'The niece? He also didn't want us to know how much he valued her. Damn. This is a bad piece of business.'
'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 half-smile. 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.'
'You're the magic-worker.' Tarma sighed. 'Since we've hired this room for the whole evening, want to make use of it? 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 mantelpiece. Most of the floor space 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 know 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. Then she removed one of her hidden daggers and began honing it with her sharpening-stone.
Kethry had removed her sword and placed it outside the circle-something she did only when working summonings. Tarma regarded the blade, as it lay between her and her bloodsister, with a thoughtful eye.
Kethry's sword was no ordinary blade-it held a powerful and strange magic. 'Need' was the name of the blade, and it bound its bearer to the aid of other women. To a fighter, it granted near immunity to any magics. To a magician, it conferred expertise in the wielding of it, but only to defend herself or another woman. Herself--for only a woman could use it. It had other properties as well, such as being able to speed healing or hold off death for a limited time, but those were the main gifts the blade bestowed.
Tarma wondered how many of those arcane gifts they'd be using this time.
There was a stirring in the circle Kethry had inscribed, and Tarma pulled her attention back to the present. Something was beginning to form mistily in front of the seated sorceress.
The mist began to form 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. Firelight winked from its scales in bands of shining colors, topaz and ruby predominating. It was regarding Kethry with intelligence and wary curiosity.
'Sa-asartha, n'hellan?' it said, tilting its head to one side and fidgeting from one foot to the other. Its voice was shrill, like that of a very young child.
'Vede, sa-asarth,' Kethry replied in the same tongue.
The little creature relaxed and stopped fretting. It appeared to be quite eager to answer all of Kethry's questions. Now that the initial effort of calling it was done with, she had no trouble in obtaining all the information she wanted. Finally she gave the little creature the fruit she'd been toying with after supper. It snatched the gift greedily, trilled what Tarma presumed to be thanks, and vanished into mist again.
