5
After Tariel woke from her nap, the three of them continued their journey. Thankfully, they found a narrow rope bridge that had not been visible from the top of the gorge, and with some fortifications from Tariel’s magic, safely crossed, even with the horses. Once on the other side, they followed the river west for a few miles, then turned south when the gorge opened up into a woodedarea.
“I expected to find more people by now,” Yarim said after yet another hour had gone by. They had passed a farmer driving a horse-drawn cart, a shepherd tending a modest flock, and a fisherman trying his luck at a small brook, but no one else thus far. “At least a smallvillage.”
“I wonder why these people are so recalcitrant,” Tariel said. They had tried to talk to the three men they had come upon, but they had been of few words, and had clammed up completely the moment Tariel or the others had made any mention of bandits. “It is almost as if they have been trained not to speak tooutsiders.”
“To be fair, our own people are wary of outsiders as well,” Calrain pointed out. “But I agree, it is very strange how unfriendly everyone seems. Perhaps we will have better luck in thevillages.”
They traveled for another half hour, and came upon a lone traveler on horseback. Tariel tried to engage him in conversation, but the man merely nodded curtly to them, then spurred his horse on and cantered past, leaving them in a cloud ofdust.
“Really,” Tariel said indignantly as she turned to watch him go. “The way these people are acting, you would thinkweare thebandits!”
“Perhaps during the next encounter, you might try using your magic?” Yarimsuggested.
Tariel frowned. “What do youmean?”
“As I mentioned before, I have seen some mages who can use their magic to manipulate another’s feelings,” Yarim said. “The more powerful ones can make someone love or hate or fear another person, while others can make a person relax enough to speak freely, similarly to how one might ply a person with drink to get him to divulge that which he would not normally speakof.”
“Interesting,” Tariel said, both intrigued and dismayed at the prospect. She did not much like the idea that there were mages who used their magic to change how a person felt about something, but on the other hand, they really did need information. “Do you know how such a spellworks?”
Yarim shook his head. “I wouldn’t know the first thing aboutit.”
“Emotional manipulation is a very special technique,” Zolotais said, popping out of the abacus. “It does not work on the strong-willed, and requires quite a bit of skill and concentration. But Tariel has already proven herself to be a natural at illusion, which is not quite so different—you are tricking the mind into seeing what is not there, just as in this case, you would have to trick the heart into feeling what it does notfeel.”
“Maybe,” Tariel said dubiously, “but with illusion, I feel as though I am merely painting a picture for others to see. I’m not sure how that translates when trying to change someone’semotions.”
“I cannot offer specific instruction, since I am not a mage myself,” Zolotais said ruefully. “I can only say to follow your instincts and give it a try at the nextopportunity.”
Calrain shuddered when Zolotais disappeared. “I really hate it when she does that,” he said. “How much does she hear from that abacus of hers? Does she listen when we make love?” His cheekscolored.
Tariel laughed. “I imagine Zolotais has selective hearing. And for all we know, there is some grand palace within that abacus, filled with all sorts of wonders that she keeps herself amusedwith.”
“I have heard that bound djinn are capable of creating little worlds within their receptacles,” Yarim said, his eyes bright as he glanced at the pack that held the abacus. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to visit the inside ofone.”
“Djinn?” Tariel asked. “Is that what they are called?” Zolotais had never referred to herself asone.
“Yes, that’s one of the names,” Yarim said. “They are usually beings of wind and fire that whirl across the sands like flaming dervishes. But some of them wield other elements, too. I wonder what type of djinn Zolotaisis.”
“When you say that she is bound, does that mean she is like a slave?” The thought troubled Tariel. She owed her life to Zolotais, and loved having the desert spirit around, but not at the expense of herfreedom.
“Yes,” Yarim said reluctantly. “She is bound to the abacus, and by extension, to whoever wields it. But I imagine she does not consider serving you to be a burden, Tariel. Who knows how many years she spent locked up in that tower, without a soul to talkto?”
“Even so,” Tariel said, “if there is a way, I would like to freeher.”
“We can look into that when we get to the Empire,” Yarim saidgently.
Tariel expected Zolotais to chime in on the conversation, but the desert spirit remained curiously silent. She wondered if the subject of her slavery was a sore spot to Zolotais, or if she merely was not listening, preoccupied with whatever it was djinn did to keep themselvesbusy.
I will definitely free you,she promised the desert spirit silently. And perhaps when they were alone, she would ask Zolotais to tell her more about herself. She had asked once or twice when she was a child, but Zolotais had evaded the question, and Tariel had dropped it. Now that she was an adult, she wondered if the spirit would tell her more. Where had she come from? What was she capable of? Did she have a family? Children? Did desert spiritsmarry?
“Look,” Calrain said, scattering her thoughts to the wind. “Downbelow.”
Tariel turned her gaze to where Calrain pointed. They were descending into a forest dale, following along the side of a small river. Farther into the valley, smack in the middle of a clearing, a water mill rose up from the trees. It was a modest, two-story building crafted of wood and stone, and as they drew closer, they could see a child playing in theyard.
“Hello,” Tariel called as she dismounted, leaving her horse with Yarim and Calrain. She approached the child cautiously, giving him a friendly smile. “Is your mother or fatherhome?”
The child looked up at her with wide blue eyes. He looked to be about four years old, and was dressed in a pair of trousers with suspenders and a white shirt striped with grass stains. His chubby cheeks were so endearing, Tariel had to restrain herself from reaching out and touchingthem.
