Grandmother patted Maggie’s knee. “I have something for you, but it will not be ready until tomorrow.”
Maggie thanked her, and Grandmother turned to Orick. “And now, for the bear. I have considered many things, but as I talked to you last night, of all the people I have ever met, you seem to be the most self-sufficient. You yourself admit that there is nothing you want or need, although you grumble more than anyone else I know. So, I put the question to you: what one thing would you ask of me?”
Orick stepped forward and licked his lips. “Well, you have a lot of nice things here. The food is good, the music and the company is even better-but I’m just a simple bear from the woods, and the land provides for my needs. I think if there were one thing I’d ask for, it wouldn’t be yours to give.” He looked at Veriasse and Everynne. “I didn’t start this journey because I wanted to, but I’d sort of like to tag along with Everynne and see it through to the end.”
Gallen and Veriasse looked at Everynne, letting her make the decision. Maggie suspected that even Everynne had no idea how much this would mean to the bear. For days now, Orick had been showing her a special kind of devotion, and Maggie suspected that as unseemly as it might appear, the poor bear was as lovesick for the woman as he could get.
“You’ve been a good friend, Orick,” Everynne said. “But if I were to be a true friend in return, I would deny your request. I’ve tried to put a calm face on when speaking of it, but this last portion of our trip will be extremely dangerous.”
“Gallen and I have been in a few tight spots before,” Orick said. “And I’ve always been right there at his side.”
“Please, don’t ask this of me.” Everynne’s eyes misted over. “Orick, I love you. I couldn’t endure the thought that you might get hurt on my account.”
Orick watched her with longing in his brown eyes, turned away. “All right, then,” he said. “If you don’t want me. I’d probably just get in the way.” He turned and began loping back toward Maggie’s room.
“Wait!” Everynne said, and she rushed to him. She got down on her knees and scratched the thick fur under Orick’s ears, then looked into his eyes and said lustily, “If you were a human, or I were a bear, wouldn’t we have a fine time?”
She kissed him on the snout, and Orick’s red tongue flicked out, licked her forehead. Orick gave a sharp little roar of grief and lunged away to Maggie’s room.
Everynne stood watching after him a moment.
Veriasse said, “He’ll be okay. Male bears get used to being sent away by females.” He did not say it to be unkind, merely stated the fact. Young cubs never left their mother voluntarily. Instead, she chased them off. And later, when a male mated, he would usually run with the female until she chased him away.
Everynne nodded wistfully while still watching after Orick.
Grandmother glanced at Everynne. “Do not feel bad. You’ve given him the thing he most wants: your love. It is something I could not give him, and he will treasure it always.”
“Can you give him something more?” Everynne asked. “Will you make him a locket with my image inside? Something to remember me by.”
“Of course,” Grandmother answered.
Everynne and the others prepared to leave. Veriasse began teaching Gallen the basics of riding an airbike. Maggie found it odd that Gallen didn’t know how to ride the thing. She realized that the mantle she wore must have been teaching her in her sleep, for Maggie understood the most intimate workings of the bike, and as she listened to Gallen rev the thrusters, she heard them whine just a bit, suggesting that a turbine wasn’t properly lubricated. She considered pulling out the toolkit stored under the airbike’s seat, just to tinker.
Everynne went to get her pack, and Maggie went to get Gallen’s. Orick, was lying at the foot of the bed. Maggie rummaged through Gallen’s pack until she found Gallen’s defective key to the Maze of Worlds. He’d placed it in his old black leather money purse, drawing the string tight. Maggie removed the key, glanced around the room, looking for something of similar size to put in the key’s place. In one corner was a potted plant with purpling flowers. She removed a flat stone from the plant’s container, placed it in the purse, and returned the purse to the pack.
Orick watched the whole affair, then said, “What are you doing?”
“You want to go with Everynne, and I want to go with Gallen. All we need to follow them is a key.”
“Do you know where they are going?”
“Veriasse was looking over his travel plans last night at the campfire. I watched over his shoulder. My mantle has stored the coordinates of all the gates but the last. We should be able to find them easily.”
“But Veriasse said that using a defective key is risky,” Orick warned, shaking his head.
“Everything we’ve done has been risky,” Maggie shot back. “I’m not going to let that stop me now.” Her mantle could not tell her specifically how the key worked, but obviously an electronic signal unlocked the gate and gave it the coded information on how to make a jump. True, the key was defective, but they hadn’t been hurt in that first jump. Maggie decided that the key time/location send coordinates were probably out of synch with the gate destination decoder. The gate key would simply perform as it had before-sending them back in time as they traveled.
She looked at Orick sharply. “We both know that Gallen and Veriasse think we’ve been as helpful as a pair of mallards on this trip, but even they might need our talents. Are you coming with me, or are you just going to let the woman you love walk out of your life forever?”
“I’m with you,” Orick answered.
“Good,” Maggie said. “Now do me a favor and get out of here. Gallen is going to be coming in for his pack in a minute, and I want some time alone with him.”
“Always being nagged by women,” Orick grumbled as he left the room. “Doesn’t matter if they are human or bears, they’re all the same.”
Maggie stood by the foot of the bed, waited for Gallen to come in. She found her heart pounding, tried to compose something to say, but nothing came to mind. All too soon, he stood in the doorway, a circle of morning light silhouetting him. In his black robes, weapons at hand, the mantle of a Lord Protector on his head, he looked somehow different, strange. No one on Tihrglas had ever worn such clothing, and Gallen seemed to stand taller in his costume, walk in more of a rolling gait. This trip was changing him, leaving an indelible mark, just as it was changing her.
“I’m surprised that you, too, didn’t ask to come with us,” Gallen said after a long moment.
“You wouldn’t have let me,” Maggie said.
“How do you know?”
“You protect people for a living. You’re always watching out for others. You must know that the best way to protect me is to leave me out of harm’s way.”
Gallen smiled weakly. “I’m glad you understand.” He walked over to her, took her by the shoulders and kissed her firmly, passionately. “Everynne told me that you know what happened last night. Can you ever forgive me?”
Maggie was confused, unsure how to answer. She thought-or at least she wanted to believe-that he really did love her. Some things pointed to it-his protectiveness, his tenderness to her now. Yet she couldn’t accept that he would sleep with Everynne one night, then come to her in the morning and try to pretend that nothing had changed. She slapped his face, hard, and it barely moved him, so she punched him in the stomach. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” she hissed. “Do you understand me? Don’t you ever put me in second place again!”
Gallen nodded, the lines of his face set in hard angles. She couldn’t read what he was thinking. “I know that an explanation will just sound like an excuse, but in all likelihood, by tomorrow night Everynne will either be dead or else so … changed that she will be at least as good as dead to me. She wanted something last night that only I could give. I cannot be sorry for what we did though it pains me terribly to know how it must hurt you. What Everynne and I did last night-that was just saying good-bye.” He considered for a moment, then said, “I will never put you in second place again.”