“Yes, Master.” -
“And don’t call me master,” insisted Nakor.
“As you wish, Master.”
Nakor sighed, and they walked down the hallway.
“What do you see?” asked Miranda.
Pug laughed. “Nakor’s up to his old tricks. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I saw Chalmes and the rest of them stalk out of the council chamber. I suspect Calis left Nakor in charge.”
Miranda shook her head and a rain of droplets fell around Pug’s head and shoulders, striking the calm pool of water he had used for his scrying. The faint image of the distant chamber room vanished in the ripples.
“Hey!” Pug feigned irritation.
Miranda laughed and shook her head harder, making more water fly. She had just emerged from swimming in the warm ocean and had found Pug spying on the doings at Stardock in a still pool.
Pug turned and grabbed for her, but she danced quickly backwards, avoiding him. Pug’s laughter joined hers as she turned and started running down the beach, back toward the waves.
Pug felt his breath tighten for an instant at sight of her slim but muscular body, glistening with water, as she raced ahead of him. Almost a year of living on this island had browned both of them deeply.
She was a far better swimmer than Pug, but he was faster of foot. He tackled her just as she reached the water’s edge and they both went down in a heap. Her shrieks of mock outrage joined with his laughter. “You monster!” she shouted as he rolled her over and playfully bit her on the neck near her shoulder.
“You’re the one who started it,” he pointed out.
Lying back as the soft waves came in to cover both of them, Miranda studied Pug’s features. In the year they had been together they had become lovers and confidants, but there were still secrets between them. Pug knew almost nothing of her past, for she was adept at avoiding direct answers to many of the questions he had asked. When it had become clear she didn’t wish to speak of her life before meeting him, he ceased asking. Pug held part of himself back as well, so the relationship was equitable.
“What is it?” he asked. “You’ve got that look.”
“What look?”
“The trying-to-read-my-thoughts look.”
“Never learned that trick,” she said.
“Few do,” said Pug. “Though Gamina always could.”
“Read minds?”
“Mine, anyway,” he said, turning so he could lie back on his elbows next to her. “It was something of a problem when she turned . . . thirteen or so, and didn’t go away until she was nearly twenty.” He shook his head as he remembered his adopted daughter’s childhood. “She’s a grandmother now,” he said softly. “I’ve got a grandson, Arutha, and great-grandsons, James and Dashel.” He fell into a reflective silence. The sun beat down on their bodies while the waves rose higher with each turn of the tide, and they were content to be silent for a few moments. When the rising tide threatened finally to wash over them, Pug stood and Miranda followed.
They strolled down the beach in silence for a while. Finally Miranda said, “You’ve been peeking in at Stardock more often lately.”
Pug let out a slow breath, “Things are starting to . . . get more serious.”
Miranda slipped her arm into his, and as he felt her skin touch his, Pug’s chest tightened again. He had loved his wife as he had thought he could love no other, but this woman, despite her mysterious past, reached parts of him he had not thought anyone could reach. After a year together she still excited and confused him as if he were a boy, not a man in his eighties.
“Where did we leave our clothing?” she asked.
Pug stood up and glanced around. “Over there, I think.”
They had occupied the island, in a rude hut Pug had fashioned out of palms and bamboo, and had traveled at will between it and his home at Sorcerer’s Isle to restock their supplies of food. Most of their time together had been given over to play, lovemaking, and talking of many things. But Pug had always known that this was only a respite, a time to let troubles be forgotten, while they rested and prepared to face dark horrors once more.
Pug followed Miranda to where their clothing lay in a heap, and watched with a moment of regret as she slipped her dress over her head. He donned his black robe and said, “You’re thinking.”
“Always,” she said with a wry smile.
“No, I mean something specific. And your expression is one I’ve not seen before. I don’t know if I like it”
Worry lines marred her usually smooth forehead. She came to him and put her arms around him. “I’m leaving for a time.”
“Where are you going?”
“I think I must go find Calis. It’s been too long since I have seen him. I must see what more needs to be done with him.”