Sabrina stood once again in the dark, dusty room watching the stone wall open. But this time, Ford was with her in body, not just in her mind. He was standing beside her, his hand on her shoulder. There was no fear in him, and somehow it didn't occur to Sabrina to be afraid either.
She watched curiously as the wall parted to reveal the man with the lined face and burning eyes.
"I know you," she said to him.
He raised an eyebrow at her but didn't speak. "I know you," she repeated, frowning. "We danced together, once. You gave me a piece of the morningstone so that Mara couldn't play tricks on me. I...I held you in the night and took the knife from your hand, listening to you scream." Her voice faltered. "You chased me in the icy dark, where there was no air, and I had nowhere to go but away from you, so that you could not use me to control Mara and Tirqwin." She put a hand to her mouth, then burst out, "You told me Tirqwin was dead. And I tried to kill you. But I couldn't. Scotty shot you. You're dead!" She was shrieking now. "You're dead!"
She backed up a step, and Ford's arm came around her, reassuringly. "His name, Sabrina!" he urged. "What is his name?"
She didn't seem to hear him. The man shook his head with a grim smile, and Sabrina cried, "Come back to us! We can make you well, heal you, help you if you'll only let us! Why should you go on hurting yourself and us? Let us help you, Malvarak!"
She heard Ford's convulsive gasp and felt his grip tighten on her—and then everything was gone.
——————————
Sabrina woke with an aching throat, a dull, throbbing headache, and stiff, painful arms. She was half sitting, half lying on top of something that was firm and oddly shaped but comfortingly warm, her fists clenched around fabric. As she tried to sit up and look around, she realized it wasn't a piece of furniture but a person.
She gave a little squeak of angry dismay and pushed herself off Ford's body, draped in a big, plush chair. Her legs trembled at suddenly being asked to support her, and her fingers screamed with unaccustomed stretching as they slowly unclenched. Taking deep, ragged breaths, she stared around at the small, plain room, which held only a small table and two other chairs. Then she looked back at Ford, who hadn't moved. He looked pale, his complexion tinged with a faint gray that worried her. "Ford?" she said, stepping back to the chair. "Ford?"
She patted his cheek; he turned away with a mumble, but appeared no closer to consciousness. Sabrina frowned, beginning to be alarmed.
Movement at the door made her whirl around, to find Llevandeer there, holding a large, steaming mug that smelled delicious. "It's best to let him sleep," he said gently. "Come and drink this; it will make you feel much better, I assure you. You have had a hard time of it, I'm afraid."
He sat down at one end of the table and set the mug near the other chair. Sabrina glanced at Ford again, then went to sit down and drink. The cocoa tasted wonderful; there was something in it she'd never tasted before. Her head stopped hurting almost immediately, and her throat was soothed. Her arms still hurt. She looked down at them and saw the yellow tinge of newly forming bruises. "What—"
"You fought so hard," Llevandeer sighed. "Both physically and mentally. He was so afraid to hurt you, he went more slowly than was wise. And then when it was over, you wept and would not let go of him."
Sabrina stretched out her fingers again and looked at Ford. There were still folds in his tunic where she had clung. "I didn't mean to," she murmured.
"I know." Llevandeer's smile was immensely kind. "Nothing that happened last night was within your conscious control, Lady Sabrina. Malvarak took very good care that you would not easily remember him."
Sabrina shivered, nearly spilling the cocoa.
"Don't be afraid," Llevandeer said. "No one can hurt you here. Ah." He stood and turned toward the door, and a moment later Rassir entered, looking worried.
"You called me?" the Prime Minister asked Llevandeer.
"Yes. Lady Sabrina has remembered whom she saw on Stanos. Prince Niavar was insistent that you be told as soon as you woke."
Rassir looked at Sabrina. He must not have liked what he saw, because he asked, "Are you well, my lady?"
"I'm all right," she said. "Prime Minister, it was Malvarak. He was the one on Stanos, helping Varla."
"Malvarak! He has been dead nearly a century!" Rassir exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"Believe me," Sabrina shivered, "I could not mistake him, of all people."
