Mari couldn’t help noticing that the female Mage was talking past her, as if only the two Mages were present. She would have gotten angry except for her own training as a Mechanic to do the same to Mages and commons whenever she was around them. It didn’t make sense to blame Asha for acting the same way that Mari had been instructed to act.
Alain stood perfectly still for a moment before answering Asha’s question. “I believe this because I have seen it. And because…I love her.”
This time the astonishment on the female Mage’s face was plain enough that Mari could see it with no trouble. Then the amazement vanished, replaced by a hint of clear sorrow. “Mage Alain, you have lost your wisdom.”
“No, Mage Asha, I have found a new wisdom.”
“You were a strong Mage. Your powers have been lost.”
Alain shook his head. “My powers remain.”
The female Mage regarded him for a long time before speaking again. “You do not lie. What you say should not be possible, according to what we were taught.”
“What we were taught is wrong.”
To Mari’s surprise, Asha looked at her again. This time she addressed her directly. “Mechanic, what is your purpose with the Mage Alain?”
Mari took a deep breath, amazed to be discussing her private feelings with a female Mage. “I love him. He loves me. We want to be with each other, to protect and help each other, to do some important things, to make each other happy.”
“That is not possible,” Asha said, without feeling yet conveying distress.
Looking at her, Mari had a growing feeling that the female Mage was bewildered, trying to understand what she was being told and unable to grasp it.
Alain reached to touch Mari’s hand. “This Mechanic faced and slew the dragon sent against me, else I would have died under its claws. She has saved my life more than once, at the risk of her own.”
“That was a mighty dragon,” Asha said without feeling. “You did this for Mage Alain, Mechanic?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you,” Mari said. “I love him. I may marry him. Maybe. But I won’t let anyone hurt him.”
Asha stared at Mari for a while, her face once again betraying no emotions. “When we were acolytes, newly come to the Mage Guild Hall in Ihris, Mage Alain once tried to catch me as I fell. He was punished for this.” Her gaze went to Alain. “We talked. In the first days. Before such things were driven from us. He was…he could have been…someone…”
“A friend,” Alain said.
“Friend.” Asha seemed to be looking inward now, as if searching for memories lost in time. “What does this mean?”
Alain’s voice took on more feeling. “It is someone who helps.”
“Helps?” Asha suddenly inhaled strongly. “I remember. When all else was gone…Alain…helps…helped…me.”
“We were taught to forget this,” Alain said. “Master Mechanic Mari reminded me of what it meant. She has reminded me of many things. She must do something of great importance. Will you help me now, Mage Asha?”
Her gaze rested on Alain, then went back to Mari. “This Mechanic helps Mage Alain. I will help, too. I will not betray you to the Guild, Mage Alain.”
Alain bowed toward her. “Thank you, Mage Asha.”
Mari saw the female Mage blink in momentary confusion. “I had not remembered those words. Did she teach you them?”
“Yes.”
“She has saved your life,” Asha said dispassionately.
“Many times.”
Mage Asha turned back to Mari, then tried to speak, her lips struggling to form words that seemed stuck inside her. “Th…Th…”
“Uh…you’re welcome.” Mari spread her hands, feeling awkward and uncertain. She had felt tears starting as Asha tried to speak words which had been forbidden to her. What had it been like for Asha? Close enough to see her well now, Mari could spot on Asha’s face the marks of the same kinds of treatment that Alain bore. Old scars and other signs of the harsh teachings that Alain rarely spoke of. This woman had suffered just as Alain had. “Thank you, Mage Asha, for being a friend to Mage Alain.”
“Friend?” Asha gazed into the distance. “I have not heard that word for so long a time, Mechanic. I have no friend.”
“Yes, you do,” Mari said impulsively. “You’ve got Alain. He’s your friend. He’s told me about you, and he thinks about you and he…he cares about you, I think. And…and if you want…you have me. Any friend of Alain’s is a friend of mine. My name is Mari.”
Those brilliant blue eyes pinned her. “Mari. This is what Mage Alain calls you?”
“Yes.”
“You have saved his life before, but he may yet die because of you.”
“I know.” Mari’s words came out in a miserable whisper this time.
“Yet he chose you over the wisdom he and I were taught.” Asha reached out very slowly with one hand, until her finger pressed lightly against Mari’s cheek for a moment. “If you are no longer a shadow to Mage Alain, then I will try to see you differently…Mari. I will find out what I can of the Guild’s plans for Mage Alain, and give what warning I may. If Mechanic Mari can face a dragon for the sake of protecting Mage Alain, I can scarcely do less.” She turned those brilliant blue eyes on Alain, the ends of her blond hair swinging around her hips as her head moved. “I will do what I can for Mage Alain.”
Mari hoped the jealous feelings that hit her again didn’t show.
Asha turned back to Mari. “I have much to think on. I have been taught that all is false, and that Mechanics are doubly false. Yet I see no lie in you or in Alain when he speaks of you. Will you betray Mage Alain?”
“I’ll die before I do that,” Mari replied.
“I see that again you do not speak falsely. There is much I must consider. A different wisdom. Now I must go. Other Mages in this city might wonder why I linger here and sense Mage Alain near me. I will find out what I can, then I will seek Mage Alain wherever he may be.” With another long look at Alain, the female Mage walked away without any word of farewell, quickly disappearing among the foliage.
Alain stared in the direction Asha had gone. “I had not known she remembered my trying to catch her.”
Feeling awkward, Mari cleared her throat. “How old were you?”
“It was within a few days of arriving at the Guild Hall. I was still five years old.”
“So Asha was seven?”
“I believe so.”
She could stay jealous of that gorgeous female Mage, or she could accept that Asha could be Alain’s friend. “I’m not surprised you tried to help. Even when we first met, you still managed to remember what help meant.”
Alain looked downward, his face revealing some distress to Mari. “I find I have doubts of Asha, worries that I cannot trust her. She does not remember what trust means.”
I’m glad you said that and not me. I’m already feeling too catty as it is. “You could be trusted before you remembered that word.”
Alain gazed in the direction the female Mage had gone. “Perhaps Asha will remember feelings.”
“Yeah,” Mari said. “She apparently already remembers feelings about you. What were these talks you and she both recall?”
“A few words, in moments when we were not watched by Mages or older acolytes.” Alain looked down, his gaze distant with memory. “The only traces of companionship we had in those first months, before we learned to deal with feeling nothing. Before that, when I despaired, her words gave me hope.”