Page 125 of Tiger's Trek
Finally, she nodded. “The house has agreed to stay with me as long as I agree not to trick you. It will hold me to my side of the bargain. Is that acceptable to you?”
“If the house is okay with it,” Danik said.
A fire started at that moment, and Danik smiled.
“Very good,” Yuga agreed. “You’ll find panniers outside strapped to a sledge. Inside them, you’ll find any manner of food, supplies, clothing, money, and a map that will guide you to those you seek. As you stipulated, my knights have been freed. Whether your champions will choose to reveal themselves to you again or not is their prerogative.
“Now, for my stone pot... I cannot give you my large one, but you may keep this small one. It has transformative powers. If you meet the knights again, they can explain it to you in more detail. And last... Max? Come.”
Obediently, the cat paced over to his mistress and leaped onto her lap.
“Maxsim has been my cat for decades. Our relationship is complicated. True, we don’t always get on, but I do love him in my own way. I-I would ask you not to take him. Please. As a favor to me.”
“Max?” Veru asked. “What do you want?”
The cat looked up at his mistress, then at Veru, and meowed softly. He hopped down from her lap and made as if he wanted to head back to Veru, then stopped and sat and began licking a paw.
“Will you promise to feed him better?” Veru demanded. “No more bones and mice?”
“But he likes mice,” the old woman protested.
Veru waited.
“Fine,” Yuga said. “He’ll be fed whatever he likes.”
“Then he can stay with you.”
“Spasibo.”
“Pozhaluysta.”
Veru rose and Danik put his hand on her shoulder to guide her out the door, but the fire in the grate burned blue and hot.
“Wait!” Yuga said. “Your special gift. Max?”
The cat meowed and leaped up on the arm of the chair. From there, it bound into Veru’s arms. Max opened his mouth to meow again, but this time Veru heard a distant roar, and Max pounced directly onto her chest, knocking her back into the chair. She toppled to the ground on her hands and knees, her back popping and stretching. Her nose twitched and her vision blurred. She shook out her arms and legs.
“Whoa!” she heard Danik exclaim. “What just happened?”
“She got back what she’s been searching for,” Yuga explained. “Now it’s your turn. Place your hand on the fireplace mantel. The one you so painstakingly cleaned.”
Danik cautiously put his hand on the polished wood, and then he closed his eyes. All of a sudden, it was like someone had taken cleaning polish to his mind. The blanket covering his memory disappeared. He remembered everything.
“Veru!” he said, kneeling down beside her. “What have you done to her?” he accused, turning to Yuga.
“I gave her back what she’s been looking for. A connection, as it were. It’s not there yet. Not precisely, but the possibility exists. She can find it again, if she wishes.”
“But she wanted to get rid of it.”
“Not truly.”
Veru sat up, looking up at him as if dazed.
“It’s a part of her,” Yuga explained. “Anyway, she can now choose if she will accept the bond or not. She’ll need to get used to it again, though she cannot use the tiger’s strength or endurance, or change, for that matter. Too bad, since you’ll need something to pull the sledge, won’t you? I suppose that means the two of you will have to do it yourselves.”
The old woman began to cackle.
Danik nodded dumbly as if his mind was still a bit misty as well.
