The Magelands Epic: Storm Mage (Book 6)

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Watch it, girls!’ the old lady cried, shaking her head and tutting.

  They made it to Thorn’s small cabin and entered, closing the door behind them.

  ‘Did you see the look on her face?’ laughed Belinda.

  ‘I’ll probably get another lecture about it,’ Thorn said, raking through a drawer. ‘No running in the corridors!’

  Belinda fell onto Thorn’s bed. ‘One more day at sea.’

  ‘It’s too bad,’ Thorn said, plucking a stick of dreamweed out of her little silver case and lighting it. ‘I could stay on this boat for another twelve days. If it had a few more boys on it, I could stay even longer.’

  ‘Poor Calder,’ said Belinda. ‘Imagine being the only guy on board.’

  Thorn snorted. ‘He loves it. He pretends to be all, ”oh no, I’m surrounded by a bunch of crazy women,” but he adores the attention; I can tell.’

  ‘He’s in love with the Empress, or so I heard.’

  ‘Is he?’ said Thorn, sitting by her on the bed and passing the weedstick. ‘He looks a few years younger than her. And she’s already got five children. What about Karalyn? Is she in love with anyone?’

  ‘I don’t think so. She’s never mentioned it, and I’m sure I would have known. We lived in the same house for thirds together, with my cats, Corthie and Laodoc.’

  Thorn nodded. ‘I’m sorry about what happened.’

  ‘Laodoc was the nicest person I knew. I miss him.’

  Thorn said nothing, her nerves growing. She had spoken to Belinda many times over the course of their daily lessons, but had rarely had an opportunity to find out more about her. She looked as old as Karalyn, but acted younger; less stiff and boring, and every question Thorn had asked her about her past had been rebuffed. She was a puzzle that Thorn was determined to solve.

  ‘Where did you live before that?’ she asked.

  Belinda took a draw of the weedstick, her eyes wandering over the cabin.

  ‘Karalyn misses Laodoc the most, I think,’ she said. ‘He was like a father to her.’

  ‘I never knew my father,’ Thorn said. ‘He left before I was born, along with the rest of the men.’

  ‘Must have been weird, growing up with no men around.’

  ‘It seemed normal to us, and there were boys my age, of course, and some old men, but they died off as I grew up.’

  Belinda nodded, and passed the weedstick back.

  ‘Do you remember your father?’ Thorn said.

  Belinda fidgeted on the bed. ‘Can I look at your dresses now?’

  ‘Why are you being rude to me?’ Thorn said before she could stop herself.

  ‘What?’

  Thorn sighed. She might as well go through with it. ‘I asked you a question. If you don’t want to talk about your past then fine, but please don’t ignore me. It hurts.’

  Belinda took her hand. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ Thorn said, stubbing out the weedstick. ‘Can you tell me why you can’t tell me?’

  ‘Karalyn said it was the one thing I’m not to talk about.’

  ‘What is Karalyn to you? I mean, is she your friend? She acts like she controls you, and you always do whatever she says. You don’t look at all related. She’s half-Kellach, half-Holdings, and you… well, I’m not entirely sure what you are. Are you Holdings?’

  Belinda whispered something.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Thorn, ‘but you’ll have to say that a little louder.’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘You don’t know if you’re Holdings?’

  Belinda shook her head. ‘Please don’t ask me any more questions.’

  ‘I worry,’ Thorn said. ‘What if Karalyn is keeping you prisoner, and you’re too scared to tell anyone? You can tell me. I’d help you.’

  ‘No, it’s nothing like that. I love Karalyn. She’s like my big sister.’

  Thorn nodded.

  ‘Are your sisters feeling better?’ Belinda said.

  ‘I haven’t seen them since this morning. They’re probably both still throwing up into a bucket. There’s a good chance neither will be at dinner tonight, not that we’d miss them. Clove just complains all the time, and Acorn is too dull for words. I hope Calder’s there, though. I bet he scrubs up well.’

  ‘He’s a bit old.’

  Thorn shrugged. ‘Experienced.’

  ‘Have you forgotten about the Empress?’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Thorn laughed, ‘I’m not actually going to do anything, but there’s no harm in imagining what it’d be like.’

