"It will take about a week to assemble the party and supplies," the Queen said, when she had finished. "If you can think of anything you might need, simply send word to my majordomo and he will arrange for it to be added to the expedition. We will send for you when the party is complete, to give you your final instructions and send you off."
"Thank you, Queen Adria," Xylina said.
The Queen smiled winningly. "We simply do our best for a loyal subject. Now remember, Ware must accompany you wherever you go, and this must begin from this moment."
Xylina had forgotten that, and it irked her, but she nodded her agreement. Ware, too, had maneuvered her rather more neatly man she liked.
The majordomo escorted them both out a side door. Ware looked about for observers, but there was no one in sight. Nevertheless, he waited until they were some distance from the walls before he said anything. "This is rather what I had expected her to do," he said, as Xylina wondered if he were more her foe than the Queen. "This is the most serious challenge that the Queen could have arranged for you, but I did not expect less from her."
"You might tell me something I could not have guessed for myself!" she snapped. "The likelihood is that I am going to be killed on this foolish quest!"
But Ware only smiled. "This is where she miscalculated. She still does not realize that I intend to help you. Without me, you would certainly die. But my desire for you is extraordinarily greater than incidental lust. With me, and with my help, you can complete this task. However, there are special precautions that you must take."
Once again, Xylina was taken aback by both how human and inhuman he was. And by how accurate his reading of the Queen was. Certainly, if Adria had thought that Ware intended to aid her rival, she would have done something to prevent him from going along, instead of the opposite. Now that she thought about it, she realized that Adria could have assumed the debt herself, buying it from Ware. Xylina would still have been forced to go on this quest, but without Ware's help. Surely the Queen assumed that the only action Ware might take would be to whisk her away from certain death, and take advantage of her. And in that case, Adria would not even have to assume the guilt for sending Xylina into a fatal situation.
"What must I do?" she asked quickly, but Ware only shook his head, and made a cautioning movement.
"It is too public here," he replied. "Let us wait until we are within your walls-and let us wait until you have Faro with you. He will likely play an important role in this; he should be fully informed."
She could hardly restrain her impatience, but Ware was right. Faro should be present, and not just to receive information. She held her tongue until they were within her gate and she had sent for Faro to come to her little office.
Faro knew only what had occurred up until this afternoon. He had no idea of what Ware had said and done since he had arrived in Xylina's office this day. The slave drew himself up protectively, glared angrily at Ware, and he said, threateningly, "I do not care what you are, demon, nor what your powers are. If you hurt my little mistress in anyway, or dare to do anything she finds repugnant, I shall rend your limbs from your body, pull what passes for your heart from your chest, and stuff it into your deceitful mouth! You may have tricked her, but I am bound by no vows regarding you."
Xylina blinked, astonished by his protective vehemence, but Ware only nodded with approval. The demon seemed completely undisturbed by the threat. "Good," he said. "It is as I hoped, and as Adria does not guess." He turned to Xylina. "She thinks that this slave hates you, as he most likely hates all Mazonites, and will do nothing to protect you when he has no obvious responsibility, Xylina. That his performance in street fights will not be echoed when the threats are more subtle. We must not let her become aware that she is wrong."
Faro was clearly taken aback by Ware's casual acceptance of his threat. And a moment later, he was deeply absorbed in everything the demon had to say, as Ware explained all that had happened since he arrived in Xylina's office.
"Now you understand why your willingness to protect Xylina is so important," Ware concluded, speaking to Faro as he would to an equal, which also surprised Xylina. "Xylina can protect herself, but only while she is awake, and not against overwhelming odds," Ware continued. "She must sleep sometimes. I doubt that Adria will send any females with her. The armed guards she sends will be all male slaves, licensed to be armed outside of Mazonia, and as the only female with a Mazonite expedition, she will be the obvious target in an attack. Anyone who has faced Mazonites before knows who the leaders are in any group, and they will know that without Xylina, the slaves will be free to run away. The guards that Adria sends may be halfhearted in their defense because of that-but not if they know that you, Faro, will beat them senseless, then remove limbs, if she comes to grief."
Faro actually smiled, a feral, hungry stretching of the lips. The smile of a man who had been trained for the arena.
"Are we all agreed, then?" Ware said. "Are we to work as a team? Our purposes differ, but on this mission I believe we have a common cause. We all want it to succeed. Faro, I pledge you my word that I will do nothing with Xylina that she does not herself approve. In fact, she will tell you what she wishes in that respect."
"Agreed," Faro said positively, knowing Xylina's strength of will in this matter. Xylina nodded.
Ware sat back, in a relaxed pose. "Now, let me tell you all that I know about this stone that we are to retrieve. If you have any questions, please ask them at any time. I do not wish to leave anything out, and your questions may prompt my memory." He grinned. "It is at times as fallible as any mere humans."
Somehow, despite everything he had done to her, directly or indirectly, Xylina found herself beginning to like the demon. So far, except for what he wanted of her, and that deception about the contract, he had been completely honorable with her.
"This crystal-or rather, crystal shard-dates from a time long forgotten by your people, Xylina." Ware's face took on an absent and thoughtful expression, almost as if he was dreaming of something. His eyes swirled with many colors, an effect that Xylina had never before seen when she looked at him. His face changed as he spoke of the remote past, subtly, but unmistakably. At this moment, she knew he was truly unhuman; there was something about the angular shape of his face and that remote expression that made him appear truly alien. Now she wondered just how old Ware really was, how much he had seen.
"It is a lost fragment of a much larger crystal which was shattered long ago," he continued, his voice as remote as his eyes. "This original crystal polarizes all the magic of this realm-it makes the magic work in particular ways, along specific lines and following specific rules. Do you understand this so far?"
"I think so," Xylina replied. She had never before thought of magic as following rules, or being governed by anything. It just was. And she had certainly never had the notion that there was some relic of ancient times behind it all.
"Where is this crystal?" Faro asked. "Are we going to be trying to find it, too?"
"The main crystal is hidden in the heart of a fortress in the center of the realm. It is heavily guarded." Ware raised an eyebrow. "Although the Queen is not aware of it, the guards are descendants of the very first Mazonite Queen and a select number of her Guard. They are there, not to keep the crystal from being stolen, but to keep a new fragment from coming near it. Not surprising, since whenever a missing fragment is brought to it, its polarity changes- and that causes the magic of the entire realm to change."