‘That was a wonderfulnight last night, one I will treasure. You may call me Mandy if youwish. In return may I call you Tain? It is perhaps a name a friendmight call you?’
‘I would be bothhonoured and pleased if you did, Mandy,’ he replied withexcitement. He was no longer the wizard or even Aquitain; she wasacknowledging him as a friend and she was now wearing a loincloth.She definitely now considered him a newman.
‘Yesterday and lastnight was one I will not forget, Mandy. Unfortunately, today wehave some difficult decisions to make. I feel the safest course ofaction is for you to tell Quab our story and let him inform theHigh Wizard and the Druid’s Council. That way you can come backwithout them ordering you to do something that you would rathernot. You could take the cat paw club, the druid’s remains and theyoung wizard’s magic book as evidence of our claims. I have plentyof reading and translating to keep me occupied here for days.’
‘I was consideringsomething similar myself,’ she replied.
‘I will go to Quab andtell him our story as you suggest, but after that I could continueon to the cat people and give them their mask and club. I’m nothappy about holding such valuable items with so little security.I’m sure that the books are treasure enough for us. I’m also surethat as the saviours of their treasure, that if we needed to borrowthem for some particular purpose they would consider itkindly.’
‘Perhaps you’re right.Perhaps it would be a good idea to get rid of the mask before itcan cause any trouble. I would even consider destroying it, but Iwouldn’t do so without the cat people’s agreement. However, I’mworried that if it gets half a chance it will dominate you orsomeone else nearby and you will have trouble.’
Aquitain thought for afew moments, then said ‘Mandy there is a way and it will accomplishtwo things. I promised to teach you some mind magic and I would bemuch happier if you had some protection against the mask. But itwill require you to trust me more than ever before.’
‘I don’t like the soundof this Tain. Is it dangerous?’
‘No. It will not harmyou in any way but it may well scare you quite a lot. It is magicthat is normally against my principles to use but it is magic thatthat I have been taught, so that I would know how to defeat it. Iwish to dominate your mind to show you how it feels and what wouldhappen if the mask took control. I will then teach you a way toblock domination. It will not always work, but it will give you agood chance to survive an attempt to dominate you, and it may helpyou to recognise domination in others.’
Miranda looked back athim for a few moments and said ‘I have already trusted you with mylife. What greater trust is there?’
Aquitain thought abouther reply for a few moments. Was there a deeper meaning there?Perhaps he would think about it later.
‘Good then we shallproceed.’ And he used his domination power to thrust his mind intohers. If her mind was her house it was like a barbarian smashingdown the door and striding in unopposed ready to do his brutalworst to her. It was like a cold grey hand suddenly seizing uponher mind as if it were a ball, and enclosing around it sealing itoff from her control of her body. She stood helpless, violated andfearful of what he might do. He directed her arms to raise and thenlower and they accepted his commands as if they were hers.
He directed her to getthe dagger from the box and stab him in the heart. Her body didexactly as he said while she watched in horror. He had her twistthe dagger and she saw the pain on his face. Then he released hermind and she withdrew the dagger from his flesh and quickly healedhis wound.
‘Well what do you thinkof domination? I’m sorry, I made it as nasty as possible so thatyou will know what you are fighting against.’
‘It is the mosthorrible thing imaginable, and now I know its real name. My motherhas used it on me,’ she said. ‘Why did you make me stab you whereyour heart would be? It’s rather fortunate that you don’t have aheart there, otherwise I would have killed you.’
‘I’m sorry, I wishedonly to prove beyond all doubt that you had no control over youractions and to show you how much it pained me to do it.’
‘You made your point.My mother is a nymph and while she has been good to me and is veryprotective, she has little patience. I have been known to beheadstrong at times and she resorted to this evil magic to controlme. I will not have it used against me again. Please teach me howto defend against it!’
They spent the nexthour learning a method that could be effectively used by people whowere magic users but not mind wizards. The most important part ofthe defence was to recognise the feeling of the attack and to blockit quickly before it gained full control. He briefly dominated hermind twice more before she finally managed to block him.
‘Very good Mandy, ifyou can block me then you should be able to block the mask.’ And hewent to get it.
‘What are you doing?Blocking you in practice and blocking for real are two differentthings. What if it dominates my mind?’
‘Then I will have topry it loose,’ said Aquitain.
‘You’ll push me too farone day, wizard!’ she threatened.
‘Perhaps and perhapsnot! I have faith in you Mandy, and you have a lot of tolerance andcourage.’
He found the mask andunwrapped it in front of her. It wasted no time trying to dominateher but she was ready. She mentally
