“What did you come here for?” asked Danny. “You came with these three, so your purpose was more than your own enhancement.”

“Their lives are in danger,” said Loki. “Here they will be safe.”

“That’s absurdly false,” said Marion. “All the mages of the world would be assaulting us, if they knew this Wild Gate existed in our barn. There’s no more dangerous place on Earth.”

“But who would tell them?” asked Loki. Then he raised a hand. “That was not a threat.”

Marion did not relax, his posture even more alert. “How else can we hear that statement?”

“An observation,” said Loki. “This Wild Gate has existed for days now, and yet they leave you alone. If your secret were out, they would not wait.”

“They’re afraid of our power of defense,” said Leslie. “Marion and I have passed through a gate. No beastmage can hold on to his heartbound, if they come against us. The ground surrounding us is under Marion’s control. Danny could gate them away, even if they got past our defense.”

“So you think they do know, and bide their time?” asked Loki.

“What do you want,” demanded Marion. “I don’t believe you brought this woman here for her protection. I feel a great power in her.”

“I felt it first,” said Leslie. “She’s a mage in her own right, and passing through the Great Gate made her dangerous.”

“It did,” said Anonoei. “But the very fact that you mistrust me shows that I have used none of my power on you.”

It took only a moment for the implications of her remark to sink in. Marion rose to his feet and joined Leslie by the sink. “Danny, she’s a manmage,” Marion said in English.

“I got it,” said Danny. “But as she said, she hasn’t used it.”

“Or she’s so powerful that we can’t feel that she used it on us.”

“So you think she’s making you so suspicious of her?” asked Danny.

“If she tried to use it I would gate her away myself,” said Loki. “I gain nothing if she irritates you, and neither does she. We face a deadly enemy on Westil, a Firemaster at least, if not a Lightrider.”

“Queen Bexoi,” added Enopp helpfully. “Our father’s true wife.”

Danny looked from Loki to Anonoei, and saw that Bexoi was, indeed, Anonoei’s objective here. The grim determination in her face, the hand that rested on Enopp’s nape, the little toss of her head, all these testified to Enopp’s having said the truth.

But Loki was another matter. His approval had come a fraction of a second late, and looked too much like an imitation of Anonoei’s. He had a very different goal.

“You want Anonoei empowered,” said Danny. “You want her battling this Bexoi. But that’s not why you’ve come.”

“Ced,” Leslie suggested. “That windmage who stayed on Westil.”