“You realize such a confession makes me even less eager to subject myself to your spells!” Senneth exclaimed.
“Yes, but I really think I can do it,” Kirra said. She managed another smile. “And I should have no problem changing Tayse.”
“Could you change my sword? And my knives?” Tayse asked.
Kirra’s face brightened even more. “Yes, my valiant Rider, I could change your weaponry right along with your body. And change them back the minute we touched down in Ghosenhall.”
Now Senneth was staring at him. “You can’t seriously be considering-”
He grinned at her. “Justin would do it. Justin has done it.”
“Justin has never been my guide for behavior.”
“And there’s more you might not like,” Kirra added. Her expression was impish, but Senneth could tell she was utterly serious. About the offer, anyway. “The trip will still take us about two days-we cannot fly all that way, carrying you, without stopping to sleep. It would be easiest for me to not change you back to human form overnight, then change you again in the morning. But you might find it too disconcerting to stay altered for so long.”
Senneth just opened her mouth and didn’t answer.
Kirra went off into gales of laughter. “Oh, look at you! You’re trying to decide if I’m joking! I’m not, truly I’m not. Senneth, I believe I can do this, and it would cut the trip easily in half. But it would be strange and probably unsettling. And if we had flown half a day and you were too petrified to continue, we’d be in the middle of the country with no horses and no gear, and it would take you even longer to get back to the royal city.”
Donnal shrugged. “We’d change ourselves into horses for the rest of the trip,” he said. “We’d still have gained a day or two.”
“And you want to turn me into a mouse?” Senneth demanded, finding her voice.
Kirra nodded. “A very small one. Easy to carry.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t forget and accidentally eat me?”
Kirra bubbled with laughter again. “Of course I wouldn’t forget! Do you ever accidentally set something on fire?”
“I think we should do it,” Tayse said.
She looked at him helplessly. “How can you not be afraid? How can you not be repulsed? I don’t want to be a mouse flying above the earth in the talons of a predator!”
“I never thought to see you unnerved by magic,” he said, amused.
She shuddered. “It’s not the magic that frightens me so much as the loss of control,” she said. “I would think the same thing would weigh with you.”
“I’m practical, and this is a practical solution,” he said. “But we will not do it if you cannot endure it. We will send Donnal and Kirra ahead, and make our way with all speed by more conventional means.”
How was this possible? That Tayse, who had distrusted sorcery with all his heart when she first met him, was now willing to abandon himself utterly to witchery? While she, whose life had been shaped in every particular by the power in her hands, was hesitant and afraid to submit to enchantment? She took a deep breath.
“We must have some kind of agreement,” she said. “After the first hour of flight. You must stop, and set us down, and ask us if we can tolerate more of this unnatural existence. And if we say we cannot-”
“Well, you won’t be able to say anything,” Kirra pointed out. “You’ll still be a mouse.”
“I realize that! But you will ask, and you will give me a task to do to indicate that I am or am not willing to continue. And if I am, then you can gather me up in your claws again and carry me away for as long as your strength holds up.”
Kirra practically bounced in her chair. “Most excellent! I am proud of both of you. Sleep well tonight. We leave on quite an adventure in the morning.”
THE entire manor house was awake by dawn, for their own small party was not the only one anxious to return home. Senneth met all three of her brothers in the dining hall and said good-byes over a hasty breakfast. She waved off Will’s wild enthusiasm about her magic and Harris’s somewhat less hearty appreciation, and she gave Kiernan a sober look.
“When I see you again, it may be on another battlefield,” she said.
“Count on it,” he said. “I will ride out with the army I send to Ghosenhall.”
“Travel safely back to Brassen Court. You have to assume there is unrest across all the northern Houses. I would avoid Tilt, if I were you.”
He smiled grimly. “Yes, I believe I will. You, too-take care in your travels.”
He had no idea how completely she planned to disregard that admonition.
It was still early morning when she and Tayse, Kirra and Donnal gathered in a little garden not far from the kitchens. Tayse made a pile of the items he wanted to bring with him back to Ghosenhall-his various blades, his uniform, his sash with the royal lions-but Senneth had very little she cared to salvage from her outbound journey. The blue dress was ruined. Her pendant, Kirra had assured her, was small enough to change along with her body. She added nothing to the pile.
“All right,” she said, taking a deep breath and sinking to the ground, “change me if you can.”
Kirra knelt beside her and put her hands on Senneth’s face. The blue eyes were intent and serious as they watched Senneth; the beautiful face was furrowed in concentration. Senneth closed her eyes and felt the sharp tingle of magic along her cheekbones, down the back of her throat, in her hips, her knees, her toes. Her head felt suddenly bound with pressure, which abruptly faded. Her fingers involuntarily splayed and flexed. Her heart was beating so fast it should have made her breathless, but the pulse seemed strangely unalarming. She sniffed and thought how rich and spicy the air had suddenly become.
“Open your eyes. And give yourself a moment to adjust.”
Oh, how the world had changed.
She was in a forest of high, brown grass; nuts as large as her head littered the ground. Huge, ungainly creatures were grouped around her, so big they were impossible to see. Below her, the ground stretched on forever, loose soil full of hidden treasures, pockets of mud safe for burrowing into. Her feet were pink and dainty, perfect for scratching through dirt. She could feel her nose twitching, sifting through the laden air, picking out scents for food and danger.
In a lifetime of magic, Senneth had never experienced such a strange spell. She lifted one of the four-toed feet and patted her cheek, trying to get a sense of her face and fur. She was herself, all her thought processes familiar and intact, and yet she wasn’t. Fine-honed instincts not her own hovered at the back of her mind. Even now, knowing that the monsters around her were beloved friends, she was poised to run should they suddenly turn capricious. She was calculating the distance to safety; she was distracted by the presence of a dried berry on a nearby shrub.
One of the gigantic humans flattened to the ground, its face inches away. Senneth recognized Kirra but it took all her willpower to keep from chittering and scurrying away. “How are you tolerating this so far?” Kirra asked, her voice very loud and quite distinct. “If you don’t think you can bear it another moment, just stay right there and I’ll change you back. If you think you can manage, take a few steps over toward Donnal.”
Well, which one was Donnal? Senneth turned in a half circle to locate him, kneeling a few feet away, his outstretched hand lying on the ground. She minced over and scrabbled into his palm, thinking how different the texture of skin was compared to grass and dirt.
She felt a moment’s panic when his fingers closed around her and he lifted her up, but she sternly suppressed her fear. She blinked her little eyes as she found herself staring into Donnal’s large ones.
“She’ll do,” he said. He was grinning through his beard.