Yasra frowned as she concentrated for the thousandth time and tried to communicate with Bicky. She had tried this so many times and failed every time. She didn’t think this time would be any different. And she was right. Until Dendri reached out and touched her hand. The minute he did so she could suddenly hear Bicky’s thoughts.
*Scratch, scratch. The man feels good. I like the man* she said in her head.
Dendri dropped his hand away and she could no longer hear Bicky’s thoughts.
“No?” Dendri asked. “Very well. Let’s try fire.” He picked up a book and set it on the floor. “Burn it,” he said.
Yasra looked down at the book and tried to start a flame. Even the smallest tendril of smoke. But there was nothing. Until Dendri reached out and touched her once more. Suddenly she could see the molecules that made up the paper and she moved them faster and faster until they began to burn. The book burst into flame. Bess cried out and quickly stomped on the book to put out the flames.
“Do you see now? Can you feel the Gestalt?”
“Yes. I feel it now,” she whispered.
“Good. Now try to read my mind. Tell me what I am thinking.” He dropped his touch away and she turned her attention to his face. It was such a good face. A strong and handsome one. She concentrated on him, trying to divine his thoughts, but she could hear nothing. So this time it was she who reached out and touched him. The moment she did she was transported back into the white room. Him lying naked. Her beneath his touch. She pulled away with a gasp and he smiled at her.
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’ve been unable to think of anything else since it happened,” he said.
“Me too. So that’s three houses I can’t do unless you’re touching me. That leaves Vendii and Necromay.”
“Your parents are Vendii aren’t they?”
“Yes. And I’ve tried to affect the weather before but like everything else I’ve had no luck.”
“Let’s try something simple. Come to the window.” He moved to the window and beckoned her forward. “The easiest thing for a Vendii to manipulate is the wind. See if you can blow that man’s hat off.”
He pointed to a man on the street and she focused on making the wind blow. She couldn’t do it until he leaned in to her and made contact. Then the wind came and blew the man’s hat off. She laughed as he chased it down the street.
But then she sobered. That left only one house of majic untried.
Necromay.
He moved out of contact with her and said, “Clear your mind. Focus on me and tell me if you sense anyone around me. I’ve been told I have a strong spirit guiding me. Tell me who it is.”
Yasra focused carefully and then suddenly she felt she could see a shining light buzzing around his head. That light grew brighter and suddenly, in a flash, she could see a woman, with long flowing red hair that curled at the ends looking at him fondly.
“I see a woman, with red hair. She looks at you with love.”
“It’s my mother,” he said with a smile.
“Oh! Really? She’s very beautiful.”
“Thank you. She meant a great deal to me.”
“When did she die?”
“About ten years ago.”
“Couldn’t you have had a powerful Necromay bring her back?”
“You know it doesn’t work like that. When a Necromay brings someone back they aren’t quite the same as when they died. I wouldn’t have wanted her to be less than what she was. Some people might not care about that, but I do. And so did my mother.”
“So that means I’m Necromay. But…that’s the worst house to be from!”
“That’s not true. Necromay is a very powerful house. Death majic is dangerous and deadly, but managed properly it can be very useful. For instance, you could talk to my mother and tell me what she is saying, feeling…thinking. It would make me very happy to hear she is doing well where she is.”
“She is doing well. I can tell. She looks very happy and very…proud.” Yasra smiled. “I can’t believe it. I’m doing all this majic. Me. A non.”
“You were never a non. You were just working yourself up so much about it, with the pressure you were under to perform, it’s no wonder you were blocked.”
“What do you know about the pressure I was under?” she said edgily.
He reached out and touched her, a soft caress on her face. “I can feel it every time we touch. Your parents have scarred you deeply. And I’m very sorry for that.”
“What burns me about this is that they are—“
There was a loud banging at the door.
“Yasra! Open the door!”
Bess shrank away at the sound of her mother’s voice. Yasra reached out a hand to soothe her friend. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she said.
“Your parents are very powerful majji, Yas. Of course there’s something to be afraid of!”
“Not with Dendri here,” she said. And as soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew they were the truth. It was emanating from him into her. He would protect her with his very last breath if he had to.
Yas went to open the door. Her mother exploded into the room, a burst of wind blowing in behind her. It was reflective of her mother’s excitement that she was not entirely composed in her powers.
“Darling, darling girl! We are so proud of you!” her mother effused, taking Yasra into her arms and hugging her tightly. Uncomfortable with this sudden show of affection, Yas shrugged her mother off.
“Hello, Mother. Father.” Her father had entered the room in her mother’s wake. He came forward and gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder.
“Dear girl. You’ve made us so proud,” he said, clearing his throat with a harrumph, as if he were getting choked up.
“Oh! Dendri! We didn’t see you there. But of course you would be here,” her mother said with a sharp clap of her hands. “Our daughter, a Gestalt. We knew, absolutely knew we had given birth to a child of power! We planned it so carefully after all. But we never imagined you would be this powerful!”
“Mother, I’m not—“
“What house are you from darling?” she asked in a rush.
“Necromay,” Yas replied softly.
