beyond the reach of mortals.
When she was certain she had wrapped every part of the settlement in her magical cocoon, she hesitated. She felt Brak sever the link that joined them as he let go of his power. What she was about to do would destroy him if he stayed coupled to her.
She glanced at him, saw his eyes had returned to their usual faded blue and then gathered her strength. With a mighty push, she flung every ounce of power she was holding towards Sanctuary. It shimmered for a moment, almost as if it was fighting to stay put, and then, with a boom that rolled over the mountains like a distant thunderstorm, Sanctuary disappeared from sight.
R'shiel was sagging from the effort, but Brak caught her before she could fall. She let go of the power with