  ‘Have you ever…?’

  ‘No. I’m saving myself for a prince. Or, at least, someone prince-like.’

  Belinda laughed.

  ‘No point in aiming low,’ Thorn said. ‘If you want the best, you have to go for it. What about you? No, sorry, I forgot I’m not supposed to ask you anything.’

  Belinda lowered her eyes.

  ‘Never mind that,’ said Thorn, standing. ‘Let’s look out some dresses for you.’

  She walked over to the tall cupboard that took up one entire wall of her cabin and opened it. Belinda glanced up, watching as Thorn ran her fingers over the row of garments hanging inside. She selected a burgundy dress, and held it up, glancing at Belinda as she did so.

  ‘This one, maybe,’ she said, laying it down on the bed. ‘Or this?’ She pointed at a long green gown.

  Belinda got up and gazed at the dresses.

  ‘They’re so beautiful.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Thorn said. ‘I made most of them myself.’

  ‘There are so many. I don’t know which to choose.’

  ‘Well, if it’s any help, I’m going to be wearing this.’ She gestured at a dark blue dress. ‘We can pick something that matches. And, while we’re thinking, we can have a little drink.’

  She left Belinda looking through the cupboard and dug deep into a bag close to the bed. She pulled out a ceramic bottle and set it down on the table.

  ‘Gin?’

  Belinda turned. ‘Umm, all right.’

  ‘I tried lots of different drinks in the imperial capital,’ Thorn said. ‘All of them were better than the horrible stuff we get in Greyfalls Deepen. Gin though, I think, is my favourite.’ She poured some into two mugs. ‘Needs something to sweeten it,’ she went on, picking up a bottle of sugared lemon. ‘In it goes.’ She passed a mug to Belinda. ‘Sorry it’s not in a glass. We’ll have to rough it a bit.’

  Belinda nodded and took a sip. Her face turned pink and she coughed. Thorn laughed.

  ‘So,’ Thorn said, sitting on the bed with her mug, ‘what can you talk about? I’ll do my best to avoid any subjects you’re uncomfortable with, but I want to know more about you.’

  ‘I like cats.’

  ‘Yes, you’ve mentioned that. You had three of them, I believe? I’ve yet to even see a cat, myself.’

  ‘I had them in my room,’ Belinda said. ‘They wanted out, but I didn’t let them, in case people found out I was living in the Great Fortress.’

  ‘That’s where I stayed,’ said Thorn. ‘I didn’t know you were there too.’

  ‘I used to see you through the crack in my door, talking to Corthie and the Empress’s children.’

  ‘Wait. You were on the same floor as me?’

  ‘I was in the room next to Karalyn’s.’

  Thorn frowned. ‘And they kept you locked up in there?’

  ‘I wasn’t there for long. They moved us into the fortress after Laodoc died.’

  Thorn watched Belinda take a large gulp of gin. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘It’s nice,’ Belinda said, finishing the mug. ‘Could I have some more?’

  ‘All right, but go steady on it. You don’t want to be too drunk for dinner.’

  She poured her a second mixture of gin and sugared lemon, then took another stick of dreamweed out of her silver case and lit it. Belinda stood and pulled off her long exercise tunic, throwing it onto the floor.

  ‘I want to try
some dresses on.’

  ‘Excellent idea,’ Thorn said, getting up. ‘Shall we try the green one first?’

  Belinda nodded, and Thorn plucked the gown from the cupboard where it was hanging. She helped Belinda step into it, then began lacing up the back.

  ‘Breath in a bit more,’ she said. ‘More.’

  Thorn pulled the laces tight, and Belinda made a choking sound.

  ‘The price of beauty,’ Thorn said, standing back and looking at Belinda’s reflection in the long mirror attached to the opposite wall. She smiled. ‘You look stunning, even without any make-up on, and with your hair an absolute state.’

  Belinda said nothing, staring at herself as if she had never seen her reflection before.

  ‘Tell me something else,’ Thorn said, passing her the weedstick, and reaching for a hairbrush.

  ‘I can speak five languages.’

  ‘What? Even Sanangka?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, using Thorn’s language.

  ‘Can you read and write them too?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘That means you must have had an long and expensive education. I know you can’t talk about it, but that’s not going to stop me from guessing. You can always ignore what I say.’

