Asha’s face offered no clue as to whether she thought that was a wise plan or not. She nodded with no visible emotion, then turned and began walking, while Mari hastened to pick up her packages and follow, not entirely feigning worry since a lot of people were watching her now and that was the last thing she had wanted.
A woman at a stall she passed called out in a low voice. “Is there anyone we should tell of you?”
Mari shook her head. “I’ll be all right. She just wants some of the food I bought.”
“Blasted Mages. Take care, girl!”
Once far enough down the road which Mari had indicated, she called quietly to Asha. “The hostel is to our left, about three blocks. If you turn at that next corner we can make a few more turns along the way to see if anyone is following.” Mari took a moment to be glad that Asha had kept her eye-catching beauty concealed behind her robes and cowl. That would have attracted an extra measure of attention.
Mari directed Asha though some more turns, even doubling back at one point to ensure no one was shadowing them. Unfortunately, with so many people on the street at this time of day she couldn’t be certain that no one had followed, but it seemed unlikely. Asha followed Mari’s directions without comment or protest, her expression when Mari could see it unreadable. Finally, Mari brought them to the hostel and ducked inside. Fortunately, the desk clerk was momentarily busy with other customers, two men with two courtesans who were falling out of the tops of their dresses. The eyes of the desk clerk and the two men were locked onto the cleavage of the courtesans, and the courtesans kept their own eyes on the wallets of the two men, so no one noticed Mari lead a Mage up the shaky stairs.
She rapped softly. “It’s Mari.” A moment later Alain opened the door. Mari was fleetingly surprised that Alain didn’t seem startled to see Asha.
“I sensed you approaching,” Alain told Mari, “and that Mage Asha was with you, though Mage Asha conceals herself well.”
He was doing it again: reverting to that expressionless, emotionless Mage voice and face. Already unsettled by Asha finding her, Mari glared at him as she shut and locked the door. “Act human, blast you. I’ve put a lot of work into getting you to show feelings and I don’t want to see that go to waste.”
Alain, startled, nodded before turning to Asha. “Mage Asha, I am happy to see you.”
Asha raised one eyebrow the tiniest amount. “Happy?” she asked without feeling.
“Yes, Mage Asha. You are my friend.”
“You still think of me as friend?” Asha gave Mari a glance from those gorgeous eyes.
Mari fervently hoped that Asha couldn’t sense all of her feelings right now.
Asha nodded at Alain. “I have been trying to remember what ‘friend’ meant. Helping is involved. Helping with no obligation.”
“Like you did at Severun,” Mari said. “Warning Alain and misleading those other Mages. We’ve both been worried about you since then.” It felt good to say that, because it was true, and because her pangs of jealousy still bothered Mari.
“Worried?” Asha asked. “Is that what I have sensed in myself when I think of Mage Alain and you?” She looked full on at Mari. “Do you still say that you… love Mage Alain?”
“Yes.”
“Do you already carry his child?”
Mari felt her face getting hot. “Excuse me?”
“My questions discomfort you? Why is this?”
Mari took a deep breath, remembering her attempts to explain privacy to Alain. “Why don’t we all sit down?” She and Alain sat on the edge of the bed while Asha took the room’s one chair. “No, I do not carry Alain’s child. That has to wait, even if I decide to do that.”
“You do not want Alain’s child?”
Mari’s face got hotter. “Yes, I do. Maybe. I don’t know.” She wasn’t even completely ready to discuss that with Alain, let alone with another woman she hardly knew. “But not now.”
“You are not happy because of my question.” Asha blinked at Mari, then looked at Alain. “What are the words?”
“I am sorry,” Alain said.
She nodded and turned to Mari once more. “I… am… sorry. I… try to understand how you see him, even though I am still attempting to be aware of such feelings once more. But I know that you think of him very much.”
“How do you know that?” Mari asked, not certain that she should be asking, but curious that a Mage would say such a thing.
“When you think of Mage Alain,” Asha explained dispassionately, “your self blazes clearly to my senses even across great distances. This is how I found Mage Alain, knowing that you would be with him.”
Mari suddenly realized that what she had felt before was not embarrassment. Not compared to what she felt now. “You can tell when I’m thinking about Alain?”
For his part, Alain had developed an anxious expression at Mari’s reaction. “This is an unusual thing, Mage Asha.”
“I had never heard of it from other Mages,” Asha replied without emotion. “Yet even now Mechanic Mari’s presence flares before me very brightly. She must be thinking of you.”
“Oh, yes,” Mari said, struggling to keep her voice under control. “I’m thinking about Alain right now, yes, I am. Can you tell what I am thinking, Alain?”
“You… are unhappy.”
“Yes, Alain, I am unhappy. I thought you told me that Mages can’t read minds.” Mari’s words came out sounding only partly strangled with emotion.
“They cannot,” Alain said quickly. “I do not know what this thing is which Asha can see from you.”
“She knows what I’m thinking about you! Do you have any idea what some of the things I’ve— Oh, blazes,” Mari gasped, wondering if anyone could possibly feel this humiliated.
Asha was watching Mari with visible curiosity. “You are not happy to know another can sense your thoughts of Alain?”
“Happy,” Mari said with all of the restraint she could manage, “is not quite the right word.”
Watching Mari and looking more alarmed by the moment, Alain leaned toward Asha. “This thing you sense from Mari, it is like that from a Mage?”
“Yes,” Asha agreed. “Like when a Mage casts a spell. The presence is clear, even though it is different from that of a Mage.”
“Then,” Alain said, choosing his words carefully as he looked at Mari, “Asha does not know what you are thinking of me. She only knows that you are thinking of me.”
Mari glared at him suspiciously. “Just that? Nothing else? No… details? No… pictures?”
“Pictures of what?” Alain asked.
“Nothing! Not a blasted thing! Now answer the question!”
Alain, looking like he had the time they faced a dragon in Dorcastle, turned back to Asha. “Do you see any pictures?”
“No.” Asha switched her gaze from Alain to Mari and back again, betraying no reaction at all. “What pictures should I be seeing? Perhaps if I focus on attempting to see such pictures—”
“NO!” Mari paused to get control of herself. “Please do not, Mage Asha.”