The Magelands Epic: Storm Mage (Book 6)

by Christopher Mitchell

  The house was quiet and dark, and he used the small lantern to guide his feet up the steps to his room on the upper floor. He nudged it open with his elbow and entered. Kelsey was reclining on his long couch, a book in one hand, a weedstick in the other.

  Her eyes flickered over to him. ‘Told you not to lose your temper with Celine.’

  He glared at her as he set the bottles and lantern down onto the low table by the couch. He took the armchair opposite.

  ‘You brought booze,’ she said. ‘Good.’

  ‘It’s not for you; you’re too young for this stuff.’

  She snorted. ‘I saw you drinking when you were fourteen.’

  ‘I don’t care. You’re not having any.’

  ‘You’re a wicked brother.’

  ‘And you’re a pain in the arse.’

  He opened the bottle of rum and poured himself a measure, as Kelsey eyed him. She placed the half-smoked weedstick into an ashtray and lit a cigarette.

  ‘If father finds out…’ she said.

  ‘He won’t. He’ll be out of his mind drunk when he gets back from the party, then he’ll probably knock back another bottle of whisky alone in his study, while he cries about old wars. He won’t pay any attention to us.’

  ‘So, what was it you said that got you banished from the festivities?’

  ‘I merely reminded father and Celine that neither were proper Holdfasts.’

  Kelsey laughed.

  He glanced at her. ‘Truth hurts.’

  She nodded. ‘That it does.’

  His face darkened. ‘How did you know? Did you just guess?’

  ‘Oh, brother,’ she said, standing. She began to pace up and down the room. ‘It’s time to tell you, I suppose. Of course, I know that it’s the right time, because I’ve already seen myself tell you. In fact, I’ve already heard myself say these exact words. Weird.’

  He shook his head. ‘How much have you smoked? You’re making less sense than usual, which is saying something.’

  She stopped, and stared at him. ‘I am not a dream mage.’

  ‘I know that, you imbecile.’

  ‘But I can do one thing that Karalyn can do. I’ve always been able to do it, and I’ve always managed to keep it a secret, until now. To tell you the truth, I have no idea why I’m about to tell you, only as I said before, I’ve seen myself do it.’

  Keir’s attention started to drift away.

  ‘I can see the future.’

  His mouth fell open. ‘What?’

  ‘When I look into someone’s eyes,’ she went on, ‘I sometimes see flashes of things that haven’t happened yet, just like Karalyn can do. That’s how I knew you’d fight with Celine, and why I asked you to bring that lantern.’

  ‘You can see the future?’

  ‘I thought everyone could when I was younger,’ she said. ‘It took me a while to realise that people didn’t see the same things as me when they looked into each other’s eyes. I can’t read anyone’s thoughts, though. As I said, I’m not a dream mage.’

  ‘I always knew there was something weird about you,’ he said. ‘Actually, this explains a lot. And it’s a complete secret, is it? Does mother know?’

  ‘No one knows but you.’

  ‘And we’ll keep it that way,’ he said, mulling over the possibilities. ‘This could be very useful.’

  ‘Oh, it is,’ she said, sitting back down onto the couch. ‘Now, let’s talk about the lantern.’

  Keir ignored her. ‘Do you ever see father’s future? What about mine? Have you seen me do things far from now?’

  Kelsey frowned. ‘The lantern.’

  ‘What about it?’ he cried. ‘It’s just a stupid lantern.’

  ‘Tonight,’ she said, ‘I have revealed the secret I have held within me. It’s your turn.’

  He stared at her.

  She smiled. ‘It’s time for me to reveal your secret.’

  She leaned over to the lantern, and removed the glass bulb from the top, allowing the flame to flicker naked in the air.

  ‘Look at the fire, brother mine,’ she said, ‘and tell me what you feel.’

  ‘Have you lost your mind?’ he said, draining the rum from his glass.

  ‘Next you’re going to tell me that I’m a fool.’

  ‘You are a fool.’

