Chapter 10

"Master Darynn, please be brought forward."

Darynn rose to his feet and allowed his to colleagues to lead him into the moon-shaped circle that was the petition floor for the main council of Mages. Around him sat his thirteen peers, each of whom had heard testimony from himself, Bethsany, and Aimee', as well as additional testimony from several of Bethsany's girls and two of Teltirray's servants. Still, he had to admit, the council saw things differently from most people and he didn't know what their decision would ultimately be.

From the center of the council, Talen Silisto leaned over and looked down at him. "Master Darynn, the court has reviewed its findings and considered your testimony. While it would normally be outrageous for a mage of your standing to defy the wishes of a fellow mage and teach that mage's student something other than what was requested, we find in your case that you taught Aimee' precisely according to the wishes of Teltirray as best as you, yourself, could interpret. If Aimee' sought additional learning from you and your library, as long as her demanded studies did not suffer in the process, that is the mark of a good student, and you, sir, are to be rewarded as a good nurturer of that student." Master Silisto smiled, and Darynn grinned back. "This court finds you innocent of any wrongdoing. Would you please be returned to your chair?"

"I would, sir."

"Aimee', please be brought forward."

Aimee stood and, like Darynn before, allowed herself to be led to the center of the circle. Darynn watched the hold of her head and found himself admiring the strength she was showing, as well as the nervousness locked into her shoulders. She looked up at Mage Silisto, the hood of her cloak thrown back.

Mage Silisto examined her carefully. "Apprentice Aimee', the court has examined your conduct and your testimony, as well as that of your teachers and those who know you, and we can find no evidence of wrongdoing. As a mage, Teltirray had few peers, and in his speciality he had none. As a man, however, Teltirray was more monster than human being, and with your revelations and those contained in his journals, we hereby remove his name from our ranks as an honored member."

"Also, this court has examined Teltirray's last moments in detail. Without formality, this ruling will probably face challenge, but we rule that you and Teltirray engaged in duel, one that he unfairly skewed in his favor, and that you are therefore to be benefitted in the manner of one who has won duel. In the presence of a Will or Deed of Estate, you are entitled to half of Teltirray's estate holdings. Without such a document, you are entitled to all." Aimee's mouth dropped open, and Darynn followed suit, stunned by the generosity of the ruling. Talen Silisto slapped his palm on the wood of the table for silence, and when he got it, he turned to another standing there. "Ricar, is there such a document?"

"No such document will be found," Ricar stated evenly.

"Is there such a document," Silisto repeated. Darynn wondered at why Silisto needed to repeat it.

Ricar stared at the mage, anger written across his mouth. Then, slowly, he smiled. "Master Silisto, I submit to you that no such Will or Deed can be found."

Satisfied, Silisto turned back to Aimee'. "You are now the holder of the title to Teltirray's estates. This is the ruling of this mage's court." Silisto slapped his hand upon the table. "Recorder, let it be known that Master Darynn has been cleared of all charges. That Apprentice Aimee' has been, as well. That the court rules in the duel of Aimee' and Teltirray, that Aimee' is the living victor. And finally, that the Council of Mages grants Aimee' a white card admission to the College, to reside with Master Darynn-- " An uproar started in the audience. Darynn looked stunned, but most of them were beginning to applaud!

Silisto banged his hand on the table. "ORDER! I will have order in here!" He took a deep breath. "To reside with Master Darynn, who has been neglecting his duties as a mentor for far too long recently, until such time as she earned the title of Mage."

The smell of her hair bothered him. He wasn't sure why, or even in what way, it bothered him, but it did. He tried not to listen to his feeling, but they would not go away merely from wishing. "Sir?" she asked gently.

"Aimee'?"

"I wanted to ask you... you said once, just eight months ago, that you were prepared to love me." She turned around, slipping her arms into his cloak and holding him close. Surprised, he looked down at the top of her head, inhaling the soft smell of her hair again. "Would you... are you ready now?"

"I..." He stood, flustered, then finally smiled. "I think so, Aimee'." Much to even his surprise, he felt his erection growing under her influence. As he reflected on her touch, he realized that Bethsany and her girls still held no interest at all for him. Instead, Aimee' challenged him, excited him, because of her talents, her magic. And he wanted to indulge himself in her spirit and her body.

