Meeting of the Mages
by Selena Thomason

The mage stared down at the fat, white cat.

“How did you get in here?” he demanded.

The cat just shifted herself into a more comfortable position on a pool of fabric that the mage had left carelessly on the floor.

“That’s my cloak, you know?”

The cat was unimpressed.

“It slid off the back of my chair, that’s all.  It’s not meant to be on the floor.”  The mage pointed to the chair behind the intruder, but she didn’t see because she had already closed her eyes in preparation for her late afternoon snooze.

The mage stamped his foot in an attempt to shoo his unwanted guest.  The cat didn’t even seem to notice.

“This can’t be,” the mage muttered as he set down the spell he had been working on and went to take a closer look at the strange situation.

The magician walked slowly around the edges of his circular room.  He carefully checked the boundaries of the spell that kept others out of his inner sanctum, his precious workshop.  He was astonished to find that there were no breaks. The spell was intact.  It made a thin but impenetrable line that encircled his room with the strongest of magic.

He came back to the cat and stared down at her again.  “Yet, here you are.”

Much to his surprise, the fat cat opened her eyes and replied lazily, “Yes, here I am.”

“Why are you here in my workshop?”

“Because here is where there is a warm, cozy spot in the sunshine.”

It was then that the mage noticed a wide swath of sunlight streaming through a window near the ceiling.  It flowed exactly onto the spot on the floor where his cloak had fallen, exactly onto the spot where the white cat now lay contentedly.

“But how did you get in here?” he asked again. “My shop is protected with the strongest of spells.”

“The strongest of human spells, perhaps,” the cat replied mid-yawn.  She gazed up at the window for a moment then stretched her front paws before settling back into her former position. “I will make you a deal, human.  If you let me sleep undisturbed until the light is gone from the window, then when I awake I will teach you some new tricks.”

“Teach me?”  The mage couldn’t help but be offended.  “But I am the greatest magician in all of Ceron.”

“Yet, here I am.”

The mage was silent for a moment then admitted quietly, “Yes, here you are, another being inside my circle of protection.”

“Don’t worry mage, I won’t harm you.  I merely want a nap in a warm, sunny place and yours is particularly suitable.  So, do we have a deal?”

Slowly, the mage answered, “Yes, we are agreed.  You may stay, but when you awake you must teach me how you breached my magic circle.”

“Ah, that is too easy,” the cat scoffed.  “I will teach you other things.  You have a warm, sunny space here, magician.  I think we shall have a long and mutually beneficial partnership.  But first…there must be sleep.”  

With that the feline mage settled in for a long, afternoon nap.

 

 

 

This story was originally published in Alien Skin magazine in April 2006.

Copyright 2007 Selena Thomason