“You can make fire—”
“Call fire, you mean.”
He nodded. “An important distinction. You can call fire and contain things. Very useful skills, those.”
“Do you have other short spells?”
He smiled gravely. “A few.”
“How many?”
“I’m too weary to count them all, but I’ll make you a list in the morning.”
“We could go collect more of your soul,” she said, knowing it was a last-ditch effort to keep herself from having to use what she’d asked for. “Then you would have what you needed, aye?”
He looked at her seriously. “I’m not sure we have the time, if you want my thoughts on it.”
“Then what will we do?” she asked miserably.
“Well, I’ve been thinking,” he said slowly. “We have a spell of death that requires nothing from either of us.” He shrugged. “It might be worth making a handful of others for use in a pinch.”
“Won’t that cost you bits of your soul?”
“There isn’t all that much left to take. I’ll make a few, sleep like the dead for a day or two, then we’ll be off and doing.”
“And what am I to do while you’re doing that?” she asked, pushing aside her unease over the thought of being alone inside with that mage lurking in the forest outside.
“Refrain from burning the house down?”
“What about a spell of werelight?” she asked. “Could I do that?”
He smiled. “I imagine you could.”
“Let’s go, then.” She pushed off his lap only to have him catch her and pull her back. “What?”
“You don’t need to go outside to practice that,” he said. “I think we should stay right here by the fire where it’s warm.”
She imagined he was less concerned about staying warm than he was staying out of sight, but she suspected she didn’t need to acknowledge that.
“I can only manage five words,” she warned.
“Fadaire will do it for you in three.”
“Oh?” she asked in surprise. “What will King Sìle think?”
“He’ll never know.”
“I’m beginning to suspect that might not be as true as you would like.”
“I’ll take responsibility for you. But let’s try it later. I think I might need a nap soon.” He paused, then looked at her seriously. “About this morning—”
She shook her head. “I know what you’re capable of.”
“Nay, about pushing you so hard.” He sighed. “Listen to me apologizing as easily as if I’ve done nothing else for the whole of my life.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “Please don’t tell anyone. And, you know, forgive me.”
“You were trying to keep me safe, I imagine.”
He only nodded, closed his eyes, then gathered her more closely to him.
