And that was the concern that Agape should have been having: for her friend’s safety after a tiring night. She felt ashamed.
The Lady put her hand to Agape’s elbow. “Come into the premises, my dear. Thou surely dost be tired after thine experience, and will require food and rest. My son be absent yet, but will return in due course, and then thou canst be with him.”
Agape suffered herself to be guided into the castle, but she glanced askance at the Lady. Didn’t Bane’s parents oppose this union?
The Lady laughed. “I see that thou dost have concern o’er thy status here, Agape. Do thou make thyself comfortable, and we shall have a female talk ere my husband return.”
Agape did that. She was glad that she had learned how to take care of this body, so that she was able’ to clean up and empty her wastes without complication.
In the afternoon, after a meal and a nap, she joined the Lady for their talk. The geas remained on Agape; the Troll had been right about its lasting effect! Thus it was pretty much a one-way conversation, with Agape merely nodding agreement at appropriate intervals.
“The opposition o’ factions o’ Adepts be longstanding,” the Lady said. “Adept ne’er liked Adept, till Stile came on the scene. Then he did what was necessary to separate the frames, for by their interaction they were being despoiled, and so he evoked the enmity o’ the despoilers. That be the origin o’ the Adverse Adepts; they liked each other not overly much before, and very little now, but they league in common interest. One did he befriend, Brown, and one did he replace, Red; all others be ‘gainst him, to lesser or greater extent. But Stile, who be also the Blue Adept, be strongest o’ Adepts, save for the one he promoted, Trool the Troll, who has the Book o’ Magic. So did he prevail, and the frames were parted.”
She looked at Agape, and Agape nodded. She had learned some of this from Bane, before, but knew that the Lady was merely establishing the background for her point.
“After the parting, the force o’ magic in Phaze was reduced by half,” the Lady continued. “Because o’ the transfer of Phazite to Proton, to make up for the Protonite mined there, that had caused the dangerous imbalance. But since the reduction was impartial, affecting all alike, it made no difference in the relative powers o’ Adepts, and things seemed much as before. But the Adverse Adepts resented this wrong they felt Stile had done them, and conspired ‘gainst him. They stifled his programs for better relations between man and animals, and wrought mischief in constant devious ways. Gradually their power increased, for they were many and we few. We knew that we needed new magic to hold them off, and our great hope was in our son, Bane, who showed early promise. An he grow, and marry, and have an heir like himself, belike we could hold off the Adverse Adepts indefinitely, and maintain a fair balance in our land, that evil not o’ertake it.”
The Lady sighed. Agape wanted to speak, for she had known of this too, and understood, and intended to act to free Bane for that future his parents wished for him. But the geas constrained her, and she only nodded again.
“But there were no suitable young women,” the Lady said sadly. “The village girls were poisoned ‘gainst our kind; e’en I, a generation ago, would ne’er have married Blue an circumstances not been unusual. The only truly eligible woman is the daughter o’ the Tan Adept—one o’ the hostile ones. Bane played with animal friends, but o’ course these were not suitable for marriage. It be not that we be prejudiced ‘gainst the animals, for many be fine creatures, and we work closely with them and like them well. It be that they cannot breed with man. Therefore the future o’ our good works came into peril. It seemed we would have to deal with Tan, and be compromised accordingly; but the alternative was to lose all. It were not a happy position.”
This was new to Agape. She kept her mouth shut and listened.
“Then the boys made their exchange, and Mach came to our frame, and Bane went to thine. We had not believed such possible, and were caught unprepared. We saw that the exchange was but mental only, not o’ the bodies. Mach became attached to Fleta, the unicorn, and Bane to thee, the alien. We understand; there be not a finer person than Fleta, and we know our son would bestow not his love on an unworthy creature. But we opposed such union, because it meant the loss o’ all we planned on, and incalculable damage to the frame, owing to the lack o’ the continuation o’ our line.
“That were our error. We appreciated not how true Mach’s love was. Fleta understood our position, and resolved to disengage—but she knew what we did not, that only her death would accomplish it. So she arranged to die—and Mach came to her, and spake her the triple Thee, and such was the force o’ it he overrode Adept magic and saved her.”
The Lady found a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, for she was crying now. “We ne’er meant Fleta to die! Ne’er did we wish her ill! We thought their love but an infatuation that would pass. How wrong we were! So were we cast as the villains, and they took refuge with the Adverse Adepts, and our ruin did we bring upon ourselves. Fain would we undo the mischief we did, but it be too late; the two be alienated from us.”
As she spoke, there was a faint ripple of light in the air. Agape glanced about trying to fathom its curious nature, but it was gone almost before she was aware of it.
Then she realized that this was the splash of truth that she had heard about. The Lady Blue had not noticed it, but it authenticated her statement.
Agape did not dare speak, but she had to act. She stood, and went to the Lady, and embraced her, and cried with her, silently.
After a moment, the Lady continued. “We resolved to make not the same error again. We knew that the parallel o’ the frames meant that Bane would find similar love in Proton. Our cause be lost, but not necessarily our son. We accept his choice, and we accept thee. We can do not other. That be the root o’ thy welcome here. When Bane came home not long ago and told us more o’ thee, we knew it was right. Thou dost be the one we would have chosen for him, an the choice been ours. An our circumstance not blinded us—”
The Lady could not continue, but hardly needed to. She had made her point.
But how awful it was, that the acceptance of the romances of the two boys had to come in the face of such a loss. Even for Agape, who faced not death but separation from Bane, it seemed hopelessly difficult. What was the use in going home to Moeba, if Mach and Fleta remained together and the family of Blue was denied an heir? Was her sacrifice after all pointless?
“There be one other thing,” the Lady said after a fair pause. “Stile discovered that the exchange leads to new imbalance, so that the frames be headed for destruction, an the imbalance be not corrected. That be why we sent the messenger. E’en now, the Adverse Adepts be verifying it. So it may be that all else becomes moot. But I wanted thee to know that this be no device we made to deceive thee; we discovered it after accepting thee. We think the communication between the two can continue, but that actual exchange must be limited. What this means for thy future we know not.”
Agape was satisfied at this point not to speak, because she had no answer either.
That evening, as the two of them were gazing out across the dark plain, and admiring the nascent stars and moons, there came another ripple in the air, a gentle passing glow from the east that slowly faded.
The Lady Blue glanced at Agape. “Methinks Suchevane reached the Red Demesnes,” she murmured.
Agape could only smile. How glad she was that she had spoken as she had!
Agape remained with the Lady for several days, and gradually the geas wore off and she was able to engage in halting dialogue. Now she loved Bane, and Phaze, and the Lady too—and knew she had to give them all up. Unless some accommodation were discovered that would enable her to remain with Bane, and even to visit Phaze again…