'I suppose you went and got her, didn't you?' he asked the Salamander.
'It is my duty to serve you,' it replied calmly. 'That was the best way to serve you at the time.'
Trust the thing to tell him that!
'You have trusted her with everything else,' the creature continued, and once again, he heard water trickling. 'Why not this? She is worthy of trust. And she was not revolted by your appearance.'
'Oh, she was revolted; she is just good at putting the proper face on things. She'd have to be; she grew up going to academic parties. If there was ever a hotbed of machination and deception, it is a sherry-reception given by a Noted Professor. I had rather swim with crocodiles; at least my reputation would survive.' He opened his eyes as he felt the warmth of the Salamander near him, and saw the cup floating within grasping distance. He was pleased that his hand did not shake quite so much this time as he reached for it.
The medicine was just as appalling the second time, which probably meant that the Salamander had gotten it right.
For the first time since I was changed, I had a woman in my room-and I couldn't even touch her. His body's needs hadn't changed, and they reminded him urgently that Rose Hawkins was a most attractive, if annoying, woman. What woman could look on me as I am and not be revolted? I could not pay a courtesan enough to serve me. Even the lowest, vilest woman in the meanest crib in the Barbary Coast would refuse to serve me. Good God, kissing me would be like kissing an Alsatian! And as for lovemaking- He winced away from the thought. No healthy, sane woman would find him anything other than repugnant.
Although he did look mostly human from about the nipples to the knees.
Except for the tail, of course ... but no one would ever look farther than his face and his hands.
The fur of his head and neck thinned and vanished altogether once it reached the middle of his chest, although his skin was paler now than it had been before. The fur did not resume until about the middle of the thigh, until it was a wolf's pelt again from the knee downward. He could not wear shoes anymore; his feet were more paw-like than his hands; he wore soft moccasins and slippers when he wore anything on his feet. The one place his torso was not bare was a ridge of hair that ran down his spine to the tail which had sprouted just above his buttocks.
A charming sight, that. Sure to inspire passion in any red-blooded woman. Sure to inspire her to think of her pet spaniel, of course.
And of course, Rose had treated him exactly as any normal woman would, provided that woman had the ability to take what he had become in with a measure of composure. She had treated him like a puppy.
At least she didn't scratch my ears and tell me to be a good boy. He put the empty cup down, and curled up on his side. Not surprisingly, the 'curled' position was more comfortable and felt more natural than lying on his back.
That damned tail again.
The Salamander was mercifully quiet. 'Put out the lights,' he ordered, and the light visible through his closed eyelids vanished.
That led to another thought-the behavior of the Salamander, in fetching Rose, presumably the moment she had reached her rooms. What had gotten into the creature? It wasn't supposed to act on its own initiative!
At least, he had never come across any references to Elementals that did. But then again, his relationship with his Elementals was not coercive in nature; perhaps they had never acted on their own initiative with other Masters because those coercions prevented such actions.
But why had the Salamander brought Rose? Why not du Mond?
They don't like du Mond, not any of them, but that isn't the answer. One of their primary functions is to guard me from danger. Could they see A Mond as a danger now? That was always possible; this particular Salamander had been warning him away from du Mond for some time now.
But again: why bring Rose here? Why not do the simple things they could do? They could have left him where he was, brought blankets and restoratives to help him regain his strength. Why bring Rose in at all?
The door below him opened and closed again, and he heard du Mond's steps coming up the stairs. The one good thing about this change was the alteration in his hearing ability: it had quadrupled. Not a pin dropped in this house without him knowing.
The man was whistling softly to himself, evidently, something had put him in a very good humor. Well, since I permit it, he can command the Salamanders to hitch up the horses to take him in the carriage as far as Pacifica; perhaps that is the reason. It makes him feel like a Master.
But if the Salamanders thought du Mond might be a hazard to him, he did not want du Mond to know of his
