“I ask but this: that I be given leave to do what I can with him, using not my Eye. An he come to me voluntarily, it be no violation o’ thine oath.”
Translucent considered this, not trusting it. “For this thin chance, thou wouldst devote thyself to the search for the boy?”
“Aye, for this thin chance. An I succeed, it will bring me union with an Adept, and that be what I crave beyond all else.”
Translucent shrugged. “Then be it so. Our effort be in stasis till thou hast result.”
“The younglings,” Yellow said. “This be their travel time, small groups going to new homes. Only those who traveled need be checked, for a new member be not otherwise admitted to a tribe without challenge.”
“It still be some search, through all o’ Phaze,” Purple said. “Methinks the human brats should be checked first, and then the ‘corn foals.”
“Agreed,” Tania said. “An there be resistance to my search, you others support me.”
“Agreed,” Translucent said for the others.
First she approached Bane, who happened to be with Fleta the mare. That could be for only one reason. “Thou dost seek the boy,” Tania said.
“Dost have complicity?” Fleta asked sharply.
Tania turned her gaze on the unicorn. In her human form the mare was petite and full-bodied, with glossy black hair in lieu of her mane, and a pearly button set in her forehead in lieu of her horn. She was attractive enough, for men who might like that type. Bane was evidently immune, but Mach had proved susceptible. That suggested that Bane was susceptible too, but chose not to admit it. But Bane in the old days had been interested in any female form that was young and healthy; his way with ‘corn, werebitch and batlass had been notorious.
Well, Tania could compete in that respect. Now she regretted that she had not deigned to do so back during Bane’s days of experimentation; she could have nabbed him readily then, and saved much complication. But she had foolishly hoped for better prospects, which had not materialized. Now she was older and wiser. Proximity, and time, might well do wonders with Bane. Of course he knew her nature, which was a problem; but he had known the natures of the animals he played with too, seeming to care mainly about their human forms for the indulging of his passing passions. “Canst not answer?” the mare demanded, taking Tania’s silence for guilt.
Oh, how tempting it was to give her a piece of the Eye! But she had promised not to, and, more important, it would alienate Bane. In fact, it might enrage him, and he was no mean Adept in his own right; she could get in trouble. This had to be defused, much as it grated her to do so. “Nay, mare; this absence discommodes us as much as thee, for we had hope o’ the boy’s aid in our mission. We suspected at first that thou mightest have—”
“I had naught to do with it!” Fleta flared. “He be mine offspring, my flesh; I love him and fear for his safety!”
“My apology for doubting thee,” Tania said easily. She had done what she sought to do: turned the mare to the defensive, instead of herself. “But if thine interest be familial, ours be practical; we want the use o’ the power the lad has. So be assured that we wish him harm not, but rather we want him safe and well. We desire his return, and I be here to join thee in a search for him.”
“We search not,” the mare said. “It seems Flach fled by choice, and though my heart break, I may not bring him back unwilling.”
“Fled by choice?” Tania asked, affecting surprise. “Loved he not his dam?”
“My father designed this thing,” Bane said. “For that he knew the boy would be useful to the Adverse Adepts, and now the covenant between sides be broken. It be the same in Proton; they acted together.”
Tania eyed him, playing the role of one who had not heard of this before. “Thy father, who opposes us. Be this good news or bad, to thee?”
“I joined this side because I lost the wager with mine other self. Fain would I have served my father instead, but I be true to my word. I knew naught o’ the powers o’ the children, and thought them slow. This be good news for me to find the children otherwise, bad news to find them lost.”
“But what news, to find them foiling the change in the balance o’ power?” Tania asked pointedly.
“I serve thy side loyally, but my heart be with the other. That thou hast always known.”
“Then must thou make thy most diligent effort to recover the boy for us,” she concluded.
“Aye,” he agreed grimly.
“Then shall we work together, and thine other self too, when he returns. Thy service to us was excellent, when thou didst have access to the Book o’ Magic; it must be the same, in this quest for thy nephew.”
“I shall look for my nephew. But I see no need to work with thee. Make thine own search.”
“Nay, that be inefficient. There be the whole o’ Phaze to search; two will cover it faster, with no duplication. Also, there be danger, in some locales; the one must guard the other.”
Bane grimaced. “Perhaps I made not my sentiment plain: I wish not to work with thee.”
At least he was straightforward! “Nay, mayhap it was I who was unplain: I mean to work with thee, and have the backing o’ the others.”
“Then thou dost have no objection if I verify.”
“None,” she said evenly. Already she was feeling the thrill of fencing him in.
He sang something, and disappeared. Tania was left alone with Fleta. “And thee, mare—willst join the search?”
“Aye,” Fleta said through her teeth.
“Why so negative? Methought thou wouldst welcome aid to recover thy foal.”
“Thine interest be more in Bane than in Flach!”
“And what if that be so? Be Bane thy man?”
“Bane be Agape’s man! We need not thee to interfere!”
“Methinks Bane be his own man. An he chooses one or t’other, that be his business.”
Fleta looked ready to skewer something with her horn, for all that she lacked most of her horn in this form. But then Bane reappeared, abating what might have become an interesting confrontation. “We search together,” he said. “But thou willst ne’er have satisfaction o’ it.”
“That remains to be seen, methinks,” Tania replied, satisfied. The Adepts were supporting her, as she had required. They checked the human settlements first. These were scattered all across Phaze; most were small, hidden hamlets whose inhabitants eked out their existence by hunting and farming. Bane conjured an accurate map, and they decided to cross out each village after checking it. The first one was typical. Bane conjured the three of them to the village of Gnomore, in the Gnome Demesnes. The name was not intended to be punnish; it related to the region, and indicated that the human villagers acknowledged the supremacy of the gnomes in this vicinity. In return, the gnomes tolerated the human presence, and even traded with the villagers.
They arrived in the center square, and caused an immediate stir. Word went to the village patriarch, who hobbled up to greet them. “Be ye Adept?” he asked nervously. “We have no quarrel with Adepts!”
“We be partial Adepts,” Bane explained. “I be Bane, son o’ the Adept Stile o’ the Blue Demesnes; this be Tania, sister o’ the Tan Adept; and this be Fleta, mate o’ the Rovot Adept. We come to question thee about new arrivals at thy village.”
“We take sides not between Adepts!” the patriarch protested. “We be far from the controversy, and minded so to remain!”
“An we be satisfied, we shall depart, leaving thy village so,” Bane said. “Please summon all thy members, that we may question them.”
“But they be widely scattered!” the patriarch protested. “Some in the fields, some doing service for the gnomes, some away trading with other villages—“
Tania spoke. “Man, look at me,” she said. The man looked at her. Her eyes widened slightly; that was all. But the patriarch was transfixed by her Evil Eye. “Do it,” she said, looking away.