***Please see the end of this chapter for more author's notes than you probably care about. Will include pitiful excuses and vague reassurances. May include a slight bit of whinging and a slight bit of humor.***


They were seated in Magister Danarius' carriage - Fenris sitting stiffly on the rear facing seat with his greatsword resting across his knees and his eyes fixed on his folded hands resting on the flat of the blade; Danarius reclining in the forward facing seat wearing the newly designed mage-robes the tailor had delivered that morning - and half way to their destination before Danarius spoke.

"Well, pet, we'll be making this trip quite frequently for awhile, if things go well."

The self-satisfied tone in which he spoke caught Fenris' attention more than the bland statement could have. Despite his interest, he gave the expected bland response.

"Yes, Master."

Danarius smiled, settling further back into the corner of his seat. "Yes indeed. I am courting Beatrice Ritune, and expect that we'll be paying frequent visits until things are settled. Her father has said she will be allowed to make her own choice - a foolish indulgence - but I have no doubt of the outcome." Suddenly, his voice sharpened, and Fenris felt the heat of his glare. "I expect you will do nothing to disrupt my plans, Little Wolf. It would not be appreciated."

Despite himself, Fenris shivered at the threat and the memories it called up. "No, Master, of course not."

This seemed to satisfy Danarius, and he went back to riding silently. Fenris' mind was occupied with his own thoughts.

If they were going to be spending that much time at the Ritune's mansion, perhaps he could see Grace again. He owed her an apology - a conclusion he'd come to reluctantly, but was determined to carry out. After that, perhaps they would find themselves alone, and able to talk further. In all his daily trials and miseries, great and small, the one that was most persistent was loneliness; Grace would be a welcome relief from that, if she would give him the time of day after his behavior when they parted.

Fenris suppressed a sigh. She would be perfectly within her rights to ignore him completely - who was he, after all? A slave. And not just a slave, but one who had taken the gift of her time and attention and thrown it away at the first opportunity. The most likely outcome would be that Grace had realized how misplaced her interest and attention had been - how could he deserve them, after all? - and would ignore him as everyone else did.

The carriage arrived at the Ritune's, and Fenris stepped out, looked around, and stood aside for Magister Danarius to exit. As he fell into step behind his master, a thought occurred to him, and he almost tripped at the sudden flash of blind terror.

What if she didn't ignore him? What if she, instead, spoke to him? In front of people? Or worse, in front of Danarius? Danarius wouldn't be so wasteful as to kill him for that offense, but he would certainly make Fenris wish for death many times over. As he dwelled on this terrifying possibility, it seemed more and more likely; after all, the Ritunes didn't keep slaves, how would she know that he should not have even spoken to her? He couldn't think of any way to ensure her silence without causing more trouble, and he was out of time; the door to the mansion was swinging open before Magister Danarius, and he could see the family gathered in the entry hall to greet them.

...

Fenris had never been so nervous, or so uncertain where to look. He was terrified that he might catch Grace's eye, and call her attention to himself; he was terrified that if he didn't look at her, she would speak to him before he could warn her to stop.

Finally, he settled for a serious of quick, hopefully surreptitious glances at the family.

He saw a young lady who must be Beatrice, dressed beautifully and standing in front of her parents. She was smiling brightly at Danarius, who was bowing over her hand as she welcomed him.

Magister Ritune looked the part - dressed in mage robes with a full beard and grey hair, he clearly favored the fashions of his profession. His face lacked the hard lines of Danarius', he somehow looked more kind - despite being a mage.

Lady Ritune was clearly Beatrice's mother; she had gleaming gold hair, untouched by grey, and worn in a regal braid twisted on the top of her head to add an illusion of height to her petite frame.

Standing slightly behind these three, and to one side was a young man who could only be Grace's brother, Tre. He was well dressed, and clearly no mage - he wore trousers and a well-tailored doublet in a fine material.

To his right, stood a lovely young lady dressed in a blue sapphire gown that caught the light. She had dark brown hair that she wore half up, and half cascading over her shoulders in heavy curls. Her gown was high-necked and fit her slender form snugly, showing off subtle curves.

For a moment, Fenris was confused. It was only on a second quick glance that he caught her eyes: sapphire, perfectly matched by the color of her gown. This was Grace. She had looked nothing like this on the night of the party; that night she had looked downright plain and now he was pleased to see that someone had recognized her value, no matter how she fared in comparison with her mother and sister.

Just as he tore his gaze away from her, Fenris heard his name. He looked quickly to where Magister Danarius stood, speaking with Miss Beatrice and her parents. Danarius was the one who had spoken his name, and was clearly waiting for a response.

"Yes, master?"

"Fenris, when we come to Magister Ritune's home from now on, I expect you to wait somewhere out of the way, and out of sight. I will not require your presence while we are here, and I will summon you when I am ready to leave. Do you understand?"

Fenris was already giving the expected reply, even as he tried to recall what had been said while his attention was fixed on Grace. The young lady was afraid of him? He thought that was what had been said. She was afraid of him, and asked if he could wait elsewhere while the family entertained Danarius. Clearly, his master had agreed.

As he stood there, uncertain, Lady Ritune spoke up.

"The butler will be happy to show you a place you can wait comfortably, Fenris." She smiled and waved towards the liveried servant standing beside a door. "You may go with him."

