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"What must I do?" she asked quickly, but Ware only shook his head, and made a cautioning movement.
"It is too public here," he replied. "Let us wait until we are within your walls-and let us wait until you
have Faro with you. He will likely play an important role in this; he should be fully informed."
She could hardly restrain her impatience, but Ware was right. Faro should be present, and not just to
receive information. She held her tongue until they were within her gate and she had sent for Faro to
come to her little office.
Faro knew only what had occurred up until this afternoon. He had no idea of what Ware had said and
done since he had arrived in Xylina's office this day. The slave drew himself up protectively, glared
angrily at Ware, and he said, threateningly, "I do not care what you are, demon, nor what your powers
are. If you hurt my little mistress in anyway, or dare to do anything she finds repugnant, I shall rend
your limbs from your body, pull what passes for your heart from your chest, and stuff it into your
deceitful mouth! You may have tricked her, but I am bound by no vows regarding you."
Xylina blinked, astonished by his protective vehemence, but Ware only nodded with approval. The
demon seemed completely undisturbed by the threat. "Good," he said. "It is as I hoped, and as Adria
does not guess." He turned to Xylina. "She thinks that this slave hates you, as he most likely hates all
Mazonites, and will do nothing to protect you when he has no obvious responsibility, Xylina. That his
performance in street fights will not be echoed when the threats are more subtle. We must not let her
become aware that she is wrong."
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Faro was clearly taken aback by Ware's casual acceptance of his threat. And a moment later, he was
deeply absorbed in everything the demon had to say, as Ware explained all that had happened since he
arrived in Xylina's office.
"Now you understand why your willingness to protect Xylina is so important," Ware concluded,
speaking to Faro as he would to an equal, which also surprised Xylina. "Xylina can protect herself, but
only while she is awake, and not against overwhelming odds," Ware continued. "She must sleep
sometimes. I doubt that Adria will send any females with her. The armed guards she sends will be all
male slaves, licensed to be armed outside of Mazonia, and as the only female with a Mazonite
expedition, she will be the obvious target in an attack. Anyone who has faced Mazonites before knows
who the leaders are in any group, and they will know that without Xylina, the slaves will be free to run
away. The guards that Adria sends may be halfhearted in their defense because of that-but not if they
know that you, Faro, will beat them senseless, then remove limbs, if she comes to grief."
Faro actually smiled, a feral, hungry stretching of the lips. The smile of a man who had been trained for
the arena.
"Are we all agreed, then?" Ware said. "Are we to work as a team? Our purposes differ, but on this
mission I believe we have a common cause. We all want it to succeed. Faro, I pledge you my word that I
will do nothing with Xylina that she does not herself approve. In fact, she will tell you what she wishes
in that respect."
"Agreed," Faro said positively, knowing Xylina's strength of will in this matter. Xylina nodded.
Ware sat back, in a relaxed pose. "Now, let me tell you all that I know about this stone that we are to
retrieve. If you have any questions, please ask them at any time. I do not wish to leave anything out, and
your questions may prompt my memory." He grinned. "It is at times as fallible as any mere humans."
Somehow, despite everything he had done to her, directly or indirectly, Xylina found herself beginning
to like the demon. So far, except for what he wanted of her, and that deception about the contract, he had
been completely honorable with her.
"This crystal-or rather, crystal shard-dates from a time long forgotten by your people, Xylina." Ware's
face took on an absent and thoughtful expression, almost as if he was dreaming of something. His eyes
swirled with many colors, an effect that Xylina had never before seen when she looked at him. His face
changed as he spoke of the remote past, subtly, but unmistakably. At this moment, she knew he was
truly unhuman; there was something about the angular shape of his face and that remote expression that
made him appear truly alien. Now she wondered just how old Ware really was, how much he had seen.
"It is a lost fragment of a much larger crystal which was shattered long ago," he continued, his voice as
remote as his eyes. "This original crystal polarizes all the magic of this realm-it makes the magic work
in particular ways, along specific lines and following specific rules. Do you understand this so far?"
"I think so," Xylina replied. She had never before thought of magic as following rules, or being
governed by anything. It just was. And she had certainly never had the notion that there was some relic
of ancient times behind it all.
"Where is this crystal?" Faro asked. "Are we going to be trying to find it, too?"
"The main crystal is hidden in the heart of a fortress in the center of the realm. It is heavily guarded."
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Ware raised an eyebrow. "Although the Queen is not aware of it, the guards are descendants of the very
first Mazonite Queen and a select number of her Guard. They are there, not to keep the crystal from [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]