Fenris knew his master had been planning on avoiding his unwanted guest as much as possible, and for several days he was successful.
Two days after her arrival, Fenris attended Danarius to the greenhouse in the afternoon. He didn't care for this greenhouse, where Danarius grew the herbs and plants that he needed as spell components. The whole thing had a hum of magic about it which set Fenris' lyrium brands to vibrating uncomfortably. Besides that, he hated the sweet smell of the more poisonous plants, and the few which could exert a mild sort of persuasion against the unwarey tugged at his attention when he needed his wits about him.
Danarius tended these plants himself, though, or rarely allowed Hadriana to do so, which meant Fenris had to tolerate it every few days. They had barely gotten through the door, when he heard Danarius gasp.
"Ashara! Get away from that!"
Fenris followed his master's gaze, and saw his guest bent cheerfully over toward a large deep purple blossom, about to smell it. She straightened at Danarius' shout, and turned toward them. She left the flower without another thought, coming down the walkway to link her arm through her brother's.
"Danarius, your plant house is wonderful! I had no idea you had such wonderful flowers here. They're so lovely. Why do we never see them in the house? They are ever so much more exciting than the roses on the dining room table."
She reached out, about to brush her fingers along the bright red veining on a green leaf. Fenris caught her hand just above the wrist to stop her. Her eyes widened and she looked at him curiously, a hint of humor dancing in her eyes. Fenris dropped her arm as if it burned him. Lowering his head so his hair fell over his face, he stepped back to his position behind his master.
Danarius' smooth voice filled the silence, drawing Ashara's attention back to him. "These flowers are not for decoration, Ashara. They are… medicinal, and some are dangerous when not used properly. I must ask you to stay out of this building until you have a more thorough knowledge of our plants. I don't want you to get hurt."
She looked around, a slightly nervous expression on her face as if she were realizing that she might have touched something dangerous. "Of course, brother. I was excited to see the new plants is all. I miss growing things, and tending my garden. I only wanted to help." She left quietly, her own head bowed so they couldn't see her expression.
On the morning of the third day, Fenris preceded his master into the study, and stopped short.
His master's sister was there, her back to the door, humming idly while she scanned the book shelves. When Fenris didn't draw his weapon and didn't move, Danarius shoved him impatiently out of the way, pushing his way around his bodyguard only to freeze in turn when he spotted Ashara.
"What are you doing in here?" Danarius barked at her, walking to his desk and leaving Fenris to head gratefully to his accustomed place.
The girl jumped and spun around, her face lighting with a smile when she saw Danarius. "Ah, brother! I am pleased to see you this evening. I was looking for your library, and one of the servants directed me here. I have become rather bored in my rooms, and wanted something to read. It is…" she glanced around the room in disappointment, "smaller than I had expected for a man of your stature."
Danarius sat down, barely masking his annoyance at her confusing mix of trade tongue and Tevene. He sighed with exaggerated patience, and was pleased at her blush. "This morning, not evening. Slaves, not servants. Status, not stature. This is my private study, not the library, which is on the third floor; this is the second floor."
She was smiling again when he finished, and glanced up at the ceiling, as if she could see the library from where she stood. "Ah! The third floor! Such a large cottage you have, brother. I am sorry to have intruded on your private room. Does the library hold more interesting books than these? I have never seen so many dry tomes of magic in one place before!"
Danarius turned his attention to the book resting on the top of his desk, and declined to correct her. "Yes, many more interesting books. I'm sure you can find something you'll like there. Now, if you'll excuse me…?"
She grinned, and left with a spring in her step.
Three days later, the entire estate was in an uproar. Ashara was missing.
She had been served breakfast in her room, by the slave assigned to her, and not seen again since then. Danarius and Hadriana had worked through lunch, and no one else seemed to notice that the master's sister hadn't been seen. It wasn't until she failed to arrive for the evening meal that her absence was discovered.
Danarius roused the estate, calling in the gate guards to ensure that she hadn't left - willingly or otherwise - by the main gate. She hadn't been seen outside the manor at all, it turned out, but since none of the slaves who worked the grounds had seen her before this wasn't as reassuring as it might otherwise have been.
For two hours, every slave in the manor - in addition to Hadriana and Danarius - searched the manor. Finally, she was found in the attic of the west wing, looking through a trunk holding odds and ends that no one cared about any longer. She was dusty, and covered in cobwebs, when the slave who had found her led her into the dining room. Danarius and Hadriana were seated there and he gestured her into a chair as their reheated food was placed before them.
"Where have you been?! Do you know the disruption you caused?" Danarius was frowning, Hadriana was looking smug. Fenris stood behind his master's chair, his face set and blank. He couldn't help looking at his master's guest, though, short darting glances when he thought he wouldn't be caught. He miscalculated, though, and her eyes briefly crossed his; he thought he saw amusement in them. When he dared glance at her again, though, her expression held nothing but contrition.
"I am sorry, brother. I was trying to find my way back to the large study, and became lost. I figured if I just kept walking, I would found eventually. This is a very large cottage, though! I think I just kept getting more lost."
