Part VII
Vel got off the bed and pulled on a wrap as she dropped the tinderbox back into the pocket of her nightgown. She drew up a chair next to the fireplace and waited. She felt her eyelids drooping when there was finally a thump against the bedroom door. She opened it and the three dog-spirits trotted in with the wizard-king Sevris lying prone along the largest dog-spirit's back. Moe padded to the bed and gave what looked like a shrug and the wizard-king slid onto the bed covers.
She closed the door and walked to the bed. Looking down, she noticed that his eyes were closed. Vel touched a faint, almost invisible line on his cheek. "Healing nicely, I see." She didn't bother to draw her hand away from his face.
"Is there anything else you need, mistress?" asked Moe.
Sevris sighed in his slumber and unconsciously turned to nuzzle her palm. "No," she said. "But come back before dawn to retrieve him."
The three dog-spirits nodded and disappeared. She pondered the empty space that they left and wondered if she was foolish to have banished her only possible chaperones.
"Are they gone?"
The breath from his words tickled her fingers and she immediately snatched her hand away. His eyes were still closed but his mouth was slightly curved. She glared down at him. "Were you awake the entire time?"
He opened his eyes. "I was awake when your dog-spirit deposited me on your bed." He raised himself to his elbows and sat up. "This is different," he said as he gazed about the room. "Your home?"
"I bought this townhouse." She took a step back and wrapped her hands around a bedpost.
"And you brought me here," he said. "My first thought was that you were a powerful sorceress."
Vel shook her head. "I am no such thing. I was…lucky in acquiring all of this."
"Well, congratulations on your luck then." He got out of the bed and stood. Vel's eyes widened when she realized that he was taller than she had first estimated. "You don't suppose you could lend me some of that luck to help me get out of this?" He pointed to the collar on his neck.
"Is there no way that it can come off other than the key that goes with it?"
Sevris paced towards the fireplace and hooked an arm over the mantle to watch the flames broodingly. "Elma the Mole keeps it on her person all the time."
"Elma the Mole?"
"The witch-hag," he clarified. "She keeps it on a brass chain around her neck. I hope one day she chokes on it."
"And there's no way to get close to her to get it?"
"Close?" He laughed humorlessly. "She'd blast you before you take a step towards her."
She thought of the first wizard she had encountered and the luck she had in deflecting his powers. It was only luck, she told herself. Aloud, she said, "I've heard talk that the Duke of Corona is an ambitious man who might look outside Tarsican borders for power."
"You've heard that, have you?" The wizard-king frowned. "I suppose I'm not surprised. If he covets more land, I would say he would first turn north."
"And if you wanted to increase your kingdom, would you look north also?"
His eyes narrowed as he regarded Vel standing deceptively calmly next to the bed. "Are you trying to gauge whether I am worthy to be freed or not? I have no quarrel with the northern countries. Help me and you will be assured that your home country will have no threat from me. You cannot say the same if this country is ruled by a duke."
"How do I know you say the truth?"
"You have my word."
Vel hugged her wrap closer to her body. "As a new inhabitant of Garren, I have recently received quite a few invitations from the wealthy and titled in this country's higher social circles. Perhaps I could help you contact someone who is loyal to you."
"My cousin and my advisors," he said immediately and then paused. "But don't tell them exactly what has happened to me. I know them and if they knew my situation, they would rush to rescue me, heedless of the consequences. They don't know the extent of the witch-hag's power. Everyone sees her as the duke's elderly aunt. I didn't know until it was too late." His fingers involuntarily touched the magic collar again.
Through the night, she and the wizard-king talked of the possible contacts she could find in Garren who might be able to help in his cause. Eventually they made themselves comfortable on a large window seat while they had their conversations. The curtains were only partly drawn so a bit of moonlight peeked through to vie with the dying firelight. And finally, when the fire had pulsed down to embers and the conversation dribbled towards silence, Vel found herself leaning towards him to press her lips against his jaw. He said her name once, lowly. She moved back.
The three dog-spirits had arrived. Reluctantly, he moved and mounted the largest dog-spirit. Vel watched them leave the room and then turned to peek out the window. Three dark blobs slid over the city streets, heading towards the castle. She curled up on the window seat and fell asleep with the coming of dawn.