Fenris bowed, unable to find anything to say, and followed the man from the room.

...

In an irony that amused Fenris to no end, the butler showed him silently into the library. With some dry comments about how the room was comfortable, out of the way, and unused while the family was entertaining, the man left Fenris to his own devices.

Suddenly ordered to spend time in the room where he had taken refuge only days before, Fenris took the opportunity to prowl the room more extensively. He'd identified two good hiding places, determined the most comfortable of the chairs, located the cushions Grace had used and set one before the fire for himself, and found a narrow window that looked down into a sheltered - and empty - courtyard when the door opened.

Spinning, Fenris tried to calm his racing heart and remember that this time, he was supposed to be here. When he saw who had slipped into the room, he relaxed slightly. It was Grace. She smiled at him, and he offered a tentative smile back before his eyes narrowed.

He was annoyed with her, though he hadn't admitted this to himself until he saw her smile. Now, it was all he could think of; thoughts of warning, thoughts of apologizing, all fled as she stood there smiling at him until all he could think of was one thing.

"Why is your sister afraid of me?" He winced, it had come out much harsher - and louder - than he had intended. Amazingly, Grace's smile only widened.

"Isn't it wonderful? It was a brilliant plan, but I didn't have long to pull it off. I had to be so careful, so she wouldn't realize that I was the one who had told her all those stories. But it worked perfectly! I can't stay long today - I promised Mother I would be right back down - but I wanted to say hello. I saw you watching me earlier, and I didn't want you to worry: I know I can't speak to you in front of anyone."

"You mean.… you made her afraid of me? I know I was upset when you left that night, but I didn't think you disliked me so much?" Despite himself, he didn't sound angry, he sounded hurt.

...

Grace blinked at him, confused and sorry to have been the cause for that note of pain in his voice. "Of course I don't dislike you. But, if Bea is afraid of you, you get to spend every visit up here. Away from Danarius, away from the family. I can get out of most of these things, I thought we could use the time to talk…" her voice trailed off, and the last bit came out uncertainly.

Fenris was staring at her, and went on staring at her after she fell silent, until Grace was sure she'd messed up. She'd read too much into their brief conversation and his even briefer trust in her.

Biting her bottom lip, she looked down, her hands tightening into fists in the folds of her gown. She'd been foolishly pleased with the gown only this morning - even her mother had looked surprised and told her she was "pretty today" - but now she felt like an imposter. Clearly, being plain wasn't her only fault; despite what she had always thought - that if she could just be pretty, like her mother or Bea, she would have friends and finally fit in - a new dress and hairdo hadn't solved her problems.

Grace sighed, and turned away. "Never mind. I'm sorry to have caused you insult. Please enjoy the privacy of the library."

...

She was almost to the door before Fenris found his voice. "No, wait!" He was so shocked at his audacity, that he almost didn't say anything further. Only the certain knowledge that he had hurt her feelings - and would hurt her more by his silence now - gave him the courage to continue.

"I owe you an apology. Two now, I suppose. I didn't understand what you had done, I simply thought you had spread the same tales about me that everyone else does. I should have known better, and I am sorry. It was a very good plan, and I am pleased that we'll have time to talk. I have been hoping we would, and that you would want to."

...

Grace closed her eyes, and drew a deep breath, banishing the tears that had threatened to fall before she made it to the door. It was the longest speech she'd heard from him, and the words combined with the smooth sound of his deep voice were nearly worth the way she'd felt moments ago. She toyed briefly with the idea of pretending to still be hurt so that he would talk some more, but discarded the thought since she knew he had no experience with such teasing.

Turning back toward him, she smiled instead. "Yes, I would like that." She took several steps back towards him.

"I can't stay now, but you'll be back in a few days, and I've already gotten out of that engagement. I'll meet you here?"

...

It was only as the carriage rumbled through the dark towards Danarius' estate, that it occurred to Fenris to wonder why Danarius was going to all this trouble.

He certainly didn't need to wed. Nobles only wed for two reasons - to increase wealth or power, or produce an heir. Danarius had enough power and wealth that it didn't make sense for him to accumulate more by taking on the constant annoyance of a wife - certainly not one with a loving family nearby, who would take an active interest in her happiness. As for an heir, Fenris couldn't see that being a draw either - Danarius had plenty of apprentices, and assuming one of them or some more powerful magister didn't kill him and take everything, he could simply select an apprentice to pass his knowledge to. Granted, Fenris' knowledge of nobles and magisters was limited, but he couldn't see the sense in this sudden urge to wed.


***Hey all, If you're still reading this - THANK YOU! I appreciate your patience and dedication. I just wanted to let everyone know that this story WILL continue. I have been busy with selling a house, renting a temporary place, and making plans for the new house... not to mention enough packing that having an excuse to just pick up what I can carry and ditch the rest is looking better and better. Like, maybe… running from the Blight? Yeah, it's THAT bad. Anyway, I promise that this story will continue and will be completed. It is fully planned, outlined, and rough drafted; the thing that takes so long is prettying things up and proof-reading. I promise it will not disappear into the unfinished story graveyard, never to be seen or heard from again. It will just include some pretty long pauses for awhile. Thanks for being patient! ~Keth ***