Danarius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Library, not large study. You hoped to be found. House, or mansion, not cottage." He looked up, to find Ashara nodding eagerly at his corrections. "And look, if you get lost again, just stay where you are until someone finds you. It will make it much easier."
Ashara's face brightened as if this were the most brilliant thing she had ever heard, and she nodded. She didn't seem to hear Hadriana's snickering, but her eyes caught Fenris' and she grinned straight at him.
More than a week had passed since Ashara's arrival, when Hadriana burst into his master's study again, without knocking. She was shouting before she opened the door, however, so Fenris stayed where he was. Danarius looked up, and couldn't quite keep the annoyance off his face when his apprentice barged in with one hand wrapped around Ahsara's wrist, dragging his guest along in her wake.
"Magister! This girl was snooping in my private workroom! And she broke my reduction apparatus!"
Fenris winced. He knew how long Hadriana had been working on his master's lyrium reduction. Danarius had been waiting eagerly for the results of the months-long experiment, hoping it would further the research that he had been working on secretly for most of a year. Danarius' face darkened and he turned his glare on Ashara. She winced under the look, and Fenris braced himself for the unpleasantness that was sure to follow.
"I have apologied, but it was an accident!"
Danarius scowled, and didn't bother to correct her grammar. "How do you accidentally break something that doesn't belong to you in a locked room! I told you to never enter a locked room!"
She scowled. "The door was not locked when I opened it. I was looking for the music room, and became lost. You told me that when I became lost, I should wait to be found, instead of wandering. So I did. I was looking for a book to read while I waited." She held her hands in front of her, palms up, as if to demonstrate how she had been cradling a book. "Then she came in and shrieked like a wild woman. I was startled." Here, Ashara jerked her hands up as if surprised. It was simple to picture the imaginary book soaring through the air. "Then I heard a crash, and she grabbed me and dragged me in here. It isn't very kind, and I don't see why she should be upset by a few little glass tubes breaking. You said I could go in any unlocked room, and you said to stay where I was if I got lost."
Danarius didn't say a word. He walked over to the wall and jerked on the bell pull, then waited, silent and glowering until a slave appeared at the door. "Please show my guest to her own rooms. Wait with her there until I arrive." The slave bowed, and waited hesitantly by the door.
Ashara scowled at magister and apprentice alike, but her anger qualed in the face of Danarius' barely concealed rage. Finally she nodded sharply and followed the slave away. The door clicked quietly closed behind them, and Fenris eased a bit further back into the alcove. The explosion wasn't long in coming.
"You left the door to your workroom unlocked?! Of all the stupid, careless…" he spluttered, seeming at a loss for words. Hadriana's eyes were wide as understanding slowly dawned on her that she was the one in trouble, not the girl she'd dragged in here in such a state of combined rage and triumphant.
Unwisely, she argued. "I never leave that door unlocked!"
Danarius laughed, a sound devoid of humor. "So how did she get in, then? You must have been careless. Careless and stupid. What of the lyrium reduction?"
Hadriana winced. "It is ruined. The book broke the collection beaker. The reduction spilled all over the table."
"So you not only left our work unsecured, your careless actions have ruined months of effort! Do you know what those months will cost us? I have the spell ready, all it waited on was the lyrium. Stupid, careless. You clearly do not understand how important this is, but you will. You will clean up your mess, start the reduction again, and then you will await me in my personal workroom."
Hadriana went pale, and even Fenris caught his breath. Danarius saved his most vicious punishments for his workroom, where he could give free reign to his cruelty in both physical and magical forms. Fenris eased another half step backwards, and fixed his eyes resolutely on the ceiling, hoping to remain unnoticed lest Hadriana find an excuse to drag him into this.
She didn't, though, simply nodded shakily, and turned to leave.
Danarius worked in silence for the rest of the morning, reading and making notes feverishly. Finally, he slammed his book closed and shook his head.
"There's no help for it. It has to be reduced slowly to have the proper effect. I can't cut corners. We'll simply have to wait until the new preparation is ready. Idiots, both of them."
Fenris remained silent, until Danarius turned to him. "Well, little wolf. It looks like you have an unexpected reprieve. I had meant to use that lyrium for a new set of tattoos for you, ones that should better serve my purposes. There's nothing for it now but to wait."
Fenris felt a sudden punch of fear in his gut at these words. His master was going to repeat the lyrium ritual? He kept his face carefully blank, however, and after a moment of watching him closely, Danarius shrugged.
"Let's go see if we can find out why that idiot peasant keeps wandering around and getting herself lost. The manor isn't that large."
A short conversation later, and Fenris found himself assigned to accompany Ashara on a daily walk around the grounds. Each morning, for as long as she wanted to stroll, he would be responsible for her safety. He hid his dismay behind a bland expression and a polite half bow.
Danarius had already swept out the door and Fenris turned to follow him when his gaze caught on Ashara's again. She must being trying to catch his eyes, Fenris realized, he was careful enough that it couldn't happen so frequently without intent. She gave him a bright smile and spoke quietly enough that only he would hear her.
"See you tomorrow morning, Fenris."