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to believe me, but I want to help you. I'm not what I seem, or what you think. But I'm going to
have to play along with these jerks to get some room to act, so cut me some slack until the next
time you see me, okay? Things are changing faster than you can guess, and I don't much like the
idea of being your opposite. I really don't like being forced into it."
He started to answer; she waved him to silence. The Gate had just opened again. She backed up
several paces, then said, "Sorry about this," and slapped a spell of paralysis on him just as a
clamor of metal signaled that Madoc had come with his guards. Madoc walked through the door into
their midst.
"I told you I would bring him, Madoc Skean," she said calmly, without turning around. "I told you,
and I have."
Madoc didn't quite run, but he certainly hurried his walk, pushing his escort aside. His eyes
gleamed with eager greed as he surveyed Shar briefly, and her prisoner in a more leisurely manner.
"You did. Well done," he replied absently. "Now, if you'll just turn him over to me and "
"Not so fast, Madoc Skean!" said another Unseleighe, who joined Madoc at her side. The sounds of
many boots behind her warned that, as she had hoped, the rest of the Unseleighe lords had gotten
her message and had taken it seriously. "Not so fast! I have my own claims on this mortal! Did he
not slay my own sister's son, Vidal Dhu, with that Death Metal chariot? I swore I would have
revenge on him!"
"And what of my claim?" cried another. He was joined by the rest, all of them claiming a piece of
Tannim. Shar waited; it was her spell that held him, and protocol dictated that they could not
have him until and unless she let him go.
When the clamor of voices ceased, she spoke into a moment of silence. "My claim supersedes all of
yours," she said flatly. "My Challenge to him still holds. And you dare not touch him until it is
discharged you know well the rules of the Challenge. Once issued, it must be answered unless the
challenger is willing to be otherwise satisfied. I am not satisfied. And High King Oberon will be
less than pleased if you violate so simple a tenet of the laws that bind us all."
There was an uneasy stirring behind her as soon as she mentioned the name "Oberon." Madoc's face
was set in a frozen snarl.
She could not look at Tannim's expression; she confined her gaze to a point just below his chin.
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She was afraid to look in his eyes and see the bleakness of betrayal there.
"But his vehicle is causing harm in the aether of Underhill," she continued. "I will release him
to you, Madoc Skean, only if you pledge to hold him unharmed until I can deal with the vehicle and
take it somewhere safe. Only I have the ability to handle so much Death Metal as well you know."
Madoc's snarl increased a trifle.
"You cannot leave this metal beast here," she reminded him. "Look you, how already it causes rifts
in the energy-fields, and warps magics about itself. It will not be long until its influence
reaches even to your own realm."
He nodded slowly, reluctantly. "I will hold him unharmed," he said finally. "I pledge it upon my
True Name."
"Then give me your True Name," she replied immediately. The True Name did not have the power that
some granted it to give absolute control over another mage but it did make it possible to
penetrate most of his defenses. That effect was largely psychological, rather than magical.
With a growl, he leaned over and whispered it into her ear. She kept herself from smiling in
triumph, and released the spell into Madoc's hands.
"Remember," she warned, "you pledged to hold him unharmed until my return to your court."
"Aye," he said, tightening his "grip" so that Tannim paled. "But mind, we all have our claims as
well."
She gave him a look of warning, and he loosened the cocooning paralysis spell enough to let Tannim
breathe easier again. "I will not be gone long, Madoc Skean," she told him. "Be aware of that.
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