  ‘Then you’re going to snort in disbelief when I tell you that you possess the powers of a fire mage, yet do not know it.’

  A strange noise came from Keir’s lips as he stared at his sister. She pointed to the flame and he lowered his eyes. The exposed fire looked tiny, and weak. What was he supposed to do? He felt for his vision powers, to see if the flames would respond to them.

  ‘That won’t work,’ said Kelsey. ‘You know I can hear whenever you use your Holdings vision powers. They’re useless for this. It’s the Kellach powers you’re after; search for them.’

  He turned away, and refilled his glass. ‘This is pointless.’ He picked up the half-smoked weedstick and lit it off the lantern’s flame. He glanced at his sister. ‘You’re telling the truth? You can see the future, and you’ve seen me make this flame move?’

  Kelsey laughed, her thin frame shaking. ‘I’ve seen you burn armies, my foolish brother, my beautiful boy.’

  Keir downed his second glass of rum and smiled. Why not? His aunt had been the greatest fire mage of all time; it would be strange if none of the Holdfast children had any of the Kellach mage powers. He reached out his hand, his fingers almost touching the small, delicate flames. He felt the heat through his fingertips, and then something else, a deep longing, a yearning for the fire; a desire to connect.

  The flame jumped towards his fingers, scorching their tips.

  ‘Ow!’ he yelled.

  ‘That was gorgeous to behold,’ Kelsey said.

  The ends of his fingers were throbbing, but he smiled as he gazed at his hand. ‘Armies, eh?’

  ‘Aye, brother,’ she said. ‘Armies.’

  Chapter 5

  Out of Mind

  Colsbury Castle, Republic of the Holdings – 4th Day, Last Third Winter 524

  Forests of pine and spruce flanked the high mountain road where a carriage was being pulled by a team of four horses. The frost had cleared from the ground, but the nearby peaks and ridges still held a covering of snow that shone in the cold sunlight. A soldier from the imperial guard sat on the driver’s bench holding the reins, a colleague chatting quietly by his side. Karalyn stretched her arms in the rear of the carriage, then folded up her blankets and opened a flask of water.

  She drank, then offered the water to Laodoc, who was sitting opposite her, a great cloak wrapped around his body to keep out the winter air.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said.

  ‘Sleep well?’

  ‘Not particularly. You?’

  ‘I did alright,’ she said. ‘Can’t wait for a proper bed tonight, though. I miss the townhouse.’

  Laodoc nodded down at Belinda, who was lying under a pile of blankets on the floor of the carriage, sleeping.

  ‘She doesn’t seem to mind the journey,’ he said. ‘I’ll admit, I was a little concerned that she wouldn’t settle, but she’s been a most pleasant travelling companion these last eight days.’

  ‘So you’ve changed your mind about bringing her along?’

  ‘I didn’t quite say that. I fear her unpredictability, especially considering whom we are going to meet. Our host doesn’t suffer fools.’

  Karalyn frowned. ‘She’s not a fool.’

  ‘Apologies, that came out wrong. I didn’t mean that she was a fool; I know she’s not. Still, she has a tendency to say the first thing that comes into her head, and well, though we might be used to it, it may seem odd to others.’

  ‘There’s no way I could have left her in the city,’ Karalyn said, ‘not with only Corthie knowing. Who knows what we would have come back to.’

  ‘I could have stayed; I’m too old to be travelling in winter.’

  ‘Sorry, but I need you for
this.’

  Laodoc sighed. ‘Yes, I know.’ He gestured towards the sleeping woman. ‘Maybe it’s too soon to be taking her out into the world.’

  ‘It’s been eight thirds since I scoured her. If she’s not ready now, she might never be.’

  The old Rahain man frowned.

  ‘You having doubts again?’ she said.

  ‘I can’t help it. We’ve taken this young woman, and remoulded her, changed her. I know she was a criminal, and would have killed both you and the Empress, but what we’re doing to her still seems wrong. Is she our prisoner? Our slave?’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Karalyn said. ‘She’s neither. When I scoured her I left her mind utterly empty; she had no language, no identity, no memories. If we’d left her in that state on her own, she either be dead or a savage by now. We’ve taught her how to speak, and read, and how to function from day to day. We’re giving her a new life.’

