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Richard rested his forearms across his knees. "I don't suppose there is any way for you to take me back to the Keep?"
"Yes, Master. If you wish to travel, I can take you."
Richard sat up straighter. "You can? How?"
"You must simply acquire the required magic, and then I can take you again. Then we will travel. You will be pleased."
Acquire the required magic. He didn't even know how to use the magic he had—or used to have. He couldn't imagine what had happened to his gift, and he had absolutely no idea how to get it back. There had been any number of times he'd wanted to be rid if it, but now that it had actually happened all he could think about was getting it back.
When his gift had failed, the beast had apparently lost him in the sliph. As consolation to losing his gift, it seemed the beast would be one less problem he had to face at the moment—his gift, after all, had been the mechanism by which the beast was keyed to him, the way in which it hunted him. There was supposed to be balance in magic; perhaps that was the balance to losing it.
Richard raked his fingers back through his hair. "At least Nicci and Cara made it through and are safe." He looked up at the sliph. "You're sure that they're all right?"
"Yes, Master. They are safe. I took them to the Keep, where they had wished to travel. They had what was required to travel."
"And you told them where I was. You told them what had happened."
She looked surprised by what had sounded more like a mandate than a question. "No, Master. I would never reveal what I do with another."
"Oh, great," he muttered. He worked to keep his exasperation in check. "But you've told me about others."
"You are my master. I do things with you that I would not do with anyone else."
"Sliph, they are my friends. They're probably frantic with worry for me. You must tell them what they need to know."
The silver head tilted toward him. "Master, I cannot betray you. I would not."
"It's not a betrayal. I'm telling you that it's all right to tell them what happened."
The sliph looked like she thought this was just about the strangest request she had ever had. "Master, you wish me to tell others about us, about what we do when we are together?"
"Sliph, try to understand. You are no longer a whore."
"But people use me for their pleasure."
"It's not the same thing." Richard raked his fingers back through his hair, trying not to sound angry. "Listen, wizards in ancient times changed you from who you were, from what you were."
The sliph nodded solemnly. "I know, Master. I remember. I was the one it happened to, after all."
"You're different now. It's not the same. You can't equate the two things. They're different."
"I have been given a duty to serve others in this capacity. My nature is still within me."
"But there are some of us who use you who greatly value your help."
"I have always been valued for what I do."
"This is different from what you did before." Richard didn't want to be having this argument. He had more important matters to worry about. "Sliph, when you travel with us you are often helping to save lives. When you traveled with us to the People's Palace, you were helping me to end the war. You are doing a good thing."
"If you say so. Master. But you must understand that those who created me made me the way I am. They used what I once was to create me as I am now. I can be no way other than the way I am. I cannot wish myself to be different, any more than you can travel now simply by wishing it."
Richard sighed. "I suppose not."
With one hand he snapped dry twigs in half as he thought it over. He shared a long look with the beautiful face watching him, hanging on his every word. Finally, he spoke softly.
"There are times when there is no other way, and you must trust others. This is one of those times."
Something about his words clearly struck home. The beautiful, liquid face came a little closer.
"You are the one," the sliph whispered.
"The one? Which one?"
"The one Baraccus told me would come."
The hair on the back of Richard's neck stood on end.
"You knew Baraccus?"
"He was once my master, like you are, now."
"Of course," Richard whispered to himself. "He was First Wizard."
"He is the one who insisted that I possess the emergency elements I told you about. He also directed that there be this emergency portal. Had he not done those things, you would have died. He was very wise."
"Very wise," Richard agreed as he stared wide-eyed at the sliph. "You said that Baraccus told you something about one who would come?"
The sliph nodded. "He was kind to me. His wife hated me, but Baraccus was kind to me."
"You knew his wife, too?"
"Magda."
"Why would she hate you?"
"Because Baraccus was kind to me. And because I took him away from her."
"You mean, you took him away when he wished to travel."
"Of course. When I would tell him that he would be pleased, she would fold her arms and glare at me."
Richard smiled a little. "She was jealous."
"She loved him and did not want him to leave her. When I would return with him after we traveled, she would often be there, waiting for him. He would always smile when he saw her, and she would smile in turn."
"And what was it that Baraccus said about me?"
"He told me the same thing that you just did, that there are times when there is no other way, and you must trust others. Those were his words, just as they were yours. He said that one day another master would say those exact same words, and then add exactly the same words you did: 'This is one of those times.'
"He told me that if a master ever said these words, that meant that they were the right one and I was to tell them some things."
Richard could feel every hair on his arms stand on end.
"You took Magda Searus somewhere, didn't you?"
"Yes, Master. After that I never saw Baraccus again. But before, when he told me that someday someone would say those words, he told me to tell them his message."
"He left a message?" When she nodded, he rolled his hand. "So what is it?"
" 'I am sorry. I don't know the answers that would save you. If I did, please believe that I would give them eagerly. But I know the good in you. I believe in you. I do know that you have within you what you must to succeed. There will be times when you doubt yourself. Do not give up. Remember then that I believe in you, that I know you can accomplish what you must. You are a rare person. Believe in yourself.
" 'Know that I believe you are the one who can do it.' "
Richard sat frozen. The words echoed around in his head. They were oddly familiar.
"I've heard almost those exact words before."
The sliph glided a little closer, her features tightening. "You have?"
Richard concentrated as he ran the words through his mind again, trying to recall…
And then he did. It was right after Shota had told him about Baraccus. Just before she left, she'd said those very words to him. There was something about those words, spoken by Shota, that had aroused an indistinct memory.
"It was Shota, the witch woman," Richard said as he frowned in recollection. "She told me those words."
The sliph retreated. "I am sorry, Master. You have failed the test."
