She said, 'Why do you need a woman? Why not another man?' Smhee was silent for along time. Evidently, he was wondering just how much he should tell her.Suddenly, he smiled, and something invisible, an unseen weight seemed to fallfrom him. Somehow, he even looked thinner.

'I've gone this far,' he said. 'So I must go all the way. No backing out now.The reason I must have a woman is that the mage's sorcery has a weakness. Hismagical defences will be set up to repel men. He will not have prepared themagainst women. It would not occur to him that a woman would try to steal histreasure. Or ... kill him.'

'How do you know that?'

'I don't think it would be wise to tell you that now. You must take my word forit. I do know far more about the purple mage than anyone else in Sanctuary.'

'You might, and that still wouldn't be much,' she said. 'Let me put it anotherway. I do know much about him. More than enough to make me a great danger tohim.'

'Does he know much about you?'

Smhee smiled again. 'He doesn't know I'm here. If he did, I'd be dead by now.'

They talked until dawn, and by then Masha was deeply committed. If she failed,then her fate would be horrible. And the lives of her daughters and her motherwould become even worse. Far worse. But if she continued as she had, she wouldbe dooming them anyway. She might die of a fever or be killed, and then theywould have no supporter and defender.

Anyway as Smhee pointed out, though he didn't need to, the mage was after her.Her only defence was a quick offence. She had no other choice except to waitlike a dumb sheep and be slaughtered. Except that, in this situation, the sheepwould be tortured before being killed.

Smhee knew what he was saying when he had said that she was desperate.

8

When the wolfs tail, the false dawn, came, she rose stiffly and went through to