  ‘And when will it be hers to live freely?’

  Karalyn rummaged in her bag, withdrew a cigarette from a pack and lit one.

  ‘Good question,’ she said. ‘I don’t know. I’m hoping you’ll help me judge it.’

  ‘At some point you’ll have to acknowledge her existence to the world. Have you thought about that? What will people in the city think, when they see the woman who led the coup back at court? How will you explain it?’

  Karalyn took a draw of the cigarette. She had gone through a similar conversation with the Empress on the same subject, only it had been her asking the questions. The Empress’s response was not one she thought Laodoc would agree with.

  ‘I assume you’ve considered all this?’ he went on.

  She looked out of the back window of the carriage at the view of the snow-capped mountains.

  ‘Very well. If the Empress forbade you to talk about it, I’ll pry no further.’

  ‘She didn’t forbid it,’ Karalyn said. ‘She knows you know, of course; I told her at the beginning that I would need your help, and she was fine about it.’ She glanced at her old teacher. ‘I warn you, you won’t like the answer to your question.’

  Laodoc raised an eyebrow. ‘Go on.’

  Karalyn sighed. ‘The Empress knows that Belinda has all these powers inside her; she knows fine well how dangerous she can be, if trained and pointed at the right enemies.’

  Laodoc shook his head, his vertical pupils widening. ‘She’s being prepared as a weapon?’

  Karalyn felt out with her mind to check Belinda was still sleeping on the floor by their feet. ‘Aye.’

  ‘Does she know this yet?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘I feel ashamed to be involved in this gross deception.’

  ‘You’re innocent, Laodoc, forget it.’

  ‘Innocent? My dear girl, have I not been teaching Belinda these last few thirds, filling her head with languages, culture, history? Politics?’

  ‘Aye, and you’ve done a great job.’

  ‘But I am not unbiased, not in the slightest. Had I known what you and the Empress were cooking up, I would have made an effort to be objective, but alas, I’m an embittered old man, full of prejudices and regret. I have described Ghorley and his regime in extremely harsh terms.’

  ‘Aye. As I said, you’ve done a great job. The Empress thinks so too.’

  The old man’s tongue flickered.

  ‘I knew you wouldn’t like it,’ Karalyn said. ‘That’s why I haven’t told you before.’

  ‘Whatever happened to the moral good?’ Laodoc said. ‘Should we not be aspiring to be better? It cannot be right to take a young woman and manipulate her in this way.’

  ‘She was an agent for the Rahain; she would have killed us all.’

  ‘You don’t know that she was an agent, not for sure.’

  ‘No? What about the lies she told us about where she came from? No one in Fell Grange had the slightest idea of who she was. All of Nyane’s investigations have her first being seen in Rainsby; before that, nothing. She was an agent, and the Empress wants her used against her old masters.’

  ‘By that am I to understand that we are her new masters?’

  ‘Don’t twist my words.’

  ‘Answer me this – does Belinda have free will?’

  ‘I’m not getting involved in a philosophical discussion with you. The Empress has made up her mind, and I’m just carrying out her orders.’

  ‘And your conscience is clear?’

  Karalyn frowned. ‘No, not entirely.’

  ‘Good,’ Laodoc said. ‘Then all is not lost.’

  Belinda stirred from under the blankets and opened her eyes.

  ‘Morning,’ said Karalyn.

  Belinda sat up and rubbed her head. ‘I need to pee.’

  Karalyn leaned forward and nudged the nearest soldier on the driver’s bench. ‘Tea break.’

