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."You had best claim to be a relative of some sort you'll have a strong family resemblance, after all.""Will anyone believe that?""Certainly! Why shouldn't they?""Oh, I don't know.Of course, I don't think I really have any relatives still alive; I haven't heard from anyin thirty or forty years and I've told people that.""All the better; none will turn up to dispute your story.Surely you could be an illegitimate son, or long-aaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rlost nephew, or something!""I suppose I could; I'll want to warn Tandellin, though.He had probably thought that he would inheritthe place; he may not be overjoyed to have a new heir turn up.""He'll have to live with it.Nothing's perfect; giving you eternal youth can't solve all your problems foryou."Valder smiled."It's a good start, though."CHAPTER 33The eighth day of the month of Longdays, a sixnight after Valder made a visit to the inn to reassure hisfriends that all was well, was rainy and gray, but the wizard and innkeeper paid no attention to suchtrivia; Agravan had sent a message that he had at last acquired the final ingredient.A young streetwalkerhad run afoul of a gang of drunken soldiers and died in consequence; her body had been sufficientlyabused that her brother saw no reason to object to further mutilation, if the price was right.Thecircumstances were depressingly sordid, but the precious hand was finally in their possession.Valder was pleased to hear that the soldiers responsible were to be hanged; the Lord Executioner wouldhave a busy day, for once.The hand was safely delivered that evening, and Iridith then locked herself in her workshop, tellingValder to eat well and rest; the spell would require twenty-four hours without food or sleep and wouldmake great demands upon both mind and body.At midday on the ninth, while rain splashed from the eaves, Iridith called for Valder to join her in theworkshop, and the spell began.Most of it was meaningless to him; following the wizard's directions he sat, stood, knelt, swallowedthings, handled things, closed his eyes, opened his eyes, spoke meaningless phrases, and in generalperformed ritual after ritual without any idea of the underlying pattern.Around sunset he began to feelstrange, and the remainder of the enchantment passed in a dreamlike, unreal state, so that he could neverrecall much about it afterward.All he knew, from about midnight on, was that he was growing evermore tired.When he came to himself again, he was lying on his couch, feeling utterly exhausted.He looked out thenearest window and saw only gray skies that told him nothing save that it was day, not night yetsomething seemed wrong.His vision seemed unnaturally clear.He got to his feet, slowly, feeling very odd indeed.His every muscle was weak with fatigue, yet he feltnone of his familiar aches and twinges; it was as if he had become another person entirely.That thought struck him with considerable force; if he were another person, then was he still Wirikidor'sowner? He reached for his belt and found no sword.He looked down.His hands were young and strong, fully fleshed, no longer the bony hands of an old man, and he seemedto see every detail with impossible clarity yet the hands seemed completely familiar, and he found theaaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rlittle pouch at his belt that, he now remembered, magically contained Wirikidor despite its size.Heopened the drawstring, reached in, and felt the familiar hilt.He was obviously still Valder but he was also obviously a young man.The spell had worked.He found a mirror and spent several long, incredulous minutes admiring himself and being pleased, notjust by what he saw but by how well he saw it.He appeared twenty-five or so scarcely older than whenWirikidor was first enchanted.Tandellin would never have recognized him; he congratulated himself on having taken Iridith's adviceand informed his employees on his recent visit that he was retiring and leaving the business to hisnephew, Valder the Younger.Tandellin had not been happy about it and had in fact demanded to knowwhy he had never heard of this nephew before, but he had conceded Valder's right to do as he pleasedwith his property.At last he managed to tear himself away from the mirror.He was, he realized, ravenously hungrywhich was scarcely surprising, now that he had a young man's appetite and had not eaten in at least aday.He strode into the kitchen, reveling in his firm, effortless stride.Iridith was sitting at the table, devouring a loaf of bread and a thick slab of cheese."Catching up?" he asked, aware that she, too, had been unable to eat during the spell."Oh, I already did that, really; this is just breakfast.""Is it morning?" Valder was surprised; he knew the spell had been complete around midday on the tenthand had assumed that it was still that same afternoon, not the morning of the eleventh."Yes, it's morning and of the sixteenth of Longdays.Eat; you must need it." She shoved the bread andcheese across the table toward him.He accepted them and quickly began wolfing them down, while the wizard watched in amusement.When he had taken the edge off his appetite, he slowed down in his eating and looked at his hostess.Shelooked back, then rose and crossed to the cupboard to fetch further provender.He watched the movement of her body, remembering all the conversations he had had with her over thepast month and more.She returned with another loaf, a pitcher of beer, and assorted other items, remarking, "That spell doestake quite a bit out of one, but it's worth it, wouldn't you say?"Valder nodded, looking at her."Yes," he agreed, "I would definitely say so."They both ate in silence after that; when they had eaten their fill, Iridith led the-way out to the porch,where they could watch the morning sun struggle to force an opening in the clouds."My debt is paid," Iridith said."And your problems with the sword are solved
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