“But then Oberon would know about the mist,” Elizabeth said, looking distressed. “He will … end it. That wouldn’t be fair! The mist is like a baby, just learning. One doesn’t kill a baby for making a mistake.”
“That is a large and very dangerous baby,” Rhoslyn pointed out. “It has learned to make. The lion it made killed two mortals.”
“That was me,” Elizabeth said anxiously. “I asked it to make a hungry lion that would eat the men who had abducted me. It wasn’t the mist’s idea.”
“And the mist didn’t like the lion,” Pasgen said thoughtfully. “The lion attacked the male … ah … doll. The one that looks something like me. And when I struck it, the lion I mean, with my sword, the mist dissipated it.”
“It hasn’t made anything dangerous on its own,” Elizabeth put in eagerly. “The red-haired doll and the gold-haired doll did no harm to anyone. They were gentle things.”
“But it took the kitten and the lion from your mind, Elizabeth,” Denoriel said. “The Mother knows what it will pick out of Vidal Dhu’s mind.”
“It won’t take anything from him because he won’t ask it nicely,” Elizabeth said firmly. “He’ll yell at it and threaten it.”
“So far it does not seem to want to kill,” Mechain said. “It must have been aware of what Vidal did to its construct. Could it not have fashioned a knife—think how strong those bands in which it wrapped Vidal were—and stabbed him?”
“Hmmm.” Elidir bit his lower lip. “Vidal could live a long time wrapped in those bands. There is power in plenty, in great plenty, in that Unformed land. He can draw that in to sustain his life.”
“Then likely he will not die at all,” Pasgen said, a note of relief in his voice. “He is a very good mage once he sets his mind to magic rather than rage. Once he recovers from his shock and initial fear, he will soon devise a spell to release himself.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Then no harm at all will have been done,” Elizabeth said. “And there will be no need to tell Oberon about the mist.”
Gaenor looked around at her guests. Elizabeth looked hopeful. Pasgen, Mechain, and Elidir looked brightly interested. Harry and Denoriel both had the same expression of concern, their eyes on Elizabeth. When Vidal was free he would try again to be rid of Elizabeth. Rhoslyn alone looked worried and undecided. Gaenor nodded. Rhoslyn had “made” fearsome things and feared the damage such constructs could do if the mist created them out of Vidal’s mind.
“Then, for the present, we will do nothing,” Gaenor said. “Pasgen and I, and perhaps my student Hafwen, who seems able to ‘smell’ evil constructs, will keep watch. Unless the mist does create something monstrous”—her lips quirked into a smile—“we will let the baby grow.”
About the Authors
Mercedes Lackey is the author of the Bardic Voices series and the SERRAted Edge series (both Baen), the Heralds of Valdemar series (DAW), and many more. Of her writing, Stephen King has stated, “She’ll keep you up long past your bedtime,” and Locus raved, “Lackey is one of the best storytellers in the field.” Among her popular Baen titles are The Fire Rose, The Lark and the Wren, The Shadow of the Lion (with Eric Flint and Dave Freer) and This Scepter’d Isle, the prequel to Ill Met by Moonlight, written in collaboration with Roberta Gellis. She lives in Oklahoma.
Roberta Gellis is author of over 25 novels in different fields. New York Times best-selling author John Jakes has called her “a superb storyteller of extraordinary talent,” Publishers Weekly has termed her “a master of the medieval historical,” and Romantic Times has praised her as “a master spinner of tales.” Her many awards include: The Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books and the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur. From Romantic Times she has received both the Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period and also the Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy. And the Romance Writers of America have presented her with their Lifetime Achievement Award.
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