Thurina and Krin

     Before Thurina was a year old, it was clear she would grow up to be a strikingly beautiful woman. This was unusual because most of the people in our villages are rather plain, and her parents and older siblings were ordinary looking. Her parents treated her no differently than their other children, and since there are no mirrors in our villages (I saw one once in the Baron’s castle and was surprised to know what I looked like.), her early life was not much other than anyone else’s. As a small child she weeded the family garden, milked some of their goats, shoveled manure from their pigsty to the garden and generally lived the life of a child whose father farmed a prime field a little over a mile from town. She was vaguely aware that some boys paid her a bit more attention than they did other girls, but she was unaware that a number of them were awaiting her puberty with great anticipation.

     Like anyone growing up on a farm, she was familiar with the mechanics of animal reproduction and knew the same facts applied to humans, but she had no great concern for this topic. She was polite but distant with the boys who showed interest in her because she was naturally shy and introspective. Her parents provided her with an excellent example of a loving family, and she very much wished to grow up into such a household of her own.

     When she was ten and experienced menarche, it became her chore to take the family sheep and goats up to the higher pastures which are shared by several villages. It is common for the young shepherds and shepherdesses to while away the long, boring hours, days and nights, by flirting and making love with each other, gradually moving from partner to partner as they seek out possible choices for marriage when they grow up. It is all rather light-hearted because they all, both boys and girls, are cautioned repeatedly by their parents to chew the leaves of the Atrimus plant which prevent them from conceiving children at this time in their lives when they are both overcome with desire and still not mature enough to raise children.

     The boys who had been waiting for Thurina to appear in the high pastures were greatly disappointed because she chose not to participate in these little dalliances. She had the unusual idea of choosing carefully only one boy with whom she would share pleasures for her entire life. While we view this as a bit odd, this is not unheard of among our people, and although she occasionally was lightly teased about this, we place a strong emphasis in raising our children upon tolerance for strange behavior.

     By the time she was twelve and still chaste, word of this odd behavior reached a neighboring valley where there was a thirteen year old boy, a handsome young fellow named Krin, who also had come to this same conclusion. He would love only one woman in his life and share pleasures only with her. Of course, he was quite frustrated since all the girls his age long since had been with half a dozen or a dozen boys which ruled them out.

     As soon as he heard about Thurina, he asked a friend to watch his flock for a few days and made his way across the mountain pass to our valley where he introduced himself to her and asked her if it was true that she, too, had vowed to give herself only to one boy and that for life. Thurina replied that this was so, looked him over carefully and concluded that some of the boys from her valley had brought in this handsome newcomer as a trick to seduce her. After they talked for a while, Krin decided she was worthy of further thought, a virtuous girl who definitely was a possibility in a world where he already knew that what he sought was rare. He asked if he could bring his flock to her valley and live near her so they could get to know each other better because they at least had this one thought in common.

     Thurina was not pleased by what she saw as a new attempt to deceive her, so she answered, “You can do what you like, but I will not hop under a bush with you simply because you have told me you believe as I do about love. I will expect serious proof of your intentions before I will give myself to you, that is, if I decide you are right for me. Just the fact that you only want one partner in your life does not mean that we would be right for each other.”

     “I agree,” said Krin, “but we at least ought to be around each other to see if we might like each other.” Thurina could not deny the wisdom of this, and a few days later Krin was back with his flock.

     Their first conversations were mundane. The talked about sheep and goats, then about tricks their dogs could do. They started preparing and eating some of their meals together so they talked about cooking. When those topics were completely exhausted, they sat around several yards apart saying nothing.

     Finally after several days of this Thurina began to notice that Krin really was different from the other boys she had met. Like her, he was shy, and he struggled to make small talk, but eventually she noticed he was quite modest. Unlike the other boys he never exposed himself to her, always went behind a tree to relieve himself and never watched her when she did so. Also when he did look at her, he only looked in her eyes and that very quickly. Like Thurina he wore clothes which covered a lot more of his body than the other shepherds and shepherdesses, many of whom hardly dressed at all.

     Finally after several weeks their first serious conversation began when Thurina remarked that he never looked at her body the way the other boys did, and Krin said, “It is because you are so very beautiful, and I do not wish to be tempted. I have ordinary desires like other boys, and if I looked at your breasts or your butt, I fear I could not resist wanting you for your beauty, for your body. What I want to know is who you are. If we are right for each other, all the pleasures of our bodies will be so much greater when we give ourselves up to them if we know before we do that we will be together our whole lives.”

     Thurina noticed that he did not say this smoothly or easily. He paused several times and hesitated seeking words. He knew that this was their first deeper talk, and he knew that if he misspoke, she might send him away. He was very frightened. She was, of course, flattered by being told she was beautiful but more pleased that she now saw he really did want to know who she was before sharing pleasures with her because he actually did want only one partner for life.

     Now it was Thurina’s turn to hesitate. Slowly she had come to realize that Krin was serious and was the best possibility she was going to find since he was the only boy she ever had met who shared her unusual ideas about pleasures. After much thought she said, “At first I had thought you were just making up your story about sharing with me the idea of having only one partner for pleasures for your whole life. I thought the boys of my village had brought you over here to trick me into giving myself to you so that after a while you would leave me and I would abandon my ideas about only one partner for life. Then they could have their way with me. I am sorry that I thought this of you, but I have learned to be suspicious. I think it would be very nice for us to court each other, but as you said, we must be very careful not to tempt each other. We must be especially careful not to touch each other because I, too, have ordinary desires and feelings. I must admit that you are very handsome, and I fear I could not resist temptation if I touched you.”

     Krin was heartened greatly by this and agreed with what she had said. After this they were inseparable, but they never touched each other and continued modest in manner and dress. As time passed, the other young people got used to having Krin in their meadows, and he and Thurina became the target of some good natured teasing, but since we raise our children to be kind, there was no bullying or nastiness involved. The shepherds and shepherdesses often gathered in the evening to sing songs and tell stories, and one older boy (He was sixteen and fast coming up on the time when he would be expected to offer marriage to one of the girls.) who had some skill with words and a lute wrote a song about Thurina and Krin regretting their decision to have only one partner after they had been married for five years. Both Thurina and Krin wanted to get back at Bortz, for that was the young fellow’s name, but neither could write or sing.