“Oh. Oh well that’s all right. That pales in comparison to what you will be able to do with the power of a Gestalt. You may be a late bloomer, but my oh my, did you bloom. And as for all that nonsense yesterday, we’ll just forget all about that.”
“Oh, you mean that nonsense where you threatened to cut me off if I didn’t produce some kind of majic at the tests today?” Yasra snapped.
“Well…you see we had no choice dear. We had to motivate you. And, well, it worked.”
“It didn’t work, Mother. You had nothing to do with it! If Dendri hadn’t touched me we’d have never known and I would have been living my life quietly as a non.”
“A non! Our daughter? Never,” her father said gruffly.
“Illa. Orto. I believe your daughter has had quite enough of your presence for today,” Dendri said to her parents, moving in to loom protectively over her.
“But…” Her mother laughed nervously as she looked into the wintery glare of Dendri’s eyes. “We were hoping to go out to celebrate.”
“Oh there will be a celebration,” Dendri said. “But you will not be a part of it.”
“Oh! Well! I…I don’t know what to say! This is most unpleasant. Surely you don’t mean to cut us,” her mother said with an uncomfortable smile.
“Surely we do,” Dendri said. “Please leave. Yasra will contact you when and if she wants to.”
“But…but…”
“Leave Mother,” Yasra said firmly.
Her mother released an awkward laugh. Then she said, “I can see the excitement of the day is getting to you. We’ll come back when you’re feeling better.”
“You’ll come back when she invites you back,” Dendri said coldly.
Her mother edged toward the door. “There’s really no need for unpleas
antness,” she said. “Come along, Orto. It’s clear they’re tired. After all, they’ve expended a great deal of power today.”
Her mother grabbed her father’s sleeve and pulled him out of the door. Yasra gave the door a satisfying slam shut. She held her breath for a few moments, and then she laughed. It was a short, relieved sound. Bess came dashing up to her and threw her arms around her. “Oh I’m so proud of you!” she cried. “And you!” she said to Dendri. “Thank you so much! It’s about time someone stuck up for her. I couldn’t do it because I’m a non. But you! Oh thank you!” Bess bravely threw her arms around Dendri and hugged him as well. Dendri chuckled, a warm rich inviting sound. He gave Bess a pat.
“You're a good friend. Bess is it?”
“Oh! I’m so sorry! I should have introduced you!” Yasra cried.
“It’s all right. You were very overwhelmed. And isn’t it any wonder? A Gestalt!”
“Don’t you start too,” Yas warned her friend.
“Well it truly is something,” Bess said. “And you should be proud. And we should celebrate! I’m going to go fetch us some wine. Something good, not the usual swill. I’ll be right back!”
Bess flew out the door before Yasra could say a word.
Leaving her alone with Dendri.
She turned to face him, feeling suddenly nervous. She rubbed her hands together anxiously. He stepped close to her and it took all of her willpower not to step away. She had promised him she would let him back in if he wanted and she would keep that promise. Gladly. She felt like a different being when she was in his arms. Not just because of the Gestalt, but simply as a woman.
“I…I…” she stammered, not really knowing what she wanted to say.
“You need time,” he said softly. “And I will try to understand that. But it will be hard when all I can think of is the way you felt around my fingers and the way your hand felt around my—“
“Don’t!” she yipped, placing her fingers over his lips to prevent the word from being spoken aloud. “Please. Whenever you speak of it I feel…I feel dizzy and I can’t seem to catch my breath.”
“Because it excites you,” he said, speaking against her fingertips. Then he opened his mouth and took one of her fingers inside of it. He sucked it slowly and thoroughly, swirling his tongue silkily around it. By the time he released her finger, she was thoroughly wet between her legs and she was weak in her knees, leaning against his body for support. “Because you want me to make love to you, Yasra. You want me to make good on my promise to make you come. But as I said during our sex majic, not here, not now.” He pushed her hand aside and swooped in for a searing kiss. He kissed her until she didn’t even know her own name anymore. His tongue branded hers and her mouth felt as though it were a huge conflagration. She fell into him as if she had no spine, his hands grabbing her at her waist and her backside, drawing her in tightly so she could feel his erection through the soft material of his breeches. Of their own accord her hands ran down the front of his body, cupping him and outlining him through his pants.
“Yasra!” He suddenly tore his mouth from her, gripping the wrist of one of her wandering hands almost painfully tight. “Not here. Not now,” he growled.
“That’s for you making me come,” she said slyly, not knowing where her moxie was coming from. “You said nothing about me making you come.”
“By the one God, our great creator,” he swore fiercely, “you may be the death of me!” He stepped back from her a little further. “The next time we begin this, we will end it properly, I promise you that. But to do that I must take you somewhere else. Will you come with me to my villa?” he asked her, his voice low and raspy from unspent passion.
She knew what it would mean to go somewhere private with him, and she did not shy away from it. The time for discomfort had come and gone. They were going to become lovers. That much was a fact. She could play games with him, demur or be shy, and part of her wanted to do all three. In the end though, it would end up being just her and him and a great deal of intimacy. And she was all right with that.
