I took Lady out
for a picnic. With a little help from my adopted daughters. In the
vain hope that some sunlight and fresh air would make a difference
when even Tobo’s best effort could not shake the enchantment
holding her. According to the boy wizard I was supposed to consider
myself lucky. If she had not been Lady, had been some ordinary
person, she would have been long dead. He assured me this was not
the spell that had claimed Sedvod and still gripped Soulcatcher. I
could not see any obvious difference—except that Lady was getting
no worse.
His best advice was to take my questions to the perpetrator once
we found him.
The girls left me alone with my honey. I held her hand and
rambled on about a thousand things: recollections, current affairs,
hopes. I shared my suspicions and concerns about Tobo, too, which
might have been dangerous since I had no idea what might be
listening.
Nothing I did helped her even a little, nor did it seem to do me
any good. I fought the good fight against despair.
A squeaky clean, thoroughly polished corporal from Hsien trotted
up. “Captain’s compliments, sir, and could you come to
the Palace? They think they may have located the Khadidas and the
Daughter of Night.”
“Damn! Yes. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell
them not to mess with anything. Tell them to be very careful. Those
two are extremely dangerous.”
They knew that, of course. And Tobo would be right there to
remind them. But repetition never hurts. Not when it helps get you
through the deadly times.
Shukrat and Arkana came running. “What’s up?”
Shukrat asked.
As I explained I reflected on how much better the girls were
getting along. They seemed to have shed the conflicts they had
brought into Captivity.
As we three got Lady ready to go back to my tent I asked Arkana,
“Will you want to go home someday?”
“What?”
“Home. Where you were born. The world I used to call
Khatovar. Do you want to go back? I think I could make it
happen.”
“But it’s all destroyed.”
“Not really. The First Father and Nashun the Researcher
said so, but that was just to excuse their cowardice.”
“I’m not sure I want to believe that.”
“Good. Excellent. That’s the way I want my kids to
be. Skeptical. That’s the truth according to Shivetya. And
I’m not a hundred percent sure of our demonic friend
myself.”
“Why didn’t you ask me if I want to go?”
Shukrat demanded.
“Because you don’t want to go. You just want to be
where Tobo is.”
“That isn’t exactly a secret. It isn’t a
crime, either. But I’m not bereft of my senses. You’ll
sure never see me do some die-for-love kind of thing. If you guys
do go, tell me. I’ll decide what I want to do
then.”
I took Lady out
for a picnic. With a little help from my adopted daughters. In the
vain hope that some sunlight and fresh air would make a difference
when even Tobo’s best effort could not shake the enchantment
holding her. According to the boy wizard I was supposed to consider
myself lucky. If she had not been Lady, had been some ordinary
person, she would have been long dead. He assured me this was not
the spell that had claimed Sedvod and still gripped Soulcatcher. I
could not see any obvious difference—except that Lady was getting
no worse.
His best advice was to take my questions to the perpetrator once
we found him.
The girls left me alone with my honey. I held her hand and
rambled on about a thousand things: recollections, current affairs,
hopes. I shared my suspicions and concerns about Tobo, too, which
might have been dangerous since I had no idea what might be
listening.
Nothing I did helped her even a little, nor did it seem to do me
any good. I fought the good fight against despair.
A squeaky clean, thoroughly polished corporal from Hsien trotted
up. “Captain’s compliments, sir, and could you come to
the Palace? They think they may have located the Khadidas and the
Daughter of Night.”
“Damn! Yes. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell
them not to mess with anything. Tell them to be very careful. Those
two are extremely dangerous.”
They knew that, of course. And Tobo would be right there to
remind them. But repetition never hurts. Not when it helps get you
through the deadly times.
Shukrat and Arkana came running. “What’s up?”
Shukrat asked.
As I explained I reflected on how much better the girls were
getting along. They seemed to have shed the conflicts they had
brought into Captivity.
As we three got Lady ready to go back to my tent I asked Arkana,
“Will you want to go home someday?”
“What?”
“Home. Where you were born. The world I used to call
Khatovar. Do you want to go back? I think I could make it
happen.”
“But it’s all destroyed.”
“Not really. The First Father and Nashun the Researcher
said so, but that was just to excuse their cowardice.”
“I’m not sure I want to believe that.”
“Good. Excellent. That’s the way I want my kids to
be. Skeptical. That’s the truth according to Shivetya. And
I’m not a hundred percent sure of our demonic friend
myself.”
“Why didn’t you ask me if I want to go?”
Shukrat demanded.
“Because you don’t want to go. You just want to be
where Tobo is.”
“That isn’t exactly a secret. It isn’t a
crime, either. But I’m not bereft of my senses. You’ll
sure never see me do some die-for-love kind of thing. If you guys
do go, tell me. I’ll decide what I want to do
then.”