“I’ll go see if I can help Esmera with her hair,” Karanissa said.

“Ali, I need to talk to Gresh for just a moment, but if you could wait for me, I’ll be right there.”

Alorria watched Karanissa leave the room, then looked back at Gresh and Tobas. “Don’t be long,” she said. Then she, too departed, leaving the two men in the room.

For a moment neither spoke. Then Tobas said, “You and I are leaving for Ethshar first thing in the morning, and we’re taking what’s-her-name, Esmera, with us, and not my wives, and you are going to be sure to never leave Esmera and me alone together for an instant and be ready to swear to that if Ali ever asks. Having the three of them in one place is much too complicated.”

Gresh understood perfectly, but could not resist asking, “What do you expect Esmera to do with herself in Ethshar?”

“Anything she pleases. She’s a grown woman, a witch, with four hundred years of memories, even if they aren’t really her memories. She can take care of herself.”

“I think it would be fair to provide her with a small sum of money-traveling money.”

“That seems reasonable. If you insist, I’ll do that, but you could equally well give it to her from that down-payment you got and charge it to the Guild as an expense.”

“So I could; I’ll do that.”

“Thank you. We don’t have a great deal of cash on hand.”

“Will you be bringing the mirror with you?” Gresh asked.

Tobas hesitated, then said, “No, I don’t think I will. Either Telurinon or Kaligir would probably want me to give it to him, and thanks to your spell, I can’t. Better I leave it here, so that the issue won’t come up right away, and we’ll have time to explain the situation.”

Gresh nodded. “A wise choice, and one I was going to suggest. You do realize, though, that the geas won’t do anything to stop anyone from taking the mirror from you? You’re only forbidden to give it. You aren’t required to keep it, or retrieve it if it’s lost.”

“Yes, I know-but it really is my mirror, and I think I want to hold on to it, at least until I get my new tapestry.”

“Good for you. If I might make a suggestion, though, perhaps you might tell them, with the Spell of Invaded Dreams or something of that sort, that you’re coming and that you aren’t bringing the mirror? You’ll want to make absolutely sure of its safety here, too.”

“That’s a good point,” Tobas conceded. “I’ll send a message tonight, and I’ll put Karanissa in charge of the mirror.”

“You could even ask the king to post guards, or at the very least to watch out for spriggans in the vicinity.”

“I’ll consider that.”

Gresh realized he was nearing the end of Tobas’s willingness to listen to advice. “We’ll meet here first thing in the morning, then?” he asked.

“First thing. I’ll pack and see to the rest of it this evening, and ready the carpet. Now, if you don’t mind…”

“Your wife is waiting. Go.”

Tobas went.

The Spriggan Mirror

A Legend of Ethshar

Gresh arrived at the tower door while the sky was still gray. The dawn was not yet broken. He knocked gently; no one answered. Presumably they were all still asleep. While Tobas had said “first thing,” Gresh knew he had probably not expected anyone to take it quite so literally. Gresh had kept a book at the top of his bottomless bag for such an eventuality; he lit the lamp above the stair, settled himself on the staircase, and began reading.

He had not yet finished the second page when Esmera appeared below him, at the curve of the stair; she still wore the same red dress, and it occurred to him that she probably had no other clothes-Karanissa had provided her with combs and hairpins, but so far as he knew, nothing more than that. She certainly had no luggage with her beyond a small purse on her belt.

Her hair was still up, as she had arranged it the night before-tied into a long braid and coiled on the back of her head. He did not think it an especially flattering style, but it did distinguish her from Karanissa, and apparently it was easy to maintain-it either hadn’t come undone overnight, or she had been able to restore it unaided. He wondered which it was-wouldn’t it have been uncomfortable to sleep on it like that? Perhaps if her bed had been soft enough that wasn’t an issue; he wondered what accommodations the chamberlain had been able to provide. Gresh had not accompanied her while those arrangements were made. He had been busy double-checking on the spriggans and the magic mirror, using up the remaining supply of Javan’s Geas to order the spriggans never to move the mirror, and re-packing his bottomless bag, and making sure that the packet of Lord Peren’s hair was secure.

He hoped that Javan’s Geas worked on spriggans; he was not at all sure of it. He had tried it anyway, but there was no obvious way to test it.

The mirror was no longer his responsibility, though. He had delivered it as agreed. Now all he had to do was get home and collect his fee-and perhaps help Esmera find a home.

She was looking hesitantly up the stair at him. Gresh closed the book and smiled at her. “Good morning,” he said. “I see you rose early, as well.”

“I didn’t want to keep anyone waiting.”

“That doesn’t appear to be a problem,” he replied. “No one answered my knock.”

“So I see. May I join you?”

“Of course.” He moved over on the step, making room for her, and pushed his bag further back, out of the way.

She climbed the stair and seated herself beside him, tucking her skirt carefully. “Thank you,” she said.

He nodded, and said, “It occurs to me that this must seem very unfair to you.”

She looked up at him, startled. “Oh?”

“Well, yes. After all, you remember being Tobas’s wife, you must surely think of yourself as the woman he married six years ago, and now he says you aren’t. You remember owning an entire wardrobe and all you have now is this one dress, which still has dirt from the cave on it and snagged threads where thorns or spriggans caught at it, while the other pretty clothes all belong to the other Karanissa. That can hardly seem just.”

“But I’m not Karanissa,” Esmera replied. “I know that. I’m an exact copy-and I wasn’t even that until you cast Lirrim’s Rectification on me. You and the enchanted mirror created me; Karanissa didn’t, so why should she have to give up any of her belongings, or share her husband with me?”

“But don’t you think of yourself as her, still?”

“Sometimes. I know I’m not, though, however much I might feel otherwise. What I try to do is think of it as if I was her, but now I’m someone else. I’m trying to think of it as an adventure, starting a new life on my own.”

“That’s probably a wise attitude.” Gresh considered her for a moment, and then said, “I suppose I did more or less create you, didn’t I?”

“Not deliberately.”

Gresh grimaced. “And how many children are created without that being their parents’ intent? That doesn’t reduce the parents’ responsibility, and I don’t see why it should reduce mine.”

“But you didn’t know the mirror could produce something like me.”

“Well, that’s true, and perhaps that does lessen my burden somewhat, but all the same, now that you’ve pointed your parentage out to me, I feel I must assume some of the responsibility for your well-being. I have already spoken to Tobas, and we’ve agreed that I should provide you with funds until you can make a place for yourself, in Ethshar or elsewhere. This money should be considered part of my expenses in obtaining the spriggan mirror-after all, I would not have figured out how it worked if you hadn’t climbed out of it. But beyond that, I think I should also offer you the hospitality of my home, such as it is, and perhaps one of my sisters can see to your education and find you employment. One of them, Tira of Eastgate, is a witch-she ought to be able to provide some guidance. Ekava the Seamstress may be able to help with clothes.”