Cat Scratched! (12 page)

"Thank you, Neyalah, you have done well."

***

Yaniff sat in his window seat and gazed out of the mullioned windows at the darkening sky. His thoughts were on what had transpired that day long ago. If Neyalah had not fallen and struck her head, Gian Ren might not have been taken prisoner on Ganakari. If that had not happened, he might not have met his mate Jenise at that time, and Gian would have been unaware of the danger to his people of the drug they had used on him. The Tunnel to M'yan might not have been sealed. . .

Gian's son might not be ready to be born–!
The ramifications of those events not happening gave even an old wizard, learned in the ways of pattern magick a headache.

Neyalah, by the strangest of circumstances, may well have saved her people by doing. . . nothing. Yaniff chuckled at the irony.

By hiding herself away, she had brought about destiny.

"What amuses you, Yaniff?" Rejar stood in front of the fire and stretched. He would be heading home shortly. Bojo, Yaniff's winged companion opened one eye on his mantle perch and gave the halfling Familiar a fussy stare. The poor companion was exhausted from always having to keep one eye trained on Krue's mischievous son.

"I was just thinking that the name Neyalah in the Familiar tongue means 'bringer of destiny'."

Not having a clue where the old wizard's thoughts were going, Rejar cocked his head to the side. "And you find this humorous for some reason?"

"I do."

Rejar gave the wizard a quizzical look.

"Have you ever heard the expression that one can laugh with tears in the eyes?"

Rejar shook his head no.

"Well, my boy, here is your real lesson for today. Wizards often laugh with such tears."

Rejar thought about his master's words, for once becoming quite serious. "Mayhap they do. But, is it not worse to weep with laughter?"

Yaniff's black eyes gleamed.
The Sorrow of Inversion.
There was understanding in this student's words! Understanding and vision. . . And a hint of the great wizard to come.

"It is perspective, Rejar. Still, you are right. It is much worse."

"And there are worse things than such tears." That caught Yaniff's attention. He turned from the darkening view and stared at his student with eyes blacker than the blackest night. "Meaning?"

Rejar smiled mysteriously. "I, myself, was thinking of destiny today.”

Yaniff stilled. “And what did you ponder so heavily–when you were supposed to be studying your spell craft?”

As he passed the wizard on his way out, he handed him a
krilli
sash. “I was thinking how often destiny hangs on a single ragged thread."

The door closed softly behind him.

Yaniff lifted his eyebrow and placed the belt back on the wooden shelf. "We had best keep a closer eye on that one, eh, Bojo?"

Bojo gave a deep sigh of agreement. Followed by a round of heavy snores. Destiny might hang on a thread. . . But, a good nap in the late afternoon, on the mantle of a warm fireplace, was this day's happy fate for a beloved winged-companion.

Yaniff shook his head and smiled fondly at his sleepy friend.

Then he sat at his wooden table, lit a candle at the coming darkness, and opened an ancient tome of arcane spells. To never rest was the
chosen
fate of old wizards who ponder the Matrix of Destiny.

As the days followed one after the other, it was a surprise to some that the Familiar, Salair, was often found curled up with Neyalah in front of the hearth.

There were ideal mates.

She was healed and whole. And happy.

Just as Salair had promised.

His inclination to roam had been replaced with an unbound heart–

Unbound and forever wild in Snow’s welcoming embrace.

And that, as any wizard knows, is magick at its best.

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