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She knelt and handed the food to Roxa
After tasting the stew tentatively, Roxa
"Sanctuary? That's what it's called?" It seemed a fitting name for a walled city, Serena thought.
"Yes. Where are you from?"
Serena hesitated, but then opted for the truth. Why not, after all? No one here could possibly recognize the name-and besides, it probably translated as so much gibberish. "It's a city called Seattle."
"I've never heard of that. It's across the ocean?"
"Yes, far away. We-Merlin and I-wanted to see a bit more of the world."
Roxa
"It seemed a good idea at the time," Serena murmured. "Your customs are no doubt different from ours, and it's always interesting to encounter a different culture."
After a wary glance toward Merlin, Roxa
"Why?"
"Because women are ultimately powerless here. Even wizards like me. What happened to me in the night happens to many women, thanks to the Mountain Lords." Her voice dripped contempt and hatred when she named the male wizards, the emotions so strong that Serena leaned back.
"The male wizards? They… hurt you last night?"
Roxa
Baffled, Serena said, "Why not?"
"Because she would kill him, of course," Roxa
Serena knew she looked as confused as she felt. "I don't understand this. Powerless men hurt you last night?"
"Yes."
"And you couldn't fight them? Couldn't stop them?"
"No, of course not. It was night."
"What does that have to do with it?"
Roxa
CHAPTER SEVEN
The lean-to was on the right and slightly behind Merlin, far enough away that the girl wouldn't feel unduly threatened by his presence, Merlin thought, but close enough so that he could hear every word spoken there.
What he heard was hardly reassuring, but he listened nonetheless.
It was nearly an hour later when Serena returned to the fire, her face a bit drawn. She was carrying Roxa
"She's asleep again. It seemed to hit her all at once."
Merlin nodded. "Delayed shock. The next time she wakes, I doubt she'll seem so calm."
"I wondered about that. She seemed… almost detached about what had happened to her."
"Waking to find herself uninjured and with her memory of what had happened to her somewhat distant, she wasn't forced to deal with the trauma immediately. Since we were here, strangers, she was able to concentrate on us. Explaining some of the traits of this place kept her mind off herself. It was a healthy enough response."
"But temporary?"
"She'll have to deal with what happened to her sooner or later."
Serena was silent for a moment, then said, "Is that coffee you're drinking? Do they have coffee here?"
"Yes, it is coffee, and no, they don't have it here. I'm cheating." Merlin gazed broodingly into his mug. "Would you like some?"
"Please."
He conjured a mug of coffee for Serena-fixed with cream and sugar, the way she always drank it-directly into her grasp without even looking at her.
"I'm always impressed when you do that," she murmured.
Merlin felt too unsettled to respond to her light tone. Instead he said, "At least now we know why Roxa
"I suppose it's useless to hope we won't be affected the way they are," Serena ventured.
"Probably. If this Curtain does indeed reflect energy at the wizard who tries to use it, we're vulnerable to it as well."
Serena spoke slowly. "She said it also drains them. That it depletes more than their excess energy. If that's so, men like those three we met could overpower even the strongest wizard during the night. So why haven't they? I mean, if the powerless men resent wizards as strongly as you felt with those three, then why don't they get together one night and-"
Merlin shook his head. "It isn't that simple, I think. The male wizards live high in the mountains, remember? I very much doubt that many of them venture down here often, if at all, and never once the sun sets. Judging by what we saw this morning, the Curtain blankets only the valley. In the mountains the wizards are above it, and probably beyond its effects."
"Then why don't the women move up there?" Serena's voice was a bit tense. "The female wizards, like Roxa
Merlin turned his head slowly and looked at her strained features. He had hoped they could avoid talking about this until there was more information, until he found some painless way of dealing with it, but Roxa
… no male wizard would dare attempt to take his pleasure with a woman of power… she would kill him…
That was what Serena wanted to talk about, he knew. Roxa
How much time did he have before she figured out why they were here? Not much, Merlin thought. She was a highly intelligent woman, and even now her mind must be filled with a jumble of impressions and speculations.
But he still didn't want to cope with this right now. Roxa
"Richard?"
Returning his gaze to the mug in his hands, Merlin said unemotionally, "You heard Roxa
"But why?"
Because female wizards are capable of destroying males-if only when they are taken against their will? Did this hate and mistrust come about because too many females were raped and too many males paid for the crime with their lives?
"I don't know why," he said evenly. "Any answer I could offer would be sheer speculation."
"Then speculate." Serena nearly snapped out the words.
"On the basis of what?" His tone was a bit snappy as well. "We've encountered three village men and one traumatized female wizard-hardly a representative sampling of the population. Roxa