Bradley, Marion Zimmer - SSC 03 Read Online Free Page A

young, but with the frozen beauty of a
spell. Through the perfect spelled features, her eyes were warm and welcoming
as she smiled at Lythande.
                 "My
dear, I had not expected to see you here. Is that yours?" She moved her
head toward the door through which Jiro had conducted the frightened Bercy.
"She'll probably run away, you know, once you take your, eyes off
her."
                 "I
wish I thought so, Myrtis. But no such luck, I fear."
                 "You
had better tell me the whole story," Myrtis said, and listened to
Lythande's brief, succinct account of the affair.
                 "And
if you laugh, Myrtis, I take back my spell and leave your grey hairs and
wrinkles open to the mockery of everyone in Sanctuary!"
                 But
Myrtis had known Lythande too long to take that threat very seriously. "So
the maiden you rescued is all maddened with desire for the love of
Lythande!" She chuckled. "It is like an old ballad, indeed!"
                 "But
what am I to do, Myrtis? By the paps of Shipri the All-Mother, this is a
dilemma!"
                 "Take
her into your confidence and tell her why your love cannot be hers,"
Myrtis said.
                 Lythande
frowned. "You hold my Secret, since I had no choice; you knew me before I
was made magician, or bore the blue star — "
                 "And
before I was a harlot," Myrtis agreed.
                 "But
if I make this girl feel like a fool for loving me, she will hate me as much as
she loves; and I cannot confide in anyone I cannot trust with my life and my power.
All I have is yours, Myrtis, because of that past we shared. And that includes
my power, if you ever should need it. But I cannot entrust it to this
girl."
                 "Still
she owes you something, for delivering her out of the hands of Rabben."
                 Lythande
said, "I will think about it; and now make haste to bring me food, for I
am hungry and athirst." Taken to a private room, Lythande ate and drank,
served by Myrtis’s own hands. And Myrtis said, "I could never have sworn
your vow — to eat and drink in the
sight of no man!"
                 "If
you sought the power of a magician, you would keep it well enough," said
Lythande. "I am seldom tempted now to break it; I fear only lest I break
it unawares; I cannot drink in a tavern lest among the women there might be
some one of those strange men who find diversion in putting on- the garments of
a female; even here I will not eat or drink among your women, for that reason.
All power depends on the vows and the secret."
                 "Then
I cannot aid you," Myrtis said, "but you are not bound to speak truth
to her; tell her you have vowed to live without women."
                 "I
may do that," Lythande said, and finished the food, scowling.
                 Later
Bercy was brought in, wide-eyed, enthralled by her fine gown and her freshly
washed hair, softly curling about her pink-and-white face and the sweet scent
of bath oils and perfumes that hung about her.
                 "The
girls here wear such pretty clothes, and one of them told me they could eat
twice a day if they wished! Am I pretty enough, do you think, that Madame
Myrtis would have me here?"
                 "If
that is what you wish. You are more than beautiful."
                 Bercy
said boldly, "I would rather belong to you, magician," and
flung herself again on Lythande, her hands clutching and clinging, dragging the
lean face down to hers. Lythande, who rarely touched anything living, held her
gently, trying not to reveal consternation.
                 "Bercy,
child, this is only a fancy. It will pass."
                 "No,"
she wept. "I love you, I want only you!"
                 And
then, unmistakably, along the magician's nerves, Lythande felt that