     They knew Bortz liked to spend his afternoons under a shaded mountain rock ledge where there was relief from the heat of the day. He would go there with one or another of the three girls he favored, and they would make love until it was time for the evening meal. Thurina and Krin decided they would climb up to a narrow ledge above Bortz’ spot. They would bring with them a sheepskin filled with ice cold mountain spring water and pour it on them at the most appropriate moment.

     After breakfast the next morning when everyone else was tending their flocks, Thurina and Krin dragged a full water skin up sixty feet to a narrow ledge and lay down as flat as they could on the ledge so they could not be seen from below. Alas for them the ledge was a little narrower than they had thought, and it was impossible for them to avoid contact with each other. They could not speak, or they would give themselves away, so they pretended to themselves that they were not touching.

     In the several hours they waited they both became so aroused they could hardly breathe. Since neither had any experience at all with passion and each had been repressing admitting that they were totally in love with the other, they were completely unprepared for what they were experiencing. The minutes and the hours waiting for Bortz and his girlfriend to appear went by in a fog of anticipatory ecstasy. Neither wanted this bliss to end because each thought the end of it would lead to the return of their previous day to day chaste existence.

     At last Bortz appeared with his partner, and before long they were in the midst of passionate embrace. Thurina and Krin stood up and poured the entire contents of the water skin on them. Bortz and his girlfriend were caught off guard. No one ever had done such a thing before. They were soaked and chilled but nothing worse. They looked up to find Thurina and Krin laughing. Because the ledge was small, Thurina and Krin were forced to be right next to each other. Each thought the other might fall because they were laughing so hard. Each grabbed the other, and they wound up hugging tightly. The temptation was too great to resist. First they knelt down, and then they lay down. Before they could think about it, Thurina lifted her skirt and Krin dropped his pants. The act lasted little over a minute. When it was over, both felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Both had wanted this to happen for weeks but feared the other would reject them if they even suggested discussing the topic. The smiles on their faces reflected their joy and delight.

     Bortz and his girlfriend realized what had happened and laughed. Then they went back to what had been interrupted. Later they told everyone that Thurina and Krin had succumbed to pleasure. There was a bit of gossip about what might come of this, but no one really cared that much. They had their own business to attend to and went on attending to it.

     For Thurina and Krin it was as if a dam had broken. They made love eleven times in the next fourteen hours. Over and over they told each other how much they loved each other, how ecstatic they were, how happy they were they had waited, etc. etc. After this life returned to normal. They found they were rather passionate even for teenagers, but they cared for their flocks, prepared their meals, did their community chores and lived ordinary lives. As the months went by a few of the boys thought that either Thurina or Krin or both would tire of the other, but it did not happen. Their passionate embraces were for each other alone, and their love showed no sign of waning.

     Why would anyone record this odd but mundane story of love? Who cares about the ordinary? The answer is that this merely prepares the reader for what happened next which started out being less ordinary and wound up being downright strange.

     The beginnings of the unusual enter the story in the person of Baron Locritz, the noble of our group of villages. He was 29 at the time and had inherited his throne rather early when his mother, the late baroness, had died young. As an only child born late to his mother who had given up on having children, he had been spoiled, indulged in his every whim. As a teen he had shared pleasures with a variety of young girls at the local court, but at the age when he was expected to pick one and settle down to raise a family, he failed to do so. He began visiting the meadows near his castle and sharing pleasures with the young shepherdesses most of whom found the young heir’s attentions flattering and amusing. When he had begun doing this at 17, it had been made clear to him by his mother that no force could be used on these girls even though they were peasants and he was to be the Baron. She had explained to him that centuries ago noblemen had had the power to order peasant girls to submit to their wishes, but that had ended more than two hundred years ago when the villagers had revolted. They had demanded that the royals treat them with respect, especially in this area, or they would end the monarchy itself. All the nobility grumbled but agreed, and as time passed, the generations of rulers came to see that it was better to have happy villagers rather than angry ones. Besides, most of the shepherdesses counted it as a sign they were attractive if a noble asked for their favors, so they often accepted. As for the shepherds now and then a noble girl would share pleasures with a village boy, so they liked the arrangement.

     The Baron eventually grew tired of the girls in the nearby valleys, and he began wandering the farther reaches of his lands. He heard that there was a shepherdess of remarkable beauty in our valley, and he sought to find her. His timing could not have been worse for Thurina. Krin was with his flock over a mile away, and she was just emerging from a mountain lake where she had been swimming alone. She was naked as the Baron rode up, and immediately he saw she had not been overly praised. He breasts already were the size of large apples, and not only did they stand straight out from her chest and end in unusual pointed nipples, they jiggled slightly as she walked unaware that she was being watched. He noticed that her waist was slim, her hips full and round, and his eye immediately went to the curls on her pubic mound. Finally he looked at her face and saw she was not merely pretty as he had been told by the courtiers who did not want to be blamed for wasting his time if she turned out not to please the Baron. She was a genuine beauty. Her golden hair fell to her waist in thick waves which she shook to dry causing her breasts to bounce further inflaming the Baron’s lust.

     He led his horse out from behind the tree from where he had been watching her. “Who are you, my sweet young shepherdess?” asked Locritz smoothly.

     Suddenly aware that this stranger had been watching her for some time, Thurina moved to cover herself.

     “Oh, please don’t do that,” said the Baron. “You are so beautiful this way.”

     Thurina realized this was no ordinary stranger. She had been raised to understand that if she ever encountered a member of the nobility, which this man certainly was, she was to be polite and obedient, so she stood there naked as he continued to eye her, a look she recognized because it was the same one village boys gave her. “I am Thurina Trell, my lord,” she replied.

     “Well, Thurina Trell, I am Baron Locritz, lord of these valleys and forests, and I have ridden far from my castle because I was told there was a girl of great beauty to be found here, and I wanted to see for myself if what I had been told was true.” Here he paused waiting to see if she would give the usual response of a flirtatious shepherdess, something along the lines of, “Now that you have seen me, do you believe that you have wasted your time?” but Thurina said nothing. She immediately recognized that she was in danger, but she was not sure exactly what that danger was. She knew the Baron wanted to share pleasures with her, but she was unsure how far he would persist when she said, “No.” She also knew it was necessary for her to be respectful and polite. She knew he was prohibited from using force on her, but that did not mean he would not do so. Perhaps he might and then gamble either that she would not press a charge against him or that he would get away with denying having done so.

     At last Locritz continued, “I see that you have not been overly praised.”

