Law

The one who was going away for a while was packing his things methodically so that the lighter ones went on top and the heavier ones went at the bottom. It was common sense. He was afraid that he was losing hold of his common sense, and so was delighted to discover he still possessed some. Behind him she watched him pack as though she did not care.

"I will have a horse ready for you."

"It is not necessary. I am taking the snake."

"The snake is under repairs. The Mechanic has said it is not safe."

"Then I wil take the horse," he said, "and thank you."

She was sitting at a table where a flat, blank mirror that reflected only the outlines of images stood, one hand with the fingers long and steady on a slab of faintly marbled stone. In the mirror, he saw, her hair was white and her skin was white and her eyes had no colour at all. When he looked at her she was still like that, all white, and nothing in her eyes, not even reflected light, because of the way she held her head.

"The light is broken," he said, watching it flicker.

"It is not needed."

"I like it."

"I don't."

"It should be fixed," he said.

"You will fix it when you return."

"Yes," he said, "I shall, then."

Outside, far away, they could hear a shrill yelp break the silence. It was very loud, here, underground. It came from where the snake should be, where you waited for it and stood out of its way as it hummed into view, and when you heard the yelp you felt a twinge of compassion for the small, purple-haired elf who was doubtless kicking the side of the snake's control mechanism in a fury to try and make it behave.

"The Mechanic is nearby," he said, "shall I ask him to see to it?"

"No." She tapped her fingers on the stone. "He is always busy. I would not have him disturbed for such a triviality."

"Anyway," he said, "you do not like the light."

"Yes..."

The bag was small and compact and closed easily because he was only taking a change of clothes for three days. If he did not pass the Bar he would die and not need anything like clothes any more; if he passed, he would only be staying there three days at the most and more things would only bulge the bag at the corners and make it difficult to close and carry.

"If you are ready I will send a boy for the horse," she said.

"Yes... No... I am not sure of that."

"Not sure?"

Her white face, pearl-coloured and pearl-tinged, the eyes still without colour, regarding him. In flickers the light came and went, and each time her face disappeared from sight it seemed all the more unfamiliar the next time it reappeared.

"I thought I would like to sit a while here with you," he said.

"Why would you want to do a thing like that?"

He shrugged, sitting down on the long couch that had always smelled faintly of decaying flowers and rose-water. Against the telepathically-carved stone legs of the couch his left heel absently scraped left and right, deepening a depression that he had started long ago with this unconscious habit of his.