  The two Holdings soldiers escorting them wasted no time in setting up a small fire with a filled kettle on top, their empty cups held ready as they waited for the water to boil. Belinda sped off into the forest and Karalyn got down to stretch her legs, leaving Laodoc wrapped up warm in the back of the carriage. The air was crisp and clear, and the deep blue of the sky contrasted with the brilliant white snow on the mountain peaks and the green of the vast pine forests. Below them on the road she saw the beginnings of a sinuous lake that snaked between the sheer flanks of towering mountains. The water was clear and reflected the rocky slopes that enclosed it on both sides.

  She lit a cigarette and smiled. It was her first time in the Barrier Mountains, the high range that cut off the Holdings from the Plateau, excepting the passes by the coast at either end. There were a few rough tracks through the valleys, but the road they were on had been recently paved, allowing their carriage to travel in comfort.

  ‘Tea, miss?’ said one of the soldiers as the kettle started to whistle. ‘One sugar?’

  ‘Aye, thanks.’

  Belinda reappeared at the edge of the road, her eyes gazing at the view of the mountains. She looked like a different woman from the Lady Belinda that had tried to wrest control of the empire at the end of the previous spring. Her hair was down, and her clothes neat but simple, and she looked even younger than she had before her scouring. There was more to it, though. Her entire expression was different, as was the way she carried herself, and walked, and her accent had changed.

  Karalyn went into Belinda’s head, performing her daily check on the restraints she had placed on the young woman’s mage powers. She knew the inside of her mind as well as she knew her own, having spent thirds carefully rebuilding it. She saw the new memories that Belinda had created; her first words, her delight when Corthie had arrived with the cats he had purchased for her in the market, her upset when being told off for hitting Laodoc. It filled Karalyn with an almost maternal pride. She loved Belinda, and though she had hidden it from Laodoc, the Empress’s plans for the young woman filled her with dread. Before they had departed Plateau City, Bridget had told her to start allowing Belinda access to battle-vision, so that her physical training could begin.

  So far, Karalyn had not obeyed.

  ‘What do you think of the view?’ she said.

  Belinda paused, her eyes taking in the sweep of mountains and sky. ‘Makes me feel small. You said eight days. Are we arriving today?’

  ‘Aye. In a couple of hours, I think.’

  A soldier approached, a steaming cup of tea in his hand. He passed it to Karalyn.

  ‘Thanks.’

  The soldier nodded, then glanced at Belinda, his eyes wary. ‘Would you like some tea, miss?’

  ‘No,’ said Belinda, her gaze on the mountains.

  ‘Manners,’ said Karalyn.

  Belinda frowned. ‘No, I would not like any tea, thank you very much.’

  Karalyn smiled at the soldier as he walked away, then turned to Belinda.

  ‘Try to be polite, but not too polite. A simple, “no, thanks” will do.’

  ‘I don’t like soldiers. Why are they carrying weap
ons? Are they going to hurt us?’

  ‘They’re on duty. Soldiers always have their weapons when they’re on duty, just in case. They’re here to protect us.’

  ‘From whom?’ Belinda swept her arm across the view. ‘There’s nobody here.’

  ‘I work for the Empress, and the Empress has enemies.’

  Belinda’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘But don’t worry,’ Karalyn said; ‘it’s just in case. A sensible precaution.’

  ‘If the enemy came, I’d run away.’

  ‘You wouldn’t fight?’

  ‘I don’t know how.’

  Karalyn hesitated. A cool breeze blew across the flank of the hillside, rustling the branches of the forest. She began walking back to the carriage, Belinda following.

  ‘Would you like to learn?’ said Karalyn.

  ‘Aye. I think it might be useful.’

  They climbed up into the carriage as the soldiers stamped out the fire and got ready to go.

  ‘Did you have a nice break, girls?’ said Laodoc as they sat.

  ‘Aye,’ said Belinda. ‘Karalyn’s going to teach me how to fight.’

  The carriage continued down the road for another two hours, descending through the dense forest. Occasional glimpses of the lake were caught whenever there was a break in the trees and, all around, the massive bulk of the mountains reared over them. The branches to either side were alive with calls and screeches.

  ‘Rahain birds,’ Laodoc said, smiling, ‘I recognise their song. They’ve flown all the way here for the winter.’