     “Thank you, my lord,” replied Thurina. “May I please dress, my lord?”

     “I was hoping we might share pleasures, my beauty.”

     “No thank you, my lord.”

     “No? Why not? I have ridden a long way to meet you. Are you already married?”

     “No, my lord, I am only fifteen, and I am not yet permitted by law to marry for another year and a half, but I have chosen my future husband, and we have vowed to share pleasures only with each other. We will marry as soon as the law allows.”

     Locritz was slowly becoming aware that this young girl was going to be firm in telling him no. This had never happened to him before, and he sat there on his horse dumbfounded. He had ridden several days only to be rejected by a peasant. Thurina noticed a look of petulance cross his face and knew it would be best for her to leave.

     “I must go now, my lord. I have much work to do before nightfall.” She knew she was supposed to ask permission to leave the presence of a noble, but she was afraid he would refuse to let her so she risked not asking him and just hurried off.

     Locritz said nothing. His lust had been frustrated by a peasant girl, and before he could think about it, she had turned and walked off. He was furious, but he knew enough not to force her. He rode off toward his castle.

     If his ride to our region had been filled with thoughts of dalliance, the ride back was filled with scheming how to get what he wanted. His next move was not long in coming. Thurina’s parents received a notice requiring them to send Thurina to his castle for education.

     It is at this point that I enter the story. I am Gren, the Chief of the Council of Elders for our district, a position to which I have been elected every two years for over forty years. There are those who say I am wise, but this is not so. I merely have a good memory. I remember my mistakes and strive not to repeat them, but I never had heard of anything like this. I asked Thurina to come down from the high meadows and tell me what she knew. She told me everything of her encounter with the Baron, and then I told her and her parents what I could.

     Many years ago when I was a young boy, Locritz’ grandmother, Baroness Crowa, had decided that as the modern age developed it would be a good idea that the more promising of the peasant children be taught to read and write as the children of the nobility were, educated in the many subjects of the learned academies so that the wisdom of the world could be passed on to the people. The village councils had agreed that this was a good idea, and the Baroness was empowered to summon young villagers whom she chose to spend one year at the local academy. At the end of that time the young person could return home if they chose or choose to continue their studies if the Baroness decided to offer this opportunity. This is how I became educated. I spent eight years at school and did not return to live in my village until I was twenty, but it was uncommon for children of peasants living in valleys so far distant as Thurina’s to come to noble notice.

     I told Thurina and her parents that I never had heard of a noble using this law as part of an attempt to seduce an unwilling village girl, for that was what this was, but I had to tell them that there was nothing that could be done. Locritz was acting within his authority by ordering her to school. The peasants themselves had accepted this law eagerly in hopes that some of their children might advance in the world, and some indeed did. They became scholars who taught at the academies, clerks and other skilled servants of the court as well as merchants, but many chose as I did, to return to the land and live the peaceful, quiet life of the villages. I told them there was a time limit on this, and it was one year. After that if she did not choose to stay, she could return home no matter what the Baron wanted.

     After I thought about it, I cautioned her not to think she could shorten her year by submitting to Locritz’ advances a few times. I only had to glance at her to realize that any man who shared pleasures with her, even one who had done so with many young girls, would want her to lie with him often, probably for several years, before he tired of her. Thurina said that such an idea never would enter her head because she was devoted to Krin and never willingly would accept another lover.

     I spent several hours teaching her how to behave at court, what to expect, how to speak, what gestures to make and how to say “No” to the Baron’s advances in such a way as to be firm in her refusal without giving him grounds to take offense. Of course, he was going to be offended, but I wanted to be sure Thurina gave him no grounds that he might use to punish her, an avenue I considered at least a remote possibility as time wore on and he repeatedly was frustrated. I also cautioned her that he might use the luxurious life style of the nobility to dazzle her as part of his attempt to seduce her, and I warned her that any communication she attempted to send to Krin would be read by the Baron and make him even more jealous.

     The school term started in only a few months, and the two lovers spent the time in almost constant embrace. Even when they were not making love, they were wrapped in each others arms. They were heartbroken, frightened and devastated. A year apart, especially with virtually no opportunity to communicate, seemed to them forever. While each had great faith in the other, each naturally feared the other might give in to temptation. I sympathized with them and vowed to make the journey to the castle several times so that at least a few messages could be sent between them.

     At last the day came when Thurina had to depart. Although our province is safe and she could have traveled to the castle alone in no danger, nevertheless Krin accompanied her until she was within sight of Locritz’ palace. They both wept terribly as I knew they would, but I had warned them that Thurina must not enter the castle showing any sign of this parting, so she sat by the roadside for an hour waiting for her eyes to clear after Krin had gone. Once she was alone, she was afraid, but she was not a weak girl. She was brave, and she was determined to survive this ordeal and return to her beloved Krin, so eventually she picked herself up, straightened her garments and strode resolutely into the palace.

     Unlike the other students who lived in a common dormitory, Thurina was given a separate room, and, of course, the Baron appeared soon after her arrival to “welcome” her. From the very beginning his attempts to seduce her were incessant. He constantly tried to put his arms around her, to kiss her, and she was forced to wriggle free and dodge out of her room into the hallway. Initially the Baron was extremely direct and physical. Since no one ever had said “No” to him before, he believed he just needed to be determined, to continue trying what had worked with other girls and young women, but Thurina refused him politely every time. She knew he could not make these assaults on her when others were present, so she spent as much time as possibly studying in the library, but every night when she returned to her room, someone told the Baron when she was there, and he “visited” her to “see how she was doing.”

     This went on for about a month during which time Thurina quickly learned to read and write as well as made the acquaintance of her fellow students whom she told of her plight. The girls who mostly were younger than her but each of whom already had had several lovers were surprised by her refusal of the Baron’s favors, but they quickly accepted her unusual bias about love and saw her as a fellow peasant having difficulty with a noble so they did what they could to help her, especially seeing that she was not alone when she was not in her room. After a few weeks several of them began sleeping in Thurina’s room with her on alternating nights which gave her some relief from the pressure put on her by the Baron who only could act when she was alone.

     It was my practice to visit the Baron’s castle every few months to see what was going on, to learn if there was anything in the works which might be of importance to the villagers of the province. I did this unobtrusively, without carrying my staff of office, a great standard with a man plowing a field carved on one of the four sides of its top, a woman weaving cloth on the second, a woman herding sheep on the third and a man smithing tools on an anvil on the fourth. A radiant sun shone above them all. When I carried this with me, nobles took careful note of me because they recognized I could cause them a great deal of trouble, but without it I was just another inconsequential peasant.

