Nona had known what was coming, yet not quite believed it. No despot had power like this! Yet Darius was an ordinary man in other ways, not arrogant at all.
Now it was the two of them together, and when Darius spoke it was unintelligible. “I don’t understand,” she said, showing by her words how it was, because he could not understand her language either.
He smiled. He spoke to the girl doll, and as he did so she felt an odd shiver. The doll had become her, or she the doll, in a weird way.
He approached her. She thought he was going to pick her up, but instead he moved the girl doll into the arms of the man doll—and Nona sailed up and into his waiting arms!
But now his arms were occupied, and he could not move the dolls. He spoke to the girl doll, and she felt its power leave her; then he spoke to the man doll, and stood there somewhat helplessly. She realized what was needed. She reached to his hand and took the embraced dolls from it, very carefully. Then she looked at the far circle, leaned as far as she could toward it, and moved the dolls to it.
There was a horrible wrenching, and the scenery changed. There was a jolt, and Darius fell, and she fell on top of him.
Disoriented, Nona reacted in a manner that had become almost automatic. She put her head down and kissed him on the mouth.
Almost immediately, she realized her mistake. This was not Stave, this was a different man. They were not pretending to be lovers in case a despot familiar was watching, they were magically traveling to another spot on the planet. She felt the flush forging to her face.
Then perhaps you should stop kissing me, the man’s thought came.
Oops! Nona jerked her head away, her embarrassment doubling.
But Darius laughed, outside and inside. “Don’t worry; I knew what you were thinking,” he said. “You forgot who I was.”
She felt his understanding. It had indeed been a mistake, no ill intended, and the ambience of the horse’s mind-magic made that clear. But her blush did not clear immediately.
“So should we make shorter hops?” Darius asked.
Nona tried to quell her embarrassment enough to think logically. The shorter the hops, the slower would be their progress, both because of the need to set them up more frequently and because they would be making three conjurations instead of two. It seemed to make better sense to make them as long as possible. It wasn’t as if it was unpleasant being in Darius’ arms.
Once more she was embarrassed, remembering that her conscious thoughts were being shared. This was another woman’s man, and she had no business thinking of any personal relationship. The problem was that she wasn’t used to this mind-magic, and her thoughts tended to run around like field mice, poking into everything. He seemed to have the same problem, for he had noted her figure, and there had been a whiff of sexual desire. It was odd, feeling what the man felt, but also exhilarating. What could two people do, when one was an attractive man and the other an attractive woman and their secret thoughts were open to each other?
“They can limit it to thinking,” he said. “If I followed up on every sexual thought I had, I would be in trouble, and not just with Colene.”
That had to be the answer. Nona belatedly remembered to send the bat out again, to find another suitable spot.
They made several more jumps, gradually extending the range and gaining confidence. They should be able to get away from any despots they might encounter. Darius was tired, for he had not had the chance to sleep during the afternoon. So they found a place under a large mountain and settled down for the rest of the night.
Nona made food for them: more oats for Seqiro, and bread for the human beings. Darius was amazed. “You need never go hungry!” he exclaimed.
“That would be true, if I dared show my ability,” she agreed. “But it would be death if the despots knew.”
He just shook his head, impressed. Nona was quite pleased, knowing that his reaction was sincere.
Then she made some pillows and covers for each of them, perversely enjoying the demonstration of her power. She had never dared do this at home, but these folk already knew, so it made no difference.
Darius lay down and went instantly to sleep. She had half expected him to—but of course he had a woman of his own. She was relieved and just a trifle disappointed.
Nona let the bat go to forage, for it was not right to deprive it of its feeding time. She would be able to summon it when she wanted, now that it was her familiar.
She really wasn’t that tired. But it would be best to get more sleep while she could, so—
SHE woke by daylight. Seqiro must have helped her to sleep, for it had never before happened that suddenly. Darius was already up, doing whatever men did in the morning.
She was about to use her magic to make more food. But Seqiro’s thought came: A hostile mind approaches.
Nona looked up. There on the horizon was a blackbird. “A despot familiar!” she exclaimed. “They have spotted us!”
“Then we had better move,” Darius said. “Where’s the bat?”
She sent her perception out and found the mind of the bat. “She returned to her cave for the day,” she reported. “It is far away. Even if she could perform well by day, it would be too late.”
“Is there room in that cave?!‘
She made the bat open its eyes and look around. “Yes, but it isn’t nice, because—”
“We must go there, then.” He drew two circles. Seqiro stepped into one, and disappeared when the horse doll moved across to the second.
Then the two of them stepped into the circle. The blackbird was now looming close. It dived down toward them.
Darius picked her up in his strong arms, and she moved the embraced dolls to the other circle. There was the wrenching.
They landed. Darius’ feet slid out from under, and they fell in their usual pile. Probably it was because she handled the dolls clumsily, so that they did not land properly upright. But the landing was soft.
Because they were in a mound of guano at the base of the bats’ cave. That had been her objection.
They struggled up, horribly soiled. But at least they were not hurt by the fall, and had escaped the eye of the despot’s familiar.
No, Seqiro thought.
Then she saw the head of one of the hanging bats turning to gaze at them. The despots had familiars here! Why hadn’t she realized that this would be the case?
“Where can we go?” Darius asked, controlling his revulsion of the dung in much the fashion he had controlled his appreciation of Nona’s body before.
Colene is now in range, Seqiro thought. The despots seem not to know her location.
“Then take us there!” Nona exclaimed. She didn’t even wait for him; she climbed sloppily into his embrace and moved the dolls, which she still held.
Nothing happened. Darius smiled, then drew two circles. Oh. Of course. The magic hadn’t known where to take them. Where would they have gone, if it had moved them to no specified destination?
The second try was successful. First Seqiro went, then the two of them.
They were in an embrace on a beach, still caked with bat dung. Colene turned from her embrace of the horse to see them. “Now, that’s what I call a dirty scene!” she said, wrinkling her nose. She was not entirely joking; a jealous rage was forming like a flash storm.
“Well, it’s dirty business, being with other women,” Darius replied.
Colene stared at him as he disengaged from Nona. The girl did not like the physical closeness of the two of them at all. Then something changed in her mind, and the rage dissipated.