Pool of Twilight - James M. Ward [70]
Suddenly Evaine felt a warm touch against her cheek. She looked up in surprise. Then she smiled. "Gamaliel, you startled me. But then, I suppose you think it's funny to see me jump like a toad. Go on, admit it."
Her familiar knelt beside her. Curiously, Evaine noted, he had donned his human guise once again.
"Evaine." The intentness with which he spoke the word drew her gaze into his.
"What is it, Gam?" she asked softly, a bit bemused by his unusual behavior.
He paused, the firelight dancing across his sharp, handsome features. He drew in a deep breath. "Evaine, do you love me?"
She laughed. "Let me guess-you want your tummy rubbed?"
"No, Evaine." His seriousness surprised her anew. She fell silent as he gripped both her hands in his. "That isn't what I meant. What I wish to say is…" He struggled with the words. "… is that there is a way for me to become… to become human. Truly human. Forever. There is a magic you could weave."
Evaine shook her head in confusion. "But why in the world would you wish to be permanently human?"
Slowly he lifted her hands, pressing his lips gently to their palms. "I would do it for you, Evaine. To end your loneliness. To make you happy."
Evaine stared at her old friend in wonderment as the full meaning of his words finally dawned upon her. "You would… you would give up everything that you adore, everything that you are, just to be with me?"
He nodded gravely.
"Oh, Gamaliel!" Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"I have troubled you," he said dejectedly. "You do not wish to have me for your life-mate."
She shook her head, trying to find the words. Couldn't he guess? Her tears were not of sorrow, but of happiness. She encircled the barbarian man with her arms, embracing him fiercely.
"It's not that, Gam!" she finally managed to say. "Yes, I do love you. More than anything in all the world. But…" She pushed the barbarian's shoulders back so she could look him in the eyes. "I love you for who you are, Gamaliel. I don't ever want you to change. I need you to be there, to prowl beside me on my journeys, to protect me when I cast my spells, to watch over me at night-and to find fish for me when I'm hungry." She brushed his cheek warmly. "There's one thing you should know, Gam. Even if I'm unhappy sometimes, never once since the day I met you have I ever been lonely."
Heart brimming, she leaned forward and softly kissed the barbarian. He regarded her fondly. Then his form shimmered, and the lithe great cat sat before her.
I knew it all along. You do like fish!
She hugged him tightly.
Later, when Evaine had fallen asleep, Gamaliel curled up by the fire, regarding her still form through the thin slits of his green eyes. He felt a deep relief. Though he would have done anything for Evaine, it would have been hard to live his life forever as a man. No claws, small, useless teeth, annoyingly slow and lumbering legs-how boring to be eternally human!
And yet, deep in his chest, Gamaliel felt just the slightest twinge of something that felt like… regret?
* * * * *
It was midnight.
Evaine lay deep in slumber near the embers of the fire, her long chestnut hair tousled across the cloak she had folded for a pillow. Gamaliel sat stiff and silent at the cave's entrance, gazing tirelessly into the night, keeping watch.
Deep in the cave, a small circle glowing a faint crimson suddenly appeared on the granite wall. The circle flashed, and abruptly a disk of stone fell out of the wall like a cork knocked out of a bottle. A small, furry shape scurried silently out of the hole.
A rock rat.
Shy and mysterious, rock rats were small, mousy creatures with the peculiar ability to burrow through solid stone. In truth, the creatures were magical in nature. Legend told how once long ago a greedy wizard was transformed into a pack rat by an angry enchantress he had swindled. The wizard fled into the mountains to live a life befitting a rat. But ever after, his descendants retained a bit of his magic-and a touch of his greedy nature as well. From that day on, the rock rats had riddled the mountains with