Of Heroes and Happenings

The Perfect One, Chapter 19

Gareth felt Gwn'itt begin to fall and managed to direct the tumble into his arms. The proper words flowed over his lips easily as Gareth visualized where the Wilderwalkers and Askil waited for them, just outside. The blue, shimmering Dimension Door opened. Gareth carried his beloved Gwn'itt through it, away from the malevolent men and the cage they'd tormented Gwn'itt in. It was a relief when the portal closed, silencing the cursing men inside the Forcecage. In Gareth's arms, Gwn'itt lay limp and unresponsive, alarmingly slight.

As soon as the Wilderwalkers spied Gareth, they joined arms with Askil and Gareth so that all six of them were linked into a circle. Terrified for Gwn'itt, Gareth pictured the Teleportation circle on the island and chanted the spell. Almost immediately, they stood in the corridor on the island, the linked chains dangling from the wall beside them.

Gareth looked at Talya. "Take the corridor down until you must turn. Go left for that long again and Mother shall be on the right, teaching youngsters to read." She nodded, so he cast Dimension Door again, picturing his own bedroom, then sprinted through the door that opened.

Unconscious, Gwn'itt's form was female again. Gareth laid Gwn'itt on the cot that had been so carefully enchanted. His Mage Hand fetched a bowl of wash water and a cloth, hoping the cool, damp cloth on Gwn'itt's brow would help.

Eventually, red-flecked eyes fluttered open, then closed again. "Home," Gwn'itt smiled, sounding wistful.

Gareth realized that Gwn'itt had seen the tapestries and assumed it to be a dream of the enchanting room of the shop. He smiled and raised one long, slim-fingered hand to his lips. "You are home, Love," he promised. Startled, those eyes opened again. Gareth pressed another kiss to the fingers. That hand reached up and touched his cheek. "I see you," Gareth sighed, knowing he was finally seeing the real person and not a façade.

She smiled, caressing his face with gentle fingers. "I see you, too; always have." Gareth's confusion must have showed. Gwn'itt dropped the hand to his chest, letting it rest over his heart. "You wear that glorious flamboyance of yours the way I use Seeming, as a shield," Gwn'itt explained. "We are the exact opposite, but for much the same reasons."

Tenderly, Gareth covered Gwn'itt's slender hand with his own, holding it against the heart that hammered within his chest. Though Gwn'itt was taller than Gareth, his hand engulfed hers. "It's a chance worth taking," he thought aloud.

Those red-flecked eyes softened. Gareth lost himself in the depths of them. "Even now? After . . ?"

"Yes, Love," he interrupted gently, to keep it from being said. "I want forever. What if I didn't take that chance, but forever is meant to be with you? Forever with you is worth the risk." It was true; Gareth knew as he said it. He swept his other hand out, gesturing toward the enchanting tables. "Most of that is done. I've hated every minute of working on it without you beside me. If I can't have you beside me, it's not worth doing, not at all."

"Oh, Gareth!" Gwn'itt started struggling to sit up, so Gareth gathered the slight body into his arms. How frail Gwn'itt felt! "I want forever with you, too," she whispered into his hair, "but I need to give you this, first." Gwn'itt reached up and pulled something off from her neck to show Gareth.

"What is it?" Gareth asked, staring at the tightly-wrapped coil of bronze wires, bound at either end with two bronze knobs. One knob was decorated with three tongues of flame. The other had three fan-shaped lobes as a stylized symbol of wind.

Gwn'itt showed Gareth how to put it on, and then left it on his neck. "It's a torc, a symbol of belonging to, but not owned by someone. Those two terminals are my guild signets; fire and smoke. You have to attune to it in order to understand why, though." Her tone was teasing, just a little.