AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My new life, where I was now really afraid of the dark and what it held.
While I dithered and Darling washed a paw, my eyes fell on the supposed tribute from Falcon. I laid a finger on it but felt nothing unusual. No tingle that living things seem to give off; no feral sexual buzz that marked Rogue’s work; no light shock, like from a faulty outlet that I was beginning to associate with other enchanted objects.
“What do you think—is it safe to open?” I asked Darling, who was engaged in full ear-washing now and ignored me. “A lot of help you are. I should call you Unfamiliar.”
Without pausing in his washing, he sent me another picture of him in the armor.
“Yes, yes, yes—patience is a virtue, you know.”
I turned the little box so it would open away from me and Darling, and not toward anything important. I lifted the hinged lid with the tips of my fingers still, much as I would open a container in the lab that could potentially spew toxic substances.
Nothing came out, so I walked out a few paces and circled to see from a distance what lay inside. My hand had crept up to my throat. I made myself lower it.
In the box, jewels shimmered in the soft pillow light, maybe a topaz-y color. The problem with colored light was you didn’t get good color resolution on other objects. The gems seemed inert, so I walked up slowly, watching them with close attention, mental feelers out for anything untoward. It was a necklace of stones. Small, like a choker. No, wait—a collar.
What waswiththese people and their collars?
“Oh, ha-ha,” I said, and reached out to snap the lid shut. Darling stopped me with a curious chirrup. “No, we can’t use that—it might be a bad idea.”
Darling pictured me twirling around, wearing the jeweled collar, fluttering and flirting, petting it with my fingertips.
“Oh yeah—that’s me. Like I would ever wear anything from Falcon, much less something that implies I’m his tame pet.”
Never again.
“No, I don’t want to keep it for myself, but I’m worried there’s some kind of trap in it. We should use something else.”
Darling patted it with his paw and meowed demandingly.
“You don’t get to insist. You’re the Unfamiliar and I’m the Ever-So-Powerful Lady Sorceress. Remember who you’re talking to.”
Darling rumbled a purr and bent down to delicately lick the collar. Then pictured the collar and helmet with shining topazes on them.
“You don’t think there could be a hidden trap?”
Darling chirruped, adding more topazes to the image.
“Well, I guess this is your culture and you know it better than I do.”
Darling purred agreement.
“Okay, if you’re sure. Now this last image—is that your final answer?”
He sent the same picture again, which I took as a yes.
“You don’t think the amber of the topazes is a little much with the purple short-plume? No? Fine.”
It only took a moment for the breast plate, spiked collar and little helmet to appear, studded with smaller versions of the topaz stones. I’d used the collar as it sat in the wooden box and allowed Darling’s armor to manifest in its place, along with a wish for protection and a wash of the cleaning ideas I’d been using on the food and water. It would have been easier to manifest itonhim, the way he so clearly pictured it, but I wanted to be sure I didn’t fuse it to his fur or something else horrible. Fortunately I seemed to be fine with expansion and contraction of mass, conveniently bending that aspect of thermodynamics. And here my advisor had despaired of my tendency to cherry-pick the neurophysiology theories I liked best.Shows him.
“Hold still,” I had to remind Darling as I buckled the straps. “Stop preening around. There—got it!”
Immediately Darling dropped from the workbench and trotted across the room to leap onto my vanity. He pranced in delight in front of the mirror, examining himself from all angles, the golden topazes gleaming, the purple ruff spiked with a matching golden zebra mottling. He cocked a gimlet eye at me and sent me a picture of himself ten times taller, grabbing little soldier figures in his sharp teeth and claws, flinging them about like dolls.
I hummed the tune of “Scotland the Brave,” and Darling danced in place to the war beat of the song. Snatches of the lyrics ran through my mind, with all the bold hearts, nodding plumes, death and gore.
I shivered at Darling’s enthusiasm. Hopefully he understood he was only a small cat in reality. He was truly my only friend here. I reached out to pet him, but he huffed at me and sprang down, heading out to show off his outfit.
“Don’t you want me to take it off, so you can sleep?” I called after him.