He caressed her hair slowly, and her hands stroked his back, his fingertips arousing the skin and causing his muscles to tense up almost painfully. "Come with me, Aimee'," he said. She smiled and took his hand. He led her to the bedroom. "Sit."

She sat. He sat opposite her, his hands folded in his lap. "I feel... uncomfortable. I have no idea where to begin with you. And, more honestly, I am frightened of you."

"If you do not wish, sir..."

"No, I have no desire to go back on my pledge. Aimee', this may sound odd, but while I love you, and I feel lust for you, and at my age I should have the wisdom to understand what I feel in here, I do not." He tapped himself on the chest to emphasize his words. "Men... Men are easy, compared to you."

"You taught me, many months ago, not to be afraid of what I wanted or what someone else asked of me. If I could do it, and I wanted, I should." She smiled. "I learned that lesson very well." She rose and removed her cloak, tossing it onto the chair by the bed. "This room has so much magic in it. I can feel it when I breathe."

"Yes," Darynn replied. "I have had many men in this room, and cast many more spells." He grinned. "Shall we perform one, tonight?"

She stopped, surprised. "You would do that with me?"

"It would seem the natural course of action. You are an apprentice. I am the mage. I am supposed to teach you things. Why don't I show you, by example, a kind of scrying I'm familiar with?"

"Please, sir!" she smiled. Darynn reached out and pulled her close, pushing up the cuff on her left sleeve, exposing her wrist. He knew she was watching as he lowered his head and kissed her wrist, gently. The taste of her skin was unlike anything he had ever tasted. It was salty, like the skin of men, but it was a different quality from any salt or sweat he had known with men. He could not even begin to place the differences.

She stood, silently, while he reached out and untied the bows that held her tunic closed in the front. He admired the smooth flawlessness of her body as he exposed it, inch by inch. Her breasts, still growing, were already large mounds projecting away from her body, each nipple pointing away from the other. He quietly cursed himself. For a sex mage, he had damned little vocabulary to describe the beauty of a woman's body. And he did find her beautiful. Her beauty was bound in the way she breathed, in the way her chest rose and fell with the excitement that was building between them as student and teacher, friend and lover, and he hated to admit... man to woman. The raw flux of power between two loving men was one thing he appreciated. Yet the strange flux of power, filtered by the differences in the sexes, made for a kind of magic he had never known.

As he pushed her shirt down off her back and she shook her hair to free it from where it had become caught in the shirtcollar, he ceased cursing himself and smiled. He took her cheeks in his hands, lifted her mouth slightly, and kissed her. And then he laughed.

"Sir?"

"Oh, Aimee', what I have been thinking in the past few minutes is just not fit. Are you ready to share the weaknesses of an old man?"

"If they are yours, sir, I will always be ready."

"Very well." He rose and slowly led her to the bedside, encouraging her to get in. She lay down on the covers and, together, they worked off her breeches. "Aimee', I have been considering what a fool I have been for denying myself the special kind of magic that happens not between two men, but between a man and a woman. And then I realized how few people ever learn of the love between man and woman, even when they are made to learn that." He shook his head. "You are the first woman I have loved since my mother, and you may be the last. It is not... It is not that I have discovered women, Aimee'. It is just that I have discovered you."

She smiled and reached up, pulling him down beside her. "Sir, one thing I have not yet had the pleasure of is one of my own kind. But I dearly wish it. I wish to learn."

"I am afraid I shall have to send you to a specialist for that," he mused, laughing. "That sort of thing is beyond my understanding."

"Yes, sir," she replied, grinning. "Remove your clothing, already!"

"I have to prepare for the spell, first. Wait here." Darynn rose and left the room. He walked down the corridor to his magickal pantry, recovered the items he required, and returned. Aimee' was idly stroking her skin, scratching or self-pleasuring, he couldn't tell, and she smiled as he walked in. "I waited."

"I see," he replied. "Come, apprentice. Help me arrange this spell. I will need this powder dripped into the groove on the floor that encircles the bed, and I will need these candles inset into the holders at points 1, 21, 41, 61, and 81. Clear?"

"Yes, sir. Is there any need to care for the colors?"

"Good question, apprentice. No, not this time."

"Yes, sir." He watched, somewhat detached at the beauty of her body but thrilled with the eagerness in her soul, as she placed the candles down and began the slow and rather dull task of encircling the bed with the mix he had given her. He stripped off the plain blanket and put in its place a large, blue comforter onto which were sewn magical runes and sigils. "Aimee'?"