Keeping It Real (34 page)

to see the end of the day. Lila ignored him. The Sathanor water Dar gave her was very good. 'You

should bottle this and sell it,' she told Dar, feeling Tath quiver with outrage at
the idea. 'You'd make a

fortune.'

'It is sacred,' Dar said absently. "The water sustains youth, heals disease and allays hunger
.
The fact

that
I let you, an alien interloper, drink of it would be enough to hang me almost anywhere in Alfheim,

and many places beyond its borders. There are those who kill to trade in this water, and die for it. If you

have a container I would suggest
that
you fill it, because this is the last
water until the lake, and I do not

think it
would be wise to drink of that'

'The water of life: tastes good and it
does you good,' Lila said, filling her belly with it. 'I stand by my

assessment. Total gold mine. Just think how many products you could make with it. Beer. The beer of

life. The wine of life. The sparkling sugary soda of life. The Sathanor Detox Diet. And failing that, when

you get out of here you can take over the black market.'

'It is all I am fit for,' Dar agreed with amusement. T pray you do not notice the air or the plants or the

animals and see dollar signs in their places too.'

'If I do, I'll keep it
between me and Tath,' Lila said, getting up and patting her chest. 'He has a long

way to go before his education catches up with the modern world.' And then she had to struggle for a

moment not to be sick. 'Lil' devil,' she said. T feel peculiar.'

'It is the water's effect. It will wear off presently,' Dar turned and led off through thick grass and

beneath beautiful, pale-leafed trees whose trunks were as smooth as polished stone. The trees watched

them.

The afternoon passed in a soft focus blur of pleasantly healthy delirium. Later Lila would remember

almost
none of it, though some things remained. She asked Dar once, when she had imagined both of

them storming a palace, 'Is there a chance?' He turned and took her in his arms and kissed her, very

gently, and then he led her on, her hand in his for a long while.

Sathanor had a curious calendar quality. She couldn't quite connect

with it. It
seemed not
to require nor want
human interaction, and she felt strangely detached
.
She was

also aware of Tath watching her responses and wanted to withhold them. He longed to touch everything

that was ignoring her. And eventually, after the hundredth simply breathtaking vista full of birds, animals

and insects of unusual and exquisite creation, she found the ability to stop noticing it all and slumped into

appreciation-fatigue with gratitude. Once that
had gone she found that the more they travelled, the more

she felt observed by an attention that
used the birds and trees to follow them.

As they approached the lake itself, Dar led her to a grassy, sunlit
glade and stopped. 'Rest
now,' he

said, sitting with her. "This is the last time we will have, most likely
.
Arte will know of our approach by

now, and be waiting
.
She, like all elves, will wait as long as we like. Time is on her side. We should fear

nothing on her ground
.
Sleep if you would like to.'

'Nah,' Lila said with a sigh although she was deeply tired. The sunlight
made her more so. 'Why don't

you?'

'I do not wish to leave this situation only to have to return to it'

'Amen,' Lila said. 'So, what are we going to do? Walk in?'

'Yes.*

'Do you feel like putting it off?'

'No.'

She got to her feet again. 'Is there anything . . . how many things ... oh for fuck's sake, never mind.'

'Never mind what?' he asked patiently.

'I was going to ask you for all the secret inside info, but what the hell, you shouldn't tell me even if it

would make a difference
.
I'll never pass for one of you in a million years. Look, even if I do this,' and Lila

got up and used all her skill and AI systems to perfectly mimic Dar's own way of carrying himself.

'You could at
a distance,' he said. 'But
the metal is a strong ... a powerful signal to our aethereal selves.

Your hair and face are all wrong. And you have no
andalune.
If someone tries to approach you secretly

with theirs, they will find nothing.'

Lila pulled at
a strand of grass, contemplating the bizarre complexity that
must be elvish social

interaction. 'Could you command Tath to cloak me in his?'

'It
would be abomination to him,' Dar said, not
without
a trace of speculation.

'Two points.' Lila counted them on her fingers
.
'One, he had no scruples when he wanted to get a hit

off our shag. And two, he's dead, and he should be grateful he's still . . . whatever he is, thanks to me.

Even if he won't do it he could at least shed some light on a few issues, couldn't he? And I'd rather know

if the spy inside was going to try and fuck me up at some critical point when he sees a way to do it in the

service of Lady of the Lake there.'

Dar smiled at
her with what
she thought
was grudging admiration. 'Fair points all. If you will ask him

nicely first, I will command him second.'

'Is that naming? Command?'

'It
is absolute,' Dar said, 'Absolute, and for that reason no elf would use it
against
another.'

'Except in situations like this one, right?' Lila said. 'I mean, you stabbed him to death. This seems - I

don't
know - less aggressive than that?'

'It is more so. With naming comes obligation
.
I killed him and that was that But
when I name him he

will regain a sort of hold over me. I will owe him protection because he has no defence against me, and

whatever happens to him as a result of my command is my responsibility and I will have to pay for it.'

'With money, or favours or that horrible aetheric direct debit thing where it
just
sucks it right out of

your soul?'

'The last,' Dar said. 'But since it is unlikely that there will be a lot
left
of me to pay with then, as you

say, in this situation, why not?' He was almost
lighthearted.

'No, then I'll do it,' Lila said. T don't see why you should. Tell me his name and I will. There's

magically pretty much nothing of me.'