Rassir looked closely at her, but he didn't question her again. "Then I had better be in touch with Her Majesty, and notify Homeworld as well."
"I think," Llevandeer said softly, "you will find that Her Majesty already knows. We created quite a disturbance in the Crystal last night."
"Yes," Rassir said. "I woke with a disturbed feeling. I have no doubt many of us did today."
Sabrina had been doing some disturbing thinking of her own. "Prime Minister?" she said, her voice shaking slightly.
"Yes, my lady?"
"I think...I think you had better take me into custody."
Rassir arched an eyebrow at her, and she faltered, "Malvarak...he's been inside my head. We have no way to know what else he did to me. Remember...remember what he did to Scotty, planting that conditioning in him that infected Khediva and brought Tirqwin and the rest of us to him? He could have done the same to me. It's not safe for me to be free."
Rassir looked at Llevandeer. "Did you get a full sense of her mind?"
"Fairly. I am reasonably certain that nothing, except the memory aversion, was planted within it. However, the Prince was the one most deeply in her mind. We should wait until he awakens and ask him."
Rassir cast a dubious glance at Ford. "Perhaps Her Majesty—"
"No!" Sabrina cried. "Didn't you hear me? If there's something in my mind, some time bomb, it's almost certainly meant for Mara! I won't be his tool against her. I won't!"
Her voice scaled upward, rousing Ford enough for him to mutter, "Sabrina? It's all right...."
Sabrina put her face in her hands and tried to breathe deeply. Rassir sighed heavily, then said, "You were the only one to see Malvarak, I gather, Lady Sabrina?"
"Yes."
"Then I think it is more likely that you are in danger from him than that we are in danger from you," he said. "I am going to assign you a bodyguard. She will protect you from Malvarak, and, if necessary, us from you. I think that will be far more effective than taking you into custody, which would be difficult to explain...in the extreme." He smiled wryly. "I'll speak to Commander Mukryilla about it immediately. Until then, perhaps you would like to return to your apartment and rest. And try not to worry."
Sabrina gave him a rather hopeless look. Llevandeer said, "There is no cause for concern, I am sure. Malvarak counted on his memory aversion to conceal his involvement; I doubt he would care to attempt to silence Lady Sabrina here in the heart of Praxatillus' security. And, if you had truly been implanted with something harmful, Lady Sabrina, it would have come out last night, when you were in contact with the Great Crystal through myself and the Prince."
Rassir gave Sabrina a reassuring smile and a look that clearly said, There, you see? Nothing to worry about. She sighed as he left, and turned to Llevandeer. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, my lady. Very sure. I think Malvarak must have been every bit as surprised to see you as you were to see him. He must have thought you long since dead. I doubt he had time to prepare anything."
"Sometimes," Sabrina sighed, "that's when he's most dangerous." She drank the last of her cocoa and looked over at Ford. "Are you sure he's going to be all right?"
"Yes. And I hope, my child, that you will tell him you forgive him for bringing you here. You said some things to him last night, in your terror, that were unkind."
Sabrina had the feeling that "unkind" didn't even begin to cover it. "I don't know that I do, sir. I told him I didn't want to come down here. He—he must have hypnotized me, or something. I don't remember coming. And then, to grab me like that, and force me—" She shuddered.
"It was not an easy thing for him," Llevandeer assured her. "It would have been more cruel to leave you in your terror. It was as if you were a child and he was your parent, forcing you to take some unpleasant medication to save your life." He smiled. "I remember when his youngest sister, Marie, fell and injured herself rather badly. Her Majesty was off planet then. No one had seen the child fall—it was in a place she was forbidden to enter—and she tried to conceal her injuries. It was Niavar who noticed and carried her, kicking and screaming in protest, to the infirmary for treatment."
"But I'm not a child," Sabrina muttered.
"You were behaving as one," Llevandeer smiled.
Sabrina sighed and looked at him. "Does anyone ever win an argument with you?"
"No, dear child. But I do thank you for the enjoyment of your valiant effort. Most people no longer bother."
She couldn't help smiling.