Chapter Eight

Lina lay on a fur rug on the floor in front of the fireplace. She was in a study now instead of the great hall. Zel had moved her into this room for her to use almost as a bedroom. That way she was close to the books. She had shed her boots and cape, making herself quite at home. At least she felt more comfortable without them.

Lina glanced over at Zel. He was lying on a couch not too far from her reading a book entitled, 'An Astral Body'. He was not wearing his old traveling robes, but a simple white shirt with black trousers. There was a hot little kettle on the floor beside him for an instant tea refill. He seemed . . . relaxed.

She was having a hard time concentrating on the book she was reading. Zelgadis was staring at his book with a fixed interest. He had been reading intently for hours. Anyway, she never caught him looking up.

"Argh!" she grumped in frustration. "This book is sooo boring!"

His head only moved about forty degrees to look straight at her, his eyes pure crystal. "Would you prefer to read something else?"

'You've got that right,' were the words that sprang first to her mind, but for some reason, those feelings were just not inside her anymore. "I'm not sure," she said turning away from his eyes and blushing like she was on fire. She had to stop staring at him. She wasn't a hormonal teenager – was she?

"Why don't you try this?" he asked, handing her a different book.

She took it and read the title - 'Dynast'. Lina knew the name very well. She called power from that particular dark lord when she cast a 'Dynast Blast'. The cover was black leather with the word embossed across the front of it. Lina opened it absently, looking at Zel.

"It's okay," he said. "It's a very good book. I read it a couple of nights ago myself - fascinating fellow. Wouldn't it be wild if it turned out we were in his castle instead of Rezo's?"

The look on his face was pure encouragement. Everything about him was that sort of encouragement – that sort of acceptance. She loved the look on his face . . .

She had a question she wanted to ask Zel, but didn't have the nerve. He said that last line like she ought to know who he was talking about. Who is Rezo? Even she thought the name ought to be familiar to her. There was something else as well; she couldn't seem to remember why they had come to this castle at all. They were studying . . . but why? . . . Had someone asked her to come here to study? . . . Was there a problem she was seeking the answer to? . . . She liked being with Zel, but . . . why was she with him?

Her mind seemed to haze over, and she couldn't remember what she had been thinking about. Her head hurt and she was tired. Maybe I'll ask him later, she thought as she cuddled up with the book he gave her.

The mazoku lord's full name was Dynast Grasucherra, she read, scanning the table of contents. One heading caught her attention – 'Physical Appearance'. She remembered that mazoku could choose any form they wanted to, so how could someone have written anything about his physical appearance when it was subject to change? She opened to the page, although she was a little confused.

There was an artist's rendition of him under the subject heading.

So, this is the face the demon chose - at least once. They said that his hair was pitch-black and his eyes a dusty grey. Do I know this man? She shook her head. It was just an artist's idea of what he looked like after all. He might not look anything like this, she told herself frantically. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the blue stone pendant she had traded her story about Gourry for. The evening came back to her in broken bits and pieces. She had forgotten it. She could not even remember who Gourry was, only that he was a person she talked a lot about that night. Lina remembered thinking that she was just entertaining a rich man with her story because he had nothing better to do that evening. Not so, the more she thought about it she knew she had dinner with a demon. She shook her head again. It couldn't be true. She was no one. She was only Zel's companion . . . wasn't she? No mazoku lord would be at all interested in her!

"Where did you get that?" Zel suddenly asked her, an easy smile playing on his lips.

"A stranger," she said.

"It's beautiful. Why aren't you wearing it?" he said. The light in his eyes did not reflect what he said for he seemed to be implying that Lina herself was what was beautiful.

"Is it?" she asked, her natural poise not deserting her, even in her confusion.

He put down his book and came towards her, taking the stone from her hand and kneeling on the rug in front of her. "Do you know what kind of a stone this is? It's an ordinary blue diamond, but with much more grey than any other blue diamond that has ever been excavated. It's quite famous. It even has a name. It's called the Ice Princess. It's very precious. Who ever gave this to you must have loved you very much. Was it really only a stranger?"

"I don't know his name," she confessed.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"Maybe you'd better read your book some more. I was going to start preparing dinner in any case," he got to his feet and walked to the door.

"Wait," Lina requested, her mind working very quickly, even though she couldn't remember everything. "Are you implying that Dynast Grasucherra is in love with me?"

His back was to her, and it was tensing up. He stopped walking and turned at the door to look at her. "The only question is – do you love me back?"

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The snow above him was falling into his eyes.

Zelgadis wasn't feeling very well. He had just robbed a bandit gang out of necessity . . . something he had often wished he would never have to do. He wouldn't have done it, except his usual money-making tricks were not possible. He usually synthesized magical items and sold them at the local shops, but there was no one interested in those kinds of things this far north. He needed supplies badly too. He couldn't wait until the next town to find out if they would be interested in what he had to sell.

He didn't even know how far the next town was. He didn't even know if there was going to be another town. He was so far north now that the snow-scape stretched out before him as a dry desert.

Apparently, whoever he was tracking stopped their attempts to cover their path after he reached a certain point up North, and Zelgadis knew what point that was – on the boarders of the land of Grasucherra. Zelgadis had entered the territory of Dynast Grasucherra. He knew now that it was a mazoku that had borrowed his appearance and fought him in the ballroom. He knew now for certain, and what was worst, that mazoku was leading Lina to the castle of a dark lord.

He clenched his teeth and his fists in one motion. Lina was a black-mage. He wasn't sure what she could do for herself in a situation like this, other than cast a Giga Slave.

A GIGA SLAVE!?!

Zelgadis picked up his pace, and soon he was running. He had seen her cast it once, but she said that two other elements helped her in the battle; one was the particle of human consciousness that still existed inside the mazoku, and the other was Gourry's sword of light. It was not something she was able to do on her own.

"RAY WING!" he shouted throwing himself into the air.

He suddenly feared for her terribly. There would be no one there at all to protect her! He might be too late already!

The snow was still coming hard into his eyes – clinging to the wetness on his cheeks.

Lina . . .

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"And that was all the answer you got from him?" the dark lord said, absently bouncing a gold ornament between his fingers.

"Hai," the priest answered.

"And he gave you no clue at all as to why he was interfering so blatantly in my plans?"

"He did say one thing Lord Hellmaster," he admitted.

"What was that?" his voice sounding half bored.

"Only that he was doing this for you," the priest said smoothly.

The slits in Phibrizzo's eyes sharpened, "Dynast as well now then? Well, Xellos, maybe I'll have to go with you to see him when you go to his castle again. I wonder if he'll order me out."

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Authors Notes: Hiya! I know I don't talk too much when I release a story, but now that I have shown who our mystery man is - I have to tell my other secret. If you're a serious Slayers fan and happen to know all about Dynast, there is enough information given about Shadow Zel by the end of chapter three to allude that it was Dynast all along.

Thanks everyone who reviews - you make my day!