     I talked with my usual contacts, villagers who worked as servants of the nobility and usually knew what the royals might be planning. There was nothing afoot besides a gala ball where the frivolous could share their shallow gaiety with others of their ilk. I was unsure what to make of a report of a young woman on the Baron’s staff that she had seen Thurina several times in the apartments of the Baron, but I discounted this because Thurina told me she never had been there despite having been invited by the Baron numerous times. I sensed no deception by Thurina, so I assumed the servant simply was mistaken.

     To my amazement one afternoon while I was sipping a cup of tea in a small inn, I was approached by Oorn, the Baron’s wizard. She was a crone at least 170 years old, and she looked every day of it. She had led a wild and dissolute life as a young woman, was manipulative and bad tempered and according to what I had heard, she had seduced her predecessor, a lesbian named Croop, into taking her as an apprentice despite her willingness to do other than good things, something forbidden by the Guild of Wizards.

     Oorn never had shown the slightest interest in me before because I did not fit into either of the two categories that did interest her. The first was things or knowledge that would enable her to cast more powerful spells. The second was people by whom she wanted to be pleasured because she was addicted to sexual pleasure. I was even more surprised by the topic about which she questioned me, Thurina. She wanted to know about her and her family, her love for Krin, his family, their homes, even their sheep. Since I knew she had considerable powers for recognizing deception and I did not wish to anger her, I answered her questions openly. I did not see how this information could benefit her or Locritz, and I thought if she understood the depth of Thurina’s love for Krin, she might persuade him to abandon his attempt to seduce her, so I told her what she wanted to know.

     Not long after this Locritz’ pursuit of Thurina entered a new phase. Having failed by persistent direct means, he began to try to convince her that life in his castle was very much preferable to village existence and that pleasuring him was the route by which she could access life in the castle. He had his younger sister, Putrizha, dress Thurina in courtly finery and bring her to elaborate dinners where she sat next to him. She listened politely as he rambled on about his latest horse, newest armor, prowess at games, etc. Never once did he discuss anything profound, philosophical or spiritual, only shallow topics. Thurina found this tiresome because villagers often discuss the meaning of life, the concepts of right behavior and the nature of the human spirit. A big part of her love for Krin was bound up in their shared belief that sharing pleasures with only one person throughout your entire life brought you closer to the spirit of that person. Both she and Krin had come to this novel notion independently despite the widespread philosophy among our people that sharing pleasures with many partners joined ones spirit in a bond with them all unifying whole villages in a network of interconnected groups of individuals. She did listen politely to these conversations and nodded to show that she was paying attention and understood, but she found these dinners trying and could not wait to get back to her room and study. It was all much as I had warned her it would be.

     Thus the year passed into its twelfth month. Then something happened which I had not anticipated. Locritz’ obsession with Thurina was so great that one day he came to her room, sent away the two young girls with her and said, “You win. I’ll marry you. If taking you as my mistress is not enough to prove my love for you, then you can be my wife, but I must have you. I cannot live without you here with me. The thought of you in the arms of another man is unbearable to me.”

     Thurina was flabbergasted. Locritz had taken her refusal not as a sign that she did not care for him but as one that she merely was holding out for a better offer. She never had considered how she might respond to this situation so she stood there in stunned silence. She did not for a moment consider accepting his proposal. The idea of being without Krin was too awful as was the notion of spending the rest of her life with Locritz, even in the luxury of the castle. He took her silence to indicate that she was going to accept and just did not want to give in too easily while what she really was doing was trying to figure out how to refuse him without making him a lifelong enemy.

     At last she said, “My Lord, I am deeply moved that you would make such a gracious offer to an insignificant peasant girl, but I do not love you. I wish only to return to my village and marry my beloved Krin whom I miss terribly. I beg of you. Please let me go when my year is up in your school.”

     It was now the Baron’s turn to be stunned. It never had occurred to him that she might reject his proposal, that she would prefer living in a small cottage with a shepherd to living in his magnificent castle. For an instant he seemed on the brink of some violent explosion, but then he abruptly turned and walked out without saying another word.

     The next day Thurina’s parents were summoned to the castle, and Locritz attempted to persuade them to help him change her mind. As might be expected, they told her to do what her heart desired, what would make her happy. They knew that if Thurina married the Baron, their lives would be a lot easier, more comfortable, but they did not want such change to come at the price of their daughter’s happiness. Thurina persisted in her refusal, and a week later, her year of education over, she left the palace with a feeling of joy in her heart. After a year of misery she was about to see her beloved Krin again.

     That night, before she reached her village, Krin vanished. The other shepherds and shepherdesses went to find him when he was not there in the mountain meadows with his flocks, but they found only his flocks and his dogs keeping them in their pasture.

     While the forests surrounding our fields do contain the usual large predators such as bears, mountain lions and wolves, we have had little problems with them because over the years they have learned to fear us. Each village has its hunters and their tracking dogs who will pursue wild animals that prey on us so they avoid us. We leave them to the deep forests where there are many deer and other animals for them to hunt, and they leave us to the open areas and farm lands. It is rare for one of them to prey on our flocks and herds and rarer still for them to kill one of us. While that possibility was considered, there was no sign of a struggle with an animal anywhere in the area where Krin had been, and we searched it carefully. Of course, suspicion fell on Baron Locritz whom we all knew was angry with Thurina, but suspicion does not imply evidence. We had to have proof before making an accusation, and we had none.

     What happened next was beyond the imagination of anyone in our villages. Early one morning about a week after Krin’s disappearance, his father opened the door to his cottage preparing to leave for his daily work in his fields. On the dirt path outside his door he found sitting flat on his belly a full grown gray wolf weighing at least 140 pounds. He was about to jump back into his house when he realized that this wolf was in a very unusual, submissive posture wagging his tail like a dog happy to see someone. Then he realized the wolf’s right front paw was extended, and the wolf tapped his paw to draw his attention to what he was pointing at on the ground. It was a letter “K” which the wolf had scratched in the ground. Troq, for that was Krin’s father’s name, sensed the wolf was no danger to him so he stood there trying to figure out what this strange phenomenon might mean. Then he held up one finger signing to the wolf to wait. Troq went back in his house and told his wife, Nart, Krin’s mother, what he had seen. With some reasonable trepidation she followed her husband to the door, and, like her husband sensed that the wolf posed not threat. Again when Nart appeared, the wolf insistently tapped his foot pointing at the “K” he had scratched in the dirt.

