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him and was thus controlling her mind using him. Her defenses of the mind were as adequate as any majji of her ability, but it was clearly not enough to stand up against this shaman.
    That last jolt had been strong enough to awaken Mariah. She blinked blearily and then focused through the dimness to see Ariana sitting across from her.
    “My lady!” she cried, sitting up quickly. She swayed a moment, her hand going to her head.
    “Easy,” Ariana soothed. “They’ve been using very powerful mind majic on us. Being a non, it will leave you with some after effects.”
    Mariah was a non, what Ariana’s people called those who cannot use majic. Something in a non’s genetics kept them from being able to create majic. These nons usually served to fill many menial or proletarian jobs. Ariana could have asked for a majji for a lady maid and hundreds would have fallen over themselves for the opportunity even if it was a servile position, but she had chosen sweet little non Mariah and had been grateful for her every day. Mariah had always been discreet and a very good listener and friend. Mariah knew things about her that even her most intimate acquaintances did not know. And Mariah was loyal to a fault. She did not gossip like many other servants did. She did not speak out of turn or betray any confidences. Ariana had depended on her greatly for being the sounding board in her life where she could show any and all emotions, share her worst moments, share her most unattractive qualities which she kept strictly hidden from all those who would judge her.
    Whenever she began to feel fake or devoid of her own character as she smiled and acted the part of the perfect triumvir, Mariah had been there to remind her of herself. Of who she was on the inside…and how valuable it was to keep in touch with herself.
    And now this was the thanks she was getting. Being kidnapped and dragged…who knew where. Kilt, she thought. Where in Kilt was anyone’s guess, but she had no doubt Sin was going to bring her into the safety of his own borders.
    “Mariah, I’m sorry but I think we’ve been kidnapped.”
    “I know,” she said as the women were jounced yet again.
    “I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t be any part of this. It’s me they want.”
    “I know that too. But they asked me if I wanted to come with you, and I said yes.”
    Ariana looked at her maid with bald shock.
    “You volunteered to come?”
    “Yes my lady,” she said softly. “Was that wrong of me? Should I have stayed behind so they could ask me about what had happened?” she asked, her accent, common among the lower classes, grew thicker with the words of anxiety.
    “You should have stayed behind because you don’t deserve to be taken from your home like this! Bad enough it is happening to me!”
    “Ah no! I couldn’t let you be taken by these barbarians with not a friend in the world by your side!”
    Ariana felt grateful tears burn at her eyes as she reached across and grasped Mariah’s hands with hers.
    “You’re a good friend Mariah.”
    “Do you know who has us? Where we are going?”
    “I’m not certain, but I suspect almost positively it is Raja Sin and his men who have done this and that means we are headed for Kilt.”
    “Kilt! But that is almost two weeks of travel to the border in a wagon like this!”
    “And then who knows how much further in beyond them.”
    “And we are to be taken in this…this prison the entire way?”
    “So it would seem.” Ariana sighed. “But they have to stop and let us out sometime to tend to our basic human needs. For instance, I could use a bathroom.”
    “So could I.”
    “Well, let’s see what kind of demands we can make, shall we?”
    Ariana stood up and, grasping at the bars of the window she pulled her mouth up to level with it and shouted, “Hey! Hey out there we need to stop this very minute!”
    There was no response. The carriage merely lumbered on.
    “We need to…” Ariana flushed. She wasn’t used