‘You’re safe for themoment,’ She replied with a grin. ‘What’s the problem?’
‘There are a lot ofBarra children held captive at the temple. We’re needed to helprescue them. Do you feel like a bit of action?’
‘Do I ever,’ shereplied with a suggestive grin. ‘But I guess we’d better save thechildren,’ and she became a bit more serious.
‘What happened lastnight, it’s a bit fuzzy?’
He filled in themissing information, telling her what had happened after they leftthe Barra ritual: the war council; the mutiny; the Crin; Zephira’sfight; and finally the capture of the mask and her near death. Hewasn’t happy about the last bit, and she picked up on it straightaway.
‘What’s wrong? Youshould be happy. We’ve captured the mask and I’ve recovered,’ shesaid.
‘I made a bad decisionand almost got you killed. Maybe next time I will get you killed,and then I couldn’t live with myself. Maybe Alpha and your motherare right. I’m too dangerous to be with. Maybe you should stay herewhile I go and sort out the problems.’
‘No! I don’t wantthat!’ she objected loudly.
‘Do you expect me tosit around here every day wondering if you’re alive or dead? Forthe first time in my life I’m really alive and I’m helping peopleand doing something good, and keeping you alive is part of it. It’sa risk I want to take. It’s my choice, not yours or my mother’s oranyone else’s. It’s mine alone, and if I die doing it then I willhave died doing what I wanted to do.’
Rori noticed thatMiranda looked unhappy and was concentrating on Aquitain and he onher. He guessed they were discussing something sensitive usingtheir mindspeak, so left to find Kami.
‘Good,’ Aquitain said.‘I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourselfinto.’
‘I do,’ she replied,then suddenly asked who had healed her.
‘I did,’ he said. ‘Iused the healing song of the little people.’
‘I’m surprised thatthey agreed. They use empathic healing, and that’s terribly painfulI’ve heard.’
‘It is, believe me itis! Please don’t try to focus power again. You survived it once.Next time you won’t.’
Miranda hugged himtightly around the neck and whispered into his ear.
‘Thank you again Tain,my love. It hurts me to know that I caused you pain in healing me.I’ll try not to get badly hurt again.’
‘I deserved it for notlooking after you properly,’ he said.
Then her mood changedagain.
‘There you are! TheLady is watching over us, even when you make bad decisions.Besides, no one can make the right decisions all the time. Underthat furry rug you’re only a newman, and they make mistakes all thetime. What’s one bad decision amongst many good ones? Thinkpositively, we’re both alive, and we’ve caught the mask.’
‘I am happy about thosethings, but they have created another problem,’ Aquitain said.
‘I decided that themask wasn’t a portal, and hence I disbelieved Xentos’ story aboutthe Chaos Lord helping Erastius to dominate him. That’s where ourproblem started; he was right. All my training, knowledge andexperience told me that I was right, but I was wrong. I’vere-examined the information on how the mask was made. It can’t be aportal, yet it is. How can that be? Something fundamental iswrong!’
‘Perhaps there isanother mask, or maybe someone has done something to it since itwas originally made?’ offered Miranda.
‘Both of those thingsare unlikely,’ Aquitain replied. ‘There’s something unique aboutthat mask that is breaking the rules.’
‘Ha. Ha. You’re upsetbecause you were wrong. I don’t believe it. How could a mind wizardbe wrong? This is serious. It just doesn’t make sense,’ shelaughed, and began dancing around him singing that it just didn’tmake sense.
At first he wasannoyed, but her contagious happiness and the absurdity of what shewas singing changed his mood to one that was a lot lighter. It wasgood to see her well and happy.
He wished he could be anormal newman and hug and kiss her and he wasn’t even game to thinkabout the sex they would have. He was determined that it would comeand that the Powers manipulating them were not going to get it alltheir own way. The first rule he had learnt as a merchant was toalways charge what the client is prepared to pay. He would ensurethey got well paid for anything the gods wanted them to do.
‘All right, you seemrecovered enough. It’s time for some work,’ he said. ‘Let’s see howthe villagers fared. With luck they might feed us. I’m hungryagain. How about you?’
‘I’m hungry enough toeat a bear, growwwl,’ she said. And jumped on him and bit him onthe neck.
He winced a little atthe pain, but knew his skin was too thick for her to draw blood;but it made him wonder if there was something in her head that wasstill wrong. Then she said suddenly,
‘I’m sorry. I got alittle carried away again,’ and she kissed where she had bitten himto make it better. ‘I feel on top of the world. We’ve done itagain. The Mighty Miranda and her furry sidekick have struck terrorinto all those that would ruin the world!’
If he could have smiledhe would have but bears can’t show any facial expressions. She wasdefinitely in a playful mood, and it brought back memories of howpassionate she had been after they had first found the mask at theshrine. These fights had really turned her on. Her near death hadonly made her worse. She must have inherited the passion from hernymph mother. What an extraordinary woman she was. She’stransformed from a prudent, introspective conservative to a fiery,chaotic risk taker, unafraid to express her feelings or to holdback her emotions, and all because of him.
He thought abouthimself. She had transformed him as well. He now had something hewanted, something he really cared about, and something he wouldfight the gods for and use all his strength and power to protect.She was his and he hers.
He was now dangerous,because he had something truly precious to lose. He pondered for afew moments on whether the bear body or the increased power in hissource were affecting him as Alpha had