     “I think this wolf is trying to bring us some kind of message about our son,” said Nart, but the wolf shook his head, “No” and again pointed at the letter “K” on the ground.

     One moment passed and then another. They tried to figure out the meaning of the puzzle before them as the wolf waited patiently. Then Troq suddenly blurted out, “This isn’t about Krin. It is Krin,” and the wolf nodded, “Yes.” Immediately understanding that the son she had thought was dead, murdered by agents of Baron Locritz, was still alive, Nart knelt down and embraced the wolf with joy. Troq, too, wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly. It took them a few moments longer to take in what was going on. Not only had their son been transformed into a wolf, he was in great danger. Wolves are seen as a terrible threat by villagers, and they usually are killed immediately.

     “Come into the house so the neighbors do not see you,” said Nart. “We must go and tell them so no one slaughters you.” Krin nodded. And they led him into their home.

     Fortunately someone had the sense to summon me, and I came as soon as I could. I may have interrogated many people, but this was the first time I had done so with a wolf who posed very unusual restrictions on me, most notably that he could not speak, only nod yes or no, but it was vital that I gather as much information as possible. I was able to learn that this transformation was abrupt. He had gone to sleep one evening as a young man and awakened as a wolf. He was smart enough to recognize that he would have been in great danger if he had stayed with his flocks in the meadows, so he had fled to the deep forests where he had lived and hunted as a wolf while figuring out the plan to appear on his parents’ doorstep in a docile posture with his foot pointing at the first letter of his name, the only letter he knew.

     “Did you notice any strangers in the days before this was done to you?”

     “No.”

     “Did you experience any unusual mental events or visions before this was done to you?”

     “No.”

     I questioned him for over an hour, but he knew nothing useful for me to use against whoever had done this to him, and Locritz whom I assumed was behind this, but if I wanted to present a case against him at the next Council of Nobles, Wizards and Peasants, I needed proof.

     The more I thought about it, the more the facts pointed to Oorn. I remembered the time she had asked me all those questions about Krin. I reasoned that Locritz’ intent had been to murder Krin, but he knew it would be difficult to send outsiders to our pastures because they would have to locate him without being noticed and then kill him and dispose of his body without being seen… not just by people but also by the ever present dogs. Turning Krin into a wolf who would then be slain by the shepherds would have the advantages of not having to send strangers to our area and not having to dispose of the body. I left with a lot more questions than answers.

     That night Thurina was awakened by a tapping on the window above her head. When she saw it was Krin, she opened the window, and he leapt in and sat on her bed. She hugged him and then began to recount the endless difficulties she had experienced in the castle. She talked on for several hours at last able to pour out her awful tale of what she had suffered in the absence of her beloved. Several times Krin bowed his head or showed by other signs of body language that he understood and was saddened by her woes, but, of course, he said nothing.

     At last she was all talked out, finally relieved to have given voice to her sorrow and to know that Krin knew what she had gone through to show her love for him. She fell back on the bed and shut her eyes. A few moments went by and then she felt the nose of Krin the wolf lifting her nightshirt. She felt his tongue lick carefully and gently around her nipples, a gesture he knew always excited her. It was at least a minute before she realized what actually was happening as she felt the flow of long suppressed desire rise within her. She thought about the strangeness of what she was about to do and almost pushed him away… almost.

     When he perceived that she accepted his yearning to be one with her despite the form he was in, he moved up and began flicking his tongue across her lips. Thurina opened her mouth slightly and began to twine her tongue around Krin’s. She noticed its very different shape, texture and taste from a human tongue, thinner, longer, rougher and surprisingly sweeter than a human’s, but mostly she thought only of her passionate love for Krin. She recognized that he was moving very slowly to give her time to become fully aroused despite knowing that as a male he must have felt a great urgency to unite with her immediately. Eventually he moved down and began to probe her vagina with his tongue. She placed both of her hands on the sides of his head and stroked and petted him the way she knew dogs liked.

     At last she was ready. Overwhelmed by her feelings, something in her instinctively made her roll over, rise up on her knees and present the way wolves do, a position she and Krin rarely had used before. Krin did not hesitate. In an instant he was easily within her. She felt him moving gently in and out as he knew she preferred. She was momentarily aware of the odd and beautiful sensation of his soft and silky belly fur gliding across her back. Then as he reached her inmost places , she fell into bliss that went on and on. Wanting him to enter the state of perfect passionate union with her, she naturally reached around and rubbed his testicles as she had done so many times before to sign to him that she was ready for him to climax. He thrust himself as deeply within her as he could, rocked slightly and then sighed with pleasure. Then they lay still. Eventually they rolled over, and she embraced him and stroked his pelt as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. She had missed him terribly, and this was her Krin no matter what form he might be in. They made love several more times that night. When she awoke, he was gone, but he returned every night, and they fell into a comfortable, happy rhythm in which she would talk about her day, and then they would make love.

     While this was going on, I had work to do. Someone, or more likely some two, had attempted to cause the death of a peasant, and it was my responsibility to see that the perpetrators of this crime were brought to justice. As I have said, the finger of suspicion pointed in a specific direction, but for justice to be done, I needed proof. I needed to demonstrate means, motive, intent and action, not the easiest thing when the crime involved a wizard turning a human into a wolf with the expectation that the wolf would stay around people who, not recognizing him and fearing for their lives, would kill him.

     I knew I was going to have to watch Baron Locritz and his wizard, Oorn, at close quarters for a long time in hopes that they would do something that incriminated them, but observing a wizard, even briefly, is not easy since they can sense the presence of those around them by their thoughts. Fortunately years ago I had mastered a technique of meditation based on completely emptying ones mind. I was not certain this would work and protect me from Oorn’s awareness, but I could not see any other option to this danger and whatever vengeance she might wreak upon me if she caught me. I might wind up a mouse eaten by her cat.