  Belinda said nothing, still gazing at her reflection.

  ‘Right,’ said Thorn. ‘An expensive education means that you’re rich, but you don’t carry yourself like an aristocrat, so you weren’t brought up rich. Ha! Maybe you’re a lost princess, discovered living among the peasantry and whisked off to the palace to be tutored and shown the ways of a royal.’

  Belinda laughed. ‘Not even close.’

  ‘Fine,’ said Thorn, sensing that the gin was starting to loosen Belinda’s tongue. ‘A clue?’

  ‘I didn’t have an expensive education, I was tutored in Karalyn’s house, by Laodoc mostly, though there were a couple of others for different subjects. Like Calder, he’s training me to fight.’

  ‘You must have been living there a long time.’

  Belinda shrugged. ‘A year or so.’

  ‘You learned five languages in a year? Impossible.’

  ‘I was also taught history, and politics, and a million other things.’

  ‘But you must have been at school before that,’ Thorn said. ‘You couldn’t have learned everything in a single year.’

  ‘No, I did.’

  ‘But how could you possibly…?’

  Belinda turned to face her, a wild look in her eyes. ‘Stop asking me all these questions!’

  Thorn froze.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Belinda said. ‘I shouldn’t have shouted. I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s all right, I’m only asking because I want to know who you are.’

  Belinda half-smiled. ‘That’s funny.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because that’s the same question I ask myself every day.’

  ‘You don’t know who you are?’

  Belinda sat on the bed, creasing the dress, but Thorn didn’t mention it.

  ‘I have no memory of anything from more than a year ago,’ Belinda said, taking another large gulp of gin. ‘As far as I know, I woke up helpless in Karalyn’s house. I was confused… I don’t remember much of that period, but Karalyn and Laodoc, they taught me how to speak, and kept me safe and brought me food, and then Corthie brought me the cats, and, well, here I am.’

  Thorn gasped, and put a hand to her mouth.

  ‘I tried to find out who I was,’ Belinda went on, ‘but no one seemed to know, not until that man came to the house and killed Laodoc.’

  ‘He knew you?’

  ‘He was looking for me.’

  ‘But Karalyn must know who you are, or were.’

  ‘She says she doesn’t.’

  ‘Do you believe her?’

  Belinda looked puzzled for a second. ‘Of course I do. Why would she lie to me?’

  ‘Maybe she wants to protect you from the truth.’

  ‘Nyane, the herald,’ Belinda said. ‘I’m not sure I heard her correctly, but I think she said that I’d killed one of the Empress’s friends.’

  ‘And did you?’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘That’s terrible,’ Thorn said, putting her arm round Belinda’s shoulder. ‘Imagine not knowing anything about yourself.’

  ‘I don’t even know how old I am.’

  ‘And your poor parents; they must be looking for you.’

  ‘I can’t remember anything about them,’ Belinda said, starting to cry.

  Thorn pulled Belinda closer. ‘There, there, it’s all right. Poor baby.’

  Belinda sobbed for a few moments then quietened, as Thorn gently rocked her back and forth on the bed. Thorn stayed silent, trying to understand what Belinda had told her. She had lost her memory somehow, then Karalyn and Laodoc had cared for her, even though she might have killed one of the Empress’s friends. Why? She couldn’t just be some waif from the streets, that much was clear. And the man that Corthie had killed was somehow involved.

  Thorn looked down at Belinda and realised that the young woman had fallen asleep in her embrace.

  ‘Wake up,’ she said, shaking her. ‘We need to get ready for dinner.’

  Belinda slumped back onto the bed and began to snore.

  Thorn leaned over her. ‘Wake up!’

  No response.

  ‘Shit,’ Thorn muttered, sitting back down. She picked up her mug of gin and took a sip.

  The cabin door opened and Karalyn walked in. She glanced at Belinda for a moment, then closed the door behind her. Thorn tried to remain calm as Karalyn sat on a chair by the bed.

  ‘Nice dresses,’ she said.

  ‘Look,’ said Thorn, ‘I had no idea that a couple of gins would send her to sleep.’

