The Worlds of the Sheaf

The Attack - Part 1

     "What about when Derry goes back to the University?" asked Tassley. "Will you go back with him?"

     There was an undercurrent to her question that Thomas recognised and that made him smile fondly. She still hadn't quite having given up the idea of getting him into bed. From the gossip that circulated around the University, Thomas was pretty sure that very few people had managed to resist her as long as he had. It wasn't just a pleasant bit of bedroom exercise she wanted any more. It had become personal.

     Thomas had caught her looking searchingly into mirrors just recently, as if searching her face for lines around her eyes and grey threads lurking amongst her blonde locks. Also, she seemed to be growing reluctant to cast high level spells, probably because of the ageing affect they were known to have. Thomas suspected that she was feeling the need to prove to herself that she was still as beautiful as she'd ever been, and was consequently flirting with the men like never before, risking the wrath of Saturn if he found out. It was Thomas who was the acid test, though. If she could lure him into her bed where she'd always failed before, and with his beautiful wife to add to the challenge, then she'd know.

     That would be the reason she was wearing her lab coat loose, therefore, with a scandalously revealing dress underneath, and why she kept leaning forward to give him the best view she could of her plunging neckline.

     Thomas tried to give no sign of noticing, though, and merely shrugged in reply to her question. "Now that the interference affecting long range magic is dissipating, I might be able to teleport directly between Lexandria and Haven before long. We'll be able to pop over to visit him now and again. I don't know. Some project might take my interest, or I might need to learn some new spell, something like that, but I don't really think I'll be spending any great length of time in the University. Not even when I retire. I'll probably retire in Haven."

     Tassley nodded, looking disappointed. "I'll probably be going home before long too," she said. "I never had any intention of spending the rest of her life in the University. I'd probably have gone home already if the Rossem project hadn't come along." She glanced around at the small and cramped laboratory. "This has all been fascinating, a great adventure, but I'm a city wizard. I miss all the friends I had back there. I want to see them again."

     She leaned closer to him, allowing the alluring scent of her perfume to wash over him. Some loose strands of hair fell across her eyes in a way that Thomas would have found incredibly arousing if Lirenna hadn't spoiled him for all other women. He had no doubt that it was a deliberate, well practised move on her part.

     "Have you ever thought of marrying?" he asked, looking up at her. "Settling down, raising a family of your own?"

     She shook her head and grinned, recognising the question for what it was. He was telling her that he wasn't going to sleep with her, so stop wasting your efforts. "Not my kind of life," she said. "Dirty, smelly kids. Some oaf of a man who thinks he owns me. No, I like my life just the way it is. I suppose if I met the right man, but he'd have to be something special. Really special."

     "Really special people do exist," pointed out Thomas. "I married one."

     "Maybe," conceded the girl, "but I haven't met one yet. Who knows. Maybe one day, mm?"

     Thomas chuckled, and the two of them looked at each other, sharing a moment of pleasant friendship. An intimacy that many married couples had never been lucky enough to enjoy. Then they returned to their work, stirring their mixing bowls with renewed energy.

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     "Elder Clordus," said Captain Strong, bowing politely. "Welcome aboard the Jules Verne."