, Ryan moved to stand directly in
front of the chair. "I regret the necessity of binding you, Highness,
but it is for your protection; as I told you, this spell can be
extremely painful to one with your automatic magical defenses, possibly
causing convulsions and self-injury."

"I appreciate the consideration, especially toward one you must regard
as little if any better than the Shapers." Medart shifted in the
chair, then made himself as comfortable as possible. "Okay, I'm as
ready as I can be; go ahead."

Ryan nodded. "As you wish, Highness." He began the words and gestures
of the truth-compulsion spell, watching its effect on the human.
Medart tensed and started to sweat, his expression becoming strained.
The spell was working, but Ryan was impressed by the resistance it was
encountering. Not conscious resistance; if anything, the Prince was
trying to cooperate, which was less of a surprise than Ryan would have
expected before meeting him.

But the resistance did make it necessary to strengthen his spell. As
he did so, the Prince's discomfort turned into pain, his muscles
spasming and his breath coming in gasps.

It wasn't enough, and Ryan frowned. The next level of this spell was
likely to send the Prince into convulsions, and though he'd mentioned
the possibility, he hadn't really expected the man's defenses to be
that strong. Such extreme measures were normally used only to extract
the most critical information; he was reluctant to use them for less.

"Why the hesitation, Ryan?" a woman's voice asked, curiously. "You've
questioned Terrans before."

Ryan looked around. "I'm glad you're here, Kelly. He doesn't have any
information, he just wants us to believe he's from a universe where
we're part of the Empire--and where he was bequeathed a saber for
giving one of our warriors Last Gift. He waived immunity from
compulsion to obtain that belief, and he's trying to cooperate, but his
auto-defenses are stronger than I'd have credited to a Terran; if I
keep going I'll send him into convulsions, maybe kill him if his
defenses collapse too quickly for me to pull back."

"And simple verification is nothing to die for, even verification of
such revolting statements." The warriors'-woman nodded once, sharply.
"Still, if he wants it, he is entitled to prove his honesty. I'll
support his defenses if necessary, and have a healing spell ready if
his condition gets critical."

"Good. As soon as you're rea