breeches.
'Merchant -- ' Tarma said, suddenly.
He paused halfway through the door.
'I, too, have known loss. You will have your revenge.'
He shivered at the look in her eyes, and left.
'Well?' Tarma asked, shutting the door behind him and leaning her back up against it.
'Magic's afoot here. It's the only answer to what's been going on. I don't think it's easy to deceive this merchant -- he caught on to our 'divide and conquer' trick right away. He's no soft money-counter, either.'
'I saw the sword-calluses.' Tarma balanced herself on one foot, set the other against the door, and folded her arms. 'Did he tell us all he knew?'
'I think so. I don't think he held anything back after he played his high card.'
'The niece? He also didn't want us to know how much he valued her. Damn. This is a bad piece of business. Poor bastard.'
'He'd rather we thought the loss of goods and trade meant more to him,' Kethry replied. 'They're a secretive lot in many ways, these traders.'
'Almost as secretive as sorceresses, no?' One corner of Tarma's thin lips quirked up in a halfsmile. The smile vanished as she thought of something else.
'Is there any chance that any of the women survived?'
'Not to put too fine a point upon it, no. This -- ' Kethry patted the hilt of her sword ' -- would have told me if any of them had. The pull is there, but without the urgency there'd be if there was anyone needing rescue. Still, we need more information, so I might as well add that to the set of questions I intend to ask.'
Concern flickered briefly in Tarma's eyes. 'An unprepared summoning? Are you sure you want to risk it? If nothing else, it will wear you down, and you have all those illusions to cast.'
'I think it's worth it. There aren't that many hostile entities to guard against in this area, and I'll have all night to rest afterward -- most of tomorrow as well, once we reach that farmstead. And my 'arsenal' is full, my nonpersonal energies are completely charged, and my other-Planar alliances doing well. It won't be any problem.'
'You're the magic-worker,' Tarma sighed. 'Since we've hired this room for the whole evening, want to make use of it for your magicking? It's bigger than our sleeping room.'
At Kethry's nod, Tarma pushed the table into a corner, stacking the benches on top of it, while Kethry set the oil lamp on the mantlepiece. Most of the floorspace was now cleared.
'I'll keep watch on the door.' Tarma sat on the floor with her back firmly braced against it. Since it opened inward, the entrance was now solidly guarded against all but the most stubborn of intruders.
Kethry inscribed a circle on the floor with powders from her belt-pouch, chanting under her breath. She used no dramatic or spectacular ceremonies for she had learned her art in a gentler school than the other sorcerers Tarma had seen. Her powers came from the voluntary cooperation of other-Planar entities and she never coerced them into doing her bidding.
There were advantages and disadvantages to this. She need not safeguard herself against the deceptions and treacheries of these creatures, but the cost to her in terms of her own energies expended was correspondingly higher. This was particularly true at times when she had no chance to prepare herself for a summoning. It took a great deal of power to attract a being of benign intent -- particularly one that did not have a previous alliance with her -- and more to convince it that her intent was good. Hence, the circle -- meant not to protect her, but to protect what she would call, so that it would know itself unthreatened.
As she seated herself within the circle, Tarma shifted her own position until she, too, was quite comfortable, removed one of her hidden daggers, and began honing it with her sharpening-stone.
After some time, there was a stirring in the circle Kethry had inscribed, and Tarma pulled her attention away from her task. Something was beginning to form mistily in front of the seated sorceress.
The mist began to revolve into a miniature whirlpool, coalescing into a figure as it did so. As it solidified, Tarma could see what seemed to be a jewel-bright desert lizard, but one that stood erect, like a man. It was as tall as a man's arm is long, and had a cranium far larger than any lizard Tarma had ever seen -- except perhaps the image of Gervase that Kethry had used to entertain Liha'irden. Firelight winked from its scales in bands of shining colors, topaz and ruby predominating. It was regarding Kethry with intelligence and wary curiosity.