     I resolved to approach the serving maid who worked in Locritz’ apartments and who had told me of “Thurina’s” presence there. I would tell her a crime had been committed against a peasant by a member of the nobility. Since such crimes are seen by villagers as a crime against all peasants, I hoped that by appealing to her patriotic consciousness I could engage her assistance in getting access to Locritz’ rooms from a vantage point from which I could observe him uninterrupted. This probably meant I would have to be placed in a wall or ceiling space for a long period, a month or more. During this time I would be unable to think, only watch and record, and I would have to slow my bodily functions to the point where they nearly stopped, no easy task even for someone who had studied with masters of these techniques and could slow his heart rate to four or five a minute for an hour or two. As far as I knew, no one ever had entered such a trance for a month, but I knew that extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary sacrifices from those who have chosen to serve the people as I have done.

     I returned to the Baron’s castle and located the servant woman, Pria, and swore her to secrecy in the name of the peasantry. She did not know much beyond having seen “Thurina” in the Baron’s quarters several times, and I did not tell her any details of what I thought might have occurred so she could not think about them and endanger me. I only told her that a great crime had been committed against a villager and that I had to observe the Baron for an extended period of time as part of the investigation. She brought me to one of the castle carpenters whom I also swore to secrecy. He was eager to help and suggested a possibility which I judged to be the best chance I had.

     I spent several days fasting to clear my digestive system, drank nothing to clear my bladder and meditated to clear my mind. Finally I slowed my heart rate to four a minute so my body would use little energy. On a day when Locritz was hunting, Trep, for that was the carpenter’s name, carried my nearly inert body to a closet above Locritz’ bedroom, opened up the floor, placed me face down between the floor joists, drilled a tiny hole in the ceiling so I could observe anything which occurred in this room and then sealed me in by replacing the floor panels. He was to return in about a month to remove me.

     In the usual conscious state of mind watching Locritz’ bedchamber would have been rather boring, but in the peaceful state of meditative awareness fortunately it went quickly. All the man did was sleep and have sex… with the widest variety of young women imaginable. The same woman rarely appeared twice. Our society encourages our young people to get their urge for multiple partners out of the way when they are young so they can bond well in monogamy long enough to have and rear children. Many couples stay together after raising children, and many do not, but the vast majority remain married until their youngest child, usually their second or third, is old enough to fend for him or herself, usually around sixteen. Occasionally someone will freeze in sexual adolescence and want an endless stream of changing partners, but Locritz was the worst case of this of which I ever had heard. He was almost thirty-one, and he still had the appetites of a fourteen year old. This really did not matter to the governing of our province since he was not much of a hands on ruler. He had delegated most of the day to day business of government to a relatively competent group of bureaucrats so there had been no problems up to now.

     I was aware of the possibility that nothing might happen to link Locritz and Oorn to the attack upon Krin, but on the sixteenth night Locritz came back to his room alone. He seemed very agitated and paced back and forth repeatedly as if waiting for something which might or might not occur. Eventually the door opened, and the ancient crone hobbled in. Immediately Locritz asked, “Have you heard anything, sensed anything?”

     Oorn answered, “No, but by now either he has been killed by peasants, or he has accepted life as a wolf. Either way he won’t be any problem, but I warned you. She will take a long time, at least a year, until she is prepared to be courted by someone new. You have to be patient. If you go to her too soon while she is still grieving his loss, she not only will reject you. She will consider you insensitive and reject you for the future. The timing of your reentry into Thurina’s life must be at the time when she gets over his loss but before she falls in love with someone else. I’ll start watching her in a couple of months to see how she’s progressing. When she’s ready, I’ll let you know, but now would be counterproductive… Are you ready?”

     “Yes,” answered Locritz, and I witnessed the strangest thing of which I ever had heard. Oorn began to shimmer like sunlight on water, a little at first but soon her whole body became indistinct. I could see there was someone in the room with Locritz, but this person had no clear features. It was no longer recognizable as Oorn. Then slowly over at least a minute it appeared someone was emerging from a fog. Eventually I saw below me a perfect copy of Thurina. The resemblance was total down to the last hair on her head, but the likeness was only physical. As soon as she spoke, it was apparent that Oorn had not duplicated Thurina’s intelligence and personality but only a docile and submissive fantasy for Locritz.

     The tone with which the phantasm said, “Oh, My Lord, I am so happy you have chosen to invite me to your chambers,” was totally unlike anything the Thurina I knew could have said.

     “You are so beautiful, and I love you so deeply,” replied Locritz to the transformed Oorn.

     “I am truly honored by your love, My Lord, and I am blessed because I love you, too. I wish only to please you. I have held myself back from all others waiting for this night when I will give myself to you forever…”

     They went on in some sort of ritualized, long standing exchange of scripted dialogue which both seemed to enjoy greatly, Locritz because he was about to make love with the virgin Thurina for the first time (probably the 37th first time) and Oorn because she was, however briefly, a young girl again. She mimicked a young girl’s awkwardness of her first lovemaking while Locritz played the role of guide/seducer. It all would have been harmlessly pathetic if it only had involved them, but others had been injured severely by their actions which had been taken in callous disregard for that possibility.

     Locritz seemed to be driven to have sex with this false Thurina as many times as possible and managed five times before he passed out in exhaustion. By this time Oorn, too, seemed very tired. Once Locritz was unconscious, Oorn/Thurina literally seemed to melt. This time the transformation involved no shimmering and light. In fact it seemed that the area around Oorn was darker than the rest of the room. It is hard to describe, but she turned into a shapeless blob that was in some sort of shadow despite there being several lamps lit in the room and nothing between her and the lamps. Finally Oorn emerged from the gelatinous mass which had appeared on the bed. She stood up slowly and unsteadily. She looked very frail and weak as she tottered out of the room leaving the sleeping Locritz alone.

     When he awoke, Locritz wept.

     Nothing more of any significance happened while I observed Locritz, and eventually Trep came and took me out of the ceiling. Pria cared for me for several days as I came out of my trance, and my body revived. Fortunately I suffered no lasting ill effects from this ordeal. Soon I was on my way to see Akreesia, the senior member of the Imperial Council of the People’s Elders. She was a very wise 112 year old woman whom, if I lived long enough, I was next in line to succeed.

     Akreesia was a spry, witty and delightful old lady who lived alone in a house between her granddaughter’s and her great grandson’s. These two took care of heavy chores such as splitting firewood for her, but besides things like that, she cared for herself. When she opened her door, she greeted me her usual way, “Have you come to seduce me? You know I’m not dead yet.”

     “Alas, no, I’m on the People’s business,” I demurred.

     “You’re too old for a young girl like me anyway,” she laughed.

