“They said you wanted to . . .” He stopped short and goggled at the guest.
Duke Aelric rose and bowed exquisitely, obviously amused by Jerry’s
reaction.
“This is, uh, Duke Aelric,” Wiz said lamely. “I’ve told you about him.”
“Honored.”
“Ye . . . yeah,” Jerry replied weakly. “Uh, forgive me. They didn’t tell
me . . . I mean, they just said Wiz wanted to see me.”
The door opened behind him and Danny came in with June beside him.
“And this is Danny . . .” Wiz began, but he was cut short by June’s
shriek. She shrank back against Danny, white and open-mouthed.
Aelric bowed again. “My Lord, my Lady.”
June turned away and buried her face in Danny’s shoulder.
“Uh, Danny, why don’t you take June back to your room?” Wiz said
desperately. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Danny threw Aelric a venomous
glance and led his shaking wife out.
“Now then,” Wiz said, turning back to Duke Aelric, “here’s what we know so
far.”
It was several hours later when Wiz hunted up Moira.
“How is our guest?” she asked as soon as he came into their apartment.
Wiz kissed her perfunctorily. “You heard, huh?”
Moira looked at him. “Not much of a greeting, my Lord.”
“I’ve got a problem. You know June saw Aelric and nearly went into
hysterics?”
Moira nodded. “So I had heard.”
“It’s the same thing that happened the last time she met an elf,” Wiz went
on. “At the time I thought it was just Lisella. The way she popped up was
enough to scare anyone and June’s easy to frighten. But Aelric was just
sitting there and she’s more afraid of him than she was of Lisella.”
Moira nodded. “Certainly she is terrified of elves. But you are concerned
about more than June’s feelings, I think.”
“I’m concerned about making this thing work. Right now Danny wants to tear
Aelric’s heart out because of the effect he has on June. We can’t build a
team with something like that going on.”
“What can I do to help you, love?”
“You’re closer to June than anyone. Do you have any idea why she’s so
afraid of Aelric?”
“Nothing specific,” the hedge witch said slowly. “June is afraid of many
things.” She smiled ruefully. She is hardly what you would call normal in
the best of circumstances.”
“Amen to that!”
“But still . . .” Moira trailed off and stared away. Then she looked up at
her husband. “You know her history. She was found wandering on the Fringe
of the Wild Wood a few years ago, much as she is now. No one knew her or
whence she came and she cannot, or will not, tell us.”
“So?”
“She is terribly afraid of elves. Perhaps she has had dealings with them
before.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Elves don’t deal with humans.”
“They deal with you.”
“So I’ve got an elf magnet in my pocket. June sure doesn’t.”
“There is one case where elves do deal with humans regularly. They take
human children to act as bond servants within elf hills.”
“And you think June . . .”
“Time passes strangely under an elf hill. It seems like a season or two
but when the servants have fulfilled their bond and are released centuries
have passed. Their family, their friends, even their village are dust and
gone.”
“It makes sense,” Wiz said at last. “It would explain where she comes from
and a lot about why she is so strange.”
Moira said nothing.
“What else? There’s something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”
“My Lord, I do not know any of this. It is all surmise.”
“But you suspect something. Out with it.”
Moira stared into her lap. Wiz waited. “Do you know why June needs Shauna
to help nurse Ian?” she asked at last.
“I never really thought about it.”
“Because she does not produce enough milk.”
“As flat-chested as she is, I can believe it, but so what?”
Moira snorted. “My Lord, contrary to what lechers like you believe, the
size of a woman’s breasts has little to do with her ability to feed an
infant. No, June does not produce enough milk because her breasts are