wizard-of-the-pigeons

focused on the bag.
“What’s that?”
“I found it in a dumpster, with my name on it.” He held it out to her. As
quickly as she had put out her hand, she drew it back. Wonder and dread mingled
in her voice.
“There’s power there, but not for me to touch, nor use. It’s harmless right
now, but the right spark…”
“Just like plastic explosive.”
“If I were one to give advice on things that aren’t in my realm, I’d tell you to
leave it in that bag until the moment comes. Don’t touch it until then. Don’t
mantle yourself with its power until you are ready to pick up the gauntlet.”
“Is this a Seeing?”
“Don’t tease. No, it’s just my opinion.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you knew what was in the bag.”
“Well, I don’t. And I don’t want to. Not any more than I want to ask you this.
But I don’t dare do a Seeing without knowing. Have you broken faith with the
magic?”
Wizard stared at her, feeling slashed that she would even ask him such a
thing. Did she suppose that he had forgotten the rules, unique to himself, that he
must obey to retain his own special powers? He shook his head numbly.
“Are you sure? Not even by accident? Have you spoken the Truth when it
was on you? When people ask, and you Know, have you always answered? Have
you kept your pigeons safe and secure?”
He bobbed a nod at each question, but as she pressed on, he felt his control
break. When she paused, he asked in a cold, uncertain voice, “Aren’t you going
to ask me if I’ve carried more than a dollar in change? If I’ve turned my strength
loose upon others? If I’ve been with a woman?”
An abyss of dread opened in Cassie’s eyes and was as quickly masked. “Do I
need to ask those things?” she inquired evenly.
“No! Because you know I haven’t. Can’t we get on with this? That damn
thing up in my den… I know it’s from gray Mir. I Know it.”
Cassie’s calm held. “Then if you Know it, it must be so. Tell me: What do
you remember of this Mir, from before?”
He shrugged heavily. “Nothing, I guess. Sometimes I feel like my life rolls