     “If I wasn’t married, I’d give it thought. You’re beautiful for an old bat.” I referred to her that way because that was what she called herself, “but I really am here on the People’s business.”

     She could see this was not a casual call, and her face immediately turned serious. Like all the Elders of the People she understood that it had taken great struggle to free the people from the oppression of the nobles and that it was her responsibility along with the rest of the Elders to insure that all possible political means be exerted to prevent the people from having to rise again in rebellion.

     I told her in complete detail all that had happened and all that I had witnessed. I told her it was my plan to bring charges of attempted murder against both Oorn and Locritz at the next biennial Council of the Nobles, the Wizards and the People. We were lucky that this was scheduled to open in the imperial capital city in only six weeks. On the morning when new business was called for, I would tell what I knew and have Thurina lead in Krin as my evidence. I would spring this on everyone suddenly so that there would be no opportunity for us to be attacked in secret before the trial began at that session of the Grand Council.

     Akreesia sat silently for some time. She was deep in thought but clearly also holding in a great deal of anger. At last she spoke, “This surely is one of the most despicable acts of which I ever have heard. The sacrifices you made and the risks you took to gather the evidence against those swine are the mark of a true servant of the People.”

     “Thank you, Senior,” I replied.

     “Your plan is well thought out, but it has one flaw. They will claim that the wolf you brought is just a well trained pet following subtle signals to nod or shake his head at your command and that you are making this bizarre accusation to overthrow Locritz and Oorn because of some personal grudge or gain. The only solution is that Krin must be taught to read and write. You will have to find some means of attaching a pencil to his paw so he can write down his answers… and you will have to do this very quickly. It is only six weeks to the Council.” We ate a nice lunch, chatted a bit longer, and then I left.

     I made my way as quickly as I could to the home of Thurina’s parents where she was staying and Krin was visiting nightly. Picture poor Krin’s dismay when he tapped on the window with his paw expecting a night of love, and he found an old man demanding that he learn to read and write. He was crestfallen to say the least, but after I told him everything that had happened, he nodded that he understood why it was important for his future to say nothing of legally avenging himself on those who had perpetrated this atrocity upon him. If there had been any doubt in his mind, Thurina extinguished it with one look indicating “no” was not an acceptable answer.

     We set to work immediately, spent almost half of every night going over first letters, then words and finally complete sentences. On a few nights Krin made some small gesture to Thurina, and she said, “Krin and I would like to be alone now,” and I left them, but this was not often enough to interfere with his progress. He was bright, and although it was initially tricky for him to hold a pencil in his paw, he eventually managed it though he did write slowly and with large letters.

     We took a covered cart to the capital city for the Grand Council. That way it was possible for Krin to ride without being seen. We took a somewhat circuitous route so that we could leave our own province as quickly as possible and travel through lands not under the eyes of Locritz’ observers. Thurina, too, rode under the covers until we were out of Locritz’ barony. As we traveled, I bought raw meat from farmers and hunters to feed Krin. I could sense that no one suspected anything was amiss. We entered the capital late at night. I took a room at an inn and was able to smuggle Krin and Thurina up some back stairs to the room without being seen.

     Where most of the local nobles in the provinces were dilettantes who had deteriorated into figureheads like Locritz, the Emperor, Brone, was another story. He was not some hereditary anachronism but a former army commander who had seized power only fifteen years ago when the previous emperor, a wastrel, had died suddenly without naming an heir. He had the backing of our small but competent army and knew that although he could be overthrown by a massive people’s uprising, he nevertheless could survive in power against anything less than a total, continent wide rebellion. He understood the balance necessary for his continued rule. He had a relatively free hand as long as he did not allow the development of widespread injustice which could lead to major unrest among the peasantry. Accordingly he kept a tight lid on excesses by lesser nobles. The People’s Elders also recognized this balance and realized there would be significant devastation of their entire world if there was an uprising so there were some trade offs which allowed, for example, moderate taxation to support some remaining luxury for the nobility. It was into this balance that I had to throw the considerable weight of an attack upon a peasant that obviously was an attempt to kill him, an attack which included foul acts by a great wizard whose colleagues were largely benign but definitely unpredictable.

     Of course, I anticipated the possibility that Thurina, Krin and I would be attacked magically by Oorn the instant we entered the hall to present their case. I asked Akreesia to meet privately with Brone and his wizard, Vohr, a man I did not know at all other than having seen him at Grand Councils. He made a point of keeping in the background, but he was rumored to be very powerful. Since I had no idea what ties Brone or Vohr might have to Locritz and/or Oorn, Akreesia only told them that the People had a very serious matter to discuss as the first item they would raise on the first day of new business at the Grand Council. She told them it was necessary for them not to reveal this to anyone and to be prepared for the People’s Delegate and his witnesses to be assaulted magically the instant they entered the Hall.

     When she had finished, Brone said nothing. After a pause Vohr, who obviously had been waiting to see how the Emperor might respond, sensed the Emperor expected him to deal with this. He said, “Your Imperial Majesty, if I might address the People’s Senior Elder?” Brone nodded, and Vohr continued, “The Emperor and I are dedicated to maintaining peace and prosperity throughout the continent. Anyone who would attack an Elder of the People will be dealt with very harshly. You may rest assured that the People will be able to present whatever evidence they choose without coming to any harm.”

     Akreesia later told me that she never had been in the company of anyone so personally opaque as these two, but she did believe that Vohr would be prepared to protect us from anything which might come from the realm of wizardry.

     The first three days of the Council passed without any difficulty. On the fourth day I came to the Great Hall with Thurina and Krin only after Akreesia had sent me word that everyone was seated and awaiting my arrival as the first scheduled speaker of the day. It was my expectation that Oorn would allow me to speak and then attempt to cast doubt on my case, probably by ridicule. I was ready for her to do this, but I was only somewhat ready for what she actually did. I was only visible in the Hall a few seconds in the archway leading to the aisle to the Speaker’s Dais when my entire body felt as if it was on fire. I sensed I had only a few seconds to live. The pain was excruciating. I fell to the floor and immediately sought to enter a trance of pain acceptance so that I could relax and minimize the agony as I died. I saw Thurina faint and Krin howl and writhe. As I felt myself burning up, I saw Oorn gazing at us intently. Then I saw Vohr stand and extend his left arm and index finger. He began moving it around as if he was searching with some sensory organ other humans lacked. I could only hope he would find what he was searching for and be able to protect us before we died. Then his arm and finger stopped moving, and as I gasped what I thought would be my last breath, the pain I had felt suddenly was gone. Vohr was completely focused on something in Oorn’s direction. I looked toward Oorn, and I could see that she, too, was locked in concentration now looking at Vohr. Apparently they were engaged in some horrific combat as one and then the other reeled from unseen blows. It was nothing like what I had thought such a battle might be. There were no bolts of lightning, no balls of fire hurled back and forth, but it did seem that the Hall was deathly silent and much darker than it had been, this despite the sunlight streaming in through the vast areas of glass throughout the dome above us. It seemed that both Oorn and Vohr were in complete shadow, as if they both were radiating darkness. I suspected that they were evenly matched and that this might go on for some time.