'Which is why it will not work for you nearly as well as for me,' Dar said. 'No credit, no shopping.'

'Fuck!' Lila said and the ears of both elves twitched; Dar's visibly and Tath's gnostically.

She addressed Tath, T know you've been listening. Come nicely, or we'll make you.'

He did not come nicely. He wanted to get his figurative hands around Dar's throat. He coiled up into

his emerald self, small and hard as a stone in the deepest chamber of her heart.

'Hit him,' Lila said to Dar.

Dar shook his head and took a deep breath which he savoured. Lila

saw that he considered it figuratively to be his last
and she opened her mouth to stop him but
he was

speaking already, Tlyatath Voynassi Taliesetra, glamour this woman your host
with the full power of your

conviction to appear as yourself, and convince all that
she is as you once were for as long as you both

persist
or until this command is undone by her intent
or by mine.'

For a moment Tath did not
respond. Lila waited - she felt
she was learning this trick well by now. Then

there was a silent explosion in her heart. A Shockwave spread through her, flesh and metal both. She felt

Tath's anger and his resentment
at death suffuse her with all the charm of a bucket
of iced vomit. But

above that
soared a peculiar joyous rush and an intense curiosity. He wanted to recoil from the

technology of her, but he couldn't because the charm did not permit him to hesitate. He was sure it would

harm him in spite of the moment
in which he had helped her to pick up his swords and bow. He was

amazed to find that
his aetheric body could properly transect her metallic self and not
be destroyed by it.

T
his is because you are no longer made of
t
he spiri
t
less elemen
t
s of O
t
opia,
Tath said.
You are like

me
t
al
t
ha
t
has been mined and forged by
t
he Shadowkin; half alive. You are a curious charm, like

an amule
t
, or a weapon. I see why Dar was so keen
t
o weld you close
t
o his side.

That
was friendship,
t
ha
t
was,
Lila told him firmly but suddenly she wasn't sure. She cheeked to see

that
she maintained full control of her body. She did.
You said before I was changed by Dar. Now I'm

changed again righ
t
? Or
t
he same as before?
She felt
furious that Tath could still so easily hold her to

ransom this way, with his magical intuition and his skill.

Differen
t
again.
Tath said.
You should be careful abou
t
in
t
ima
t
e rela
t
ions wi
t
h elves. I
t
hough
t
t
hey
t
augh
t
you
t
ha
t
in Spy School. Bu
t
if you are confirmed in your wish
t
o change, you could ask me

.....

Shu
t
up,
Lila said. That
wasn'
t
abou
t
con
t
rol.
She wanted to have words with Dar. The techicians at Incon had laboured hard and unsuccessfully to enchant technological artefacts. Her changes were

apparently miraculous to Tath, who could not hide his surprise, but at the same time she couldn't detect

any change except that she wasn't in pain.

No, you are righ
t
,
Tath said.
Wha
t
you did wi
t
h Dar was no
t

abou
t
con
t
rol. I
t
was
t
he pac
t
of suicide. You will never make alive ou
t
of Aparas
t
il. I salu
t
er
your hones
t
y and feeling.
His sincerity was worse than his taunts, she thought
.

Dar blinked and looked carefully at her. He spoke quietly and bowed his head for a moment. 'Death

has not diminished your light, Ilyatath.'

'Do I. . .' Lila began to say and stopped in astonishment. She didn't hear her own voice. She heard the

elf's, complete with all its curious harmonies and tones. The words and intent were hers, the sound was

not. For a moment Tath's envy and hate almost overpowered her. He considered her completely

unworthy of his presence. The words his voice said were not
his and he was violated. She felt nauseous.

'Lila.' Dar looked back up, lifted his head. 'It's time. Are you ready?'

'No,' she said. 'If I screw it up ... If I speak out of turn and spoil the illusion, or show my ignorance at

the wrong moment, I apologise now.'

'We enter the gates evenly matched.' Dar got to his feet. 'Except in the matter of name. I know yours

but you do not know mine.'

Lila jumped up and put her hand across his mouth. 'No,' she said. 'Spies can't use what they don't

know. Don't tell me. It's bad enough if Tath knows it.'

Oh I do
.

Lila put
her arms around Dar in an awkward hug. His embrace was quick but strong in return, strong

enough for her to wonder if she was being stupid in passing up such a weapon as his name. Tath's words

echoed in her mind - changed again.

Then they set out and within a few minutes had come to the lake shore. It was sunset and the surface

of the water reflected the rose and soft orange tones of the sky. Lila looked down and saw a slender

blond elf where she stood: Tath, right up to the tips of his mobile, nonexistent ears.

Now Dar said words that
Lila couldn't catch. They slid from her understanding like fish slithering

quickly out of a careless grab from above. A breeze lifted and blew her illusory elfin hair.

'Consider yourself invited,' Dar said after moment. 'Follow me and do not show fear.' He walked

forwards into the water.

Lila frowned but followed - she'd come this far, why not further? The water felt unnatural as soon as it

touched her. It didn't run into her boots or soak her clothing. Glancing down she saw that she was

protected by the extent of Tath's aethereal body which was projecting a few millimetres beyond her own.

Where it made contact with the

water a surface formed, like the surface of an air bubble, and the water kept away
.
She wondered what

would happen when it reached her nose and got ready to engage a gas recycler mechanism, but when the

water closed over her head she found that she was walking downhill beside Dar as though they were