She was going to become lovers with Dendri Adiron.
When she put it like that she found it quite intimidating, and he must have felt it or read it in her mind using his Aspano abilities because he took the hand he held and instead of pulling it away from himself, he used it to cup his erection intimately.
“I’m just a man,” he whispered to her. “Just like any other man. No better no worse.”
“That isn’t true and you know it,” she said, feeling the thickness of him beneath her fingertips. She rubbed at him and heard him hiss in a breath. “You are an extraordinary man. And today I find myself to be a very fortunate woman.”
“Fortune has indeed had something to do with it. This is a fated match. Something made me come to the tests today. Something made me touch you so we could discover this beautiful thing we are going to share. Yes,” he said. “Fortune has a great deal to do with this.” He pulled her touch away from his swollen shaft and then drew her close for an achingly sweet kiss. “Come with me to my villa.”
“All right,” she said. “Oh! But what about Bess?”
“Bess can come as well. I have many rooms she could choose to stay in. She will be treated as a guest,” he assured her, “and not as a servant.”
“Thank you. She means the world to me. She has loved me no matter what my ability or disability. She above all others in my life deserves to reap the benefits of my future.”
“Your future lies with me,” he said intently.
“I know,” she whispered.
“I promise you I will treat Bess with just as much love as you would.”
“That means a lot to me,” she said softly.
“Come now. Let’s pack some things for you and Bess so we can go when she comes back,” he said. He moved away and looked around at all the shelves and every open space that was covered with books. “So this is why you got all of the answers right on your written test. You are a scholar.”
“Yes,” she said.
“That is a very good thing. I have a very large library I think you will find quite pleasing.”
“Oh! I’m sure I would!” She smiled as she began to hurry about and gather up things to bring with her. She found a satchel and began to pack it with clothes. She added perfume and scented lotions to her items, thinking she wanted to smell good for him. She thought it was probably a silly thought, but she succumbed to it anyway.
Then she began to pack for Bess a second satchel. He watched her as she worked, his eyes drinking in her every movement it seemed.
“You’re staring at me,” she said self-consciously a few minutes later.
“I am merely absorbing who you are. I can hear all of your thoughts, feel all of your emotions. They are overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time. Usually I close myself off to others, only opening my ability when I need to, but I feel I must learn everything I can about you as quickly as possible. I do not wish to make any mistakes with your care.”
“My care?” she echoed.
“Yes. I am going to take care of you, Yasra. I hope you know that.”
She thought back to when they had touched and kissed and realized she had already learned that from him. To him she was an extraordinary gift and he was not going to squander that gift in any way. He was determined to take care of her.
“I do,” she replied. “I don’t really need taking care of. I have been taking care of myself for a long time in all ways except for financially. And, well, now that I am a majji, I can earn my own way in the world.”
“I know you can. But you will not have to.”
She suddenly felt out of breath. “This is all happening so suddenly.”
“I know,” he said, coming close to her and touching her to comfort her. Instead, she opened up her thoughts to his, felt his emotions as keenly as if they were her own. This was all sudden for him too, but he understood there was a certain amount of destiny at play here. It was not f
or him to question why. It was only his responsibility to treat the circumstances, and her, with care.
“I’m back!” Bess announced, bursting into the door with a bottle of wine held high in her hand. “Let’s celebrate!”
And because they were touching, because she was so open to all thoughts and emotions in the room as any Aspano would be, she felt Bess’s fear. She was afraid that Yasra was going to forget about her. Leave her behind.
Yas immediately crossed the room and threw her arms around her friend.
“We’re going to stay with Dendri at his villa for a while. You are already packed. You might want to see if I forgot anything.”
“I am coming with you?” Bess asked hesitantly.
“Of course you are! I don’t go anywhere without my Bess!”
Bess promptly burst into tears. She grabbed up a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.
“You don’t have to take me. I would be all right,” she said tremulously. “I don’t want to be in the way.”
“You won’t be,” Yasra said firmly. “You’re coming and that’s the end of it. Besides, who else can braid my hair just as I like it?”
“This is very true. You are quite particular.”
“Besides, it’s not as though this is forever,” Yasra said. “It’s just for a little while.”
She glanced at Dendri, but his face was inscrutable. She went to their bags and gave one to Bess. “Here you go. Now check and make sure.”
Bess did, her hands trembling with her excitement and relief. It saddened Yasra that Bess thought she might be left behind even for a little while. It just showed the mentality nons had toward majji. They were less and they knew it. Therefore, they should not be given the same consideration as others.
Nothing could be farther from the truth as far as Yasra’s perspective toward Bess was concerned. They were friends. Plain and simple. She would be lost without her. She couldn’t face all these shattering changes without her.
Dendri herded the women out of the door once they were ready, but as soon as they stepped outside of the stairwell they stepped into a throng of people. All at once they started shouting for Dendri and Yasra, reaching out to touch them, shoving forward as one being. Yasra backed up against the little tailor shop window, cringing away from all of the attention. Then Dendri stepped in front of her, reached out a single hand and shouted, “Away!”