Teza shook her head. She had a thousand questions, no answers, and a totally silent companion. The aughisky was no help either. She was sure the witch had sent him along to keep an eye on her. Yet, she didn't mind his company. When the aughisky was not trying to drown her, he was a joy to ride. His stride flowed like silk and his coat was velvet beneath her hands. The urge to possess him swelled within her until even the plans to switch the prince dimmed in her mind. She had to have this fabulous horse, cold breath and all. There had to be some way to control the beast without ending up as a liver floating on the shores of Lake Ashane.
She mulled over that possibility all the way back to the edge of the Ashanwoods. There she stopped and sought out the hollow log where she had stashed her gear earlier that morning. While the false prince and the aughisky waited, Teza sorted through her packs and picked out exactly what she would need.
At the same time, she tried to remember everything she knew about the grand prince's camp. The real Prince Laric and his entourage had been ensconced on the outskirts of Immilmar for two tendays while the grand prince attended meetings with the huhrong and his advisors. No one in the city knew what the talks were about, but knowing Prince Lane's limited influence and power even within his own city of Telflamm, Teza doubted the talks amounted to much.
Not that she really cared. She had been too interested in visiting the Telflamm delegation. Laric's huge camp had proven to be a delightful change from her normal haunts in Immilmar, teeming with bulging purses and more horses than the grooms could keep watch on. She had learned the layout of the camp and even had a few guards she could count on for a favor or two. Getting near Prince Laric's commodious lodgings was not going to be difficult. The challenge would be avoiding the Fang honor guard stationed around the borders of the camp. They knew her too well.
Fortunately she had a few disguises they hadn't seen yet. Stepping behind the aughisky, she stripped off the tunic she had worn out of the city and untied the special undervest she often wore when she dressed as a man. A long, flowing red skirt was pulled over her pants, and a white, low-cut blouse was added that barely hid the ample evidence of Teza's true sex. She took out a few pins, and her thick brown hair came tumbling down her shoulders.
When she came around the water horse, the impostor lifted an elegant eyebrow. "My dear, you hid a butterfly beneath those rags," he observed.
Teza grinned wickedly. "So! The false prince can speak."
"When there is reason," he said. He waved a long, manicured hand to the setting sun. "Will you be ready soon?"
In reply Teza fastened her small carry bag to her belt, packed another bag with her discarded clothes, and slipped a new dagger into a decorative sheath at her waist. Soon they were riding again toward Immilmar in the deepening twilight.
"It's generous of you to give up a few days of your time to play this charade for your friend," Teza commented idly.
A faint smile twisted the lips of the man beside her. "Yes," he agreed, his voice low. "A friend."
"But tell me in truth," she went on in the same half bored, half wheedling tone. "Who are you really?"
The smile deepened to a self-satisfied sneer that made the imposter's handsome face look cruel. "It matters not."
Teza nodded. "I suppose it doesn't. But my curiosity is piqued. Since I must deliver you no matter what, what harm will it do to tell me your true nature?"
"Perhaps you're right," the man chuckled. Something in his voice brought her head around, and she saw the prince's form begin to blur. His tall frame dwindled to half the proper size; his limbs turned to gnarled, misshapen sticks. The chiseled features of the nobleman became lumps set on a bald, distorted head.
Teza took one horrified look at the grotesque creature with skin like a knobby old fungus and even her experienced stomach lurched. "A boggan," she whispered. They were one of the particularly loathsome forms of goblins that inhabited the underworld beneath Faerun. They were vicious, cunning shapeshifters who could change their appearance at will. Teza had no notion the witches ever dealt with them. Of course after meeting the aughisky, she shouldn't have been surprised. This particular witch seemed to have a liking for nasty creatures.
With another chuckle the boggan resumed his princely guise. "You asked," he smirked.
Teza bit her lip, her curiosity more than satisfied. All she wanted to do now was get this boggan to the prince's camp and make the switch. Then the prince's retainers could deal with it!
Teza and her charge rode silently after that. They soon completed the short ride to Immilmar and arrived at a ridge that commanded a full view of the grand prince's camp. Tents, supply wagons, and strings of picketed horses crowded to the foot of the high ridge and spread out like a makeshift village. To the north, the city of Immilmar and the huhrong's hulking palace sat like a black bulwark against the night sky. To the west lay the vast, whispering depths of Lake Ashane.
"Don't wander off," Teza told the aughisky as she slid off his back.
The black water horse turned his head toward the lake and stamped his hoof irritably.
The boggan sneered, "He won't go far. Not as long as she holds the hippomane."
It took every ounce of self-control for Teza not to react to that statement or to show any sign of the excitement that burst in her. A hippomane? Is that what it took to master an aughisky? Her hand surreptitiously slid to her carry bag and the little cache of treasures she always carried with her. In there was a crystal vial containing a dark brown lump of dried flesh snatched from the forehead of a newborn foal. She had stolen the hippomane and carried it for years in the hope that an opportunity to use its powerful attraction charm would come her way. Maybe this was her chance. Perhaps the aughisky could be lured away with her own little bit of magic.
Teza shot a quick look at the boggan who was studying the camp below. As silently as she could, she drew the vial out of her bag and pulled the cap off. The small dried lump fell into her hand.
The hippomane had a dull but distinctively spicy smell. The aughisky's nostrils flared; his eyes glowed green in the darkness. Teza rubbed the hippomane across her palm, then offered her hand to the water horse to smell. He took a step toward her.
"That's right," she whispered. "Remember that smell, my friend. If the opportunity conies, will you follow me?" The aughisky bobbed his head.
Teza couldn't be sure the water horse understood her words or would obey the power of her hippomane, but the charm seemed to have some effect on the beast. To make the spell permanent she had to swallow the hippomane in the aughisky's presence, and even then she didn't know if the magic would be enough to break the witch's own charm. If the opportunity came to test her hippomane, Teza could only hope it would work. Sighing, she slipped the hippomane back into the vial and tucked it into her bag. When she looked up, she saw the boggan grinning at her.
"You covet the beast, don't you?" he said.
Teza shrugged. How could she explain her desire to own this horse? He was deadly, but he was rare and fantastically beautiful.
"He could kill you if you are careless," the boggan observed.
"I know. So could the witch if she caught me stealing her aughisky."
The false prince smirked. "That is true. But I like you. You are cunning, greedy, and as interesting as that beast. I will give you something to think about. The witch has other useful pets. One more or less may not disturb her."
Teza looked from the man to the horse and back again. It was stupid to risk her life on the mere supposition of a boggan. And yet, if he was right, she had a chance to gain an aughisky-the prize of a lifetime.