  ‘She’s never drunk alcohol before.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Or smoked dreamweed. You can smell it out in the passageway.’

  ‘Oops.’

  ‘Did you discover anything interesting?’ Karalyn said. ‘I assume that’s why you brought her back here and plied her with drink and drugs?’

  ‘Why don’t you read my mind and find out?’

  ‘I already have.’

  ‘You’re lying to her, aren’t you? You know who she was before she lost her memory.’

  ‘Aye, I do, but it’s no business of yours.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Please.’

  Karalyn gave a wry smile. ‘You’re relentless, I’ll give you that. All I’ll say is that Belinda was an exceptionally dangerous woman. Now, before I take her back to her cabin, I’m going to have to fix your memory for you. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.’

  Thorn frowned as the tall woman stared at her, and for a moment she felt a strange sensation behind her eyes.

  ‘Damn it,’ Karalyn muttered. She shook her head, then laughed. ‘Perhaps not.’ She took a packet of cigarettes from a pocket and lit one. ‘Do you smoke these?’

  ‘All right,’ said Thorn, taking one. ‘Thank you. What did you mean by fix my memory?’

  ‘I was going to wipe your mind of any recollection of your little chat with Belinda.’

  ‘You can wipe people’s minds? Is that what happened to Belinda? Did you do that to her?’

  Karalyn took a draw on her cigarette. ‘You’re stronger than you think, Thorn. Much stronger. I caught a glimpse of your future when I looked into your eyes.’ She smiled. ‘It doesn’t matter that you don’t believe me. And when you see my brother, tell him congratulations from me on being a fire mage.’

  ‘Corthie’s a fire mage?’

  ‘Not him; the other one. Keir.’

  Thorn stared at Karalyn as she stubbed out her cigarette and stood. She leaned over Belinda, arranging her limbs so she could pick her up.

  ‘Wait,’ said Thorn. ‘I’m going to meet your brother Keir?’

  Karalyn gathered Belinda in her arms, then turned to face Thorn.

  ‘Aye,’ she sai
d. ‘Someone is trying to kill him, and you’re standing by his side.’

  ‘Does he live?’

  ‘I didn’t see that far,’ said Karalyn. She frowned. ‘My brother can be a bit of a dick sometimes, and he’s a vision mage as well as a fire mage. Watch out for him; he’s mean and arrogant, and thinks only of himself.’

  ‘He’s a vision mage too?’

  ‘Aye. Wait a minute,’ she said. ‘I have an idea.’ She gazed into Thorn’s eyes, and the young Sanang woman felt a sharp pain in her head.

  ‘Ow!’

  ‘Sorry,’ said Karalyn, smiling, ‘but that will protect you from all vision mages. Keir won’t be able to read your thoughts.’

  The tall woman turned, carrying Belinda in her arms.

  ‘I don’t think I’ll be attending dinner tonight,’ she said as she opened the door.

  Thorn picked up her mug of gin. ‘Me neither.’

  The following morning was bright and fresh, with a light breeze from the north. After breakfast, Thorn and the other passengers went up on deck, where they watched the shoreline of the southern Plateau approach. The vast citadel of Rainsby squatted by the banks of the Inner Sea, stretching out in either direction, its enormous walls scorched and pocked from the continual bombardment they had suffered. To either side of the merchant ship upon which Thorn was travelling were a dozen other vessels, including four sleek naval frigates that had been acting as their escort. Ahead, the harbour loomed, its great, fortified entrance open. Inside, dozens of tall masts clustered.

  ‘I am so happy to see land again,’ said Acorn, standing next to Thorn and Clove at the railings.

  ‘I’ll miss being on the boat,’ said Thorn.

  ‘You’re weird,’ said Clove.

  Thorn smiled, ‘At least with all that vomiting, you’ve both lost a bit of weight.’

  As her sisters scowled at her, she noticed Belinda, Karalyn and Calder emerge from the lower decks, carrying their luggage with them. Belinda had her eyes lowered, and her face seemed a little off-colour. Thorn smiled, then saw her mother approach.

  ‘And where were you last night?’ she said to Thorn. ‘The captain was very disappointed that you didn’t appear for dinner. He had gone to a lot of trouble.’

  ‘I wasn’t feeling very well.’