Sami leaned into his side for comfort, and asked, “Is there anything we can do to protect her? You know the ways of summoning, Master Asharan. Sahar would not be in danger if she were not bonded to me in particular. Could we persuade another enchanter to — to magically adopt her, or something of the sort?”
“Her heart and soul made its choice when she chose you,” Ashar murmured, knowing he did not speak only of the cat.
“And I am profoundly honored,” Sami said, tremulous. “But for her safety’s sake…”
“If you deny her that bond, you deny her the foundation of the magic that supports her living incarnation, with the love and the power your own heart gives her,” Ashar said. “Anotherenchanter could summon another cat-spirit, but it would not be your Sahar and her kittens-to-be.”
“Well, then.” Sami bent his head to try to mask the glimmer in his eyes. “I am truly sorry that — that she is in danger b-because she chose me.” He twined his fingers between Ashar’s and squeezed a little, and Ashar suspected that he was not speaking entirely of the cat either.
Ashar lifted his hand and kissed the back of it softly. “Her choice of whom to love is her own,” he said.
“Mrrrt,”Sahar agreed, shoving her damp nose into the crook of Sami’s ankle and producing a startling shriek.
“AAAAH—! Sahar, what are youdoing here?Did youwalkall this way— you were supposed tostay with—” Sami cut himself short as she climbed into his lap. She padded a soft little circle, kneading a soft spot against his thigh, then settled down with a huff and began to groom a paw.
“Oh, she’s a beauty, isn’t she,” Hoda-auntie cooed.
Stroking her fur gently, Sami stammered, “Why…? How…?”
“Let me guess,” Ashar said, delighted. “You’ve been having trouble keeping her behind particular doors?”
“I hadno ideahow difficult cats could be to contain,” he admitted with a sigh.“Ya habibti,why on earth did you come all this way…?”
“She is a part of your heart,” Ashar told him, scritching the soft nook behind her ear gently. “And your heart was greatly troubled for her sake. Of course she would come to see to your well-being. And even regular cats can be a challenge to herd. Cat-familiars so new-made that they still remember what it is to slip between spaces even more easily than breath? Well… good luck keeping her and her kittens enclosed anywhere they don’t wish to remain. Not without a great deal of warding in all six directions and at least two extra dimensions. You might keep catsoutwith thehaveli’s warding, but as a result I’m quiteconfident that the same warding was never intended to keep catsin.”
“Oh,dear,”Sami said, visibly distraught even through the veil.
“You meanoh good,” Mreret said loftily. “If you don’t have the balls and the claws to protect her, then maybe she’ll protect you instead, like one of her kittens.”
“And good luck to the zealot who wants her in a cage,” Basima-auntie said, grinning.
“I wish that were all he wanted,” Sami said, stroking her side gently. “He is greatly concerned about the nature of our soul-bond. And I know so little of it that I didn’t even realize she could follow me. Is it true that a sorcerer could use her against me…?”
Ashar sighed. “Well, yes. But it wouldn’t have to be a sorcerer. You love her. She loves you. That is leverage enough, is it not? You have already come to Bastet’s Temple seeking a way to protect her from someone who does not need any magical power at all to threaten you both.”
Drooping, Sami murmured, “Is he right, then?”
“Right about what?” Hoda-auntie asked. “That love makes you vulnerable? Yes. That love makes you desperate? Yes. But if anyone thought they could use my love for my children against me, they would not think it for long.”
“Your hand-towel is most assuredly valiant, Hoda-auntie, but?—”
“Hand-towel? I’d get a fire-poker and break their jaw.” She reached over and patted his hand. “But I understand you have a gentler soul,beta.”
“I still think blackmail’s our best idea so far,” Basima-auntie said.
“We arenot blackmailing anyone,” Sami said. “Because that never ends well for anyone, and even if it did, it would onlyprotect one small cat from one particular individual. I hope to protect many more cats and more humans, both great and small, and to admit them on equal footing, with equal care.”
“Easier for the eye to see than the hand to reach,” Hoda-auntie said.
“Especially without blackmail,” Basima-auntie added, stabbing another bowl.
“You can’t cookhalawawithout fire,” Ashar said, smiling. “But we must begin with kindling. How can we comfort your zealot’s particular concerns about your own soul-bond?”
“I wish I knew,” Sami murmured. “By the letter of both the God-Emperor’s scripture and Bastet’s own, he is undoubtedly correct about the heresy of my soul-bonding, given how many cats seem to believe they are goddesses to demand their humans’ worship.”
“We don’tbelieve,” Mreret said, “weknow.”
“….You are not aiding my defense here.”
