figure when I saw you that anybody the crusade didn't like might be someone I'd like. Well, I know what it's like to lose a mate. I'll help you all I can. Sorcerer."
"You helped me before you knew who I was," he said.
"I did not know your name, but I knew you were someone."
"I can return the favor, perhaps in greater measure than you hoped for."
"All I wanted was some good wood for the winter. I've got this ague in my bones, and when I go out in the cold I get the chills so bad-"
"I'll fetch you wood," he agreed. "But you know I can do magic. If there is something more I can do-"
She nodded. "Let me think about it. It's late, and you are tired. Sleep the night, and in the morning we shall see."
Parry was glad to do that. She fetched some fresh straw for him, and he lay on the other side of the chamber from her bed. At first sleep would not come, because of the horrors of the day. Jolie . . .
Then he mesmerized himself, making the memories distant, and fell out of consciousness immediately.
In the morning she fed him more gruel and some sheep's milk. Then he went out to gather wood from the forest, bringing back many armfuls of sticks. "But you know," he said, "you could make do with less fire, and less smoke, if you had a warmer house and warmer clothing."
"I was thinking the same," she said. "Does your magic conjure good clothing?"
"No. If it did, I would not have come to you naked! I can mesmerize, and change my form, and transmute certain substances to certain others-"
"Lead into gold?" she asked eagerly.
"No, unfortunately. My father was working on alchemy, but had not progressed to that level, and I am far below it. Water to wine is my level."
"I'll take it!" she exclaimed. "Wine would warm me!"
"I'm not sure that it really would," he said cautiously. "My observation is that it may make a person feel wanner, but that the effect is illusory."
"I'll take it," she repeated. "I have water skins!"
"Very well. I'll transmute them. Then we can see about insulating your cottage."
She brought a skin full of water. He invoked the magic ritual, and the skin warmed and quivered as if something had come alive within it.
"That's it?" she asked.
"That's it. Magic doesn't have to be spectacular when it's not for public show. I merely draw on the ambient power that exists, and channel it to my purpose. You could do the same, if you studied the technique and had an aptitude."
"Glory be!" she breathed.
"Try some. See whether the flavor is right."
She squeezed some into her mouth. She smacked her lips. "Best wine I ever tasted! Ah, my winter seems warmer already!"
She had two other water skins. He converted them, then went out to fetch more wood. Had he learned to conjure, he thought ruefully, he could have brought good wood into the cottage with far less effort. But he was as yet only an apprentice sorcerer. It took decades to become truly adept, and then only with the proper application and training. He had planned to get into more advanced techniques at the same time Jolie did. . .
He had to invoke his mesmerization again to restore his equilibrium. His future was in ruins, his love destroyed. Why didn't he simply lie down and die?
He pondered that as he gathered the dry sticks. It was because, he realized, his skein had not yet run its course. At the moment he was destitute and grief-stricken, but his life had been spared. Thanatos himself had come for Jolie, and revealed that there was some great evil associated with her death. Certainly Parry regarded her death as evil! He had to live to discover the nature of that evil, and to set it right. To settle his account with whoever and whatever was responsible for that evil. Until he accomplished that, he could not lay down his life. He had to be strong, and survive his losses, until he could accomplish his settlement. And what a settlement that would be, once he
"You helped me before you knew who I was," he said.
"I did not know your name, but I knew you were someone."
"I can return the favor, perhaps in greater measure than you hoped for."
"All I wanted was some good wood for the winter. I've got this ague in my bones, and when I go out in the cold I get the chills so bad-"
"I'll fetch you wood," he agreed. "But you know I can do magic. If there is something more I can do-"
She nodded. "Let me think about it. It's late, and you are tired. Sleep the night, and in the morning we shall see."
Parry was glad to do that. She fetched some fresh straw for him, and he lay on the other side of the chamber from her bed. At first sleep would not come, because of the horrors of the day. Jolie . . .
Then he mesmerized himself, making the memories distant, and fell out of consciousness immediately.
In the morning she fed him more gruel and some sheep's milk. Then he went out to gather wood from the forest, bringing back many armfuls of sticks. "But you know," he said, "you could make do with less fire, and less smoke, if you had a warmer house and warmer clothing."
"I was thinking the same," she said. "Does your magic conjure good clothing?"
"No. If it did, I would not have come to you naked! I can mesmerize, and change my form, and transmute certain substances to certain others-"
"Lead into gold?" she asked eagerly.
"No, unfortunately. My father was working on alchemy, but had not progressed to that level, and I am far below it. Water to wine is my level."
"I'll take it!" she exclaimed. "Wine would warm me!"
"I'm not sure that it really would," he said cautiously. "My observation is that it may make a person feel wanner, but that the effect is illusory."
"I'll take it," she repeated. "I have water skins!"
"Very well. I'll transmute them. Then we can see about insulating your cottage."
She brought a skin full of water. He invoked the magic ritual, and the skin warmed and quivered as if something had come alive within it.
"That's it?" she asked.
"That's it. Magic doesn't have to be spectacular when it's not for public show. I merely draw on the ambient power that exists, and channel it to my purpose. You could do the same, if you studied the technique and had an aptitude."
"Glory be!" she breathed.
"Try some. See whether the flavor is right."
She squeezed some into her mouth. She smacked her lips. "Best wine I ever tasted! Ah, my winter seems warmer already!"
She had two other water skins. He converted them, then went out to fetch more wood. Had he learned to conjure, he thought ruefully, he could have brought good wood into the cottage with far less effort. But he was as yet only an apprentice sorcerer. It took decades to become truly adept, and then only with the proper application and training. He had planned to get into more advanced techniques at the same time Jolie did. . .
He had to invoke his mesmerization again to restore his equilibrium. His future was in ruins, his love destroyed. Why didn't he simply lie down and die?
He pondered that as he gathered the dry sticks. It was because, he realized, his skein had not yet run its course. At the moment he was destitute and grief-stricken, but his life had been spared. Thanatos himself had come for Jolie, and revealed that there was some great evil associated with her death. Certainly Parry regarded her death as evil! He had to live to discover the nature of that evil, and to set it right. To settle his account with whoever and whatever was responsible for that evil. Until he accomplished that, he could not lay down his life. He had to be strong, and survive his losses, until he could accomplish his settlement. And what a settlement that would be, once he
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