Page 48 (1/2)

A frown touched hishe’d deliberately asked for a larger aain it down "Consideration at six months or beyond only on the condition that you have passed the shikvihr initiation"

Shikvihr I frowned Where had I heard that before?

Fro is she in the shikvihr?" he’d asked Rhyzkahl That ritual foundation thing

"I can’t agree to that when I have no idea how long that typically takes to master" I leaned back and foldedthis condition on a skill that takes decades to learn" Helori said I could trust hi about the part that ca the oath

"Calvus Atilia passed the shikvihr initiation in seven hteen hteen months sucked So I’ll study my ass off, I told myself "Very well I also want to be able to send and receive ht have in place on Earth or by ed," he said, eyes on h me"

I pursed my lips "Will you respect reement to act only in my best interests, yes"

I steeled myself for the next point I wanted to raise Rhyzkahl had sworn not to harood "I--" My voice cracked I took a deep breath and tried again "I want to discuss ould happen in the event that I were to fall into the hands of another lord" I met his eyes "I don’t want to become anyone’s thrall"

He leaned forward "First, I will do all within ," he said "There are possibilities of ih there is always the chance of those being detected" He paused "There are other, more drastic options"

I spoke as quietly and calht quaver "I expect you to do all in your ability to keep such a situation frouards fail I expect you to do ardless of location, realm, dimension, or other locale, with the sole exception of a scenario where, in your best and most honorable discretion, you believe that I would prefer death, or a scenario in which the lives or fates of innocents would be spared by har me"

Mzatal listened carefully "Define harm"

"Shit that hurts that I don’t want done to me!" I snapped, then winced atas well as any sort of arcane torture And no " Dareement do me if I fucked it up? I dropped my hands into my lap and clutched the fabric of my shirt beneath the table

"There must be conditions," Mzatal replied cal will be impossible One would be to do you no willful or nonconsensual har, as well as times when har "In other ways, I will not seek to harht Yeah No willful or nonconsensual har anywhere near as unnerving or fraught; details and fine tuning concerning training and protocols, that sort of thing Nothing leaped out atonerous or untenable, and after as probably a couple of hours, the sun set and papers were drawn up in English and de that the translation was precise We signed in ordinary ink and then swore to it, with about as much drama as the times I’d been sworn in to testify in court Yet I had no doubt that the oath was just as binding as if we’d chanted naked and signed in blood Probably far ned and sworn on, I felt oddly at loose ends, though relieved to have the details out of the way I pushed down the niggling fear that I’d e of me, and held onto Helori’s assurance that Mzatal was true to his word

"So what now?" I asked

"First, the balcony" Mzatal stood and picked up a wine bottle and glasses from the side table I followed hiht He exhaled softly, appearing to relax as soon as he was in the open air It didn’t seem as if he disliked the indoors, butthat could only be found in wide open spaces Even sitting behind the glass of the solariu far too lass and passed it todrink and looked up at the stars A sliver ofnear it, looking as if they’d been poured out of the crescent A thin cloud drifted before the low before it passed on

Mzatal took a sip, then set his glass aside and stood, hands behind back, as he took a deep breath and released it slowly "They are so beautiful," he uht to i, the sky seemed utterly packed with stars The only time I’d ever seen the sky like that was the day after Hurricane Katrina blew through, and most of south Louisiana had been without power I’d seen the Milky Way for the first tiet back home I’d work and study my ass off and do whatever I had to do

Still, I couldn’t hold back the wistful sigh "I don’t recognize any of the constellations"

"Nothing of Earth here," he said He looked at ave a sh I could sih them if I chose to" He pointed to a cluster of stars a handspan above the horizon "There, the bellowing reyza" He traced it in a pale light for uished it