happen. She might immediately try to contact her council and aid in Kestrel's apprehension as well. How easy would it be to convince her to keep quiet about her travelling companions?
'What about the wizard?' Kestrel asked out loud after a moment's more thought. 'Is it harmful to keep her in such an unnatural state?'
'Eventually, yes,' Astron said. 'The muscles atrophy and the thoughts turn sluggish, even after one is released. In time, she would become no more than a vacant doll with drool on her chin.'
Kestrel jerked the horse to a sudden halt. 'I still do not know quite why I brought her along,' he said, 'but certainly not for a fate such as that.' He wavered for a moment in uncertainty and then thought of the warmth of her smile. 'Perhaps it is better to release her now.'
'By eventually, I meant a long passage of time,' Astron said. 'As for the present moment, do you really think it wise? I have held her to avoid more struggle of the wills, but if I were to set her free, she might not be similarly inclined. Most likely she would try to dominate me instead. The first contest was hard enough. I do not wish to undergo it again.'
'No, somehow, I will take care of that,' Kestrel said. His thoughts raced as he spoke. Now that he bad decided, it was important that the deed be done. 'She is the key element of the exchange. A countess is what we need. Yes, a countess to impress one of the alchemists with the possibility of a very large reward.'
'A reward? In exchange for what?' Astron asked.
'Transport across the border in exchange for-for a mine,' Kestrel said. As he spoke everything fell into place. Phoebe was the missing element that he had been searching for! By posing as a countess, she would give them the credibility that was lacking in his half-formed plans. Never mind about the risk of letting her decide for herself. He would work out something when everything could be explained. Kestrel turned the wagon into an alleyway and halted.
'Quickly,' he said. 'Release her now so that we can purchase some clothing appropriate for her station. At dawn tomorrow, we must be ready to start.'
'Your motives regarding the female I still do not understand,' Astron said. He wrinkled his nose and for a long moment nothing happened. Then abruptly his face cleared and he turned his attention to studying the tackle of Kestrel's mare.
'Awake,' he said simply. 'I release you, wizard, to command your own will.'
Kestrel watched Phoebe's eyes flutter and then spring open. She looked up at the wagon's canopy in the darkness and then at the two figures hovering over her. Her eyes widened further and she clutched her fist to her mouth, preparing to scream.
Kestrel reached down and stroked her arm. Gently he placed an extended finger on her cheek.
Phoebe's eyes flashed in the gathering darkness. She drew a deep breath and slowly returned her hand to her side.
'Where am I?' she asked in a controlled tone after a moment. 'What is it that you want?'
'Remember the anvilwood?' Kestrel tried to make his voice soothing. 'I am the woodcutter who brought it to your cabin. You summoned a demon more powerful than you could control.'
Phoebe's eyes shifted from Kestrel to Astron. 'Yes,' she said in sudden recognition. 'The demon. His will was too strong. I could not resist. I am his to do with what he will.' She shuddered and snapped shut her eyes. 'The council was right after all. Their barbs and jeers are true.' She tugged at the folds of the robe about her hips. 'I wear the logo of a master only because of my father's wealth, not because of skill. Go ahead, devil, do with me what you will.'
'No, you do not understand,' Kestrel continued. 'Test your thoughts. They are free. The contest is finished and you are dominated no more.'
Phoebe cowered in silence for a long moment but then Kestrel saw the tension gradually fade away. The wrinkles vanished from her brow. Tentatively she sat up and shook her head, as if trying to toss away thoughts that did not belong.
'Free-willed I am, woodsman,' she said cautiously. 'Thank you for your aid.' She reached down in confusion to her waist and patted a purse that was not there. 'Your product is as good as you bragged it to be. You need not show me the contents of each leather sack as I originally intended. Let us go back into the cabin and I will pay you your price, though I must say that I am getting the better part of the bargain.'
'Ah, things are not quite that simple,' Kestrel said. 'You see, we are not outside your cabin, but in Menthos, near the border to Procolon.'
The tension in Phoebe's face returned. 'Menthos! I do not understand.'
'Your council of wizards has become enraged,' Astron said. 'As we speak, they no doubt have many imps scouring the countryside looking for-'
'You,' Kestrel cut in. 'Yes, you are the one they seek, a wizard in flight from what they construe as the justice that is your due.'
'Yes, the council and their hidebound ways,' Phoebe said. 'But Menthos? I still do not understand.'
'Well, this is the way of it,' Kestrel said. He looked into Phoebe's questioning eyes. He should have thought things through a little more thoroughly before having Astron release her from his control.
'Yes,' Phoebe said. 'What indeed is the way of it?'
'The council of wizards think that-' Kestrel began but this time Astron interrupted.
'We need your help,' the demon said, 'to cross the border and see the archimage. Kestrel sees you as the key element of the plan. Despite what he has done to your reputation back in Brythia, we need your help here and now.'
Kestrel grimaced, expecting Phoebe's face to knot into one of displeasure. Next time, he just had to get the demon to understand and follow his lead, rather than cut in on his own. Not that there would be a next time, if Phoebe decided to rectify what had happened to her good name. He shook his head, awaiting the outburst. Why had freeing the wizard been such a good idea?
But the hard words did not come. 'You need my help,' Phoebe repeated, 'the service of a wizard, and you have come to me.'
Kestrel blinked at the unexpected tone. 'Wizardry, why no,' he rushed to say. 'It was something rather different from that.' He looked into Phoebe's eyes and found the words of deception harder and harder to get out of his throat. 'We must get to the archimage,' he said at last, 'and for that we must first cross the border. I think that I have a means of accomplishing it. We need an impersonation of a countess, one who is the seeker of thrills, one who can convince an alchemist to grant favors in exchange for profit to be received later.' He hesitated and then added in a mumble, 'The archimage will be able to set things straight between you and your council as well.'
'Then it is true,' Phoebe said. 'I was indeed dominated by the demon. If it is skill in wizardry that you desire, elsewhere is where you should look.'
'No, no, if wizardry is called for along the way, you are the one to whom we will turn,' Kestrel said. 'It is just that there are other requirements as well.'
'You need me?' Phoebe questioned again.
Kestrel just nodded, trying to fathom the motivations behind the pretty smile. He was having difficulty reading the wizard, just as he did with the demon, but for a different reason. The emotions were on her face well enough; but when he looked at her, distracting thoughts warped the logical cadence of his thought.
'And it will help you with the council,' he repeated weakly.
'The council.' Phoebe shook her head. 'I have little doubt that they have found some way to give me censure.' She smoothed the folds of her robe and shrugged. 'It has not been such an easy struggle. Without the largess of my father, I would never have been able to pay the triple fees the masters charged to initiate me into their art. The stocking of my larder comes less from the few payments I receive for my craft than the continued openness of his purse.
'Far better for all concerned, it has been made quite clear more than once, if Phoebe behaved more like her cousins and sisters, lounging in the dresses of brocade and attending the balls of the prince.'
'What do you mean?' Astron said. 'I cannot yet follow when men speak in such abstraction.'
'Men, indeed,' Phoebe said. 'I suspect the realm of daemon is much like what you see about you here.' She narrowed her eyes and looked piercingly at Astron. 'Tell me how it is that only the males answer the summons through the flame and grapple with the wizard's will. Why no females? What have you done with them?'