     I rolled over and began to attend to the unconscious Thurina. Suddenly Krin stood up and raced toward the aisle next to the aisle where Oorn was located. He circled around behind her with almost blinding speed and sprang through the air thirty feet passing over the heads of dozens of people landing fully on her back. Distracted by her battle with Vohr, she had had no idea what he was doing. Instantly Krin grasped his great jaws on her neck with the wolf’s killing bite. The main veins and arteries of her neck burst, and blood sprayed everywhere as Krin thrashed her body as if it was a rag doll. The darkness in the Hall passed. Vohr stood at ease and stretched himself, but Krin continued to flail Oorn’s now lifeless body violently. Her head separated from her body, and her body landed several rows away. He opened his jaws to reposition them on her head and then crushed her skull. The sound of this was awful. Delegates ran screaming in all directions. At last he realized she truly was dead, and he ceased his attack on her. He carried her head down to the floor of the Hall and dropped it at my feet. By this point Thurina had revived somewhat, and she threw her arms around him in joy when she saw that he, too, had survived.

     It was several minutes before the Hall quieted down, but eventually people returned to their seats and were still. The Emperor stood and sternly addressed only me, “I assume you have some explanation for this.”

     As briefly as I could without omitting important points, I told the story you have just read. Vohr confirmed that Oorn had attacked us. The Emperor’s visage had grown darker and darker as my story progressed. In an even voice filled with restrained anger he asked Locritz what he had to say for himself.

     “I… I am in love with her,” he stammered.

     “But you participated in these crimes against the People,” insisted Brone.

     “Yes, Your Imperial Highness… I… I throw myself on your mercy,” Locritz practically whimpered.

     “The tranquility and security of the entire Empire relies on the Nobility ruling wisely and respecting the rights and dignity of the People,” said the Emperor. “You have allowed your own personal lust to endanger the delicate balance of peace in our realm. This is intolerable.” He pointed to one of the stone faced guards near Locritz and moved his index finger across his throat. The guard unhesitatingly drew his sword, walked over to the cowering Locritz who realized his plea for mercy had fallen on deaf ears, grabbed him from behind by his hair and cut off his head.

     In an entirely different, calm tone of voice Brone asked, “Do the People’s Elders accept that justice has been done? Scribe, poll the Elders.” One by one the two hundred and forty-seven Elders present, including myself, stated that they were satisfied.

     “Let this be a lesson to all,” said the Emperor, “We will not tolerate any act which threatens justice in the Empire… We will make every effort to see that Krin is restored to his human form… What is the next item on the agenda?” And the Council resumed its business.

     That evening Krin, Thurina and I were summoned to the Emperor’s private apartments where, along with the Emperor and his wizard, we found twenty-three other wizards, three more than I had known to exist. The Emperor wanted everyone who might be helpful to be present. The wizards were seated in a circle, and Krin was asked to sit in the middle. For over half an hour they did nothing but gaze at him. Then one at a time they came up close to him. Most touched him and maintained contact with him for several minutes. One even put his brow against Krin’s forehead. Once I thought I saw some sort of twinkling, and another time the room grew substantially brighter. Vohr went last and held Krin’s paw for over ten minutes. When he was done, he looked at me and said, “Please take him outside for a moment. He needs to relieve himself.” We were led to a small private garden where Krin did, indeed, urinate on one tree trunk and then another.

     When we came back, the wizards still were seated in a circle. Vohr spoke with sadness in his voice. “We had hoped that at least one of us could figure out what Oorn had done and then we simply could reverse her procedure. Unfortunately her actions went beyond mere alteration of form. This being before us is not just a human consciousness trapped in a wolf’s body. Krin is well along in a complete transformation to a wolf, a wolf with human intelligence, but a wolf nevertheless. If we were to change him back into the body of a human, he would be unable to adjust to the loss of his vulpine nature. We are deeply sorry.”

     We went back to our room at the inn. We sat for a long time. Thurina had her arms around Krin who seemed lost in thought. At last Krin made a gesture of writing with his paw, and I brought him a paper and pencil. In large, bold letters he wrote, “Be a wolf.”

     Thurina read what he had written. She thought for a while and then asked, “I want to be with you more than anything, but are you happy as a wolf? Do you think I would be happy as a wolf?”

     Krin took his pencil and wrote, “Yes, it’s wonderful…free.” We thought he might write more, but he did not.

     Thurina thought for a long time and then said, “He is my chosen mate. He loves me and never would harm me or ask me to do something which is bad for me. I trust he knows what is best for us. You must take us back to the wizards tomorrow night after the Grand Council adjourns.”

     I sent word to the Emperor of our request, and the next evening we appeared before them again. Thurina spoke unhesitatingly when she said, “Please do to me what Oorn did to Krin. Make me a wolf.”

     Vohr replied, “The Council of Wizards agreed that this was the best we could do for you both, but we also agreed that we should not suggest this to you, that you should decide yourselves what you want.”

     The room seemed to be filled with energy. My skin tingled, and I smelled strange aromas, but I saw nothing unusual until Thurina began to sparkle and then seemed to vaporize like steam from a tea kettle. Then in her place before us stood another wolf. This new wolf shook herself and looked at her new body. She yipped several times and wagged her tail looking at Krin. Krin made his gesture to write, and I gave him a pencil and paper. He wrote, “We both thank you.”

     “We serve the People,” said Vohr. “We try to do the best we can.”

     The next morning we began the cart ride back to our province. Once there Thurina and Krin hugged me goodby and ran off into the deep woods. I never saw them again, but I know they lived long and happy lives together in the forests.

About Thurina and Krin
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